Near-Death Experience NDE Story
of Mellen-Thomas Benedict
Journey Through the Light and Back
In 1982 I died from terminal cancer. The condition I had was inoperable, and any kind of chemotherapy they could give me would just have made me more of a vegetable. I was given six to eight months to live.
I had been an information freak in the1970’s, and I had become increasingly despondent over the nuclear crisis, the ecology crisis, and so forth. So, since I did not have a spiritual basis, I began to believe that nature had made a mistake, and that we were probably a cancerous organism on the planet. I saw no way that we could get out from all the problems we had created for ourselves and the planet. I perceived all humans as cancer, and that is what I got.
That is what killed me. Be careful what your world view is. It can feed back on you, especially if it is a negative world view. I had a seriously negative one. That is what led me into my death. I tried all sorts of alternative healing methods, but nothing helped.
So I determined that this was really just between me and God. I had never really faced God before, or even dealt with God. I was not into any kind of spirituality at the time, but I began a journey into learning about spirituality and alterna¬tive healing. I set out to do all the reading I could and bone up on the subject, because I did not want to be surprised on the other side. So I started reading on various religions and philosophies. They were all very interesting, and gave hope that there was something on the other side. I ended up in hospice care.
I remember waking up one morning at home about 4:30 AM, and I just knew that this was it. This was the day I was going to die. So I called a few friends and said goodbye. I woke up my hospice caretaker and told her. I had a private agreement with her that she would leave my dead body alone for six hours, since I had read that all kinds of interesting things happen when you die. I went back to sleep.
The next thing I remember is the beginning of a typical near-death experience. Suddenly I was fully aware and I was standing up, but my body was in the bed. There was this darkness around me. Being out of my body was even more vivid than ordinary experience. It was so vivid that I could see every room in the house, I could see the top of the house, I could see around the house, I could see under the house.
There was this Light shining. I turned toward the Light. The Light was very similar to what many other people have described in their near-death experiences. It was so magnificent. It is tangible; you can feel it. It is alluring; you want to go to it like you would want to go to your ideal mother’s or father’s arms.
As I began to move toward the Light, I knew intuitively that if I went to the Light, I would be dead. So as I was moving toward the Light I said, “Please wait a minute, just hold on a second here. I want to think about this; I would like to talk to you before I go.” To my surprise, the entire experience halted at that point. You are in control of your life after death experience. You are not on a roller coaster ride.
So my request was honored and I had some conversations with the Light. The Light kept changing into different figures, like Jesus, Buddha, Krishna, mandalas, archetypal images and signs. I asked the Light, “What is going on here? Please, Light, clarify yourself for me. I really want to know the reality of the situation.” I cannot really say the exact words, because it was sort of telepathy.
The Light responded. The information transferred to me was that during your life after death experience your beliefs shape the kind of feedback you are getting before the Light. If you were a Buddhist or Catholic or Fundamentalist, you get a feedback loop of your own stuff. You have a chance to look at it and examine it, but most people do not. As the Light revealed itself to me, I became aware that what I was really seeing was our higher Self matrix.
We all have a higher Self, or an oversoul part of our being. It revealed itself to me in its truest energy form. The only way I can really describe it is that the being of the higher Self is more like a conduit. It did not look like that, but it is a direct connection to the Source that each and every one of us has. We are directly connected to the Source. So the Light was showing me the higher Self matrix. I was not committed to one particular religion. So that is what was being fed back to me during my life after death experience.
As I asked the Light to keep clearing for me, to keep explaining, I understood what the higher Self matrix is. We have a grid around the planet where all the higher Selves are connected. This is like a great company, a next subtle level of energy around us, the spirit level, you might say. Then, after a couple of minutes, I asked for more clarification. I really wanted to know what the universe is about, and I was ready to go at that time. I said “I am ready, take me.”
Then the Light turned into the most beautiful thing that I have ever seen: a mandala of human souls on this planet. Now I came to this with my negative view of what was happening on the planet. So as I asked the Light to keep clarifying for me, I saw in this magnificent mandala how beautiful we all are in our essence, our core. We are the most beautiful creations.
The human soul, the human matrix that we all make together is absolutely fantastic, elegant, exotic, everything. I just cannot say enough about how it changed my opinion of human beings in that instant. I said, “Oh, God, I did not know how beautiful we are.” At any level, high or low, in whatever shape you are in, you are the most beautiful creation, you are.
The revelations coming from the Light and seemed to go on and on, then I asked the Light, “Does this mean that Mankind will be saved?” Then, like a trumpet blast with a shower of spiraling lights, the Great Light spoke, saying, “Remember this and never forget; you save, redeem and heal yourself. You always have. You always will. You were created with the power to do so from before the beginning of the world.”
In that instant I realized even more. I realized that WE HAVE ALREADY BEEN SAVED, and we saved ourselves because we were designed to self-correct like the rest of God’s universe. This is what the second coming is about. I thanked the Light of God with all my heart. The best thing I could come up with was these simple words of total appreciation: “Oh dear God, dear Universe, dear Great Self, I Love My Life.”
The Light seemed to breathe me in even more deeply. It was as if the Light was completely absorbing me. The Love Light is, to this day, indescribable. I entered into another realm, more profound than the last, and became aware of something more, much more. It was an enormous stream of Light, vast and full, deep in the Heart of Life. I asked what this was.
The Light responded, “This is the RIVER OF LIFE. Drink of this manna water to your heart’s content.” So I did. I took one big drink and then another. To drink of Life Itself! I was in ecstasy.
Then the Light said, “You have a desire.” The Light knew all about me, everything past, present and future. “Yes!” I whispered.
I asked to see the rest of the Universe; beyond our solar system, beyond all human illusion. The Light then told me that I could go with the Stream. I did, and was carried Through the Light at the End of the Tunnel. I felt and heard a series of very soft sonic booms. What a rush!
Suddenly I seemed to be rocketing away from the planet on this stream of Life. I saw the earth fly away. The solar system, in all its splendor, whizzed by and disappeared. At faster than light speed, I flew through the center of the galaxy, absorbing more knowledge as I went. I learned that this galaxy, and all of the Universe, is bursting with many different varieties of LIFE. I saw many worlds. The good news is that we are not alone in this Universe!
As I rode this stream of consciousness through the center of the galaxy, the stream was expanding in awesome fractal waves of energy. The super clusters of galaxies with all their ancient wisdom flew by. At first I thought I was going somewhere; actually traveling. But then I realized that, as the stream was expanding, my own consciousness was also expanding to take in everything in the Universe! All creation passed by me. It was an unimaginable wonder! I truly was a Wonder Child; a babe in Wonderland!
At this point, I found myself in a profound stillness, beyond all silence. I could see or perceive FOREVER, beyond Infinity.
I was in the Void.
I was in pre-creation, before the Big Bang. I had crossed over the beginning of time/the First Word/the First vibration. I was in the Eye of Creation. I felt as if I was touching the Face of God. It was not a religious feeling. Simply I was at one with Absolute Life and Consciousness.
When I say that I could see or perceive forever, I mean that I could experience all of creation generating itself. It was without beginning and without end. That’s a mind expanding thought, isn’t it?
Scientists perceive the Big Bang as a single event which created the Universe. I saw during my life after death experience that the Big Bang is only one of an infinite number of Big Bangs creating Universes endlessly and simultaneously. The only images that even come close in human terms would be those created by super computers using fractal geometry equations.
The ancients knew of this. They said God had periodically created new Universes by breathing out, and recreated other Universes by breathing in. These epochs were called Yugas. Modern science called this the Big Bang. I was in absolute, pure consciousness. I could see or perceive all the Big Bangs or Yugas creating and recreating themselves. Instantly I entered into them all simultaneously. I saw that each and every little piece of creation has the power to create. It is very difficult to try to explain this. I am still speechless about this.
It took me years after I returned from my near-death experience to assimilate any words at all for the Void experience. I can tell you this now: the Void is less than nothing, yet more than everything that is! The Void is absolute zero; chaos forming all possibilities. It is Absolute Consciousness; much more than even Universal Intelligence.
The Void is the vacuum or nothingness between all physical manifestations. The SPACE between atoms and their components. Modern science has begun to study this space between everything. They call it Zero point. Whenever they try to measure it, their instruments go off the scale, or to infinity, so to speak. They have no way, as of yet, to measure infinity accurately. There is more of the 0 space in your own body and the Universe than anything else!
What mystics call the Void is not a void. It is so full of energy, a different kind of energy that has created everything that we are. Everything since the Big Bang is vibration, from the first Word, which is the first vibration. The biblical “I am” really has a question mark after it. “I am—What am I?” So creation is God exploring God’s Self through every way imaginable, in an on¬going, infinite exploration through every one of us. I began to see during my near-death experience that everything that is, is the Self, literally, your Self, my Self. Everything is the great Self. That is why God knows even when a leaf falls. That is possible because wherever you are is the center of the universe. Wherever any atom is, that is the center of the universe. There is God in that, and God in the Void.
As I was exploring the Void during my life after death experience and all the Yugas or creations, I was completely out of time and space as we know it. In this expanded state, I discovered that creation is about Absolute Pure Consciousness, or God, coming into the Experience of Life as we know it. The Void itself is devoid of experience. It is pre life, before the first vibration. Godhead is about more than Life and Death. Therefore there is even more than Life and Death to experience in the Universe!
When I realized this I was finished with the Void, and wanted to return to this creation, or Yuga. It just seemed like the natural thing to do. Then I suddenly came back through the second Light, or the Big Bang, hearing several more velvet booms. I rode the stream of consciousness back through all of creation, and what a ride it was! The super clusters of galaxies came through me with even more insights. I passed through the center of our galaxy, which is a black hole. Black holes are the great processors or recyclers of the Universe.
Do you know what is on the other side of a Black Hole? We are; our galaxy, which has been reprocessed from another Universe. In its total energy configuration, the galaxy looked like a fantastic city of lights. All energy this side of the Big Bang is light. Every sub atom, atom, star, planet, even consciousness itself is made of light and has a frequency and/or particle. Light is living stuff. Everything is made of light, even stones. So everything is alive. Everything is made from the Light of God; everything is very intelligent.
As I rode the stream on and on, I could eventually see a huge Light coming. I knew it was the First Light; the higher Self Light Matrix of our solar system. Then the entire solar system appeared in the Light, accompanied by one of those velvet booms.
I could see all the energy that this solar system generates, and it is an incredible light show! I could hear the Music of the Spheres. Our solar system, as do all celestial bodies, generates a unique matrix of light, sound and vibratory energies. Advanced civilizations from other star systems can spot life as we know it in the universe by the vibratory or energy matrix imprint. It is child’s play. The earth’s Wonder child (human beings) make an abundance of sound right now, like children playing in the backyard of the universe.
The Light explained to me that there is no death; we are immortal beings. We have already been alive forever! I realized that we are part of a natural living system that recycles itself endlessly. I was never told that I had to come back. I just knew that I would. It was only natural, from what I had seen during my life after death experience.
I don’t know how long I was with the Light, in human time. But there came a moment when I realized that all my questions had been answered and my return was near. When I say that all my questions were answered on the other side, I mean to say just that. All my questions have been answered. Every human has a different life and set of questions to explore. Some of our questions are Universal, but each of us is exploring this thing we call Life in our own unique way. So is every other form of life, from mountains to every leaf on every tree.
And that is very important to the rest of us in this Universe. Because it all contributes to the Big Picture, the fullness of Life. We are literally God exploring God’s self in an infinite Dance of Life. Your uniqueness enhances all of Life.
As I began my return to the life cycle, it never crossed my mind, nor was I told that I would return to the same body. It just did not matter. I had complete trust in the Light and the Life process. As the stream merged with the great Light, I asked never to forget the revelations and the feelings of what I had learned on the other side.
There was a “Yes.” It felt like a kiss to my soul.
Then I was taken back through the Light into the vibratory realm again. The whole process reversed, with even more information being given to me. I came back home, and I was given lessons from my near-death experience on the mechanics of reincarnation. I was given answers to all those little questions I had: “How does this work? How does that work?” I knew that I would be reincarnated.
The earth is a great processor of energy, and individual consciousness evolves out of that into each one of us. I thought of myself as a human for the first time, and I was happy to be that. From what I have seen, I would be happy to be an atom in this universe. An atom. So to be the human part of God... this is the most fantastic blessing. It is a blessing beyond our wildest estimation of what blessing can be. For each and every one of us to be the human part of this experience is awesome, and magnificent. Each and every one of us, no matter where we are, screwed up or not, is a blessing to the planet, right where we are.
I went through the reincarnation process expecting to be a baby somewhere. But I was given a lesson on how individual identity and consciousness evolve. I was so surprised when I opened my eyes. I do not know why, because I understood it, but it was still such a surprise to be back in this body, back in my room with someone looking over me crying her eyes out. It was my hospice caretaker. She had given up an hour and a half after finding me dead. My body was stiff and inflexible. She went into the other room. Then I awakened and saw the light outside. I tried to get up to go to it, but I fell out of the bed. She heard a loud “clunk,” ran in and found me on the floor.
When I recovered, I was very surprised and yet very awed about what had happened to me during my near-death experience. At first all the memory of the trip that I have now was not there. I kept slipping out of this world and kept asking, “Am I alive?” This world seemed more like a dream than that one. Within three days I was feeling normal again, clearer, yet different than I had ever felt in my life. My memory of my near-death experience came back later. I could see nothing wrong with any human being I had ever seen. Before that I was really judgmental. I thought a lot of people were really screwed up, in fact I thought that everybody was screwed up but me. But I got clear on all that.
About three months later a friend said I should get tested, so I went and got the scans and so forth. I really felt good, so I was afraid of getting bad news. I remember the doctor at the clinic looking at the before and after scans, saying, “Well, there is nothing here now.” I said, “Really, it must be a miracle”’ He said “No, these things happen; they are called spontaneous remission.” He acted very unimpressed. But here was a miracle, and I was impressed, even if no one else was.
During my near-death experience I had a descent into what you might call Hell, and it was very surprising. I did not see Satan or evil. My descent into Hell was a descent into each person’s customized human misery, ignorance, and darkness of not knowing. It seemed like a miserable eternity. But each of the millions of souls around me had a little star of light always available. But no one seemed to pay attention to it. They were so consumed with their own grief, trauma and misery. But, after what seemed an eternity, I started calling out to that Light, like a child calling to a parent for help.
Then the Light opened up and formed a tunnel that came right to me and insulated me from all that fear and pain, That is what Hell really is. So what we are doing is learning to hold hands, to come together. The doors of Hell are open now. We are going to link up, hold hands, and walk out of Hell together. The Light came to me and turned into a huge golden angel. I said, “Are you the angel of death?” It expressed to me that it was my oversoul, my higher Self matrix, a super ancient part of ourselves. Then I was taken to the Light.
Soon our science will quantify spirit. Isn’t that going to be wonderful? We are coming up with devices now that are sensitive to subtle energy or spirit energy. Physicists use these atomic colliders to smash atoms to see what they are made of. They have got it down to quarks and charm, and all that. Well, one day they are going to come down to the little thing that holds it all together, and they are going to have to call that ... God. We are just beginning to understand that we are creating too, as we go along. As I saw forever, I came to a realm during my near-death experience in which there is a point where we pass all knowledge and begin creating the next fractal, the next level. We have that power to create as we explore. And that is God expanding itself through us.
Since my return I have experienced the Light spontaneously, and I have learned how to get to that space almost any time in my meditation. Each one of you can do this. You do not have to die or have a near-death experience to do this. It is within your equipment; you are wired for it already. The body is the most magnificent Light being there is. The body is a universe of incredible Light. Spirit is not pushing us to dissolve this body. That is not what is happening. Stop trying to become God; God is becoming you. Here.
I asked God: “What is the best religion on the planet? Which one is right?” And Godhead said, with great love: “I don’t care.” That was incredible grace. When Godhead said, “I don’t care,” I immediately understood that it is for us to care about. It is important, because we are the caring beings. It matters to us and that is where it is important. What you have is the energy equation in spirituality. Ultimate Godhead does not care if you are Protestant, Buddhist, or whatever. It is all a blooming facet of the whole. I wish that all religions would realize it and let each other be. It is not the end of each religion, but we are talking about the same God. Live and let live. Each has a different view. And it all adds up to the big picture; it is all important.
I went over to the other side during my near-death experience with a lot of fears about toxic waste, nuclear missiles, the population explosion, the rainforest. I came back loving every single problem. I love nuclear waste. I love the mushroom cloud; this is the holiest mandala that we have manifested to date, as an archetype. It, more than any religion or philosophy on earth, brought us together all of a sudden, to a new level of consciousness. Knowing that maybe we can blow up the planet fifty times, or 500 times, we finally realize that maybe we are all here together now.
For a period they had to keep setting off more bombs to get it in to us. Then we started saying, “we do not need this any more.” Now we are actually in a safer world than we have ever been in, and it is going to get safer. So I came back from my near-death experience loving toxic waste, because it brought us together. These things are so big. As Peter Russell might say, these problems are now “soul size.” Do we have soul size answers” YES!
The clearing of the rain forest will slow down, and in fifty years there will be more trees on the planet than in a long time. If you are into ecology, go for it; you are that part of the system that is becoming aware. Go for it with all your might, but do not be depressed. It is part of a larger thing.
Earth is in the process of domesticating itself. It is never again going to be as wild a place as it once was. There will be great wild places, reserves where nature thrives. Gardening and reserves will be the thing in the future. Population increase is getting very close to the optimal range of energy to cause a shift in consciousness. That shift in consciousness will change politics, money, energy.
After dying, going through my near-death experience and coming back, I really respect life and death. In our DNA experiments we may have opened the door to a great secret. Soon we will be able to live as long as we want to live in this body.
After living 150 years or so, there will be an intuitive soul sense that you will want to change channels. Living forever in one body is not as creative as reincarnation, as transferring energy in this fantastic vortex of energy that we are in. We are actually going to see the wisdom of life and death, and enjoy it. As it is now, we have already been alive forever.
This body, that you are in, has been alive forever. It comes from an unending stream of life, going back to the Big Bang and beyond.
This body gives life to the next life, in dense and subtle energy.
This body has been alive forever already
Friday, October 8, 2010
Thursday, October 7, 2010
October Nature Happenings
October Nature Happenings
• Oct. 4: Full Moon, Oct. 18: New Moon
• Oct. 13: Venus & Saturn next to each other in the early morning sky
• Oct. 21-22: Orionids meteor shower
• October is the best month to start watching for rare northern ducks and loons on the Front Range.
• The Common Grackle can be a nemesis at many local birdfeeders. Gathering in ever-growing flocks, these birds prepare to migrate south to bother the nice folks in Texas.
• All members of the dove family favor ground feeders with millet and safflower.
• The first storms of winter usher in winter migrants which often seek shelter in the cover of backyards.
• Many members of the sparrow family (Chipping, White-crowned, Brewer's, Song, and Lincoln's) join the ubiquitous House Sparrow at ground feeders.
• Sparrows can be seen scratching for fallen seeds in fading gardens.
• Leave spent perennials standing to provide cover and much needed food for our winter visitors.
• Oct. 4: Full Moon, Oct. 18: New Moon
• Oct. 13: Venus & Saturn next to each other in the early morning sky
• Oct. 21-22: Orionids meteor shower
• October is the best month to start watching for rare northern ducks and loons on the Front Range.
• The Common Grackle can be a nemesis at many local birdfeeders. Gathering in ever-growing flocks, these birds prepare to migrate south to bother the nice folks in Texas.
• All members of the dove family favor ground feeders with millet and safflower.
• The first storms of winter usher in winter migrants which often seek shelter in the cover of backyards.
• Many members of the sparrow family (Chipping, White-crowned, Brewer's, Song, and Lincoln's) join the ubiquitous House Sparrow at ground feeders.
• Sparrows can be seen scratching for fallen seeds in fading gardens.
• Leave spent perennials standing to provide cover and much needed food for our winter visitors.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Monday, August 23, 2010
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Goce satellite views Earth's gravity in high definition
Interesting, India's gravity different from the rest of the world
Earth's gravity pictured in 'HD'
By Jonathan Amos
Science correspondent, BBC News, Bergen
It is one of the most exquisite views we have ever had of the Earth.
This colourful new map traces the subtle but all pervasive influence the pull of gravity has across the globe.
Known as a geoid, it essentially defines where the level surface is on our planet; it tells us which way is "up" and which way is "down".
It is drawn from delicate measurements made by Europe's Goce satellite, which flies so low it comes perilously close to falling out of the sky.
Scientists say the data gathered by the spacecraft will have numerous applications.
One key beneficiary will be climate studies because the geoid can help researchers understand better how the great mass of ocean water is moving heat around the world.
The new map was presented here in Norway's second city at a special Earth observation (EO) symposium dedicated to the data being acquired by Goce and other European Space Agency (Esa) missions.
Europe is currently in the midst of a huge programme of EO development which will see it launch some 20 missions worth nearly eight billion euros before the decade's end.
The Gravity Field and Steady-State Ocean Circulation Explorer (Goce) is at the front of this armada of scientific and environmental monitoring spacecraft.
Imaginary ball
Launched in 2009, the sleek satellite flies pole to pole at an altitude of just 254.9km - the lowest orbit of any research satellite in operation today.
The spacecraft carries three pairs of precision-built platinum blocks inside its gradiometer instrument that sense accelerations which are as small as 1 part in 10,000,000,000,000 of the gravity experienced on Earth.
GRAVITY - A MOVING TARGET
The 'standard' acceleration due to gravity at the Earth's surface is 9.8m per second squared
In reality the figure varies from 9.78 (minimum) at the equator to 9.83 (maximum) at the poles
This has allowed it to map the almost imperceptible differences in the pull exerted by the mass of the planet from one place to the next - from the great mountain ranges to the deepest ocean trenches.
Two months of observations have now been fashioned into what scientists call the geoid.
"I think everyone knows what a level is in relation to construction work, and a geoid is nothing but a level that extends over the entire Earth," explained Professor Reiner Rummel, the chairman of the Goce scientific consortium.
"So with the geoid, I can take two arbitrary points on the globe and decide which one is 'up' and which one is 'down'," the Technische Universitaet Muenchen researcher told BBC News.
In other words, the map on this page defines the horizontal - a surface on which, at any point, the pull of gravity is perpendicular to it.
Put a ball on this hypothetical surface and it will not roll - even though it appears to have "slopes". These slopes can be seen in the colours which mark how the global level diverges from the generalised (an ellipsoid) shape of the Earth.
In the North Atlantic, around Iceland, the level sits about 80m above the surface of the ellipsoid; in the Indian Ocean it sits about 100m below.
MAPPING THE DIFFERENT EFFECTS OF GRAVITY
1. Earth is a slightly flattened sphere - it is ellipsoidal in shape
2. Goce senses tiny variations in the pull of gravity over Earth
3. The data is used to construct an idealised surface, or geoid
4. It traces gravity of equal 'potential'; balls won't roll on its 'slopes'
5. It is the shape the oceans would take without winds and currents
6. So, comparing sea level and geoid data reveals ocean behaviour
7. Gravity changes can betray magma movements under volcanoes
8. A precise geoid underpins a universal height system for the world
9. Gravity data can also reveal how much mass is lost by ice sheets
The geoid is of paramount interest to oceanographers because it is the shape the world's seas would adopt if there were no tides, no winds and no currents.
If researchers then subtract the geoid from the actual observed behaviour of the oceans, the scale of these other influences becomes apparent.
This is information critical to climate modellers who try to represent the way the oceans manage the transfer of energy around the planet.
But a geoid has many other uses, too. Having a global level underpins a universal system to compare heights anywhere on Earth.
In construction, for example, it tells engineers which way a fluid would naturally want to flow through a pipeline.
Geophysicists will also want to use the Goce data to try to probe what's happening deep within the Earth, especially in those places that are prone to quakes and volcanic eruptions.
"The Goce data is showing up new information in the Himalayas, central Africa, and the Andes, and in Antarctica," explained Dr Rune Floberghagen, Esa's Goce mission manager.
"This is, in one sense, not so surprising. These are places that are fairly inaccessible. It is not easy to measure high frequency variations in the gravity field in Antarctica with an aeroplane because there are so few airfields from which to operate."
Goce's extremely low operating altitude was expected to limit its mission to a couple of years at most. But Esa now thinks it may be able to continue flying the satellite until perhaps 2014.
Unusually quiet solar activity has produced very calm atmospheric conditions, meaning Goce has used far less xenon "fuel" in its ion engine to maintain its orbit.
Ultimately, though, that fuel will run out and the drag from the residual air molecules at 255km will force the satellite from the sky.
GRAVITY FIELD AND STEADY-STATE OCEAN CIRCULATION EXPLORER
The 1,100kg Goce is built from rigid materials and carries fixed solar wings. The gravity data must be clear of spacecraft 'noise'
The 5m-by-1m frame incorporates fins to stabilise the spacecraft as it flies through the residual air in the thermosphere
Goce's accelerometers measure accelerations that are as small as 1 part in 10,000,000,000,000 of the gravity experienced on Earth
The UK-built engine ejects xenon ions at velocities exceeding 40,000m/s; the engine throttles up and down to keep Goce at a steady altitude
Jonathan.Amos-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/science/nature/8767763.stm
Published: 2010/06/28 14:50:45 GMT
© BBC MMX
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Sunday, August 15, 2010
A little inspiration from Hafiz
We have not come here to take prisoners,
but to surrender ever more deeply to freedom and joy…
Run my dear,
from anything
that may not strengthen
Your precious budding wings…
For we have not come here to take prisoners
Or to confine our wondrous spirits
But to experience ever and ever more deeply
Our divine courage, freedom, and Light!
— Sufi poet Hafiz
but to surrender ever more deeply to freedom and joy…
Run my dear,
from anything
that may not strengthen
Your precious budding wings…
For we have not come here to take prisoners
Or to confine our wondrous spirits
But to experience ever and ever more deeply
Our divine courage, freedom, and Light!
— Sufi poet Hafiz
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Nature happenings in August!
More Nature Happenings for August
• Aug. 9: New Moon, Aug 24: Full Moon
• Aug. 12 - 13: Perseids Meteor shower
• Average temperature: 67.6ºF, Average precipitation: 3.48"
• Watch for Common Nighthawks hunting over open ground for flying insects in the late afternoon light.
• Hummingbirds are active at feeders and at flowers, sourcing protein from spiders and insects and sipping nectar for sugars.
• Male hummingbirds start their southbound migration this month, averaging 20 miles a day to wintering grounds in Central America and Mexico. Females head south later and juveniles will stay around until early October.
• Many of our summer visitors have finished their nesting cycle and will begin their migration south.
• Male Black-headed Grosbeaks will disappear from the landscape as they begin their southern migration; females and juveniles will follow in the coming weeks.
• Bullock's Orioles, our summer visitors that love to chatter notes high and low, will begin to migrate south.
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Gabrielle's Laughing Lights Parade
From Intenders of the Highest Good Newsletter :
Gabrielle's Laughing Lights Parade
Our friend, Gabrielle Silva from the Boulder, CO Intenders Circle, is one of the happiest, most light hearted people we know. She writes the Ragananda children's books and recently sent us the following letter:
"A couple of years ago, about the same time that I became an Intender, I started doing a breathing meditation where, on a great big SMILING INBREATH, I saw these little hearts with wings with smiley faces flowing out from my heart, swarming around me. Then, on the OUTBREATH, I saw them flying off gracefully to bring Holy Laughing Lightness to wherever it was needed. Actually, I can't really think of a single place on this planet that couldn't use a little Holy Laughing Lightness! Can you?
I've noticed a lot of benefits from pivoting out of drama, or other non-productive uses of my attention, into this simple breath. One benefit is - it's GLORIOUSLY fun! My experience with Intending has been that it all happens a lot faster if I'm in a happy, contented, PRESENT space. One Laughing Lights breath leads to another. It lends a whole new dancing energy to the word 'practice'.
The best part is that you can do it no matter what else you are doing. Eating, mowing the lawn, sailing, doing the laundry, INTENDING to do the laundry, it's all a lot more fun with Laughing Lights swirling around on every breath. Try it! You can post comments or questions on my InnerGalactiGazette blog on www.ragananda.com and I'll be happy to elaborate. However, it's not about words, it's about JUST DOING IT and finding out for yourself, breath by breath, what breathing and allowing Holy Laughing Lightness can bring to your life. See YOU at the Smiling Party!
Aloha,
Gabrielle
Gabrielle's Laughing Lights Parade
Our friend, Gabrielle Silva from the Boulder, CO Intenders Circle, is one of the happiest, most light hearted people we know. She writes the Ragananda children's books and recently sent us the following letter:
"A couple of years ago, about the same time that I became an Intender, I started doing a breathing meditation where, on a great big SMILING INBREATH, I saw these little hearts with wings with smiley faces flowing out from my heart, swarming around me. Then, on the OUTBREATH, I saw them flying off gracefully to bring Holy Laughing Lightness to wherever it was needed. Actually, I can't really think of a single place on this planet that couldn't use a little Holy Laughing Lightness! Can you?
I've noticed a lot of benefits from pivoting out of drama, or other non-productive uses of my attention, into this simple breath. One benefit is - it's GLORIOUSLY fun! My experience with Intending has been that it all happens a lot faster if I'm in a happy, contented, PRESENT space. One Laughing Lights breath leads to another. It lends a whole new dancing energy to the word 'practice'.
The best part is that you can do it no matter what else you are doing. Eating, mowing the lawn, sailing, doing the laundry, INTENDING to do the laundry, it's all a lot more fun with Laughing Lights swirling around on every breath. Try it! You can post comments or questions on my InnerGalactiGazette blog on www.ragananda.com and I'll be happy to elaborate. However, it's not about words, it's about JUST DOING IT and finding out for yourself, breath by breath, what breathing and allowing Holy Laughing Lightness can bring to your life. See YOU at the Smiling Party!
Aloha,
Gabrielle
Monday, August 2, 2010
August Nature News
Wild Birds Unlimited Nature News
Making the Most of Late Summer
Though this month marks the beginning of the end of summer, there are still plenty of opportunities to help birds and maximize your backyard enjoyment.
Hummingbird Migration
Millions of hummingbirds are preparing to fly back to their winter ranges. Hummingbirds have been migrating between North and Central America for hundreds of years, some traveling thousands of miles each way.
A high-calorie diet is important to build fat reserves for their trip, so be sure to have your hummingbird feeders ready.
Studies show that most of the hummingbirds visiting your feeders on a day toward the end of migration season are replaced by a new wave of migrants within 24 hours.
Offering Water
Whether they are feeder visitors or not, birds need water for drinking, bathing and preening. Offering a dependable source of water is the simplest and most important step you can take to increase the variety of birds in your yard.
Birds must be ready to fly at all times, especially during migration. Bathing is a critical part of keeping their feathers in top-flight condition.
Deter Unwanted Visitors
Mosquito Solutions
Mosquitoes lay their eggs in still water, so open sources of water can cause a potential mosquito problem. Use a fountain, waterfall accessory or Water Wiggler™ to create ripples and prevent mosquitoes from laying eggs in your bird baths. Water in motion is also more attractive to birds.
Nectar Feeding Solutions
Featuring bee guards, ports that are above the nectar and a built-in ant moat, our WBU Decorative Window Hummingbird Feeder allows you to feed your hummingbirds and prevent bees, wasps and ants from becoming a nuisance.
Aggressive male hummingbirds can bully others from visiting a feeder. By hanging multiple hummingbird feeders around your yard, you make it difficult for a territorial male to defend the area, allowing other birds to visit the feeders.
Starling and Grackle Solution
Offer safflower, and keep starlings and grackles from eating all your bird food and crowding your feeders and chasing away the birds you want to see. Safflower is a small, white seed that is high in protein and fat. Most song birds eat safflower, however, starlings, grackles and squirrels typically do not.
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Our deepest fear
"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate,
our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child
of God. Your playing small does not serve the world.
There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other
people won't feel insecure around you. We were born to
make manifest the glory of God that is within us.
It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone.
And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously
give other people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our own fear,
our presence automatically liberates others."
The above excerpt is by MarrianneWilliamson from the book, A Return To Love: Reflections on the Principles of A Course in Miracles. Williamson, an acclaimed author and lecturer has empowered many to seek transformation and peace within, so that the world and ourselves will be changed. It has been rumored that Nelson Mandela spoke these words at his inaugural speech, but it has since been proven otherwise.
Friday, July 30, 2010
The poet Hafiz once said,
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Chief Seattle's One Condition
Chief Seattle of the Duwamish Tribe in the state of Washington told the United State government, in 1855, that he would sign a treaty with them under one condition. He knew at the time that his life and those of the tribes he represented would be forever changed whether he signed the treaty or not.
Here is what Chief Seattle told President Franklin Pierce:
“If I decide to accept, I will make one condition. The white man must treat the beasts of this land as his brothers. I am a savage and I do not understand any other way. I have seen a thousand rotting buffaloes on the prairies left by the white man who shot them from a passing train. I am a savage and I do not understand how the smoking iron horse can be more important than the buffalo that we kill only to stay alive. What is man without the beasts? If all the beasts were gone, men would die from great loneliness of spirit, for whatever happens to the beast also happens to man. All things are connected. Whatever befalls the earth befalls the sons of the earth. Man did not weave the web of life: he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself.”
Here is what Chief Seattle told President Franklin Pierce:
“If I decide to accept, I will make one condition. The white man must treat the beasts of this land as his brothers. I am a savage and I do not understand any other way. I have seen a thousand rotting buffaloes on the prairies left by the white man who shot them from a passing train. I am a savage and I do not understand how the smoking iron horse can be more important than the buffalo that we kill only to stay alive. What is man without the beasts? If all the beasts were gone, men would die from great loneliness of spirit, for whatever happens to the beast also happens to man. All things are connected. Whatever befalls the earth befalls the sons of the earth. Man did not weave the web of life: he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself.”
Thursday, July 22, 2010
We did not come here to be common...
“We did not come here to be common… We did not travel this great distance to give up, give in and lie down. We came here to wake up and be joyful; to stand up and be powerful; to open up our hearts, our minds and our eyes as we expand our knowledge and our perception. You are extraordinary and you are powerful beyond belief!” —Heather K. O’Hara
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Rumi Inspiration
The minute I heard my first love story,
Light Breeze
As regards feeling pain, like a hand cut in battle,
consider the body a robe you wear.
When you meet someone you love, do you kiss their clothes?
Search out who's inside. Union with God is sweeter than body comforts.
We have hands and feet different from these.
Sometimes in a dream we see them.
That is not illusion. It is seeing truely.
You do have a spirit body; don't dread leaving the physical one.
Sometimes, someone feels this truth so strongly
that he or she can live in mountain solitude totally refreshed.
The worried heroic doings of men and women seem weary and futile
to dervishes enjoying the light breeze of spirit.
From Soul of Rumi by Coleman Barks
Birdsong brings relief to my longing.
I'm just as ecstatic as they are,
but with nothing to say!
Please Universal Soul,
practice some song or something through me.
From Essential Rumi by Coleman Barks
I started looking for you, not knowing how blind that was.
Lovers don't finally meet somewhere,
they're in each other all along.
From Essential Rumi, Coleman Barks translator
Light Breeze
As regards feeling pain, like a hand cut in battle,
consider the body a robe you wear.
When you meet someone you love, do you kiss their clothes?
Search out who's inside. Union with God is sweeter than body comforts.
We have hands and feet different from these.
Sometimes in a dream we see them.
That is not illusion. It is seeing truely.
You do have a spirit body; don't dread leaving the physical one.
Sometimes, someone feels this truth so strongly
that he or she can live in mountain solitude totally refreshed.
The worried heroic doings of men and women seem weary and futile
to dervishes enjoying the light breeze of spirit.
From Soul of Rumi by Coleman Barks
Birdsong brings relief to my longing.
I'm just as ecstatic as they are,
but with nothing to say!
Please Universal Soul,
practice some song or something through me.
From Essential Rumi by Coleman Barks
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Nature Happenings for July
Thank you Wild Birds Unlimited Nature Shop
• July 11: New Moon, July 25: Full Moon
• July 28 - 29: Delta Aquarids Meteor shower peaks.
• July 29 - 30: Capricornids Meteor shower
• July: NABA National Butterfly count
• Our longest days bring our highest average temperatures, and all those thunderstorms make for our second wettest month.
• Rufous Hummingbirds visit this month on their southbound leg of the longest migration distance of any bird for its size.
• Calliope Hummingbirds, our smallest bird in North America, also visit on their southern migration.
• Black-chinned Hummingbirds, recently found nesting in the Denver area, spill over from the mountains and visit feeders.
• American and Lesser Goldfinches are our last birds to nest, waiting for mature thistle plants to provide nesting material and food for their young.
• Robins have finished nesting but will readily visit yards in search of worms and berries. Plant berry-producing shrubs or offer cranberries and raisins to help robins feed their young.
Friday, July 2, 2010
Monday, June 28, 2010
Mowing grass- Priceless
I was reading a blog by Rebecca Hauptman, http://rhauptman.posterous.com/ and she had this wonderful photo of a soldier overseas growing green grass in front of his tent. So here it is:
Mowing Grass -- Priceless
I hope the picture will go through for you - of this Army soldier in Iraq with his tiny 'plot' of grass in front of his tent. It's heartwarming!
Here is a soldier stationed in Iraq , stationed in a big sand box. He asked his wife to send him dirt ( U.S. Soil), fertilizer, and some grass seed so that he can have the sweet aroma, and feel the grass grow beneath his feet When the men of the squadron have a mission that they are going on, they take turns walking through the grass and the American soil -- to bring them good luck.
If you notice, he is even cutting the grass with a pair of a scissors. Sometimes we are in such a hurry that we don't stop and think about the little things that we take for granted.
Monday, June 21, 2010
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
The Starfish Flinger
As the old man walked down the beach at dawn, he noticed a young man ahead of him picking up starfish and flinging them into the sea. Finally catching up with the youth, he asked him why he was doing this. The answer was that the stranded starfish would die if left until the morning sun.
“But the beach goes on for miles and there are millions of starfish,” countered the other. “How can your effort make any difference?” The young man looked at the starfish in his hand and then threw it to safety in the waves.
“It makes a difference to that one,” he said.
Great story, huh? No one person can do it all.
But one person can make a difference. How did you make a difference today? How do you feel about it?
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
The future influences our current decisions!
Remember the old book, Time, Space and Beyond ? Fred Alan Wolf was one of the authors. He's a quantum physicist with a philosophical bent, a "What the Bleep..." man.
Recently, I ran across a transcript of an interview with him and it is very interesting to me. He speaks about how the future influences the decisions we make in the current moment and how when we analyse the past, we actually recreate a new reality...
all from a quantum mechanical reference.
http://twm.co.nz/wolf.html
Here is the abridged transcript I found. It is worthy of thought!
FRED ALAN WOLF
Physics and Consciousness
An abridged transcript from the THINKING ALLOWED Television Series
With Dr. Jeffrey Mishlove
JEFFREY MISHLOVE, Ph.D.: Hello and welcome. Our topic today is "Quantum Physics and Consciousness," and my guest, Dr. Fred Alan Wolf, is certainly an authority in this area. He's the author of several books, including Taking the Quantum Leap, which is a winner of the National Book Award; Star Wave, a book describing Fred's own theories about quantum physics and consciousness; and also The Body Quantum.
MISHLOVE: It's a pleasure to have you here, Fred. Let's talk about consciousness for a moment, because before we can talk about quantum physics and consciousness we need to start with a definition. What is consciousness to you, as a quantum physicist?
WOLF: Well, first let's talk about it in general -- not just as quantum physics, but what does it mean to be conscious? There are a thousand people writing books about consciousness, and not one of them really knows exactly what consciousness is. To tell you the truth, I don't know what it is either. So even though I've written several books about it and have been studying it for many, many years, to tell you exactly what consciousness is, is something that's beyond my grasp.
MISHLOVE: It's Goedel's theorem. A system can never understand or explain itself in any case.
WOLF: It's kind of like a mathematical theorem, or if you like, it's so much a part of ourselves that we can't recognize it. However, we shouldn't be so discouraged by such a remark as this, because in reality we don't know what anything is. If we ask, "What is this? What is that?" all you really do is try to describe how it behaves, or what it does, or what it looks like, or what it smells like, or what your sensation of it is. You really don't know what something intrinsically is.
So it's really a philosophical question as to what consciousness could be, because that's the ultimate mystery. What I'm trying to describe, and what I've learned to describe, is what consciousness does.
MISHLOVE: All right. What does consciousness do, Fred?
WOLF: What does consciousness do?
MISHLOVE: It sounds like you were describing it in a way, when you said we try to discriminate, we try to understand what things are. That is what consciousness is about.
WOLF: The best way I can describe it is to speak of it in terms of some kind of huge metaphor, like an ocean of consciousness; or that consciousness is everything, it fills the universe. What it does I think is very interesting. Before quantum physics, people knew that human beings were conscious. We knew that animals were conscious. Some of the ancient traditions, particularly some of the Hindu traditions, or the Vedic traditions of ancient Indian religion, speak in terms of everything being conscious. Rocks are conscious; your thumbnail is conscious; the television cameras that are recording this show are conscious. So they speak about consciousness pervading everything.
But with the twentieth century and with quantum physics, we began to see what might be called a new role for consciousness -- something that we know happens, but remained inexplicable until we began to realize that what we were talking about was the action of consciousness. So what I've been doing in my work is talking about something I call fundamental acts of consciousness. I call them FACS -- please forgive the pun.
What is a fundamental act of consciousness? It's an action in which something is perceived. Now, in ordinary physics, or in ordinary physiology, or in most of the classical realms of science, perception is something which is taken to be outside the realm of physicality. In other words, if you perceive something, you know that you see something. Light will strike your retina; you'll get an idea, or something will pop off in your brain, or something of that sort. But we never got the notion that somehow the act of seeing something was affecting what you were seeing or what you were looking at.
But in quantum physics we've learned that when you're looking at very small objects, subatomic particles for example, the very action of looking at them disturbs them to such an extent that we never really get a complete picture as to what they actually are. Now, this has led me to think that consciousness may be at the core of this problem as to how perception can affect and change reality, and that maybe what we're doing when we're thinking or feeling or sensing or even listening to a conversation is using this action of consciousness, this fundamental act, which sort of what I call pops the qwiff -- that suddenly alters the physical reality of, say, the human body.
MISHLOVE: In other words, in subatomic physics, if I want to look at a particle, I literally have to touch it. I have to bounce a photon or something off of it in order to do that. What you're suggesting is that consciousness acts in this way; it touches the things that it perceives.
WOLF: That's right.
MISHLOVE: It almost becomes one with them, merges with them a little bit, in the process of perceiving.
WOLF: Right. The way I kind of look at it is that consciousness is a huge oceanic wave that washes through everything, and it has ripples and vibrations in it.When there are acts of consciousness, the wave turns into bubbles at that moment, it just turns into froth...
MISHLOVE: And this is your whole point, that we're composed of this stuff. We're composed of this frothy little ocean. If we could see ourselves under an electronic microscope, it's about all we'd look like, I suppose....
WOLF: What I'm getting at, is that possibly we can't really address the question of what consciousness is, if we purely look at it in its objective, causal framework.
MISHLOVE: You're a physicist, and a theoretical quantum physicist. And when we get to that level of quantum physics, it seems as though the mechanical notions of the universe break down completely. Everything's fuzzy, it's frothy, it's foamy, it's probability waves. Doesn't that sort of seem to be like consciousness?
WOLF: Well, let me quote from Newton about this, even though we're talking quantum physics. Literally, I feel like a child at a seashore, when it comes to seeing where quantum physics is pointing. I feel like we're on the verge of a gigantic discovery -- maybe the nature of God, maybe the nature of the human spirit. Something of that sort is going to emerge from this, because our normal notions -- in fact the notions upon which we think science makes any sense at all, the notions of space and time and matter -- they just are breaking down, they're just falling apart, like tissue paper before our eyes. Wet tissue paper; it isn't even good tissue paper. It doesn't hold anything up anymore. So we're beginning to see that -- for example, in classical physics the idea that the past influences the presence is pretty normal. Everybody says, "Oh, of course."
MISHLOVE: One-way causality.
WOLF: One-way causality. Everybody says, "Oh yeah, naturally." I mean, that's what Newton said, that's what they all say. OK, but there's another notion. What about the future influencing the present? Is such an idea just an idea that comes about through parapsychology, or through mystical insight? Quantum physics says no, it says that definitely there is a real mathematical basis for saying actions in the future can have an effect on the probability patterns that exist in the present. In other words, what takes places now, what choices are being made right now, may not be as free to you as you think they are. To you it may seem uncertain -- well, I'll do this or I'll do that. But if you realized that what you did in the future is having an effect now, then it wouldn't be as obvious. So it's hard to talk about it because the future's yet to come, right?...
MISHLOVE: Isn't that interesting?
WOLF: We need to recreate the past. I mentioned this in an article I wrote about time, saying that the past is not fixed, that there's no absolute past. I'm sure there are events that we would all agree on. For example, we could agree on the Nazi Holocaust. OK, fine, but can we agree on what was going on in the German mind during the Nazi Holocaust? Can we agree on what was going on in our minds when we were ten years old? I mean, can we really come to grips and say, "OK, when I was ten years old I was really this bubbling kid, or I was just --"
MISHLOVE: But now there's a difference between interpreting the past and creating it, and I think as a physicist you're talking about creation here, aren't you?
WOLF: I'm talking about that interpretation is equivalent to creation -- that there really is no fixed, solid past, and that when you go back and look at the past, what you're doing is making an interpretation which will best rationalize the present position you're now holding.
WOLF: Yes. You can't really do that. So what you can do, is you can create that past so that it serves your purposes now. In other words, that past is not fixed. It's not an absolute past. In physics we have the principle called the principle of uncertainty, or the principle of indeterminism. And that principle says that you can't specify the movement of an object through space and its position in space simultaneously. You can't say both... because according to quantum physics you can't say where every little particle is, at exactly the same time.
MISHLOVE: And that's all we have in the now.
WOLF: And that's all we have in the now, is that constant creation of whatever happened in the past. You know, George Orwell realized this was true when he wrote 1984. He was trying to wake us up to the fact that yes, we are controlling the past....
MISHLOVE: Well, are you suggesting at a deeper level that reality changes, or are we just looking at the changes of the mind?
WOLF: Yes. I'm saying that the reality changes. I'm saying that what was real in that past has actually been created by the minds of today, and what's being written down is modifying and changing that. It is 1984. It's very subtle, ...
MISHLOVE: Would you say that they'd realize that we are each other?
WOLF: Ultimately that is the great vision -- to recognize that everything is one. There's just one basic being, one basic consciousness, of which we're all parts in some mysterious way -- but not in the simplified way of "You go your way, I go my way, and I don't care what you do, you don't care what I do, as long as we go our separate ways, everything's hunky-dory." It doesn't work that way. If we go our separate ways on a round planet, we're bound to clash as we come around the other side, right? No matter what direction you go off in, you're going to come back together.
MISHLOVE: I think you're talking about something more than a round planet. You're talking about quantum interconnectedness here.
WOLF: I'm talking about global consciousness. I'm talking about the fact that what one being does in some way affects everybody on the whole planet. It's not just separate beings all going their own ways. We are interconnected in ways that are very subtle and not easy to appreciate.
MISHLOVE: That's your basic sense of consciousness.
WOLF: That's my basic sense of it, yes. And it goes beyond that, by the way. It goes off into space too. I mean, everything is basically consciousness.
MISHLOVE: I gather from what you're saying that you would therefore see your world view as very compatible with what parapsychologists are researching.
WOLF: I have no problem with what parapsychologists are researching at all, because what is parapsychology? Parapsychology is the workings of science in areas which are very difficult to test. It's called fringe areas. I work in fringe areas myself, so I understand the nature of the problem. It's difficult to test it, and it's difficult to objectify it because we're working on things which break the paradigms of normal mechanistic thinking. So we have to go beyond those paradigms if we're going to have any success at all. So I'm very much a supporter of anything which gives people a new vision of how the universe works....
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Sunday, June 13, 2010
I love Red Dwarf !
This week I have been viewing all the old Red Dwarf episodes, season by season....
I absolutely love "Cat". "Cat" is the last descendant of a pregnant cat that Lister hid in the spaceship bulkhead, choosing stasis punishment, over surrendering the cat to certain death at the captain's command.
While Lister was in stasis, a radiation accident killed every human on board. Lister emerges from stasis, over a million years later, when the radiation is gone. His only companions are Holly the computer, Rimmer, an obnoxious hologram and the "Cat", whose species has evolved into a feline/humanoid form. This is the scene from the first episode, where Lister meets "Cat" for the first time after stasis. This is one cool cat!
Later in the series, they rescue an android, Kryten. It always gives me deep belly laughs when I watch this excerpt, where Kryten, a domestic mechanoid, is accidentally turned into a human being by an alien DNA machine. His appraisal of his new human body is revelatory and hysterical!
The human body is a truely bizzare container from Kryten's perspective!!!! Kryten chooses to go back to a mechanoid existance...Lister comments, "You have to be what you are."
I absolutely love "Cat". "Cat" is the last descendant of a pregnant cat that Lister hid in the spaceship bulkhead, choosing stasis punishment, over surrendering the cat to certain death at the captain's command.
While Lister was in stasis, a radiation accident killed every human on board. Lister emerges from stasis, over a million years later, when the radiation is gone. His only companions are Holly the computer, Rimmer, an obnoxious hologram and the "Cat", whose species has evolved into a feline/humanoid form. This is the scene from the first episode, where Lister meets "Cat" for the first time after stasis. This is one cool cat!
Later in the series, they rescue an android, Kryten. It always gives me deep belly laughs when I watch this excerpt, where Kryten, a domestic mechanoid, is accidentally turned into a human being by an alien DNA machine. His appraisal of his new human body is revelatory and hysterical!
The human body is a truely bizzare container from Kryten's perspective!!!! Kryten chooses to go back to a mechanoid existance...Lister comments, "You have to be what you are."
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Always Look on the Bright Side of Life Sing-Along
I have a friend who introduced me to the Intenders of the Highest Good. They have a system of how to manifest a better life for yourself and others.
Everyday they send you, (if you’ve signed up for their free newsletter http://www.intenders.org ) a new tip on how to improve your skills in positive manifestation. Step 8 had a lovely offering about staying uplifted, to do the thing you came here to do. So I thought I’d put it on the table for discussion.
The Bridge ~ Step 8 ~ Staying Uplifted
Oftentimes things may be happening all around you that seem to be discordant, and you cannot imagine what is going on. But you must remain focused and steadfast and be able to see through and not get caught up in the mundane dramas that are constantly being perpetuated on this planet.
I have good friends who live way out in the desert in order to get away from everything. Like a lot of people nowadays, the husband is obsessed with disasters and potential catastrophes. In fact, he even has a cave on his land stocked with enough survival goodies to feed and water a small town. I lived with my friends for a few months the winter before last, and everyday, as we worked together, the husband would talk about last night's Art Bell radio show, and he even taped the most frightening shows so that I could listen to them later in the day.
Now . . . I was having some health challenges when I arrived at their place, and over a period of the next couple of months I felt my energy level going down and down. My physical discomfort was getting worse by the day.
Finally, one morning I asked my inner guidance what was going on, and the answer I receive was very helpful. I was told that the next time the husband approached me with the latest disaster rumors to tell him, "My friend, I know that you mean well for me, but I have to ask you to hold off on these scary stories of yours. You see, it's my job to stay uplifted, no matter what. Your stories are enticing, however they tend to bring my energy level down. I need to stay up if I'm going to do the work that I came here to do." To make a long story short, he began to honor my request right away, and in a very short time my health and energy level shot back up to normal.
And that's the message for all of us who truly care about the well-being of humanity. It's like a resume for us, so that when anyone asks us what our job is we can say "It's my job to stay uplifted, regardless of all the crazy things that are going on around me. In fact, I've come to understand that if everyone buys into the disaster mindset and nobody guards their energy level, then we will all be down wallowing in the swamplands. Some of us have to stay uplifted, and that's what I'm here to do!"
My Intention for today is:
I intend that I am staying uplifted and doing what I came here to do.
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
These cats really go for it...
I must be getting old...these cats in the video are really throwing themselves completely into their activity..I am trying to remember when I last did that... it has been at least eight maybe nine months ago...
Passionate intensity is actually lots of fun...I hope to find it again...probably this video is helping me to remember what that feels like and how I enjoy the creative surge...
What give you that surge of passionate intensity? (Keep it a little clean now...)
Feeling passionate is feeling very alive...don't you think?
Sunday, May 30, 2010
The Chinese Frog Test
I am hoping that my performance on the frog challenge this morning, is not an omen for the rest of the day. I did, after all, have a low tire...correction, completely flat tire, yesterday, at my friends' home. As the Big O Tire Shop was not open, at the time I left, I chose to fill the tire with air and drive it home....made it back safely too. However, I have many places to go today and I have not been back out to check it yet.
Anyway, This is a Chinese computer test for second graders. http://funstufftosee.com/frogleaptest.html
It took me many attempts to figure it out...I am sure, I am a better person for doing it so many times... right now, my biggest hope is that I can organize my own life faster and better than I did the frogs. Why did I choose this experience in personal humiliation? Maybe it was because the frogs were "adorable"...three girls and three boys.
Let's face it...I am an easy mark when it comes to frogs.
Anyway, This is a Chinese computer test for second graders. http://funstufftosee.com/frogleaptest.html
It took me many attempts to figure it out...I am sure, I am a better person for doing it so many times... right now, my biggest hope is that I can organize my own life faster and better than I did the frogs. Why did I choose this experience in personal humiliation? Maybe it was because the frogs were "adorable"...three girls and three boys.
Let's face it...I am an easy mark when it comes to frogs.
Saturday, May 29, 2010
This Made Me Smile Today
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dneLQY6ZVk
Ok, Ok....Haven't figured out how to embed a video I watched this morning and wanted to share...I believe in having humor before bed and just when I wake up...improves my disposition...my twice daily vitamin! I am just getting started... it isn't even 9:30 AM yet...
Sunlight is streaming in my window ...I got to sleep in, until I couldn't lay there any longer...my cat did not wake me up for an early breakfast...I am looking forward to seeing friends today...I have little tomatoes growing on my plants in my bedroom window...the air is fresh and mild...20 baby geese are being escorted everywhere by a group of vigilant parents... (I can see them from my apartment window...hmmm, wondering if they will be challenging my exit from the building)....
Meanwhile, there is a perfect breeze and a warm mild temperature, as I sip tea in the sunlight on my balcony... the mother dove eyeing me soulfully from her eyelevel nest in the aspen, next to my balcony, is sitting on two eggs...it is Spring and things are perfect in this moment...I am savoring this... right now...totally embracing this moment! There is an eyes closed, satisfied, catlike smile gracing my face.
Thank you Life for moments like this!!!
What has brought you a smile so far today?
Friday, May 21, 2010
Objects close to touching,cast a shadow of oneness
As far back as I can remember connection has been the main focus of my attention.... not simple physical connection, so much as, spiritual/emotional union and wholeness. The quiet acknowledgement, the subtle flood of recognition, the alliance that forms without a word spoken….these are things that bridge the gap for me and reassure me that I am part of the wholeness of life.
It reminds me of the way my grandmother, would embrace and reassure me, without saying a word or even touching me. Sweet memories from a childhood, where I struggled to know who and what I was.
From my earliest days, my safest and most joyous connections were with animals, plants, the oceans, the skies and many things more ethereal. As an empath, it was natural to innocently melt into another’s spirit presence. And Nature is always welcoming.
People were more complex. As a child, I could not understand the individual need to hide things and retreat from this melding, that I so needed and enjoyed. It seemed unnatural and shocking to me.
So, whenever, someone would pull down their mask and share this kind of spiritual/emotional intimacy, even for a moment, it would thrill me. It was like we were co-conspirators.
It reminds me of the way my grandmother, would embrace and reassure me, without saying a word or even touching me. Sweet memories from a childhood, where I struggled to know who and what I was.
From my earliest days, my safest and most joyous connections were with animals, plants, the oceans, the skies and many things more ethereal. As an empath, it was natural to innocently melt into another’s spirit presence. And Nature is always welcoming.
People were more complex. As a child, I could not understand the individual need to hide things and retreat from this melding, that I so needed and enjoyed. It seemed unnatural and shocking to me.
So, whenever, someone would pull down their mask and share this kind of spiritual/emotional intimacy, even for a moment, it would thrill me. It was like we were co-conspirators.
These kinds of moments make everything worthwhile for me. It is one thing to savor the silent, infinite connection with everything and it is quite another thing, to overlap awareness with another, who is experiencing in the same way. It rocks creation!
"Once while touching you, touch me, I touched myself."
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Think of this as a collective life review
If you are new, please read the very first post…. Then this one!
Well, Monday, I dropped an idea into infinite silence and the blog began. The ripple has gone out. Manifestation can’t be far behind. I have had some lovely personal responses, not just on the blog, but particularly, one on one. The consensus is that the topic requires deep thought and may be overwhelming. Also the topic is too private to be published all over the internet.
My first thought was “Yes”! Deep thinking and “noticing” is happening! That was part of the intention.
The subject matter is deep, no quick answers here! However, if you sit quietly and ask yourself, “What has made it all worthwhile?” or “What has been the most important, inspiring, meaningful or fulfilling part of life for me?” It gets easier. As you wait quietly, allowing yourself to sort through the layers of surface thoughts, feelings and sensations, you eventually will connect to your heart/spirit/soul and it will give you a starting place. And this response is all you need to post about. If you use words, well then, write what came to you. If you are a musician, then record your response and post it. Are you an artist? Create something and share it.
Be playful with your response….everyone will appreciate that.
Also, as a housekeeping note: You can post anonymously, if it is all too personal! But please give us a reference name in the comment box, so we can easily respond to your comment. To post, all you have to do, is to click on “comments” at the bottom of the post. If you have one of the accounts in the profile pull down, then you can post through that. If you are anonymous, or don’t have an account, post as anonymous.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Time for Reflection- May 18th, 2010
Ok Everybody. Stop what you are doing for a moment.
Close the textbooks please. This is an open experience exam.
Since the world, as we know it, is experiencing greater and more complex challenges and seems constantly in crisis....
Since so many people are feeling like they are just waiting for the other shoe to fall.....
Before we all change into something new, evolve, become extinct, or simply go any further, could we just stop for a moment of personal and collective reflection?
I wish to open an honest, worldwide dialogue with whomever feels called to this inquiry.
Here's the assignment.
Please respond to one, some or all of the following questions:
Honestly, What is life all about? What do you know about life? What have you learned about the "Greater Life"? What are you grateful for? What has inspired you? Brought out the highest and best in you? What wisdoms have others shared with you that have changed you life in a positive way? What do you trust? What has made it worthwhile? What makes you happy?
This is a spiritual inquiry, not an ego quest. I don't want "so and so says"....I want your deepest, most honest answers from your reflections on your personal experiences. Put aside conventional teachings and language, and speak from your heart, mind and spirit.
Everyone is invited to participate. It would be nice to have a first name, age and country. But it is not essential. Remember that life on the web is fairly transparent.
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