A Quest For Creativity

Why Do I Support WikiLeaks?

2010-12-08T18:25:00.003Z

Firstly, I do not support WikiLeaks unconditionally. I support the principle of leakage. WikiLeaks being the only current high-profile organization in this field of free information, I support them to the point of giving them the benefit of the doubt as they are pioneers in a completely unexplored area.

Secondly, I believe that one cannot expect such a vast reaching enterprise to be perfect or flawless without having the necessary experience to deal with the consequences. It is an organization that has a 4 year record of sticking to its mission and keeping its word. So far so good, in my opinion anyway. I feel they have reported abuses of different kind around the world and that this has been very positive for the general public as major issues which were being illegitimately withheld have come forth and enabled concerned citizens to make more informed decisions.

Lastly, as I have mentioned before, I am profoundly dissatisfied with the socio-economical system we find ourselves in at this moment in time and I welcome WikiLeaks' initiative as a beacon of change. If you know of any others with this calibre who have a better record and are completely devoid of a political agenda, I'll be happy to support them instead. In the meanwhile, I will defend WikiLeaks' right to continue what they are doing as I haven't come across anything that makes me think otherwise.

I don't have a definitive answer to the confidentiality aspect of the whole issue. When is it OK to withhold information from the public? I suspect we need to find a balance as we progress with these issues and continue experimenting with the freedom that the internet allows for information to circulate in ways that were previously not conceivable to anyone. I, as any other fellow human, appreciate the necessity for privacy, but I admit that I may be old-fashioned in this myself. It may be that we have reached a point in human civilization where our egos, collective and personal, need to take a backseat as we evolve towards a socio-economical paradigm that we cannot yet understand or perceive.

A Profound Truth of the 21st Century

2010-07-21T01:06:00.004+01:00

Stolen from here.

2010-07-11T00:13:00.000+01:00

Inside the hive

Shining, glowing gold.

Amazed...

Barefoot Beekeeping

2010-07-01T21:19:00.004+01:00

DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME!! BEES ARE WILD ANIMALS AND CAN ATTACK WITHOUT ANY WARNING.

I highly recommend the use of protective clothing when handling bees.

At one.

Liquid gold in the making.

Appreciating the beauty.

Getting the hive ready and calming the bees.

It's just water.

Beekeeping in Action!

2010-06-26T00:11:00.003+01:00

Briefing before acting.

Opening the swarm box.

Easy does it.

Bees getting active.

Nasonov glands activated to attract other bees into the hive.

Leftovers.

Not so gently this time...

Quite a few left.

Slowly moving in.

Getting the last ones out.

Working on the Top Bar Hive, adding bars.

Making space.

Adding bars again.

Closing the hive.

Closed.

Perone and Warrone hive.

Snatam Kaur - By Thy Grace

2010-04-24T13:57:00.000+01:00

Bayer admits GMO contamination out of control

2010-04-23T14:05:00.003+01:00

Article published on Natural News website:

(NaturalNews) Drug and chemical giant Bayer AG has admitted that there is no way to stop the uncontrolled spread of its genetically modified crops.

"Even the best practices can't guarantee perfection," said Mark Ferguson, the company's defense lawyer in a recent trial.

Two Missouri farmers sued Bayer for contaminating their crop with modified genes from an experimental strain of rice engineered to be resistant to the company's Liberty-brand herbicide. The contamination occurred in 2006, during an open field test of the new rice, which was not approved for human consumption. According to the plaintiffs' lawyer, Don Downing, genetic material from the unapproved rice contaminated more than 30 percent of all rice cropland in the United States.

"Bayer was supposed to be careful," Downing said. "Bayer was not careful and that rice did escape into our commercial rice supplies."

The plaintiffs alleged that in addition to contaminating their fields, Bayer further harmed them financially by undermining their export market. When the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced the widespread rice contamination, important export markets were closed to U.S. producers. A report from Greenpeace International estimates the financial damage of the contamination at between $741 million and $1.3 billion.

Bayer claimed that there was no possible way it could have prevented the contamination, insisting that it followed not only the law but also the best industry practices. The jury disagreed, finding Bayer guilty of carelessness in handling the genetically modified crops. The company was ordered to pay farmers Kenneth Bell and Johnny Hunter $2 million.

"This is a huge victory, not only for Kenny and me, but for every farmer in America who was harmed by Bayer's LibertyLink rice contamination," Hunter said.

According to Hunter, the company got "the wake-up call they deserved."

Bayer is still being sued by more than 1,000 other farmers from Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas.

Sources for this story include: www.organicconsumers.org; www.bloomberg.com.

Tony Samara - Garden of Light Satsang - 24/02/2010

2010-02-27T08:07:00.000Z

002 GOLS24FEB2010 from Satprem on Vimeo.

Tony Samara - Garden of Light Satsang - 18/02/2010

2010-02-20T08:12:00.001Z

Garden Of Light Satsang 18Feb2010 from Satprem on Vimeo.

... or just go with the flow

2010-02-20T07:56:00.004Z

by Deborah Jackson in TIMES ONLINE (May 2005)

POLITE NOTICE: this article contains facts about infant nurture which some readers may find distasteful or even offensive. As someone who breast-fed three children on and off over eight years, I know how touchy people can be. Simply by breast-feeding my babies as often as they needed and for as long as we both liked, I managed to cause offence to health visitors, female friends, distant relatives and the occasional stranger.

Before nursing my toddler, Alice, I used to check first if people were OK with it, rather as if I were about to light a cigarette. Passive breast-feeding is clearly a menace to modern society.

Alice stopped feeding at 2½, but some children take it further. Of course, the farther they go, the more society is offended. American and Canadian divorce custody cases have even classed long-term nursing of five-year-olds as a sexual aberration. As Madonna famously remarked when an eight-year-old child was seen to nurse on daytime American TV, “That’s incest.” Yet, believe it or not, throughout history and across the globe, there have always been eight-year-old nurslings. And while their acts of conspicuous consumption may seem to many like defiance or perversion, the truth is that it’s all perfectly within nature’s plan.

Lactation experts agree that human milk is designed to be delivered over years, not months: that it’s not merely food but a source of comfort and wellbeing long after the baby starts to taste solids. “Some children nurse less than two and a half years, and some nurse longer than seven years,” says Katherine Dettwyler, a biocultural anthropologist who since 1981 has researched the question of long-term breast-feeding. Seven seems to be the usual cut-off point. “There is no research,” she adds, “to support a claim that breast-feeding a child at any age is in any way harmful to a child.”

One obvious clue is the comparison between different species. Some animals, such as the guinea pig, are “short-lactating”, ie, their babies are born mature and weaned within a few days. Primates are long-lactating: they wean their babies between one and seven years, depending on their body size. Macaque monkeys, for instance, which are slightly bigger than the domestic cat, nurse for a year or two. Chimpanzees suckle their young for between four and six years. Needless to say, we humans must count ourselves biologically among the primates.

Never mind the government recommendation of six months’ breastfeeding, or that only 21 per cent of British babies actually reach this nursing milestone. Human milk is very low in protein and designed for slow release. Less protein is not a nutritional deficiency, but nature’s way of keeping the human baby as small and portable for as long as possible. (By contrast, cow’s milk is high in protein, enabling calves to double their weight in 50 days.) The point of being carried around is that the big-brained baby has everything to learn and must do so by observing. He drinks in his culture, its people and their language along with his mother’s milk. This milk changes daily — it even goes from low-fat to high-fat mid-feed — and it changes as the years progress. Human milk provides the nutrients for rapid brain growth and hormones for optimum health, with advantages reaching far into adulthood. Although every culture introduces solids by the end of the first year of life (and some start in the first few weeks), breast-feeding provides a long overlap from infancy to independence and many societies are in no wish to hurry the process.

In the early 1900s, Chinese and Japanese children were routinely breast-fed until they reached four or five. Ancient Egyptians nursed for three years and the Inuit people traditionally suckled their children for seven years. In our own history, 19th-century mothers in East Lincolnshire (for instance) nursed their children for seven or eight years each. Today, Asia is the place where babies are most likely to be nursed long-term.

In Bangladesh, one of the world’s poorest countries, 90 per cent of two-year-olds are still nursing; the figure in Nepal is 88 per cent. Our own Infant Feeding Survey stops counting at nine months, when it records that just 13 per cent of babies are still breast-fed, but even this implies about 70,000 nursing mums. I know of mothers who have quietly continued with night-time feeds after their children have started school, but it’s not something many of them would advertise.

Breast-feeding is usually a discreet experience. A new baby suckles quietly, his head swathed in a baggy jumper or shawl, and it’s rare to sight a nipple, let alone bare skin. But nursing toddlers is more messy. Their heads turn this way and that in eager curiosity. They talk about “num num” or “mummy juice” and pull at your T-shirt when you’re shaking hands with the head teacher. At 17 months, my third child, Joe, would wriggle around like a jumping bean, suddenly leaping off my lap mid-feed and leaving me exposed to view. Seconds later, he would jump back on again. Not surprising, perhaps, that one friend said: “I’m not against breast-feeding, I just can’t bear to see it.” Not surprising, either, that 17 months was all the nursing Joe received.

Despite social prejudice and fretful headlines, most long-term breast-feeding mothers are not sexual deviants, exhibitionists, militants or even overbearing. Not one of them started out with a plan to breast-feed right up to the school gates. The ones who do are usually just those who, prepared to go with the flow, found that the flow lasted longer than expected. They carry on to the uncomfortable point where biology is crushed by cultural prejudice.

And on that subject, a special mention must go to Richard Page, the Conservative MP for Hertfordshire South West, who, when approached recently for his support by breast-feeding mothers, remarked: “I do not believe that breast-feeding in public is acceptable or indeed necessary. There were one or two Labour MPs who tried to argue that breast-feeding should be allowed in the chamber of the House of Commons, and thank heavens that was promptly squashed.”

This sort of bigotry is perhaps the greatest obstacle to improving breast-feeding rates in our country. When society finds the nurturing act itself revolting, a mother’s primary emotions are guilt and embarrassment and she is more likely to retreat underground if she continues at all. It is not necessary to promote long-term breast-feeding as an end in itself. But as long as we remain squeamish about the breast’s real function, confusing childcare and babycare with sex, mothers will find it hard to be accepted for doing their best. In such a climate, it becomes almost impossible to accept the mother who wants to continue breast-feeding for as long as she likes.

Large Hadron Rap

2010-02-13T09:02:00.002Z

Get down to the groovy beats of lead ions and the gravitons. Antimatter in da haws!

Kid Safety Labels That We'd Like To See

2009-07-06T18:11:00.003+01:00

by Gever Trully

Check out The Tinkering School!

Codex Alimentarius (again!)

2009-07-03T13:41:00.002+01:00

Please, please visit this page and read everything and pass on the information about Codex. This is the Alliance for Natural Health's campaign against Codex Alimentarius. It dispells slander and is adamant on factual and correct information.

Codex Alimentarius (corrections)

2009-07-03T13:34:00.001+01:00

I need to correct a few things I said in my rash e-mail about the ELIANT petition regarding Codex Alimentarius (CA). Firstly, ELIANT is not responsible for this chain mail, they have put up a disclaimer on their website explaining that their mission is about Anthroposophy and has nothing to do with CA. However, I still maintain my reservations about petitions asking for 1 million signatures and donations on the side.

Secondly, I've looked a bit deeper into Codex Alimentarius because I felt stupid taking their word at face value after only having read the official website and it so happens that what they say in their FAQ is true but then... there is much more to the story.

On the Wikipedia article, there is mention of a slight controversy regarding the CA.

But conspiracy theorists go much further and argue dazzling points. Among the mass of tales that are reported, a lot of it is bogus but one person states an interesting case, which I can't prove or disprove but it makes sense. His name is Ian McCrane and if you liked the Zeitgeist movies (www.zeitgeistmovie.com), you'll love this.

You can watch him on YouTube for the short version (7m30s) of his theory or the long version (1h30m).

The basic idea is that Codex Alimentarius is an independent commission in which hundreds of countries take part in and most importantly, Monsanto (the biotech company that produces Genetically Manipulated foods) and the big pharmaceutical companies. These companies suggest "safety" guidelines to the CA, which in turn lobbies the World Trade Organisation, the World Health Organisation and governments for the adoption of these guidelines as laws and regulations. It's important to note that Codex Alimentarius is not a health commission it is a trade commission, what business it has establishing safety guidelines is beyond understanding.

So while it's true that CA has no direct relationship with laws, they are currently putting pressure on the EU to adopt their guidelines as directives or regulations. These guidelines include very dangerous acceptance of toxic chemicals in pesticides and fertilizers, the abolition of food labeling and the promotion of GM, cloned and irradiated foods. This means that it's possible that in a few years, you basically will have no idea what sort of food you're buying.

You will ask, what's the point? Well if food quality is low, then we start to depend on pharmaceuticals to keep us "healthy" don't we? The theory goes much deeper but if you're interested, you'll look it up for yourselves and find plenty of food for thought. As someone once said, "It's not because you're paranoid that no-one is out to get you"! :D

Big pharmaceutical companies have bottomless pockets - they are as profitable as oil companies - and can buy their way to almost anything they want. Fortunately, CA guidelines weren't adopted in the USA a few years ago because a wave of public protests made this impossible. However, the CA's eyes are now on the EU.

My purpose here is simply to correct my position on Codex Alimentarius and to suggest to write to your Euro-deputy/representative to say that you do not want Codex Alimentarius guidelines to become EU regulation or directive as well as to your local government.

Codex Alimentarius?

2009-06-15T18:56:00.002+01:00

It's been the umpteenth time now I've received an e-mail asking to sign for a petition of a doomsday law that will ban healing herbs and irradiate organic foods and such other horrible things. I never sign online petitions but I decided to check it out and surprisingly or not, it's all bogus. Please check for yourself the official information here.

While I don't agree with everything they do, it's hardly the conspiracy to undermine a healthy alternative lifestyle. Maybe I'm wrong and they are flashing a smokescreen but their arguments are not about banning herbs and irradiating organic foods as far as I've found out. I think Eliant - the "company" so concerned about me and my liberty - may be more interested in gathering donation money through fear mongering than actually making a change. Imagine, a million e-mail addresses to request donations from! That's a pretty good tactic.

Please check out what any petition is about and if any of it is true before forwarding it (and don't bother forwarding petitions to me, I won't sign them, whatever they are). I and others will thank you and thus avoid spreading doubt and mistrust across the world. I send this even in case you haven't received the letter because chances are you will eventually receive this request to sign the petition and donate money to the so-called do-gooders. Don't be fooled.

Here is a summary of the FAQ about the rumours:

FAQs - RUMOURS

R1: Will Codex make all nutritional supplements only available by prescription? Will Codex ban all supplements and make vitamins illegal the same way heroin is illegal? Will all natural herbs and alternative remedies be banned by Codex?

These are some of the many unfounded rumours about Codex that can be found on the internet. The Guidelines for Vitamin and Mineral Food Supplements (CAC/GL 55-2005) adopted in 2005 do not contain provisions for the prescription or prohibition of any nutrient supplements. They do not deal with natural herbs and remedies at all (see also W1)

R2: Is it true that Codex was created by a former war criminal to control the world food supply?

No. It is a false claim. You just need to type the words "Codex Alimentarius" in any search engine and you will find lots lots of these rumours about Codex. Usually the people spreading them will give no proof but will ask you to send donations or to sign petitions against Codex.

Truthful information about Codex is found on Internet (www.codexalimentarius.net) - there is nothing to hide from our side - we are a public institution working in public for the public - we are happy if people want to know more about our work and ask questions. There is an official Codex Contact Point in each member country (www.codexalimentarius.net/web/members.jsp) who will be pleased to answer your questions on Codex

R3: Why are there so many rumours about Codex on the internet? Where do they come from?

These rumours started some years back when one of Codex Committees began work on guidelines for vitamin and mineral supplements (see W1). They appear to be linked to advocacy groups who wrongly believe that Codex is a threat to freedom of choice especially concerning vitamin and mineral supplements (see also R1). These rumours are self-reproducing through chain email messages and other low-cost means of communication.

R4: Why would so many people believe the rumours about Codex and not check the facts?

Good health is foundation of human life. People today are very concerned about their health and they are often confused by conflicting messages in the media on what they should eat to keep healthy. People's legitimate interest in health may be easily exploited by certain groups which claim that there is an international conspiracy with Codex at the centre. This will get them attention, support and donations. As Codex Alimentarius is relatively unknown to consumers, many of them accept or start to believe the anti-Codex campaign messages without asking for proof, which is regrettable.

R5: There must be something to all these rumours about Codex - there are so many people believing them. How can I know whom to trust?

The Internet is a vast storage of information and it contains truth and lies next to each other, without a guide telling you what is wrong and what is right. In the end you will have to make your own decision on whom to believe. All information about Codex work since 1962 can be found on the Codex website. It may take you some time to find the information you are looking for in the Codex website, but all is there and we are continuously working to improve the website and make it more user-friendly. Those who are spreading rumours are mainly interested in donations - the more they scare people, the more they get donations. When deciding whom to believe, you only need to be critical on both sides - we do not mind because we have nothing to hide.

R6: Will Codex require all fruits and vegetables even organically grown ones to be irradiated and sprayed with pesticides?

No. Codex guidelines and standards deal with the safe and appropriate use of irradiation and pesticides. Codex does not prescribe the use of these techniques which is up to national legislation.

At the moment, the market for irradiated food is very small and its use is mainly for herbs and spices (see the video "The pepper trail" for more information about spices http://www.youtube.com/CodexAlim).

R7: Is it true that cattle worldwide are to be treated with growth hormones?

There are no prescriptions in Codex standards and guidelines on treating or not treating cattle with hormones. Codex has established maximum residue values for a number of veterinary drugs in order to make sure that their residues do not raise health concern where they are used.

R8: Is it true that the permitted amount of the carcinogenic substance Aflatoxin is going to be raised?

No. Codex has established safety limits for this contaminant in different foods and has also worked out codes of practice for producers to avoid and reduce such contamination. It is our goal to scientifically establish how much is safe and how to reduce contamination. Codex work on contaminants, food additives and veterinary drug residues is scientifically supported by the rigorous risk assessment conducted by a scientific expert body of FAO and WHO - Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives, known as JECFA. For more information about aflatoxins, please refer to reports of the Committee on Contaminants in Foods and the Codex General Standard for Contaminants and Toxins in Foods.

R9: Is it true that the labelling of GM food is going to be cancelled?

There are presently no Codex provisions for the labelling of GM foods except in the case of possible allergic reactions. The work on finding an international consensus on how to proceed with the labelling of GM Food has proven difficult because of quite opposed opinions in the world. As there has been no consensus for some time some countries suggested stopping this work but others would like to continue so the discussion continues. International consensus is not an easy thing! For further information please read reports of the Committee on Food Labelling.

R10: Is it true that any advice on nutrition and nutritional values published in print media or internet is going to be made illegal?

There are several Codex texts giving guidance on nutrition claims to avoid that consumers are misled with false claims on food labels. These issues are discussed by the Codex Committee on Food Labelling. There has never been any talk about making any truthful information illegal nor could this be done by Codex, as all Codex texts are voluntary.

R11: Is it correct that certain diseases such as cancer, heart disease and diabetes are caused by food denaturized by Codex?

Non-communicable diseases such as cancer and heart disease are in fact a growing concern in the world and their causes are now understood somewhat better. Research by WHO shows that some of these diseases may be partly caused by life style changes (e.g. unhealthy diets, lack of physical exercise) both in the developed and the developing world.

A well-balanced diet composed of safe and nutritious foods is recommended to reduce risks of non-communicable diseases. Codex can help consumers to make an informed choice of foods they buy and eat, but it is up to consumers themselves to constitute their own diet.

Two Codex Committees work actively to assist the WHO Global Strategy on Diet Physical Activity and Health to ensure that consumers get the right information about nutrients and can make healthy choices
(http://www.who.int/dietphysicalactivity/en/).

R12: I have heard that the Codex will become law on 31 December 2009. Is it true?

This is an unfounded rumour: The standards, guidelines and codes adopted by the Codex Alimentarius Commission are voluntary and do not therefore contain implementation deadlines or dates, nor can the Commission turn them into binding law.

HOME - A film by Yann Arthus Bertrand

2009-06-15T18:53:00.001+01:00

HOME is a non-profit documentary about our planet and the urgency to awaken by Yann Arthus Bertrand in which the famous director Luc Besson has gotten involved in. The movie is being offered for free all over the world on its première.

You can stream it on YouTube or buy it at cost price on DVD.

This is the pitch from the director Yann Arthus-Bertrand:

"We are living in exceptional times. Scientists tell us that we have 10 years to change the way we live, avert the depletion of natural resources and the catastrophic evolution of the Earth's climate.

The stakes are high for us and our children. Everyone should take part in the effort, and HOME has been conceived to take a message of mobilization out to every human being.

For this purpose, HOME needs to be free. A patron, the PPR Group, made this possible. EuropaCorp, the distributor, also pledged not to make any profit because Home is a non-profit film.

HOME has been made for you : share it! And act for the planet."

Bodhisattva in the Metro

2009-06-15T18:50:00.001+01:00

How serious are you? Watch this and find out...

The Earth Meditation

2009-06-15T18:48:00.000+01:00

I would like to invite you to partake in a little moment of meditation every day with this wonderful exercise. It is called The Earth Meditation and it is the most simple thing that you can do while helping the growth of consciousness on our planet. Please visit the website and connect to every being.

Where's the Beef? Ghent Goes Vegetarian

2009-06-15T18:44:00.002+01:00

I found this fantastic article on TIME's website about a wonderful - albeit imperfect - initiative that I hope will become a model for more and more cities around the world to follow.

By Eben Harrell Wednesday, May. 27, 2009

Last year, Rajendra Pachauri, chairman of the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, suggested that the most useful step ordinary citizens could take to help combat climate change would be to stop eating meat. In Belgium, an entire town is taking his advice to heart. The Flemish city of Ghent has designated every Thursday as "Veggiedag" — Veggie Day — calling for meat-free meals to be served in schools and public buildings, and encouraging vegetarianism among citizens by promoting vegetarian eateries and offering advice on how to follow a herbivorous diet.

Veggie Day is not compulsory, says the city's vice-mayor, Tom Balthazar, because such a draconian measure would be impossible to enforce, even in environmentally friendly Ghent, a picturesque town of 230,000 where bicycles lay scattered against spired churches in the largest car-free city center in Belgium. "We wanted our goal to be easily achievable — it's not hard to skip meat one day a week," he says. "And we wanted it to be something the population could rally behind. If you give people the correct information about meat, it becomes an easy ethical decision."

According to the U.N.'s Food and Agriculture Organization, meat production accounts for 18% of annual greenhouse-gas emissions — more than transportation, which accounts for roughly 14%. Each year, millions of acres of rain forest are cleared for cattle ranchers and suppliers of animal feed, further accelerating climate change. Then there are the urgent human-health issues: the world feeds much of its grain to cattle and other animals even as millions of people starve. Those wealthy enough to consume fatty animal products are themselves at higher risk of certain health problems, including heart disease and some cancers.

For these reasons, says Tobias Leenaert, co-director of Ethical Vegetarian Alternative, a nonprofit funded by the regional Flemish government, "it's almost impossible to be against meat reduction. You can argue against vegetarianism, but not against cutting back on meat." That's a view that is gaining traction among those who hope to reshape meat consumption from an animal rights issue into an environmental and public health one. The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, for example, recently spearheaded a "meatless Mondays" campaign in which it and 28 other public health schools run local outreach programs that promote a meat-free start to the week. Germany's federal environment agency issued an advisory earlier this year urging Germans to return to prewar norms of eating meats only on special occasions. And Leenaert says that since Ghent's Veggie Day was launched on May 13, environmental health officers from several other cities — including São Paulo, with a population of 13 million — have expressed interest in mimicking the program.

But instituting such well-intentioned programs can be difficult, as I discovered during a trip to Ghent on its most recent Veggie Day on May 21. While most restaurants owners and residents I spoke to had heard of Veggie Day, few had any plans to embrace the concept. A local rib shack, Amadeus, was doing brisk business, and many people openly ate hot dogs on the street. Wim De Kinder, owner of the upscale Traiteur Grimod delicatessen, said he tried to introduce vegetarian fare two years ago after learning of the environmental cost of livestock production, but he couldn't shift enough product to make it profitable. "I can't be expected to make a loss for the sake of principle, however worthy," he says.

And it's clear that Ghent still has some ways to go in its promotion of a healthy lifestyle, even among the city's enlightened vegetarians. "I already follow a vegetarian diet for health reasons," insists Mareije Vanneck, 29, as she sucks on a cigarette. Lees Molenschot, a 64-year-old pensioner sitting in a local pub, says he eats only one meal a day, and always without meat, before adding, "I start out with a coffee in the morning, then five or six beers during the day, maybe some Jägermeister, and then at 6 I make a healthy meal of vegetables in olive oil."

But Leenaert of Ethical Vegetarian Alternative says Ghent's public education program is still young. The city council has yet to mail out the 90,000 leaflets it has printed for residents explaining the global benefits of reducing meat consumption, and Veggie Day has yet to roll out in local schools, which will happen when they reconvene in September. He points out that there are historical antecedents for meat-free days, and that it is only recently that people have come to expect meat to be a daily ritual. For centuries in Catholic Europe, for example, citizens forsook meat on Fridays, fast days and Lent. Leenaert, a committed vegan, says governments may have to lay down such restrictions in the coming years as more people in the developing world become wealthy enough to eat meat, but room for livestock diminishes. He hopes, however, that the joint challenges of feeding the world and tackling climate change can be met without curbs on personal choice. "I have big dreams. I dream not of restrictions, but of a critical mass of enlightened citizens who become vegetarians by choice. Maybe that dream starts here in Ghent."

Validation

2009-06-15T18:40:00.002+01:00

A parking attendant makes people smile until he meets a woman that changes his life... This short movie is just... WOW!

And this is Rent-a-Person, a sort of follow-up/intercross with Validation, from the same people. Lots of fun!

Hey Jude!

2009-06-15T18:38:00.000+01:00

I wouldn't usually spread the word about this video since it's corporate culture and advertisement but what they did was so cool that I can only applaud the initiative. So here are thousands of people in the middle of London singing together. I love it!

Clean Your Mind

2009-06-15T18:36:00.001+01:00

This is an interactive performance/good deed that was done in Barcelona. It involves asking random people on the streets to perform a cathartic action of liberation. Spread the word and maybe you could be doing it in your city for others?

The Difference Between Heaven and Hell

2009-06-15T18:34:00.000+01:00

In hell, there is a huge feast laid out on the table, but everybody's knives and forks are so long that they can't get the food to their own mouths. Struggle as they may, in the face of all this food, they starve.

In heaven, the story is almost exactly the same. There is a wonderful feast laid out. The knives and forks are so long that you can't get your food to your own mouth. The difference is that, in heaven, the people stop trying to feed themselves and instead use their long knives and forks to feed each other. No problem!

Natural Bees

2009-06-15T18:27:00.003+01:00

Photo author unknown

If you have a backyard and you want to help our fruits, plants and bees to survive, you may want to build a very simple hive called a Top Bar Hive that allows bees to live completely reely and best of all, it allows for you, the potential beekeeper to harvest honey without harming them. This is accessible, safe and available to anyone with very little work as the bees know what they need to do. There is a lot of information on the website www.biobees.com and also a book available for more in-depth information called "The Barefoot Beekeeper". (I don't get a commission from this!) There are many more websites about Natural Beekeeping of course but this is the most interesting one I have found as it also has a forum dedicated to Natural Beekeeping with very kind, active and engaged participants, eager to help anyone who wants to start their own hives.

Bees are declining in massive numbers as we speak due to spread of diseases and mites caused by the use of chemical pesticides and insecticides in agriculture and by commercial beekeepers, of genetically modified crops and of course electromagnetic pollution from mobile phone and wifi towers since bees are very sensitive to vibration. It is URGENT for the survival not just of these precious insects, but also of humans if they still want to have any food left on the planet, to do whatever we can to help the bees and this responsibility falls onto beekeepers. Unfortunately, most beekeepers are stuck in the industrialised mode of 20th century honey producing and are happy to use chemicals and deform the bees' size and all sorts of other crazy things to make a profit. But in the end, no one profits and the honey we find is no longer pure. More and more studies show that commercial honey is contaminated with dangerous chemicals and pose health hazards, so buy organic honey! It's not just where the bees forage that makes honey organic, it's also how they are kept.

So if you can, join the Natural Beekeepers in their effort to save not just an insect, but one of the foundations of our fragile ecosystem. Without bees, thousands of plants will have no pollination... There is no reason to fear bees, if they are treated correctly and with respect, they will treat you the same way, like everything in life. And if you have children, what better way to help them learn about the cycles of Nature, social organisation, growing food, "the birds and the bees" ... ? Did you know that bees vote? Their system - called range voting - is more effective than any voting systems humans normally use as they attain an average of 90% (!!!) success in electing the BEST location to move to when they need to find a new home. Our current political voting systems average at 34% success rate. We have a lot to learn...

Historia De Un Letrero

2009-05-29T17:27:00.001+01:00

This is a wonderful short movie about how giving is manifested in more ways than just material. Enjoy :)

Bayer Corrupts Beekeeping in the UK!

2009-04-24T15:43:00.002+01:00

from Gord Campbell.

This is a BBC interview of organic beekeeper Phil Chandler about Bayer bribing the British Beekeeping Association. If you want to read more about organic beekeeping, visit the BioBees website.

Psychedelic Crisis - MAPS

2009-03-07T15:11:00.001Z

How To Kill The Music Industry

2009-02-27T15:51:00.001Z

Written by Jens Roland on February 27, 2009 for Torrent Freak

During The Pirate Bay trial, the music industry placed the blame for the decline in their revenues squarely on the shoulders of file-sharers. Their logic is clearly flawed, but it could sway the verdict if no alternative explanation is presented. So, if piracy isn’t to blame, then what is *actually* killing the music industry?

According to Per Sundin, CEO of Universal Music, the decline in music revenues in the past 8 years can be fully attributed to (read: blamed on) illegal file sharing. If this were actually true, many of us might even respect his decision to go after pirates as fiercely as the music industry is doing right now. However, the past 8 years have seen a lot more changes in the landscape of home entertainment than Per Sundin would like to admit, and some of those changes have had a massive impact on music profitability — much more so than any amount of piracy.

Let us refresh our memories and take a look at what actually happened during and just before the past 8 years:

1. First, the explosive rise of computer and console gaming. This competitive ‘third element’ has appeared in the entertainment landscape, beaten both music and movies to the curb and taken a huge cut out of the music industry’s revenues. Consumers don’t have infinitely-deep pockets, and billions of ‘recreation dollars’ that used to go almost exclusively to music, are now going into gaming.

2. International trade agreements have allowed consumers to buy their music across borders, rather than accepting local prices on music based on the ‘relative wealth’ of nations, rather than the actual value of the product.

3. New forms of distributable media, most notably MP3s but also CDs, have become mainstream. These new media don’t degrade over time and rarely break at all, making music rebuys a thing of the past, and allowing the second-hand market for music to thrive and expand - both of which take a cut out of the music industry’s former revenues.

4. Radical technological innovation has taken place in the field of music creation, processing, mixing, and mastering. Recording hardware, CD burners, music software, and media encoders have evolved to the point where most artists can actually afford decent-quality equipment to do their own recording and producing. Furthermore, this has fostered literally thousands of smaller, specialized studios that are challenging the ‘Big 4′ with lower prices, better terms for artists, genre-specific expertise, etc. Successful artists can now leave the big labels and start their own recording outfits on relatively modest budgets. Naturally, super stars like The Beatles or Frank Sinatra have always had this option, but the recent technological advances have lowered the bar drastically. This development is depriving the ‘Big 4′ of many of their former cash cows, who now use the major labels for their advertising and distribution infrastructure alone.

5. The World Wide Web has become an omnipresent force in the world, allowing cheap, end-to-end distribution of digital music, increasingly cutting out the corporate music distributors, who deal in trucks and CD covers, rather than bytes and bandwidth. With iTunes leading the way (very successfully ‘competing with free’, I might add), billions of songs are now purchased digitally rather than physically, no longer necessitating the big labels’ distribution networks.

6. The total number of radio stations, music television networks and other ’streaming’ sources of music has grown exponentially, giving music fans a huge selection of free (and legal) music options. Satellite radio, DAB, and internet radio broadcasts have made it trivial for consumers to simply tune into a channel broadcasting the exact sub-genre of music that they feel like listening to (they can even have a stream created for them dynamically, e.g. on Pandora), making the *purchase* of music entirely optional for the casual listener.

7. A massive selection of entertainment alternatives (home computing, console gaming, mobile devices, etc.) have appeared in the home, effectively marginalizing music as an activity. 15-20 years ago, youths would regularly visit each other just to listen to music together; today, that is virtually unthinkable without some form of activity involved, such as playing Guitar Hero or Rock Band, or dancing at a concert.

8. And finally, the music industry itself has embraced the opportunities of digital media, at last letting consumers buy *single* tracks at a time rather than forcing entire albums full of ‘fillers’ on them. Looking at the RIAA’s own sales figures for the past 10 years, there is a *direct* correlation between the break-off in album sales and the introduction and increase in single track digital sales. Looking at the actual numbers, it is abundantly clear that the vast majority of consumers never wanted to buy full albums in the first place, but were merely forced to by the lack of affordable single-track media. Now that the digital revolution has arrived, countless millions of 16-track album sales are being turned into 1- or 2-track sales, *decimating* the former revenues on music. THIS is the real reason why the music industry is hurting.

In other words: The “it’s common sense” argument that the music industry is peddling in their attempt to tie the declining revenues to piracy, simply doesn’t hold. It is not as clear-cut as the industry believes; the true reason for the decline is something they are still unwilling to face, but will have to face sooner or later:

The fact is that the music industry’s revenues have been artificially inflated for decades because of limited consumer options. The last 15 years of innovation have lifted those limitations, effectively leaving the music industry with an obsolete, defective business model of monopolized production technology, forced album bundling, and almost nonexistent competition in the realm of home entertainment. What is happening now - the decline of music profits and the piracy witch hunt by the music industry - is merely the panicked struggle of a dying business model, a complacent industry’s refusal to accept its diminishing role in a digital world. The pirates are not the reason, and the decline is the not the disease. It is the cure.

This is a guest post by Jens Roland. Jens is a computer scientist by training, but a technology forecaster by trade. He has worked at international think tanks as a consultant and researcher in emerging technologies and has written more than 300 articles and a book on the subject.

———————————————————————-
DATA: Net value of shipped music, in billion dollars

1991 7.83
1992 9.02
1993 10.0
1994 12.1
1995 12.3
1996 12.5
1997 12.2
1998 13.7
1999 14.6
2000 14.3
2001 13.7
2002 12.6
2003 11.9
2004 12.3
2005 12.3
2006 11.8
2007 10.4

(source: RIAA’s annual reports)

'Shaman's Wisdom' by Tony Samara

2009-02-26T15:55:00.001Z

The Age of Aquarius

2009-02-14T16:59:00.002Z

Beloved Brothers & Sisters! :)

Today, the 14th of February 2009 is the realization of a rare astrological occurence that happening as we speak. Not only does the planetary configuration bring a new phase of peace into the world as well as profound change, but it is an invitation to participate consciously, as humans integrated with the dynamics of the Universe with this event. Take the time today, even if for only 10 minutes, to sense and connect to everything that is around and inside of us.

Synchronistically, this astrological event is the manifestation of the beautiful song from from the musical Hair, 40 years ago, Age of Aquarius, which exploded the concept of a new era into the collective consciousness of our society. "When the Moon is in the Seventh house, and Jupiter aligns with Mars, then peace will guide the planets and love will steer the stars" (video included in attachment with lyrics)

A great concentration of planets is found today in the house of AQUARIUS (as you may see on the astral chart, it doesn't matter if you can't read it, it looks nice with all the planets in Aquarius!!)
- Jupiter is the planet that symbolises expansion
- Mars is the planet of dynamics and energy
- Chiron is the wounded healer that allows us to heal what has been hidden and ignored for a long time
- Neptune emphasises the humanitarian soul and the co-creation of social justice
- Mercury and Pluto align to anchor and communicate the Change that will sweep through global structures and institutions
- The Sun enlightens and brings life to all these aspects

The Moon in Libra in the 7th house brings the beginning of harmonious relationships.

Venus in Aries in the 1st house energises and gives Power to co-criativity and initiative.

Saturn, the great work master is opposed to Uranus, the unexpected awakening. This suggests a series of confrontations within the old paradigms that are unsustainable, surrendering to the new vision of hope.

Pray, meditate, dance, sing, whatever you do, celebrate this day and join the millions of people around the world who have been preparing and connecting to this day where PEACE meditations have been organised to amplify this event and connect to the Universe.

P.S: I don't know anything about astrology... So if you have questions about the planets etc. you need to ask someone who does!

Finally!

2009-01-26T21:17:00.003Z

The short story GONE! has finally been published in the prestigious Ashe Journal of Experimental Spirituality. Grab your copy here!

If you're not bothered to buy the journal, you can download the short story in the Ragga Vibrations section in the column at your right, here on the blog.

An Interview on Soul's Code Website

2009-01-12T14:04:00.001Z

Tony Samara’s code for a daily living of spirituality: selfless service and treating your body as a temple

Tony Samara, founder of the eponymous, non-profit organization, The Samara Foundation for the Evolution of Human Consciousness, lived for several years in a Zen Buddhist monastery.

After leaving the monastery, Tony traveled to the jungles of the Amazon and the Andes, where he lived and studied among a community of shamans.

Soul’s Code: What secrets did you learn from the healers and holy men?

Tony: I worked with many shamans in the jungles and mountains of South America. It is difficult to put into words all the learnings, but one could summarize the essence as being a profound respect for nature and its inherent cycles that help sustain life. That humans can utilize nature to enhance their joy, gives this realm meaning.

Soul’s Code: Do you still interact or visit the shamans and medicine men?

Tony: Not in this dimension, as I do not like long distance travel. But there are easier ways of staying in communication.

Soul’s Code: What are the actual practices and techniques that you teach in the West?

Tony: In my work, the physical body is seen as the temple, and this temple should be glowing with light, yet we often forget about our body until we get sick. Therefore, cleansing retreats form an intrinsic part of this spiritual path.

Morning and afternoon talks/satsangs are offered, interspersed with energy exercises, dream work, gentle exercises, visualizations, strong meditation practices (such as the whirling meditation), breathing exercises and group exercises drawn from my experience with ancient Shamanic, Oriental and Zen Buddhist traditions. They are very powerful detoxification programmes due to the inclusion of herbal detox preparations, liquid superfoods and other special herbal preparations. Theriaca, my healing elixir is also part of the detox programme.

There is always some free time for walks in nature, and writing in journals.

Soul’s Code: Does the food we eat govern our level of consciousness?

Tony: The subject of nutrition is not simply a question of the food we eat at meals. Besides nutrients, foods contain scents, colors and invisible particles that attract pure light, light that is so essential for our joyful life and well-being.

The difference between flesh-based and vegetarian foods lies in the amount of sunlight they contain. Fruits and vegetables are so steeped in sunlight, that one could say they are a condensed form of light. In order to develop the qualities of the heart, besides eating peacefully, one needs to eat consciously. This means bringing in the light, eating the concentrated light which contains the beautiful sounds that connect our hearts to the rhythms and invisible aspects of the Universe. This attracts the luminous properties of matter and illuminates your being, especially your thoughts and emotions, not just today, but throughout your experience of your existence on this material plane.

Your future depends on how you eat and what you eat. Your body is your temple — and every action within the temple, done with conscious intention — creates a more harmonious outcome.

The quality of your food, its physical properties, not only transforms your emotions and mind, but can actually change your appearance and personality. Everything around us is permeated by forces and those forces become more pure and subtle the further they reach the higher planes of light that exist here in the physical world.

I see the physical body as the “temple of the soul”, and as part of each person’s process, I suggest one follows a healthy and balanced vegetarian diet. Such a diet would exclude meat, fish, poultry, eggs and refined foods such as white sugar, white flour, deep frozen and/or processed foods.

In this way, the focus would be rather on fresh fruits and vegetables that are in season and/or are organically produced. This is a way to connect to Nature and its rhythms and cycles so that one may be in harmony with it. I see Nature as an omnipresent guide and a reference to how human beings can live harmoniously on the planet.

Soul’s Code: Is the goal of your foundation to sell products and retreats?

Tony: The Samara Foundation was set up to help realize the evolution of human consciousness worldwide, using the guidelines of my teachings. We embrace the goal of working towards self-realization and liberation. As we move beyond the simple satisfaction of personal needs and become something greater, in order to create a reality in harmony with our spiritual aspirations, we take responsibility for our processes, raise our consciousness and find the love and the light in each situation.

Soul’s Code: How do acts of “selfless service” free us from financial hardship, anxiety, depression or illness?

Tony: My path is dedicated to making people independent and self-sufficient. By everyone taking initiative, free of ego and its judgements, then we have creative action. With this action we discover that within our self-sufficiency we have the ability to love the differences and the uniqueness in each other.

When one speaks of self-sufficiency this means taking a mature attitude towards life. Whatever choices one makes, life reflects it. There is no running away from all the responsibilities that we face in life. Looking for ways of simplifying and easing things for ourselves creates selfishness. By instead creating joy for everybody it is possible to build a joyful selfless service to humanity. This can be put into practice in all situations in this very moment where we bypass selfish instincts, ideas and expectations and live according to higher ideals that in the end help us to move beyond selfishness and realize what selfless service is all about. This is the joy of simply being.

There is nothing more than love, and selfless service is an ‘express track’ to realizing that love is not limited to desires, needs or lacks, but rather an overflowing sense of giving. The more people who put this into practice, the more the world will be able to actualize love — and thereby create a new paradigm for all of us to live by.

For more information on The Samara Foundation and for a list of upcoming events check out Tony’s site which offers information in twelve languages. His book, Shaman’s Wisdom - Reclaim Your Lost Connection with the Universe, will be available in Spring 2009 and can be pre-ordered through Amazon.

Italy aims for carbon-neutral farm

2008-10-20T17:01:00.003+01:00

taken from a BBC News article:

The farm has 24 hi-tech solar panels

By Duncan Kennedy
BBC News, Castello Monte Vibiano Vecchio, Italy

An attempt to create a pioneering carbon-neutral farm is starting in Italy.

A range of new technologies is being installed at the farm in the central region of Umbria as part of an experiment to cut its CO2 emissions to zero over the course of the next year.T hey include everything from electric farm vehicles to sun-reflecting paint on storage buildings. It is all taking place at the Castello Monte Vibiano Vecchio olive oil farm, north of Rome.

With its vineyards and olive trees, this beautiful corner of Italy might look like it has escaped the intrusions of climate change, but the farm's owners say they, too, have to play their part in making the world greener. "We want to go further than anyone else," says Lorenzo Fasola Bologna, Monte Vibiano's chief executive.

Storing solar energy

One of the key investments is in a unique solar powered battery re-charging centre.

The farm has 24 hi-tech solar panels

Built by the Austrian company Cellstrom, the centre is a shed-sized box with 24 solar panels on it that houses a revolutionary liquid-based battery. The battery can, for the first time, store solar energy. Until now, electricity generated by the sun has generally had to be used immediately. It is one reason why opponents say solar power is limited. No longer.

We think that we will start getting our investment back after five years or so. From then on, our fossil fuel bills will disappear

Lorenzo Fasola Bologna
Vibiano Vecchio boss

Depending on the amount of usage, the battery centre can store solar-sourced electricity for up to three days. They are working to extend that to 10 days and more, enabling the farm to continue operating through foggy days when the sun does not shine. It means that golf carts and electric bikes will become the key means of transport for farm workers and that they can all charge up at the battery centre.

'360º solution'

Cellstrom estimates the farm can save 4,500 litres of petrol every year and reduce CO2 emissions by 10 tons.

Golf carts and electric bikes can charge up at the battery centre

"Yes, it is an expensive initial investment," says Lorenzo, without revealing the actual cost. "But we think that we will start getting our investment back after five years or so. From then on, our fossil fuel bills will disappear." Solar power is just one of the ground-breaking technologies being applied to this farm. They call it a multiple layered 360º solution to global pollution.

They have bought a fleet of special miniature tractors that use a new generation of bio fuels. The farm says the new fuels will not be coming from food chain products like corn and therefore will not diminish world food supplies. Then there are the farm's boilers which are used to create heat in the olive oil production process. They will use wood chips instead of methane gas, as in the past. The wood is a renewable source of energy found from supplies already on the farm.

Even storage tanks on the farm are being painted white to reflect sunlight away from earth, in an effort to cut the effects of global warming. And, just to make sure they have not left anything else out, they have also planted 10,000 trees to soak up and offset any unforeseen CO2 emissions.

'No choice'

By the end of next year they hope to be the first farm, anywhere, to reduce their inherent net carbon footprint to zero - ie without using off-site offsetting projects.

Chiara Lungarotti says agriculture must be adapted to climate change

"It will be great," says Lorenzo, "to pass on this great, green enterprise to my children and their children." And when asked if it makes economic sense for a business to attempt all this, he replies: "Absolutely. We are not a charity." This whole region is responding to new climate pressures. At the nearby Lungarotti winery in Torgiano, recycled grape vines now power the process, not oil.

Mini-weather stations provide data for planting and watering

Mini-weather stations provide data for planting and watering and organic fertilisers enrich the soil. Chiara Lungarotti, whose family owns the company, is just as committed as her neighbour Lorenzo. "We have no choice but to get agriculture to adapt to climate change," she says. "It is our interest for the sake of our crops to be friendly to the planet." So, agriculture is now doing its bit on climate change. Whether small olive oil producers or wine makers have lessons for bigger operations will be known when these experiments are over.

But they will be toasting Umbria if they have.

The girl who silenced the world for 5 minutes

2008-10-11T16:18:00.001+01:00

This was in Rio de Janeiro 1992!! Has anything changed?

Where is Bill?

2008-10-09T19:45:00.003+01:00

I like the american circus of politics. It has all the ingredients for good entertainment so here is a touch from Tim Kreider, author of weekly comic "The Pain". Enjoy the archives of his website, not all of it is top notch but when he hits the spot it's a high class act.

Tony Samara on YouTube

2008-09-29T04:07:00.003+01:00

People of the world, enjoy LOTS of videos of the master on YouTube on the new Samara Foundation channel.

This one explains why I use the name Sud Ram, given to me by Tony.

http://www.youtube.com/user/samarafoundation

Natural Orders

2008-09-19T09:58:00.005+01:00

Art by Micheal Matherly for The Peregrine Fund

(Received in e-mail so I'm not sure how true this story is but I like it anyway)

Indian Chief 'Two Eagles' was asked by a white government official, 'You have observed the white man for 90 years. You've seen his wars and his technological advances. You've seen his progress, and the damage he's done.'

The Chief nodded in agreement.

The official continued, 'Considering all these events, in your opinion, where did the white man go wrong?'

The Chief stared at the government official for over a minute and then calmly replied. 'When white man find land, Indians running it, no taxes, no debt, plenty buffalo, plenty beaver, clean water. Women did all the work, Medicine man free. Indian man spend all day hunting and fishing; all night having sex.'

'Only white man dumb enough to think he could improve system like that.'

Green Name

2008-08-06T06:02:00.002+01:00

Russian Olive tree (Elaeagnus angustifolia)

The most ecological name ever is russian.

De-meat tree.

Don't Forget to Flush

2008-08-01T23:13:00.001+01:00

- no comment -

2008-07-31T05:56:00.001+01:00

Anuta Paradise

2008-07-27T23:42:00.002+01:00

It is one of the world's most remote islands but has a community spirit that is almost utopian, reports Huw Cordey from Anuta in the Pacific.

Anuta is the smallest permanently inhabited Polynesian island

Sailing from Santa Cruz, in the eastern Solomons, it took us five days to reach Anuta. It was one of the most tedious journeys I have made, the continuous pitching of our small yacht making it impossible to either read or write. So it was with some relief when the speck of land that was Anuta finally appeared on the horizon.

Harbour master

But as the island grew larger, the question of how 300 people could live on such a tiny and isolated piece of land loomed even larger. An outrigger canoe, paddled by two men with another bailing, came to meet us. The bailer introduced himself as Joseph, who said he would look after us while on Anuta. He told me he was the island's harbour master, though this is something of a misnomer as the island has no harbour. Indeed the anchorage is so poor that our boat had to leave a few hours after dropping us off. It is also a job that does not exactly have Joseph rushed off his feet.

We were their first visitors in two years. For a moment though, the feeling of isolation was overshadowed by Joseph's T shirt which was emblazoned with the words "Planet Hollywood, Las Vegas". It would be hard to imagine a greater contrast between two places. Las Vegas, the capital of excess, and little Anuta where even a mirror is considered a luxury. But while Anuta's remoteness may have severely limited the quantity of consumer goods the island's isolation has forged a community spirit that would be very hard to beat.

Island harmony

The Anutans have their own word for this, "aropa", which means love and compassion. It is an ideology that is applied to almost everything they do. You can see it at work in the way food and tasks are shared, but it goes further than this. Bizarrely they even adopt each other's children. Joseph's oldest daughter was adopted by a couple who gave him their son in return a few years later. When I asked Joseph about this, he simply said that it was not an issue as Anutans saw children as communal. What was important was that everyone who wanted a child had one. So if a couple was childless for any reason they would be perfectly entitled to ask another family member or friend if they could have their next child. Both mother and father have to agree but requests are seldom refused.

Sharing

Anuta's isolation has meant that few visitors ever return

Aropa also extends to outsiders.During our two-week stay we had at least one meal in every one of the 24 households. Sitting on the floor of each hut we were served communal dishes of fish and glutinous puddings of taro or manioc, all wrapped up in forest leaves. The meals, prepared by the women, were virtually identical from one hut to the other, but this was all about aropa, affection through sharing. Anutans see a strong similarity between aropa and Christian teachings like "love thy neighbour", a fact that made the work of the first Anglican missionaries rather easier than I imagine they thought it would be.

Ukulele habit

Twice a day the sound of a conch shell summons the faithful to church. Or to put it another way, everyone. Individuals may backslide for the odd service but attendance is so good it would be the envy of any British vicar. Once inside the church women sit on the left, men on the right, apparently for no other reason than that is what they have always done. Anutans are very protective of their traditions. All the decisions on the island are, for instance, still made by a single, unelected Chief.

We worry about our children getting in with the wrong crowd, taking drugs, drinking, teenage knife crime, Anutans worry about their kids playing homemade ukuleles

When I asked Joseph what the biggest changes have been in the last 20 years he said "young people playing ukuleles". Was this a problem? I asked rather jokingly. "Well," he replied more seriously, "before the ukuleles the younger generation would dance every evening. Now it is rare." I got the same response from at least half a dozen other adults. As trivial as this sounds it does make one think about our own, supposedly advanced, society. We worry about our children getting in with the wrong crowd, taking drugs, drinking, teenage knife crime. Anutans worry about their kids playing homemade ukuleles.

Few return

On the day we left, a group of men came onto our yacht and with little notice broke into their farewell song, "Sorrow come to us." One of the chorus lines was: "Sorry we will never see your faces anymore." It was enough to bring a lump to my throat. The lyrics had a point however. Anuta's isolation has meant that few visitors ever return. But then this is probably just as well. The beauty of the Anutan way of life comes from the relative absence of outside influence. In the end it was easy to see what the island's 300 people saw in the place. As a hardened traveller I do not say this lightly, but the Anutans were the most harmonious and hospitable people I have ever met.

From BBC News website

The Place To Be

2008-07-18T17:27:00.002+01:00

Photo: Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum/Corbis

This is a metaphor for the times we live... Notice the people in the front, not noticing the catastrophy that is happening as they speak. This photo was taken at the instant of the atomic bomb's detonation in Nagasaki, Japan on August 9th 1954.

Starting with the crisis of economy, social reponsability to the more environmental problems of climate change and the most important of all, the identity crisis of humanity, we are standing there, chatting about Barack's latest pin label and who won the Euro 2008 football cup... No one will be allowed to say they had not been warned.

It is time to see the world and the Universe as the centre of itself and to let go of the egocentric perspective we dwell in.

Here, have a chocolate.

Tony Samara in Germany (new video)

2008-07-18T03:28:00.001+01:00

Enjoy the master.

The Snake Woman

2008-07-17T23:02:00.001+01:00

Defying the human body's capacities...

Women are NOT for decoration!

2008-07-11T05:46:00.002+01:00

Really, they aren't. I'm just fascinated by the power of physical beauty, how crazy it is that we invest so much energy into it and how rewarding it SEEMS to be. All the fleeting moments... Vanished. I was on the bus to San José yesterday and this gorgeous girl sat in the chair right opposite me in the aisle and spent the whole trip rearrangeing herself, make-up, hair, fidgeting and such. Either I have a very powerful effect on women's insecurities (I gave her a smile at the bus stop and asked her a few questions about the bus before we got on) or this whole image thing is just madness.

Even though I would like to think the former is true, the latter is definitely more realistic...

So anyway, to boost my webcount stats, here is Sophie Monk, posing nude for PETA - which I'm not a big fan of although their campaigns are getting better....

Nude Visitors

2008-07-05T08:54:00.004+01:00

It seems the pic of Natalie Portman is creating a lot of traffic on my website so just for kicks I'll be posting more vegetarian nude celebs...

I even had a hit from Afghanistan referred from Google images with the keywords: natalie portman nude (!!)

350.org: Because the world needs to know

2008-07-05T08:35:00.001+01:00

Gender Roles Defined

2008-06-28T05:18:00.002+01:00

Why It's Green To Go Vegetarian

2008-06-25T06:43:00.003+01:00

You could look like Natalie Portman if only you were vegetarian!

If by now you haven't yet stopped being guilty of crimes against the planet (ie: eating meat), here is more literature for you to read.

Some excerpts:

Farmed animals produce more greenhouse gas emissions (18%) than the world’s entire transport system (13.5%). Cows’ flatulence, alongside animal excrement, makes the headlines due to both of them being extremely damaging. However, farming animals also generates gaseous emissions through the manufacture of fertilisers (to grow feed crops), industrial feed production and the transportation of both live animals and their carcasses across the globe.

Meat produced in different parts of the world requires different amounts of water due to variations in species, rainfall, hygiene standards, drinking needs, slaughter, butchering, cleaning, packaging and also the water required to grow the animals’ feed. As a result, estimates of the water required to produce a kilo of beef vary, from 13,000 litres right up to 100,000 litres. Whichever figure you use, the damage is plain when you consider that the water required to produce a kilo of wheat is somewhere between 1,000-2,000 litres.

Rearing animals for meat also contributes significantly to water pollution. With animal waste, antibiotics and hormones entering the water cycle alongside chemicals from tanneries, fertilizers and the pesticides used to spray feed crops.

Over-fishing has resulted in tuna, cod, swordfish and marlin populations declining by 90% during the last century and the number of fish caught is likely to decline further for several decades to come, not because we are eating less fish but because they simply aren’t there to be caught!

Farmed fish have to eat, and the feeding of carnivorous fish intensifies pressure on the oceanic fisheries. For example, it takes 5 tonnes of wild caught fish to feed each tonne of farmed salmon. Farming also produces waste and reports indicate that Scottish salmon farms alone have breached pollution limits more than 400 times in the past 3 years. ‘Genetic pollution’ is also a serious problem, with wild salmon populations weakened by breeding with farm escapees.

Say What?

2008-06-24T03:36:00.002+01:00

Easy as pi: Astrophysicist solves riddle of Britain's most complex crop circle

2008-06-23T06:45:00.003+01:00

Article by Daniel Bates in Mail Online

It is - by any calculation - a creation stunning in its ingenuity.

Carved out in a barley field, this 150ft wide pattern is said to be a pictorial representation of the first ten digits of Pi, one of the most fundamental symbols in mathematics.

Believers in extra-terrestrials could argue it was made by mathematically-minded aliens on a field trip to Earth.

Mystery: The crop circle in a barley field near Wroughton in Wiltshire is a coded version of pi

Sceptics will think it the work of humans with a fondness for figures and a penchant for puzzles.

But whatever its origins, the experts say it is the most complex crop circle ever seen in Britain.

The pattern appeared earlier this month near Barbury Castle, an Iron Age hill fort above the village of Wroughton in Wiltshire.

Initially, crop circle enthusiasts were stumped as to its meaning and even a number of experts said it was 'mind-boggling'.

Then retired astrophysicist Mike Reed saw a photograph of it and made the mathematical link.

Complex: The formation is 150 metres in diameter

He said the crop pattern 'clearly shows' the first ten digits of pi, which - as many will remember from their schooldays - is used to calculate the area of a circle using the formula Pi r squared.

Mr Reed said: 'I noticed a photo of the Barbury Castle pattern. It shows a coded image representing the first ten digits of Pi - the ratio of the circumference of a circle to the diameter.

'The tenth digit has even been correctly rounded up.

'The little dot near the centre is the decimal point. The code is based on ten angular segments, with the radial jumps being the indicator of each segment.'

After working out the sequence, Mr Reed produced the accompanying diagram. The image is an example of what is known as a fractal, or geometric pattern.

Fractals have been a staple of crop circle designs for many years, the most well known being the Mandelbrot Set or the Julia Set, which appeared 12 years ago in Avebury Trusloe, Wiltshire.

Lucy Pringle, a renowned researcher of crop formations, has the largest database in the world on the phenomenon.

She said yesterday: 'This is an astounding development - it is a seminal event.'

Although numerous-individuals have come forward over the years admitting they had been making crop circles, many people still believe the rings are linked with the paranormal or civilizations in far-flung galaxies.

As yet, no one has claimed responsibility for the Barbury Castle circle.

How it works

Although it appears complicated at first glance, the puzzle does make perfect sense if approached logically and taken step by step.

The coded image depicts 3.141592654, the first ten digits of Pi. How is it done?

Firstly, the diagram is divided into ten equal sections (a bit like a dartboard, or a cake sliced ten ways) because there are ten staggered edges located at strategic points around the crop circle.

To help understand how this is arrived at, look again at the photo above and imagine a giant ruler being aligned with the edges (ignore the tractor lines, which were there before the circle was created).

That sets the basic framework. Next, each number in Pi is represented in the diagram by a corresponding number of coloured blocks.

Beginning in the centre with the arrow marked 'Start', the first number, three, is represented by three red blocks from clockwise.

Follow this round and this takes you to the decimal point, which is depicted by a small circle in the barley.

The number after the decimal point is one, represented by one green block.

The same pattern continues for each of the numbers - four purple blocks, one orange, five blue, nine yellow, two purple, six red, five green, then four dark blue, followed by three circles, or dots, acknowledging that Pi is infinite.

The Samara Foundation Newsletter - June 2008

2008-06-17T01:34:00.005+01:00

"As soon as we recognize that the mind and the ego do not offer satisfactory answers on our quest for Happiness, for Love, for Joy, for Peace and for Spirituality, and that any fight, any research and any waiting for something separate and outside of ourselves are a waste of time, then we can experience freedom.

To let go of this belief is really magical. One calms down quite naturally and in this peace one can be in touch with Totality. Like the Phoenix rising out of the ashes, a new attitude emerges for life. A comprehension is formed in our hearts. We can reorient our beliefs and create a foundation for freedom and transformation.

This place of understanding from which we feel comfortable in all circumstances comes from inner peace rather than from waiting or researching anything. Then each step we take on our path naturally becomes an expression of Freedom, Joy and Love."

excerpt from 'A Shaman's Wisdom', by Tony Samara

--------------------------------------------------

Dear Friends

What wonderful words to focus on over this upcoming solstice period which promises a shift from what has seemed unreachable and distant and is now ready for our complete and total embracing.

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The Solstice this year falls on 20 June at 23.59 UTC and at this time Tony will be working with all of you who choose to link in for this worldwide meditation. All that needs to be done is to set aside some time in any way that is comfortable for you and helps you to embrace this very special moment.

Perhaps a good way to prepare for this day is by reading the book 'A Shaman's Wisdom' which explains many of the special rituals and healing meditations possible to practice in nature as well as in your home.

The book is written in a very simple and practical way so as to appeal to everybody. Even though the book is written in a wonderfully readable way it touches a very profound part of ourselves that is more relevant today than ever before.

It is now available in the following languages, French, German, Portugese, Croatian (July 2008) and English (Spring 2009). If you have any problem ordering the book through amazon or your book store please visit http://www.tonysamara.org product page for more information about the various publishers' contact details.

*********

Tony would like to mention the interesting phenomena that seems to be baffling the world today and which is particularly close to his heart.

We write about this as we each as individuals have the remarkable possibility to make the difference with some of our practical actions. Little as they may seem they can all bring joy to your heart knowing you are part of the circle of life.

Tony advises that the extensive use of mobile phones, microwave ovens and other gadgets that emit specific radiation frequencies are seriously damaging our bee populations as well as our energetic bodies. He therefore emphasises the benefits to the environment created by minimising their useage.

Instead utilise sms rather than making long phone calls on mobile phones and find other ways (such as internet telecommunications) to stay in touch with family and friends. Also by using conventional cooking methods you can help nature and yourself.

We will now include an excerpt from a nature journal to highlight the seriousness of the situation:

"According to a study, beekeepers reported an average loss of just over 36% of their colonies over winter, a figure up 13.5% from the previous year, and just over a third of all beekeepers reported losing one or more of their colonies to the condition named Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD).

Since 2006, their keepers have been reporting the sudden and unusual disappearance of large numbers of their bees. Virtually overnight, all the adult bees in a seemingly healthy hive disappear [...]

As critical pollinators of many of the foods we depend upon, healthy honeybee populations are essential to our food supply. About 130 different crops rely upon honeybee pollination. Some 30% of all the different types of nuts, fruits, and vegetables we consume.

Things we can do:

· Plant species native to your region in your yard and garden. These will provide abundant food for local bee populations.

· Grow a wide variety of plants with different colors, shapes, and flowering times. A diverse range of plants will attract an equally diverse range of bee species and give them plenty of food choices throughout the growing season.

· Stay away from hybrid and genetically modified plants, which often don't produce any of the pollen that bees need to survive.

· Never use pesticides or herbicides of any kind. Though these poisons may be meant for plants and non-bee pests, they can often have a "spill-over" effect that harms innocent bystander species, bees among them. (Pesticides are also extremely unhealthy for us land-bound creatures, too!)

· Consider starting a hive and being a beekeeper by creating a nest for wood bees (which don't sting!) by simply taking a non-treated block of wood, drilling holes 3/32 of an inch to 5/16 of an inch in diameter and about 5 inches deep, and leaving it out for bees to find. Traditional beekeeping also has many rewards, from a supply of homemade honey to assured garden pollination."

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We would like to remind you that it is always possible to spend time with Tony and receive personal discourse with him in the many retreats and seminar programmes organized for him throughout the world. Below we mention programmes happening soon but please check http://www.tonysamara.org for all of the latest event updates.

20 June 2008 -- Solstice healing worldwide meditation link
22 June 2008 -- Detox day -- Lisbon, Portugal
12-13 July 2008 -- Satsang -- Oberhausen, Germany
6 September 2008 -- The Magic of the Heart -- The Netherlands
20-21 September 2008 -- The Magic of the Heart - a profound experience -- Ljubljana, Slovenia

If you are unable to attend the programmes please remember that you can enjoy the wisdoms and meditations of Tony Samara by going to the product page of http://www.tonysamara.org to instantly download one of the e-cds or the e-booklet.

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Thank you for your support and love as we continue to expand this beautiful work in the world we live in.

Happy Solstice!

The Samara Foundation

They Had Sex WHERE?

2008-06-12T09:31:00.002+01:00

Art by Milo Manara

Reuters, Wed Jun 11, 2008 11:01am EDT

ROME (Reuters) - An Italian couple who were caught having sex in a church confessional box while morning Mass was being said have repented and made peace with the local bishop.

The couple, in their early 30s, were detained by police earlier this month after they had made love in the confessional box in the cathedral in northern Cesena. They were cautioned for obscene acts in public and disturbing a religious function.

Their lawyer said they had been drinking all night and realized they had gone too far.

The lawyer told the area's local newspaper on Wednesday the couple met with the local bishop on Tuesday night, asked for his forgiveness and that he had given it.

Last week the bishop celebrated a "Mass of reparation" in the cathedral where the confessional box incident took place to make up for the sacrilege.

The Pledge of Kwan-Yin

2008-06-11T04:42:00.002+01:00

The Goddess Kwan-Yin (author unknown)

Text by Raghavan N. Iyer

Never will I seek nor receive private, individual salvation; never will I enter into final peace alone; but forever and everywhere will I live and strive for the redemption of every creature throughout the world from the bonds of conditioned existence.

— Kwan-Yin

Unconditional affirmation of the Kwan-Yin pledge can only come from the unconditional core of the human being. Words are uttered in time, and usually delimit meaning. They express thought, but they also obscure thought. To be able to use words in a manner that reaches beyond limits is to recognize prior to the utterance and to realize after the utterance that one is participating only on the plane of that which has a beginning and an end, though in emulation and celebration of that which is beginningless and endless. Every word and each day is like an incarnation. Silence and deep sleep convey an awareness of duration that cannot be inserted into ordinary time, but indicate the return to a primal sense of being where one is neither conditioned by nor identified with external events, memories, anticipations, likes and dislikes, hopes and fears, possibilities and limitations. Common speech and ordinary wakefulness, for most individuals, are but clouded mirrors dimly reflecting the resonance and radiance of spiritual wakefulness. Any sacred pledge may be uttered by a human being with a wavering mind and a fickle heart, but it can also be authentically affirmed in the name of the larger Self that is far beyond the utterance and the formulation, yet immanent in both. This is the time-honoured basis of religious rites, as well as the original source of civil laws. Emile Durkheim explained how early in the evolution of societies human beings learnt to transfer the potency of religious oaths to secular restraints and thereby established a high degree of reliability in human relationships. Mohandas Gandhi spoke of the sun, the planets and the mighty Himalayas as expressing the ultimate reliability of the universe, and taught that when human beings bind themselves by the power of a vow, they seek to become wholly reliable. If reliability essentially connotes a consistent standard of unqualified and unconditional success, then in taking a vow one is necessarily seeing beyond one's limitations. If one is wise one allows for the probability of failure and the possibility of forgetfulness, but somewhere deep in oneself one still wants to be measured and tested by that vow. Thereby a vow which is unconditional, which releases the spiritual will, calibrates one's highest self-respect and is vitally relevant to the mystery of self-transformation.

The Kwan-Yin pledge is a Bodhisattvic vow taken on behalf of all living beings. It is closely connected with the bodhichitta, wisdom-seeking mind, the seed of enlightenment. The idea that an unenlightened human being can effectively generate a seed of enlightenment is the central assumption behind the compassionate teaching of Mahatmas and Bodhisattvas, of the Buddhas and Christs. A drop of water is suggestive of an ocean; a flashing spark or single flame is analogous to an ocean of light; the minuscule mirrors the large. Herein lies the hidden strength of the Kwan- Yin pledge. What may seem small from the standpoint of the personal self, when it is genuinely offered on behalf of the limitless universe of living beings and of all humanity past, present, and future can truly negate the finality of finitude, the ultimacy of what seems urgent, the immensity of what appears immediate. The human mind ceaselessly creates false valuations, giving ephemera an excessive sense of reality, to uphold itself in a world of flux. To negate this tendency in advance and to assign reality only to the whole requires a profound mental courage. It requires, while one is alive, a recognition of the connection between the moment of birth and the moment of death, of the intimate relationship between the pain of one human being and the sorrow of all humanity. But it also involves a recognition that greater beings than oneself have taken precisely such a vow, have affirmed this pledge again and again. Therefore, one can invite oneself, however frail, however feeble, into the family of those who are the self-chosen, unacknowledged but unvanquished friends of the human race.

The prospect of such a vow is naturally perplexing to the lower mind, which is almost totally ignorant of the priorities of the immortal soul and knows very little about even this life, let alone about previous lives. On what basis could the personality assume a gnostic authority in regard to its own limitations? If one simply looks at the last ten years of one's life, one will readily see that many things which looked irrelevant, remote, even impossible in the past, unexpectedly become part of one's way of thinking, one's depth of feeling. If a human being does not truly know himself, merely to be aware of himself at the personal level in terms of persisting limitations is frustrating. This does not take into account that in oneself which is ineffable and unexpressed, whatever cannot come through the confining parameters of thought, the truncating crudities of speech and the stultifying restrictions of action.

The Kwan-Yin pledge can be taken by anyone at any time, but the level of thought and intensity with which it is taken will determine the degree and reliability of response of the whole of one's being. Shantideva puts this in the form of an ordination:

"When the Sugatas of former times committed themselves to the bodhichitta, they gradually established themselves in the practice of a Bodhisattva. So, I too commit myself to the bodhichitta for the welfare of all beings and will gradually establish myself in the practice of a Bodhisattva. Today my birth has become fruitful; my birth as a human being is justified. Today I am born in the Buddha Family; I am now a son of the Buddha. Now I am determined to perform those acts appropriate to my Family; I will not violate the purity of this faultless, noble Family."

To be able to take one's place in the glorious company of Bodhisattvas is not to assume that one can, purely on one's own, fulfil this exalted aim. But once one has truly affirmed it, no other aim has any comparable significance. This recognition would be critical to a timely taking of the mighty vow of Buddha, the sacred pledge of Kwan-Yin, the Bodhisattva ordination of Shantideva. Timeliness in this sense would mean that one simply cannot imagine an alternative. If a person were to take the pledge prematurely, lacking this sense of necessity, it would precipitate difficulties, making that person guilty, tortured with anxiety, involved even more in futile comparisons and contrasts with other human beings, more depressed, more desolate. But out of all these failures there may come some sense of timeliness at a later moment of ripeness.

Timeliness does not occur all at once. Timeliness, like all wisdom, must be the ripe fruit of time-bound experiments and time-bound errors. Because these are time-bound, they are evanescent; they are not enduring. In the same way in which one stumbled and learnt to walk or mumbled the multiplication tables, one may rediscover something about grace in movement or the deep logic of elementary numbers. So also one may rediscover the higher stage, the fuller meaning, the larger significance for the whole of one's life of the pledge one took. Suppose a person truly resolves to injure no human being and wishes to release love in every direction. If one is deeply attracted by this affirmation, what does it matter if there is something imperfect and inconclusive in one's repeated efforts to embody it? Mature individuals, who have done this again and again, know that soon after one has made such an affirmation, one is going to be tested. One has invited the Light of the Logos to shine upon the dark corners of one's being Through heightened awareness one sees unconscious elements in one's nature which one did not even imagine were apt to give offence, but are now discerned as obscurations of one's deepest feelings, one's finest nature, one's truest, profoundest sense of brotherhood. These discoveries are significant, but the hardest lesson at all times is the paramount necessity of patience and persistence. This is a pledge in favour of selfless service, and it cannot ever be premature. It will always be timely, though compelling timeliness can only come when there is serene insight, supported by the strength of personal invulnerability.

It is the immemorial teaching that the pristine seed of enlightenment, however small, may germinate far in the future into a flowering tree of wisdom, a mighty trunk of enlightenment. Inherent to the pure seed is a potency that represents the complete disavowal of considerations of success and failure for oneself, separate from the whole world. There is a fundamental abnegation of all the earthly criteria of happiness, power and achievement. For the immortal soul, the pledge could never be premature. Nevertheless, every sacred utterance should be the result of deep thought and true feeling, and should be renewed in silence, enriched by contemplation, and carried over from waking through dreamless sleep into the day of daily manifestation. If a person knows this much, then that person knows the essential nature of the task of self-transformation. As the task also involves self-forgetfulness and reaching out to all human beings, a point must surely come when the very thought of one's own progress or lack of it in relation to the pledge will shrink into insignificance simply because one's consciousness becomes so occupied with the greater growth, the larger welfare, of the human race. If a person thought this out carefully, he or she could safeguard against the greatest danger, ignoring which is the mark of immaturity: the cold forgetfulness that arises from the initial unwisdom or psychic heat in taking a vow. A vow is sacred; it must germinate in silence. It invokes sacred speech, but it must ripen through suffering. Where the vow involves a recognition of the ubiquity of human suffering and where one chooses to make one's own suffering meaningful and creative for a larger purpose, the vow has self-correction built into it. Those who have received this great teaching and have been inspired by the very highest ideal will be wise to take the Kwan-Yin pledge at some level. In the words of Buddha, "Anyone who even hears about Kwan-Yin begins the search then and there for enlightenment."

The light of daring is essential to the timely taking of the Kwan-Yin pledge. In the Kwan-Yin Sutra there is a reference to the flames of agony that consume personal consciousness. Kwan-Yin in its metaphysical meaning is bound up with fire and water. Kwan-Yin is connected with the primordial Light of the Logos, which is the paradigm and the pristine source of all creativity in the cosmos, of the hidden power in every human being to produce a result that is beneficent. If Kwan-Yin is ontologically connected with light, but is also compared to the ocean, what then is the meaning of the textual reference to extinguishing the flames of agony? This is a metaphysical paradox. What is light on the most abstract level of undifferentiated primordial matter is the darkness of non-being, such as that which is around the pavilion of God in the Old Testament, or that which is sometimes simply referred to as "In the beginning", the Archaeus, the dark abysm of Space. Kwan-Yin is rooted in Boundless Space and therefore involves noumenal existence at so high a level of attributeless compassion in Eternal Duration that it is the paradigm of all the vows and pledges taken by vast numbers of pilgrims throughout unrecorded history. It is also called Bath- Kol, the Daughter of the Voice, in the Hebrew tradition, that which when sought within the inmost sanctuary bestows a merciful response within the human heart. There is a latent Kwan-Yin in every human being. It is the voice of conscience at the commonest level. It is the chitkala of the developed disciple. At the highest level it is Nada, the Voice of the Silence, the Soundless Sound, that which is comprehended in initiation, and ceaselessly reverberates in the anahata, the deathless centre of the human body, transformed into a divine temple.

The deeper meaning of the Kwan-Yin pledge is enshrined in profound metaphysics, but at the same time, it reaches down to the level of human ignorance and pain, at all levels extinguishing the intensity of craving, the fires of nescience. This is the teaching of the Kwan-Yin Sutra. When that which is light at the highest level descends, it becomes like unto cool water, although intrinsically it is so radiant that it would be blinding. But when it is diffused it converts its state into a fluid which is extremely soothing, sometimes compared to the cool rays of the moon. And then it is capable of giving comfort and sustenance. When a person is soothed and cooled, it is possible to let go, to relinquish the intensity of self-concern. Personal heat is intensely painful when it is experienced without any awareness of alternatives. But when one finds that it may be displaced by soothing wisdom, the cooling waters of compassion, then it is possible to ease the pain and to convert one's mind from a falsely fiery state, which is destructive, into a cooling and regenerative condition. These are all alchemical expressions of processes that are involved in making deliberate changes in states of consciousness connected with different levels of matter.

Theosophically, every level of thought corresponds to and is consubstantial with a level of differentiation of substance. Therefore, one can even discover in ordinary language certain words that tend to heat up the psycho-mental atmosphere. The very way in which one characterizes one's own condition may do a lot of violence through language. One can burn oneself or become totally suffocated by the flames, though the Hasidic mystics remind us that even if the castle is burning, there is a lord. Even while one is burning there can be some recognition of that incorruptible, inconsumable essence in oneself. This possibility is the root of all faith in one's power of spiritual survival, as well as the basis of all notions of physical survival, which are only shadowy representations of this deeper urge to persist and prevail. If one has everyday experience of how certain words and shibboleths can engender a lower heat, one can also employ gentler words, healing metaphors and analogies, broader categories, that soothe and cool one's atmosphere. Even learning to do this is an art, one that can only be practised in a human being's sincere efforts at apprenticeship to the great masters of the art. Kwan-Yin is the cosmic archetype of the art. She who expresses compassion in every conceivable context shows how inexhaustible are the ways of compassion of wise beings, how Initiates use every opportunity to release help. This is part of the universal inheritance of humanity. It is also mirrored in every mother or father who, despite all the lower levels of concern, somewhere knows that what he or she does cannot really be put into the language of calculation, cannot really be weighed or measured.

Gratitude cannot be compelled, but without it life would not go on. It is as if human beings impose upon what they innately know a false structure of expectations, which entangles them in mental cobwebs that are entirely self-created. If emotion becomes sufficiently intense, bitter and sour, there can be a tremendous burden, but even that burden is an act of compassion of the spirit because its weight eventually burns out the tanha, the persisting thirst for material sensation, for false personal life. It will dissolve at the moment of death, but this does not happen all at once. It will receive certain shocks in life, and thereby human beings come to throw off the enormous excesses of their own compulsive cerebration, a great deal of the wastage and the futility of their own emotions, the wear and tear upon the subtle vestures through their own anxieties.

What Nature does as a matter of course can be aided by conscious thought. But where it is aided by conscious thought in the name of the highest cosmic principle and in the company of a long lineage, a golden company of great exemplars of the vow and the pledge for universal enlightenment, one can truly consecrate one's life and thereby refrain from becoming too tensely involved in the process of everyday psychological alchemy. This is implicit in what Buddha taught. If one truly enjoys the very thought of what Kwan-Yin is, and of what is in the Kwan-Yin pledge, this enjoyment should itself help to reduce much of the agony and the anxiety, the tension and strain, of daily striving. The real problem is to be wholehearted, with as undivided a mind as can be brought to the pledge. This must be done without qualifications, without contradictions, but with that holy simplicity of which the mystics speak, a childlike innocence, candour and trust. It is an act of acceptance of the universe and a letting go of whatever comes in the way. When anything does interfere, it must be consumed in the fires of sacrificial change that alone will lead to true spiritual growth. Many a monk on the Bodhisattva Path has found immense benefit through the talismanic use of these three verses:

If you are unable to exchange your happiness For the suffering of other beings, You have no hope of attaining Buddhahood Or even of happiness in this lifetime.
If one whom I have helped my best And from whom I expect much Harms me in an inconceivable way, May I regard that person as my best teacher.
I consider all living beings More precious than 'wish-fulfilling gems', A motivation to achieve the greatest goal: So may I at all times care for them.

What I'd Say If I Were Wrong About Climate Change

2008-06-03T06:37:00.003+01:00

Cyclone Nargis, 01/05/2008

The following text is quoted from NO IMPACT MAN's website when asked by a certain "Richard" what he would do in case he was wrong. Go have a look, it's an inspiring adventure of this world.

*****

Since many of the measures needed to deal with climate change have a lot of positive benefits, if it turns out to not exist, I will first praise God in thanks and then I will think:

I am glad we created 5 million or more new jobs here in the United States in the fields of energy efficiency and renewable generation.
I am glad we created a culture that relies less on foreign oil, so that our children can live secure lives, knowing that the energy rug can't be pulled out from under them.
I am glad we have found a way to save people and industry billions upon billions of dollars by making the use of energy more efficient.
I am glad the millions of children who suffer from asthma can now breathe easier thanks to the fact that we aren't pumping the air full of toxins from our exhaust pipes and smokestacks.
I am glad that, by no longer burning oil and coal into our air, we've put an end to acid rain and the devastation of our aquatic life.
I am glad that we created good, reliable, fun-to-use public transportation system so that families no longer have to raid their budgets to pay for cars and gas.
I am glad we've stopped building suburbs, which make people unhappy and are designed for cars not people, and instead build villages where people can have strong community bonds that help make life fulfilling.
I am glad we now have fuel-efficient automobiles.
I am glad that we've learned as a culture to get off the work-more-to-spend-more treadmill which gobbles up resources and leaves us unfulfilled and instead turned to a way of live full of meaning and purpose.
I am glad we developed local, fresh food systems that care not just about filling bellies but what we put in those bellies.
I am glad that we have rejected the philosophies of survival of the fittest and competition for resources as driving philosophies and have instead embraced a philosophy of compassion and justice.
I am glad that we have understood that a sustainable society cannot work without supporting all of its people and that we looked for and found ways to improve the lives of everyone.
I'm glad that we've come to see people rather than things as our most valuable resource and that, in embracing the respectful and loving principles of not wasting, we have learned not to waste youth in prisons but instead to get them help for their drug addictions and alcoholism.
I am glad that, in realizing our resources are limited, we have come to use them to do what is important and to help each other rather than compete with each other.
I am glad that we have come to see education as the ultimate in sustainable industries.
I am glad that we have developed distributed, renewable energy technologies that allow kids in all parts of the world to have electric light so they can learn how to read.
The list goes on and on, but in short, I am glad that we have embraced the opportunities presented by the crisis of climate change in order to improve our society in ways we should have done anyway.

Now, a question for you, since I've answered your question honestly, I hope you'll do the same with mine.

What would you feel if we went your way and you turned out to be wrong? What would you feel if we all assumed, as you do, that we need not do anything about climate change, but then that it turns out that we should have? What would you feel if we buried our heads in the sand, ignored the problem, and then irreversibly damaged the planetary habitat that we depend upon for our health, happiness and security?

3000 !!

2008-05-27T20:20:00.003+01:00

We passed 3000 visitors on the blog. Thanks to all!

(I know I know... It's a ridiculous amount.. but hey, I like to celebrate for whatever reason.)

Village People

2008-05-21T23:15:00.002+01:00

I'm sure the Lord will rejoice in our celebration of his dancing skills.

Off Hand

2008-05-17T21:05:00.002+01:00

I got this little exercise from Qaexl's LiveJournal:

A Letter
In my inbox, I found a great little exercise today.

Write a letter to a younger version of yourself, using your left (non-dominant) hand. Use a pencil if you can.

You have not done this since you were a child trying to learn to write, and so it will bring up all kinds of emotions and lessons from the past, often some of the earliest ones you have never learned to master.

These may center on how your DAD treated you, how your MOM treated you, or how kids at school treated you. It eventually led to you treating YOURSELF in some ways that are inaccurate, wrongful, or destructive.

Pull LESSONS from this past of yours and write these down.

I have always wanted to be able to communicate to a younger version of myself. I've only written a short letter so far (stressing the importance of starting martial arts early, of course) ... and it is dredging up a lot of memories while giving closure to many of them. Enough so that I need to get a pencil sharpener and a dedicated journal for this. There's certainly something quasi-magical about this.

All the meditation, NLP, knowledge -- what gongfu I've accumulated so far -- are all fair game for this. :-D

Namaste

Dr. Tran's Quiet Log Time

2008-05-03T21:20:00.001+01:00

More of these hilarious short cartoons available at www.lonesausage.com

The Jaguar And The Rat

2008-05-01T22:28:00.005+01:00

El Jaguar Y El Ratón by Plecks*

As the thunder brew its light
Into the approaching rhythm of night
Through the forest showing his might
Was the Rat trying to get laid tonight.
With his sharp ears attenting
The Jaguar heard the sounding
Of the thunder and the Rat
As he was trying to eat a bat.
The rain crept its way into the spaces of the jungle
And the Jaguar lept away
From the dead bat left
In the pending bundle.

Racing with the lightning, growl and thunder blending
The Rat's end was near.

Or maybe, he could hear
The paws of the animal eating queer.
"Who dares to interrupt my courtship? I challenge you to a game of quip, if you are to show your face, you filthy lack of grace!"

"Ohoho!!" replied the Jaguar
And sat himself at the bar
But the Rat was smart, and the Jaguar was but a fart.
"Would you care for a drink before we start?" asked the Rat in his form of art,
"I'd jolly well appreciate, some Gin from the Gordon's estate"
And so the Rat, cunning and cheating, poisoned the Jaguar's gin, right under his chin.
"Here you go my dear chap, I hope this will serve for a little nap"
And so before the Jaguar could answer, his body had lounged under the counter.

THE END

*Comment on the image by its creator: "It was not my intention to make the cat look like a jaguar. Most of my art has a tendency to bear the tone of a nightmare and part of what embodies the nightmare conscious, to me, is not blood, guts and gore but things being just slightly off, never really revealing what evil it is you should be fearing within. That's why I really connected with the theme you chose for your fable because it can be both innocent and terrifying, at least that's where my imagination took it. It's like American McGee's "Alice"."

Dr. Albert Hofmann - January 11, 1906 - April 29, 2008

2008-04-30T20:01:00.001+01:00

Article published in DNA (India):

The name Albert Hofmann may not mean much to most of us; mention that he was the man who discovered LSD, and it all suddenly becomes clear. That is what proponents and users of LSD have always maintained — that using it makes things clearer. Hofmann, who died on Tuesday used to say that the much maligned drug was “just a tool to turn us into what we are supposed to be”.

Hofmann had synthesised lysergic acid diethylamide — LSD — in 1938 but it was not until five years later that he accidentally ingested some and discovered its mind-bending abilities. He then deliberately consumed 250 gm and rode a bicycle home as part of a self-experiment. What a ride that must have been!

He continued his research into plants and chemicals that had the potential to create altered states but it was not until the 1960s that thousands of youth discovered it as the best means to achieve nirvana.

Counter-culture guru Timothy Leary had a flash of inspiration in his shower one day and coined the phrase, “Turn on, tune in, drop out” as the best way to promote the benefits of LSD and the drug took on mythical proportions, eventually becoming the most potent symbol of the flower-power generation.

It showed up in pop art, psychedelic design and even in songs —till today rockers debate if the Beatles song Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds is a reference to LSD. In India, there were reports of trendy academics and hipsters trying it out, but the drug never made it big, chiefly because it was difficult to obtain.

With this level of popularity, it was only a matter of time before the establishment struck back and banned it, much to Hofmann’s frustration. He admitted that the chemical could have dangerous effects in the wrong hands, but pointed out its beneficial effects, especially in psychiatry.

For him, it was the “medicine of the soul”, something that allowed humans to be what they really were, rather than the social animals they appeared to be.

The acid tripping of the 1960s and ’70s has long gone, replaced by truly dangerous substances and a drug trade controlled by large criminal organisations constantly looking to increase their user base. The Age of Aquarius, with its ganja, magic mushrooms and LSD now looks positively harmless.

LSD went underground but is now said to be making a discreet comeback, in controlled experiments to see how it helps in the therapy of cancer patients. The very acronym still has the potency to get authorities all worked up, but perhaps Hofmann was right all along about it being more a medicine than a lifestyle drug. Now, as he joins Lucy in the sky, he can look down on the world and say, “I told you so.”

Graffiti

2008-04-28T04:16:00.002+01:00

This is a random internet find.

(Cash) Flow

2008-04-05T18:31:00.002+01:00

I want 100.000.000 Euros. Any amount will do to start with but that's my goal. Write to me for bank account details. I'm not joking. Really.

There is a purpose behind this, I'm not going to spend the money on piña coladas and mansions. I want to create a nature reserve with an eco-sustainable village for at least 15 families in it and the infrastructure for more if the possibility and will arise. There is more to do such as implementing a free school for children inspired by creative values and alternative systems such as Waldorf/Steiner, Democratic schools, Montessori, Active Education etc. and also very importantly, establish functioning enterprises to financially sustain the community in creative ways with arts & craft workshops, a music & video studio, an organic agriculture initiative, an ethical financial service... you get the idea.

Not only do we need the money but of course we need you as a person. If you want to be part of a revolution and are willing to commit yourself and your family to such a project, contact me.

The Samara Foundation Newsletter - November 2007

2007-11-12T11:26:00.000Z

"As we move inwardly during this time of autumn approaching winter, this inward movement is best approached without our personal limitations. Better that it be viewed as a gateway to embracing more freedom beyond set patterns, thoughts and old ways of doing things.

These old ways need to change for us to actually see that change is possible.

As we approach the winter months I feel that the below questions provide a wonderful opportunity to meditate upon and thereby open ourselves more to the endless possibilities of life.

IS IT GOOD TO FEEL ENJOYMENT?

It is very good to feel happy and it is very good to feel enjoyment. Yet it is as, or even more, important to know the depth of what makes those aspects of ourselves become alive and real so that those feelings of happiness and enjoyment have a more permanent duration to them rather than simply being a temporary satisfaction of external desires leading to good feelings.

If the I (ego) is involved in the feelings it will be on a constant and endless search to satisfy what makes it happy and that is the same circle as the mind seeking its salvation in the problem of unhappiness and not realising its deeper essence.

IS IT GOOD TO LOOK IN OTHER DIRECTIONS?

All directions come back to who you are and what you do. I am sure you understand that it is not the directions that bring you back to yourself (your essence) but rather the enlightened teacher that helps you to see that some curves and twists even though seemingly on the surface are taking you straight to a place of what seems to be the solution to your problems, are in actual fact just that... curves and twists. Hence, as your guide, I must make you aware that you are curving and twisting rather than going directly to the space that will help you see clearly.

Being clear means to be less serious. Remember the light. There is no need to weigh yourself down with the excess baggage of the games that the mind likes to play anticipating that happiness and enjoyment are found in the shadows of the mind rather than in the light of your essence.

CAN I TRUST YOU?

Can you trust yourself? Many of us who have enquired deeply into ourselves have realised through the layers of what makes us human - our mind, our emotions, our body, our limitations - that really it is difficult to trust such human aspects in their incompleteness as they are always seeking salvation by fulfilling needs rather than moving beyond those needs and opening up to giving more. If the reference point is to find freedom and happiness then reflect on what is more truly a picture of such a reference by loving and giving rather than being distrustful and giving power to fears and limitations of the mind, body and emotions.

Surely the question of trust comes from a fearful, dualistic mind thinking that there is a separation between you and I. Trusting is not about fear of others or yourself , shepherds or sheep, good or bad, right or wrong, it is much deeper. It is about trusting. The more we trust the more we are able to love as love embodies trust. If we approach love from a trusting space then if this love is all-embracing and real how can it not be worth your trust? On a practical level, my work with everyone, including you, goes beyond such mundane separations such as distrust.

Whether you are aware of love or not makes no difference as love goes beyond the normal senses and into the divine spaces of unknowingness. Soon you will know this space as you trust it more.

Be aware that the clever mind creates a veil that clouds our thinking and perceptions - twisting and curving and moving us away from giving and loving and creating the perception of lacks and judgements that create needs and desires.

Trust what you know and do what is natural - give directly from the heart".

Tony Samara 2007

_________________________________________

Dear friends

October has been such a busy month that it is over before a newsletter has been created. We apologise for this lateness but celebrate the first flurries of snow as they fall softly past the window as we write.

Many people have been asking us about the longer retreats which were planned for January and March 2008. These retreats will now not be happening. We have such a backlog of work to get through that to start organising something that requires as much planning as the 40 day event does, does not do this special event justice.

However plans are underway already to create new venues for these programmes in Costa Rica and the Bahamas which will ensure wonderful 40 and 10 day retreats are possible in 2009.

For those living in Portugal this has created the possibility for a one-day event in Lisbon on 15 December 2007. Please contact us for more details about this programme.

Some more good news is that we have recently signed a contract which will enable Tony's book LA SAGESSE DU SHAMAN (published only in French at this time) to be published in German. We understand that the German version will be ready for release in May 2008.

We would like to remind you that it is always possible to spend time with Tony and receive personal discourse with him in the many retreats and seminar programmes organized for him throughout the world. Please check http://www.tonysamara.org for the latest event updates.

Thank you for your support and love as we continue to expand this beautiful work in the world we live in.

Love

The Samara Foundation

Going Places

2007-11-12T10:16:00.000Z

The house we are moving to...

I have big news for the world, my little family is moving to Costa Rica in December this year. It’s a great new adventure that we are all excited about. For those who don’t know, I live with my fiancée and her two little girls and the move to the other side of the ocean brings up a lot of questions to everyone that we know and of course to ourselves: Why Costa Rica? What are you going to do there? Why so far from your friends and family? etc. Spending a few days back in Portugal with my family that I haven’t seen for over a year now has been very good, having some quality time to look at things from the heart of the web of my life connections.

And so, after coming up with all the answers that satisfy the curious mind, the only true answer that I can come up with is that there is a pull and a push, something greater than I cannot understand. I feel attracted to the place and I am being pushed there, or rather carried there by my teacher Tony Samara. It seems the aspects of myself that are more aware are moving me beyond my capacity to logically process events and I’m extremely excited that all the dominoes seems to be falling into place faster and faster.

I’ve been dreaming of a place in the rainforest mountains for years now, Costa Rica slowly manifesting itself as the place drawing my attention and also to others in our network. So how do these places come to matter so much? I’ve had attractions and special connections to other places before. The most important one to this date is the Cromelech of Almendres near Évora in Portugal where I’ve had my spiritual awakening, not in the sense of liberation of course, but my wake-up call to life.

Places of power have been important across the ages to all species on the planet, sometimes it is a specific place and sometimes it can be a vast area. Turtles have specific breeding grounds, the Emperor penguin breeds only in Antartica, whales follow specific routes and humans are part of this unseen and yet unexplained grid of planetary energy. The most famous human ones are examplified in the Easter Island, the pyramids of Giza and also the Mayan constructions, the ancient stone circle of Stonehenge and so forth.

Also we have no fundamental understanding of why some civilizations were more develloped than others, some places in the world were more auspicious for certain aspects at certain times as I believe that like everything in the Universe, the energy changes. For example, I don’t feel the magnet of the Giza pyramids anymore. I’ve visited them quite a few times since my father lives in Egypt and although they are an impressive demonstration of magic, the glitter seems to have moved on.

There are places where new energy is calling and to me Costa Rica is one of those, Hawaii is another (with the gigantic disadvantage of being part of the USA) and many others are manifesting around the world for different people with their own karmic connections. As we experience the extreme plundering of Nature’s resources across the globe, its call beckons to join and regroup in places to protect ourselves from the inevitable scenario that humans have set up for themselves. May we all find the strength to smile in the midst of the challenges to come!

Cheating

2007-11-01T17:26:00.000Z

Sorry faithful and numerous readers but I've been cheating and posting articles I'm writing for Partners-InC lately. I haven't had much time, travelling a lot and such but one I'm settled in Costa Rica, I hope to have more time.

A Smile Within

2007-11-01T17:14:00.000Z

Everyday we live within patterns of chaos and in those patterns, we face various situations that trigger different programmes within us. Dealing with them when we least expect their manifestation is the challenge of life in my opinion, more so than finding The Meaning Of Life, The Truth or other so-called profound philosophical and metaphysical issues. The depth of ecstatic realization is in action, contemplative realizations are indeed magnificent and they are without a doubt a necessary part of the growth process, however, putting them into practice is the next level of “spiritual” evolution.

On Partners-InC John Halloway wrote very simply about smiling in his column and I gave some thought to the question. I thrive on the paradox between simplicity and complexity so I was finding a place for the smile in my paradigm. I came to the conclusion that smiling is an amazing step to use in situation where we are at ease and we want to create an environment that is conducive to a more pleasant state of mind. Where I did find it lacking was in processes where deeper awareness was required not to get caught in the patterns that overcome and override all of our selves.

For example, imagine you find yourself at work having made a mistake and compromised the work of your colleagues. No matter your position in the company, you can be the boss or a worker, but you are overcome by feelings of guilt. You know there is a solution to this situation, logically it is fixable, but emotionally you do not respond in a rational way. You feel like crying, you’re sad, you avoid contact with others, you are totally caught up in the spin. You tried smiling and it didn’t do much, you know you’re lying to yourself.

There are basically two ways of dealing with this, to repress it or to surrender and transcend. The former is basically to keep up the fake smile, pretend nothing is happening inside you and fix the situation in the way that was presented to you according to you personality which in itself has also a variety of solutions - we’ll leave this for another time. The latter solution is to acknowledge your process, to expose it to others up to where it is comfortable for you and to co-create a new situation with them in a new and open channel previously unknown to you. Sounds liberating doesn’t it?

It is important to find a space where we can reach the point of awareness to make the decisions that bring us more clarity and openness. Sometimes a smile is enough for this but often, depending on the depth of the programme, we need something extra and this is where meditation comes in, or going to the gym or whatever rocks your world. Some things take more time to process as we are complex machines, each with unique hardware and software, a lot of which is dysfunctional, so it is important to honour our desire and let our Nature take the course it chooses.

Many times for me, this process has led me to acknowledge that I simply am not always right. I’m a Leo with ascendant Sagittarius and this is something I have a very hard time accepting! Showing humility towards others and to fully trust a teacher were the biggest steps towards my inner commitment that I ever took. I continuously find that showing our vulnerability makes us stronger, mostly because it is a sign of true honesty and in the face of such a choice, people tend to respond in the same way. Just like a true smile.

The Temple

2007-10-24T23:57:00.000+01:00

Byodo-In Temple, Kahaluu, Oahu, Hawaii. Photo by John Fischer

In our society, our body is often overlooked when it comes down to the fundamentals of its functions. People in the western world hardly eat because they actually are hungry, rather they eat because it’s part of a conditioned emotional, social, and mental frame. If we look a tiny bit beyond the mundane, who needs the Mars bar with or without the “happy-dappy” marketing? What are we feeding when we consume such a product? What are the repercussions for us and for the world in this apparently innocuous act?

I believe that in such moments and in many others when we don’t take the time to be aware of the sacredness of nurturing our bodies, we provoke damage. Sugary snacks – and I take them simply as an example amongst many - are literally bombs for the body and the fabrication process involved for their creation is literally a bomb for the environment. Many and most other food situations we live in today are very similar in structure; who thinks twice about the life of the dead cow that lies in the plate with the chemically grown French fries and the egg-based mayonnaise? I’m quite certain that if anyone had experienced the conditions the cow and the egg producing chicken had lived in, what they had eaten and how it was killed in the case of the cow, no-one would eat them. I know it’s been shown on TV and written in books many times, but seeing it on a screen – which many people actually refuse to do - and realizing the experience is another.

Our bodies are an extremely important aspect of our life experience on this planet and are one of the four levels* we have at birth to free ourselves from the illusion of separation. By this I mean, that our body is an integral part of our yearning for the Source and for Oneness so if we are ever to realize this, we need to pay attention to the natural process it requires rather than distracting it into the illusion of the world we allow to exist.

One way to do this is by taking the time to listen to our bodies. What does this mean? Basically it is to contemplate on the action we are doing before we complete it, to be aware of all the work, creation and destruction that was needed to bring what is on your fork at the entrance of your mouth when you are about to chew it, to be aware of how this substance is going to affect your body, your mind, your emotions and your spirit, to be aware of how this in turn is going to affect your direct and indirect environment, if the whole chain of events is conducive to a sustainable life on and for the planet and of course, to consider if this is actually what you really want to do or if there would be an alternative that you could choose that would make you feel better regarding any of these considerations.

All of this seems very complicated but it takes only a few seconds and a few deep breaths that could change your life.

We all know there are a lot of things that are not good for us, but still we keep on doing them, eating them and stay stuck in our dysfunctional patterns. Becoming aware of the pattern is a step towards having the necessary perspective to change it and it is also very important to acknowledge that it can take time, sometimes a long time for the desired change to be completed. The joy of transformation is in the journey itself, not in the results.

After having meditated upon this for some time, you may find that a vegetarian diet seems more adequate to enable these considerations to take a more positive form. In my opinion, this leads to choosing organic produce, avoiding flesh foods, avoiding refined foods etc. There is plenty of literature about this that will inform you much better than I can. Not that this is a necessity but today, the argument that humans have been hunter gatherers since the birth of time no longer stands ground in my opinion. People did hunt and eat meat of course, because they had no other option.

Nowadays, we have all the options and possibilities we could dream of and I believe it is the responsibility of each and every one of us to choose the option that suits the process that is most connected with the least amount of violence. I say least amount because it is impossible to live on this planet, consume food and not have some form of violent impact but what is possible is to drastically reduce it. So of course, animals die in the process of growing vegetables, but if we deliberately add others to the body count for sustenance that can easily be found in other forms, then it seems to me that there is something that needs to be looked at.

A good place to start looking is in our own kitchen. How much ready made food is there? Is there a microwave? How much frozen food? How much time do we spend to prepare the food?

All these questions are fundamental to the awareness of the body, because if we cannot honour it as our Temple, as the house of the Divine on this planet, if we cannot even take time to offer the best possible gift to this Temple, how then can we realize and experience the Divine in a space in which it has not been invited?

Creating a healthy environment in the physical plane is a fantastic way of creating a healthy environment for your intentions but there isn’t much point in having the perfect diet if you’re not happy with it, if you’re angry when you’re eating or if you’re still covering emotions that seem difficult to deal with.

My teacher Tony Samara often reminds us of the time when he left the Zen monastery and that his master invited him for dinner on the last night to feed him steak and saké. It’s important to remember the interconnectedness of everything, that our bodies are not separate from the rest, that in order to create the space we want to invite the Infinite Universe into our consciousness, our attitude, reverence and sense of humour towards the world and ourselves are without a doubt, the most important factors.

* The three others are the emotional, the mental and the spiritual level.

Self-Enquiry

2007-10-22T19:56:00.000+01:00

Sri Ramana Maharshi

I recently have read The Collected Works of Ramana Maharshi and would like to leave the readers with a few of his words. This great man, not to be confused with the cloudy Maharishi Yogi and his registered TM (pun intended), has taught for many years in India in caves of the sacred mountain Arunachala.

The core of his teaching is extremely simple, as it is with all free men, and he enunciates it in the following way:

“The first and foremost of all thoughts that arise in the mind is the primal “I”-thought. It is only after the rise or origin of the “I”-thought that innumerable other thoughts arise. In other words, only after the first personal pronoun, “I” has risen, do the second and third personal pronouns (you, he, etc.) occur to the mind; and they cannot subsist without the former.

Since every other thought can only occur after the rise of the “I”-thought and since the mind is nothing but a bundle of thoughts, it is only through the enquiry “Who am I?” that the mind subsides. Moreover, the integral “I”-thought, implicit in such inquiry, having destroyed all other thoughts, gets itself finally destroyed or consumed, just as the stick used for stirring the burning funeral pyre gets consumed.

Even when extraneous thoughts sprout up during such enquiry, do not seek to complete the rising thought, but instead, deeply enquire within, “To whom has this thought occurred?” No matter how many thoughts occur to you, if you would with acute vigilance enquire immediately as and when each individual thought arises to whom it has occurred, you would find it is to “me”. If then you enquire “Who am I?”, the mind gets introverted and the rising thought also subsides. In this manner as you persevere more and more in the practise of Self-enquiry, the mind acquires increasing strength and power to abide in its Source.”

I personally have been practising different exercises and meditations along my path with the constant thread of Karma Yoga – awareness in action or selfless service - holding the lines of all the possibilities but this method has struck me as extremely effective and profoundly moving. However, I must say that I could not have even begun to have the patience for it a couple of years ago. It is a difficult meditation due to it’s extreme simplicity and requires strong will, concentration and persistence.

Most of us might easily be put off due to the restlessness of the mind but it is a good excerpt to grasp the fundamental concepts of spirituality, at least as I understand it. Ramana Maharshi also speaks in his works of the benefits of the paths of Bhakti (devotion to all forms of life), Karma (awareness in action, selfless service), Jnana (knowledge and self-enquiry) and Yoga (union in movement and breath control).

In the practise we have in the teachings of my master, Tony Samara, the exercises and concepts are similar so I put the question to him about this specific exercise, asking him why he hadn’t put the form in this particular way and his humorous reply was as follows:

“Ramana Maharshi is an interesting person as he deeply understood many concepts that in today’s world are not understood. However he understood them in the Hindu terminology which is culturally biased to India. Inspirations to my teachings are not in a person as such but rather in their experience of freedom and once you have this experience, the inspiration is the inspiration itself.

All is shared in the work we do, of course not in the same way as Ramana Maharshi as I am not Hindu nor am I trying to be a New Age Hindu guru. There are always many aspects to freedom that one can look at and if you are aware, I am always working (…) on many of those aspects that have the same essence as his teachings.

Remember, Guru’s have a funny way of speaking and even if this meditation is not culturally biased, the way Maharshi’s teachings are portrayed are culturally biased. The best way to understand the meditation is by practise.

My way of saying it is: Go deeper. Culturally biased to the Tony Samara culture.”

As a brief conclusion, I would like to infer from these wise men’s words is that as we seek happiness and freedom, the mind and its eternal search for past, future and absolute certainty, needs to be taken over by a larger and more powerful state of consciousness. Call it the Heart, God, Consciousness… It is a tangible reality for all if one makes the effort to keep in its tracks.

Creeping Roots

2007-10-05T16:19:00.000+01:00

Photo by Greg Ercolano

As humans in a physical world, we are often brought up to believe that the external dimension is real and that what goes on within us is something either nonsense or something to be controlled. This applies mostly to our western society and also to “westernised” cultures that are growing very fast around the world as the dysfunctional model of material “happiness” creeps in.

We hear that money won’t make us happy, but I find that hardly anyone truly believes this. Our society is geared and directed towards this goal and whether or not we like it, we are conditioned from birth into this ever so deeply rooted belief system that teaches us to be “productive”, to be “wealthy” and to “contribute to society”. I have nothing against these concepts, what I do have a problem with is what they imply and the cost they bear on our relationship to ourselves and to the world. We strive everyday to find solutions to problems we created in the first place, spinning in circles trying to make things work.

How many people look at Nature nowadays and notice that it has worked fine for millions of years and will work long after humans are gone from this planet? We want to do things, become somebody, be remembered, accumulate belongings, collect stamps, have dogs…

Our planet is the best example of peace, happiness and contentment for our physically attached minds. Nature shows us how to adapt to the most extreme situations, how to survive, how to make the most of it’s abundance and most of all, how to work with it without destroying it. Yet we choose to believe that our artificially and technologically “advanced” social, economical and political models work better. How crazy is this?

As the controversial spiritual master Osho once said: “We are born onto this earth and then we die, why make a fuss in between?”

Even though I still do contribute to this inescapable madness, there is something profoundly deranging about it. I’m a great fan of technology but what I’m not a fan of is technology made for unsustainable purposes (ie. military) or using non-renewable resources to create it. I’m a great supporter of productivity and social contribution, what I don’t support is blind accumulation of material wealth and feeding dysfunctional patterns from a guilty space exemplified by most of “charity” nowadays.

The process of becoming happy is the process of freeing oneself from limiting beliefs, from attachments to the uni-dimensionality of the material plane and understanding that every layer of experience is a tool for growth rather than an excuse to cage oneself into fear and negativity.

I don’t believe in a “one-size-fits-all” solution for this issue. It’s up to each and every person to question, to live, to experience, to learn and to grow but one thing I do believe is that we have the responsibility to make sure we are honest to ourselves even if it means to break established situations and moving out of comfort zones.

Is money the root of all evil? I believe it can be the root of many things - hardly ever black and white - depending on how attached you are to it, where you grow it, what you use to fertilize it and what you want it for.

To Spammer

2007-09-28T11:27:00.000+01:00

Dear Spammer,

I have currently no interest in enlarging my penis as both my fiancée and I are very satisfied with its size. I also have no interest in meeting 25 year old russian women nor do I wish to purchase Viagra, Cialis or cheap software since I can get anything for free on proper warez p2p.

Please refrain from sending anymore e-mails, not just to me but to the world as I'm sure you have noticed the lack of interest or respect that you have earned from your disfunctional behaviour and intrusive attitude.

Yours truly,

Sud Ram

The Samara Foundation - September 2007 Newsletter

2007-09-26T18:04:00.000+01:00

“ We are fast approaching the wonderful autumnal equinox here in the Northern Hemisphere. This, for me, is an often forgotten yet so very important time of celebration. Celebration being a deep honouring of the various aspects within oneself.

It is wonderful to celebrate this moment of the equinox with our remembrance.

What we are actually remembering is the light. This light touches our essence at all times but is especially powerful during solstices and equinoxes as evidenced by research surrounding monuments such as Stonehenge and other stone circles. And, during this moment of remembrance, one can become more conscious in mind, body, emotions and essence.

This light is not just external. It is not something to be experienced simply on the outside by the senses even though the external aspect of it is so beautiful at this time of year. It is a vital and internal radiance that has two great forms - the male radiance and the female glowing.

The male radiance can more easily be experienced through the masculine aspect within. The masculine is our more common experience because of our culture (meaning the western culture). In this culture we measure time according to the masculine light using the western calendar which is a solar or masculine recognition of the light and hence the lesser importance placed on the equinox and its meaningful celebrations.

Interestingly the Islamic calendar, which comes from a culture often perceived in the West as a very masculine society, is based solely on the lunar cycle rather than the solar cycle. It measures time according to the moon rather than the sun.

The female glowing is totally different in character and inner experience but ultimately equal and part of the light. The moon would not glow without the sun.

The union of both lights – masculine radiance and feminine glowing - creates life for all beings of this earth.

Harmonious life is when these two lights interact in a harmonious way, such as the yin and yang of the east . To achieve this we need equal respect for the masculine and the feminine - light within and as experienced externally, rather than creating separation or focussing on only one.

As both aspects of the light need equal recognition, often this western and more masculine/material calendar creates imbalances that manifest in our experience of life because of the focus being solely on time and material achievements with little time left for the more feminine action of inner reflection. This imbalance creates disharmony between people in their actions, in their thoughts and in their feelings of despair. This we see so much more prevalent in todays world of separateness and individualistic neediness.

Often we ask why is this so? because we do not understand the core issues and fundamental structure of what has created this disharmony in the first place.

When we celebrate the harmony between our two aspects during this special moment of the equinox then we create a vitally necessary interaction between the sun and the moon. This interaction was a vital part of traditional and wise cultures.

In these traditional and wise cultures the celebration was not a masculine aspect on the outside, such as celebrations are today with gifts of materialism and indulgence in the senses, neither was it a quiet, internal introspection that can be seen as a reaction against the masculine superficiality. Rather the celebrations were a bridge between the worlds.

The breath is also a bridge between the worlds - the breath that is inhaled is a beginning and the breath that is exhaled is the end.

When we can unite the in breath with the out breath we honour our origins and create beautiful harmony. And, as in the old times, we can celebrate with simple joy as if it was the first day of our life.

Some people will see this season as the end of the summer but rather than the end, if we give ourselves time to breathe in what is all around, we will notice that the colours and light that reflect back to us are a bridge to the beautiful golden hues within ourselves.”

Tony Samara

__________________________________

Dear Friends

We are excited to announce that a worldwide meditation link has been created in order to celebrate the European autumnal equinox on 23 September. No special preparation is necessary. You can join in individually or gather a group together to create a time for this remembrance. The official equinox time is 10:51 in the UK and Portugal and 11:51 in the rest of Europe.

We also look forward to welcoming you to one of Tony's cleansing retreat programmes:

Portugal 4-7 October 2007
Slovenia 2-4 November 2007

or to the detox days being held in

Zagreb, Croatia 13-14 October 2007
Graz, Austria 20 October 2007
Warsaw, Poland 10 November 2007

It is always possible to spend time with Tony and receive personal discourse with him in the many retreats and seminar programmes organized for him throughout the world. Please check http://www.tonysamara.org for the latest event updates.

We have had incredibly positive feedback about the programmes and newsletters although many have mentioned that they have not been able to come to the programmes and wish for some more easy access to the teachings and practice of Tony Samara.

Why not take the opportunity to purchase some of the CDs and DVDs that are available and are a great inspiration?

Why not organise a group in your area who can support each other with regular get-togethers? It is often easier to practice together and feel the support of like-minded people.

Please let us know when you get your group started so that we can put others in touch with you.

Thank you for your support and love as we continue to expand this beautiful work in the world we live in.

Love

The Samara Foundation

Partners-Inc

2007-09-20T17:10:00.000+01:00

I've started to write for a website called Partners-Inc that is dedicated to the theme of Happiness. Every Thursday there will be an article published that will correspond to the theme from my perspective and with specific issues that I feel are interesting.

A good ego-boost for me to let go of!

The Samara Foundation Newsletter - August 2007

2007-08-31T16:32:00.000+01:00

"Within each of us is a light, awake, encoded in the fibers of our existence. Divine ecstasy is the totality of this marvelous creation experienced in the hearts of humanity" Tony Samara

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"It is interesting that most people reach a point in their lives where they accept the feeling of being alive but not quite to the extent that they wish this aliveness to be. Divine ecstasy is the ecstasy one feels that is beyond the joy and happiness that comes from the mundane aspects of life and this status quo feeling. Divine ecstasy is found naturally within each one of us and it is the wonderful bridge that connects us to all humanity and gives us the feeling of being one with all of creation that we are experiencing in our lives right now.

Unfortunately, the ego which searches for the mundane happiness through the senses and the satisfaction of the material aspects of our existence is like a thin patch of cloud that prevents the true light of our hearts from being seen. It is often so cloudy for most of us with all the activities of daily life that our inner selves forget that there is a light beyond this patch of cloud. What does it take for this cloud to disperse so that we can again see the beautiful light of the sun that is shining naturally around all humanity?

The ego is like a divider dividing what can be experienced into two aspects. It creates the impression that we are separate aspects of creation - that you are one, I am another and so forth. When the ego vanishes, that is, when the ego again connects to the aspect of ourselves that is deeper than the mundane, the aspect of ourselves that is beyond the senses and detached from materialism, then we will realize our own inner consciousness that connects us to the evolution of human consciousness.

I have been asked where does this evolution lead us?

This can be answered in two very simple words: SELFLESS LOVE.

When we go beyond judging others and ourselves through the aspect that judges, that is the ego, then we don't condemn ourselves to the superficial but rather give birth to our depth which is embodied through the aspect of love that we are all born with. So what can we do in a practical sense so that the ego and our true self can dwell as intimate friends in the same body?

I believe that one great step is to detach ourselves from the mundane aspects that grab our attention in daily life and rather than feed the ego with food that doesn't nourish it, why not perform kind acts that help us to see what love means in action. This love in action can be measured in many ways. It is not simply being nice or saying nice things to people but rather going deeply into the energy that divides us from the sense of love. This energy can also be measured in many ways. In our modern world it is surely measured to a great extent in the form of monetary wealth. There is nothing wrong with monetary wealth when we see that it is a form of energy for us to share and in this understanding the more wealth the better. This is the new paradigm for the era that we are entering. Rather than a poverty mentality of there not being enough or having to struggle in an impoverished world, why not realise that the abundance, i.e. the wealth, exists.

Many of us forget that money is a form of energy that is, in today's world, often expressed in a selfish way. Whatever we have in a monetary sense we like to hold onto in the hope that it will fulfill happiness by fulfilling mundane and material aspects that the ego believes will nourish ourselves with happiness and love. This belief system needs to change as an expression what we all deeply want: LOVE.

I believe that the best way for love to increase is by giving rather than holding on. In this light we know that to receive we need to give. As we learn this in action and through practical means by truly giving, then we open ourselves to receive unlimited abundance as we release our limited programmes and belief systems of impoverishment and allow the new experience of giving to become part of our enlightened belief system.

Following this philosophy, I encourage you all to consider contributing unconditionally 10% of your savings if any and 10% of your monthly earnings to a humanitarian, ecological or spiritual cause of your choice in the knowledge that this action of love will again awaken the true self into realising itself in the oneness of life.

When we as individuals realise this then surely we change the world."

Tony Samara (August 2007)

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Dear Friends

We look forward to welcoming you to one of Tony's cleansing retreat programmes:

The Netherlands - 7-9 September, 2007

The Algarve, Portugal - 4-7 October 2007

It is always possible to spend time with Tony and receive personal discourse with him in the many retreats and seminar programmes organized for him throughout the world. Please check
http://www.tonysamara.org for the latest event updates. Thank you for your support and love as we continue to expand this beautiful work in the world we live in.

Love

The Samara Foundation

Entering The N.O.W.

2007-08-14T16:51:00.000+01:00

The Alps

Here is my new short story, a Ragga Vibration of course. You can also download it in PDF format on the link to the right. Hope you like it!

**********

UNDRESSING ANGELA REDDING, one of the world's most prominent and controversial spiritual counsellors.

Interview by Ragga Phi for N.O.W. magazine.

There is broken glass and Château Yquème 2001 scattered on the floor of the palace's banquet hall. She just finished adding another faux-pas to her long list of “eccentric” behaviours. The only reason why she is still invited to these exclusive events is because the jet-set of the world requires her unique services in the area of the unseen world. And admittedly, when she doesn't lose it, she can be the life of the party.

Everyone around was looking at her with eyes that spoke words of incredulity and exasperation. One could almost hear them say “Not again! When will she learn to behave? I hope she won't cancel my consultation next week out of a whim!”

Angela Redding stood there laughing hysterically. She has what one could easily label as a witch's laugh, a loud cackle that penetrates the bones and the soul, stirring up even the most rigid composure.
“You people take things too seriously, relax and brake a few glasses yourself! You'll see, it feels wonderful!” she let out as she continues to humour herself and throws another couple of glasses on the floor until another laughter could be heard in the now almost silent room. The host, the ambassador of Costa Rica, had joined into her light humour and threw his glass on the floor too and sheepishly, all the guests began to laugh and to break glasses on the floor. It was madness, women with shorter skirts started to bleed from cuts on their legs and yet were still laughing. Everyone was happy, they didn't often have the opportunity to destroy Crystal d'Arques glasses without feeling remorse or guilt. It seemed like everyone had become a child for a night again, free, without fear.

Of course, quite a few doctors were called in and many stitches were sewn up during that night, but the Costa Rican celebration of 2007 for the new ambassador was probably one of the most memorable nights for most of the guests. In Angela's perspective, she never loses it, she just pushes the edge a little further each time.

The following morning is warm, too warm for this time of year, it seems like climate changes are now completely under way and that no matter how much Dubya and Michael Crichton try to deny them, everyday is a different experience compared to the previous cycles of Nature. Angela Redding is getting ready for her day of work which consists in receiving huge amounts of money from people who are afraid of their own lives. For this she uses her gifts of aura reading, tarot readings, astrology and many other more obscure forms of divination such as runes, crystal combinations and some incursions into darker aspects of the craft when she deems necessary. It's not what stimulates her the most but it pays the – very big – bills.

“Divination is a bit boring” she said to me, “you don't really need astrology or cards or to read an aura to tell someone they can be happy if they make space for that to come into their lives. But what can I do? I'm one of the best people around that can do these things so it's what expected of me and I get paid very well for it. I'm in no position to complain.”

As the sun prepares to rise, she gets ready for her morning puja. Her altar is a work of art, the statue of Nataraj was made by her and one of her spiritual teachers during one of her long stays in Bali in the late nineties and this morning she dedicates her sacred charas to the spirit of the divine before chanting and absorbing it into her body through a chillum she was offered in India. After this short ritual, she does her asanas and ends with a silent meditation.

“This is better than any medicine western doctors could ever come up with”, she tells me. “This morning routine”, she adds, “this is what is missing from most people's lives and that's why they're afraid. Their only connection to God is an idea that their priests or someone else has imprinted in them. They don't experience it every morning for themselves, they don't practice the sacred and without the sacred in life, people go crazy because they cannot see the point in existing any more.”

She invites me to stay with her for the day as long as I keep her clients identity off the record which I accept of course. Her company is very enjoyable and her house is much nicer than any hotel the magazine would have paid for. Not to mention the quality of her teas and charas are beyond anything I'd tasted before...

“Don't abuse it” she says, “you'll forget your dreams. Cannabis isn't a cheap medicine in energetical terms. Every medicine and plant have their own tax on some part of the body, be it physical, spiritual, mental or emotional and cannabis can be quite expensive. It can deregulate the heart chakra into a specific vibration that opens the doors to paranoia, laziness and sometimes schizophrenia. The worst cost is the dreams, it can entirely take away the awareness of the dreams and without exception, permeates that dimension with a specific tone, not always beneficial to spiritual work. So if I were you, I would think twice before using it and why.”

She then added “I personally would rather not use it at all but since I moved back to the city life it is very difficult for me to maintain my energy levels at the rate I like them to be so I sometimes use charas or grass as a fuel and I work on compensating the other taxes with other practices that I've developed. But not every day though, only when I really feel it will help.”

I listen carefully to this and decide to abide. I admire her willpower because this smoke tastes better than any nectar I've had the delight of dropping onto my buds and I realise that she definitely has gone a far longer way on her path of self-realisation than I can yet understand. What made me see this is that I understood that she actually meant what she was saying, Angela only uses cannabis as a medicine and not as an escape. Some people take vitamin supplements, she does her morning puja.

“An effect I do like about it though”, she adds with a grin, “is the aphrodisiac one. I see it's working on you too”, she says as her eyes look between my legs. “We have time before my first client arrives, I like your energy like this. Come and spiral your Kundalini with me into my Kaula room”.

As she said this, a thousand expectations started to spin in my mind. I knew Angela was an open woman but I didn't expect to be invited so directly for sex. Hope and confusion installed themselves comfortably in my thoughts. The look on my face must have been pretty obvious as she took me by the hand and pulled me off the floor cushions up onto my feet and guided me into the room.

In silence, she just smiled, undressed, folded her clothes, swayed her way to the middle of the room and sat in the lotus position indicating me to do the same thing. I was stunned. Her body's beauty exceeded anything that one could have tried to imagine, as if a golden glow shone through a perfectly proportioned sculpture. Her skin was flawless, golden tanned with no marks whatsoever. Somehow I managed to get myself to do the same thing and joined her. She looked at me hypnotically through her dark jaguar eyes overtoned by carefully designed eyebrows whose lines triggered memories of ancient languages...

We sat on a silk sheet over an enormous kapok mattress and the light of the room was regulated by rotating mirrors on the ceiling. She later explained to me that it is a complex system that moves with light and temperature and that the mirrors not only reflect but absorb the energy from the sun. That is why they are positioned relatively to the windows in a mandala form so as to amplify the Prana.

“Relax” she says, “this isn't like anything you've experienced before so drop your mind for a while. I want you to enjoy this moment. Let me do the action, you can just surrender and be passive and then, if there is time, you can do the action.”

At this stage, I was pulsating with testosterone in every cell of my body so I made a huge effort to focus on my breath so as to not let my desire take over and ruin what promised to be an exhilarating event. Angela started to chant the Ohm mantra into the vibration of the heart chakra and I sensed I was meant to keep quiet - after all she did say that I was to be passive - so I closed my eyes and let myself go into the experience.

The highly explicit nature of the events that followed prevents me from depicting them in detail in this article, however I must say that it was the first time I ever had such an intense orgasm without ejaculation and with such minimal physical contact. We didn't have time for me to be active, her first client was already waiting even before we had finished our session that lasted a moment and an eternity.

“Welcome to the world of Kaula Tantra” she said as I opened my eyes “much more fun than divination isn't it?” she asks, “you should stay in this room and explore the energy for a while. I trust that you will find many more moments today, the stars are smiling at you” she pauses for while, looks at me with a beaming smile and adds with a gentle laughter “whatever that means!”.

I stand up at the same time as she does and before she leaves our circle of intimacy, she bows to me and I return the salutation in profound gratitude.

Angela Redding was of course right, I spent the rest of the day peaking into extraordinary moments of samadhi while she was working in another part of her eccentrically big house in the centre of Paris. While she went out for lunch with a client of hers who owns one of the largest sustainable energy companies in the world, I was feeding off currents of Prana, regenerating and deprogramming my identity construct.

As the sun set on the city of lovers, I was starting to regain my normal consciousness but with a fresh new look on things. The door of the Kaula room opened and Angela came in already naked this time. We met at the centre of the room again, bowed and sat. The only thing she said was “Now it's time to get physical”.

That night I realised that I had never truly been aware of my body nor of any partner's I had previously been with. It was like being born again, discovering hidden sensations in every pore, in every organ, in every muscle and especially, in every breath.

It was very humbling to have such a teacher manifested in such a way, fulfilling the wildest fantasies any man could dream of and taking them to a level of spirituality that dispels any mental concept. Angela was only 31 years old and already imbued with such profound wisdom, and here I was thinking I was an “advanced” seeker!

Late at night, in the kitchen as she prepared some refreshing Karkade – a middle eastern iced tea blend of hibiscus, mint and honey – she told me a bit about the story of her life.

“When I was a small child, I would see beings everywhere and my parents thought I was mentally ill so they took me to a psychiatrist. I mean it's understandable, at that time there was hardly any collective awareness about such things in the western world but they were smart enough to find the right person for me to work with. The name of the doctor is Stan Grof, you've probably heard of him”, I nodded.

“It's thanks to him that I explored all my capacities instead of repressing them. My parents got even more worried at some point but since they saw that I was much happier and managed to integrate these experiences with the 'normal' world, they accepted the fact that I was different. In this sense I was extremely well favoured karmically, or in normal language we say 'lucky'”, she giggles, “most parents would have closed and repressed the child into a box of madness”.
- For how long did you do therapy with him?
- From the age of 5 until I had my first menstruation which was at 12 years old. We had both agreed that once this would happen I would have to integrate the world of the Goddess and let go of the men in my life. I was already very mature at that time having learnt and studied a great deal of esoteric subjects, that's why it's so easy for me to read a person, it's part of my basic software. So then I went into retreat, my parents allowed me to go to the Amazon and live with a tribe under the condition that they could visit me any time they wanted. The tribe agreed and I was happily gone into the world of shamans. It was Stan that organised the whole thing of course, he knew them very well as he worked with Ayahuasca there and they had connected deeply with my energy. That's why they were very happy to have me there, the other reason is that I was destined to meet my soul sister, Venus. I'm sure you'll meet her one day” she said with a knowing smile.
- And how did that retreat work?
- I lived with Venus and her mother alongside the other women of the tribe. In the beginning, the men were not allowed to approach me and I wasn't allowed close to them either. This ended up by creating too much tension in the village so I decided to offer myself to all of them. A bit like in India in the old days, the most beautiful woman of the village was not allowed to get married because it would create jealousy and so was always available to the men she would accept. I of course consulted the women's council before doing this because I didn't want any problems with my sisters. They all agreed as they saw how their men were becoming stupid and thought that the best way to stop this was to saturate the desire. The downside of it is that I could no longer take part in the women's council but the great shaman of the tribe, Venus' mother, was training me so the balance was positive in the end. By the age of 13 I was extremely proficient in the art of pleasing men, you see in western culture this is totally unacceptable to say the least but I was pulsating with Kundalini and I don't regret a moment.
- How long did you learn with the shaman?
- After my offering that lasted almost two months of constant sexual practice, I was able to focus on the deeper work. The men had liberated themselves and I had become the sacred whore goddess for the tribe and also for the neighbouring ones because of course, news travels very fast in the Amazon but detailing this part of the story isn't of much interest for you at this time. My shamanic training lasted for 4 years with her.
- So from 12 to 16 you lived in the rainforest. And after that what happened?
- At the end of my training I was initiated which is the first step towards death. Gobbled up by Nature and reborn into a new form, I had a vision of an old wise woman on an island in Asia which I later made out to be Bali so this is were I needed to go. Again my parents were fantastic in supporting me throughout all this process even though they didn't find out about the whole sacred whore phase until recently, they could not have digested this information at the time and certainly wouldn't have accepted to let me stay there. Anyway, they provided the funds for me to travel to Bali even though I had no guarantee whatsoever that I was actually going to do anything there. Could you imagine your parents trusting a vision of yours? I'm still amazed at them, every day I thank the Universe for having blessed me with such providers.
- I must say that it is surprising to say the least. And what did you do once you arrived in Bali?
- The trip itself was a lesson, I went through India and Nepal first and stayed in the region for almost a year before actually moving to Bali. I needed to explore some ancient places and meet some wise people who were eventually going to connect me with the wise woman of my vision in Bali.
- How did that happen?
- Perfectly, as everything does. I received a massage in Kerala from an Osho sannyasin called Ma Prem Ananda who had just returned from Bali and been introduced to a Tantric master who lived up on the sacred mountain of the island. That was enough for my intuition to recognize that she was the one I had seen in my vision. I got her details and in the next few days I was off to Bali.
- Was it easy to find her?
- Not in a practical sense but I had already found her energetically so I was not worried at all. I accepted the different steps that were presented to me before I could climb to where I wanted to be. I even had surf lessons! It was amazing, it took me quite some time to get to the master as the details Prem Ananda gave me were obsolete by the time I got there. The master was a nomad, she moved all the time, not wanting to be found by anyone who wasn't deeply committed to liberation. So in a few months I was surfing tubes off the big waves, I really enjoyed the many parallels between surfing and spiritual work, it's an amazing meditation and I miss it a lot. Here in Paris, the Seine is lacking in swells...
- So how did the meeting happen?
- Hm. I think it is best to leave the Bali chapter at that. From that point on, the story is reserved to people who are committed to knowing what freedom is, not that you aren't but I don't want it to be published. I'll just give you biographical data so that you can have an idea. I met the master just before turning 19 and stayed with her until I was 23. I travelled twice to Australia during that time as she sent me on missions to learn from the Aboriginals and in 1999 she sent me out to the world. I was told it was time to work with people. Pre-millennium tension was at it's peak and the global consciousness was going to bang a door open on the 11th of September 2001 so I had to be there for some people.
- That's when you came to Paris?
- No, I went to New York first, then Los Angeles, then Barcelona and now Paris.” She paused and then abruptly said “you know what? I'm tired of all this bla-bla. Come with me, let's go back to work.”

Angela walked decisively towards the Kaula room and waited for me at the door while I was gulping down the rest of my Karkade. We entered the room again only to come out for the morning puja at sunrise.

The rest of the week with Angela was one of deep introspection and we didn't speak much more. We moved from Kaula to Mishra and Samaya Tantra and back a few times exploring different meditations and energies together. It was a meeting of two old souls healing their past and creating a harmonious future, all in the Now. We shall meet again very soon.

***

The Natural Order of Warriors' headquarters are located in Montreux, Switzerland, home of the famous Jazz festival. Their buildings have been designed in a totally ecological and sustainable way, with a zero waste policy and they look like a vision of utopia. The design by Oliver Ganick is of course inspired by the surrounding environment of the mountains and the harmonious shapes that flow from organic “ambiance”.

- Man, this is pretty wild, I'm not sure the old man will accept this for the magazine. You know we are pretty flexible but this really bends the limits!
- I know but this is how it is. If he wants, he can speak to me but I won't change it. Angela Redding has approved it so there is no worry from that side. So it's take it or leave it, maybe I can find someone else to publish it...
- No need to be such a prick Ragga.
- OK, OK, so maybe I am being a bit silly, but you get my point.
- For me it's a great story but you know the guy. I'll go up and give it to him. Wait here for a little while, I'll come back with a definite answer.

Ragga enjoyed coming here even though he didn't do so very often. He would usually send the story by e-mail and receive his pay by money transfer but since he was in Paris for the story, he figured he could drive up to this beautiful place and meet with some of his fellow warriors. The one he was meeting now is called Felix and they have know each other since the creation of N.O.W. in 2002, more or less at the time Ragga met Tony.

Felix has just recently been nominated as editor of the magazine but the post is still in transition between him and the older, more conservative Hugh Bennett, the latter still having the last word when it comes to delicate publishing issues. Bennett has been moved to the head of another area of the Order, one of great importance in the changing times ahead, the Exquisition.

His role is to hunt down and find the best occult, alternative, magical and spiritual practitioners around the world and gather them into the Order's network so that they can create a task force to help people as the world challenges become more and more intense. Basically, his job is to build an army of spiritual and healing warriors.

Ragga and Bennett had much respect for each other even though they disagreed on quite a few fundamentals of the warrior code. This was easily understood from a generational gap perspective, Bennett was without a doubt, an old-school kind of person although he did understand the value and also the practical applications of the more liberal paths. His open mind, his big heart, and of course, his secret past as an ex MI-6 operative made him the ideal person to head the Exquisition and he was more than happy to take on this responsibility.

Ragga's story about Angela was bound to challenge Bennett, firstly because he didn't like her and secondly because he knew that everyone in N.O.W. wanted the story published and was eager to see how he would react to it. Ragga wanted her to be part of the Order an this was the first step towards his lobbying. He was quite confident in the fact that Bennett was an intelligent man and could not afford to refuse Angela Redding in the Order if he wanted to have any kind of credibility.

Felix however, had a different idea of Bennett and was quite unsure that the old man would accept the article, let alone having her in the Order. He walked in his intriguing stride alongside the glass corridors of the headquarters, up the living stairs made of olive trees and Hawaiian Baby Woodrose for their special healing energy, through to Bennett's new office.

“Hugh” he said, “Ragga is down in my office with a new story that I'd like you to read before I pass it on to layout. You might have something to say about it so I wanted to make sure you approved.
- Sounds interesting. Let me have a look”, he said holding out his hand waiting for Felix to give him the pages.
- Ragga added as a personal message, that he was happy to speak to you about the subject in the article regarding the Order.

Bennett quickly plunged into the article, immediately frowned and looked up at Felix. “Is this a joke?” he asked.
- I'm afraid not”, replied Felix trying to contain a giggle.
- Tell Ragga I will certainly speak to him tonight at my place, and about the article, I don't want to read it now. I have more urgent matters to address but if you think it's good for the magazine, go ahead and publish it Felix.
- You surprise me Hugh”, said Felix with a large smile, “I was almost certain you would veto it.
- I'm not stupid Felix, I'm aware of her high profile and anything with her name on it will sell. I hope Ragga took good pictures” he smirked, “even though I don't like her very much, no-one can deny she is a knock out!”
He did. Read the article and you'll see them, after this little moment here I think you might actually like it” said Felix with a tone of new-found respect in his voice.

***

Ragga was invited for dinner with Bennett and his extended family who was visiting from London. He was close friends with Makerisna, Bennett's niece, and had mixed feeling about Paul Harvard, her father. He couldn't quite figure what made him do what he did to her but he suspected Paul to also be an MI-6 operative so that would partly justify it. As warrior brothers, Ragga and Bennett had openly shared their stories within the strict secrecy of Order's code and sharing is of course limited to personal past and never involves identifying other people. Ragga however had cleverly added up different aof different situations and had concluded that Paul was Bennett's closest colleague although it did seem very odd that the MI-6 put family members working so close together.

He hadn't seen Ma in a long time and was more than delighted to see her as she opened the front door of Bennett's house for him. She was radiant and her natural jasmine smell pulled Ragga towards her stronger than honey would attract a bee. “Delicious Ma”, he said as he hugged her with a smile, “I've been longing to see you”
- So have I”, she replied with a hungry flex in her voice.
Ragga greeted all the family and handed a bouquet of lilies to Victoria Bennett. A subtle gift to Ma in reality, her child nickname was Lily...

Bennett gently tugged Ragga and guided him out into the garden where the clear sky opened the view for a spectacular show of stars, glittering on this special night of phenomenal astrological importance. It was the night of Elementary Concordance, where Mercury, Venus, Mars, Saturn and Jupiter were disposed in a pentagram on the chart of the Earth with the Sun and the Moon in conjunction with the latter planet on the night of the 7th of July 2007, 777.

“I'm glad you came Ragga” said Bennett “we could have spoken the modern way but I prefer to speak face to face.” He paused as they slowly walked out of the property in direction of the forest. “So what's on your mind? I know you like to play around so I thought I'd cut the game and get to the point. What's the whole idea with Angela Redding?
- I'm glad you didn't take long Hugh” giggled Ragga. “Simply and bluntly put, I want her in the Order.
Bennett kept quiet for a moment and replied:
Listen, having an article with her in the magazine is one thing but to have her in the Order would mean that she would have to have a post of great responsibility. As you know, she would never accept anything below her capacities. My problem with this person is that I don't like her ways nor do I trust her enough to keep her commitment.
- How long has it been since you've met her?
- I met her quite a few times in New York and I spoke to her in Paris last year.
- I'm not even going to ask what the problem is with you and her, it's none of my business, but you know better than anyone that the Order is beyond personal issues. Maybe I could arrange a meeting with both of you on neutral grounds, let's say in London and we could spend a weekend working things out and seeing what can be done. I mean, I'm sure you can see the great advantage of having her work closely with us. No?
- Of course I do Ragga, don't think I have never considered this before. Let me think about it, there is much more to it than you imagine, her presence in the Order would stir up a whole cauldron of boiling issues and I have to ponder how to work them through. Not to speak of Victoria... How do I explain to her that I'm going to spend a weekend with Angela Redding without her freaking out?

They both laugh and let the process digest itself as they keep silent and return to the gathering. Ragga was eager to spend time with Makerisna, after what he discovered with Angela, he felt they had so much to explore together he could hardly contain himself from taking her with him to his room back at the headquarters. But tonight it was important to be a social creature.

Even though Paul Harvard was nowhere near interested in the N.O.W. , he understood the reason of its existence and acknowledged the necessity for adapting to the world changes that were rapidly taking place. He also thought it could be the perfect way of finally correcting his past mistakes by having Makerisna being part of the legal department of N.O.W. and of course, heading its dance workshop. Tonight was a night of consolidation of projects, and this is why it was important for Ragga to be present for the Bennetts and the Harvards. He was ensuring the closure of two important additions to the N.O.W. and his energy as the cooperation warrior was necessary for all the links to fit in.

At the head of the N.O.W. was a woman known as “The Light”. Very few people had met her in person and fewer even actually knew her real name. She kept her agenda extremely secret, appearing often unannounced and when least expected, like tonight. When everyone heard a knock on the door as the chocolate soufflé was served, there was a moment of silence. Bennett got up to open the door and was overjoyed to see the glowing presence smiling at him. “I'm sorry to be so rude” she said “but I couldn't resist the urge of tasting Victoria's soufflé. May I come in?” There was no need to answer, without delay, she came in so that all could enjoy the scrumptious soufflé and share the satisfaction of a pleased belly.

Bennett asked at the table: “Will you share with us the reason of your most honourable visit?”
In truth I really did come for the soufflé” replied The Light “but if you wish to talk business I can make it very clear and short. I would like you to go to London with Ragga and work it out with Angela. She needs to be part of the Order and on another topic, I wanted to personally invite Makerisna to head our dance workshop.” She turned to Ma who was starting to shed tears of joy, “and only if you want” she added “do you need to be part of the legal team as I'm sure you'll have enough to do, starting with the design of the new dance studio with Oliver Ganick”. Ma jumped to hug her with profound gratefulness and joy, without words.
- I'm happy to see you happy Makerisna” added The Light with a smile. You can start working tomorrow, Ragga and Hugh will take care of your things when they go to London this weekend and I have a cottage ready for you at the headquarters where you can move in. Ragga will drive you there tonight after dinner, I'm sure you'll both love it.” She turned to Victoria and said with a kind tone “You don't need to worry my dear, Angela isn't interested in Hugh, not her kind of energy to connect to on that level...” Victoria giggled nervously but was simultaneously deeply appeased by The Light's comment.

***

Makerisna and Ragga were heading to the N.O.W. headquarters after the sumptuous dinner driving on the curvy alpine mountain road. They hadn't spoken a word since they entered the car, there was too much to say and at the same time, nothing. They both knew exactly what the other wanted to express and surely, the best way to do it wasn't with words.

Once in a while they glanced at each other with an intense flare sparkling out of their eyes. Ragga was almost aching from the lump between his legs. He'd been like this since she opened the door and he smelled the deep jasmine scent that was oozing from her delicate Asian-inspired skin. As they came down the mountain onto a better road, Ma expertly slid her left hand between his thighs and unzipped his trousers to unleash a throbbing and magnetic penis. As if answering a call, she gently leaned towards it to listen to its requests and with her pouty lips acknowledged a smooth slide between them, salivating as if she hadn't eaten since a week. Her damp mouth was now full with the soft skin of the hard shaft and as she whirled her tongue on his tip, Ragga moaned and released his breath to relax into the experience.

He slowed down the car and she sped up her dance. Her right hand was now pulsing a rhythmic beat on his wet cock and her mouth was playing a symphony of delightful suction. She seemed to be entranced and possessed by his taste and aroma, sucking him to the point where he had to stop in the middle of the road to orgasm. His ejaculation was so intense that Makerisna's body shook and spasmed with the energy release as she gladly swallowed his white potion, satisfied and content with her prize.

After a few minutes of relaxing into each other in silence, they sat into their seats without a word and Ragga started the engine again, heading to the cottage for a long night of love and ecstasy.

***

A gentle breeze was blowing the long golden curls of Angela's hair in a way reminiscent of classic black and white movies. She loved London when it wasn't raining and today the sun was shining, the perfect temperature for a stroll around Portobello market. Looking at a dress in the window of Fran's Couture, she caught Ragga approaching at a quick pace from the reflection in the glass. As he got closer she could make out a worried look on his face and turned around to face him but she didn't have time to speak. Ragga grabbed her by the arm and pulled her away accelerating his rhythm and saying: “We're being followed by Mara's killer golems. Let's get out of here before it gets messy.”

Why was Mara sending golems after us? She thought to herself. Angela couldn't figure it out, those creatures were no match for her nor for Ragga, they could take them out very easily. But what was the message behind this?

Focus on carbon 'missing the point'

2007-08-10T13:28:00.000+01:00

By Eamon O'Hara

From the BBC News Green Room

The focus on reducing carbon emissions has blinded us to the real problem - unsustainable lifestyles, says Eamon O'Hara. In this week's Green Room, he argues that bigger problems await us unless we shift our efforts.

Is it not time to recognise that climate change is yet another symptom of our unsustainable lifestyles, which must now become the focus our efforts?

Yet governments, and those organisations who have now assumed the role of combating climate change, subscribe to the notion that climate change is our central problem and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions is the cause of this problem.

Undeniably, climate change is a serious problem but it is only one of a growing list of problems that arise from a fundamental global issue.

For many decades, the symptoms of unsustainable human exploitation of the natural environment have been mounting: species extinction, the loss of biodiversity, air and water pollution, soil erosion, acid rain, destruction of rainforests, ozone depletion - the list goes on.

Common cause

These problems all clearly have a common origin, yet the search for solutions has invariably focused on targeted treatments rather than addressing the root cause.

Success has, at best, been patchy. In general, none of these problems have completely disappeared and many have continued to worsen.

Global warming - the latest in this list of environmental woes - is a particularly worrying development, not only because it is potentially catastrophic, but because it is going to be incredibly difficult to control.

The solutions currently being put forward, such as those being championed by the European Union, focus almost exclusively on reducing carbon emissions.

However, by focusing on the need to reduce CO2 emissions has reduced the problem to one of carbon dioxide rather than on the unsustainable ways we live our lives.

This oversight has led to the assumption that if we reduce emissions then our problems are solved, hence the focus on carbon sequestration, renewable energies and environmental technologies.

This approach to curing our problems is a bit like relying on methadone to cure an addiction to heroin.

The large-scale transition to renewable resources might provide a safer alternative to oil and gas and other finite resources, but it will not remove our energy and resource dependency, which will continue to expand in line with economic growth.

Before long, we will discover that even renewables have their limits. We are already being warned about the dangers of excessive demand for biofuels, which is reportedly leading to the clearing of rainforests and increasing competition for land between food and energy production.

Ultimately, our problem is consumption, and the environment is not the only casualty.

The modern Western lifestyle also has an inbuilt dependency on the cheap resources and the low carbon footprint of developing countries, which has compounded global injustice.

Worse still, maintaining our relatively wealthy, comfortable and unsustainable lifestyles is now dependant on maintaining this imbalance.

Seventy-five percent of the world's population - more than 4.5bn people - live on just 15% of the world's resources, while we in the West gorge on the remaining 85%.

The world simply does not have the resources, renewable or otherwise, to sustain Western lifestyles across the globe.

Change of direction

So, what can we do? Obviously, the first thing we need to do is act, and act fast.

Every day we wait, another 30,000 children needlessly die; between 100-150 plant and animal species become extinct; 70,000 hectares of rainforest is destroyed and another 150m tonnes of CO2 is released into the atmosphere.

Meanwhile, another $3.0bn (£1.5bn) is spent on arms and weapons of mass destruction.

We urgently need to think about the more fundamental concept of sustainability and how our lifestyles are threatening not only the environment, but developing countries and global peace and stability.

In my view, we need to embrace this as an opportunity and not see it as a responsibility. Living a more sustainable lifestyle does not have to be a burden, as some people fear.

It could be a liberating and rewarding experience to participate in creating a better world. After all, how good do we really have it at the moment?

How many people are tired and weary of modern living? The endless cycle of earning and consumption can be exhausting and does not necessarily bring happiness and fulfillment. Can we do things differently, and better?

If we don't, then we are heading for certain disaster, regardless of whether or not we manage to reduce our emissions.

Eamon O'Hara is a Brussels-based policy adviser for the Irish Regions Office, which represents Irish interests in the European Union

The Green Room is a series of opinion pieces on environmental topics running weekly on the BBC News website

The Samara Foundation Newsletter July 2007

2007-07-23T18:41:00.000+01:00

"This spiritual path is dedicated to making people independent and self-sufficient. By everyone taking initiative, free of ego and its judgements, then we have creative action. With this action we discover that within our self-sufficiency we have the ability to love the differences and the uniqueness in each other.

When one speaks of self-sufficiency this means taking a mature attitude towards life. Whatever choices one makes life reflects it. There is no running away from all the responsibilities that we face in life. Looking for ways of simplifying and easing things for ourselves creates selfishness. By instead creating joy for everybody it is possible to build a joyful selfless service to humanity."

Tony Samara

__________________________________

Dear Friends

The above inspiring quotes are part of a series of Inspirational Cards (available now by emailing info@samarafoundation.com) allowing us to remember the beauty, simplicity and joy made possible by the evolution of human consciousness that we are all part of.

We look forward to welcoming you at one of the below summer retreat programmes:

Slovenia - 27-30 August, 2007
The Netherlands - 7-9 September, 2007

It is always possible to spend time with Tony and receive personal discourse with him in the many retreats and seminar programmes organized for him throughout the world. Please check http://www.tonysamara.org for the latest event updates.

Thank you for your support and love as we continue to expand this beautiful work in the world we live in.

Love

The Samara Foundation

Organic Farming Can Feed The World, Study Suggests

2007-07-19T23:19:00.001+01:00

Source of article: Science Daily — http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/07/070711134523.htm

Organic farming can yield up to three times as much food as conventional farming on the same amount of land—according to new findings which refute the long-standing assumption that organic farming methods cannot produce enough food to feed the global population.

Researchers from the University of Michigan found that in developed countries, yields were almost equal on organic and conventional farms. In developing countries, food production could double or triple using organic methods, said Ivette Perfecto, professor at U-M's School of Natural Resources and Environment, and one the study's principal investigators. Catherine Badgley, research scientist in the Museum of Paleontology, is a co-author of the paper along with several current and former graduate and undergraduate students from U-M.

"My hope is that we can finally put a nail in the coffin of the idea that you can’t produce enough food through organic agriculture," Perfecto said.

In addition to equal or greater yields, the authors found that those yields could be accomplished using existing quantities of organic fertilizers, and without putting more farmland into production.

The idea to undertake an exhaustive review of existing data about yields and nitrogen availability was fueled in a roundabout way, when Perfecto and Badgley were teaching a class about the global food system and visiting farms in Southern Michigan.

"We were struck by how much food the organic farmers would produce," Perfecto said. The researchers set about compiling data from published literature to investigate the two chief objections to organic farming: low yields and lack of organically acceptable nitrogen sources.

Their findings refute those key arguments, Perfecto said, and confirm that organic farming is less environmentally harmful yet can potentially produce more than enough food. This is especially good news for developing countries, where it’s sometimes impossible to deliver food from outside, so farmers must supply their own. Yields in developing countries could increase dramatically by switching to organic farming, Perfecto said.

While that seems counterintuitive, it makes sense because in developing countries, many farmers still do not have the access to the expensive fertilizers and pesticides that farmers use in developed countries to produce those high yields, she said.

After comparing yields of organic and convention farms, the researchers looked at nitrogen availability. To do so, they multiplied the current farm land area by the average amount of nitrogen available for production crops if so-called "green manures" were planted between growing seasons. Green manures are cover crops which are plowed into the soil to provide natural soil amendments instead of synthetic fertilizers. They found that planting green manures between growing seasons provided enough nitrogen to farm organically without synthetic fertilizers.

Organic farming is important because conventional agriculture—which involves high-yielding plants, mechanized tillage, synthetic fertilizers and biocides—is so detrimental to the environment, Perfecto said. For instance, fertilizer runoff from conventional agriculture is the chief culprit in creating dead zones—low oxygen areas where marine life cannot survive. Proponents of organic farming argue that conventional farming also causes soil erosion, greenhouse gas emission, increased pest resistance and loss of biodiversity.

For their analysis, researchers defined the term organic as: practices referred to as sustainable or ecological; that utilize non-synthetic nutrient cycling processes; that exclude or rarely use synthetic pesticides; and sustain or regenerate the soil quality.

Perfecto said the idea that people would go hungry if farming went organic is "ridiculous."

"Corporate interest in agriculture and the way agriculture research has been conducted in land grant institutions, with a lot of influence by the chemical companies and pesticide companies as well as fertilizer companies—all have been playing an important role in convincing the public that you need to have these inputs to produce food," she said.

Note: This story has been adapted from a news release issued by University of Michigan.

Tony Samara Speaks on the Environment

2007-07-17T12:08:00.001+01:00

The Surf Paradigm

2007-07-04T12:19:00.000+01:00

Photo linked from Webshots, "Philip MacDonald Throwing Buckets"

Here is a conversation that I had about a year ago or so that I finally got to edit where I speak about my parabol of surf relating to pain, ecstasy, energy and life in general. This took place at the time on IRC on the Blitzed network in the #occultforums channel. It's a good read and I hope you enjoy it even though there is still a lot to develop on the subject.

Conversation starts here:

Nosforit: The issue at hand is what makes a masochist tick. I am trying to understand the mindset; to see it it with my own eyes. I would be trying even if I thought it was impossible. I love being proven wrong.

Sud Ram: Maybe look at your own masochistic actions then. You can't understand the world from looking outside. Because the world is in you, to understand another person's masochism, you have to free yours first and then it becomes clear. What do you do that in a way or another sabotages your growth?

Nosforit: Procrastination. What would you say that means in this case?

SanityAssassin: In the Sopranos a character called Ralph Cifaretto or something like that was a masochist, and Tony Soprano the Mafia boss tries to find out why he is like that and tells his shrink about him. She tells him something similar like you say, that he had a very strict mother and need to inflict pain upon himself to be able to feel love.

Nosforit: So according to that, the person confuses pain and suffering?

SanityAssassin: No, he confuses the fact that his mother was strict with her sense of love.

Nosforit: It's another very good idea... But I still think that by extension, it's a confusion between pain and suffering.

SanityAssassin: I prefer this one than the other psychological explanation.

Nosforit: It would explain a whole lot. A neural network which has been fed conflicting data would naturally not be able to make the distinction.

Sud Ram: Nosforit, In this case it means that you would have to feel your own desire for pain in a way that you haven't before. Which is to actually let it exist by itself without taking action upon it. Masochists have the desire for pain and take action upon it, if they didn't, they would feel the inner pain, the energy contained within up to a point that would seem so intense that once it's felt, it is released.

Nosforit: I didn't know I had a desire for pain.

Sud Ram: I believe everyone has on some level.

Nosforit: Where and how do I find it?

Sud Ram: Look at your sabotaging thoughts and their consequent actions.

Nosforit: Yes, that I can relate to. Wallowing in self pity led to a terrible depression. Quite hopeless.

SanityAssassin: I think you need to divide pain into several categories, you don't want all kinds of pain.

Sud Ram: Pain is just a symptom, it becomes like choosing candy. some prefer emotional pain, other physical, others mental...It's a bit irrelevant really.

SanityAssassin: What's the difference between mental and emotional pain?

Sud Ram: In the end I believe there is no difference between any of them. Body, mind, emotions and spirit are but manifestations of the form but emotional and mental pain manifest in different ways.

SanityAssassin: I came to that conclusion too, but I see the three types of archetypes for pain so it must be possible to see some kind of difference.

Sud Ram: Of course you can differentiate, but in what way does it help you?

SanityAssassin: I think it becomes easier to grasp the concept of pain then. But you know that in reality it is all related.

Nosforit: This would coincide with what I've read about chakra healing; that the default way for an entity to deal with karma is through suffering. The suffering would of course correspond to the different planes of being.

Sud Ram: I'm not sure about the chakra healing part but the default part I agree in a way. The concept of pain stems from pain, you can't understand pain from a pain viewpoint, you need to be free. In this sense you only suffer until you realise your suffering is actually not what you understood it to be.

Nosforit: The point about the healing is that one can move the karma to a more active energy centre and deal with it in a constructive, non-suffering way.

Sud Ram: I don't think you can move karma to an energy centre but I believe you can become more aware of the energy centre that can help you work through karma.

Nosforit: It's the intuitive understanding of this which I desire.

Sud Ram: It's the only one that counts.

Nosforit: In your analysis of pain, I saw a glimpse of understanding.

Sud Ram: I've worked with it and am still learning.

Nosforit: Could you please explain a bit more? For reference, my ability to relate to desiring pain is that I have some years ago had an instance of wallowing in self-pity.

Sud Ram: OK, do you know anything about surf?

Nosforit: No, the only think "surf" tells me is what surfers call the surfability of waves.

Sud Ram: Let's say that pain are waves. like the ones in the sea OK? For some reason, a conjunction of factors specific to one moment in time and unique to that event, create a swell somewhere in the ocean, that's when the trauma happens in metaphorical terms. It doesn't really matter how or what caused it because it's too complex to ever understand. The wind, a ripple, one animal moved, whatever... Papa, mama, the teacher, the bully, whatever... All of it together... It doesn't matter, the swell is there now.

Nosforit: An abstraction of pain.

Sud Ram: So the swell grows and travels towards the coast which is where your ability to see is and the waves arrive close to the coast. If you want to preserve your physical integrity and not be engulfed by the waves you need to surf them.

FrSol: So, we have swells of many things, not just the pain swell. And we learn to manage each type of swell.

Sud Ram: Exactly, but it's all the same in the end, we just attribute judgements to different energies.

SanityAssassin: That's an interesting metaphor :)

FrSol: So it could be a desire for food for example, if we don't surf it right, we overeat.

Sud Ram: Yes. In order to surf the wave you have to flow WITH it, if you resist, or try to push your will over it you drown.

FrSol: Yes, that was my understanding, not to repress, but to acknowledge and deal.

Sud Ram: However, if you let yourself indulge IN it, you drown too. That's where you need to surf, to find a balance through the energy.

Nosforit: So balance is the 'flavour' of the flow?

Sud Ram: Yes and balance is found in the breath, you have to breathe at the right moment, to remember to intake air when the pain seems to be overwhelming.

Nosforit: With, or against?

Sud Ram: Just breathing, not with or against.

Nosforit: I mean, soft or hard? Go with the flow, just let it come, or strain against it?

Sud Ram: You will know at the moment it happens. Sometimes soft, sometimes hard; it depends on the waves. The fact that you can remember to breathe in an intense moment is enough to bring consciousness to it and thus start deprogramming the pattern.

Nosforit: Hm. Workable. Agreeable.

Sud Ram: The best way to train, is to train your breath awareness. That's the only magic one needs in life in my opinion.

Nosforit: Can the pain be "sucked out" in some cases? Sucked out through breath?

Sud Ram: It can be temporarily relieved yes but unless you resolve it yourself, it comes back.

Nosforit: Cool. Because I have a pain I think I can do that with right now.

Sud Ram: Sometimes it helps to have energy worked on you, it allows for some inner space. We all need help from someone at some point. But only personal inner work resolves an issue, no one can heal you. You have to heal yourself.

Nosforit: Well, it IS Pranayama... The thing I read about chakra healing repeats that over and over again, in a sense.

Sud Ram: The thing is not to abandon the work. Because once you start, the waves start getting bigger and bigger.

Nosforit: Would be boring if there were no challenges... This is a very good entry point for me to begin understanding energy... Come to think of it.

Sud Ram: It gets pretty cool and then your views on pain change you may start to see it in the same way as a meal or even a treat and it only hurts you if YOU let it hurt but we're programmed to do that so that is a challenge. Once you start surfing you start undoing the program but it takes time as all the information is contained in your body, in your DNA structure etc. the dense part of your form. That's why for me it's very important to be healthy, to be vegetarian, to be clean from drugs, cigarettes alcohol etc. because if you want to surf better, you need to have the equipment to do it.

Nosforit: There seems to be a lot more waves to surf than pain... You agree with this?

FrSol: I already said this Nosforit

Nosforit: Sorry, didn't catch it.

Sud Ram: Yes, I agree there are waves of ecstasy too, but surfing them is just as hard as surfing pain!

Nosforit: I think I now also understand a certain Qi Gong exercise, called "induced qi."

FrSol: Thought you didn't do drugs Sud Ram ;)

Sud Ram: I don't FrSol but I used to.

Nosforit: Sud Ram, I could teach you Induced Qi... Then you could say what it is. It's really simple.

Sud Ram: OK.

Nosforit: One stands up. One needs a bit of space. Standing up you just do the basic meditation thing, clear your mind a bit and so on. You don't need much. You relax your body. The knees are supposed to be be slightly bent and make sure your every joint is ready to move. Check the meditative state of the mind again to make sure you don't carry baggage. Then you move. The thing is you don't decide yourself how to move, it comes to you. It's very random and the movements can be very exaggerated. Usually for me my arms aren't as active as my legs and waist. It's easy to feel as if one's about to lose one's balance while doing this, since the movements can get quite deep.

Sud Ram: Yes, it's a good exercise. So you're asking me how that fits in the surf metaphor?

Nosforit: Exactly. I think it's one and the same. Except more hands-on.

Sud Ram: Well i see this as training in the foam waves not really waves per se because real waves come when you least expect them; in daily life or in actual situation you need to face. But I'm also not saying that in such an exercise waves won't actually come.

Nosforit: The point is that I'd like you to try it for yourself to see what it is and what your take on it is. From what little I can tell, the waves are constantly rolling in.

Sud Ram: I've done a very similar exercise so I believe I know what you're talking about. Waves as you say are always rolling in and in such exercises, you can see them and learn how to work with them. "Real" waves is a bit of a silly label... they're all real but I call real the ones that require more effort, more awareness. The Qi induced exercise can get pretty intense, I grant you that but for intensity, there is nothing like realizing your own anger in the midst of a huge discussion with a girlfriend, your mother...

Nosforit: True. But what to say of people reported to basically take the form of animals, mentally, during it for example?

Sud Ram: I believe that but only after much training or if it happens in the beginning, it's your consciousness showing you potentialities.

Nosforit: Hm. So would you say this lies at the heart of pranayama?

Sud Ram: No, what lies at the heart for me is the breath more than any other exercise.

Nosforit: Well... Prana means breath...

Sud Ram: Amongst other things yes.

Nosforit: So shall we sum this up?

Sud Ram: I actually wrote a poem on Prana once, it's on my blog somewhere.

Nosforit: Well, to sum the conversation up. One can desire pain. In this desire for pain one can discover...Hm. How to formulate...? "In this desire for pain one can discover a deeper, underlying aspect which is the cause of pain, but also the cause of all else."

Nosforit: Agreeable?

FrSol: Mostly

Nosforit: Please do refine it.

FrSol: Maybe the desire for the pain is to put right something which seemed wrong at the time. I cannot quite accept the cause of all else bit.

Nosforit: But it should still stem from the surf, right?

FrSol: Well if we are using the wave system, then everything is available for surfing.

Nosforit: And the surf, which causes pain, causes ecstasy as well. As it does everything else... right?

Sud Ram: Well actually, the surf is a consequence of the swell which in its turn is a consequence of a crossing of events. To not react to a situation, you have to be able to feel it totally and not attach to the feeling, letting it exist in total acceptance of it. So in that sense, repulsion doesn't even exist because you don't feel separation with what is, it's not self control, it's the opposite; totally letting go.

Nosforit: There is a distinction between the ability to do this with the ability not to, yes? Something has improved when you are able to do it.

Sud Ram: You always have the ability to let go, you cannot "compare" it really with when you are not letting go, it's just the difference between holding on or not. When you are able to let go, then things flow easier but it can become much more difficult because you have unleashed a whole set of energies that were contained.

Nosforit: That's the thing. There needs to be a logical progression from point A to point B. Becoming a god is not an instant act of will. I've tried.

Sud Ram: Of course not, it's lifetimes of processing.

Nosforit: And this process is a progression.

Sud Ram: Well, not really, because there is no way of measuring it. Many times in the process you regress to places you'd thought were gone.

Nosforit: From being dumb as a rock to having blinding intelligence. I say there is a way of measuring it. And that the measure lies in abstraction. I'm inclined to say that if you appear to regress, you never progressed completely in the first place.

Sud Ram: Well you can try but I don't think that works. It's a bit like measuring time, it seems to work on one level but it's a total illusion because there is no such thing as time. There is only now, this moment. How do you measure this moment? Where does it progress to? Where did it come from? So yes, on one level you have a progression, but it's not real, because the only reality is when you let go totally.

Nosforit: Sud Ram, you have seen that I have talked about solving paradoxes many times, correct?

FrSol: I don't quite agree with the only now bit.

Sud Ram: I've seen you mention this Nosforit. FrSol, when is later? When was before?

Nosforit: This is what separates one from the other.

FrSol: Well, the past is important. Consider the person who has had an accident and has only the now, they do not function well. The past and future around the now are needed too to function properly

Nosforit: This is because we are logical beings. Well, most of us. Those who are not, don't think about it, so they are irrelevant for the discussion.

Sud Ram: I'm not saying clock time doesn't exist FrSol, I'm saying they are not real references. What seems to be past and future are only considerable in this present moment so their existence is a non-issue. What matters is what you do now, what you think now, how you breathe now, the only time for transformation is now.

Nosforit: There is a succession of discrete states but these states are infinitesimal and there is infinite progression. This is the scope of the logical plane. Vast indeed. Consider you'd have the ability to see your world in four dimensions. The problem of time is somewhat small and it really has been solved in Dichotomy plus it isn't at all what I'm trying to get at... Either way, from the logical perspective there are no dimensions. The problem of perspective is irrelevant since all you see is, indeed, here and now. But don't expand this back to dimensions, the best you can do is follow logic in its discrete steps. And logic branches dimensionally.

Sud Ram: Why? How do you know it's the best?

Nosforit: Because to apply dimension to logic is a fallacy, the logic breaks down.

Sud Ram: So?

Nosforit: It doesn't work.

Sud Ram: Not in the mind, but there's more than the mind. There is no logic to a swell.

Nosforit: Truly. Another conversation entirely! Do you remember my usual line about how the paradoxes are solved?

Sud Ram: No.

Nosforit: Alright, characteristic of a paradox is that two aspects of an issue seem to be in contradiction. One can call one aspect the thesis and the other aspect the anti-thesis. From these two one can from a synthesis.

Sud Ram: But paradoxes have various forms and aren't limited to that model.

Nosforit: The logic isn't limited to the model. The model is an example of the logic.

Sud Ram: OK

Nosforit: The usual solution of a paradox is an abstraction, or generalization. The abstract of the two sides of a coin is the coin itself. Basic duality, and how they fit together. The coin however is not the apex of conceptual evolution.

Sud Ram: So?

Nosforit: As we progress, the coin will take the form of a thesis, and the bill will be it's anti-thesis. The synthesis, abstraction, is money.

Sud Ram: OK

Nosforit: We progress into negotiable instruments, supply and demand, value, desire... Do you see? Early on this seems chaotic but when we reach a sufficient level of abstraction, suddenly an answer doesn't just spawn more questions. We begin to understand.

Sud Ram: The thing is, the coin abstraction is the apex of that concept, the evolution you attribute to it is only an evolution and a progress as you judge it. One is consequent from the other, agreed, so they are interlinked but where I don't agree is the linearity of the order.

Nosforit: Each apex is the measure, we can call money 0, and the coin is -1, its sides -2. Negotiable instruments is 1, supply and demand 2. They are each a level separate from each other, but chaotic in relation to other such succession. It's not until higher level of abstraction that things begin to show a real pattern beyond this.

Sud Ram: So where does this lead you?

Nosforit: This leads me to the following: Not everybody has developed their mind to a high level of abstraction. Some lack the mental accuracy to perceive the subtle ways of the universe.

Sud Ram: And?

Nosforit: They can however learn, by ascending one step at a time, in logical progression ...-2,-1,0,1,2..., to see these subtle differences.

Sud Ram: Maybe.

Nosforit: And this is the gritty detail of spiritual progression on the mental plane. I for one started out fairly low, I think, and I'm working my way up. I often see people who were obviously incarnated far ahead of me.

Sud Ram: I don't agree with this completely. Because experience is how one learns to truly deal with situations and there is no logic to them, they are beyond understanding. However, logical progression as you explain it, can be integrated in this set of seemingly chaotic events that are integrated in the karmic order but, I would never rely on such progression as anchor. There is no logic in the swell, it just happens. Well, there is a logic, but it is not understandable by the mind due to its infinite complexity.

Nosforit: It is non-dimensional. The only event that occurs is one of perception. You experience things as you take discrete steps on the mental plane in logical progression, but the logical plane itself is not affected by these events. It is a expansion of consciousness.

Sud Ram: I'm not saying that I disagree with the progression, what I'm saying is I'm not sure it's worth the effort to create such a compilation since events will happen in one way or another that will lead to each beings experience and hence understanding. Even though it may - possibly - help, is it what is needed? Where does the desire to create such communication come from? Why do you feel people who have such lack of abstract understanding need your help? Where does your personal/ego part come into it? What do expect from this? And why should you expect anything? From my point of view, it is much more effective to serve as an example than to try to teach, by transforming yourself, you become the possibility for all to do the same.

Nosforit: What do I expect? Ingratitude, mostly. I get a bad conscience if I don't do good so what I benefit of is the lack of a bad conscience.

Sud Ram: So you see, you are feeding your masochistic saboteur instead of actually feeling this bad conscience and surfing it. Let the “bad” conscience exist, it's a great wave and you don't need to feed the old program any more, putting energy into something that is a hole cover.

Nosforit: Well, I just learned about this level of abstraction just now, didn't I? Either way, this model I work by is yielding results.

Sud Ram: Of course, dams work... up to a point. When they break, it's more work.

Nosforit: Sud Ram, possible, but the model I use aids me, it will sooner or later be obsolete and when it is, it will also be complete.

Sud Ram: If this is the experience you need to go through, than it is. You can still surf other aspects since linearity is non-existent in the ocean.

Nosforit: Truly. One of the specific benefits I get from it is that it hints at which questions I'm supposed to ask. It is much like the I-Ching in that sense. This model then works as a guide for me. Who knows? Maybe it is my HGA?

Sud Ram: What's HGA?

Nosforit: Holy Guardian Angel, a Deva assigned to each person to act as a guide according to my paradigm. According to this paradigm, an expansion of theosophy, the HGA's supply mankind with... I think it was a mental or causal envelope for us to use while we develop one of our own. This would be why inspiration is felt as an external influence. A mental or causal "envelope" would be the higher-plane equivalents of our physical body. There is a big obstacle when contemplating these issues, especially the physical plane, which is that it quite simply is NOT the mental plane. The rules of the mental plane might not be applicable to the physical plane, or the physical plane has rules that are not valid in the mental plane, this is why theoretical physics is in the end doomed to failure, even if we will progress far.

Sud Ram: I think they do apply, just not at the same speed.

Nosforit: Speed is paramount. But the mental plane, again, is on its own speedless. Non-dimensional. The perspective of the mental plane however shows discrete progression, succession of past experiences, and an uncertain future.

Sud Ram: I wouldn't say so. Non-dimensionality exists within a complete form, so in this sense, non-dimensional is the form

Nosforit: Form is emptiness. Emptiness is form.

Sud Ram: Precisely.

Nosforit: Well, we seem to agree. And we seem to know what the mantra means. ...So shouldn't we be like, god already?

Sud Ram: I found another situation for the Qi exercise. Let us say it can also be compared metaphorically to knowing or finding the best spot to surf the best waves, and the art of finding those spots and training the surf.

Nosforit: That's a very interesting application. It could likely be developed into a meditation.

Sud Ram: I think this can be applied to any meditation in a certain sense.

Nosforit: Hm. Surf the wave of the surf itself, and you find the swell... That one will take a lot of time...

Sud Ram: You can't find the swell, it changes all the time but you can become so good at surfing that it becomes automatic and then you're free because you can dedicate your time to doing other things of which I am completely unaware at this time because I'm still learning how to surf.

Nosforit: Sure. I'll become the surf, then the swell should stay put.

Sud Ram: If the swell stays put then it's death because the swell is like Kundalini.

Nosforit: There is no surf. It's you who waves.

Nosforit: Woha

* Nosforit moves like they do.

Ding Dong!

2007-06-22T14:11:00.000+01:00

I'm getting married!

No date or place set yet so I'll let you know in due course.

The Samara Foundation Newsletter - June 2007

2007-06-17T12:52:00.000+01:00

Dear Friends

It is wonderful that spiritual practice can be part of your life wherever you are and need not be limited by external situations or formal settings. To assist people in the practice of their personal spirituality, Tony has almost completed writing a discourse which will be available on the website www.tonysamara.org or by contacting the Samara Foundation directly. This will be an inspiration for everyone during life's multitude of many and varied situations.

In the meantime please listen to a sample recording by clicking here and experience wisdom beyond words. These words were taken from the CD called 'Diamonds' which is available from the Samara Foundation. We also have a new CD available which is called 'This Way - Whirling Meditation 1' which features beautiful music especially created for this meditation.

Energetically Tony will work with you if you simply wish it to be so. The new written material will strengthen your experience of this work.

It is always possible to spend time with Tony and receive personal discourse with him in the many retreats and seminar programmes organized for him throughout the world. Please check www.tonysamara.org for the latest event updates or scroll down for the programme dates as they are at this time.

Thank you for your support and love as we continue to expand this beautiful work in the world we live in.

Love

The Samara Foundation

PROGRAMMES FOR 2007

1 July, Afternoon experience, Amsterdam, Netherlands
7 July, Detox day, Lisbon, Portugal
12 August, Evening experience, Glastonbury, England
27-30 August, Cleansing detox retreat, Slovenia
7-9 September, Cleansing detox retreat, Barchem/Lochem, Netherlands
4-7 October, Cleansing detox retreat, Algarve, Portugal

Rani

2007-06-02T21:57:00.001+01:00

A new angel has been brought into the world yesterday 1st of June at 14:15. Her name is Rani and the mother, Indira, is gently recovering as the baby queen gently sings some tunes in her sleep.

May she be blessed with happiness all her life.

Angela

2007-05-24T00:22:00.001+01:00

Sienna Miller's Bohemian Chic

I've started a new short story, the focus this time will be on Angela, whom you have met briefly in Gone!

Sienna Miller will be the muse to start with and we'll see how it goes from there as I'm known not to limit my horizons. And yes, I know it's very teenage like to be inspired by celebrities, but what to do? That's how it is for now.

Tony Samara's Blog!

2007-05-21T16:39:00.000+01:00

Tony Samara in the Brasil 40 day retreat 2005,
photo by Estrella Fernandez de Gamboa

Ok, great news, Tony Samara will be starting a blog. We don't know how regularly it will be updated but still it's a fantastic start.

Check it out: The Teachings of Tony Samara

Quote For Today

2007-05-20T12:42:00.000+01:00

"In an atmosphere of harmony that you help to create, you will understand things that can never be communicated in words"

Tony Samara, 2005

The Samara Foundation Newsletter May 2007

2007-05-16T14:20:00.000+01:00

www.tonysamara.org

How is it best to describe the Samara Foundation?

The Samara Foundation's intention is to realise the evolution of human consciousness by teaching what it means to be a conscious human being beyond cultural, religious or personal expectations and beliefs.

In practice this means to inspire you to experience the more noble dimensions of who you are. This is done in many diverse ways -- through healing, food, nutrition, relationships and meditation (which Tony Samara calls "a sense of joyous peace") -- in order to free human beings from their varied patterns and programmes.

The Samara Foundation's aim is to increase the gross national happiness in the world by providing a voice, an avenue of practice, for Tony Samara's teachings. As Tony teaches, he touches upon the many aspects of what it means to go beyond the superficial easy paths on offer today and we are able to recognize profound happiness.

The Samara Foundation's intention is to attract a broad spectrum of doers rather than dreamers, whose love for the earth's nature and the goodness that constitutes consciousness defines their activities and attitudes. By embracing the many cultural, personal and spiritual aspects that combine to create the adventure of life we embrace what it means to be alive.

Tony says: "As we enter the newness of 2007 we enter a deep space where our being is challenged. We are challenged to expand our senses rather than conform to what we already know and hence limit our perception to simply reflect what is old, stagnant and life negating.

This deep space will become more obvious to many as the superficial layers of materialism and security get challenged by underlying layers that have a grip on us and hold the emotional intensity of humanity today.

This means that we may have overwhelming feelings and sensations as we hold firmly on to what we know (as it is our definition of who we are) rather than accepting the new structures challenging us. By holding on to these reactions of emotional intensity we remain volatile in our expression rather than pulling our energy up to a space where, unbeknown to our ego, lies a new image of deep, gentle knowledge that opens the doors of perception. Pulling our energy up allows us to recognize opportunities for freedom at the deeper cellular levels thus transforming our limiting programmes and structures.

The love within you cannot be defined through such limited structures, programmes or what you already know, rather it is part of your inner intuitive self. Transcending the limitations creates an expansion into love and is the liberation of your spiritual essence. This knowledge is of immense value not just for you but for the evolution of human consciousness and humanity as a whole, as we thread ourselves through the universe to create a bigger more harmonious picture.

Reside in this love every moment...now.

If you feel called to participate in this evolution of human consciousness, actualise your dream to become an experience, embrace your highest vision, change your beliefs of problems and limitations and unleash the potential that will be your thread of awareness in the web of life.

There is no need to despair if happiness eludes you along the way as your trust in your inner and outer teachers in itself creates a reference point for consciousness to establish itself beyond the old and stagnant negatives of the mind".

We look forward to welcoming you all to the first retreat programme for 2007 in the Algarve of Portugal from 24 to 27 May where you can enjoy the beauty of nature, the tranquility of the venue and experience the wisdom and joy of being.

Love

The Samara Foundation

Gone! (again...)

2007-05-14T17:26:00.000+01:00

Here you can find the short story Gone! in PDF format. It's much easier to read, print and download.

Click on: Gone!

El Reme

2007-05-08T09:44:00.000+01:00

Almond Blossom at El Reme, photo by Hen Yannay

Check out the website for our place. It wasn't my design, we just have the right to use it as long as we rent the house but you can have an idea of the paradise we live in by seeing a couple of pictures!

www.elreme.com

Also if you are looking for a place to stay for your summer holidays, you can rent an appartment for a week or more, just contact me on my e-mail and add Summer Rental to the subject line.

Gone! (Full Version)

2007-03-21T18:24:00.000Z

A Heliconius Butterfly in the rainforest

EDIT: I deleted the text from here since I made the short story available in PDF format more recently.

Gone! (chapter 1)

2007-02-13T13:39:00.000Z

This is a short story that I've written. It's an erotic story with a spiritual, magical and sci-fi background. More of an exercise in entertainment than art really but I hope you'll enjoy. I'll be publishing it in chapters once a week.

It's called Gone! as the title says and it's part of a future series of stories called Ragga Vibrations.

Here goes:

Chapter One

- Ragga, wake up, you have to go.
- Hrmrm…
- It’s already late, you’ve had plenty of sleep and I have to leave.
- Hrmrmrm

Venus’ mother was a shaman in the Amazon and her father was an explorer who apparently never told anyone where he was from. He spoke French, English and Spanish and taught these languages to his daughter even though it didn’t really matter in the context they lived in. Venus learned Ayahuasca plant medicine from her mother and was sent out of the forest when she was sixteen to share her knowledge with the future survivors of The Sneeze because it had been predicted that she would be one of them. This was the highest possible honour one could receive from the tribe and still today she carries out her assignment with all her heart.

The bathroom I enter is more Zen than a temple, except for the presence of a living goddess…

- Yes? What is that deliciously disturbing look?” She says with a beaming smile.
- I just couldn’t bring myself to remember that I wanted to brush my teeth.” I smile back teasingly.
- Use my toothbrush, and tell me what you think of this new toothpaste I got. Some friends of mine who live in the forest of Neppertal make it. They only use produce from their land for it, not that it really matters but I like the taste of it.
- What doesn’t really matter? The taste or that they only use produce from their land?
- Neither really, toothpaste is overrated, what’s important is to brush thoroughly.
- I see…

The imperial size wooden Jacuzzi tub is full of foam, breasts and legs, a definite invitation to slip inside.

***

The intimate encounter with Venus had gone deeper into me than I could have ever imagined. We met five moons ago thanks to Angela who brought her to my last workshop and our connection just sparked from the moment our eyes decided to look into each other. Venus came to the event with her partner at that time, Dargan.

My ashram life as a monk had finished and it was a time where I was coming back to the world to work in and with it. Angela was of course the angel that guided me back into this dimension. It was her second time at a workshop of mine and she knew that she would be part of a renewal in my life even before I understood the implications of my decision.

Seven moons before leaving the ashram, I had a vision, or astral meeting with Angela. I recognized her from a previous apparition in a dream, many years ago in the first years of The Sneeze, when marijuana was part of every moment of my life. She appeared to me in an ancient Egyptian temple and required me to stop smoking if I ever wanted to become a magician. This time, more than 10 years later, her form was different, she looked much younger, but the energy and voice were the same. She told me we were soon going to meet in the physical realm and that we would work together.

***

Encantada is a small town that was created in 2006 as a spiritual and artistic project by and for alternative people who wanted to live a life that allowed them to express their talents and create a space where anyone with a similar intention could help and join. Their vision was inspired by Auroville, Findhorn and Damanhur whose functional models for big scale eco-communities were examples of success to all.

My home, workplace and sanctuary are located in a small cottage just outside of town bordering the nature reserve of Theta.

- Hi Sally, how are you?
- Fine thanks. Melissa Salomon is here to see you, she’s waiting in your office. She says she spoke to you on the pod yesterday and you told her to come early. How was your date with Venus?
- Incredible…” I wonder back to last night’s events with a blissful smile.
- I see.” She giggles.
- Well it’s time for a bit of focus now isn’t it? Did Melissa mention anything I should know?
- Nope, she was very silent and looks a bit uneasy, as most of your visitors do the first time they meet you…
- Ok, I imagine you gave her some tea already.
- Of course.
- Right then, speak to you later.
- Ciao!

All my clients come to me through referrals. This allows for all the discretion I need in my work and because of the level of intimacy I reach with my clients, this is of absolute importance. I help people face their darkest sides, their deepest fears and their wildest fantasies in order to be free and accomplish their dreams and live the beauty of life.

Even today, my methods are somewhat controversial but many times it is necessary to use an approach similar to what the ancient sages call the Left Hand Path of Kaula Tantra. This line of practice often requires the physical materialisation of occult desires and fantasies. In this sense, a lot of my work is on the brink of madness, guiding people to a place where they eventually are forced to make the most conscious choice possible and transform their pain into freedom. Experience is at the core of all my practice because it is possible to transcend when one has actually fulfilled and felt the whole intensity of a given situation or pattern.

“Good afternoon Melissa”. She stands up from the chair and shows herself to be a beautiful black woman in her early 30’s with straight long hair, comfortable bright coloured clothes and emerald cat eyes. She seems more at ease than Sally had described and there is undoubtedly a sense of familiarity between us.
- Hello Ragga, I’m glad to finally meet you. Maria has said so many incredible things about you that I had to see for myself.
- I’m happy to hear that Maria is doing well.
- Yes, I’ve never seen her so loose and happy. She seems to be having the time of her life.
- We keep in touch and last time we spoke she sounded very happy indeed.
- Now I can tell her we’ve met. She’ll be thrilled to know.
- OK Melissa, before we start, I’d like to ask you that anything that is said in this room stay within it and anything that happens is something that we keep between us. This is very important in the work I do, each person has their own individual experience and telling others what goes on will generally create obstacles for both of us. I will never tell anyone anything and to start working with you, I have to ask the same commitment from you even if at any time you decide not to work with me anymore.
- That’s fine with me.
- Very well then, let’s begin.

In the sound

2007-02-08T15:53:00.000Z

When you listen to
What you hear
The colours' hue
May become clear

In the mind there is silence
But in the Universe there is
A party going on

Blow away the idea of absence of sound
There is no such thing

Silence is the voice of God

With the Master

2007-01-21T12:40:00.000Z

I haven't been able to access internet much lately as I am living in the mountains of the Serra de Llaberia near Tarrogona in Spain. Here is a picture of Tony and I in Glastonbury in November 2006 the day before I came to find the place we are living in now.

Free Energy At Last?

2006-11-07T01:07:00.000Z

I really, really, really want to believe these guys are honest and clean and are actually telling the truth. Really.

Their claim is: "We have developed a technology that produces free, clean and constant energy.

This means never having to recharge your phone, never having to refuel your car. A world with an infinite supply of clean energy for all.

Our technology has been independently validated by engineers and scientists - always off the record, always proven to work."

Their website at www.steorn.net

Comic

2006-10-13T01:37:00.000+01:00

Check out the whole website at The Perry Bible Fellowship (this link takes you to my favourite one!)

Hmm...

2006-10-13T01:33:00.000+01:00

Read My Result
Take the Test

I'm not blonde, I don't smoke, nor do I have a tatoo... Does this fit?

Sun Ray

2006-10-12T13:18:00.000+01:00

Photo by Michael Clay Smith in Killeen, Texas

I met two people from the Cherokee tribe a couple of weeks ago and the woman called Laurinda Reynolds gave us the contact of the organisation she works with. I checked out the website and thought it would be great to share it will all of the millions of readers I have on my blog everyday. I find it especially interesting to blend Tibetan Buddhism with the Cherokee teachings and this has touched a very similar dimension to the work we do at The Samara Foundation in the sense that Tony Samara has had Zen Buddhist and South American shamanic teachings in his path and promotes the essence of both in his spiritual message.

Here is their website: Sunray Meditation Society

Vulgar Display of Power (take 2)

2006-10-09T21:56:00.000+01:00

Thamserku Nepal, Himalayas

A young Yogi from the west had been working a lot on his path and was now at a stage where he had a lot of powers. These were beginning to overwhelm him so he decided to find a master who would help him deal with all this.

He went to India as this is the fashionable place to go and look for masters nowadays and going from ashram to ashram, he couldn't find anyone who could help him. Finally he decided to go meditate in a cave in the Himalayas for some years as this was what he believed real masters all did.

After 2 years in the mountains he had gained even more powers and one day at the foot of a tree, he sat down under a Buddha tree and entered Samadhi. The young yogi was thrilled as he returned to the material plane and decided to stay under the tree for more of the blissful experience and so he did until it started to rain.

"I have the power to change the weather and to be able to stay under here in Samadhi until my wish is fulfilled" he thought, and so he decided to move the clouds away and let the sun shine for his Samadhi.

An old man came running after a few hours, also a yogi apparently and started kicking the young yogi out of his blissful state.

- What do you want old man? Can't you see I am working in Samadhi?
- You silly boy, all our crops are going to die, your powers have chased the rain away for the season now!

Join Us!

2006-09-28T20:07:00.000+01:00

Click on the above image to join the most interesting forums about spirituality, magic and other forms of occultism.

All Is Well

2006-09-12T22:46:00.000+01:00

Painting by Izwoz

I found some objects in my pocket, unsure of their utility.
A cushion under a tree for a cloud over the sea.

He knew that I should have the rope, the pot and the bag

So I untied myself from the beings, cooked a meal for all and packed my mind.

He was me before I was born. I discovered him yesterday. Now I know that he could see the future, he chose my life and gave me all the tools to trust each moment as a challenge to remember him.

I can live.