Been a long time...

Well it's been some time since I last posted...and what a ride its been in the meantime! And I don't just mean events in the external world; I am also referring to what seems to be an inner roller-coaster ride, a true journey of the spirit these last few months.

I read recently in a new age e-magazine that many of us in the human race are weary;  as a collective, many of us are finding it hard just dragging ourselves around. There only seems to be enough energy to do the bare minimum, get through the day then stumble into bed and get a few hours of fitful sleep. There isn't much in the way of inner peace, so it seems, although the external world seems to be just about hanging together in a delicate balance of this force set against that.

For me, I find myself mulling over things of the past perhaps a little too much. And this mulling can be anything from my own personal memories of past times in my life, both pleasurable and painful. Or it can simply be dwelling too much on our collective past; on historical matters that perhaps once had relevance but are now questionable. (I won't go into that here.) I have found myself feeling stuck; like I'm just going over the same old mental and emotional ground and I can't quite seem to engage myself into the next gear.

Perhaps it's been in order that an element of stillness rules at this time. My sister is 28 and for some time now she has been wanting to become a mother. But her life in general also seems rather stuck; she lives in a coastal area where she knows basically no-one, she lives with her partner but they both have felt unable to spark any changes. Then recently she told me that they are thinking of moving back to our home town in the country, and it seemed like changes were finally about to take place for her. But now, once again, stillness and a sense of inactivity dominates the vibes around her.

I really believe that the world is getting ready to move into a new time. Many of the old, seemingly unassailable institutions of the past are slowly being eroded away. Scandals are rife; witness the once-great, all-conquering Arnold Schwarzenegger. He had come from extremely humble beginnings in Austria, then through one iconic movie role become world famous, and then married into American "royalty". No doubt he fully lived all the temptations that came his way - and now his indiscretions are finally coming to light and he appears to have lost so much because of it.

Rupert Murdoch - media mogul, owner of Fox and 20th Century Fox, not to mention an obscene 70% of Britian's media. Also a giant in his field, seemingly undefeated, now being rocked to the core by the phone hacking  scandal. Truly, it's as if the world-spirit is doing a little housecleaning before letting in the new energies of cosmic springtime.

And the same principles are applying in our daily lives. If we are sincere in trying to improve, we are being supported. Its as if a Scientology-style audit is taking place deep in our innermost being. A final summing up, a 'last judgement', if you will, before the end/new beginning.

And I guess that is the real point - this is the end, and so many of the energies around us are sluggish for that very reason. They haven't yet found the new direction in which to flow, like a stream caught in an eddy. We keep going round and round and round...but once the energies are fully digested, fully processed and full understanding is reached, then perhaps, then the river will burst its banks once more and the stream will be able to flow joyfully and strongly once again.

Phew, really waxing lyrical here. But it was the only way I could express what I had to say. Just had to let it flow, like the stream. Blessings, joy and empowerment to all.

Generation Y, Generation Zero and beyond

Last time: in my last blog I waxed lyrical about what I believe defines my generation, Generation X. Now I take a look at Gen Y - and what I believe should be the names of the next generations set to rise after the Y's have had their day in the sun...

The 90's came and went, and the Naughties began. And then September 11, 2001 rolled around. Gen X-ers watched in horror as the giant towers fell.  Our generation had never witnessed such an awful cataclysm , although certainly plenty of horrors had occurred during our lifetimes. But this was something new – Vietnam happened before most of us were born, and World Wars I and II and Korea belonged to the Baby Boomers. But this was real-life horror for Generation X.

I must say that I have no idea how the members of Generation Y felt when this terrible day happened. I would like to know how they must have felt at the time, all of 8 to 10 years old. Maybe that's what informed their greater need for material security (which I discuss in greater detail below)?

Generation X proceeded to take to their new pulpit - the Internet - and pronounced this terrible event to be part of a massive conspiracy. Some even claimed it was an inside job, perpetrated by the U.S. itself to justify invading oil-rich Iraq. If this is true, then once again the so-called guardians of our freedom had just betrayed us on an unimaginable scale.

And this is the crux of the matter; in Generation X's lifetime, America has gone from being the cradle of modern democracy and saviour of the modern world, to a country that now appears to have no value for human life. Vietnam was the first early evidence of this;  we now have Iraq and Afghanistan to add to that list. Thanks to Wikileaks we can see first hand just how brutal, cold and callous these "guardians" have become. How much blood and tears must be shed to protect us from "evil". It makes you start to wonder who are the real bad guys.

And meanwhile behind the scenes, the materialistic machine rolls on. People work, people get money, people spend money. People accumulate stuff. The revelations of quantum physics appear largely forgotten – particularly by Generation Y. As I see it, Generation Y are like the new Baby Boomers – they have experienced unprecedented levels of material security, even more so than Gen X did. Generation Y have their computers, laptops, smart phones, Nintendos, Xboxes, iPhones, iPads. It’s become all about ”I” again with Generation Y. And although Gen X certainly embraced technology in our childhoods it was more in a spirit of fun and enjoyment, as opposed to obsession and must-have to fit in. 

I'll say it again because this is my main point: Generation Y are almost like a recapitulation of the Baby Boomers – they love their material things, they are close with their families, they are rabidly conformist to accepted society and they really don't step outside the box too far. They seem to crave social acceptance much more than we of Gen X did. Again - could this be a knock on effect of September 11? They unconsciously don't want to be seen as non-conformist, in fear of reprisals?

Also, I notice that they really don’t seem to take spirituality that seriously – neither organised, conventional religion nor the new age. They seem to have regressed in this regard back to a pre-Vietnam state. It's quite odd. I don’t know quite what happened there – maybe it’s because we, Gen X, couldn’t come up with anything to replace the system that was broken. Perhaps the simple answer is that Gen X has failed to give Gen Y a proper spiritual alternative to both materialism and conventional religion.

Or maybe, just maybe, Gen X is still waiting quietly in the background, watching; assimilating all the lessons of time and waiting for the last of the boomers to move out of positions of authority so we can finally have our changed world. As Gen X-er John Mayer says, we’re waiting on the world to change. We are just too sensitive to assert ourselves in a world of dog eat dog. We would rather wait until those that hold such a mentality are simply out of the way altogether so we can create our new world in a smooth and holistic fashion.

(It’s interesting to note that as I write this, all the old leaders of the Middle East and Africa – Gaddafi, Mubarak et al – are now being toppled from power. But given these were just U.S. approved puppets; whether this is ultimately a good thing is anyone’s guess.)

Gen X felt we had to tear down all the old structures due to society’s betrayal and REDEFINE what is good, what is wholesome, not based on material terms but on what is good for both the spirit AND the body. The main reason for this is that while our parents lauded themselves for providing us all the material benefits, often times the emotional element was completely lacking. There was a void of empathy, understanding, compassion – and all from a society that claimed to be Christian!! Parents would just not want to know if we came up to them with an emotional need, a need to be heard and understood.

In fact that’s all we wanted – as Gen X-ers we had so many feelings inside, we just needed to let them be heard and to have some kindness shown to us. But that was just too much for most baby boomer parents (but to their credit, not all). I think that from their perspective they had lived through the tough times of war and other hardships so what were we new ones complaining about! What they failed to understand is that compassion is not something you discard because it doesn’t make any money – it’s essential for building a loving and trusting connection with your family.

So Gen X-ers, having been largely denied this deep understanding in our families, turned as a result to friends. Unlike Gen Y, we know that friends can be more like family than your "real" family. In fact, Gen X-ers often find that friends are more understanding, more willing to have a laugh and treat each other with compassion and respect, and a heck of a lot more fun and fulfilling to be around. For Gen X-ers, friends facilitated the expansion and emergence of your fuller being, your deeper persona. (Again, there's that spiritual need to grow and develop, and be heard.) BB parents on the other hand would often not even look on you as a rational, thinking being; the attitude was often well what do you know you’re just a stupid kid! What a contrast to today’s kids, who are often more intelligent than their parents!

What’s amazing to me though is that the boomer generation seems to have a split personality. On the one hand you have the salt of the earth types (such as my parents) who typify what I’ve been saying, but then members of that same generation are my favourite musicians and rock groups, that are all made up of baby boomers!! Incredibly, the music of Pink Floyd in particular, who by the way are now all in their sixties, might well be said to constitute a Gen X manifesto! “We don’t need no education”! So I think it can be said that the seeds of Gen X were planted in the baby boomers, and the ideas they seeded came into bloom with the X’ers.

I think the main issue I have with Gen Y is that they have fallen back on relying on the old means of survival, on the old clapped out system that has proved that it doesn’t work and is long overdue to be replaced. But maybe that was a natural reaction to my generation’s strong idealism – we did lack a certain practicality in the application of our ideals. But just as Gen Y are anchoring the old world, so Gen X are working hard to anchor the incoming new world. We have had to overcome a lot – we were the first generation to really confront a lot of horrifying issues, from the Cold War global nuclear stand-off to Middle Eastern terrorism to 9/11 to U.S. government brutality and mind control and the looming GM and superbug crisis. We Gen X-ers have our plates absolutely full, and in the face of such a world we know something needs to change and change soon. Gen Y probably quite naturally has retreated from all this wearying and stressful confrontation back into the comforting (and illusory) materiality of the baby boomers, but I really believe that the next two generations will move things irrevocably forward.

The Coming of Generation Zero and Generation Wow!

The children that are coming after Generation Y, born 1994 to 2008, appear to have a maturity beyond their tender years; they seem far more intelligent than Gen X was at that age, far more outward looking and really amazing in their comprehension, self expression and overall way of being. They seem to be a fantastic blend of the idealism of Gen X and the practicality of Gen Y – in fact they seem to live by an inspired practicality! So I think I’ll call them Generation Wow! You see them all the time on TV, child prodigies who are not only brilliant but practical - perhaps they will be a fusion of the best of Generation X and Generation Y.

I have also created a new term for the generation being born now - the children being born from  2008 through to 2020. I call them Generation Zero, because I believe they represent a fresh new start.  They will build a more holistic world based on the achievements of the incredible new generation that are succeeding Gen Y.

As Generation Zero will come after Generation Wow, they will most likely reap the benefits of the generation before them and be fully able to express their spiritual gifts. Generation Zero will grow up in a new climate of tolerance and acceptance, and even perhaps of increased spiritual awareness. It is my hope that it will be this generation that changes the world once and for all. Maybe Generation Zero will be the third and final "wave of hippies" who will at last achieve the longed-for new age?

Spirituality and / or Religion

I want to briefly address an issue that seems to be a real thorn in the side of society, and that is the idea of spirituality and religion and how people seem to confuse the two - and how many people seem to think the two must of necessity go together.

If someone of a Christian background bemoans the immorality of today's world (such as Katy Perry's mom), then people shoot her down  - simply because she's Christian. What people don't seem to realise is that often, despite its bad name and devotion to dogma, the Christian faith contains many moral viewpoints that are not only shared by other faiths but remain constant from age to age.

Today's consumerist society promotes the exact opposite of spiritual satisfaction - namely, the pursuit of personal, sensual gratification at all costs. Look prettier. Eat better. Have more. All this is what the Buddha - 500 years before the Master, Jesus - called "dukkha", which simply means, the state of dissatisfaction induced by constantly trying to satisfy material desires. It's a never-ending loop from which a person never escapes - until one day they awaken and say to themselves, you know what, this is a waste of my time and of my spiritual development. It's time I renounced this constant, shallow, self-satisfying behaviour and seek something deeper.

And there's those alarms bells again - I said "spiritual", so I must mean it has something to do with religion - right? Well, maybe - but it doesn't have to mean religion at all. The Buddha showed there are certain universal human truths that exist independently of any system of thought or belief. That the pursuit of false, external happiness causes dissatisfaction (dukkha) is one of those truths, and it is this very pursuit (which the United States once called "the pursuit of happiness", pfft) which is the cause of (spiritual) suffering.

Now most people would assume, therefore, that the alternative to their decadent lifestyles is religion. Again, I say, this is not necessarily so! I am very content to live my life not being a member of any religion. I feel a deeper level of personal satisfaction than ever before - and this has indeed been my biggest challenge in life. One doesn't necessarily need conventional religion to feel in tune with oneself, happy at a deep level. You just need to ask yourself what is truly right for you - and then pay attention as the universe shows you the answers.

Why not try it. If you feel dissatsfied, pose the question to yourself - what would it take for me to be happy? Often it's a change in your thinking that can help promote happiness! But whatever it is, take a chance that the universe - aka life - will show it to you, if only you ask.

And of course the Master, Jesus, said: ask, seek, and knock. The answer will come, and the door will be opened.

What is Generation X (part 1)

In some more of my musings, I’ve been wrestling lately with the notion of what exactly is "Generation X"? What do I, as a supposed member of this generational group, believe defines being a Gen X-er? What did/does Generation X stand for if anything, and where do those ideals stand today, in the face of the rise of Generation Y?

Let’s start with some (Australian pop-cultural) context. Generation X had 80's music: Duran Duran, Pseudo Echo, Howard Jones, Men At Work, the Police, Sting, The Bangles, and right at the end of the decade, we had the first rap and R&B artists emerging, such as MC Hammer and Salt N' Pepa.

We were the generation that grew up with such cartoons as Rainbow Brite, the Smurfs, Voltron, Battle of the Planets (aka G-Force), Astroboy, Kimba the White Lion – all pre-CGI
animations. All these cartoons had a strongly emotional core.

We had hand held Nintendo games – and we were the first generation in history to have access to such computerised personal entertainment. We witnessed firsthand the rise of the personal computer, of computer gaming - and thus Gen X became the first computer game addicts. On the drug front many of us were into pot, while others of us used speed and E. For this and other reasons we earned the title of the "slacker" generation.

But music was our true salvation. In our late teens and twenties (in the early 1990's) we would smoke pot, eat pizza and listen to Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Skid Row - any music that reflected how we felt inside. In a way we were like the "second wave" of hippies – we were highly emotionally driven, and we would rejoice in “deep and meaningfuls”; chance conversations with a kindred spirit that would give a feeling of euphoria (no drugs required) born from mutual understanding, inspiration and upliftment.

We then looked at the world so beloved by our baby-boomer parents - one with racism, prejudice against gays, distrust of the unfamiliar, supported war against foreign countries, and we decided it was wrong. As far as we were concerned, the system that had spectacularly provided unprecedented levels of material comfort for our parents, had now become oppressive, a relentless monster bent on destroying the environment and persecuting anyone who was a free thinker or who was somehow "different".

And so we shunned materialism and lived like the 60's hippies did – in bedsits, share houses and campervans. We were the first generation to really begin to travel en masse while we were young - both overseas and at home.

We also liked a lot of the music that hippies did, as thanks to another new marvel of technology - CDs - we were getting new, remastered versions of classic 60's and 70's albums from artists like Hendrix, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin and others.

Gen X read books about quantum physics – the idea that as is now postulated by science, it is your mind that shapes your reality. Several decades after Einsten’s initial discoveries, we were now realising that matter was energy, energy was matter, and that truly they were interchangeable. And thought, as a form of energy, had the power to affect the physical world.

To many of us this seemed exactly what the Star Wars movies were talking about when they referred to something called "the Force".

We realised that spirituality and science could coincide again, that science could finally find in spirituality the unified field theory it had searched for so long. We also saw that religion no longer served the deepest most urgent needs of the people. Neither for that matter did any of the institutions of society – government, finance, the armed forces. All had failed; all had betrayed the ideals on which society was supposedly based. And the most stark evidence that society had failed during the 80’s was the ever present threat of nuclear war.

In fact it was only when President Reagan made approaches to his Soviet counterpart, after having brought the entire world to the very brink of disaster, that we even actually saw what a Russian looked like. Until then I had never seen one on TV. This was the days before mobile phones, before digital cameras, before Twitter, before Facebook, before Google Earth, Google maps and Myspace. No one knew what the Russians were like, and the media had somehow brainwashed us into thinking they were hideous aliens. I certainly thought that Russians were evil monsters. No, really. To see they actually looked like us – human beings – was mind blowing.

Sting's 1985 song, "Russians", summed up this feeling exactly. Until then we didn't even know if the Russians had any emotions like us, any feelings of compassion, remorse, love, anxiety. Sting asked the question, do the Russians love their children, too? If so, then maybe, just maybe, nuclear war can be averted after all.

And so faced with such alterations to our perceptions of reality, Gen X were arguably the first generation truly to absorb the idea that society was shonky: that the media and government and the church were nothing but purveyors of lies. Society bashing became a pastime, a
chief topic of conversation – the very word “society” was spoken with distaste.

Perhaps one of the greatest examples of Gen X - and its ultimate failure - was the man whose life was portrayed in the film Into the Wild

In other words, Generation X hated society - but we had not figured out what to replace it with. Like the rock and rollers and the hippies of the 50's and 60's we tried using music, but the corporate machine had long taken over this arena. There was no hope to be found there, although for a brief time Jeff Buckley tried his damndest to capture that idealism. Jeff offered us all a brief glimmer of hope and glory – only to drown in a Mississippi river, along with our hopes. Another example of this is Kurt Cobain – again, a sensitive new man, too isolated in his head for his own good. In the end he decided his head was too small a place to live in.

The character of Neo in The Matrix (1999) is possibly the apotheosis of the Gen X-er. Here is a sensitive character, hooked on computers, who doesn’t feel he fits in to society, that society and even reality itself is illusory, who doesn’t conform at this conventional job, who is restlessly searching for something but doesn’t know exactly what it is. And not only does he
find what he is searching for but he learns the true nature of reality – AND he transcends it.

And that, in a nutshell, is probably the defining quest of Generation X.

It's interesting to note that again, this is what the hippies tried to do - and they also failed. Or maybe they just planted the seeds which we, Generation X, further nurtured in ourselves. It’s also instructive to note that Neo sacrifices himself to save society – with most Gen X-ers probably feeling they have had to sacrifice their identities in some way to get by in society.

Next in Part 2: September 11, the rise of Gen Y - and Generation Wow! (No, not World of Warcraft...)

Christianity

This evening I find myself musing over what it means to be a Christian.

As a bit of personal background, I was raised Roman Catholic, but I am no longer a church goer. This is a familiar story in this time period! I have my own personal reasons why I no longer attend a faith gathering, but suffice to say that although the road was initially rough, for the time being I am satisfied to be a lone seeker.

I think that being a Christian, or at least being someone who lives with Christianity within his or her being, is a wonderful thing. I believe that if one is truly in tune with what it means to be Christian, then that person is filled with an enthusiasm for living. This enthusiasm comes from knowing that there is a powerful force acting in our lives, and in creation itself, to move things in a certain direction. Knowing this helps alleviate the basic existential fear of being that all humans suffer at some point and at some level.

We are lucky as Christians to have our faith built not only on the words of the Master, but also on what came before, namely, the morality of Judaism. I respect Judaism very much for the depth of its discourse on its own beliefs. In fact unlike Church-based Christianity, which has often been loath even to examine itself, Judaism never rests, but is always reexamining itself which I believe is an admirable quality.

Islam has the virtue of not needing to rest on any kind of supernatural "wonder". (I will get to what I mean by this in relation to Christianity in a moment). Mohammed when asked to prove his words by a miracle simply said that this world is evidence enough of the Creator's power, and that these "things" were enough. I like the elegance and simplicity of such a statement, and Christianity could actually learn from this core tenet instead of needing to prop itself up with false beliefs.

Getting to what I mean by "wonder", I think Christianity suffers by its insistence on certain "wonders" such as the virgin birth, the turning of water into wine, and the feeding of the five thousand. None of these things are necessary to accept the core Christian message, which is: God is real, God is loving, and God is watching over and caring for humankind. Let me explain more what I mean.

At the Council of Nicea in 325, the early Church of Rome sought to strengthen the new religion of Christianity by codifying its beliefs. Namely, it sought to fix the date of Easter and more importantly, to decide on the exact nature of Jesus. Was he truly the Son of God, or was he simply a man, as the Arian heretics of the time believed. This decision was of course pivotal in setting the course that Christianity would take over the next 1,700 years.

The Church sough to emphasise that Jesus was a being of Light, of Spirit, that he had truly come from the Divine Father. Therefore, as the custodians of the truth of that Light, the Church was the organisation to whom all Christians should look for salvation. The problem today of course is that the Church is being seen publicly to fail on many counts. Protection of children, popular dismissal of its wonders in the face of secular materialism, and failing to provide comfort for its congregation are the most common charges.

The core problem I believe is this: that the Christian faith has accustomed itself to propping up its valid and vital message with unnecessary structures of belief. The Church Fathers of old naturally did this to protect the precious truths that they felt were in danger of being lost. They no doubt felt that to survive in a civilisation such as Rome, with its incredible diversity of beliefs, but also to compete with the existing state religion of sun worship, that wonders were needed. To give the Christian message any validity, it had to be seen to work, to have tangible effects on creation, and to demonstrate the power of the divine. Therfore, at the First Council and then later, beliefs such as the virgin birth and the divinity of Christ as Son of God were promulgated.

But herein lies the main issue - a great lie was perpetuated in order to protect a great truth. This is the decision the early church took and that it has had to defend ever since. That is why, in this modern era, that some feel that God is simply the "God of the gaps"; that is, the gaps left in reality after science has supposedly filled in all the blanks with so-called "facts" (and it has, of course, done no such thing).

So what is the great truth of Christianity? I believe every religion has a great truth; in Judaism, it is that God is moral. In Islam, that God is pure. In Christianity, it is that God is love - powerful love!

Cna you see how each religion offers one form of tribute to God? Each religion describes a particular aspect or quality of God; put 'em all side by side and you begin to build up a picture of what God is. There's no need to believe in silly magic tricks; we can see, as Mohammed did, just by looking around us, by listening to the air at sunrise, by watching the mighty ocean, by observing how animals operate with awareness and intelligence, that something must be behind all this. And indeed there is! We know him as God.

But too much simplicity can be a bad thing. There must be depth in our understanding of God, not just surface beliefs and mindless platitudes. We need depth both in time and in space; historical depth, to know where we have come from and how we got here; and present depth, depth in our understanding, our thinking, and in our feeling. We must engage intelligently, as in Judaism, with our faith, not just - God forbid! - accept without question what we have been told. Think for yourself! Read! Search. Look. The Master says that they who ask, seek and knock will be rewarded.

In the end I believe something which would shock many Christians but it again goes to the core problem we face today and it is this: was Jesus the Son of God? Yes. But are we also sons and daughters of God? Yes I say we are. That's why the early Church was right - but the Arians were also correct. Jesus truly is a great Master, but he is no more a son or child of God than me or than you. The being that is Jesus may be a greater adept than you or me, more advanced in spiritual development. But there are others. And truly God has created each one of us, has he not? Therefore, we do not need a Church to intervene for us. Does a child need to seek a third party to ask its parents for what she needs? Of course not.

In the real world naturally it helps that we have an institution that can minister to us, baptise our babies, marry us, bury our dead. All that is fine but I guess I've always been an inward looking seeker. If the Church that does all these things cannot even give a decent account of itself in terms of its beliefs then it becomes very hard for me to be a part of such a thing.

For this is the age where humanity is awakening. We are learning to use our own abilities, finally, after centuries of being mollycoddled by the Church. Like an overprotectivve, smothering parent, the Church's hold over our lives is finally broken. But again there is this dichotomy that some of what the Church says and does is plainly wrong, but the basic morality it espouses is sound. Today as we see people like Charlie Sheen seeing nothing amiss in having porn stars around his small children, morality is needed now just as much as ever. As a new parent myself I consider it a disgrace that this man even considers himself a proper father. So there remain elements of Christianity that we sorely need, but there are other things frankly that we could do without.

The "wonders" of the early Church were introduced to ensure the survival of the message. Perhaps now, to ensure its survival, these are the very things we need to jettison to preserve the truth?

Role of the Angels

Well now the people of our sister nation, New Zealand, have been hit with their worst earthquake disaster in living memory. This is truly a shocking thing to behold, with probably more than 100 people losing their lives, including infants. The centre of the city of Christchurch is reduced to rubble.

The sheer savagery of the quake is mind numbing, but its a sobering reminder that we humans live on the surface of this planet subject to the earth's good graces. I work in the centre of Sydney and as I admired the beautiful buildings during my lunch break today, it suddenly hit me what it would be like if the same thing happened to my town.

Yet as reports come through, there are stories of people just getting out of the way of danger in time, of being protected even though they were on the fifth floor of a building that collapsed to the ground. As is becoming usual in these terrible tragedies, I can discern the presence of wonderful helping angels doing as much protecting work as they can.

Some might say well why don't they save everyone then, and of course I can't answer that. All I can say is that I believe the angels do what they can within the boundaries of what they are allowed, and it's my opinion that they do an amazing job.

Add that to the incredible human helpers on the scene - many of which I am proud to say are my countrymen - and it's plain to see that the human spirit continues to endure.

Spare a thought for those suffering through the destruction of their home at this time. We can help heal the world with prayer, and by looking upon the world with a gentle optimism.

Power of prayer, power of intention

As some of you may be aware, Australia was recently staring down the barrel of a category 5 cyclone - one which was going to destroy major cities in the state of Queensland and be bigger than Hurricane Katrina.

But then it veered away from the path of major destruction and its rage was vented on a few smaller townships along the coast. Not that this didn't cause much terror and heartbreak for the residents of these towns, it certainly did. But it could have been a lot worse.

I pray a lot, and as the cyclone was bearing down on Queensland, looking the whole time like this was going to be our biggest ever natural disaster, I said a prayer. As you may also know, Queensland had also just suffered its worst ever floods, with a dozen people dead and thousands without a home. This had already caused such great suffering and sorrow that it seemed that Cyclone Yasi would just be too much for a state and a nation trying to rebuild.

So I said a prayer, and in the prayer I affirmed that the forces of nature have mercy on us, that the cyclone not create harm and instead dissipate harmlessly over the sea.

Now while Yasi did travel inland, it missed the bigger towns and within a couple of days was downgraded from category 5 to 3, from 3 to 2 and finally, 2 to 1.

I am definitely not saying that my prayer alone caused this! But I have a feeling that a LOT of people were praying, not least the people of Queensland who had already suffered so much. I think Australians are a people with a gruff exterior but also very heartfelt, and I have no doubt that faced with the terrifying prospect of this massive cyclone, many of us were praying to be spared.

In the end there was just one casualty of the storm, and sad though that is it is nothing to what could have been. At times like this I feel its so important to have empathy - I imagined what it would be like for me and my family to have to shelter in a shopping centre (mall) along with thousands of others unable to return home. I can barely imagine it but I can imagine the despair and the pain.

I am just thankful that our collective prayers were answered! My intution had said at the time that they would be, and that's what eventuated. I think we need to rediscover the power of prayer, at this time in history we need the help of the angels and the divine powers more than ever! Let's get their loving energies into our lives where they are needed. This kind of prayer need not even be denominational - just pray! And let the divine emissaries of heaven do the rest. That's all it takes!

Galactic Consciousness

As someone who was raised Roman Catholic, I have in the last decade seen the proliferation of material relating to the Templars, the Gnostics, the theory that Jesus was married and had children, bloodline conspiracies, Illuminati conspiracy theories and so forth.

I have to say that to me all of these things smack of the great illusion – the program to which the whole world has been blindly running these past two millennia. Greed, violence, deception, political intrigue, war, religious arguments. A person could spend (and waste) their whole life in pursuit of answers to these illusions.

I believe the program that governs all these things is due to end and end soon. I’m tired of them – the world is tired of them. The only thing I know in my heart of hearts and soul of souls that truly matters, is what I (and others) call galactic consciousness.

In my memories of what life is like on the other side, God is a presence that underlies and permeates all of reality. It’s not like on Earth where there is this terrible feeling of separation. We chose that experience in order to learn to exercise our free will, and to grow in strength of personality, “away” from our cosmic parent. No, in the heaven worlds there is a constant awareness of the beneficent presence of God. As a result everyone is happy – everyone sees the importance of love for one another, it’s automatic, and the only real concern is for those incarnated souls undergoing learning on the different planets of the galactic system.

Most especially, however, the concern is for souls living on Planet Earth. Earth is known as the most dense, the most physical, of all the planets upon which a soul may live an incarnated life. As a result the earth is the most difficult of all the planets to be on. As I said the feeling of separation from God is the keenest here. And what is religion, if not the cry of so many lonely infants separated from the cosmic Love of God the parent? The word galaxy means Way of Milk in Greek – hence The Milky Way, the ever-flowing sustenance of God’s love that sustains all souls in heaven.

We come here, every one of us, on assignment. God has a plan for Earth and each one of us chooses to participate in this great design. Every so often, a soul will receive the “call”; as if deep within, the cosmic mother calls out to one of her own, summoning that soul to go forth and minister to her children on earth. The soul can choose a different assignment; but speaking for myself, when I received the call the thing that impelled me the most was knowing that in order to feel truly worthy of God’s love, I owed it to the suffering souls on earth, who are working so hard in their lives, to at least come to earth and contribute in whatever way God needed.

I remember that I felt greatly intimidated at coming to Earth again, and frankly if left to my own devices I probably would never have come - mostly for the reasons I have outlined above! Earth is difficult, but of course the rewards of personal satisfaction in staying the course and maybe even making a small difference are immeasurable to a developing soul.

This leads me to another point, which is the reason souls come here. I believe that Earth represents the most dense, the most stubborn, and the most hard-to-transform energy in the consciousness of the All, of God. We can see this by how many messengers of God are persecuted through history, and even those people who try to battle corruption in more limited spheres of life seem automatically to attract negative attention. This earth does not appreciate being made to change. And as humans we all share in that lot – we are all stubborn and slow to embrace change. In a sense the earth represents that part of each of us that is most in need of working on, to transform it into light (and enlightenment).

Our main job is firstly to awaken – to wake up to our true, cosmic origins. Not in some strange alien sense – this is a materialistic interpretation of a spiritual truth, the truth that we are all soul and we come originally from God and from heaven. The more we can awaken in this life, the more chance we have of remembering our true purpose on this Earth and maybe start to live it more consciously.

Esoteric traditions maintain that we all need to work on the Four Elements in ourselves – the Fire of Will, vision and enterprise, the Air of Right Thinking and Logic, the Water of Right Feeling and Compassion, and the Earth of common sense, practicality and Right Judgement. By working on these elements within our beings, it is predicted that we can transform every material atom of our bodies and of the universe gradually into Light. (This is the meaning of the Tarot card The Universe (or the World), where the four living creatures – the four primal elements – gain wings after the many trials experienced by the Fool.)

This year of 2011 is the time to activate our memories – to awaken to galactic consciousness, the moral of which is simply, Love one another as I have loved you. This is the only antidote to greed, to conflict, to war, to disharmony. The harmony of galactic brotherhood must – and will – prevail.

Consciousness

I should clarify what I mean by "spirit", as mentioned in my last post.

When I say spirit I mean Consciousness - the faculty of awareness, the inner Being who Knows. As an idealist I believe that Consciousness comes first, and it is one's state of Consciousness - feelings, thoughts, beliefs, attitudes - that determines what kind of life one lives.

Modern scientists are trying to tell us that our consciousness is merely secondary - that it is an epiphenomenon of matter, just an illusion of biochemistry. I feel very sorry for people who put forward this as a philosophy of life; they must be very sad and lonely people. One who believes that matter is primary over consciousness lives a very lonely life indeed - and in fact this is what we see in today's western society, where materialism as a mindset appears to rule and as a result we have social isolation, depression, alienation.

But one who believes that Consciousness comes first is never lonely! Why? Because that person knows they are never alone. Everything is made of consciousness ~ the whole universe is consciousness. This is why people of past generations believed in the beings who tend to the trees and flowers, who live in the streams and rivers. That is why the ancients believed in mighty Jupiter and tricky Mercury. That is why Christians today believe in Christ as Redeemer, because everything is consciousness. Because consciousness rules matter, and matter can be saved through consciousness.

We find ourselves confronted with a marvellous challenge-opportunity at this time. Our consciousness has the chance to grow and expand to a new level as the galactic Consciousness makes contact with the Earth. I believe that 2012 will see an influx of uplifting spiritual energy which will boost those who are ready for it into a new existence. 2011 is the year of final choice, where those on the side of dark firm into their positions, and those on the side of Light do likewise. Those who choose Light are going to experience the certainty and comfort that comes from being re-attuned to Galatic Consciousness, which is God and which is Us.

We are the answer - what was the question?

The Twelfth Insight

A new book is coming out by James Redfield, the author of The Celestine Prophecy. It's called either The Hour of Reckoning or The Hour of Decision, depending on which website you go to, but either way it will talk about the long awaited twelfth Insight.

As I see it the world is at the most important of crossroads at this time in history. There are forces at work that want to see human kind lose its sense of the spiritual forever and to sink into an orgy of materialism, where matter rules and spirit is squeezed out. I also believe that another, counter-movement is underway, led by sensitive souls who feel that the world is on a precipice and that we need to re-acknowledge that we are spirit first and foremost. Matter is and should only ever be a vehicle for our spiritual and creative expression.

To me this is truly the only "war" going on in our world today. The only one that really matters.

Technology has reached a stagnation point as far as I'm concerned. Nothing that is truly innovative or helpful in easing the suffering of the human race is coming forward. Nothing inspirational or edifying - just more self indulgence, with i-phones, i-pads, more ways to keep us distracted.

The Twelfth Insight, therefore, is a hopeful vision of a new world. A world created by humans who desire a spiritual world, an organic, free-flowing world, where awareness is everything, compassion is vital, and the integrity and purity of the human spirit is foremost in every heart.

In other words, it is a time of choice - do we want to keep rocketing into a world of self-indulgence, a materialism that could destroy what we are meant to be, or do we want a new holistic world, where spirit matters more than matter.

It's up to each one of us, you and me and everyone we come into contact with. Let's promise ourselves something today - that in our deepest selves we will hold the intention that the world can be healed. That technology will serve mankind and not the other way around. That we will once again recognise that we are spirit and that this earth is only a testing ground for that spirit. In this way we can restore our priorities to sanity and to health.

Let us pray!

Long time away

It has been quite a while since I last posted, but boy so much has been going on that I haven't felt it was the right time to post anything. Until now.

I became a Dad last year, a wonderful little baby boy was born at 8.07am Friday 30 April 2010. After a scare due to him not breathing at first (he was born caesarean), we welcomed little Jack into our world and could not be happier.

Being a father has been a deeply satisfying experience for me. I can see much more clearly that the life I used to live, having to satisfy only myself, was a shallow and rather meaningless one. Having Jack has brought me happiness because its my job to look after him, and I feel proud that I have this responsibility.

And to see his happy smiling face when I come home is the best thing in the world.

So thanks for understanding while I've been away. Throw in a house move, job changes, and that makes 2010 a very hectic year for me! It was a journey through the spirit on the earth plane, learning those crucial lessons that only life on this earth can provide.

In my next post I will mention some of the intellectual highlights that 2010 held for me.