Past life recall and ‘enlightenment’

Hindus believe the self or soul (atman) repeatedly takes on a physical body via Wikipedia

It’s always nice when one of my volunteer answers at Allexperts.com gets published.

In this question, a man asks about recalling past lives during meditation and the idea of enlightenment.

Click on this link to read my answer:

http://en.allexperts.com/q/Meditation-2544/2012/3/past-life-recall.htm

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Review – Secret Societies and Sacred Stones: from Mecca to Megaliths (DVD)

This review also appears at Earthpages.org

Title: Secret Societies and Sacred Stones: from Mecca to Megaliths
Genre: Conspiracy, History, Occult
Production Company: Reality Films

We tend to make a distinction between organic and inorganic substances. Not too many question this. On the chemical level, the differences between organic and inorganic materials gets pretty complicated. Some inorganic materials, for instance, transform and become organic after entering an organism.

In the everyday world of things that we can see without the help of high-powered microscopes, anything that eats, passes waste and reproduces is called organic. Inorganic materials aren’t as dynamic as organic compounds. So conventional wisdom tells us that organisms are alive, while inorganic things merely exist without any kind of consciousness.

With these kind of cultural assumptions under our belt, we merrily blast out rock obstacles to build roads and bridges without feeling the slightest bit guilty. We’re not really hurting anything. Rocks just are. They don’t have pain receptors and don’t cry out when blasted sky high.

At least, that’s what we think. Another Reality Film, Apocalypse 2012: The World After Time Ends, puts forth the opposing idea that the entire Earth is alive (read my review).

Secret Societies and Sacred Stones is the perfect follow up to Apocalypse 2012. It outlines some of the unconventional beliefs informing the idea that the inorganic realm is truly alive.

But before I get into the specifics of this DVD, I should mention two things that those up on subatomic physics will already know about.

First, the centuries old distinction between matter and energy is hopelessly outdated. Second, inorganic substances, like rocks and stones, don’t just sit there. Inorganic material vibrates. We can’t normally see, hear or feel the vibration because it’s subatomic, and must be measured with a high-tech device.

And maybe I’ll mention a third thing. I’m going to tell a little story about myself. A story that happens to be true.

When I was a teen my parents owned a place in Georgian Bay. It was an old summer cottage built on the Precambrian rocks that are known as the Canadian Shield. These rocks are more than ancient. They’re literally billions of years old.

The Precambrian rock floor at Georgian Bay

One day at the cottage – and I can’t remember why or how, but I do know that I was completely sober – I suddenly had an intuitive flash. Sort of like a minor epiphany. But this wasn’t about God. It was about the island on which the cottage stood.

I saw it all in a completely new light. The rocks underneath me, extending out several hundred feet to the waterfront, were vibrating and alive with an incredible, vital energy. I believed that I saw those rocks as they really were. Not how we see through the eyes but, rather, through the soul.

It was awesome. Afterward, I went outside and stood barefoot on the rocks. I was overjoyed. Looking at the small black ants busying themselves on the rock, I realized that they were the same stuff as the rocks, just more organized—today I’d say that I believed instead of realized they were the same stuff, but that’s only because I’ve had many more years to think about these kinds of things.

If I hadn’t had this experience, I probably would have thought that the ideas in Secret Societies and Sacred Stones were flaky. But I don’t take such a simplistic approach to life any more.

So that experience, combined with the findings of subatomic physics, has given me an open mind to appreciate what this DVD has to offer.

Secret Societies and Sacred Stones is a useful compendium of all things mineral and immaterial. It compels us to question the age-old distinction between animate and inanimate reality. It does this by delving into a broad array of topics which, so it suggests, are intimately related.

Underlying the film is the notion that stones have power. And this power was known to ancient cultures, including the Egyptians. Sometimes the power was good. Other times bad.

To ward off evil, stones like lapis lazuli, emeralds, and turquoise were used, sometimes as amulets and other times as ceremonial objects. Stones also had the power to sing. This idea is not only biblical (Luke 19:40) but is also found in Gnostic secret societies.

Stones could also be used for darker purposes. The film tells of failed Kabbalists whose intention isn’t pure and, like Darth Vader, are eventually consumed by the dark side. These Faustian reprobates use stones to try to control people, nature, spirits and wandering souls. It seems the stone acts as a kind of amplifier for their own darkened minds.

Again, I might have found this hard to believe. But, and to add to my own story, I brought a palm sized stone home with me before our Georgian Bay cottage was sold.

I first went to Georgian Bay as a baby. Born in May, my parents took me to the cottage for the May 24th weekend, which is a big deal in Canada. So I was just a few days old when first exposed to the rocks, pines and clear blue waters of the Precambrian Shield. And I walked barefoot on those rocks every summer during my childhood and teenage years. So the connection is deep.

And now, when the time is right, if I pick up that Precambrian stone in the city, I can inwardly see and feel the whole summer scene at Georgian Bay. It all comes back, almost as if I’m holding some kind of magical audiovisual recorder.

So yes, I do believe that stones can open doors to the unknown. But mind you, my only experience with them has been positive.

Whether or not God gives me certain memories when I hold the stone, or whether the memories are facilitated by the stone itself, I cannot know. But the memories do come. And in 3D.

Along these lines, Secret Societies and Sacred Stones tries to link up the inner technology of Kabbala, the pseudoscience of alchemy, and the modern science of chemistry. As one of the experts in the film puts it, chemistry is merely further down a “stream of ideas.”

The DVD also suggests that stones mirror what’s inside ourselves. So, on the one hand, stones have power. And, on the other hand, this power ultimately resides within. Additional areas covered are divination, runes, and Grail legends. Apparently Grail legends can be traced back to emerald cups of power and, possibly, to simple sacred stones.

To top it off, the film touches on the idea that our planet was seeded by life forms that fell to Earth from meteors.

All very far out stuff.

Or is it?

On the production side, director Philip Gardiner makes ample use of dark vignetting, old film effects and cgi. Whether or not one finds these techniques effective would probably depend on where one’s at, artistically and spiritually.

What this film occasionally leaves out in factual detail is compensated for by its unusual breadth. To fully enjoy this DVD, I had to lay back, forget the small stuff, and just absorb all that it has to offer.

Secret Societies and Sacred Stones is the perfect solution for anyone wanting to learn more about esoterica, alternative histories, spiritual warfare, and the quest for the eternal self.

Special features include unseen footage and comments from the cast of The Stone Movie, also by Gardiner, along with several haunting music videos and trailers.

—MC

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Today’s reading at Mass

The Resurrection Mass in Stavropoleos, oil on canvass via Wikipedia

I was talking on Facebook earlier this morning about synchronicity, magic and spirituality. Then later at Mass, this reading sort of stood out:

⁸ See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces^[a] of this world rather than on Christ.  ⁹ For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, ¹⁰ and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority.

Source: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Colossians+2%3A6-15&version=NIV

It seemed like a funny kind of synchronicity in itself.

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Review – Finding God: The Enlightenment (DVD 3 of 3)

Title: Finding God: The Enlightenment – Disc 3
Genre: Body Mind Spirit, Religion, Meta-Physics
Production Company: Reality Films

(Review for Disc 1 is here; Disc 2 is here)

Philip Gardiner’s Finding God: The Enlightenment is a three DVD set including Quantum Mind of God, Science of Soul, and Ancient Code.

Disc 3, Ancient Code: The Movie is a welcome departure from other films using the word “code” in their title–e.g The Bible Code and The Da Vinci Code.

Skeptics who haven’t seen this film might hastily dismiss it as a jump on the bandwagon, the concept of the “code” having a good pretty track record in New Age marketing.

This movie, however, speaks to a code far deeper than mere opportunism. And the writers, artists and thinkers involved in its production are clearly passionate about their beliefs.

The film revolves around several themes found in other Reality Films, such as the divinity of nature and the interconnection of all lifeforms by virtue of the idea that, at bottom, we’re nothing more than nested patterns of light and dark energy.

It’s a compelling position, one prefigured by Baruch Spinoza‘s naturalistic pantheism (and later nuanced by the likes of C. G. Jung and Carl Sagan) to portray spirituality as the human response to a numinous power that isn’t necessarily out there but, instead, exists inside oneself.

Not everyone agrees with this view. But the curious and those genuinely open to learning will find several innovative ideas that some traditional religious and scientific frameworks may overlook or, at least, underemphasize.

By way of example, Ancient Code questions the entire notion of progress. The film doesn’t deny that humanity has made great technological strides, but it asks just how much we’ve developed as a sentient species located within the greater cosmos.

Excessive Western greed, individualism and cultural fragmentation are also addressed, in contrast to more holistic Eastern paradigms sharing a deep appreciation for the old adage–for every action there’s a reaction.

Observations on the roots of crime, a live pagan Horn Dance and a psychological interpretation of the Grail Quest make this DVD a veritable smorgasbord of alternative perspectives about the essential connection and need for balance among body, mind and spirit.

—MC

(Review for Disc 1 is here; Disc 2 is here)

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Review – Finding God: The Enlightenment (DVD 1 of 3)

Title: Finding God: The Enlightenment – Disc 1
Genre: Body Mind Spirit, Religion, Meta-Physics
Production Company: Reality Films

(Review for Disc 2 is here; Disc 3 is here)

It’s critical, the situation is pitiful
Bear in mind, you gotta find somethin’ spiritual
We never gain, ’cause we blame it on the system
You oughta listen whether Muslim or Christian
Or any other type religion or creed

–Guru, “Living in this World,” Jazzmatazz, Vol. 2: The New Reality

Philip Gardiner’s Finding God: The Enlightenment is a three DVD set including Quantum Mind of God, Science of Soul, and Ancient Code.

Disc 1, Quantum Mind of God, is a sweeping journey of exploration, encompassing ideas from the North African theologian St. Augustine, the French philosopher René Descartes, to the German quantum physicist Max Planck and beyond.

The soundtrack blends Gregorian chants, Hindi pop and contemporary New Age music. And the narration presents a unique 21st century theological synthesis, with a seamless array of graphics and images garnered from many sciences, religions and wisdom traditions like alchemical gnosticism and Shamanism.

Topics covered include the apparent importance of quartz, granite, vibrational patterns, magnetic movement and the pineal gland, all of which are said to link the micro and macrocosmic structures of nature and the larger universe.

Basically, this film is about life. And while mathematical equations try to provide the “how” of life, Quantum Mind of God rightly points out that equations, alone, cannot explain the “why” of our existence. Statistics might indicate how most of us are likely to behave on a given day or month with respect to certain predefined variables. But numbers can’t predict how specific individuals choose to exercise their free will.

There are always exceptions to the rule.

Some folks seem to forget that fact and end up looking like hypocrites. Just as we chop up nature into tiny pieces for analysis and dissection, some people’s minds seem to be arranged in almost discrete compartments. These persons often judge this or that moral action while turning a blind eye to their own questionable tendencies.

In short, not everyone is psychologically mature and integrated. And this psychological epidemic extends not just to the dull-witted or so-called “uneducated,” but arguably to all levels of society.

The antidote to this social malady, according to Gardiner, is holism. We must recognize the whole and not just the parts. This seems especially so when it comes to ESP (extrasensory perception).

Findings have repeatedly shown that ESP works better when emotion is involved. Be it the emotion of mature interpersonal attachment or even the basic arousal induced by erotic images, ESP is more pronounced when human beings are emotionally and physiologically activated, instead of just relying on abstract thought (disinfo.com¹ and disinfo.com²).

Quantum Mind of God’s message of individual freedom and, yet, basic interconnectedness is a timely reminder that we’ve got to get it together–within and among ourselves, and with the One who created all our selves.

–MC

(Review for Disc 2 is here; Disc 3 is here)

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Dreams of spirit

NGC 7293, The Helix Nebula, a planetary nebula Credit: NASA, ESA, and C.R. O'Dell via Wikipedia

Here’s a Q&A at AllExperts.com that suggests spirituality might involve warm and fuzzy feelings. But it’s worthwhile to ask if these feelings are really from God or from some other power.

• Paranormal Phenomena/Dreams of spirit

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Merry Christmas!

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fear of dark objects

Image: cliff1066 via Wikipedia

Here’s a Q&A at AllExperts.com that touches on possible links among psychology, overcoming fear, and spirituality:

• Paranormal Phenomena/fear of dark objects

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Sleep Paralysis

The Nightmare via Wikipedia

Here’s a Q&A at AllExperts.com that touches on a variety of potential issues. 

• Paranormal Phenomena/Sleep Paralysis

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Paranormal Phenomena: Spirit Communication

“Wall face” appearance, purportedly paranormal but probably made by human hands via Wikipedia

Here’s another question at AllExperts.com. I’m not a blind debunker of all things paranormal. But with these types of issues I always stress the importance of looking for natural answers to supposedly paranormal phenomena.

• Paranormal Phenomena: Spirit Communication (allexperts.com)

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