Adi Da Samraj (November 3, 1939 – November 27, 2008)

Some of you may be familiar with Adi Da and some may not. No matter, the sad news is that he has passed (30 Non 2008).

The first time I was introduced to the writings and thoughts of this man was through the writings of Ken Wilber. He was a fascinating man, with a true depth. I hope you enjoy some of his thoughts:
“You spend your entire life within the dream, within this vast adventure, to find the princess in the crystal palace and save her from the dragon, or to wait in the crystal palace to be rescued by the prince. You live an endless, endless adventure, millions and millions of ages, year after year after year, of numberless complications. But at some point along the way, you become serious enough to examine your motivation to seek, to examine the cause, the root, for which this goal is only the symbol. At last one realizes that one cannot find one’s symbolic satisfaction. And this falling into one’s dilemma, then falling through it, is the unqualified Intuition of one’s Ultimate Nature and Real Condition. . . . “The waking state promises something relatively undesirable to one who is suspended in the twilight state of a pleasant dream. Such a one is reluctant to understand, too distracted to be interested in understanding. The ordinary reluctance of people is not truly caused by a premonition that the life, or sadhana, of understanding is so difficult. It is only that they do not yet care about it. Somehow, for the moment, everything seems all right. For the most part, the usual man or woman possesses a relatively healthful physical life, with certain satisfactions, certain opportunities, things to do, books to read, a future of places, physical pleasures, mental pleasures. With all of that, who wants to Awaken? And most people come to Me in that condition. Therefore, I do not take them seriously. I know they are only indulging themselves, even if to others the new arrivals seem to deserve only mercy and the grin of promised salvation. When these seekers come to Me, they make all kinds of complaints about their fundamental suffering. ‘Please give me this salvation, this realization, this release!’ But they are not really looking for that. They are unwilling to endure the discipline of Truth.

“There are certain limitations to the entire adventure and pleasure of ordinary life. You know you are going to die some time, but, essentially, mysteriously, life still seems to be full. Thus, Truth is not likely to enter the usual picture without the intervention of some fundamental, transforming event. But if you are smart, if your life is generated with Conscious Intensity, you do not have to become desperate before you will turn to the Truth. Your circumstances do not have to become empty, corrupted, and diseased. You do not have to wait for the failure of life itself before you will turn to the Truth. Someone who is waiting for life to disprove itself is only indulging himself or herself. There is nothing profound about the search or suffering of such a one. But if one is smart, if one’s life is an intensity, one is always turning to Truth from birth. . . .
“When you become less concerned for your particular search, for your inwardness, for your adventure, you have simply become more sensitive to your Real Condition. You have felt the sunlight falling on your sleeping eyes. When your eyes have opened in the morning light, everything will be obvious to you. And you will know that you have never slept, that you have never dreamed, that you have never been limited to any thing that has appeared. You have never been in any condition that you have assumed. There was always only Reality Itself, your True Nature, Which is Love-Bliss, Consciousness, the Unqualified Intensity.”
–Adi Da, The Method of the Siddhas, pp. 261-265

How about a different point of view on LIGHT!

Vampires In America?

Would you consider this the dumbing down of America?

In 2005, Jerry Falwell, chancellor of Liberty University awarded Hannity an honorary degree, the Nobel for dummies.

What Is So Evil About The Rights of Man

Give a man a pen and you will never know what he may write. As I was exploring the tie between naturalism and Freemasonry, I happened upon this article below. What I found interesting was how the author states, “the Declaration of the Rights of Man had been conceived and elaborated in the Masonic lodges before it was presented to the States-General of France. Accordingly, the infamous Declaration, a naturalistic or anti-supernatural document, is in reality a declaration of war on membership of Christ and on the whole structure of society based on that supernatural dignity.”
After you read his opinion, please read the Declaration and ask yourself what are they so afraid of?

Father Denis Fahey (1883-1954)a priest who resided in Ireland his entire life, explained some aspects of Judeo-Masonry this way:
There is unorganized opposition to the supernatural life of grace in each one of us, owing to the fall. This unorganized opposition of individuals leads to the formation of little anti-supernatural groups here and there, even without the concerted action of vast organized forces. The existence of united anti-supernatural action on the part of organized bodies is so far removed from the mind of the average Catholic that it needs to be stressed particularly and its aims made clear. The Christian framework of society is destined not only to aid us in attaining union with Christ but to serve as a bulwark against the assaults of the forces organized against our supernatural life. These forces are three in number, one being invisible, the other two visible. The invisible host is that of Satan and the other fallen angels, while the visible forces are those of the Jewish nation and Freemasonry.
(my note: The word for Satan in the Old Testament Hebrew was ha-satan which meant "The adversary." In the Old Testament, Andrew Collins tells us that "this term is used exclusively to describe either the enemies of God or the enemies of the Israelite race in general. Never is the Devil referred to as the evil one. Not until the advent of the New Testament...does the term ha-satan take on the all important role. At this point, Satan becomes an angel fallen from grace and expelled from heaven" (1).
Dr. George Lamsa, now deceased Aramaic scholar, also confirms that the term Satan simply means adversary or evil intent. It was NOT a literal person. It started out as a term to describe anyone who was an enemy or in an adversarial relationship, and was finely honed down into a literal being in the New Testament.)

More from Father Dennis Fahey:
The Jewish nation is not only a visible organization, but its naturalistic or anti-supernatural character is openly proclaimed by its refusal to accept the supernatural Messiahs and by its looking forward to a naturalistic messianic era. The Masonic society or group of societies is a visible organization, but its naturalistic or anti-supernatural character is secret or camouflaged. The naturalism or anti-supernaturalism of its aims, as well as of its ritual and symbolism, is clearly grasped by only relatively few of the initiated. The pantheistic deification of man, which is the consequence of this naturalism, is the supreme secret of Freemasonry. Both of these visible societies, however, make use of subterfuge and secrecy in their modes of action against the supernatural life of the nations of the world. Accordingly, the most vitally real struggle in the world is that waged by those naturalistic or anti-supernatural armies, under the leadership of Satan, against those who accept the supernatural life of grace, participation of the life of the Blessed Trinity, under the leadership of our Lord Jesus Christ. (From Chapter 5, The Kingship of Christ and the Conversion of the Jewish Nation)

(Pope Leo giving the peace sign)

In his Encyclical letter on Freemasonry, Pope Leo XIII teaches authoritatively: “From what we have already set forth, it is indisputably evident that their [the Freemasons’] ultimate aim is to uproot completely the whole religious and political order of the world, which has been brought into existence by Christianity, and to replace it by another in harmony with their way of thinking. This will mean that the foundation and the laws of the new structure of society will be drawn from pure naturalism.” Now, it is historically certain that the Declaration of the Rights of Man had been conceived and elaborated in the Masonic lodges before it was presented to the States-General of France. Accordingly, the infamous Declaration, a naturalistic or anti-supernatural document, is in reality a declaration of war on membership of Christ and on the whole structure of society based on that supernatural dignity. The same naturalistic hostility to membership of Christ and the supernatural life of grace runs through all the documents concerning human rights drawn up under the influence of the organized forces that were responsible for the Declaration of 1789. That is the real struggle going on in the world, and in it every member of Christ is called upon to play his or her part. There can be no neutrality. “He that is not with me is against me” (St. Matthew XII, 30.) -- (From Chapter 2, The Kingship of Christ and the Conversion of the Jewish Nation)

(This sure makes our fraternity look bad. That is until you actually read the Declaration of the Rights of Man!)

Approved by the National Assembly of France, August 26, 1789
The representatives of the French people, organized as a National Assembly, believing that the ignorance, neglect, or contempt of the rights of man are the sole cause of public calamities and of the corruption of governments, have determined to set forth in a solemn declaration the natural, unalienable, and sacred rights of man, in order that this declaration, being constantly before all the members of the Social body, shall remind them continually of their rights and duties; in order that the acts of the legislative power, as well as those of the executive power, may be compared at any moment with the objects and purposes of all political institutions and may thus be more respected, and, lastly, in order that the grievances of the citizens, based hereafter upon simple and incontestable principles, shall tend to the maintenance of the constitution and redound to the happiness of all. Therefore, the National Assembly recognizes and proclaims, in the presence and under the auspices of the Supreme Being, the following rights of man and of the citizen:
Articles:
1. Men are born and remain free and equal in rights. Social distinctions may be founded only upon the general good.

2. The aim of all political association is the preservation of the natural and imprescriptible rights of man. These rights are liberty, property, security, and resistance to oppression.

3. The principle of all sovereignty resides essentially in the nation. No body nor individual may exercise any authority which does not proceed directly from the nation.

4. Liberty consists in the freedom to do everything which injures no one else; hence the exercise of the natural rights of each man has no limits except those which assure to the other members of the society the enjoyment of the same rights. These limits can only be determined by law.

5. Law can only prohibit such actions as are hurtful to society. Nothing may be prevented which is not forbidden by law, and no one may be forced to do anything not provided for by law.

6. Law is the expression of the general will. Every citizen has a right to participate personally, or through his representative, in its foundation. It must be the same for all, whether it protects or punishes. All citizens, being equal in the eyes of the law, are equally eligible to all dignities and to all public positions and occupations, according to their abilities, and without distinction except that of their virtues and talents.

7. No person shall be accused, arrested, or imprisoned except in the cases and according to the forms prescribed by law. Any one soliciting, transmitting, executing, or causing to be executed, any arbitrary order, shall be punished. But any citizen summoned or arrested in virtue of the law shall submit without delay, as resistance constitutes an offense.

8. The law shall provide for such punishments only as are strictly and obviously necessary, and no one shall suffer punishment except it be legally inflicted in virtue of a law passed and promulgated before the commission of the offense.

9. As all persons are held innocent until they shall have been declared guilty, if arrest shall be deemed indispensable, all harshness not essential to the securing of the prisoner's person shall be severely repressed by law.

10. No one shall be disquieted on account of his opinions, including his religious views, provided their manifestation does not disturb the public order established by law.

11. The free communication of ideas and opinions is one of the most precious of the rights of man. Every citizen may, accordingly, speak, write, and print with freedom, but shall be responsible for such abuses of this freedom as shall be defined by law.

12. The security of the rights of man and of the citizen requires public military forces. These forces are, therefore, established for the good of all and not for the personal advantage of those to whom they shall be intrusted.

13. A common contribution is essential for the maintenance of the public forces and for the cost of administration. This should be equitably distributed among all the citizens in proportion to their means.

14. All the citizens have a right to decide, either personally or by their representatives, as to the necessity of the public contribution; to grant this freely; to know to what uses it is put; and to fix the proportion, the mode of assessment and of collection and the duration of the taxes.

15. Society has the right to require of every public agent an account of his administration.

16. A society in which the observance of the law is not assured, nor the separation of powers defined, has no constitution at all.

17. Since property is an inviolable and sacred right, no one shall be deprived thereof except where public necessity, legally determined, shall clearly demand it, and then only on condition that the owner shall have been previously and equitably indemnified.

(I don't know about you, but that sounds pretty good to me!)

How About A Little Fear

Are you afraid?
According to the boob tube, and just about every other talking head that works behind a microphone, you should be afraid.
Just the other night, as I was lying in bed, I was listening to one of the late night radio talk shows featuring the author/minister of the Purpose Driven Life. As I lay almost asleep, I thought I heard him say something disturbing, but I wasn’t actually sure.
I woke myself up, turned up the radio and listened intently.
I’ll be dammed if he didn’t say it again!
Not believing what I just heard from a minister, a so-called man of G**d, and
because the hour was getting late, I wrestled my mind to a manageable level and drifted of to sleep.
The essence of his babble was, no matter how good you live your life, no matter what good you do for humanity, even if you live a truly spiritual life dedicated to humanity, if you are not a Christian you are going to Hell.
And this is from a man of G**d!
This talk show made me think, not about the idea of Christian dogma, but about the idea of fear, how fear has become so prevalent, controlling, and addictive, and in Pastor Warren’s world G**d was using fear to control, if you didn’t believe his son was the savior you were doomed, no matter how just and compassionate you were. How absurd!
One need only look at the body and mind experience when one experiences fear, the body and mind go into fight or flight response, a natural response to and for the survival of all sentient beings, or Darwin would say the species.
As a meditation teacher, it has been my experience that the ability to access higher states of consciousness is near impossible when the body and mind is in fight or flight. In essence, you are functioning from your lower primal consciousness, a consciousness that is contracted in self, what I would call the little mind, totally egocentric.
One need only look around, and listen, people are living fearful lives. The boob tube is filled with talk show hosts using words like terrorist, WMD, recession, unemployment, Hell and on and on, all causing viewers and listeners to shrink into primal consciousness. We have preachers and pastors scaring the shit out of already paranoid people telling them of the gloom and doom that awaits those that do not believe in their absurd doctrines. Look at the faces of those walking through the aisles of stores and shopping centers, how many are smiling?
Not many, they are all stuck in their primal conscious, afraid to open up to the unity that is the real G**d, you call that a purpose driven life.
Misery loves company!
In closing, to those that believe only a certain few will rise to heaven, enjoy your little mind, as for me, I’ll see you all in Nirvana!

Recommended reading: Our Animal Instinctual Passions in the Primitive Brain

Feeling A Little Sad Today

As I watched the events unfold in Mumbai the last couple of days, I felt ill. Do not get me wrong, I know that ignorance has been around as long a recorded history, but when are we going to look at ignorance as the disease it is and attempt to find the cure?
As I searched the web for answers, I came across this wonderful insight on the International Association of Sufism website:
"There is always someone who, desirous of power and craving bloodshed, actively manipulates others by fanning the flames of misdirected religious fervor. The only solution when this kind of virus attacks the body of the whole, is to rely on the immune system to return health to the body, which in this case is wisdom.
We must ask ourselves: what condition nourishes the anger, hatred, greed, and other harmful qualities of those who like conflict?
The answer, quite simply, is ignorance. They remain on the superficial level, allied to names, impressed by titles, and bound to inherited systems of belief, and can easily become trapped in a tower of preconceived ideas that's mortared by their own imagination. This tower becomes a strong fortress, which they feel a primal urge to defend. They think that what they believe is right and what others believe is wrong and they look for evidence to prove their "rightness." Yet anyone who is trapped in this tower is wrong, for the fortress is an illusion.
Do we want to live in peace? If so, we each must search beyond titles and inherited systems of belief - all those things which divide us - and begin instead to truly practice Islam: submission of the false ego to the One, the source of mercy, peace and love. In such a state of unity, a state which must be actualized within, internal and external fractures heal, labels lose their meaning and power, and divisive ideology melts away."
The International Association of Sufism

"War is as outmoded as cannibalism, chattel slavery, blood feuds, and dueling, an insult to God and humanity...a daily crucifixion of Christ." -- Muriel Lester
Muriel Lester accompanied Mahatma Gandhi on his tour of earthquake-shaken regions in Bihar on his anti-untouchables tour during 1934.

There Is An Alien in Indra’s Net

(Image: Now this is what I call a checkered floor!)

As much as I try, I just cannot seem to get away from those darn conspiracy theorists. I am not kidding, it does not matter what subject I attempt to research on the web, they pop up everywhere.
Do not get me wrong, I do find most entertaining, especially the ones about Freemasons being controlled by the invisible Illuminati (6,410,000 hits located on Google), but please, how is a grown man suppose to research various philosophers’ when the web has become a haven loony tunes?
As one who believes we are all connected, and the only reason individuality exists is because of perception, I am perplexed why parts see the world as a mass conspiracy and base their intelligence on something somebody told them, which was probably erroneous and unverifiable in the first place.
Now I realize it is not my place to set the record straight as far as Freemasonry goes, even though I know it would be fun, it would be a fool’s game and only fall on deaf ears.
I enjoy a good fairytale as much as the next man, so much so I even bought some light reading by an author named David Icke (1,100,000 hits located on Google), now I no we are in trouble! Since I paid the money, I read the book.
I really do not think it would serve any purpose reviewing what I read, at least intellectually, and please do not buy it, it would be better to give your money away. Let me just say it was entertaining in a dumbing down way, if you actually believe in the alien domination.
I sure hope he donates some of his profits to doing some good on the planet (at least before the aliens take over).

Just the other day I had a young man sitting in my chair (I cut hair), and he started asking me questions about our impending doom. He was sure the Mayans had foretold the end of existence by 2012 (3,520,000 hits located on Google). I’m not sure, but for some reason this young lad seems to think I have some direct pipeline with the overlords and usually comes in with the strangest conspiracies.
As I reassured him that the world would still be around in 2012.
He had a tough time believing me. I told him I believed the only reason the Mayan calendar stopped in 2012 was because the calendar makers had to stop some where. Imagine spending a whole life making calendars, how boring.
After his haircut, I gave him my used David Icke book.

For all those crazies that actually believe that they are the center of the universe:
In an interview with Phil Donahue in 1984, Brother Norman Vincent Peale said: "It's not necessary to be born again. You have your way to God; I have mine. I found eternal peace in a Shinto shrine. ... I've been to the Shinto shrines, and God is everywhere." Donahue exclaimed, "But you're a Christian minister; you're supposed to tell me that Christ is the Way and the Truth and the Life, aren't you?" Peale replied, "Christ is one of the ways! God is everywhere."
That a boy Brother Norman!
If Phil would have interviewed me I would of told him about the Avatamsaka Sutra
(Avatamsaka Sutra, Indra 2,190 hits located on Google)
Far away in the heavenly abode of the great god Indra, there is a wonderful net, which has been hung by some cunning artificer in such a manner that it, stretches out indefinitely in all directions. In accordance with the extravagant tastes of deities, the artificer has hung a single glittering jewel at the net’s every node, and since the net itself is infinite in dimension, the jewels are infinite in number. There hang the jewels, glittering like stars of the first magnitude, a remarkable sight.
If we now arbitrarily select one of these jewels for inspection and look closely at it, we will discover that in its polished surface there are reflected all the other jewels in the net, infinite in number. Not only that, but also each of the jewels reflected in this one jewel is also reflecting all the other jewels, so that the process of reflection is infinite.

Climbing Jacob's Ladder - The Ladder of Freemasonry

image by "A Son of the Light"

Long before I became a Freemason, I had always been fascinated by the esoteric symbolism of the ladder. In fact one the very first blogs I had ever written was about the imaginary ladder all sentient beings existed on.
Sadly, I erased the blog, so I'll try to give it another shot.
As I said, all of us are living on this imaginary ladder, let us call it an invisible magical ladder. Now just because you cannot see it, don’t think it does not exist, let me help you envision it.
This magical invisible ladder is made out of wood, natural and organic. It reaches high, and I mean really high, so high the builder of this ladder knew that in order to hold all of humanity this ladder would have to be designed with the maximum amount of support. To allow for the growing population, and just in case of stagnation by certain climbers, the creator decided the ladder would be larger at the bottom, and slowly narrow towards the top.
So here, we have this huge ladder, made of invisible wood, large and wide at the bottom, narrow at the top, reaching towards the symbol of the creator, who we will call the G.A.O.T.U. (Remember the symbol, the Sun, hot, radiant, and light.)
The reason the ladder exists, to climb. Where are we going? To merge with the ultimate (or you can call it Nirvana, Christ Consciousness, or whatever unity principle you decide to choose).
So here we have ALL of humanity on this invisible magic ladder, each and every one of us. Yet not all of us are on the same rung. Some have climbed closer to the Sun, while others have chosen to stay put. Some people like to climb, others don’t, and the truly spooky ones are the ones that think they have climbed to the top when they have really only climbed a few rungs. When you encounter these non-climbing individuals, watch out, they will try like Hell to convince you that where they stand is the path.
Sadly very few will ever make it to the top, the ladder assuredly gets narrower and steeper as you climb, there will be less and less helping hands as you climb, due to the fact too many individuals get hung up for various reasons on certain rungs.
Have you ever wondered why people say “I don’t get it.”, its because we are not always on the same rung.
Now let me tell you about something I fear.
Remember, our invisible imaginary ladder is made out of wood, climbing to the radiant heat of the Sun. What would happen if too many individuals are stuck on a certain rung of the ladder, say the ignorance rung? How would the Sun penetrate through the mass of ignorance, without the heat of the Sun the invisible magic ladder would surely rot?

The image on this blog was created by me, agree or disagree it is something to think about!

The following are ladder references from various Masonic sources.

LADDER. A symbol of progressive advancement from a lower to a higher sphere, which is common to Masonry, and too many, if not all, of the ancient Mysteries.

LADDER, BRAHMINICAL. The symbolic ladder used in the Mysteries of Brahma. It had seven steps, symbolic of the seven worlds of the Indian universe.

LADDER, MITHRAITIC. The symbolic ladder used in the Persian Mysteries of Mithras. It had seven steps, symbolic of the seven planets and the seven metals.

LADDER, SCANDINAVIAN. The symbolic ladder used in the Gothic Mysteries. Dr. Oliver refers it to the Yggrasil, or sacred ash tree. But the symbolism is either very abstruse or very doubtful.
LADDER, THEOLOGICAL. The symbolic ladder of the Masonic Mysteries. It refers to the ladder seen by Jacob in his vision, and consists, like all symbolical ladders, of seven rounds, alluding to the four cardinal and the three theological virtues.

In the Persian mysteries of Mithras, there was a ladder of seven rounds, the passage through them being symbolical of the soul's approach to perfection. These rounds were called gates, and, in allusion to them, the candidate was made to pass through seven dark and winding caverns, which process was called the ascent of the ladder of perfection. Each of these caverns was the representative of a world, or state of existence through which the soul was supposed to pass in its progress from the first world to the last, or the world of truth.

Among the Kabbalists. the ladder was represented by the ten Sephiroths, which, commencing from the bottom, were the Kingdom Foundation, Splendor, Firmness, Beauty, Justice, Mercy, Intelligence, Wisdom, and the Crown, by which we arrive at the En Soph, or the Infinite.
From the illustrated manuscripts of St. John Climacus — one of them shows monks climbing the heavenly ladder of virtues and welcomed at the top by Christ or by an angel, while winged demons try to pull them down and make them fall into the jaws of a dragon below, which represents hell.