Add this to the continuing economic woes – which are still getting worse, along with the startings of a food safety crises, then the mix is starting to bubble quite well.  The average Joe-Public would be forgiven for wondering what the hell is going on.  The answer is clear, just take a look at Obama’s recent reversal of policy.

Someone, somewhere is shaking the cages of society and those who believed themselves to be in the higher echelons of power, appear to be feeling they are now on rickety grounds.  The mid-level ‘power-classes’ of Prime-Ministers and Presidents are getting caught up within their own shenanigans.  The problem with this, is that they will need to tighten their grip in order to maintain control.  After all – no one knows what is around the corner – the power-structure may well present a different field in the future.  Will there be a place for the current crop of minions?  They maybe hedging their bets – but they will try anything to ensure they are still needed.

But bear with them, there is a lot more to come – the show has barely begun.  The vast clambering cage of society is showing its antiquity.  And whilst its decaying carcase is being heaved and chained into the 21st century it appears the coming age simply will not accept its presence.  So – here we stand at the beginning of a transition unlike anything in recorded history.

So, what’s next?  Well it appears we have moved pretty much squarely into the world the conspiracy theorists have described – let’s take a look at that for a moment.  The current US Government admits to US torture – 10 years ago that idea was ‘conspiracy’.  The media has blown many things out of all proportion, in fact very few people I know actually believe the flying-pig flu ‘hype’ – so the media outright lie – 10 years ago that was ‘conspiracy’.  In 2009 we have the food regulations agencies saying they can no longer monitor the safety of food, it wasn’t long ago a person was considered a bit of out an outsider for having distrust in commercial foods.  It’s also become blatantly obvious that the economy has been manipulated for a very long time – now there is very nearly a state of ‘common knowledge’ regarding the vast economic con-game that has been played out.

What does it all mean?  Well the wheels are falling off aren’t they.  The juggernaut of society is collapsing in upon itself, those still in denial are hidden within the coming wreckage, whilst those ‘conspiracy-theorists’ are clambering all over society’s failing shell prising it apart with much glee.  Unfortunately – when it all finally fails – both groups are going to be caught in the wreckage, as both groups require the system to define their knowledge and understanding.

To anyone with half a brain who has watched all this unfold – they will have realised a good while ago that the time to get off this ride is long past.  The game is up.  Let’s move onto something else.  If we have learnt one thing from this entire catastrophe – it is that we must not put our individual power in the hands of others.  We simply don’t play their game.  We don’t work their jobs on their terms, we don’t buy their food on their terms, and most assuredly we don’t do anything so inane as protesting against them.  Step away from it all completely and let it takes its path…

…and then choose your own path…

So we keep our focus on where we want to be, and where we want to go.   Or else we follow the crowd and get pulled along where ever they are heading.  It appears the ‘crowd’ is growing in size, emotions are rising – there’s that latent energy charging within the crowd, and it gives silent promise of a large and sudden expression.  The media, governments, ‘alternative news sites’ are unconsciously and unintentionally feeding that energy, constantly peddling the dynamo, round and round and round.

It’s a reactive situation, so the key is to not be reactive.  Instead we can come from the inner processes, being mindful and aware of what is occurring around us, whilst at the same time taking control of our life and our direction.  Remember, the economic and political upheaval are symptoms of a problematic system.  Be clear in awareness that you are not that system.  We don’t have to be reactive.  We simply move our awareness to a different place.  Consider where you envision society being in six months, one year and one decade.  Then take action that moves you towards preparation for all that.  No need to view this in the ’survivalist’ sense – that too is a part of the old paradigm – view it instead as you would if you were moving home to a new country or culture.  It’s simply a transition to a new way of life.

In short, in the new paradigm we are to learn how to be responsible for our own path, for our own learning, for our own way of being.  It has been conclusively proven that systems do not work.  So now we work from the inner world.

So the media and the politicians are running scared of the coming paradigm shift. Meanwhile the bankers and the rich are running scared of the self-imploding economy. All the while – if we listen, and we don’t have to listen very closely because it is being shouted at us – we are told nothing but doom and fear stories. Like I said, it’s hard not to get caught up in it all.

After all if the economy fails we are all in trouble, right? Just look at what has happened in Iceland.

That’s when I say it is time to stop and consider where we are directing our thoughts. At the end of 2007 I said that during this year, people would be confronted with the truth of the system we live under. That has all but happened, with most people split between concern and denial. Now, the fact remains that we must have more than just awareness of what is occurring. Let’s not think about taking steps to prevent what is occurring, or even to spread awareness. Whilst people have been sleeping, time has moved on – and we are now leaving the age of talk, and entering the age of action.

In 2009 more people will move towards creating their own reality, their own network of action. ‘The One Thing’ the Fat Controllers are scared witless of, is the people realising they don’t need the system. The stock market collapses, the chickens still lay eggs. Our perception of reality has been altered to such an extent that many believe everything stops and starts based on human systems. Nothing could be further from the truth.

So it’s time to create your own system. Time to get our act together and move out of discussing and towards acting. Focus on thinking about what you need in life, and consider how you can get those things with your own action.

Before the Monster Systems, people networked.

Returning is Becoming…

The disorientation, the dis-embodiment and lack of co-ordination are all bearable, so I lay down on the bed. Closing my eyes I feel myself lifting away from physical consciousness, into that awakened dream-state. It’s a peaceful feeling, but the moment approaches where I must show the plant my true resolve, and I know that I am un-ready for that. Salvia seems to heighten the sensations of my own body, I feel varying temperature and air-flows over each part of me. I feel the blood coursing through veins, I feel my pulse beating…and I feel my heart racing. From experience I know that nothing in my body has changed, that my bodily functions are as normal…what has changed is how I experience my body. But despite my knowledge of this fact the fear comes, creeping slowly upon me. I know this is the trial I must pass in order to transcended the threshold between the world of my Ego and the world the plant offers.

Closing my eyes, I turn on my side – telling myself over and over that my body is fine. And in fact the experience is less intense than previous occasions, yet my will fails – and my resolve disappears in an instant. I pull back into the protective cocoon of my Ego, deciding to fight the experience rather than go with it.

We are mortal beings, and our ego knows and fears this. In life we seek distraction, domination, control, or even anonymity or conformity – anything under which we may hide. A shelter beneath which we can imagine immortality – away from the rules of the physical world, were Death is hidden from our view behind glamour and superficiality. Where Loss, is something we deem never to face – perhaps this is the true face of materialism; the more we gather to ourselves, the tighter our control, the more mighty our power – the more immune we believe ourselves to Loss. But my thoughts aren’t with such matters at that moment. Time has become condensed down to a single moment, cause and effect though still a conscious reality is not a focus for the mind. I exist fully and completely in the present, and in that moment I am faced with my mortality in an unending stretch of ‘now’. And still the fear remains.

My Ego wilts in the face of this onslaught, unable to face it alone – yet isn’t that something we must all eventually face? Even in companionship we are an island of one. We can share ourselves, but only we can experience the feelings we carry. I call to my wife, deciding that after all I do want a Sitter, she arrives after a few moments along with my daughter who delights in climbing and jumping on the bed. I’m serene enough, and my outward demeanor conveys nothing of what I am experiencing. Though I ask my wife to check my pulse, confirming for me that my body is fine.

I see then the beauty of my family, and am instantly confronted with the things I am unwilling to face. Loss, Death – these things which demand control and denial. The constant fear of emotional pain. The reasons I close myself and flee into mundane distractions and ‘hobbies’. Denial. Fear. These things have surrounded me, they have enveloped all actions and thoughts. I discover the workings of my mind, seeing its thoughts tick out in an abstract ritual, as though reality itself is malleable by the presence or absence of specific thoughts. That if I don’t think a certain thing, then such a thing cannot come to pass. Just as I hide in the physical world behind actions and emotions, I hide within my mind behind thoughts and beliefs. And both these things; the physical and the mental bind! They tie me up and dictate my actions, they dictate my moods and words – and I use them to carve a path through life. Yet it is like trying use a knife to cut a slice into a river!

Reality flows, life flows, the mind flows. The Ego seeks to hold.

And I notice how easily and readily I identify with my mind, this posses no fear – my thoughts don’t bother me, they don’t scare me. The truths my mind offers up I have no inclination to flee or deny. I am at one with my mind. Yet my emotions flail somewhat at my situation, at my life and at anything which disturbs the orderly inward flow. Some of the emotions are disconcerting – offering up dark or violent thoughts. Impulses I hope never to give into – again fear, the thought of Loss or harm through my own actions. I resist them, rather than allowing them to pass-by. Slowly I realise, the more resistance we give a thing, the greater the power it achieves. And so I allow the thoughts to flow, realising that allowing them to do so is not the same as following a train of thought or even acting upon a thought.

Action is a thing to be chosen. The ordering of the mind perhaps is a thing to be chosen. Yet the thoughts that arise in our mind we have no control over. Thoughts arise of their own accord, they function of their own will just like any other organ we posses. Control or Flow. I realise then how throughout my life I have sought to dominate my own thoughts. I see this now as an absurdity when faced with it.

It leads onto a further comprehension; I am at one with my mind but not with my body. I fear my lack of control over it. I fear what it outwardly speaks about me. I identify more with my mind than I do with my body – yet conversely it is the body; the face, the set of posture, the expressions, with which we identify others.

And yes, again I am faced with the lack of control. I seek to dominate how I appear to others! Why? The reason is obvious. Fear and loss – the specifics need not be expounded upon because they are obvious, and you need only look at yourself to discover similar feelings and reasoning.

And so time passes, the condensed moment expands slowly back into the realms of cause and effect, future and present. I know that for another few hours I will retain a highly clear and uncluttered mind. Hyper analytical yet totally at one with my emotions and environment. It’s in these moments that I always clearly feel and understand the full potential of what life can be.

I failed Salvia’s test perhaps – but I learnt what I needed to take another step into life.

I can try and describe my own experience – the audio reaches deep within me, beyond my personality, beyond my thoughts and my ego – it reaches down deep towards the very core of my being. It is elemental. Are these feelings hard-wired into are DNA, a form of genetic memory from the times we lived wild?

Yes, there is certainly something primal here – and it harks back to my experiences of altered states, matching almost presicsly that sensation of the un-knowable. The feeling that we reside in a realm of such terrifying and wondrous beauty – that it is all around us, and at all times we are both connected and disconnected to it. Connected because it is our natural state, disconnected because our waking minds long ago walked away and detached from such things.

Everytime there is that edge of fear within these experiences – fear of the unknown. But perhaps that is the entire point, we are an unknown quantity, as is the realm in which we live. Discovering this truth is a wonderful gift, because it shows us a side of existence that is so far beyond our daily lives, it shows us there there is indeed that something more…

And here is perhaps one of the best illustrations of these experiences:

Social Morality: This changes with the wind. Social morality are the beliefs and ideals of the time…they are always present within society at almost all levels. The prevailing social ideals towards morality almost always heavily imprint an individual as they grow-up. It’s an obvious point, but this is why different generations have different perceptions or ’standards’ towards morality. “Young people now-a-days just have no decency!”, it’s common enough to hear that sort of thing. For the most part social morality is heavily influenced by law, rules, regulations, various institutions and belief systems. Most religions have a core based upon social morality.

Personal Morality: Every one has their own unique perspective, their own beliefs and ideals. What one person finds acceptable another finds reprehensible. This one obviously causes a lot of disagreements, some individuals personal morality is in perfect alignment with social morality, whilst other people have totally different standards for their personal morality. As with social morality, our personal morality is in a constant state of flux. It changes as we change; as we develop and evolve or as we meet positive or negative experiences, it affects our personal morality – which will shift towards better or worse.

Morality: I won’t give this one a label, because labels induce pre-conceived notions in people, therefore it is simply ‘morality’. Within reach of all of us – we have access to an innate ‘morality’ that is built into the fabric of reality itself. Most people are aware of this ‘morality’ even if only on a subtle level. Most people turn their backs on it, because of what it means. Morality tells us what is ‘right’ and ‘wrong’, it isn’t any form of higher law, and it isn’t really divine though I guess it could be viewed in that way. When you take away both personal and social morality; that is to say – when you have silenced the your own ego as well as the Ego of society – then you will feel a very different kind of morality within you. This is what the Tao speaks of, it is what the Buddhists have long known. We truly do have an awareness of the natural order of things, yet we forget this when we let the distracting noise of egotism and the domination of ideas get in the way.

Why is it so difficult for us to see these things clearly? The answer is pretty obvious; we fill our heads with ideas, thoughts and noise, and then we attach meanings and symbols to these things. We create an artificial world. In the end we lose sight of what is real and what is true – and even find ourselves asking things like ‘What is the truth?’

As an individual we discover our identity within the constructed artificial world of Maya. And this serves us well because it strengths us, and teaches us about the physical world. From this we have developed science, technology and all manner of things. Yet we cannot rely on these things to guide us regarding morality. Once we have identified the world of Maya, it is very easy to get scared and try and flee back into the construct. Yet the only way for us to grow, and find peace is to truly open ourselves to what stands outside of the illusions.

Some claim that before one can relate to a situation, they first need to have experienced it for themselves. If that were true, empathy would be in extremely short supply. I believe that the answer comes down to something a bit more personal – something in our epigenetic makeup. There are many factors which influence our behavior, some hardwired into us from pre-birth, and others adopted from our environment. As it is these things which obviously influence our behavior and perspective, it is not such a leap to believe that these things also heavily influence our (lack of) ability to relate to the world and those around us.

But can it all be explained in terms of science and psychology? I personally believe that the ability to feel is strongly tied into ones ability to imagine. That essentially the stronger an individuals imagination, the greater extent they will be able to relate to the world. Of course, it also depends on how grounded that person is – if they spend their lives living in an imaginary world – they aren’t going to be relating to anything other than their inner awareness.

So – is empathy about a balance between inner-awareness (understanding of our emotional / mental / spiritual selves) and outer awareness (understanding of the physical world)? I feel there is something very interesting in that notion, after all the Western world is very much about the ‘outer’ physical material world. And it is this very attitude which is often accused of being insensate, destructive and domineering.

It is often argued that we live in a reality of science and reason. Yet when I look at the world around me, only a portion of it seems explainable by science and reason. Everyday we experience things which science has no real grasp upon; thinking, dreaming, emotion, love and so on. And that’s without even mentioning spiritual and metaphysical realms. Yet cold hard science and reason will attempt to explain these things, because science has to believe everything is explainable – otherwise it looses its definition as science. Yet many things can indeed only be experienced or felt.

Science and reason cause us to adopt a machine like attitude, where everything is measurable. Suffering – such as starvation, war, and whatever else – can be put into terms of statistics. Is it possible to demean the human experience to any greater extent that the statistic?

When an individual lives with an internal world of pure science, reason and statistics, these things become there perspective upon life. Everything is viewed in terms of measurements. This – to me – is about attempting to step outside of the human experience. And it is when we do this – that the trait of empathy slowly begins to fade.

Reason causes can keep us rooted to a single track as an unseen train approaches. Reason can cause us to jump from path to path as we constantly seek trivia whilst forever missing the message. Does reason ever ask the reason for its own existence? The power of reason lays in the fact that it is a tool, yet many people have adopted it as an article of faith without even so much as realizing this fact.

In the end, empathy needs no reason. Empath is the human experience…

I know that I personally struggle with this, I like to do things in a certain way – but I have very short limits when it comes to structure and routine; I do not like too much of it. Our resistance to change comes in so many forms – even when everything in the natural world tells us reality is change. Society is very much about living within ‘cells’; contained units of varying size, inside of which we create a set social structure, with rules and ideologies based upon our (limited) experiences and (set) perspectives.

The ‘cell’ is ultimately a creation of government and society. Limits are set upon our ambitions, and from an early age we are shown the paths we must walk. In this way our natural inclination towards curiosity and change is driven out of us – and thus we become a much more suitable component for a change resistant (inter)national community. Curiosity is only accepted within certain professional fields and even then it is limited to predefined areas of examination.

Isn’t it amusing that one needs to be a professional in order to do what a child does innately?

Schooling is clearly an obvious culprit for such damage to the human desire for learning – that’s true learning as in developing our relationship with reality – as opposed to the artificial school-based learning, which is the accumulation of knowledge to improve our relationship with society. This is reflected in the fact that earlier mandatory school starting ages tend to negatively effect the kids ability to learn. South Korea and Finland are at the top of the world in terms of childhood education levels…the school starting age being six and seven. In England the mandatory school starting age is five, with many parents sending their children to school at four. It’s surely no coinsidence that England is very low on the education league tables.

It is worth pointing out that Rudolf Steiner – founder of the world renowned Waldorf Education schools – generally believed that it served a child best if they didn’t learn to read until the age of seven. This allows for the child to develop their being, and self-relationship much more smoothly.

We tend to forget that intellectualism is a tool not an essential natural human component.

I always find it odd and very disturbing to see children as young as five falling into the pitfalls of reason and logic, already starting to ignore what their own senses report. The most despairing thing about this is that often the more disassociated from our senses we become, the greater extent we lose touch with reality. Many adults don’t have the first clue as to what makes them feel ‘happy’, and many suffer an extreme sense of self-doubt and lack any form of direction in life. It’s only natural that under such circumstances we would fall under the thrall of materialism and consumerism.

Is there a way out of this on a global level?  I honestly have no idea about that.  But what I do know – is this; on an individual level we gain tremendous insight and self-power when we start living in tune with our natural self as opposed to our ego-based programmed desires.  Perhaps the lesson here is to teach our children the importance of their relationship with themselves and with reality.  I fully believe that we should help them in that task in whatever way possible, as well as limit the damage a nihilistic society inflicts upon us all…

There is something I have often noticed with anything that resonates with me as ‘true’. When I hear it, my attention immediately changes focus, I take on a sort of metaphorical inward stare. It’s a process which tends to momentarily stop all mental activity, as my inward awareness notices its own alignment to what this thing it feels is ‘truth’. That truth can be anything, a word spoken, a discovery, a new realization – regardless of how it happens the accompanying sensation is always the same. Maybe you experience this too? The turning inward of our attention.

This is an experience that many religious rites seek to replicate, the turning inwards of the inner eye. It is one of the focuses of the initiation rites of many a secret society.

In ancient cultures, this turning of the inner eye was a ritual to invoke an altered state of consciousness, bringing on a journey whereby the partaker would learn great hidden truths about themselves or reality. It is the shamanistic practice of hallucinogenics plants, of the tribal dances – which when danced to excess and exhaustion bring on an altered state. These altered states have been used throughout the ages in many different forms; the deep meditations of the East, the tribal singing and chanting, fasting and sleep deprivation. It can even be found within the original sacraments of Christianity.

Now this is where things can get dicey, because the modern churches and the cults which have been perpetuated through pop-culture and Hollywood stars – they understand this turning inwards of the inner eye. It has long been understood that this occurs during the recognition of ‘truth’. And so these cults and churches feed just enough truth to invoke this sensation of experiencing truth, they then use this feeling to lure individuals into their clutches…telling you ‘That was but a taster, and we…we possess the full measure of the truth!”

Naturally you have to feed yourself into their system and dogma in order to have them slowly reveal their dogmatic truths to you. Which these groups and organizations do is externalize the truth. And this is very effective in the modern materialistic age, where we seek all answers in terms of what they physically show us. This is why many people find truth difficult to recognize; because anything physical or material is arbitrary and objective. Such dogmatic truth requires the use of labels, and labels hold different meanings for different people.

The path of the ancients, of the shamans and of original religious rites was to take the inner path, to search and explore that area which the inner-eye uncovers. This is a path which many people fear, and rightly so…yet it is the only real path to self-awareness. Once we become self-aware we can no longer be bound by the rigors of institutions and authority – and this is why such learning is discouraged, it was the Forbidden Fruit in Eden.

It becomes clearer then, why society is full of noise and distraction; it silences the senses to the inner mind. Yet this is something I struggled with for so many years – because every fiber of my being was crying out for the awareness of the inner-experience; of the presence of ‘now’. And deep down I intuitively knew – as I suspect many people know – that knowledge of that ‘truth’ wasn’t to be found in organization, society or dogma, but rather in the awareness of direct experience.

A stupendous insight of civilisations past has now been confirmed by today’s investigative, nutritional sciences. They have shown that what was once called ‘The Doctrine of Signatures’ was astoundingly correct. It now contends that every whole food has a pattern that resembles a body organ or physiological function and that this pattern acts as a signal or sign as to the benefit the food provides the eater. Here is just a short list of examples of Whole Food Signatures.A sliced Carrot looks like the human eye. The pupil, iris and radiating lines look just like the human eye… and science now shows that carrots greatly enhance blood flow to and function of the eyes.

Grapes hang in a cluster that has the shape of the heart. Each grape looks like a blood cell and all of the research today shows that grapes are also profound heart and blood vitalising food.

Walnut looks like a little brain, a left and right hemisphere, upper cerebrums and lower cerebellums. Even the wrinkles or folds are on the nut just like the neo-cortex. We now know that walnuts help develop over 3 dozen neuron-transmitters for brain function.

Kidney Beans actually heal and help maintain kidney function and they look exactly like the human kidneys.

Celery, Bok Choy, Rhubarb and more look just like bones. These foods specifically target bone strength. Bones are 23% sodium and these foods are 23% sodium. If you don’t have enough sodium in your diet the body pulls it from the bones, making them weak. These foods replenish the skeletal needs of the body.

Avocados and Pears target the health and function of the womb and cervix of the female – they look just like these organs. Today’s research shows that when a woman eats 1 avocado a week, it balances hormones, sheds unwanted birth weight and prevents cervical cancers. And how profound is this? It takes exactly 9 months to grow an avocado from blossom to ripened fruit!There are over 14,000 photolytic chemical constituents of nutrition in each one of these foods (modern science has only studied and named about 141 of them).

Figs are full of seeds and grow in twos. Figs increase the motility of male sperm and increase the numbers of sperm as well to overcome male sterility.

Sweet Potatoes look like the pancreas and actually balance the glycemic index of diabetics.

Olives assist the health and function of the ovaries.

Grapefruits, Oranges and other Citrus fruits look just like the mammary glands of the female and actually assist the health of the breasts and the movement of lymph in and out of the breasts.

Onions look like body cells. Today’s research shows that onions help clear waste materials from all of the body cells They even produce tears which wash the epithelial layers of the eyes.

Whole Food Signatures

Consider for a moment that this says about our place in the Universe.

What are the chances of a fruit or veg looking like a human body part and also helping the function of that body part? Isn’t it just a little bit insane to believe this sort of thing to be a coincidence?

What then does this say about the hidden-forces of the Universe?