|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
May 2006
|
|
|
by heathervescent
An explanation of UFO sightings in the 1970's in Pembrokeshire has been released this week.
James Carlson from Albuquerque, New Mexico, was stationed at Brawdy in the 1980’s. While there he claims that one of his supervisors told him that although the attire of the “aliens” in no way represented that of the US military, the descriptions of seven foot high silver men fitted exactly with the asbestos suit and oxygen breathing apparatus used by the RAF for fire drills in the 70s.
"Fire preparation drills, even those conducted at night, would require members of the fire team to search the areas around the base,” wrote Mr Carlson. “And Steve claimed that during these drills he became responsible for two of the alien sightings.”
Mr Carlson’s letter further deflates the UFO theories by stating that the reported movements of the alien craft fit exactly with the patterns of a Harrier Vertical Take-off and Landing jet, used in the UK since the late 1960s.
Read the full story. http://www.pembrokeshiretv.com/content/templates/v6-article.asp?articleid=2108
by heathervescent
Not everyone has a great first yoga experience, but that doesn't stop them from coming back. Here's a funny story on "my first yoga class."
While I was doing my best to contort my limbs into a human pretzel, my friend, who apparently had consumed a little too much wine the night before, was dozing off because she felt dizzy. I have to admit she was an interesting shade of gray. [Full Story]
Do you have your own first yoga story? Send it to me and I might post it.
by heathervescent
There's been a slew of celebrity babies recently, most recently Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie's this past weekend. With the new babies, comes naming the baby and celebrities are known for coming up with creative names and starting fashions. It appears that esoteric baby names are the rage.
"What is interesting is Brad and Angelina went all the way to Namibia to have their baby girl and rather than choose a traditional African name to signify the birth - like many thought they would - they chose Shiloh," says Lansky.
Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt is only the latest instance of a unique name bestowed on a celebrity child. Lately, names rooted in Hebrew are all the rage.[Source]
It goes on to note:
Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes' baby, who was preceded by nearly as much anticipation as Jolie and Pitt's, was famously named Suri, which the couple claimed means "princess" in Hebrew (or "red rose" in Persian).
and
Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin named their second child Moses, born in April. Their first child, Apple, remains one of the most renown examples of esoteric names given to celebrity babies.
Read more celebrity baby names here and here. In a decade or so, maybe we'll share the earth with walking demigods; then again, how many celebrities actually use their birth-given name?
by heathervescent
Well we heard about Britney's new religion and it's almost time to hear about Angelina Jolie's. Jolie's due date is June 3rd and Nambia wants to declare this day as a national holiday. But don't think any photographers will be there to celebrate.
The [Namibian] government, which has seen its profile as a tourist destination increased by the celebrity visit, has arrested photographers, confiscated film, set up large green barriers on the beach to shield the couple and their children Zahara and Maddox, ringed the hotel with heavy security and threatened to expel any journalist trying to cover the birth without the parents' permission. [Source]
Pitt and Jolie have even asked the governor to name the baby.
And why does Daily Mantra care? Because Jolie is practicing yoga to prepare for childbirth. It's not surprising that yoga helps with not only the physical aspects of childbirth the but the emotional challenges as well. [Read More]
by heathervescent
A year ago, my grandmother died. She was the most influential person in my life. The most important too. I'm not saddened that she is gone. I know she had a very full life and I shared many experiences with her. Sometimes it's hard to believe that it's been a year. A year of not talking to her, or visiting her. And in some ways, she never left. I live with so many of her things and interact with them on a daily basis. From her antique glass dishes to her jewelry to her sheets and pillows. I am surrounded by her things constantly and reminded of the amazing woman she is - was.
So this first year of her being gone perplexes me. I can't celebrate her birthday anymore, be sending her a card or some flowers or taking her out to Chinese food. These things celebrated her being here - in this world - where she no longer is. But I can celebrate her death-iversary - the day she left this world.
I first heard of this tradition from a good friend and colleague Carmen de Jesus. Her father died several years ago and every year on his death-iversary she and her family have a tradition called "Eat for Pa." She described it to me as thus:
The idea is that the spirit of the departed is hanging out. So you hang out with them and eat something they liked to eat so somehow they can enjoy it vicariously through you.
You think of your relative's favorite foods and you eat them; and as you eat it, taste it, chew it, try to imagine or remember why they liked it so much - and it brings their spirit into your senses. It's a happy occasion and a way to honor them, too.
So today, during this Memorial day weekend, I will remember my grandmother on her death-iversary with her favorite food: champagne and Tiramisu and I'll smoke a menthol cigarette just for her.
by heathervescent
This week Peta announced the winners of the 2006 sexiest vegetarian. And the winners are ...
Prince and Kristen Bell.
Way to go!
by heathervescent
Want to know more about Scientologists? Pop on over to Rolling Stone and read their report on this "religion".
Both of Natalie's parents are Clear, she says. Her grandmother is what's called an "Operating Thetan," or "OT." So is Tom Cruise, who is near the top of Scientology's Bridge, at a level known as OT VII. OTs are Scientology's elite -- enlightened beings who are said to have total "control" over themselves and their environment. OTs can allegedly move inanimate objects with their minds, leave their bodies at will and telepathically communicate with, and control the behavior of, both animals and human beings.
Uh-huh, and are there any US Military guys in that top level, I wonder? Maybe that's where this idea came from. And this is the supposedly surprising news that one would barely expect to live through. Really, sign a disclaimer.
Scientologists must be "invited" to do OT III. Beforehand, they are put through an intensive auditing process to verify that they are ready. They sign a waiver promising never to reveal the secrets of OT III, nor to hold Scientology responsible for any trauma or damage one might endure at this stage of auditing. Finally, they are given a manila folder, which they must read in a private, locked room.
These materials, which the Church of Scientology has long struggled to keep secret, were published online by a former member in 1995 and have been widely circulated in the mainstream media, ranging from The New York Times to last year's South Park episode. They assert that 75 million years ago, an evil galactic warlord named Xenu controlled seventy-six planets in this corner of the galaxy, each of which was severely overpopulated. To solve this problem, Xenu rounded up 13.5 trillion beings and then flew them to Earth, where they were dumped into volcanoes around the globe and vaporized with bombs. This scattered their radioactive souls, or thetans, until they were caught in electronic traps set up around the atmosphere and "implanted" with a number of false ideas -- including the concepts of God, Christ and organized religion. Scientologists later learn that many of these entities attached themselves to human beings, where they remain to this day, creating not just the root of all of our emotional and physical problems but the root of all problems of the modern world.
I'd really like to think this was a novel concept, but it's not. Anyone who has studied the works of G.I. Gurdjieff or followed his "Fourth Way" will realize this concept is extremly familiar. Same as the "flyer" concept rarely spoken about in Carlos Castaneda's workshops. Gurdjieff didn't get his knowledge for free either. He spent years studying in the Orient before he came back to be a "guru". Castaneda as well, attributes his knowledge of "flyers" to don Juan and ultimatly that was the reason (he gave) for blowing open the doors on his sorcery knowledge.
Check this quote comparing Castaneda's flyers and Gurdjieff's Kundabuffers via Sustained Action.
"The sole means now for saving beings of the planet Earth would be to implant again into their essences a new organ, an organ like Kundabuffer, but this time of such properties that every one of these unfortunates during the process of existence should constantly sense and be cognizant of the inevitability of his death as well as of the death of everyone upon whom his eyes or attention rests." (Gurdjieff, All and Everything: Beelzebub's Tales to his Grandson, Harcourt, Brace & Co., 1950, p. 88.)
The article is really an excellent overview. Thanks to the eSkeptic for pointing me in their direction.
by heathervescent
“My purpose," he explains, "is to close down every church so the true church can begin. You could say I’m leading the greatest reformation that has ever happened." [Source]
- Jesus Christ the Man, Dr. Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda
by heathervescent
Is psychic brain-tapping next?
Evidence suggests that highly placed government officials are seeking to use the ultimate internet in the war on terror: the collective unconscious mind. Forget about wire taps and NSA phone call records -- the privacy issue of the 21st century may involve direct access into your private thoughts.
Our undisclosed source, a member of Dr. Ruth David's TIGER committee, confirmed to Starstream Research his opinion that the existence of mind to mind communication, popularly known as telepathy, is an accepted reality. [Read the Full Article]
Oh really? Where's the Skeptics Society when you need em?
I think we'd love to believe that Telepathy is a reality, but I haven't been able to find any clinical evidence to prove it. And until it's proven, I highly doubt the government is poking it's fingers in the pie. Then again, I have heard about the secret government conspiracy.
by heathervescent
Feng Shui didn't help Boy George with his recent cocaine arrest. Boy George follows Nine Ki, a direction based divination precursor to the I-Ching. On following Nine Ki, George said,
"The good thing is it slows me down. And it's great to say no! It allows me to gain some control over my career and just say, 'No. I'm not going to go to Budapest tomorrow and Paris the next day and then Hong Kong,' which is what I was doing for years. Idiot. I hated it," added the singer turned DJ. [Source]
If he's looking to slow down so much, why is he doing cocaine, you might ask? Well, maybe due to the police interaction, George was sentenced to community service, which might let him slow down a bit. Maybe that's the Nine Ki twist?
by heathervescent
British singer, Robbie Williams has decided to start a UFO cult.
"If L. Ron Hubbard can start a cult, then so can I." [Williams] came up with the plan after reading about the late L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of Scientology - which teaches that aliens created the world. [Full Story]
Shortly after Williams made his desire known to the press, The Church of SubGenius responded with an offer to join their organization.
Church member Reverend Modemac stated, "If Mr. Williams wants to join a UFO cult, then have we got one for him!" [Read More]
Let's not forget Britney's new baby cult. Maybe creating a cult of your own is the next celebrity trend.
by heathervescent
This week Al Gore is at the Cannes Festival in France in support of his new movie, An Inconvenient Truth.
Humanity is sitting on a ticking time bomb. If the vast majority of the world's scientists are right, we have just ten years to avert a major catastrophe that could send our entire planet into a tail-spin of epic destruction involving extreme weather, floods, droughts, epidemics and killer heat waves beyond anything we have ever experienced.
Take this in hand with yesterday's news of the Ozone hole being at it current largest. It makes me wonder if the Mayan prophecy of world destruction in 2012 has some scientific basis? Probably not, but still the concern of global warming is not one we should ignore - as has been the case. Althought dramatic climate change is not new to us humans.
It has been less than 175 years since 1 million people died due to the Irish Potato famine, which also was induced in part by climate change. [Source]
There is plenty to read on the subject, and I highly suggest at this article by Bill McKibbon in the New York Review of Books here.
Guggenheim says he was skeptical when the project was presented to him.
"I was like, you can't make a movie about a slide show, and I'm not so sure having a politician telling us is the best way to hear about it," Guggenheim said. "Then they brought me to the slide show and it just blew my mind. ... I just wanted to give people that experience, give them a front row seat." [Read More]
The movie opens this Friday, May 26th and you can find a local theater here. If you're in LA or NYC, you can see it tomorrow night. I'd suggest running a double feature with The Day After Tomorrow, a global warming disaster action film that surprised me with some science and humility.
by heathervescent
The Da Vinci Code. How can anyone miss the swirl around this best selling book? This weekend, the movie opened as the second highest worldwide grossing movie, despite negative reviews. It's been banned and run with disclaimers in various countries. And in one town in North Dakota the projector lens were stolen, but according to the investigators, the theft has nothing to do with the Da Vinci Code movie. Not to mention the mixed Christian response to the movie.
Regardless of fact or fiction in the Da Vinci Code, the book is a fascinating mystery with a novel approach to the Grail Quest. It takes you on a tour through Europe - to well known and interesting historical locations. Not surprising, the Louvre has noted record breaking attendance. There's even a travel guidebook available. It's even causing an increase in religious debate.
Many church officials are celebrating The Da Vinci Code because it has sparked renewed interest in important topics of faith and Christian history.
-Dan Brown
Dan Brown responds further to the criticism of his novel here.
Now, if you want to really get into the heart of an esoteric conspiracy mystery, I suggest you check out Foucault's Pendulum or The Illuminatus! Trilogy.
by heathervescent
According to this article a scientist at the National Institute for Environmental Studies in Japan predicts that by 2020 the Ozone hole will start contracting and disappear by 2050; this in spite that it is at its current largest.
by heathervescent
"Practice should be hard, performance should be easy."
I found this quote during my travels a few months ago. I forget exactly where, It might have been in my reread of The Way of the Peaceful Warrior. Since then, I've been thinking a lot about it - because at first thought, it seems backwards. Practice is what you do to get to performance. Performance is the goal - the end - if you're good, it's where you get the standing ovation or at least some clapping. Performance is not where you mess up - it's where you shine - where you do your best.
In performance your mind must be quiet - to truly do your best, you must get into flow, a state where time stands still and you effortlessly do. You can't be thinking about what you are doing - you must be doing it.
Practice is the re-iteration, self-analyzing, self-doubt, and pushing yourself to a place where you may fail, where you may fall down and get hurt. In practice you find your edge and explore places where success has yet to land. But with continued practice you expand your circle of success are do things you previously failed.
Practice is not where you should be your best. Practice is where you sweat, question yourself and continually choose the difficult road - if you want to be the best in whatever you are performing.
Because once the performance is over, there's always practice to go back to.
by heathervescent
The red string Kabbalah train stopped earlier this week and Britney Spears got off it, just as Lindsey Lohan got on.
Britney's reasons for stopping her esoteric studies are to have more time with her family. She writes on her site "I no longer study Kabbalah, my baby is my religion."
While Lohan is trying to be taken more seriously. "I want people to know me for the work I'm doing, not for this party girl image."
Anyone taking bets on which yoga fad Lohan is going to fall for?
by heathervescent
I was at E3 - the gamers premier event held at the Los Angeles convention center last week. I'm always fascinated by gamers and gaming identities.
First person role-playing games allow the user to be someone totally different from their "real-life" identity. This is a great way for trying out different lifestyles and activities you can't experience "in real life" aka “IRL”. Maybe you're not going to learn compassion wielding a gun and shooting everything in front of you, but some of the more strategic games require you to create alliances, search for clues and solve problems. This kind of game playing does indeed evolve your mind by exercising problem solving and rewarding curiosity. Read Steven Berlin Johnson's Everything Bad is Good for You, to read surprising evidence that television and video games (among other things) are actually making us smarter.
Most of us are unaware that we use multiple personalities in our everyday life. There's the person driving the car, the person at work, the person with your kids, your boyfriend, or wife, or parents, etc. We're amalgamations of many characteristics some of which appear or are triggered only in certain circumstances. But rarely do we actively cultivate how we behave in these situations.
Role playing games provide the opportunity to create a character from scratch – usually an extension of the gamer’s personality to act in a virtual world. In this safe virtual world the gamer can experience many possibilities and potentially gain first hand experience (or maybe just blow off some steam and be entertained).
But why limit character creation to your gaming personality? Apply the same technique to your real life personality. Who do you want to be? If you were everything you want to be, what would that look like? Who would you be? What's stopping you from being that way today?
by heathervescent
It's official. Elvis' house for auction on ebay has been bought by Uri Geller and two other individuals. There were 72 bids, with the final winning bid being $905,100.00.
Geller met Presley in Las Vegas in the 1970s when the rock 'n' roll star asked him to perform his spoon-bending trick.
"As the clock closed on the bidding [on] Sunday, I felt intuitively I got the price," Geller said. "Suddenly the radio started playing an Elvis song. That was Elvis telling me we got the house."
[Full story]
by heathervescent
Gwyneth Paltrow is probably giving the most expensive yoga class ever. Paltrow donated one yoga class to be auctioned to raise money for The Prince's Trust. The winning bid was £30k (about $55,000) for the class. [Full Story]
by heathervescent
Since 1964, James Randi and the James Randi Foundation has offered $1,000 to a Million dollars to anyone willing and able to prove they have paranormal abilities in a controlled environment. Randi started as an escape artist and magician, but now investigates the validity of paranormal abilities through the James Randi Educational Foundation.
According to their FAQ no one has even been successfully tested. The FAQ is an entertaining read in itself and if you're interested in the list of applicants, go here.
The same group is hosting a cruise that will pass through the Bermuda Triangle in August.
by heathervescent
 I'd noticed Jo-Sha yoga wipes at my yoga studio, then I read the Gizmodo review and it left me laughing. I have some of the same concerns expressed in the comments on Treehugger, so I decided to try it out myself. The next time I took class, I picked up a Tangerine wipe. Apparently these are very popular and the yoga studio sells a lot of them. They are individually packaged like a moist towelette.
I ripped open the package and expected to be assaulted by a sweet citrus scent, but no, I could smell nothing. Then I tried wiping down my mat, but the unfolded square was too small and kept getting scrunched up as I rubbed it across my sticky mat. It required my full attention holding both my mat and the wipe to get it to work and it didn't look particularly cleaner when I was finished.
If you're looking to really clean your sticky mat, I've had good luck throwing it into a warm water wash with mild detergent, letting it air dry. I have an old school sticky mat, one that was cut off a roll of sticky mat material, and after a wash in the machine it's really super sticky!
Jo-Sha, sorry, you didn't live up to my expectations, I had high hopes. Not only do you give me excess packaging, where's that uplifting scent to help me through the sun salutation? Where's my clean mat when I'm pressing my face into the floor? I'd have preferred to spend my 75 cents on a swig of Vitamin Water.
*photo from Jo-Sha
by heathervescent
 I often wonder what my life will be like in the future. What things that are cutting edge today, will become common place in the near future? I was thinking about recycling and how it is so prevalent in current US living. Most urban communities have recycling programs and much of our consumer goods are made with recycled materials. However, this was not always the case.
Recycling started going mainstream in the mid 1990's, although many states offered 2 to 5 cents for can and bottle return prior to that. (You can read a historical timeline of recycling here.) So in the past 10-15 years, recycling has gone from the fanatic to mainstream. It's not strange to see blue bins for recycled materials. It's becoming easier to recycle materials - and there are many more types of materials that can be recycled. Today you can even recycle plastic bags (and I don't mean reusing them for personal trash bags either).
So what current fringe or edge activities happening in our world today will be mainstream in about 10 to 15 years?
Personally, I think alternative healing techniques are going to be understood and scientifically studied eventually to be integrated into our health care system.
What do you think?
by heathervescent
And since we're on the candle kick this week. (Last week it was chocolate.) Candles have been used for ambiance almost as long as illumination. Perhaps longer. In recent years candles have really made a comeback. Tea lights flicker mysteriously at an outdoor dinner tables; while a scented candle on the coffee table adds warmth to the room. Candles can be bought almost anywhere - but there is definitely a difference in the quality of a candle from the local drug store and one from Voluspa.
Voluspa candles are the creme de la creme of candles. Available in a wide variety of luscious fragrances and intensities; Voluspa candles are available as small votives, travel tins, and larger 3 wick candles that burn longer than you'd expect. My favorite scents are Crisp Champagne, Clove Pomander and Limoni Frosted Biscotti. If you like a lightly scented candle, you'll want to pick carefully as some Voluspa candles are heavily scented. You're sure to find the perfect one for yourself or mom.
by heathervescent
A few weeks ago I was wandering around the Melrose Swap meet in Los Angeles. This swap meet is known for the strange and unique wares. There was the usual mix of clothing, books and antique vendors, along with natural and holistic products. I was attracted to a booth that sold interesting mixed colored candles called Wish Candles.
Wish candles are hand made by Laura Lee. Lee used to practice divination and healing and eventually turned her powers to candle making. Similar to the candles on your birthday cake - she wanted to make a candle that would evoke power of what it represented. A candle created for clarity would bring clarity to the one who burned it. How does she do this? Each candle is hand crafted after Lee has researched the intention of the candle. Different colors and scents (and sometimes natural materials, such as gold leaf) are included in the mix.
I picked up Clarity, Healing and Passion candles, promptly took them home and lit them. These candles burn clean and have a nice scent that is not overpowering. They burn at a steady rate so you can enjoy them longer. I especially love the passion candle. Not only the fragrance but also the mixed red and purple. I don't know if it was the candle or something else, but when I burn it, there is definitely more passion in my life.
Lee is offering 40% off all 12+ inch candles for the month of May. Use discount code: puppylove to order. I highly recommend these candles! Try one out and see if you can burn something good into your life.
by heathervescent
Sometimes I find myself stuck at my computer for hours. I'll get sucked into researching a fascinating topic and the hours fly. Even when I come up against a roadblock I'll continue to pound away. Sometimes though, the pounding gets me nowhere. That's when I have to remember to step away from the problem. And I literally try to do this by taking a walk.
I get out into the open air. I look at the trees and sky, feel the wind on my face. I let my mind wander away from my problem and just walk, feeling myself in the world. Often possible solutions arise from my walks and I can return to my work with renewed energy and inspiration.
Need more reasons to get off your butt? Read these.
What are you waiting for? Step away from your computer and get outside to experience for yourself the benefits of walking.
by heathervescent
Gary McKinnon is interviewed by the BBC regarding his hacking into US Military computer networks looking for information about free energy technology.
I was in search of suppressed technology, laughingly referred to as UFO technology. I think it's the biggest kept secret in the world because of its comic value, but it's a very important thing.
Old-age pensioners can't pay their fuel bills, countries are invaded to award oil contracts to the West, and meanwhile secretive parts of the secret government are sitting on suppressed technology for free energy.
Read the full article and watch his interview.
by heathervescent
The Prestatyn Walking Festival being held later this month in North Wales is hoping for a visit by a local ghost known as the White Lady.
The apparition, thought to be a nun, is one of the spooky characters to be featured in a Ghost Walk, researched and developed by local historian Harry Thomas.
Harry is hoping that some uninvited guests will join the throng during the 90-minute walk, called "Dead Time Stories", on the evening of May 19.
I'm sure the evening walk will be filled with spooky stories of her previous visits to the area, even if the White Lady misses her rendezvous. [Full story]
by heathervescent
According to this interview Lohan hates hats on the bed.
Are you superstitious?
Lohan: No hats on the table. Hats on the bed and hats on the table. How come no one knows hats on the bed? I'm psychotic when it comes to hats on the bed. For some reason, everyone puts a hat on my bed, I'm like, it's the one thing, I need to put a sign up in my room. It's bad luck. I didn't make it up. I feel like, when I don't go by the superstitions, and if I leave a hat on the bed, it's all mental.
Apparently leaving your hat on the bed will bring you bad luck.
Here's another superstition of interest to aspiring actresses.
When making up, an actress regards it as a sign that she wins receive a good contract if she accidentally smears some lipstick on to her teeth.
Interested in superstitions? Peruse more here.
by heathervescent
Chocolate must be on the collective mind, because I've got three different enlightening chocolates sitting on my desk to review. Today, though, it's all about consuming your deity in chocolate.
Chocolate Deities started 10 years ago by Jeanne Fleming and Jessica Bard. Their first deity was Tara and today they offer almost 40 mystical shapes including the famous chocolate Buddha, the goddess of Willendorf along with the Mayan Calendar and Star of David.
Personally I'm a fan of the chocolate Ganesha, but I wonder if it would be tricky to get a hold of a dark chocolate Loki?
Which one is your favorite?
by heathervescent
 A while back I wrote this post about a company called Emotional Armor, which creates emotionally positive t-shirts for men, women, children and babies.
Well as of today, you can view the selection here. Unfortunately you must either place a phone order (all the information is available here), unless you're passing through the Boston area. Still the shirts are worth the effort to track them down.
Women have the most style selections and I wonder how many guys will actually wear "protector of the peace", still I love the boy's shirt that says "pure energy". Even if you're not in the mood for shopping, they are fun to look at.
by heathervescent
Everyone loves chocolate and everyone wants to save endangered animals. Endangered Species Chocolate does just that in addition to offering chocolate that is ethically traded. What does that mean?
We create our delicious products using only ethically traded chocolate. All sources of cacao fruit are harvested from family-owned farms operating in the natural shade of the forest. These farms support the ecosystem and the species that thrive in the forest, which reflects our company’s core value – Reverence for Life.
So that all sounds good, but how is the chocolate? I recently picked up the Deep Forest Mint bar. At $2.75 a bar, it's not your 60 cent Hershey's, but you do get what you pay for. The chocolate was smooth and dark with a hint of mint. My friends and I savored pieces of it, allowing the flavor to melt in our mouths. We were satisfied with a small piece, but make no doubt - we love chocolate - but the bar didn't put us into choco-overload.
You can browser their entire selection (which is huge) here. With choices like Smooth White chocolate featuring a Harp Seal, a Panda on the Dark and White chocolate blend or a Jaguar on the Extreme Dark bar, you're sure to find one that appeals to you.
With choices like theses, it's gonna be a long time until Hershey's chocolate tastes so good.
by heathervescent
ElsaElsa's wrote a post a few days ago on meeting the Peace Pilgrim. She recounts her story of meeting the Peace Pilgrim - a woman who walked all over Canada and the US from 1953 to 1981 to promote World Peace.
Henry had a water bottle, and I had three bananas. She stopped, nodded at us and said “Good day”. She took the water bottle from him, and drank from it before giving it back. I handed her the bananas and she ripped one off and gave two back. “One is plenty, child. Peace,” she said. [Full post]
It's an inspiring reminder that when you have the faith and intention, the world provides you exactly what you need.
by heathervescent
He might have had more luck in Landers, instead Gary McKinnon decided to search the Pentagon's top secret computer files for classified information on UFOs.
"My main thing was wanting to find out about UFOs and suppressed technology," he said insisting his intention was not to cause damage. "I wanted to ... find out stuff the government wouldn't tell you about."
So where did he go?
One NASA scientist had reported that the Johnson Space Center had a facility where UFOs were airbrushed out of high-resolution satellite images. So, he hacked in. [Full story]
And what exactly did he find?
"I can't talk about a lot of stuff that I found. It's just not the right time," he said with a smile.
He's currently fighting extradition to the US.
by heathervescent
Each person has a spiritual path. For some, it is clear which branch leads to salvation. For others, a blending of the tools and rituals from several different path provide the manna. And sometimes blending two potentially opposing forces provides the right juxtaposition for enlightenment along both paths.
"Suffering is at the heart of the matter," suggested David Gottlieb, whose autobiographical book "Letters to a Buddhist Jew" examines the life of a "Zen Jew" struggling to resolve his two identities. "Judaism, at its best, embraces suffering and, at its worst, enshrines it. Buddhism explicitly seeks to end suffering, and doesn't look to the past."
It's as if two rocks are knocked against each other, thus smoothing the edges.
"I'm a Jewish Buddhist — a JuBu," said Topol, 37. "My Buddhist practice has actually made me a stronger Jew."
While Buddhism has enriched Topol's Judaism — giving her a deeper sense of spirituality — it has produced confusion in fellow JuBu David Grotell. Grotell, 41, is so worried about breaking Judaism's ban against idol worship that "although I have a meditation spot in my home, as a Jew, I just can't allow myself to put a statue of Buddha there."
The LA Times has the full story.
For more information on the Jewish-Buddhism phenomenon, you may want to read Sylvia Boorstein's book on being a faithful Jew and passionate Buddhist.
by heathervescent
Hey blog readers. It looks like we have commenting fixed, so go ahead, let me know what you think about Daily Mantra. If for some reason you have problems commenting, please send me a message! Thanks and I'm looking forward to hearing from you.
- Heather
by heathervescent
Although I didn’t make it to the UFO convention, other people did. And you can read their description of the days activities here. I’ll be posting more trip reports as I find them. So if you did attend and would like me to link to your trip report, drop me a note.
From Frank Warren's UFO Blog
This was the first convention to be held at George Van Tassel's Integratron since 1978, the year after his death. Van Tassel popularized Landers, about 40 miles north of Palm Springs, as a UFO landing site. He claimed travelers from Venus first contacted him in 1953 and regularly after that. He began holding annual space conventions soon after, putting Landers on the map as a hot spot for extraterrestrial activity.
The Tin-Foil Hat contest [Full Story - LA Times]
Foil hats got a pop culture bump in the 2002 thriller, "Signs," when, in perhaps the film's funniest scene, Joaquin Phoenix donned aluminum headgear to keep his thoughts protected from unseen aliens. But in my Web sleuthing I found that the coterie of the aluminated is of two minds. Anecdotally speaking, some feel that tin foil provides a shield to thought invasion by both aliens and, dare I say, the CIA. Others contend that the thin metallic sheets are actually more of an "antenna" for other-worldly communication.
by heathervescent
Every single one of my plans for the weekend changed. Traffic in Hollywood stopped me from getting out of town Friday night to meet friends in Palm Desert. A strange turn of events hijacked my plan to attend the Retro UFO convention. Because of these changes, I was able to experience things that I had not planned.
click to read the rest of the post...
|
 |
|
|
|
