Author of thousands of articles and numerous books such as "The Immortal," "Mysteries Of A Course in Miracles," and "Seeker's Guide to Soul Contact."
Boise, ID
Joined September 2013
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What Happened to Tucker?
Chapter Nine: Lies About Ben Shapiro
Huckabee and Cruz are certainly on Tucker’s list of targets for lies and distortions, but are far from the only ones. Most anyone who supports Israel is on that list, but some more than others. Ben Shapiro is right up there at the top also.
Perhaps the biggest lie about Ben was this:
“I don't hate Ben Shapiro. I don't even care enough to dislike Ben Shapiro.” 5-7-26
It is obvious that he does care and has an extreme dislike for Ben. Why else would he make such extreme attempts to degrade him? He seemed to agree with his guest Dave Smith who said: “I hate Ben Shapiro's guts.” 4-1-26
We’ve already covered several attacks and lies he has directed toward Ben, such as having a low I.Q. He makes this accusation often, once even stating the outright lie that his I.Q. was a mere 105. It is obvious to friend and foe alike that Shapiro is a high I.Q. individual who graduated UCLA summa cum laude with a grade point of 3.85. He took the Law School Admission Test and scored 176 out of a possible 180 – fewer than 1% score that high. Then he went on to Harvard Law and graduated cum laude.
It has to be obvious to Tucker that Ben is highly intelligent. His attack is merely a lie designed to insult and distort.
He also presents the lie with no evidence that Ben is only motivated by money. He also associated him with Nazism and a being a liar “without honor, wisdom or loyalty to the United States.” 7-23-26 He says Ben represents “a whole class of people who won't even defend the system they're benefiting from.” 7-13-26 Ben doesn’t “have America's interest at heart or even in mind.” 3-13-26
Anyone who has listened to Ben a few times knows this is a lie, that he is huge supporter of the Constitution and the United States, and often defends its interests.
Tucker makes statements fabricated out of thin air in attempts to attack Shapiro and others. Take this for instance:
“Ben Shapiro had no idea there was a straight at the end of the Persian Gulf and why it was important.” 3-13-26 “Tell me, Ben Shapiro, can you find the Gulf on a map? 3-11-26
Here is Grok’s comment on this assertion:
“There is no credible evidence supporting Tucker Carlson’s claim that Ben Shapiro had no idea there was a strait at the end of the Persian Gulf and why it was important. Ben Shapiro has discussed the Strait of Hormuz in detail on The Ben Shapiro Show on multiple occasions. He demonstrates familiarity with both the location and the strategic importance of the strait. The assertion appears to be an unsubstantiated jab rather than a statement grounded in evidence.”
Here is another statement that seems to be made up out of thin air:
Ben Shapiro had a deal with Facebook. A deal no one else got. 8-12-26
Grok says this: “There is no evidence of a unique exclusive deal between Ben Shapiro (or The Daily Wire) and Facebook that “no one else got.”
Here is one of several lying statements in an attempt to minimize Shapiro. He says that “Mark Levin or Ben Shapiro who have almost no organic support in the media world. No one really watches them.” 3-13-26
Levin’s show is generally the highest rated on cable news during his hour, often drawing over double the number held by CNN and MS Now.
What’s almost funny though is that Shapiro (as of this writing - Nov 2026)) has over a million more Youtube subscribers than Tucker. His number is at 6.96 million and Tucker’s is 5.79 million. So, by Tucker’s own criteria one could say that no one watches Tucker’s show because he has no organic support.
Tucker seems especially miffed that he is no longer asked to speak at Turning Point events. Shapiro spoke at two of them in October of 2026 and this seemed to really irritate him for he said:
“I mean, you look at the turning point event this week and it's all these speakers who Charlie Kirk didn't like. I'm not guessing; I knew Charlie Kirk really well. He sat at this table with me more than once and we talked about it. And so I'm not beating up on Ben Shapiro who I feel sorry for. I don't think Ben Shapiro has a bright future at all, but Charlie Kirk like despised Ben Shapiro. And how do I know that? Because he told me. And now Ben Shapiro was speaking twice.” 10-30-26
He says he is not beating up on Shapiro and then proceeds to beat up on him. He applies this tactic quite often. Another thing he often does is present controversial statements from private conversations when the only witness to the statements is himself. He has released controversial details of private dialog with President Trump and members of his cabinet and inner circle that only he has heard. All of them are suspect in my book because time and time again he will take what has been said and interpret it much differently than the speaker intended.
Here he says that Charlie Kirk “despised Ben Shapiro,” and that Charlie actually told him this.
I don’t find any evidence that Charlie despised any of his fellow conservatives and if he did have a disagreement, it was always civil, lacking any despising attitude.
Take a look at a conversation they shared several months before Charlie’s death. It certainly looks to me that they both had great respect for each other.
youtube.com/watch?v=uQoDP18o…
Or you can just search YouTube for “Shapiro X Kirk”
Viewers saw the camaraderie and there were many comments like this one:
“It's so wonderful to see these two together having a conversation!! Wonderful people!”
Then the day before Charlie’s murder he interviewed Ben again. This time the tone was more serious as Israel had just bombed Qatar in an attempt to destroy Hamas sequestered there, and Charlie asked Ben for clarification. Some say he was critical of Israel here but there was no attack on Israel and Charlie seemed quite satisfied with Ben’s explanation to his questions and thanked his for his comments.
All their interplay that is available shows a mutual respect and no evidence that Charlie despised Ben.
Perhaps the most mean-spirited and destructive lie about Ben is that he wants to nuke Iran. Tucker said this:
Not only is Trump threatening nuclear war openly, and no one seems to even notice this, and not only is his remaining coalition, the bitter enders, Ben Shapiro, whoever else still believes in Trump or is trying to use Trump for their own ends, not only are they ratifying it, defending it, echoing it, yeah, I think we need a nuclear strike… even if you agreed with Ben Shapiro that sometimes you just got to nuke people, you just got to melt their children.” 9-9-26
Here's another:
“What's the percentage of Americans who are okay with the nuclear exchange? Not very high outside the Daily Wire, and like the White House… The fringe players are the ones who think it's okay and in that group is Ben Shapiro.” 10-14-26
Neither the White House or Ben Shapiro has expressed any interest in nuking Iran. This deceptive attack is merely a weapon Tucker is using to demonize them both.
In a post on X dated Nov 1 Tucker said that under pressure from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the Trump administration “may be within days of launching a nuclear strike on Iran.” He identified the target as Pickaxe Mountain in central Iran, claimed no conventional U.S. weapon could penetrate the site’s granite tunnels, and argued that a nuclear strike was therefore the only military option. He further stated that “close observers” believed Trump was likely to decide by the following weekend (November 7) whether to use nuclear weapons.
Well the weekend of Nov 7 has passed and no one has nuked Iran and there is no evidence that Tucker is telling the truth.
Unfortunately, these lies have a negative effect, for if you read responses to Tucker’s videos you find most of his followers accept his word as gospel.
Here is another lie:
“Ben Shapiro clearly says it repeatedly that some lives are not worth the same as other lives.” 7-15-26
I could not recall Ben ever saying anything close to this so I asked Grok who searches through everything on the internet. He said this:
"No, Tucker Carlson’s claim is not accurate. There is no clear public record of Ben Shapiro repeatedly stating that “some lives are not worth the same as other lives” in the sense implied. What Shapiro has said repeatedly, in the Israel/Gaza context and elsewhere, includes: Affirmations that all lives matter and that human life has intrinsic value (often tied to religious or philosophical arguments, such as being created in God’s image)."
Then he accuses Ben of making “many attacks on Jesus.” I know Ben is a Jew and does not accept the Christian view of him being the Messiah, but I have never heard his say anything critical of Jesus, but only seen him show respect. Again, I asked Grok in case I missed something. Here is what he said:
“Tucker Carlson has accused Ben Shapiro of making “many attacks on Jesus,” but he has not provided specific examples of Shapiro denigrating or insulting Jesus. Shapiro has repeatedly defended “Judeo-Christian values,” encouraged Christian viewers to attend church, and participated in respectful dialogues with Christian figures.”
I could spend a lot more time covering Tucker’s deceptive statements on Ben, but this should suffice to convey to any honest reader that, contrary to his claim that he does care enough to dislike Ben Shapiro, he seems to have a hatred to the extreme that he is willing to lie, fabricate and distort his views to a strange end not in harmony with his Christian views.
To read all nine chapters written so far go to this link:
drive.google.com/file/d/1z64…
Read our examination of Tucker's discussion with Kevin O'Leary about AI
drive.google.com/file/d/1GBz…
Life on other Planets and Questions
After introducing a story about a mysterious light on Mars here:
techeblog.com/bizarre-allege…
We received this question: Could there be intelligent life on Mars?
JJ: There is life on all the major planets, but not always on the physical surface. There are many other places to look. Most planets have some type of life form under their surface. Just as there are many complex parts within our physical bodies even so, a planet has a complex interior with a number of functioning life forms. I believe the gas giants such as Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune have a number of gaseous life forms within their thick atmospheres. Keep in mind these life forms would be much different than us.
I would also expect to find some type of life form under the surface in water in places such as Jupiter's moon, Europa or Enceladus which orbits Saturn.
As far as intelligent life goes, scientists can’t find evidence that any exists in the solar system, but they do not realize that each planet has many more components than the dense physical plane. There are the higher ethers and the astral and mental planes with their divisions. Most of the planets and even the Sun has intelligent life on some plane of its existence.
That light on Mars captured by the Rover is quite intriguing. If there is a natural explanation, I’m not sure what it could be. It could be an outpost left by an ancient civilization or interplanetary visitor. Then it could be from inhabitants of the etheric world who descended to the physical to check out the Rover. Finally it could be caused by some type of natural reflection.
Question: When being in silence with a silent and still mind [like in meditation], do you hear a constant high pitched sound/noise [quite similar to the noise the old CRT TV's had back in the days, but even a higher pitch, so high that it seems to be on the edge of perception of the real and imagination]?
The reason I asked you about the high pitch sound is that from all the people I personally know, those few who are fairly enlightened and are seekers of truth on the Path, hear it also, so I thought you might too.
JJ: Yeah, I hear a number of background sounds and see a number of lights. Just you bringing up the subject drew my attention to the sound. Unless there is some message involved, I just usually tune them out as they can be a distraction.
As to what your purpose in life is that is for you to figure out. Your purpose or mission is decided by you before you were born and when you find it, it will just feel right. Keep in mind that one life out of seven is a Sabbath and your main purpose in that life is to rest, recharge and just take things in.
Question: How much danger do we face from nuclear weapons? The last time you mentioned this it was around 50/50 odds.
It is undoubtedly higher than that now thanks to Iran and North Korea advancing in nuclear weapons unimpeded by a weakened USA thanks to Obama. Obama has also cut funding and deployment of a missile shield - a huge mistake. On top of that Putin and China feel they can do what they want with no resistance from our president.
I would guess that there is a 60% chance a nuclear bomb will go off somewhere in the next 20 years. The troubling thing is that it could happen within the next year or so. A huge danger we face is that one could be set off in our atmosphere creating a magnetic pulse that could wipe out our communications and a lot of our electrical grid.
Question: Does marriage continue over into the next world?
Any vow that you take here on earth only applies to physical plane life. You are not held to it in the next world. Scientologists who make a billion-year commitment to L Ron Hubbard will be relieved to discover this. If your grandparents want to hang out together in the next world there will be nothing stopping them except their own decisions. After death you link up with a lot of old friends and past lovers so you have a whole new perspective on relationships. You may have a closer link to a past lover than your current partner. If you love someone here you will continue to love them after death. Love continues, but earthly vows are temporary. For one thing, we often do not know what we are doing when taking long term vows.
Question: Science is gaining the knowledge to mix species and possibly unleash some grotesque forms. Would you comment on this?
Whenever the power of humanity is enhanced the possibility of good is increased, but also the possibility of evil and destruction.
Perhaps the best example of this so far is atomic energy. We have unleashed a power that can either destroy the world or save the world. It all depends on the intentions of those with the power.
If we could derive some benefit through the mixing of the species that would help mankind and bring us greater happiness then that would be well and good. But if we wanted to create hybrids for amusement or to be slaves, or for sexual pleasure at their expense then that would indeed be a corruption. Indeed in ancient times and on some other planets there are corruptions that would boggle the mind.
These types of corruptions would draw down some unfortunate entities with bad karma but they would much prefer paying it off in regular human bodies.
We are entering some dangerous territory when we start mixing the species because sooner or later scientists will forget about doing something that will benefit us and do crazy Stephen King type of experiments just to see what they can do. We could wind up with some real out of control monsters on our hands like in Alien, starring Sigourney Weaver, or maybe a rise of the Planet of the Apes.
The next couple hundred years is going to test our common sense in a number of different ways. Let us hope we can navigate through these times successfully until we mature a bit.
"Every man has a right to be wrong in his opinions. But no man has a right to be wrong in his facts." - Bernard Baruch
April 9, 2014
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Evolutionary Leaps
I just finished reading Robert Felix’s book called Magnetic Reversals for the second time and found it quite interesting. He basically makes the interesting claim that historical evidence suggests that giant atomic explosions were triggered in our atmosphere after magnetic reversals occurred. This has been responsible for various mass extinctions. These explosions, which occurred in our atmosphere, were triggered by tremendous currents of electrical force interacting with elements in the atmosphere which created an atomic reaction, creating destruction and new elements raining down on the earth.
Then, after the partial extinction of life on the planet new species seemed to magically appear. He attributes this to increased mutation from radiation, God, or both. He also says we are overdue for another magnetic reversal.
I found this particularly interesting, but even more so when I reread a profound statement by DK concerning what was behind the evolutionary leap that produced the first self conscious humans. He says:
“At human individualisation in the middle of the third rootrace. This was produced by a vast destruction of the forms we call animal-man. This point has seldom been brought out in teaching. The advent of the Lords of the Flame, the electrical storm which ushered in the period of man, was distinguished by disaster, chaos, and the destruction of many in the third kingdom of nature. The spark of mind was implanted and the strength of its vibration, and the immediate effect of its presence caused the death of the animal form, thus producing the immediate possibility of the newly vitalised causal bodies vibrating to such purpose that new physical vehicles were taken. That was the Will aspect manifesting in the fourth round in connection with the human family.” Treatise on Cosmic Fire, Page 425
Note that, in harmony with Felix, he says that an “electrical storm which ushered in the period of man, was distinguished by disaster, chaos, and the destruction of many in the third kingdom of nature.”
Notice that he says the electrical storm followed by great destruction created the “possibility of the newly vitalized causal bodies vibrating to such purpose that new physical vehicles were taken.”
Where did these new physical bodies come from? According Felix the evidence suggests that they just seem to magically appear. It may well be the perfect storm of creation comes together after such electrical phenomena causes great destruction. These ingredients include:
[1] Powerful electrical forces unleashed.
[2] Increased radioactivity.
[3] Being visited by beings of great intelligence.
These three ingredients seem to work together to create new and better species to replace the old.
A reader Quotes this scripture
“In the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.” II Peter 3:10
JJ: That is an amazing close to what Felix says happens after a natural nuclear explosion caused by a magnetic reversal causing past extinctions. He thinks the explosion in Siberia in 1909 could have been a foreshadoeing and a natural cause rather than a meteorite.
Question: Are you now endorsing some type of “rapture,”
JJ: No, not by any means. There may be some great cataclysms but the earth will not be destroyed in any near future - unless we blow ourselves up. Felix presents evidence that a magnetic reversal could trigger some explosions in the atmosphere similar to what happened in Siberia in 1909.
Here is what DK says:
“When man has found out how to contact and utilise positive solar electricity in combination with negative planetary electricity, we shall have a very dangerous condition brought about, and one of the factors which will eventually manifest in the destruction of the fifth root race by fire. At that great cataclysmas the Bible says “the Heavens will melt with fervent heat.” This will be seen in a still greater degree in the next round, and will cause that destruction by fire of the forms of the men who have failed, which will liberate the lives on a stupendous scale, and thus temporarily 'purify' the Earth from elements which would tend to hinder the evolutionary process. As the cycles pass away, the balancing of these fiery currents will be gradually brought about, and will result in a planetary condition of harmony, and of esoteric equality, which will provide ideal environment for harmonious man.” Treatise on Cosmic Fire, Page 524
He points out in another place that this destruction will take place quite a few years down the road.
Question: Are you seeing a darker picture now?
JJ: Not really. I believe as before that there will be some catastrophic events in the next 150-200 years but I do not see an extinction coming for some time to come - that is unless humanity gets out of control and blows itself up. That is, I would guess, a 15% probability.
The probability is much higher that some type of a more limited nuclear or WMD exchange will happen in the near future and will serve as a wakeup call.
In skating over thin ice, our safety is in our speed. - Ralph Waldo Emerson
April 12, 2014
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Reason and the Cosmos
I’m continuing to watch the Cosmos series hosted by Neil deGrasse Tyson. I was glad to see that in the last episode, the fifth, that he stuck to science and didn’t insult the intelligence of those who believe a Higher Intelligence is behind creation.
One interesting thing I learned which I didn’t know was the first institutionalized book burning took place a couple centuries before Christ and was ordered by Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor, and unifier of China.
Tyson tells us that Qin took a continent and turned it into a nation that now bears his name, China.
(Note from 2026.Here is what AI says is the evolution of the word China:
The evolution of the word "China" follows a step-by-step transmission from East Asia to Europe:
· The Root (221 BCE):Most historians believe the name traces back to the Qin State (pronounced "Chin"), which unified the region and established the first Chinese empire under Qin Shi Huang.
· Sanskrit (Cīna): The name traveled southwest into ancient India, appearing as चीन (Cīna) in early Hindu texts like the Mahabharata.
· Persian (Chīn): Merchants on the Silk Road adopted the Sanskrit word into Middle Persian as Chīn (چین).
· Portuguese (China): During the Age of Discovery in the early 16th century, Portuguese explorers borrowed the Persian word. It was first documented in European journals around 1516.
· English: English speakers adopted the word directly from the Portuguese spelling and pronunciation during the late 1500s and 1600s.)
Most of us know Emperor Qin for the army of 7,000 terra cotta warriors that guard his tomb.
In Emperor Qin's drive to consolidate his far-flung empire, he took drastic measures to standardize everything within it.
This included mandating a single coinage, making uniform all weights and measures, the widths of carts and roads, as well as the precise way the Chinese language was to be written, including what you were allowed to write and think.
Emperor Qin's philosophy-- the only one permitted-- was called “legalism,” which is just what it sounded like, do as the law says or else.
It's a philosophy that's not highly conducive to questioning authority.
He decreed that all the books of the hundred schools of thought shall be burned, that anyone who uses history to criticize the present shall have his family executed.
The works of MoTze and Confucius and other philosophers were destroyed in the world's first book burning.
Hundreds of scholars bravely resisted by trying to preserve the forbidden books.
They were buried alive in the capitol.
Science needs the light of free expression to flourish. It depends on the fearless questioning of authority, the open exchange of ideas.
On the other hand in other episodes, he took off the hat of a true scientists and resorted to dogma and distortion.
Concerning Newton, he said,
When Isaac Newton was born in this house in 1642, the world was very different.
Everyone looked at the perfection of the clockwork motions of the planets in the sky and could only understand it as the work of a master clock maker.
How else to explain it? There was only one way such a thing could come about in their imagination; only one answer for them-- God.
For reasons beyond our understanding, God just created the solar system that way.
But this explanation is the closing of a door.
It doesn't lead to other questions.
Along came Newton, a God-loving man who's also a genius.
He could write the laws of nature in perfect mathematical sentences-- formulas that applied universally to apples, moons, planets and so much more.
With one foot still in the Middle Ages, Isaac Newton imagined the whole solar system.
Newton's laws of gravity and motion revealed how the Sun held distant worlds captive.
His laws swept away the need for a master clock maker to explain the precision and beauty of the solar system.
Gravity is the clock maker. [end quote]
This is an absurd conclusion. This is like saying that the hands of my watch move with precision because it has a battery and this means there is no watchmaker. Or for that matter, no one made the battery either. It just exists.
Newton, who is considered the greatest scientist of all time, certainly came to a different conclusion from his work than Tyson did. He was a huge believer in Intelligent Design as well as a seeker of truth from the Bible. He credited many of his discoveries to his reflections on the scriptures and the Great Clockmaker who made the universe. His discovery of the law of gravity strengthened his belief in a Creator. It didn’t cause him to dismiss God in the least as Tyson thinks should happen.
Then in the second episode he projects the idea that because of powerful evidence that evolution exists that the idea of Intelligent Design is negated. This is nonsense as many supporters of the concept of Intelligent design believe in evolution.
Tyson males a big mistake in his presentation of evolution by telling us that Dogs with the help of man evolved from wolves. Recent research proves pretty conclusively this is not the case. Here is a link to the story.
csmonitor.com/Science/2014/0…
What evolutionists overlook is that the evidence indicates that it has not been a gradual process, but has occurred in leaps. These giant leaps have occurred after each great extinction. Between extinctions many of the species continue their lives with little or no change for millions of years. Great leaps in creation cannot be explained away by natural selection.
Life is so constructed, that the event does not, cannot, will not, match the expectation. - Charlotte Brontë
April 11, 2014
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Intelligence in the Cosmos
We posed this question on the Cosmos series. What is Tyson missing in his explanation of evolution? Where is his error? We are looking for something more than just “God” as the answer here.
We received some great answers on this. Unfortunately, I do not have time to comment on them and give them justice.
There is one very important point that orthodox evolutionists leave out of their argument, which basically goes like this.
We know that life was created by evolution and not Intelligent Design because of what we have observed. We know the fossil record shows that over eons of time life evolved from a simple state to a more complex one. In addition to this natural evolution, the historical and fossil record shows that humans speeded evolution up. An instance was when he domesticated the wolf and controlled his breeding, which, over time, produced dogs we have today in all their forms.
This approach has a basic error and it is amazing most scientists, which consider themselves way above the masses in intellect, do not understand the error.
The error is this: They witness and tabulate a process of creation and then conclude that they understand all the ingredients and intelligence involved in the creation.
For instance, they tabulate the steps of evolution and think all that was involved was a natural selection process. Case closed.
They tabulate all they know about gravity and when they find the Higgs particle they think they know how gravity was works and was created.
They tabulate all they know about creation and figure the Big Bang [with no intelligence involved] explains it all when they have no idea how the whole universe exploded into being from a tiny point.
Now just imagine how silly this approach is when applied to reality as follows.
Charles loves apple products. He has an Apple computer, an iPhone, an iPod and an iPad. He wonders. How did these fine products come to be?
He investigates and finds out that Apple products were created through an evolutionary process. They started with the Apple I, then came the Apple II. Next was Lisa, then the Mac, followed by the Mac Plus, the Mac SE, the iMac, the G3, the G4, the G5 and now the latest Apple computers and products in all their glory.
After his study Charles comes to a startling conclusion and thinks to himself:
“Obviously Apple products were created through a process of evolution and natural selection. As soon as a new and better product shows up through some type of mutation then from that point on it is naturally selected and the Apple products just become more and more sophisticated without the need of an Intelligent Designer.
If any one of us were to encounter Charles we would think he is pretty stupid, yet scientists make this same error. They observe the history of evolution and see the complex designs, much more complex than any computer, and figure no intelligence was necessary in creation.
When these guys die and go to the other side and discover that great intelligence was involved in all creation they will feel pretty embarrassed as the truth was always there staring them in the face.
Are Vegetarians Less Healthy?
A reader comments: There's a book called “Nutrition and Physical Degeneration” that was written by a dentist who traveled the world in search of the healthiest diet. Originally, Dr. Weston Price thought it would be vegan but found the healthiest diets include meat or protein of some kind. in one case, insects were the source of protein. He and his wife did this at a time when some regions were still cut off from Western civilization and they were able to provide photographs of their findings. Its an interesting read. More on Weston Price can be found on YouTube.
Here is a news story on this subject:
ATLANTA (CBS ATLANTA) – Vegetarians may have a lower BMI and drink alcohol sparingly, but vegetarian diets are tied to generally poorer health, poorer quality of life and a higher need for health care than their meat-eating counterparts.
A new study from the Medical University of Graz in Austria finds that vegetarians are more physically active, drink less alcohol and smoke less tobacco than those who consume meat in their diets. Vegetarians also have a higher socioeconomic status and a lower body mass index. But the vegetarian diet — characterized by a low consumption of saturated fats and cholesterol that includes increased intake of fruits, vegetables and whole-grain products — carries elevated risks of cancer, allergies and mental health disorders.
Vegetarians were twice as likely to have allergies, a 50 percent increase in heart attacks and a 50 percent increase in incidences of cancer.
The cross-sectional study from Austrian Health Interview Survey data and published in PLos One examined participants dietary habits, demographic characteristics and general lifestyle differences.
The most significant dietary habit difference between meat-eaters and vegetarians concerned their BMI and alcohol consumption – with both being higher for those who consume meat.
Many past studies have instead put an emphasis on the health risks associated with red meat and carnivorous diets, but this study points the other dietary direction. However, the researchers do caution that continuing studies will be needed to substantiate some of the rather broad dietary distinctions, associations presented in this current research.
Overall, vegetarians were found to be in a poorer state of health compared to other dietary groups. Vegetarians reported higher levels of impairment from disorders, chronic diseases, and “suffer significantly more often from anxiety/depression.”
Subjects who consumed lower amounts of animal fat were also linked to poor health care practices, such as avoidance of vaccinations and a lack of preventive care.
Chronic problems associated with vegetarians and people eating carnivorous diets rich in fruits and vegetables were linked to more frequent visits to doctors, which the study authors suggest requires public health programs to reduce the health risk due to their nutritional factors.
The researchers conclude: “Our study has shown that Austrian adults who consume a vegetarian diet are less healthy (in terms of cancer, allergies, and mental health disorders), have a lower quality of life, and also require more medical treatment.”
“Therefore, a continued strong public health program for Austria is required in order to reduce the health risk due to nutritional factors.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notes that healthy diets rich in fruits and vegetables may reduce the risk of cancer and other chronic diseases for all dietary groups. A 2009 study from the CDC found that about 1 in 200 young Americans, or 367,000 US children, are vegetarians. – Benjamin Fearnow
JJ: A part of the reason that many vegetarians are not that healthy is they substitute a lot of starchy foods for protein because this tends to fill you up. They also eat a lot of soy products which are not good for you unless fermented as they do in Japan. Tofu is not a health food.
I believe that those who stay away from the dead starches and concentrate on whole live foods come out in pretty good shape on the average. It would be interesting to see the results of a more detailed study.
A healthy body is a guest chamber for the soul; a sick body is a prison. - Francis Bacon
April 2, 2014
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Two Types of Offense
One thing this group has in common with other groups, whether they be spiritual or not, is that we are very creative in discovering ways to offend and be offended with each other.
What is overlooked is that there are degrees in which various statements are offensive as a whole. This is often overlooked because a black and white approach is often taken. Either the person is offended or not. For many there are not degrees, or places in between. There is just offense or toleration.
In this group, the offense we want to avoid more than any other are those things that go beyond offending just one person, but irritates the many and leads to a round of arguments, attack and defense that can sometime last weeks and totally distract the group. Such diatribe often causes good people to withdraw and scares new people away.
When this happens, no one seems to take responsibility in starting it, instead, always blaming it on the other guy.
Here’s how a lengthy, distracting personality argument often gets started.
Person A disagrees with Person B and describes his thoughts using a politically incorrect word. He may say something like the following:
That’s a crazy idea.
Where have you been living, Fantasyland?
You are not being logical.
You must have gotten that idea from watching Looney Tunes.
We could go on and on listing phrases and words that will offend some people. The problem is that all of us, if we speak or write long enough, will say something that will be considered offensive by someone.
I am as careful with my wording as anyone here, and still manage to do it from time to time.
The key to participating in a harmonious group is to overlook politically or spiritually incorrect speech. This is easy to do if one tries to look at the person’s heart. Often, I see a member say something quite stark, but I sense that he is either making an attempt at humor or means it as a good-natured jab. In this case it is easy to overlook the black and white wording.
These jabs made with harmless intent are not the cause of group conflict, though they often take the blame. They are not a cause, but an excuse.
The real cause begins when the jab is taken too seriously and the guy then attacks with real intent to demean or humiliate.
If this second step were never taken then an incessant round of conflict would never occur. The person taking this second step bears the brunt of the responsibility.
What the person who feels tempted to take the second step needs to realize is that this first step happens regularly in every group there is and if he or she is going to register offense there then he will wind up doing it everywhere. No matter where you go you will find people making comments containing some sacrism.
So if one is not clear about whether or not a comment is merely a part of the fairly harmless Phrase One, how can he tell?
A good sign is to look toward the reaction from the group. If only you, or a small handful are concerned then that is a sign that your concern or offense is misplaced.
If a significant number become involved in dealing with the offense, then that is a sign that Phase Two has been entered where an endless round begins.
Allow me to give examples of the Phase One, Phase Two offenses.
Phase One: That’s a crazy idea.
Phase Two: Who you calling crazy?
Phase One: That’s a crazy idea.
Phase Two: So, you think I’m insane? You are the lunatic here.
Notice here that the Phase One guy did not attack the person, but the idea. And notice that the Phase Two person did not respond to the idea being attacked but as if he was personally attacked. Instead of hearing “That’s a crazy idea.” He heard “You’re a crazy person.”
Instead of taking it personally and responding with a personal attack he should have merely asked, “What is so crazy about the idea?”
The key that must be absorbed by the Phase Two person is the Third Key of Knowledge, which is “Correct Perception.” If he had used this key he would have not registered the incorrect unspoken meaning, “You are a crazy person.” All sane people say something deemed a little crazy now and then.
Now here is a response that is sure to lead to conflict:
Phase One: That’s a crazy idea.
Phase Two: You need to get some soul contact so you can speak with respect.
This Phase Two response lays the groundwork for major problems because so much can be perceived between the lines such as:
[1] This person is judging the other as not being in contact with his soul. This is not his to decide. He can think this and keep it to himself, but to blurt it out creates fightn’ words.
[2] This person is inferring that he is in contact with his soul and the other is not. He would have to think this way to make such a judgment.
[3] This individual is attacking the person and not his ideas.
[4] This person is making a negative judgment on the other which never has a good end.
I could go on but I hope this gives the general idea of what causes the personality problems that surface here from time to time.
The main key is to not take personal offense at non personal attacks or non personal biting comments.
Around this time, we had a conflict situation come up in the group. One member thought that another’s comments were so egregious that he sinned against the Holy Ghost.
To insinuate that the member committed the unforgivable sin against the Holy Ghost is indeed misguided. I have personally received many things through the Spirit and have encountered many people who think that such things I have received are crazy. They think it is even crazier if I tell them that the source is the spirit.
Does that mean they have sinned against the Holy Spirit? No. Of course not. It merely means they disagreed with my words as they understood them.
In order to sin against the Holy Ghost you have to feel Its presence and know that what you are dealing with is a true reality. If the person becomes hardened so he is unwilling to receive anything through the soul then a wall of his own making is created between him and the Spirit.
As it turns out, the Spirit does not leave us but the person leaves the spirit by insulating himself from the Presence. This causes the person in his present personality to be cut off from the spiritual presence. I do not see this problem occurring with any of my friends posting here.
I normally do not comment on causes of conflict but there have been so many accusations going around that perhaps in this case I should say a few extra words. In my opinion there is plenty of blame to go around here. Member One disagreed with how Member Two saw himself as being led by the Spirit. Member One tells him, “Your 'spirit' sounds like an idiot.” Obviously, Member One thinks Member Two is led by his feelings and not an infallible Spirit.
There is nothing wrong with Member One disagreeing with Member Two or any revelation he has, but his response was pretty stark and would be hurtful to many receiving such language. If I disagreed with Member Two and wanted to voice it I would have said something like this:
“I don’t care where you think you received this it doesn’t make sense to me and I disagree because...”
Member One has disagreed with me pretty frankly a number of times with fairly abrupt language, but they have been Phase One disagreements and I generally just let the roughness pass through me and answer as if the wording was spoken with kindness.
Member Two also made mistakes in my opinion. He took extra offense because he saw the Spirit as being attacked. Actually, Member One could not attack the Spirit unless he really believed the Holy Spirit was at work here. Because Member Two saw Member One’s response as extra egregious, instead of just voicing disagreement [which would have been the best course IMO] he punished Member One by insisting he be expelled from the group.
This in turn outraged a number of members.
Both men could have handled this differently and avoided the disruption the group suffered. Most of us can see this on hindsight so the best thing to do now is move onward and remember we are in this together as friends and should treat each other accordingly.
A reader thought the idea of Phase One and Two are too subjective.
Just because there are degrees of offense in both Phase One and Phase Two does not mean the demarcation is subjective. The division is crystal clear making this terminology somewhat of a breakthrough in dealing with conflict, which conflict appears to be caused by such subjective things that no one knows where to begin solving it.
The demarcation is clear. Phase One is an attack on a person's specific words or actions.
Phase Two is an overall attack on the person as a whole.
I never said that a Phase One offense would not be offensive. Both Phases are considered offensive to many, but overall Phase Two is much more offensive because it attacks the person as a whole and is not just a specific disagreement.
Member One gave pretty strong Phase One insult. To Member Two it was blasphemous for it was like saying God himself is an idiot. Religious leaders have burned people at the stake for saying such tings in the past.
On the other hand, various people have made fun of the Spirit which has spoken through me and I did not take it as a personal offense. I took it as being that they disagreed with the words I was putting out there. Most of my family believe that a lot of the things I have received through Spirit is a bunch of trash, but they do not tell me that I am trash. Huge difference.
Phase One offenses cannot be avoided. All of us are politically or spiritually incorrect now and then. if we allow ourselves to be offended by them, we will find ourselves being offended on a regular basis and being tempted to move to Phase Two for revenge.
On the other hand, if we do not take the Phase One's personally, there will rarely be a Phase Two and the group involved will be in a much higher state of overall peace.
A reader responds: The whole notion of being offended by anyone or anything, is totally offensive.
“Blessed is he who is not offended by me.” Jesus
March 30, 2014
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Understanding The Personality
Question: Does someone that is soul-infused and capable of group unity to the point that they could participate in a molecule, no longer have a personality?
JJ: It doesn’t matter how high on the totem pole you get; you still have a personality as long as you are incarnated in a physical body.
The personality consists of three things.
[1] The calculating brain
[2] The feeling nature - the emotions.
[3] The mind and powers of reasoning.
Each of us combines the powers of these three vehicles to create what is called a unique personality.
Now, if Jesus had a personality, then it stands to reason that other disciples who are soul infused would still have one.
Did Jesus have and use a calculating brain? Most certainly.
Did Jesus have and show feelings? Indeed. He wept several times and another time became so angry that he chased the moneychangers out of the temple.
Did Jesus use his reasoning powers? He used them regularly in arguments he had with the religious leaders. He also used his creative mental powers to concoct numerous teaching parables that were concise, but very effective.
For most of us the personality slowly falls into place after we are born. It is created as we follow the line of least resistance and we go with the influences of our rays, astrological influences, inherited tendencies and what rubs off on to us from our friends, associates and family.
Because the personality naturally develops in standard humans, they have a tendency to identify with it. The average person thinks that he is his personality. It does not occur to him that what he thinks he is, is merely composed of a life essence using three vehicles so he can function on the physical plane.
Now here is an interesting point made by DK. He tells us that after the Fourth Initiation the disciple no longer attaches himself to the personality, but still needs one to function in the world. Therefore, what he does is to consciously create one. In other words, he becomes what he decides to be rather than what is thrust upon him by outward forces and circumstances.
This is a goal that all seekers and disciples would do well to seek. Instead of developing and expressing ourselves through impulses gained by programming and outer forces, seek to be the observer and then decide what type of personality you want to express and be that person.
A reader wants to know more about what can cause us to go to one of the hells in the astral world.
Here are a few points to consider.
[1] Are you in hell now because of the way you live your life? If so then you need to change it so the quality of life will improve. We make our own reality here and the next world. Here our reality materializes slowly, but in the higher realms it manifests quickly.
[2] Would you be happy being around people who are similar to yourself? In the next world like gathers to like and if you are a difficult person to live with then you will gravitate to difficult people in the astral. On the other hand, if you are loving you will attract loving people.
[3] Does your conscience bother you? If so, then resolve this by letting go the hold of the beast which causes guilt.
[4] Have you caused others needless pain and suffering that has not been resolved? If so, tuning into these people will throw that pain back at you very powerfully in the next world in your life review.
If you are following the highest you know and show goodwill to all you should have nothing to worry about.
When the eyes say one thing and the tongue another, the practiced person relies on the language of the first. - Ralph Waldo Emerson
March 30, 2014
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The Great Cosmos
There is a new show on Fox called Cosmos, A Spacetime Odyssey, hosted by Neil deGrasse Tyson.
So far three shows have been presented. There are some good things included that can enhance the knowledge of the majority. On the other hand, Tyson seems really bent on flatly dismissing the idea of any intelligence being involved in any creation of life. After watching the program, I assumed he was an atheist so I checked it out and was somewhat surprised to see that he classifies himself as an agnostic. If he is truly an agnostic then you would think he would at least be open to the possibility that a higher intelligence may have been involved in the creation of life.
One of the most interesting things presented in the first show was an encapsulation of the story of Giordano Bruno who was a thinker I admired from history.
Here is what Tyson presented.
Imagine a world before telescopes, when the universe was only what you could see with the naked eye.
It was obvious that Earth was motionless, and that everything in the heavens the Sun, the Moon, the stars, the planets revolved around us, but then a Polish astronomer and priest named Copernicus made a radical proposal.
The Earth was not the center. It was just one of the planets, and, like them, it revolved around the Sun.
Many, like the Protestant reformer Martin Luther, took this idea as a scandalous affront to Scripture.
They were horrified.
But for one man, Copernicus didn't go far enough. His name was Giordano Bruno, and he was a natural-born rebel. He longed to bust out of that cramped little universe.
Even as a young Dominican monk in Naples, he was a misfit. This was a time when there was no freedom of thought in Italy. But Bruno hungered to know everything about God's creation. He dared to read the books banned by the Church, and that was his undoing.
In one of them, an ancient Roman, a man dead for more than 1,500 years whispered to him of a universe far greater, one as boundless as his idea of God. Lucretius asked the reader to imagine standing at the edge of the universe and shooting an arrow outward. If the arrow keeps going, then clearly, the universe extends beyond what you thought was the edge.
But if the arrow doesn't keep going say it hits a wall then that wall must lie beyond what you thought was the edge of the universe. Now if you stand on that wall and shoot another arrow, there are only the same two possible outcomes it either flies forever out into space, or it hits some boundary where you can stand and shoot yet another arrow. Either way, the universe is unbounded. The cosmos must be infinite.
This made perfect sense to Bruno. The God he worshiped was infinite. So how, he reasoned, could Creation be anything less? It was the last steady job he ever had.
And then, when he was 30, he had the vision that sealed his fate. In this dream, he awakened to a world enclosed inside a confining bowl of stars. This was the cosmos of Bruno's time.
He experienced a sickening moment of fear, as if the bottom of everything was falling away beneath his feet. But he summoned up his courage.
He spread confident wings to space and soared toward the infinite, leaving far behind me what others strained to see from a distance.
Here, there was no up, no down, no edge, no center. He saw that the Sun was just another star, and the stars were other Suns, each escorted by other Earths like our own.
The revelation of this immensity was like falling in love. Bruno became an evangelist, spreading the gospel of infinity throughout Europe. He assumed that other lovers of God would naturally embrace this grander and more glorious view of Creation.
“What a fool I was.” He said
He was excommunicated by the Roman Catholic Church in his homeland, expelled by the Calvinists in Switzerland, and by the Lutherans in Germany.
Bruno jumped at an invitation to lecture at Oxford, in England. At last, he thought, a chance to share his vision with an audience of his peers.
He said: “I have come to present a new vision of the cosmos. Copernicus was right to argue that our world is not the center of the universe. The Earth goes around the Sun. It's a planet, just like the others.
“But Copernicus was only the dawn. I bring you the sunrise. The stars are other fiery suns, made of the same substance as the Earth, and they have their own watery earths, with plants and animals no less noble than our own.”
The response: Are you mad or merely ignorant? Everyone knows there is only one world.
Bruno replied: What everyone knows is wrong. Our infinite God has created a boundless universe with an infinite number of worlds. Do they not read Aristotle where you come from? Or even the Bible? I beg you, reject antiquity, tradition, faith, and authority. Let us begin anew, by doubting everything we assume - has been proven.”
The critics then said: “Heretic! Infidel! A wiser man would have learned his lesson.”
But Bruno was not such a man.
He couldn't keep his soaring vision of the cosmos to himself, despite the fact that the penalty for doing so in his world was the most vicious form of cruel and unusual punishment.
Giordano Bruno lived at a time when there was no such thing as the separation of church and state, or the notion that freedom of speech was a sacred right of every individual.
Expressing an idea that didn't conform to traditional belief could land you in deep trouble.
Recklessly, Bruno returned to Italy. Maybe he was homesick. But still, he must have known that his homeland was one of the most dangerous places in Europe he could possibly go.
The Roman Catholic Church maintained a system of courts known as the Inquisition, and its sole purpose was to investigate and torment anyone who dared voice views that differed from theirs. It wasn't long before Bruno fell into the clutches of the thought police.
This wanderer, who worshiped an infinite universe, languished in confinement for eight years. Through relentless interrogations, he stubbornly refused to renounce his views.
Why was the Church willing to go to such lengths to torment Bruno? What were they afraid of? If Bruno was right, then the sacred books and the authority of the Church would be open to question.
Finally, the cardinals of the Inquisition rendered their verdict. You are found guilty of questioning the Holy Trinity and the divinity of Jesus Christ. Of believing that God's wrath is not eternal, that everyone will be saved. Of asserting the existence of other worlds. All of the books you have written will be gathered up and burned in St. Peter's Square.
Here is how the dialog went: “Reverend Father, these eight years of confinement have given me much time to reflect.”
“So you will recant?”
“My love and reverence for the Creator inspires in me the vision of an infinite Creation.”
“You shall be turned over to the Governor of Rome to administer the appropriate punishment for those who will not repent.”
“It may be that you are more afraid to deliver this judgment than I am to hear it.”
Ten years after Bruno's martyrdom, Galileo first looked through a telescope, realizing that Bruno had been right all along.
The Milky Way was made of countless stars invisible to the naked eye, and some of those lights in the sky were actually other worlds.
Bruno was no scientist.
Tyson said his vision of the cosmos was a lucky guess, because he had no evidence to support it. Like most guesses, it could well have turned out wrong.
Tyson gives a good account of Bruno but he dismisses the idea that he did not make a guess but received knowledge from Higher Intelligence.
Newton, the greatest scientist of all time, stated that the complexity of the human eye proved the existence of God. Tyson, however, who has made no discoveries close to Newton, thinks the eyes, the cell, DNA etc evolved with the help of no intelligence. Here was what he said about the eye.
Tyson makes this strange statement:
Evolution really happened. Accepting our kinship with all life on Earth is not only solid science. In my view, it's also a soaring spiritual experience.
I don’t know how you can have a godless spiritual experience. Every time I contemplate the complexity of my body, or even the beauty of a flower, I have a spiritual experience because I see Divine Intelligence at work.
If you are not willing to risk the usual, you will have to settle for the ordinary. - Jim Rohn
March 29, 2014
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Attrition
A reader thinks he has been attacked by a dark magician and is looking for a white magician to solve his problem. Here was my response.
First of all, it is highly unlikely that either a black or white magician is paying any attention to you. There are billions of people on this planet and only a handful of real magicians on either side. You’d have to be a person who is likely to make a big impact on the planet to draw attention from either side. I am currently posting an audio on White Magic where I deal with white and black magic. The basic difference between the two is white magic deals with the soul and spirit and black magic deals with matter and materialism. Jesus was a white magician and Hitler was an agent of black magicians.
Your problem is more than likely caused by impish entities from the lower astral world. They are not magicians, but some of them like to cause trouble on the physical plane or may be directed by magicians. It is also possible that your problems are created by thoughtforms created by yourself which have followed you from past lives. A third possibility is a combination of the two.
Whatever the case, the problem exists because a door of some kind has been opened and you need to close it.
Here is an account of dealing with such a problem from my book - The Lost Key of the Buddha. I have been attacked by dark forces a number of times and this gives some keys to overcoming them.
“Since the attack I have been racking my brain thinking of the principle that could overcome this force. I tried all the obvious ones: prayer, positive thinking, affirmations and even the Song, but nothing produced any significant change. It wasn’t until I just attempted to ignore the distress and worked on the highest I knew - which at this time is the book, taking care of life’s needs, and attempting to say the Song with intense meaning - that I noticed a real improvement. As I experienced some improvement I kept asking what the principle behind the progress was. A number of things helped, but not one of them seemed to be the total answer. Finally, after a period of deep reflection a word came to my mind that unfolded the principle.”
“And what was that word?” asked John, who I felt did not need to ask this question.
“Yes,” said Elizabeth. “What is the word? You’ve got me curious.”
“The word is attrition,” I said.
“Attrition!” said Elizabeth. “What kind of key word is that?”
“Do you know what the word means?” said John.
“Well, it seems like it is a gradual wearing away of something,” she said.
“And how would you explain it?” John said looking at me.
I replied, “Elizabeth hit on the standard definition which is basically the wearing away of a thing through friction. But the word can also imply disintegration through lack of attention. I remembered that we sometimes used the word in real estate in relation to neglected property. Property can fall apart through lack of attention or attrition. In hard times the real estate industry complained that we lost sales agents through attrition. When salespeople did not have enough business to keep their attention, they fell away and went to greener pastures.”
“So, in other words, all you have to do is ignore the problem and it will go away,” said Elizabeth.
“It’s not quite that simple,” smiled John. “Isn’t that right, Joseph?”
“It is,” I said nodding. “Right after the attack the agony was absolutely impossible to simply ignore. The intelligence behind the attack was vying for my attention and received one hundred percent of it. There was no ignoring possible. I was continually forced to acknowledge the presence.”
“So how are you applying the principle of attrition without ignoring the force?” asked Elizabeth.
“Here’s what I discovered,” I said, leaning toward her. “I had no power over whether or not the presence was bringing pain, and there was no way I could pretend that it was not there. So I looked for the areas where I did have power. When I started working on the book again it took all my strength to take my attention away from the force and place it on the writing, but even though it was difficult, I did manage to do so. When, after a time, I realized that this seemed to lessen the hold of the force, I began analyzing what I was doing. The answer wasn’t so much that I ignored the pain and the force, because I was very much aware of it. Instead, I found that, even though it was difficult, I did have power over where I placed my conscious attention. I then found that when I sustained my attention away from the negative to the normal duties I had before me, the power of the force began to diminish. This diminishing of it’s power through the denial of attention is attrition. When this word came to me this evening I realized that attrition of the enemy’s power through the diversion of attention was the key to its defeat.”
“So you’re not ignoring it, but just not giving it your attention? Tell me again what the difference is?” asked Elizabeth, looking flummoxed.
“Generally, when you ignore something, you pretend that it does not exist and give it no attention at all. With this force there was no pretending, and because it was painful I was forced to give it some attention; but I found I could divert attention and thus take away some of its power. Somehow it seems to feed off my attention.”
“Well spoken,” said John. “You have no doubt heard the maxim, energy follows thought. How do you think this principle applies?”
“Great point,” I said, as if a light bulb had turned on in my head. “If the negative force is able to be the focus of my thought, then it’s energy can follow that thought and sustain its power. By diverting my attention or thought away from the negative, and forcefully placing it upon the positive, energy will follow, for only good energy will follow good thought.”
“Well said, again,” said John smiling. “But you already knew the basic principle of energy following thought along with the benefits of positive thinking. How does the principle you saw go beyond the clich√©s accepted by the masses?”
“The general idea of positive thinking did nothing,” I said. “It was only when I roused all my will and made a decision to force the direction of my attention away from the force, bringing the principle of attrition into play that things got better.”
“Along this line you might find something the Master said of interest,” said John. “Grab the Bible again and turn to Matthew chapter eleven, verses twelve and thirteen.”
I opened the Bible and read: “And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force. For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John.”
“Do you have any idea what this means?” he asked.
“I remember reading this scripture before,” I said. “I couldn’t make a lot of sense of it. It seems to say that those pursuing the kingdom of heaven suffer violence, and violent people somehow take it away from the just.”
“But what period of time is mentioned by Jesus?”
“It looks like it was from the time of John the Baptist to the time that Jesus spoke those words--probably about the middle of his ministry.”
“And was there a lot of violence during this period?”
“Well, John the Baptist was put to death, but it seems that Jesus and his followers were able to go about in peace.”
“So this did not seem to be a time when there was violent persecution does it?”
“I guess not.”
“And have you read anything in the scriptures about violent people taking the kingdom by force during the first couple of years of the Master’s ministry?”
“I don’t even know if the kingdom can be taken by force,” I said.
“If you want to check with your Concordance you will see that force and violence are not the only options for translation here. I can see why translators rendered the verse the way they did, but they were not looking at the context of the meaning. For instance suffereth violence is more correctly rendered enthusiastically pressing forward, and the phrase by force was used by Jesus as society currently uses the phrase, Carpe Diem, or seize the day.”
“So how would you translate it in words we can understand?” asked Elizabeth.
“I’ll do better than that. I’ll just tell you what the Master said from memory with my own translation into English. You have to realize that he spoke this verse and others many times with different wordings to different groups. He said this thought dozens of times during his ministry. To get a true impression of the meaning you have to reverse the order of the verses.”
John paused a moment and related the words from his own recollection.
“All the prophets and wise men before John dreamed, prophesied, and taught of the kingdom of God. Many had enticing visions, and wished with all their heart that they could reach out and take the kingdom, but they could not grasp it, enjoy it themselves or present it to their people in its fullness.
“But from the days of John the Baptist until now things are different, for the Spirit of the Lord has descended, and the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. Many sense the opportunity and are pressing forward with forceful enthusiasm. Those who successfully press forward are those who aggressively seize the opportunity - or Carpe Diem, as we say today.”
“Carpe Diem,” mused Elizabeth. “Now that’s a translation I can understand, especially since seeing the movie Dead Poet’s Society.”
“So Jesus was basically saying that when the opportunity for the Kingdom presents itself, we must seize the day?” I asked.
“Basically,” said John.
“What does this have to do with aiding me in mastering this evil force?”
“Let me expand on this Carpe Diem idea as presented by Jesus,” he said. “His point was that to obtain the Kingdom, or higher consciousness, we must forcefully seize the opportunity when it presents itself. Taking the kingdom by force, as the Bible says, is not a bad way to word it.
“Many in the New Age movement are making a great mistake in teaching that we must go with the flow. The trouble is that there are two major flows of energy to go with. The first is the spiritual flow and only a few are attuned to that. The second is the flow of force toward matter, or materialism. As far as the vast majority is concerned this second flow is the problem because it is by far the most powerful. Therefore, if the average seeker goes with the flow, he will flow the wrong direction, away from the Spirit.
“The seeker must resist the negative flow and tune into the spiritual. He can only do this with the exercise of tremendous force of will. When he first seeks the flow of Spirit, the registration will be weak, and to hold on to it to increase its strength, he must Carpe Diem or seize hold of the new energy with great force of decision and will. When he does, the more prominent flow of matter will pull hard on him, tempting him to let go of the budding new energy. Going with the dominant flow at this point leads to disaster, but going with the still small voice of the Spirit leads to salvation.”
He paused and looked us over as if to make sure we were registering what he was saying, and added, “But if the seeker holds on to the new energy and by force of will makes it his dominant energy, then going with the flow becomes a positive thing.”
“Interesting,” I said. “I have heard that true spiritual teachers walk you all around a subject before they hone into the major point. Is this what you are doing?”
“You speak of a true principle,” he said. “The reason for this is that a teacher of light always desires a full comprehension from the student, and if he just answers a question in a word the student will fall short in his understanding.”
He paused again, and said, “I can see you are anxious to see how this fits with your problem, so let me continue.
“To move along the ladder of spiritual progression we must set ourselves on our next step, and then, by a tremendous force of will, fix our attention and focus on the objective.
“This is the principle you must apply in overcoming this attack you are suffering. Now tell me, what are the positive items of focus you have come up with?”
“I think he’s talking about the list we made,” said Elizabeth, looking toward the desk.
I went to my desk and retrieved my notes. “Here are four things we came up with.”
“Tell them to me,” said John.
I read, “Focused attention [meaning focusing intently on the light], service, love, and courage.”
John looked thoughtful for a moment and added, “Courage is more of an attitude acquired through experience, but the first three are very applicable to developing the Carpe Diem principle. By causing you great distress the negative force lives off of all this attention it has diverted. The trick is to destroy it through attrition of its energy, forcing your attention through strength of will toward the light of the soul, to service to humankind, and to the love of all. As you have found, your consciousness has been seriously diverted away from these noble pursuits because of your great distress. This causes a vicious circle which continues to feed the negative.”
“You’re right,” I said. “Before this attack I naturally thought of positive things, but afterwards it has been extremely difficult.
“Difficult, but not impossible,” said John, looking at me intently. “By seizing the kingdom with violent force of will you can force yourself to focus on those noble pursuits and starve the dark forces, causing them to go elsewhere for nourishment. This is why sleep is such a powerful healer. During sleep your attention is taken away from the many forces tearing your body down. A good long rest can weaken these destructive forces through attrition, so when you arise, the positive energies of the body have power over the negative ones.”
“Yes, of course, you are correct here,” I said. “That is the idea I saw when I received the key word. I realized that I could starve the darkness with attrition. I just needed to use the power of focused will and move my attention. It’s kind of like you were saying, John, I can cause my attention to sleep as far as the negative is concerned.”
“So now that you see the principle, what will you do differently than before you saw it?” said John.
“Before I saw the principle I tried to dwell on the positive, but I let the pain and distress consume my attention. Now that I see the principle, I may still feel pain, yet will force myself to not put attention on it. I will force my attention away from it until the negative force is starved to death through attrition.”
“You’ve got it,” he said. “This is one of those subtle, but important truths. There is a huge difference between putting all your attention on the positive during the good times, and keeping it there during times of great distress. “Joseph, I want you to teach this in a future book. It will help a lot of people if they can be helped to understand. This is one of those principles that enabled Jesus to maintain his poise, control, and faith even while on the cross.”
“But not many people have an overwhelming spiritual problem to deal with,” said Elizabeth. “How would this apply to them?”
“Most people have all the problems and distress they can handle,” said John. “Just as it can help Joseph, it can help them.
That which is striking and beautiful is not always good, but that which is good is always beautiful. - Ninon De L’ englos
March 26, 2014
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The Illusion of Darkness
A reader had some financial difficulties right after he joined this group and is blaming them on us as an evil source.
Let me assure him of this. There are no black magicians here, and no one has any desire to do you any harm. The fact that your troubles started when you came across us could be related to two different things.
[1] Pure coincidence.
[2] Some dark entity or force does not want you to advance in the light and is determined to stop you by making you think we are the bad guys.
Whenever a person takes a step that will have a positive effect a negative force arises to pull him backwards.
Here are some comments I have previously made on this principle:
For example, when I received the revelation that I was supposed to marry Artie it was amazing the army that gathered around her to try to talk her out of marrying me. Her daughter thought that I was like Jim Jones. She called everybody she knew. She called her dad, which is Artie's past husband, and convinced him that I was some weirdo with one hand with quirks like Igor; that I was just really weird. She painted the strangest picture. She called her grandma giving her alarming information. She immediately got on a plane to save her daughter from this terrible person. Her daughter conjured up this image of me out of the blue and communicated it to everyone we knew. Within days Artie had an army around her to try to talk her out of what she received within herself for we had both received confirmation that we were supposed to be together.
Then one day we were talking on the phone after her mom was coming up and her ex-husband was afraid for her life and her soul, and was afraid for her daughter's safety because she was around a mad man. The image built up was amazing. We're talking on the phone and she said, “Maybe we should just lie low for a while until things calm down then we can continue the relationship.” I knew at that point that if I let the point of tension go I would lose her and I knew I had to do something. She didn't think I would lose her but something within me told me that I would. There was this army gathering around to pull her away from what she had received within herself.
As we were talking on the phone she said, “It's just too much to handle. I think I'll lay low.” There was a moment of silence where I felt the spirit and I knew she was feeling it during the time of silence. I said, “What do you feel right this instant?” She said, “I feel peaceful. I feel good.” I asked, “Do you want to pursue this feeling or do you want to pursue the opposite of this feeling?” She said, “I want this feeling.” I said, “So, what are we going to do? Are we going to pursue this feeling or are we going to quit?” She said she wanted to pursue this feeling so I told her then we're not going to give up. We're going to continue this relationship no matter what happens, no matter what your mom thinks, no matter what your daughter thinks, no matter what your ex-husband thinks, no matter who comes pounding on your door demanding that you not see me. We will continue this relationship and this feeling will continue. I asked, “Is this a deal?” She said it was.
To her credit, she didn't go back on her commitment. Most people would have. I've seen this happen time and time again. People get close to the presence then an army of negativity comes to take them away from that next step and they yield to that negativity. I've seen it happen time and time again. The negativity is so powerful. Then when you yield to it you have a false sense of peace because you don't have the bedlam around you anymore. You seem to have a peace but it's not the real peace. It's not the peace that Artie felt when I asked her what she was feeling. She decided that she wanted to pursue the real peace. To her credit she withstood all the assailments she got from her mother, her daughter and everybody who came out of the woodwork. It was beyond the imagination. She withstood them all and she stood her ground and we continued the relationship and are still together.
I'm very thankful that she stood her ground that way. Not many people do because when you make a step forward, even with something simple, like say you want to quit smoking. Are there any smokers in the group? Rick is. Rick is good at quitting smoking. He's done it about a hundred times. But when you try to quit smoking doesn't it seem like everyone who smokes comes out of the woodwork offering you cigarettes? It seems like an army comes to you to get you to try to start up again. In any step of progression that you make you will have an army of negativity to try to pull you back to not only where you were before but lower than you were before.
It's like the scripture that reads, “When a man casts out one devil, the devil goes forth and finds seven more, more evil than himself. And they come back and they possess the man. And the last state of the man is worse than the first state.”
This is what happens. It's dangerous to move ahead. It's actually dangerous; dangerous to be a disciple of Christ. It's dangerous to progress. It's not easy because when you do, an army will surface, and this army, coming out of the woodwork, will have the faces of your friends, the faces of your family, your religious leaders, your political leaders, your neighbors, and they will all try to pull you back so your final state will be worse than it was when you tried to make the step forward.
The only way through this is to take the step forward and stand on that step forward no matter what happens. When you take that stand you'll find out that all the winds and the storms that are surrounding you are illusion. They don't really exist. You just thought they were real. You give them power, but they have no power. They have no power to pull you back. You just thought they had power. When you really take a stand and make a firm decision, you can stand. There is nothing that can pull you back. There is nothing that can stop you from your onward movement once you attain that faith in yourself and in your relationship to the spirit so you can move ahead. Remember you can always move ahead. There is always a way. When you begin to make a step, the more important step it is, the more difficult it will be and the greater will be the illusion that you must take a step backward.
Let us be of good cheer, remembering that the misfortunes hardest to bear are those which never happen. – Lowell
March 23, 2014
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