My consciousness catapulted out of my body ...

My consciousness catapulted out of my body. I had the feeling that my consciousness had no boundaries anymore, and I had become the totality of existence. The idea that consciousness somehow mysteriously emerges from matter didn't make sense to me anymore. It was easier to imagine that consciousness could create the experience of the material universe by an infinitely complex orchestration.
Stanislav Grof

Altered States

An altered state of consciousness is simply one where the observer is not separate from the observed, that there is no naming of "things," and there is the recognition that All Is One.; that there is consciousness and language in all things. Shamanism, then, is the use of altered states of consciousness for the purpose of healing. Generally speaking, it involves traveling to other realms and making contact with Spirit helpers. Even modern physics acknowledges the interconnectedness of all life. It does not restrict itself to a linear model anymore. Quantum concepts are more in harmony with the shamanic view than with Newtonian physics.
Leslie Gray

Security

Security is mostly a superstition, it does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men (and women) as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all.
Helen Keller

Unlimited information

The individual human mind is like a computer terminal connected to a giant data base. The data base is human consciousness itself, of which our own cognizance is merely an individual expression, but with it's roots in the common consciousness of all mankind. This data base is the realm of genius; because to be human is to participate in the data base, everyone, by virtue of his birth, has access to genius. The unlimited information contained in the data base has now been shown to be readily available to anyone in a few seconds, at any time and in any place. This is indeed an astonishing discovery, bearing the power to change lives, both individually and collectively , to a degree never yet anticipated.

Seen mythically

Seen mythically, this world continues to be a locus of mystery, and life remains an act of wonder in which some risk attends each breath and the necessity of love trumps all theories.

Small Boat - Great Mountain

"The Buddha is that which is awake, that which knows, so taking refuge in the Buddha is taking refuge in the awareness of the mind. The Buddha arises from the Dharma. The Buddha is an attribute, and 'knowing' is also an attribute of that fundamental reality. The Dharma is the ultimate object, the way things are. Its characteristic is emptiness (i.e. emptiness in the sense of 'empty of a separate self' and therefore inter-connected with all things.") The Buddha is the ultimate subject, that which knows, that which is awake. So when the ultimate subject knows the ultimate object, when the mind that knows is aware of the way things are, what comes forth is Sangha, compassionate action. Sangha intrinsically flows forth from that quality. When there's awareness of the way things are, then compassionate skillful means naturally arise and flow from that. The three refuges, as you can see, are all interwoven.
-- Amaro Bhikku in his brilliant little book Small Boat, Great Mountain

Quanta

Once a measurement is done, the measured system becomes entangled with both the physicist who measured it and a huge number of other particles, some of which are photons flying away towards the other end of the universe; in order to prove that the wave function did not collapse one would have to bring all these particles back and measure them again, together with the system that was measured originally. This is completely impractical, but even if one could theoretically do this, it would destroy any evidence that the original measurement took place (including the physicist's memory.)
(From Wikipedia explanation of quantum physics ... )

Commenncement

We are going to have to figure out what it means to be a human being on Earth at a time when every living system is declining, and the rate of decline is accelerating. Kind of a mind-boggling situation. Basically, civilization needs a new operating system, we are the programmers, and we need it within a few decades. If you look at the science about what is happening on Earth and aren't pessimistic, you don't understand the data. But if you meet the people who are working to restore this Earth and the lives of the poor, and you aren't optimistic, you haven't got a pulse. What I see everywhere in the world are ordinary people willing to confront despair, power, and incalculable odds in order to restore some semblance of grace, justice, and beauty to this world.

Connections

"When we seek for connection, we restore the world to wholeness. Our seemingly separate lives become meaningful as we discover how truly necessary we are to each other."
Margaret Wheatley

Little saves big

In order for things iin this world to change, people might have to listen to little things, learn to hear again the language of nature and learn to trust the little voice that speaks from within. Listen this way and there’s no need to believe in some great salvation if the divine can be found in nearby aspects of the incarnate world. The notion that little saves big; that a small change can have a huge effect keeps being lost and rediscovered as the waves of time ebb and flow.
(Michael Meade)

Viewing freedoom

"Viewing freedom as intrinsic to our being, we discover that our lives are what we make of them. All options are open, our choices unlimited. When we have knowledge space grants us unbounded opportunity,
and time presents us with infinite possibilities for change."
- Tarthang Tulku

The Master gives himself up to whatever the moment brings. He knows that he is going to die, and her has nothing left to hold on to: no illusions in his mind, no resistances in his body. He doesn't think about his actions; they flow from the core of his being. He holds nothing back from life; therefore he is ready for death, as a man is ready for sleep after a good day's work.
:ao Tse (transs. Stephen Miitchell)

Nervous system

"We don't understand the operations of our minds and hence don't operate them very well. We need to make the nervous system our ally,
instead of our enemy."
Charles Tart

Provide a Context

"It is all a question of story. We are in between stories. The old story, the account of how the world came to be and how we fit into it, is no longer effective. Yet we have not yet learned the new story. Our traditional story of the Universe sustained us for a long period of time. It shaped our emotional attitudes, provided us with life purpose and energized action. It consecrated suffering and integrated knowledge. We awoke in the morning and knew where we were. We could answer the questions of our children. We could identify crime, punish transgressors. Everything was taken care of because the story was there. It did not necessarily make people good, nor did it take away the pains and stupidities of life or make for unfailing warmth in human associations. It did provide a context in which life could function in a meaningful manner."
-Thomas Berry

.... then shall you enter ...

"When you make the two one, and when you make the inner as the outer and the outer as the inner and the above as the below, and when you make the male and female into a single one, then shall you enter the Kingdom."
Jesus in the Gospel of St. Thomas

A Man of Knowledge

"A man of knowledge chooses a path with a heart and follows it and then he looks and rejoices and laughs and then he sees and knows. He knows that his life will be over altogether too soon. He knows that he as well as everybody else is not going anywhere. He knows because he "sees"...a man of knowledge endeavors and sweats and puffs and if one looks at him he is just like any ordinary man, except that the folly of his life is under control." --Don Juan

Shine

"However young, the seeker who sets out upon the way shines bright over the world. But day and night the person who is awake shines in the radiance of the spirit. Meditate. Live purely. Be quiet. Do your work, with mastery. Like the moon, come out from behind the clouds! Shine."
The Buddha

Transcendence

We humans' are unique in relationship to all other life forms on the planet with our ability control fire, for better or worse. This ability is transcendent. To transcend ourselves distinguishes us from the animal kingdom. Each time we ignite a fire; that is an act of transcendence. Fire (heat and light) is and always will be the familiar mystery.

Love is a temporary madness ...

Love is a temporary madness; it erupts like volcanoes and then subsides. And when it subsides we have to make a decision. We have to work out whether our roots have so entwined together that it is inconceivable that we should ever part. Because this is what love is. Love is not breathlessness, it is not excitement, it is not the promulgation of eternal passion. That is just being 'in love,' which any fool can do. Love itself is what is left over when being in love has burned away, and this is both an art and a fortunate accident. Love is the roots that grow towards each other underground, slowly and determined. And when all the pretty blossoms have fallen from their branches, we find we are no longer two, but one. One root, One tree, One Love.
> - By Louis de Bernieres, from Captain Corelli's Mandolin

Mining the Human

"The spiritual impact that religious, administrative and corporate colonization has upon indigenous people is like a technological form of mining the energy of the planet. We are forms of that energy. That's the 'being' part of us. The human form is made up of metals, minerals and liquids of earth. All things of the earth have 'being.' We know they can take the bone, flesh and blood out of the earth that is uranium and put it through a mining-refining process and convert its being into a form of energy, and we know they can do it with fossil fuel. And we know that when they do these things it leaves behind poisons and toxins. When the industrial ruling class mine the 'being' part of human through programming the human to believe their obedience. Human beings enter this reality with all this distortion, based upon there being something wrong with them, and fear comes real quickly. Mine the being part of humans, fear is the toxin left behind from that mining. We've been picked apart, we end up as human beings having this tendency to feel powerless. It's everywhere .…this powerlessness feeling is prevalent on this planet. "
John Trudell, Santee Sioux

Each one of you is so amazing ...

Each one of you is so amazing. Right now you have in you one quadrillion cells. That's one hundred trillion times one thousand. About nine hundred trillion of those cells are not human. They're virus, bacteria, and microorganisms. What makes us human, ironically, is not human. If they were not there you would rot like a piece of fruit in a few days. So be grateful for those free riders. But I want you to experience something, because every second in your body, one septillion things are happening. That's a one with 24 zeros. Another way to imagine one septillion is it's ten times more than all the stars and planets in the known universe. Now, let me ask you a question: Can you feel it? Seriously. One septillion interactions. It's called life. You can feel it. Except we talk and we get busy and we ignore that feeling."
-- Paul Hawken

For each of you ...

For each of you we have appointed a law and a way. And if God had willed it, he would have made you one nation. But He willed it otherwise, that He may put you to the test in what He has given you. So, vie with one another in good works; unto God will we be brought back, and He will inform us about that wherein we differed.
-Muhammed-

Nindinewemaganidok” - My Relatives ...

There are four layers above the Earth and four layers below. Sometimes in our dream and creations we pass through the layers, which are also space and time. In saying the word “nindinewemaganidok” (my relatives) we speak of everything that has existed in time, the known and the unknown, the unseen, the obvious, all that lived before and is living now and which will live in the worlds above and below. We are related to all, everything, that has come before, that is now, and that will be.
-Louise Erdrich-

Ego is Not a Constant ...

Just as energy can be used for many different purposes, so can pure existence be experienced in relation to any phase of life—anger, hatred, or jealousy as well as love and beauty. Every human action must be carried on through the ego, which plays a role comparable to that of a pipe or channel through which energy is conducted for different uses. We usually think of the ego as a kind of constant, unchanging entity. In fact, however, it is simply a succession of physical and mental events or pressures that appear momentarily and as quickly pass away.
–Katsuki Sekida, from A Guide to Zen

Nothing Can Be Better ...

The world of distraction spins around and around, while moving continuously to keep itself amused and entertained. It transports us to a world of fantasy, or a world of controversy, or competition, or of just about anything other than the one true existence that is right before us. Distraction keeps our heads turned in the direction of momentary pleasures, excitement, and delight.
On the other hand, the cool heart, with its spiritual energy, is the sobering factor that keeps us focused on worthier goals. It tempers the euphoria of petty fun. It settles us firmly down on Earth, grounding and sobering us with a clear view into life’s many facets in a balanced manner. The cool heart is unmoved by the intoxication of the world. The wise heart is the cool heart. It directs us to a profound state where we are liberated from the burden and stench of self-consciousness. Nothing can be better than that.
–Ajahn Sumano Bhikkhu, "Meeting the Monkey Halfway"

Seven blunders

"Seven blunders of the world that lead to violence: wealth without work, pleasure without conscience, knowledge without character, commerce without morality, science without humanity, worship without sacrifice, politics without principle."
-Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948)

Best Remedy

The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quiet, alone with the heavens, nature and God. Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be."
Anne Frank 1929-1945

The Spirituality of the Earth

Spirituality emerges out of a reality deeper than ourselves, deeper than life, a spirituality that is as deep as the Earth itself, a spirituality born out of understanding the our souls are prayers of the Earth. Earth Mother spirituality is a mode of being in which we not only commune with a living Earth; we discover ourselves in the Earth and the Earth discovers itself in us."

the true human being

Seeing only with the eyes,
Speaking only with the mouth,
This is the path the ego enjoys.
To see from the heart,
And communicate from our inner ki,
This is the way of the true human being.

Money the Ultimate ...

"Money, the ultimate object of worship among modern humans, is the most mysterious of human artifacts: a magic number with no meaning or existence outside the human mind. Yet it has become the ultimate arbiter of life - deciding who will live in grand opulence in the midst of scarcity and who will die of hunger in the midst of plenty. This gives ultimate power to those who control the creation and allocation of money."
Prof. David Korten, 'YES!' Magazine, Summer 2009

Our Bodies Hear Everything We Say

Leadership is not about being loved. Leadership is about being at your best and challenging others to be at their best. Managers know how to do things right; leaders know how to do the right thing.

The Great Secret ...

A good traveler is not intent upon arriving. A good artist lets his intuition lead him wherever it wants. A good scientist has freed himself of concepts and keeps his mind open to what is. Leaders are available to all people and don't reject anyone, use all situations and do not waste anything. What is a good man but a bad man's teacher? What is a bad man but a good man's job? If we don't understand this, we will get lost, however intelligent we are. It is the great secret.

Synthesis of the Will

Psychosynthesis assigns a central function to the Will. Because of Will we can invent new behavior and become an intelligent cause. We can truly and freely choose, bearing the full responsibility of self-determination. It is this evolutionary acquisition, still very much in development, that we give here the name of Will. True Will directs the various personalities from an independent centered standpoint.
Piero Ferrucci

If ...

If a living system is suffering from ill health, the remedy is to connect it with more of itself. This is one of the most vital of all principles to understand and take to heart in how we live and work.
--Francisco Varela of the Integral Institute

Define Intelligence.

A definition of intelligence that discredits the individual mind in favor of some collective mind will feed powerful systems: governments, corporations, and other large institutions. It will emphasize efficiency of thought over depth of thought. And, as we increasingly connect with the world through computer screens, we're removing ourselves from direct sensory contact with nature. In other words, we learning to substitute symbols of reality for reality itself.
Nicholas Carr - How the Internet is Rewiring our Brains

Vision and Power

"It is not enough to have a vision. In order to have its power, you must enact your vision on Earth for all to see. Only then do you have the power."
Nicholas Black Elk

Sophrosyne

Plato said that beautiful language induces "sophrosyne," a condition of stability and integration in psychic life.

Artists play

Artists play an essential prophetic role in the life of a culture which also suggests that the "working artist" in each of us may play a similar intuitive and aesthetic role in one's individual psychic culture.

Poetry is a Force

"The ritual chants, incantations and healing songs of indigenous people at their core illustrate the vital role of artistic language in ancient medicine. In the Western world perhaps the closest we come is in visionary art and in poetry. Art and poetry are indeed forces that alter the way we see our lives and so changes us."

Nothing Is

"Nothing is finite which doesn't include the infinite. The finite is the by product of the infinite as such becomes the outer form, the mirror of the infinite, its external revealing image. Essence and form are inseparable. Essence is the eternal Being. But living form is its constantly ever new manifestation - everlasting revelation...
I try to learn from the finite sciences the lessons of the infinite."
-- Arthur Young