LOVELIGHT
Magazine
Volume 3, number 4*** April 2006
Managing Editors:
Adamaria Francis and Richard Shining Thunder Francis
Contributors to this issue: Jimmy Dwyer, Chris Finer, Mick Gallagher, Teresa Ramsey, Ty Scharrer, Geoffrey
Stoermer, and Jacqui Zarley
LOVELIGHT MAGAZINE: WHAT WE'RE ALL ABOUT
Lovelight magazine is free.
It comes directly to your inboxscreen once a month, to bring a little
sunshine into your life. We hope to
bring you at least a few laughs, in the "Humor Therapy" section. But life, as we know, is not all
laughs. So, we hope also to share
with you some pleasant and sweet thoughts-- and maybe even some life-lessons. If you see any, or any jokes that make
your roar or cry with silly humor, please send them along to us.
Lovelight wants to promote peace
and harmony. We would also love to
aid you personally to overcome any problems that you might have. If you are working on any religious,
psychological, or spiritual problems, we encourage you to write to us at rmfrancis@junno.com
We also want to present "miniparables" to help you grow. So, if you come across any wise or
touching pieces, not copyrighted, fairly short, please share them with the
efamily. Also welcome are
practical tips that can make life easier or safer. We also welcome short pieces on personal philosophies,
interesting facts, wordplays, and spirituality, especially those that emphasize
the value of compassion and other forms of Love. We reserve the right to make whatever changes that we deem
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This is published as a "light" introduction to
spirituality. It is designed
especially for those who have little or no interest in the "heavier"
aspects of spirituality. Indeed,
it has proved useful to reach many with no compelling interest in the subjects
of agapology (the psychology of Love) or the Way of Love (spirituality). And it is also great, fun reading for
all the rest of us!:) This
collection would make a sweet gift for a loved one. Happy reading!:)
Love,
The Editors
*****
*****
BUSTING GUTS
AND MILK OUT THE NOSE: MORE
HUMORTHERAPY
***
NEW STAMP, sent in by Teresa Ramsey
When George W. Bush completed 4
years of his show-off, pretentious, and "spinned" presidency, he
wanted a glorious postage stamp issued with his handsome, intelligent picture
on it. Artists had to brush stroke
away the smirk and the beady, darting eyes, and alter a face filled with
pride. After the alterations, he
looked like Michael Jackson after a serious accident. He instructed his poor wifeLaura, who was helping to design
the visual lie, stressing that it should be of international quality. With the very best oils, tints, and
colors, the stamp could not hide the appearance of a criminalfool. Still, everyone did her best to fake a
positive facial expression on the gargoylic face of greed and cruelty. A woman heard that george bush was
issuing a new commemorative stamp to celebrate his wonderful, glorious reign as
"King George," America's first king. She checked the matter out at several post offices, and then
reported the problem to her husband.
She said: "There is nothing wrong with the quality of the
stamps. The problem is that people
are spitting on the wrong side."
***
MAKING LIFE
COMPLEX: WHERE DO I PARK?, sent in by Ty
Scharrer
One winter morning a couple
was listening to the radio over breakfast. They heard the announcer say, "We are going to have eight
inches of snow today. Please park
your car on the even-numbered side of the street, so the snowplows can get
through." Norman's wife went
out and moved her car.
A week later, the
radio announcer said, "We are expecting ten inches of snow today. Please park your car on the
odd-numbered side of the street, so the snowplows can get through." Norman's wife went out and moved her
car again.
The next week they were
again having breakfast, when the radio announcer said, "We are expecting
twelve inches of snow today. You must park ..." Then, the power went out.
Norman's wife was
very upset, and said, "Honey, I don't know what to do. Which side of the street do I need to
park on so the snowplows can get through?"
With Love and understanding
in his voice that all men who are married to blondes exhibit, Norman said, "Why
don't you just leave it in the garage this time?"
[http://gatorsden.org]
TOP FOURTEEN BIBLICAL WAYS TO ACQUIRE A WIFE, sent in by Ty Scharrer
Find an attractive prisoner of
war, bring her home, shave her head, trim her nails, and give her new clothes.
Then she's yours. (Deuteronomy
21:11-13)*** Find a prostitute and marry her. (Hosea 1:1-3)***Find a man with seven daughters, and impress
him by watering his flock. (Moses,
in Exodus 2:16-21)***Purchase a piece of property, and get a woman as part of the deal. (Boaz in Ruth 4:5-10)***Go
to a party and hide. When the women come out to dance, grab one and carry
her off to be your wife.
(Benjaminites -- Judges 21:19-25)***Have God create a wife for you
while you sleep. Note: this will
cost you. Adam in Genesis
2:19-24)***Agree to work seven
years in exchange for a woman's hand in marriage. Get tricked
into marrying the wrong woman. Then work another seven years for the woman
you wanted to marry in the first
place. That's right. Fourteen years of toil for a wife. (Jacob -- Genesis 29:15-30)***Cut 200
foreskins off of your future father-in-law's
enemies and get his daughter for a wife. (David -- 1 Samuel 18:27)***Even if no one is out there,
just wander around a bit and you'll definitely find someone. [It's all relative, of course. (Cain, in Genesis 4:16-17)]***Become the emperor of a
huge nation and hold a beauty contest.
(Xerxes or Ahasuerus --
Esther 2:3-4)***When you see someone you like, go home and tell your parents, "I have seen
a
... woman; now get her for me." If your parents
question your decision, simply say, "Get her for me. She's the one for me." (Samson -- Judges 14:1-3)***Kill
any husband and take HIS wife
(Prepare to lose four sons, though. David in 2 Samuel 11)***Wait for your brother to die. Take his widow. (It's
not just a good idea; it's the
law. Onana and Boaz in Deuteronomy
or Leviticus, example in Ruth. Don't
be so picky. Make up for quality with quantity.
(Solomon).
***
THE RIGHT
PERSON FOR THE RIGHT JOB, sent in by Geoffrey
Stoermer
Put about 100 bricks in no particular order
in a closed room with an open window. Then send 2 or 3 candidates in the
room and close the door. Leave
them alone and come back after 6 hours; and then analyze the situation:***If
they are counting the bricks, put them in the accounts department.***If they
are recounting them, put them in auditing.***If they have messed up the whole
place with the bricks, put them in engineering.***If they are arranging the
bricks in some strange order, put them in planning.***If they are throwing the
bricks at each other, put them in operations.***If they are sleeping, put them
in reception.***If they have broken the bricks into pieces, put them in
information technology.***If they are sitting idle, put them in human
resources.***If they say they have tried different combinations, yet not a
brick has been moved, put them in sales.***If they have already left for the
day, put them in marketing.***If they are staring out of the window, put them
on strategic planning.*** If they are talking to each other and not a single
brick has been moved, congratulate them; and put them in top management!
*****
*****
BOOK-REVIEW: LUMINOUS
ECSTASIES AND PASSIONS,
by Jacqui Zarley
I read the book Luminous
Ecstasies and Passions about a year ago. My
personal opinion was that IT was two really good books compacted into one….
I absolutely LOVED the evil minister character,… Griffin. I loved the dream murders…. The secret chamber-scenes, where he
practiced his dark rituals, were riveting. A horror-novel just about him and Bob's fight to stop him
between the two worlds would have been absolutely delicious! The end of the world
scenes… peg you as a true horror-writer, my friend. You have quite a talent for detail. These scenes were vivid and well
written. I particularly liked the
scene with the elderly couple. Just
enough gore to be frightening but not so much as to be overdone. Bravo!
From a
sci-fi/Horror buff's point of view, being yanked out of an exciting horror plot
and dropped into the Homeworld where you're having sex in meadows and riding
elephants was almost painful! Don't
get me wrong. I enjoyed the Homeworld
scenes. I found them very
entertaining but would have liked to have had less of them, and a more filled
out storyline on earth. The Homeworld
idea answers a lot of questions about our souls' Journey. I wanted to know more about the actual
learning process. Why does a
certain soul choose a certain life, and how much control does the soul have
over the outcome of the life? Is
it possible to access your "soul" for advice during your lifexperience?
If so how? Can your soul advise
you? I can't remember how much you addressed about that. A novel about Quinton's
journey through the homeworld would be quite an enjoyable [sequential] read. He's a truly likable character. I
love the scene where Quinton goes to the library and gets to view all the other
Quintons that exist in other possibilities [alternative universes]. That blew my mind for weeks! I kept thinking I could bump into myself
in the grocery store…. Then, if you take it a step further, every single
person on the planet could be another version of me…. [Another very distant "me"] could
be that snotty little clerk at Walmart!! Heavy, man!!
Two brilliant books could come of
this one.
Dear Jacqui,
[RESPONSE:
Every writer wants to say
everything in every book.:) That
is, of course, impossible. A good
book must be rewritten at least four or five times before it is presentable,
and that cuts away huge chunks, including scenes, explanations, etc. Also, a novel better explains what
happens than why; a novel can be no "how to" book or "three easy
steps" manual. The utter,
astonishing contrasts-- between the sweet Homeworld scenes and those in which
sexuality, evil, and darkness were out-of-control and rampant-- were
deliberate. Yes, my friend, we can
access the Mind of the higher Self (soul), but it takes some discipline and
"stillmind," interior prayer (the "prayer of silence") and
meditation, clearing the mind.
People get impatient with this structure, but, happily, we do have forever. Thanks very much for the valuable
comments.:)
Love,
Shi]
*****
*****
JEWELS INSIDE, sent in by Geoffrey Stoermer
A man was exploring caves by the
seashore. In one, he found a canvas bag filled with hardened clay
balls. They didn't look like much,
but they intrigued him, so he took the bag out of the cave. As he
strolled along the beach, he would throw The clay balls one at a time out into
the ocean as far as he could.
He thought little about it, until he
dropped one of the clay balls and it cracked open on a rock. Inside was a
beautiful, faceted, sparkling precious jewel. Excited, the man started breaking open the remaining clay
balls. Each contained a similar treasure. He found thousands of
dollars' worth of jewels in the 20 or so clay balls he had left. Then it
struck him: He had been on the beach
a long time. He had thrown maybe 50 or 60 of the clay balls with their
hidden treasures into the ocean waves. Instead of thousands of dollars in
treasure, he could have taken home tens of thousands, but he had just thrown it
away.
It's like that with people. We look
at someone, maybe even ourselves, and we see the external clay vessel. It
doesn't look like much from the outside. It isn't always beautiful or
sparkling, so we discount it.
We see that person as less important than
someone more beautiful, stylish, well known, or wealthy. But we have not taken the time to find
the treasure hidden inside her/him.
There is a treasure in each and every one
of us. If we take the time to get to know that person, and if we ask God
to show us that person the way that She/He Sees them, then the clay begins to
peel away. And the brilliant gem
begins to shine forth.
May we not come to the end of our lives
and find out that we have thrown away a great fortune in the rare jewels of
true friendship. A wasted
friendship is an ungodly waste.
Let us take care not to lose a fortune in friendships because the gems
were hidden in bits of clay. May we see the people in our world as God
sees them. I am so blessed by the
gems of friendship I have with you. Thank you for looking beyond my clay
vessel.
*****
*****
EXCHANGING
GREED FOR JOY, sent in by Mick Gallagher
[We need to return to] a benevolent, hospitable way of life.
[We all need to learn] to live simply so that others may simply live. Instead of cut throat greed, desire, we can listen to the inner
Light of Love-- Love, agape
Love…. [With] Love as the Center
of our lives, this can return us to some semblance of sanity. And [a new, simple, profound,
life-changing book] must transcend religiosity, political parties--just like music, comedy, and dance. [It must] cause people to forget what
their "trained stripes" are.
And [it must] ascend, [for it] could have that same affect [on others]. And we could begin to get through to
all people--at many different levels. I think [greed] really took off after the Civil War--when
this country really [energized]--and most was good. But [the hu]man propensity for more of everything took
control. And that monster which
was then on a leash--by the mid twentieth century, was put on a chain. But [it was] not further restrained,
and now it's devouring the master[s and creators, materialistic human minds]. And [now it's consuming their] young [the coming generation[. [They are being eaten up by] greed,
money, power, wealth, fame, more & more domination & control. Not many people know the true history of
this nation, and how its tentacles have now reached around the world----for
their business interests and profits. Why
else would we have cared what Britain & Germany did in WW1?
Because of the British Empires hold on us,…and the business
interests here, etc….We need to wake up the majority of citizens,…This
is the time, before it's too late!
I had encouragement last evening when I saw a panel on C-Span--to
investigate
impeachable offenses by this group
in D.C.---John Dean, John Conyer's, etc. Excellent!
…At the turn of the century, when inventions
were falling outta the sky, greed was
barking right behind the early industrialists. So were the good, bad, and ugly. The latter 2--bad & ugly-- have
become a demonic stranglehold on all that was/is good about this great nation. Our positive influence once was a beacon of Light unto the world. [That was when this nation was] true to
its Christian roots. We must
[also] include [with other "demons"] the power of Gold. [This comes most often from greed, as] warfare----WW1,
forward. It became another source
for the ruling elite--to add to
their holdings.
[We need] to look at ourselves, and begin making small, incremental steps [towards
improvement]. We have the power of
free will. [There are] many paths
up the Mountain. And the view from
the top is still the same….
Why not have fourth-graders mentor second-graders,
to think beyond themselves? [This
could help society] groom the goodness, that is us, just not encouraged. Instead, [all that we often see is]
selfish, myopic attitudes that, later in life, can become ridiculous [extremes,
such as greed and murder]. The
caving to the "lesser god of
self" [or the feeble] egoic mind, [is pathological].
Instead of feeding [kids] junkfood, [let's
give them] "Soulfood," and better nutrition. That isn't based on Corporate
profit. [We need] a return to
simplicity, away from power, wealth & fame.
…We are out of order with the cosmos.
Our very lives [are too much]
the struggle for the legal tender,
for more stuff. [often, it is
merely]junk. Materialism
is a false illusion, and never satisfies. Love will find a way. But all this bickering at human levels--left-right …will
just lead us nowhere.
*****
*****
BIBLE AND
CONSTITUTION, sent in by Geoffrey Stoermer
On Wednesday, March 1st, 2006, in Annapolis, at a hearing on the proposed
Constitutional Amendment to prohibit gay marriage, Jamie Raskin,
professor of law at AU, was requested to testify.
At the end of his testimony, Republican Senator Nancy Jacobs said: "Mr. Raskin, my Bible says [that]
marriage is only between a man and a woman. What do you have to say
about that?"
Raskin replied: "Senator, when you took your oath of office,
you placed your hand on the Bible and swore to uphold the Constitution. You did not place your hand on the
Constitution and swear to uphold the Bible."
The room erupted into applause.
*****
*****
AN EXPERIMENT
WITH "THOUGHT-BROADCASTING," by
Jacquie Zarley
Oh my God, look how fat he is! she's way to old to be wearing that skirt.
Man, that guy stinks!..... God, that's an ugly baby; it looks like
a monkey!......on and on my judgmental thoughts go. Of course I would never say these terrible things. But it's okay to THINK these nasty
thoughts, right? I mean these folks don't know that I'm thinking these
things about them. Nothing about
my outward demeanor would ever give me away.
I'm a very loving, kind person. Most people
would ignore these people. Not me!
I shake the fat guy's hand and compliment the lady's skirt. I smile and
make eye contact with the stinky guy and coo to the ugly baby. So, I'm "practicing Love,"
right? Well, not all the Way.
Just because I outwardly pretend to love others doesn't mean
I'm actually practicing Love. Love
is deeper than outward appearances.
Love affects not only actions, but goes deeper to affect feelings. Truly practicing Love means to learn to
control the ego. If we allow the
ego to rule our thoughts, we're letting it rule us. We'll never truly know Love if our egos rule us. So how can we learn to control our egos?
***
"Thought-broadcasting" Experiment in Imagination
***
Here's how it works: Imagine that every thought that you think can be heard by
everyone around you. Don't panic! I'm not talking about Government Mind
control here. So, put away your aluminum
foil hat.:)
Just use your imagination. What would have happened, in the earlier
account, if each of my mean thoughts had been heard aloud? Imagine the fat man's having heard yet
another nasty comment about his weight. That smile he gave me when I shook his hand might be replaced
with a look of shame. So much for
Love!
Are you ready to give it a try? Okay, so now all of your thoughts are being
"broadcast" out into the world. What kind of thoughts do you want to go out there? How about loving, kind thoughts? It might be hard at first; but try to
find something kind and loving to think about every person. Imagine how it would make her feel if
she heard you think it.
Remember, thoughts have energy similar to that of words. Start sending only Lovenergy instead of
judgmental energy. Imagine if I
had looked around that same room and thought, "Wow! Look at those beautiful eyes! She has lovely hair. He really must be a hard worker. That baby seems like such a happy
little soul." Imagine how the
energy inside your head would change from criticism to Love. Then when I shook hands and smiled, it
would be genuine and truly Love-guided. Maybe no one would know the difference but me. But in my heart, I would know that I was
truly doing my part to change the world one thought at a time. I dare you to
try it! Now is the time to begin
the "healing" of the world!
*****
*****
WORDS TO SOAR BY, sent in By Chris Finer
"Do
not go where the path may lead. Go
instead where there is no path, and leave a trail."--R. W. Emerson
***
"The best effort of a fine person
is felt after we have left her
presence."--R.
W. Emerson
*****
*****
A WARM CUP OF REALI-TEA, modified from an article sent in by Teresa Ramsey and Ty Scharrer
Eastern mystical
views and philosophies (Hinduism and Buddhism, etc.) are more mystical than
most Western ones. For example,
they believe the material world is an illusion, or, as in general mysticism, a
dream. They call this illusion maya. It is unlike true Reality. For the only Reality in the cosmos is Mind. This Supermind contains all the
knowledge and wisdom in all the minds on all the planets throughout all the
galaxies.
It is vastly,
immensely breath-taking. So, this
"divine" Mind is incomprehensible. In fact, It is bottomless. It is called
both the "Infinite" and "Reality" by mystics. Maya (illusion) is all that is in
the projected "material, physical, external" world, everything that
begins and ends.
The spiritual path
includes understanding of the Seven Pillars of Ancient Wisdom:
1) All things, from
atom to galaxy, contain Mind, for it is Mind that dreams, and so
"indwells," all. By
dreaming up the world, the Mind "climbs into" it, and so lives
"within" the cloud, the star, the rose, and your brain. This is often presented as a "living
Presence."
2) Every "small
mind" resides within, grows from, is a part of, a greater, allinclusive
Mind. It is dreaming the world of maya into being through these
smaller minds. The great One, the
one Mind, uses nanominds such as the human to dream into secondary reality the
world.
3) Every being is
made in the internal and spiritual "image" of an ultimate greater
being. This is, in mysticism, the
"Absolute," "Supermind," or "God." We mirror, not God's physical
structure; for God is not biological, not a "critter." But we do, by grace/Love, mirror the
limitless Mind of Love only.
4) The vibration of
every living presence is felt by every other living presence in our universe.
5) Our
"physical, material" cosmos is neither. It is made of energies which vibrate to seven
levels.
6) Energy and matter
are interchangeable. Both are
Mind. The material world is a
dream or Mindprojection.
7) There is no death,
only a change of state. In a world where people
exist in a temporary life spanning seven or eight decades, feverishly
attempting to accumulate things, modern science appears to be catching up with
ancient wisdom.
***
In 1982, physicist
Alain Aspect (University of Paris) discovered that subatomic particles
instantaneously respond to each other regardless of the distance separating
them.” It doesn’t matter if they are 10 feet or 10 billion miles
apart. Somehow each particle
always responds to changes made in the other. This might be the most important
discovery in history, confirming step 4 in the Seven Pillars of Ancient
Wisdom. And this lends credence to
the previous three. Physicist
David Bohm (University of London) believes Aspect’s findings suggest that
"material or physical" reality does not exist.
Despite the apparent
solidity of the universe, it’s actually a hologram* (a three-dimensional
“image” that is an illusion of a three-dimensional solid reality). Bohm contends that subatomic particles
are able to remain bonded because their "separation" is also an
illusion.
This verifies step
six: The material world is an
illusion. Aspect’s discovery
would explain paranormal phenomena.
These include psychic abilities, remote viewing, out-of-body journeys, rde's,
or "real-death experiences," precognitive visions, premonitions, etc.
Everything is
connected, regardless of time or distance. Neurophysiologist Karl Pribram (Stanford University), a
proponent of a holographic universe, has theorized that memories are not encoded
in neurons, but rather, in patterns of nerve impulses that crisscross the
entire brain. Experiments were conducted
whereby various portions of the brain of a rat were removed, yet the rat was
still able to perform tasks (its memory remained intact). According to Pribram, the brain itself
is a hologram.
The findings of Bohm
and Pribram have become known as the "holographic paradigm." While
many scientists are skeptical, there’s a growing group of researchers who
believe in these speculations.
***
I
coined the terms "psychohologram" and "psychoholographic"
in my 1986 book The Way of Universal Love (Worthville, Kentucky; Love Ministries, Inc.,
1986)
*****
*****
THE GOSPEL OF
THOMAS: JEWELS FROM GNOSTICISM
This document is marked into verses. It originated about 150 in a Greek,
Syriac, or Aramaic version. Its
author is Judas Thomas, a legendary and allegorical twin of Jesus, associated
with a Syrian church. It resembles
the "Q" document. This
was the original document upon which both Matthew and Luke were based, but even
its fragmentary form has been lost.
Thomas is respectably old, as old as John.
It traces gnosticism to Jesus. It
is esoteric. "Truth" is
knowing of one's "divine identity," or mental "oneness" with
God. To "return to her Origin"
in Supermind, the mystic separates from the natural world, by "stripping
off" her "earthly garment" (psychobio-body). For she is not a body, but a mind.
The following jewels have been selected from the
114 verses of the original, for their luminous mystical teachings:
1. …The secret sayings [of] Jesus.…Whoever finds
the interpretation… will not experience death. 2. …[The
discoverer] will rule over the all.
3. …The kingdom is inside of you….11. [Some were vegetarians.] … In the
days when you consumed what is dead,… On the day when you were one, you
became two….13. I am not
your master….22. These infants
being suckled are like those entering the kingdom….When you make the two
one [all part of one Mind], and make the inside like the outside ["outside"
is only a dream],…then will you enter the kingdom….25. Love your brother like your
soul….27. If you do not
fast,… you will not find the kingdom….[Jesus found people in the
world] intoxicated….29.
Great [spiritual] wealth makes its home in [material] poverty….
37. Disrobe, without being
ashamed….42. Become
passers-by….49. Blessed are
the solitary,…for you will find the kingdom, for you are from it, and to
it you will return…. 50.
…We came from the Light….52.
You have omitted the One living in your presence, and have spoken of
only the dead. [His disciples
asked about prophets.] 58. Blessed is the person who has suffered
and found life….61. I am He
who exists from the Undivided.
[This is monism, contraindicating dualism; nothing is separate from the
One.] If he is undivided, he will
be filled with Light….63. [A
rich man makes elaborate plans to re-invest and increase his wealth.] That same night, he died….Businessmen
and merchants will not enter the places of My Father….
67. Whoever believes that the all is deficient is himself
completely deficient…. [The
kingdom of God is like a merchant who sold everything that he owned, and bought
a pearl of great value. We should
be willing to give up anything for the kingdom.] 77. It is I who
am the all. From Me did the all
come forth, and , and unto Me did the all extend. Split a piece of wood, and I am there. Lift up a stone, and you will find Me
there….
81. … Let him who possesses
power renounce it….83. … The images are manifest to man, but the
Light in them remains concealed in the image of the Light of the Father. [People see the material world, but
never see the Mind of Light that dreams it up through smaller minds.] He will become manifest, but His image
will remain concealed by His Light….95. If you have money, do not lend it at interest, but give it
to one from whom you will not get it back…. 97. [The
kingdom is likened to a jar full of meal that had a hole in it. A woman carrying it did not realize
that it was leaking out all over the road, and when she got home, it was
empty. Unless the self is
"empty," there is no "inner space" for the Light of
Spirit.] 101. Whoever does not love his father and
his mother as I do cannot become a disciple to Me…. 108. He who will drink from My mouth will become like Me. I Myself shall become he…. 110. Whoever finds the world, and becomes rich, let him renounce
the world…. 111. Whoever lives from the living One will
not see death…. 113. The kingdom of the Father is spread out
upon the earth, and people do not see it….
*****
*****
WHEN ELEPHANTS
WEEP: ANIMALS AND THEIR EMOTIONS
Human emotions constitute one of the most
complex patterns in the known universe.
Paradoxically, it is this very emotionality that prevents some from the
“commonsense” recognition that other creatures even have
emotions. And while human emotions
tend towards the opaque and hidden, those of animals are spontaneous, clear,
free, and insouciant. They
completely lack so-called “defense mechanisms” such as repression,
projection, reactionformation, fixation, and denial.
Elephants are among the most sentient
(selfaware) creatures. Their
neuron-rich and deeply-convoluted brains weigh thirteen pounds (compared with
the average human--a paltry three). When angry or frightened, they flap their great ears in
warning. When angry or motivated,
they can run up to twenty-eight miles per hour. These great creatures often also have hearts to match. They have often been found tenderly
weeping, often over some personal crisis.
Also, human beings are capable of
powerful, even amplified, emotions during the dreamstate. Although, of course, generated within
the mind, they often feel as if they come from “outside.” Some might come from an unconscious
Mindlevel that is collective.
Mystics teach that it is cerebral or
intellectual processes that interfere with the Flow of compassion/Love from
precisely such a collective, even universal Source called the “Absolute.” Animals have extremely little of this
eclipsing, interfering, impeding intellect. Thus, the noncerebral “genius” of the
birdsong—an artistic masterpiece much more exquisite than human mental
activity could ever compose.
Can they also feel emotional responses? (Feeling is not directly related to intelligence.)
The study of emotions makes strange
bedfellows: For mysticism shares
with antique psychoanalysis the goal of bringing thoughtfeelings from the
Unconscious to the conscious level of Mind. This is called, in some systems, “bringing them to
light.”
Even human feelings do not always have a
clear endgoal. Sometimes, emotions
seem nonpurposeful. They simply
are. These nonpurposeful emotions
are especially difficult to read in other people. In animals, they are that much more inscrutable. Some extremists argue, in fact, that
all emotions in animals are simply human “overlays” or
“projections.” This
means that creatures simply appear to feel, since human beings feel. These people manage to justify radical
cruelty.
In the seventeenth century, an account
tells how scientists nailed dogs to pieces of wood, and cut them open while
still alive, in a gruesome anatomical study called “vivisection.” They then claimed that the whines,
yelps, and sobs were mere mechanical results of something like
“springmechanisms” within the creatures. Most believed in no God, but only in a nature of
mechanism. This turned them into
moral monstrosities.
As can often be the case, the average person is
ahead of the professional scientist.
For the average pet owner knows that his/her pet feels. So, at the other end of the
compassionspectrum from the ghastly scientist of the seventeenth century are
those who respect and accommodate animalemotions. In fact, at the very far end of this spectrum are vegetarians,
who say, “Animals are my friends, and I don’t eat my
friends.”
Dogs dream. So, they do have an inner life. They can very likely reflect on their past. They often respond with delightful,
spontaneous emotions to those whom they love. Clearly, they possess selfawareness (are
“sentient). But don’t
ask the scientist, who will deny this.
Just ask any dog owner.
(Compare Donald Griffin's The Question of Animal Awareness, from 1976.)
Although animal cognition (intelligence)
is a field of study which scientists regard as “respectable,” they
have never so considered the study of animal emotions. In fact, there is a gigantic bias in the
scientific community against this kind of research.
They claim that the scary
“bugaboo” is “anthropomorphism.” This is an “unscientific”
feeling that animals have feelings because human beings have feelings. And this phenomenon really does
exist. If a person claimed, for
example, that a cricket was having serious emotional responses, she would
indeed be guilty of anthropomorphism.
The reason that anthropomorphism is so terrifying is that, if accused of
this “sin,” a scientist’s reputation is irreversibly ruined
for the rest of her life.
So, scientist have scrupulously avoided
the study of animal emotions like the proverbial “plague.” But the argument against unscientific
“anthropomorphism” is just a smokescreen for the real reason that
scientists do not want to study animalemotions. The genuine reason for this anti-animal bigotry is that
scientists are defending an obscene and hideous practice of animal torture in
the name of “research.”
If they were to admit that animals had emotions, then mere decency would
demand that they grant some deserved “rights” to these
creatures. That policy would
affect multimillion dollar interests.
It would also make hideously cruel fiends of scientists who have
participated in animal studies involving cruelty and barbarity.
It is not only scientists who support this
“conspiracy of silence.”
Caregivers also participate in cover-ups. They often feign ignorance when asked about the emotions of their charges. A perfect example is found in dolphin
trainers, who will go so far as to deny the most obvious, most delightful
responses of these sweet mammals.
Still, their denials are often denied by the warm relationship that many
actually, obviously enjoy with these creatures. The same contradictory behaviors also often mark scientists
who deal regularly with chimps, other higher primates, dolphins, or elephants.
It is nothing but the most unscientific
bigotry to assume that animals cannot feel. It also has an aura of antirealism about it, in view of
centuries of humananimal interaction.
Denial of animalfeeling irresistibly reminds one of another, earlier
major scientific blunder in psychology:
For years, childhood sexual abuse was denied and dismissed by the entire
psychoanalytic community. Freud
really believed that it almost never happened. While, paradoxically, he presented all "normal"
people as perverted, he almost denied that real perverts even existed. If it is possible for scientists to
have been so wrong about something so crucial, it is clearly feasible that they
could be fallible in their rejection of animalemotions as well.
It required a social movement, the
women’s rights activists, to alter this "scientific" view that
sexual abuse was almost nonexistent. In fact, this social movement corrected the old perspective
over the objections of backwards scientists.
“Comparative psychology” is a
respectable scientific pursuit, for it deals with the “safe” area
of cognition. (It compares animal
intelligence with human, but avoids the whole subject of feelings.) But it is purely evolutionary, and so,
focuses largely on a “behavioral” perspective. This means that only behaviors are
studied and measured, without any concern about inner feelings or drives that
might have motivated the behaviors.
“Ethology,” the science of animal behavior, insists on
functional rather than emotional causalities for animal behavior. Again, this is yet just another example
of prejudice. It is no more
supported by scientific data than is the theory that animals do indeed have
emotions.
The famous ethologist Konrad Lorenz even
spoke of animals falling in love.
His careful observations over many years forced him beyond mere
scientific “correctness," which is analogous to being
“politically correct.”
He also spoke of animals becoming demoralized or mourning.
Still, scientists who do agonizing
torturexperiments on animals must cling to their dogma that the creatures can
feel nothing. For if they admit
animalfeelings, they admit that they are monsters. Admitting this, they probably could not live with themselves,
or sleep at night. Still, we must
keep in mind that this dogma has nothing to do with science-- with observation
or discovery. Scientists are
people, too, and are as capable of prejudice, shortsightedness, and
unscientific thinking as anyone else.
Some, in apparent desperation, have come up with the ludicrous theory
that the “pain” felt by animals is so completely different from
human pain that the two have virtually nothing in common. This is an absurdity, for these same
scientists insist on studying animals precisely because their nervousystems are
so similar to those of human beings.
We must not forget that millions of
dollars are often involved in this “animal research,” or in
products that result from it. So,
scientists who are on the payroll of large, profitable corporations are hardly
objective, reliable observers. In
fact, their motives and statements are transparently suspect. If they were to admit that animals
could truly feel, as we feel, then ethics would demand that they cease immediately
much animaltesting and other agonizing research. In fact, the only course open would be to grant animals
“rights.” (This
compassionate view could no longer be dismissed flippantly as
“leftwing” or “liberal" babble.)
Most relevant research and observation
come not from the lab, but from the field. Those who have done the most research in the wild, such as
Jane Goodall, speak of even the highest emotions, including “love,”
among the higher primates. One
courageous expert dared to write, “There are few feelings which apes do
not share with us.” Some
professionals claim that the facial expressions of apes can be read as easily
and accurately as those of human beings.
One fact is clear: Before we can understand
animalfeelings, we must understand our own feelings about those feelings. At the same time, we would be wise to
maintain the humility to recognize that the “human standard” is not
the one by which all aspects of the biocosmos must be measured.
It is also wise to remember that current
science is still in a relatively primitive state of development. The fact that science denies something,
then, does not mean that it does not exist. Nor is acceptance by scientists any kind of true
"verification" that an idea represents reality. This denial could imply simply that the
reality denied is beyond our measuring devices, or beyond current theory. In fact, many scientists have
informally or privately acknowledged their secret belief that animals do indeed
have emotions. They confirm as
true what most people already believe:
Animals do cry, suffer, rejoice, love, and play. They feel joy, anxiety, anger, guilt,
and a spectrum of other emotions.
No one who has ever lived with an animal would deny this. Only scientists deny this, flying in
the face of centuries of observation and commonsense. Animals are capable of enormous tenderness. One elephant was recorded to have kept,
for a long time, a pet mouse, to which she was extremely devoted.
Creatures are selfaware (sentient) and emotional. Animal research is an atrocity. It cannot be countenanced by civilized
or compassionate human beings. It
is outrageous, and cannot be justified.
A consistent compassion perspective also makes it impossible to eat
sentient beings.
But did not Nativamerican cultures eat red meat? Yes, they did, but this was at a time
and in a place where there were no alternatives. In twenty-first century America, and other Western nations,
we now have plenty of alternative protein sources. Under these circumstances, eating the flesh of other
sentient beings is repulsive and repellant.
Yes, we can arrogantly selfcongratulate that we are so much superior to
other creatures. But to get
another view, we might imagine being visited by extraterrestrials of an
enormously advanced civilization.
We might then ask ourselves how we would feel about their implementation
of a plan to harvest human “meat.” Does cerebral superiority give us this right? Or does it really imply our
responsibility as caretakers of the planet to treat lower organisms with extra
compassion? Who is the more cerebrally
evolved--the brutal beastly person, bloody, violent, and murderous, or the
being of kindness, tenderness, and compassion?
While Darwin studied this question, he lacked credibility, for he lived
in an age that was virtually prebioscientific. Today, for some obvious reasons, including implied
responsibilities to the animal kingdom, the subject is taboo. But elephants and higher primates, at
least, have shown every indication of terror, bravery, compassion, and a varied
palette of deep emotional responses.
The scientific community, if it is seeking truth, has no right to ignore
events that really happen as “anecdotal.” If an event occurs, it is by definition a part of the real
world, of reality. Every
occurrence does not have to undergo the scrupulous analysis of a new drug. There are very appropriate contexts in
which formal science has its place.
But it is not designed to limit reality to a labsetting. But formal scientists are nearly as
phobic of “anecdotal” as of “anthropomorphic.” Indeed, anecdotal evidence can be as
fatal an error for the scientist’s reputation. But let us not confuse good, thorough science with
realityperception. For the deeper
truth is that no one can actually prove the independent existence of a single
object. Too scrupulous an
attention to formal science might lead even to ignoring relevant inputdata, as
has happened in the past. Indeed,
this attitude towards procedure is more at home in religion than in
science. The preference given to
experimental over anecdotal reality can be seen as a kind of
“faith.” For, all
totaled, there are millions of “anecdotes.” In fact, most of everyday life is
anecdotal. Altogether, this constitutes
a vast, impressive body of observation and experience. Yet this gigantic datapool is
completely ignored by the formal “scientific method,” and thus, by
the scientific community. Yet when
a scientist becomes angry or fearful, she does not need to have these powerful
emotions demonstrated in a lab or clinical statistical study. Instead, we tend, anecdotally, to
assume the existence, in others, of emotions similar to those which we
personally feel.
An emotion is an interior, and thus, very private, phenomenon. It is by definition subjective. It ranges from sentiment through
feeling to passion. (Scientists
call this
“affect.”)
“Mood” is an extension of this--a feeling that has some
duration, that lasts for a while.
The people who know animals best are not the scientists, anyway, but
people who work with animals twenty-four seven--the animaltrainers. And they take it for granted that
animals do have emotions. Indeed,
they often have very close emotional relationships with their charges. (It can be dangerous to ignore an
elephant’s mood!) In fact,
the very best trainers claim that they work well with animals precisely because
they understand them. In fact,
when asked whether they would still want to work with dogs if dogs had no
feelings, trainers were stunned and shocked by the very idea.
Animal professionals say that behaviors of creatures can often best be
understood by empathic feeling responses.
Fully to understand the spectrum of animal feelings, it is necessary to
distinguish between “domestic” animals-- altered to live with
humans-- and “tame” animals--wild creatures who have become more
pacific towards humans. For
example, elephants are tame, not domesticated. Still, we can learn a great deal of value from informal
observation. A dog owner can often
tell you more about animal behavior than a professional ethologist. Some ethologists have tried to dismiss
the obvious emotional responses of domesticated animals by the pitiable
argument that they are ”unnatural." But, by this same standard, human beings are also
"unnatural." We
certainly do not, for this reason, dismiss our own emotions as
“nonexistent.” Yes,
captivity an domestication can change emotions. But that is not the point. The point is that animals have emotions. It is past time that we, as human
beings, awakened to this fact, and started treating our little sisters and
brothers with respect, even Love.
*****
*****
OUR NEW RADIOPROGRAM IS HERE AT LAST
As many of you know, for over a year (first mentioned in the February
2005 issue of Lovelight magazine), we
have been struggling and saving to sponsor a radioprogram to serve the
spiritual needs of the community.
We are very happy at last to announce that, on March 25, Saturday, at 8
pm, this dream became a reality.
The program "High Spirits" appeared, as a sequence to our
former program "Heartmind."
This took a long time, and much thought and planning. The project evolved in a kind of zigzag
pattern. The major obstacle was
that, at first, we were trying for a twenty-six week contract. (Since it is $200 per show, that would
have cost $5200-- a prohibitive amount.)
Then, an opportunity arose to join with a former Protestant minister and
a rabbi in a three-part show, but that fell through when one of them quit.
Then,
the interior lightbulb finally went off.
Since this tripart program was slated for a thirteen-week contract,
Scott Fitzgerald, the contact-guy at the radiostation wcky, was asked whether
we could also shoot for a thirteen-week contract. The answer was yes, and the rest is history.
Special and sincere thanks to all our friends who called in for the
first show; we are in your Love-debt.:)
And double, and triple, thanks to the dear friends who supported the
program through five-dollar-a-week donations, the "Friendship Support
Program." Without your help,
and especially Pat's last-minute efforts, the program would be still but a
dream.
Our dearly beloved and warm friends who joined this Program are:
Ramona Abella
"Maribee"
Butler
Jim and Maureen
Dwyer
Pat Fields
Chris Finer
Sandra Grubb
Susan Hokanson
Diann Proffitt
Teresa Ramsey
Kenny and Kathy
Rice
Deborah Riley
Michael Shapiro
Karen Shaw
Barbara and Dale
Siler
Terry Smith
Edward and
Nancy Theuring
In this life, we want
to do everything possible to aid and assist you on your spiritual journey. But all your goodness, kindness, and
generosity will likely not return
to you in this life, but will spill over into the next. So, by goodness and caring, you have
"invested" in your "cosmic account" for the future. For the only gold and platinum of the
cosmos is Love, and it pays extraordinarily rich dividends. Sweet peace and warm blessings to you all. May you live forever in tranquility and compassion.
*****
*****
SHRIMP, sent in by Jimmy Dwyer
For all of the shrimp lovers out there,
it is not as tasty as it sounds. My girlfriend and I just realized the
true cost of catching shrimp. I used to love shrimp, but no longer will I
participate in this horrible and terrifying practice of shrimping. Here's
the scoop: The shrimp-industry
uses massive nets with heavy weights attached to the bottom of the nets that
drag along the ocean floor, demolishing all habitat in its path. Innocent
sealife is dragged for long periods of time, and end up without sufficient
oxygen. This practice of shrimping the ocean floor, which is teaming
with life, has been compared to taking a bulldozer to the forest and leveling
everything in its path just to get a deer. What a horrendous
way to die! For every 1 pound of shrimp caught, nearly 50 pounds of
sealife must die. When I found out about this information, I nearly
got sick. I care very much about this beautiful planet and all
of its many and wondrous inhabitants. Please do what you can to spread
the word and keep ocean life and all life alive !
*****
*****
THOUGHTS ABOUT THE
PNEUMARIUM, by Jimmy Dwyer
I recently moved to
Vermont, after spending much of my life in Ohio. During my last years
living in Cincinnati, I started going regularly to the Love Pneumarium.
The time at those gatherings gave me a sense of hope in humanity and deep sense
of friendship with a great community. What a beautiful notion, people
coming together to celebrate life with meaningful discussion, sharing food with
each other, and Love flowing. Since moving to Vermont, I have found myself
missing the people and energy created at those gatherings. I have been
attending a Unitarian Universalist church for a while; and the service is very
nice, but not quite as fulfilling as the Love Pneumarium. So I say,
"Why not start a Love Pneumarium in my own home". I will
someday, and when I do I will sing with delightful LoveLight. Ohhh the
power of LOVE!!!!!! Thank you soooo much Richard and Maria
and the rest of my family back in Cincy.
Love and blessings
to ALL.
*****
WORDS TO LIVE
BY
"Our minds are porous with
forgetfulness."-- Jorge Luis Borge
***
"Tell all the truth, but tell
it slant. The truth must dazzle
gradually…"-- Emily Dickenson
***
"One who is under an illusion
must be approached from behind, since by direct attack, the author only
strengthens a person in illusion,…"--Kierkegaard
***
Literature "allows us to view
the world through eyes very different from our own."-- C.S. Lewis
***
"My own eyes are not enough
for me! I will see through those
of others!"-- C. S. Lewis
***
"Felicitous language wrapped
around a stupendous truth approaches epiphany. The more condensed and explosive, the better."-- C.S.
Lewis
***
"The intellect, which is not
truth, never comprehends truth so precisely, but that it can always be
comprehended with infinitely more
precision."-- Nicolaus of Cusa
***
"Whoever is not against us is
for us."-- Jesus (Mk. 9:40)
***
Unity between the living and the
"dead" was presented by the Byzantine mystic Simeon the New
Theologian as a "golden chain."
The Trinity, he says, "pervades every one, from first to
last." It "binds them
[Lovebased people] all together."
***
In describing Reality, "words
strain, crack, and sometimes break under the burden."--T.S. Elliot
***
"Man is the only animal that
blushes, or needs to."-- Mark Twain
***
"Out of the crooked timber of
humanity, no straight thing was ever made."-- Immanuel Kant
***
Christianity, says Reinhold
Niebuhr, places evil at the very center of personality, in the will.
***
In one myth, demons create a magic
mirror that reflects only the bad.
Imperfections, if small, cover the whole face; beautiful landscapes are
transformed into hellscapes. On
the way to taking it to heaven to mock the angels, the demons broke it, and it
fell to earth in billions of pieces, where it lodged in the eyes and hearts of
people. To see only the bad is
indeed demonic, indeed hellish.
The people into whose heart the mirror fell turned to ice, unfeeling.
***
"There is no man so good that
if he placed all his actions and thoughts under the scrutiny of the laws, he
would not deserve hanging-- ten times in his life."-- Montaigne
***
"In the midst of divine
[Church] service, I was laying plans for having women."-- James Boswell
***
"Grace liberates us from the
vicious circle of unrelieved guilt."-- John Dunne
***
As long as a room remains in
darkness, we cannot perceive its dust and dirt, said Russian monk Theophon the
Recluse. Standing before the Lord
in your heart is like bringing in a powerful Light.
***
According to Carl Jung, our
conflicts can be traced to an unwillingness to accept the shadow-side (darker
side) of our personalities.
***
"It is dangerous to make man
see too clearly his equality with the brutes, without showing him his
greatness. It is also dangerous to
make him see his greatness too clearly, apart from his vileness. But it is very advantageous to show him
both."-- Pascal
***
"Kiss the feet of the Buddha
when you are sick; when you are well, you might forget to burn incense."--
Asian proverb
***
People "in prosperity"
are "brimming with wisdom, however inexperienced," says Spinoza. Every offer of advice is a
"personal insult. 'But in
adversity, they "beg and pray for advice from "every passer-by." The moment that we encounter
misfortune, soul-searching begins in earnest.
***
When we wear a mask, "our
face can grow to fit it."--George Orwell
***
"Human life is nothing but a
perpetual illusion…. Man is nothing but disguise."-- Pascal
***
Selfsurrender is the "vital turning
point of the religious life."-- William James
***
"Forgiveness is the answer to
the child's dream of a miracle."-- Dag Hammersjold
***
"You will find Me in the
poor. You are rising too high if
you do not look for Me there."-- Jesus, as paraphrased by Martin Luther
***
"All who exalt themselves
will be humbled, and all who humble themselves will be exalted."-- Jesus
(Mt. 23:12)
***
"The mind is its own place,
and, in itself, can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven."-- Milton, in
Paradise Lost
***
Louis xiv of France was afraid
that others were superior to him, and chose his ministers, not for their
abilities, but for their ignorance.
***
Erasmus comments on the phenomenon
of "one ignorant fool glorifying another."
***
"They [scribes and Pharisees]
love to have the place of honor at banquets, and the best seats in the
synagogues, and to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, and to have
people call them 'rabbi.'" -- Jesus (Mt. 23:6, 7)
***
"Beware of hypocrites, and
those who think themselves to be something…"-- Jan van Ruycebroeck
***
"I have been chosen by God to
extinguish and blot out all the fantasies…"-- Paracelsus
***
The Islamist fundamentalists,
exactly like Christian fundamentalists, are convinced that their
"god" is telling them to abuse, torture, and murder people. This is the work of demons.
***
"I believe today that my
conduct is in accordance with the will of the almighty Creator."-- Adolph
Hitler
***
"God told me to strike…
and I struck them…."-- George Bush
***
God opposes the proud, gives grace to the humble." --
James (4:6)
***
"Oh, God! I did not know that You were so
big!"-- Sojourner Truth
***
"Humility, like darkness,
reveals the heavenly Light."-- H.D. Thoreau
***
"The race is not to the
swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the
intelligent, nor favor to the skillful.
But time and chance happen to them all."-- Solomon (Eccl.9:11)
***
"Our strength is inferior to
that of many beasts, our beauty is, in color, inferior to many flowers. He that is proud of riches, how much
inferior is he to a gold mine. He
that is proud of his birth, boasts of his ancestors, doeth confess that he is
degenerated."-- Jeremy Taylor
***
The highest goodness is like
water….It does not strive.
It occupies the lowest place, which men abhor."-- Lao Tzu
***
In Mahayana Buddhism, the ideal is
the Bodhisattva. She voluntarily
renounces the highest peace and enlightenment, nirvana, in order to return to the world to help enlighten
others. In fact, she vows to
reincarnate, again and again, in pure compassion (karuna) and Love (maitri) until the last blade of grass has attained
enlightenment! The most famous is
the goddess Avalokiteshvara, the Goddess of Love and mercy.
***
Quotations from The Seven
Perennial Sins and Their Offspring, by Ken
Basyn
FLEE MARKET
SALE
We are planning a new flee market
sale for the radioprogram "High Spirits" on May 20th at
the Turtle Creek Flee Market. So
please get your extra stuff together and give us a quick call at 737-LOVE
(5683) Thanks bunches! J