Concentrating on "Lack"

I realize there is considerable skepticism ~ even mockery ~ regarding the so-called "law of attraction," as popularized by "The Secret" and similar books and DVDs. I openly admit that I think there's something to this "law," even if based only on my own life experiences and observations. I've known too many people who exist in a cloud of unhappiness and despair, for whom life only seems to continue its spiral downward. I've also known people who are positive and optimistic ~ often against all odds ~ whose lives appear to be charmed. We do, in fact, seem to get more of what we concentrate on, more of what we believe in.

But trying to enact the law of attraction for personal gain ~ be it to achieve happiness, peace, love, health or wealth ~ is more complex than simply wanting it to be so. It's too easy, while concentrating on obtaining something, to actually be focused on the lack of it.

This 9-minute video of Esther Hicks "translating" the group of energies collectively known as "Abraham," provides what I consider to be an excellent description of the finer points of how this "law" operates.

Not-knowing is true knowledge.
Presuming to know is a disease.
First realize that you are sick;
then you can move toward health.

The Master is her own physician.
She has healed herself of all knowing.
Thus she is truly whole.

A Question Answered

On July 14, 2009, I wrote:

Rethinking This Blog

Quantum Spirit is changing. I'm not certain exactly how, or what form these changes eventually will take. Ultimately I'd like this blog to be more inspirational and spiritually intriguing for my visitors ~ someplace that prompts you to contemplate, and makes you more appreciative of the complexity and beauty of life.

Please bear with me while I figure this out. In the meantime, my posts will be shorter, with some video placeholders and the like.

"I want to sing like the birds sing, not worrying about who hears or what they think." ~ Rumi

My Decision ~ July 27, 2009

The same day I posted the note about "rethinking," I also posted a video of Coleman Barks reading the poem "Love Dogs" by the 13th century Persian poet Rumi. This was in addition to closing the "rethinking" post with the Rumi quote.

The Rumi video generated ~ for Quantum Spirit anyway ~ quite a few comments. Among them was one from a first-time visitor, a woman poet from Tehran, Iran, who goes by "Human Being" and who wrote of Quantum Spirit:

"and now i see i cannot leave here before becoming a follower... it's like when you are in a bookstore and you open a book by chance and read some lines and then you feel if you leave there without the book, there will be something missing in you life!"

It took a few more days, but I eventually realized Human Being ~ a native of Rumi's own land ~ had given me the answer I sought.

I will continue "Quantum Spirit" in much the same way as before. There will be an assortment of items that fascinate me: Spiritual messages, scientific discoveries, psychological studies, in-depth astrology, astronomy, and the occasional posts related to ancient wisdom from the I Ching, the Tao te Ching, and the Bible, even fables from Aesop. I now believe no large change is necessary, as long as I can capture the sense of awe with the world that surrounds us all.

So, Human Being, I thank you. I'm happy to keep the bookstore open.

Number 34 ~ The Power of the Great

Thunder in heaven above:
The image of The Power of the Great.
Thus the superior man does not tread upon paths
That do not accord with established order.

Thunder ~ electrical energy ~ mounts upward in the spring. The direction of this movement is in harmony with that of the movement of heaven. It is therefore a movement in accord with heaven, producing great power. However, true greatness depends on being in harmony with what is right. Therefore in times of great power, the superior man avoids doing anything that is not in harmony with the established order.

The Most Profound Question

For 20 years, Esther Hicks has been "translating" ~ she prefers that word to "channeling" ~ a group of non-physical energies collectively known as "Abraham." I've read a couple of the Esther and Jerry Hicks "Abraham" books and find them fascinating and good guides for living.

I particularly like this short video, where a smart-alecky fellow poses a seemingly stupid question to Abraham ~ almost in the form of a heckle ~ and the answer he receives is incredibly wise.

Please take the three minutes to watch this video to the end. It's worth it.

Materialism and Change

As longtime Quantum Spirit visitors probably know, I have great respect for visionary Peter Russell. He's an excellent physicist and spiritually-sound thinker. He's recently put together some short videos with themes from his "White Hole in Time" book and DVD. This 4-minute clip is thought-provoking on materialism, happiness and change.

Click here to see Peter's array of additional video clips.

Tonight's 'Secret Moon' Solar Eclipse Holds Power

Tonight's eclipse occurs at 10:35 p.m. EDT.

[Here's part of a post from Lynn Hayes's Astrological Musings blog ~ one of the best for those of us fascinated by the practice of in-depth astrology yet who are not actual astrologers. Her blog in recent days has focused on tonight's eclipse and its astrological implications.]

From the beginning of the use of astrology, somewhere over 2,000 years ago, eclipses have been used to time significant events. In a typical year there are two pairs of eclipses, but this year there are an astonishing six, indicating that this is a significant year for change.

The upcoming New Moon is not only an eclipse but also the second New Moon in Cancer, a phenomenon also known as the "Secret Moon." Because Cancer rules the Moon, it is particularly powerful in Cancer and because this is an eclipse of the Sun, the lunar influence is even more powerful.

The Moon presides over all issues of emotion, but also our emotional connections to each other and to our ancestral history. Cancer is known for its concern with family matters but that sense of family extends beyond the nuclear family, and even the extended family, to the entire tribe of which we are a part. Some of us have strong family ties; others of us create our own tribes that serve the family role.

Because of the intensity of the triple conjunction of Jupiter, Chiron and Neptune which is still tighly in alignment, many of us are more sensitive and more highly reactive than usual. Under the eclipse the influence of the solar conscious mind is diminished, and the emotional power of the Moon stands raw and undiluted. The Triple Conjunction is already stripping away the veneer that we have built to protect us from ourselves; the eclipse may accelerate the process of unmasking the vulnerability (Moon/Cancer) that reveals our true heart.

Click here for Lynn's complete blog post.

Mysterious Clouds Spotted Around Earth

Noctilucent clouds over Omaha on July 14.

Glowing clouds previously seen almost exclusively in Earth’s polar regions have appeared in the skies over the United States and Europe during the past several days.

Sky watchers in Omaha, Paris and Seattle plus several other locations have photographed what scientists call noctilucent ~ or ”night shining” ~ clouds. Formed by ice literally at the boundary where the earth’s atmosphere meets space 50 miles up, they shine because they remain lit by the sun even after the sun is below the horizon. According to Wired magazine:

The clouds might be beautiful, but they could portend global changes caused by global warming. Noctilucent clouds are a fundamentally new phenomenon in the temperate mid-latitude sky, and it’s not clear why they’ve migrated down from the poles. Or why, over the last 25 years, more of them are appearing in the polar regions, too, and shining more brightly.

“That’s a real concern and question,” said James Russell, an atmospheric scientist at Hampton University and the principal investigator of an ongoing NASA satellite mission to study the clouds. “Why are they getting more numerous? Why are they getting brighter? Why are they appearing at lower latitudes?”

Nobody knows for sure, but most of the answers seem to point to human-caused global atmospheric change.

Click here for the complete Wired Science article.

Thinking About Change

Having recently come through a very difficult time physically, mentally and spiritually ~ emerging, I’m happy to say, stronger in all three areas than before ~ I’ve been thinking about “change.” We toss the word around, but seldom deeply explore the implications of this process affecting us every moment of our days and nights.

Something to ponder:

• I’ve had instances throughout my life where I would meet another person and have an instant aversion. In all of these instances, as far as I can recall, it was not a true dislike, but rather a sense of discomfort. I didn’t at first really want to be around these people. Several of them soon became friends. A few of them became good and true friends who have helped me on the journey.

• When I first saw this old Victorian house I’m now sitting in, I regarded it as “the vortex to Hell” and told several people so, including my wife, who loved the house. That was in 1999. As fate would have it, we bought this very house in 2005 and have been wonderfully happy with it ever since.

There have been many other cases such as these, where I felt an instant aversion to a person, place or thing. And later that same person, place or thing became a source of good in my life.

I now believe these contrasting judgements are related to change and the fact that, on some unconscious level, we know what our lives hold in store for us. When we first encounter these things, deep down we know they will influence and alter our fate. The Law of Intertia says we will resist such change. And we do, for a while.

Then ~ consistent with our destinies ~ we come to embrace these particular people, places and things, and our lives are better for it. We have changed.

"One Night a Man was Crying, 'Allah, Allah' . . ."

The 13th century Persian poet known as Rumi (1207-1273) was an Islamic jurist, theologian and mystic. He remains widely read throughout the Middle East and for several years now his translated works have had huge popularity in America. Following his death, his followers and his son Sultan Walad founded the Mawlawīyah Sufi Order, also known as the Order of the Whirling Dervishes.

Here, Coleman Barks ~ one of Rumi’s foremost translators and interpreters ~ performs Rumi’s poem “Love Dogs” to musical accompaniment at a Mythic Journeys conference.

Listen, enjoy.

A Well-Documented Reincarnation

Here's an astonishing story of reincarnation. In fact, some are calling it the most fully documented case of reincarnation on record. It's the account of 11-year-old James Leninger, who recalls in detail his previous life as a World War II pilot, his death near Iwo Jima, and even his former friends and relatives. You have to see this to appreciate the impact of the boy's story.

The same story is told in the 8-minute video below from ABC News, though I recommend the video above as a more complete account.



ABC, of course, trots out the typical cranky skeptic to poo-poo the boy's story, all in the network's attempts at "balance," but it only weakens their report and, in my opinion, doesn't begin to dent young James Leninger's astounding recollections.

Amish Suffer for Straying into Mainstream

Many Amish who sought work in factories are now among the jobless.

I haven’t posted much on our current Great Recession except a few predictions from leading astrologers. But an article this week in the Wall Street Journal grabbed my attention because it deals with the downturn’s impact on the Old Order Amish community in northern Indiana.

I suppose there are lessons to be learned from witnessing what's happening to the "plain people" drawn to the enticements of mainstream society.

The northern Indiana Amish are a community my wife and I have been well-acquainted with, going back nearly thirty years. Well before the Amish became so popularized in American culture, I spent time as a young newspaper reporter with several Amish families. The result was a series of articles that won a number of major newswriting awards in Michigan. Being with these people was an experience I’ll never forget.

According to the WSJ article, the Amish around Shipshewana, Indiana ~ where my wife and I enjoyed back-to-basics shopping and eating at Amish-operated restaurants ~ have in recent years drifted closer to conventional society. According to the WSJ:

Like Amish in other parts of the U.S., the Indiana community strayed from their traditional reliance on farming in recent decades as their numbers grew and land prices rose. Many opened family businesses, often in furniture and other wood crafts. By 2007, more than half of Amish men in these parts were working full time in manufacturing, and earning, on average, $30 an hour.

* * *

Some Amish bishops in Indiana weakened restrictions on the use of telephones. Fax machines became commonplace in Amish-owned businesses. Web sites marketing Amish furniture began to crop up. Although the sites were run by non-Amish third parties, they nevertheless intensified a feeling of competition.

* * *

Some Amish families had bought second homes on the west coast of Florida and expensive Dutch Harness Horses, with their distinctive, prancing gait. Others lined their carriages in dark velvet and illuminated them with battery-powered LED lighting.

Even the tradition of helping each other out began to unravel, Bishop Hochstetler says. Instead of asking neighbors for help, well-to-do Amish began hiring outsiders so they wouldn't have to reciprocate. "Factory work doesn't eliminate fellowship, but it does not encourage togetherness," the bishop says.

You know how this story unfolds. The Amish factory workers get laid off along with their “English” coworkers. Frightened Amish depositors withdraw their funds from their local bank and bring it to its knees. Some families continue to struggle as their men seek to find faraway construction jobs, and other families simply pack up and leave in hopes of finding greener pastures.

Click here for the full Wall Street Journal article.