Wednesday August 30 2006

Let's see. today's headlines have the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, flooding in Mogadishu, political fighting and death in Sri Lanka, Hurricane John off the west coast of Mexico, a Super Typhoon in the Pacific heading towards China, the U.N trying to get the Israeli blockade of Lebanon lifted, a so called 'double standard' at the U.N regarding nuclear proliferation, that the U.S State Department was the source of the Plume leak, a Montana drought relief package from the federal government, 46.6 million Americans lacking basic health insurance, the Austrian child abductor who may have had a number of other victims, and an interesting lack of headlines about Iraq and Afghanistan.

Needless to say the headlines don't cover everything that is wrong with our sick world today. Child trafficking, the ongoing slave trade in several less savory parts of the world, the continued illegal presence of coalition forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, the loss of civil rights in America, the damage that's being done to American economy and security by the lack of border control, the destruction of our natural resources through pollution and chopping down rain forests, the starving masses of several countries, the rise in religious intolerance and extremism, or the us vs. them mentality we're seeing daily. I haven't even come close to mentioning all the ills by which we're beset as a global community, yet the list above is frighteningly long.

For every issue I just listed there are probably a minimum of four to five different action groups struggling to affect a positive change. They want our money, our time as volunteers, and our help publicizing their causes. For the thinking, caring public of the world the choices of who and what to support on any given day are daunting. Shoot, just trying to stay current on everything that's going on can become a full time task if you let it. So what do we do?

Aside from the plethora of issues to choose from there's also the grind of daily living in a world that becomes more and more frightening every time you turn around. Iran with nukes? Holy cow, that makes me stutter. Gas is almost three dollars a gallon, and it's driving the prices of everything from toilet paper to pork chops to engine parts way up. Pay checks are staying the same, going down, or being eliminated as people lose their jobs to a crappy economy and a cheaper work force that sneaks across the border illegally. Dealing with all that and more what, precisely is the American public supposed to do to help end the merry go round of misery?

As much as I hate what is going on around me I want to know that whatever choices I make will actually have a positive effect. I don't want to join a group or send money and have it mean nothing at the end of the day. Who precisely am I helping? I certainly don't want to help the Red Cross line their coffers when the money would be put to better use at the local food bank. I also don't want to just send money. I want to know that I've made a substantial contribution towards improvement.

Of course there are a lot of people out there that can't send money; their caught up in the lack of job and paycheck problem. So what could we all do that would improve this downward spiral? Being raised in a predominantly Christian culture I've heard 'pray' for years. I pretty much snorted in derision and went on my merry way. Right, I thought, the starving masses in Africa, the leper colonies in India, the bombed out homeless, and wounded all over the world are really going to jump up and be doing great if I send off my good wishes to the ether. Yeah right buddy. Pull the other one it's got bells on it.

Boy do I feel like an idiot now. Have you ever heard of the Maharishi Effect? I hadn't. I'm pretty sure you've heard of Transcendental Meditation though. The Maharishi Effect is what happens when you have 1% of the population doing Transcendental meditation. So what is it you ask? The Maharishi
Effect proves that we can affect the world around us with nothing more than our thoughts.

The same things the Christian community has been blathering about for years. The same thing the Eastern religions have been babbling about for eons. A lot of self help books hint at it but don't really put it in language that makes any kind of sense. Nor do the different proponents of 'prayer' or 'meditation' pull together the scientific and the traditional to explain why what they want us to do works. Or maybe we just haven't been listening, I don't know. Personally I think it's a power play on the part of the Christian leaders. Why give the masses such a cool tool to use in their own defense?

Unfortunately for the power mongers of the world our science is catching up with ancient religious traditions. Science is proving that thought is no more than a form of energy. Neat huh? We all pretty much understand the basics of electricity. Such as do not, under any circumstances, touch that electrical line that's down in the middle of the street. You'll get zapped if you do. We understand that there is a science to directing the electricity where we want it to go. Need to have electric at your new home? Well then, call the electric company and they'll come on out and string the lines.

Need to positively affect the global climate of hate and fear? Well then direct the electricity of your thoughts to change it. You are the electric company for your brain. The only problem is that, for the most part, we've lost touch with the tools we need to string the wire. But fear not. There is help, you can learn to control and direct the energy, or electricity if you will, that we all generate.

All the tools are still there, and once we get the rust off they work great. It doesn't matter if you are a Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, Atheist, Wiccan, or sitting on the fence. If your sick of being victimized by your life, if your sick of the world being used as a play ground by the bullies of the world, guess what? You don't even have to leave your recliner to fight back.

You can learn the basics of Transcendental Meditation and then tweak them to fit your belief system. If your a Christian you don't even have to do that. Christianity has the Jesus Prayer and the Centering Prayer, both forms of intense meditation, that will train your mind to generate positive electricity to benefit you and the world around you. I'm going to list some interesting links below that will direct you to various websites and projects that prove prayer, or meditation, or whatever you want to call it does, in fact, work.

Now, please, I beg, don't let language and our individual perceptions be a roadblock to stopping the descent of our world and the people and animals in it. If you have issues with the Christian church so be it. But does that mean you can't use a Christian tool for the betterment of yourself and your world? Don't let the fact that transcendental Meditation is from an eastern tradition keep you from utilizing that if you have issues with religion. What we're trying to do here is take what cold hard science is telling us and then use religious tools to harness the power that is an integral part of us all. Let's use the tools that science is now telling us really do work and take responsibility for our world.





For further information on the Maharishi Effect go to: http://www.mum.edu/m_effect/


For Information on the Global consciousness project go here: http://noosphere.princeton.edu/


To learn how to do the Jesus Prayer: http://www.svots.edu/Faculty/Albert-Rossi/Articles/Saying-the-Jesus-Prayer.html


To learn the Centering Prayer: http://www.thecentering.org/centering_method.html

Read Comments... (3 comments)