Sunday, August 3, 2008
Dream Date August 3, 2008 part 2
I saw hordes of mice trying to get at some old food in a couple of baskets. There were so many of them they started to look like one organism. I had my camera with me, so I focused on them to take a photograph. I remember telling someone on the phone, "We have mice problems." There was a third basket with something wrapped up inside it. I unwrapped it and saw that it was a cat. It was alive, and part orange and white with brown streaks. It must have been staying in the basket because it had a nice supply of meals (mice) in the baskets close to it. I already had four cats but I knew I couldn't just get rid of this cat, so I decided to keep it.
Dream Date August 3, 2008
My cell phone was ringing. I looked at the caller I.D. to see who it was, and it said the call was from "Opera". I answered, saying, "Hello?...... Hello?" I spoke these words aloud because I woke myself up doing so.
Saturday, August 2, 2008
Siegfried
I give up. This is too complicated but I did sing an a cappella song on my podcast blog. I can't do the mixing, but I don't need a new obsession (or distraction) right now anyway. :) Thanks for trying to help but I think my sound card is too basic.
Keep on the Sunny Side of Life
So much going on! Today is a day of excitement for me. I'm very happy!
I'm getting ready to go outside to swim. Earlier my mother came over for a visit and brought a basket full of delicious, juicy ripe peaches, not like the kind I've been buying in the stores which are sometimes hard as apples and dry.
I was invited to join a group at PomoWorld by a friend I met online a couple months ago. PomoWorld is "The Human Enlightenment Project". If you're interested in joining, you can add me as a friend - http://pomoworld.ning.com/profile/SophiaW I'm not sure how much I plan on using it yet as it's not very familiar to me, but it appears to be kind of like a spiritual MySpace as far as I can tell so far.
Siegfried has led me into a world of karaoke via computer. As singing used to be one of my passions, I plan on getting hooked. When I was looking for God through Christianity during my teenage years, I sang solos in church and had such a good time doing so.
As you may have noticed, Sean from Jakarta led me towards Meher Baba and now I feel like I've found some things I may have been leaning towards for a long time. I read one of his books while on vacation and now Sean has recommended Baba's _BEAMS from Meher Baba On the Spiritual Panorama_, which I will start reading today. In addition to this I'm currently in the middle of listening to an audio book I downloaded called _Sophie's World_ by Jostein Gaarder. I finally got around to getting serious about it. It's such a truly magical book.
Last but not least I am requesting information from the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology, as I would like to get either a certificate or some type of degree in Transpersonal Psychology with a focus on Spiritual Psychology and Transpersonal Studies. I can't afford to pay for it (we had to save-up for the vacation) so I'm hoping I can qualify for some type of scholarship. We'll see what they say! I was led here by a conversation I had with a young man on a lodge shuttle bus. He is getting ready to go to school for a degree in Transpersonal Psychology.
Beautiful day!
I'm getting ready to go outside to swim. Earlier my mother came over for a visit and brought a basket full of delicious, juicy ripe peaches, not like the kind I've been buying in the stores which are sometimes hard as apples and dry.
I was invited to join a group at PomoWorld by a friend I met online a couple months ago. PomoWorld is "The Human Enlightenment Project". If you're interested in joining, you can add me as a friend - http://pomoworld.ning.com/profile/SophiaW I'm not sure how much I plan on using it yet as it's not very familiar to me, but it appears to be kind of like a spiritual MySpace as far as I can tell so far.
Siegfried has led me into a world of karaoke via computer. As singing used to be one of my passions, I plan on getting hooked. When I was looking for God through Christianity during my teenage years, I sang solos in church and had such a good time doing so.
As you may have noticed, Sean from Jakarta led me towards Meher Baba and now I feel like I've found some things I may have been leaning towards for a long time. I read one of his books while on vacation and now Sean has recommended Baba's _BEAMS from Meher Baba On the Spiritual Panorama_, which I will start reading today. In addition to this I'm currently in the middle of listening to an audio book I downloaded called _Sophie's World_ by Jostein Gaarder. I finally got around to getting serious about it. It's such a truly magical book.
Last but not least I am requesting information from the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology, as I would like to get either a certificate or some type of degree in Transpersonal Psychology with a focus on Spiritual Psychology and Transpersonal Studies. I can't afford to pay for it (we had to save-up for the vacation) so I'm hoping I can qualify for some type of scholarship. We'll see what they say! I was led here by a conversation I had with a young man on a lodge shuttle bus. He is getting ready to go to school for a degree in Transpersonal Psychology.
Beautiful day!
Internet Explorer Crashes
Jim told me last night that he was having problems trying to access this blog. He said Internet Explorer would crash anytime he tried to load the page. I mistakenly assumed that something was wrong with his computer or software and had him download and install Firefox, which worked fine for him on this blog. This morning I received some emails from Mossy, and he was having the same problems. He asked if I had any new gadgets on my site. I did some Google searches and have found out that one of my widgets had changed its code which has caused the problem temporarily, so I removed the widget entirely until I find out that they have repaired their code. Hopefully everyone can get back on my blog.
Thanks guys for making me aware of the problem. I apologize to everyone who had to put up with that.
Thanks guys for making me aware of the problem. I apologize to everyone who had to put up with that.
Friday, August 1, 2008
More on Life the Past Few Days
As a self-confessed computer / Internet addict, it was difficult for me to make it five days without Internet access. There was a pay-by-half-hour computer available to me in the "trading post" just a short walk away from the lodge, but I was unable to go due to orders from the husband. I could grumble and moan about that but I won't. Well, maybe I just did. It's fairly evident that I've gone into withdrawal just by looking to see how many posts I've made in the past 24 hours.
The train ride to and from Glacier National Park was tiresome. The first six or seven hours weren't so terribly awful, but the full 58 hours took its toll on me and I grew weary of my confinement to a tiny room. I enjoyed the park itself immensely, but I do not think I'll be riding on a train again. For that matter, I don't expect I'll be vacationing again any time soon.
Aside from my complaints, I did a lot of people watching, especially on the train ride to my destination. I may have been nosy but my constant curiosity kept me looking around to see what people were doing to entertain themselves. I only peeked into a few private rooms when the curtains were open, but for the most part I watched people on coach as I walked to and from the sleeper cars and dining car. Most people were reading, and I tried to see what the names of some of the books were. Some kids and teenagers were playing with handheld video game devices. There were people watching movies on laptops. One man was busy using fingernails on one hand to clean underneath the fingernails on the other hand. Others were sound asleep, one in particular wore a sleeping mask. There was a young man across from our room who had just turned 21. I secretly could sense he was excited about this, because he asked us if we were going to the wine-tasting event. When we said that we were, he joyously exclaimed, "Well then, I'll see you there!" A few days later at the lodge he was in the bar with his father and he came over to talk to us. He was very friendly. I knew he was proud to be in the bar.
Breakfast, lunch and dinner were interesting. In spite of my social anxiety I found it entertaining to listen to the people at my table talk. We had to share a booth with two other people every meal. There was a man named "Bud" with long white hair, who had a wife with very long hair back in a braided ponytail. Sometimes I imagine men with long white hair are spiritual, but not Bud. He was a hunter who said he "liked to hunt pigs" and was a retired P.E. teacher. He said he physically died twice because of his liver problems (He had a transplant). I asked him about his death experiences and what it was like on the other side. He told me there is no other side. "There's nothing there." I found that to be quite disappointing. I sat directly across from his wife. She was a statistician just like me. Imagine my surprise when I found out about that during my first meal on the train. Two female statisticians with long hair sitting across from each other. What are the odds of that? Anyway, I don't think I'm going to let his disheartening death testimonial discourage me from my spiritual journey. After all, I know someone that lives in Canada who had died and come back and he's told me there really is something there.
There were a few people I wish I could have stayed in touch with, including, surprisingly, this very grouchy older silent man (late sixties, perhaps). I don't know what it was about him but I wish I could have had the chance to get to know him. Maybe I imagined I could warm his heart or offer my friendship if he felt lonely. His wife was very friendly and we spoke often, even though her husband refused to say a word to me and even went so far as to push me out of his way with his suitcase. I don't think I've ever seen a more grumpy man, and I spent most of my vacation at the two lodges and on tours with him and his wife. I won't be upset about him, though, because it seemed he wasn't nice to anyone, including his wife. Aside from all this, we did exchange email addresses with a man named Josh who appears to be about my age. I invited him over to stay at our house any time he was in the area. He's definitely a kindred spirit and knows about the magic that can occur between two people during musical improvisation in duets.
On the trip I spent a lot of time in contemplation. I know that one of the goals of enlightenment is to not think so much, but I'm not at that stage yet, apparently. I am tangled up into too many human emotions and I'm going to try to get rid of them. It's all ego, after all. The only person who has confused me is myself, I just wanted to blame someone else for it. Yes I feel guilty and yes I'm ashamed but the only thing I can do is move on and start over. Remember that passage from the _Lover's Discourses_ that I posted a week or so ago, about being like a daruma doll trying to get its balance back? Anyway, I think the messages from the Baba were just what I needed to set me straight.
"Remember that the first step in spirituality is not to speak ill of others. All human beings have weaknesses and faults. Yet they are all God in their being. Until they become Realized, they have their imperfections. Therefore, before trying to find faults in others and speaking ill of them, try to find your own weaknesses and correct those."
"The spinning of the yarn of Karmic debts and dues would be endless if there had been no provision for getting out of the Karmic entanglements through the help of the Master. He can not only initiate the aspirant into the supreme art of unbinding Karma, but can become directly instrumental in freeing him from his Karmic entanglements. *The Master has attained unity with God, Whose cosmic and universal life includes all persons. Being one with all life, he can become, in his representative capacity for the sake of the aspirant, the medium for the clearing up of all debts and dues which have come into existence through the aspirant's dealings with countless persons contacted in his incarnations.* If a person must get bound to someone, it is best for him to get bound to God or the Master, because this tie ultimately facilitates emancipation from all other Karmic ties.
When the good Karma of past lives has secured for the aspirant the benefit of having a Master, the best thing that he can do is to surrender himself to the Master and to serve him. Through surrenderance the aspirant throws the burden of his Karma on the Master who has to think out ways and means of freeing him from it. Through serving the Master he wins an opportunity to get clear of his Karmic entanglements. The relation between the Master and the disciple is often carried on from one life to another for several reincarnations. Those who have been connected with the Master in past lives are drawn to him by an unconscious magnetism, not knowing why they are thus drawn. There is usually a long history to the apparently unaccountable devotion which the disciple feels for his Master. The disciple is often beginning where he had left off in the last incarnation." ~Meher Baba, DISCOURSES, Vol. III, pp. 93-94
The train ride to and from Glacier National Park was tiresome. The first six or seven hours weren't so terribly awful, but the full 58 hours took its toll on me and I grew weary of my confinement to a tiny room. I enjoyed the park itself immensely, but I do not think I'll be riding on a train again. For that matter, I don't expect I'll be vacationing again any time soon.
Aside from my complaints, I did a lot of people watching, especially on the train ride to my destination. I may have been nosy but my constant curiosity kept me looking around to see what people were doing to entertain themselves. I only peeked into a few private rooms when the curtains were open, but for the most part I watched people on coach as I walked to and from the sleeper cars and dining car. Most people were reading, and I tried to see what the names of some of the books were. Some kids and teenagers were playing with handheld video game devices. There were people watching movies on laptops. One man was busy using fingernails on one hand to clean underneath the fingernails on the other hand. Others were sound asleep, one in particular wore a sleeping mask. There was a young man across from our room who had just turned 21. I secretly could sense he was excited about this, because he asked us if we were going to the wine-tasting event. When we said that we were, he joyously exclaimed, "Well then, I'll see you there!" A few days later at the lodge he was in the bar with his father and he came over to talk to us. He was very friendly. I knew he was proud to be in the bar.
Breakfast, lunch and dinner were interesting. In spite of my social anxiety I found it entertaining to listen to the people at my table talk. We had to share a booth with two other people every meal. There was a man named "Bud" with long white hair, who had a wife with very long hair back in a braided ponytail. Sometimes I imagine men with long white hair are spiritual, but not Bud. He was a hunter who said he "liked to hunt pigs" and was a retired P.E. teacher. He said he physically died twice because of his liver problems (He had a transplant). I asked him about his death experiences and what it was like on the other side. He told me there is no other side. "There's nothing there." I found that to be quite disappointing. I sat directly across from his wife. She was a statistician just like me. Imagine my surprise when I found out about that during my first meal on the train. Two female statisticians with long hair sitting across from each other. What are the odds of that? Anyway, I don't think I'm going to let his disheartening death testimonial discourage me from my spiritual journey. After all, I know someone that lives in Canada who had died and come back and he's told me there really is something there.
There were a few people I wish I could have stayed in touch with, including, surprisingly, this very grouchy older silent man (late sixties, perhaps). I don't know what it was about him but I wish I could have had the chance to get to know him. Maybe I imagined I could warm his heart or offer my friendship if he felt lonely. His wife was very friendly and we spoke often, even though her husband refused to say a word to me and even went so far as to push me out of his way with his suitcase. I don't think I've ever seen a more grumpy man, and I spent most of my vacation at the two lodges and on tours with him and his wife. I won't be upset about him, though, because it seemed he wasn't nice to anyone, including his wife. Aside from all this, we did exchange email addresses with a man named Josh who appears to be about my age. I invited him over to stay at our house any time he was in the area. He's definitely a kindred spirit and knows about the magic that can occur between two people during musical improvisation in duets.
On the trip I spent a lot of time in contemplation. I know that one of the goals of enlightenment is to not think so much, but I'm not at that stage yet, apparently. I am tangled up into too many human emotions and I'm going to try to get rid of them. It's all ego, after all. The only person who has confused me is myself, I just wanted to blame someone else for it. Yes I feel guilty and yes I'm ashamed but the only thing I can do is move on and start over. Remember that passage from the _Lover's Discourses_ that I posted a week or so ago, about being like a daruma doll trying to get its balance back? Anyway, I think the messages from the Baba were just what I needed to set me straight.
"Remember that the first step in spirituality is not to speak ill of others. All human beings have weaknesses and faults. Yet they are all God in their being. Until they become Realized, they have their imperfections. Therefore, before trying to find faults in others and speaking ill of them, try to find your own weaknesses and correct those."
"The spinning of the yarn of Karmic debts and dues would be endless if there had been no provision for getting out of the Karmic entanglements through the help of the Master. He can not only initiate the aspirant into the supreme art of unbinding Karma, but can become directly instrumental in freeing him from his Karmic entanglements. *The Master has attained unity with God, Whose cosmic and universal life includes all persons. Being one with all life, he can become, in his representative capacity for the sake of the aspirant, the medium for the clearing up of all debts and dues which have come into existence through the aspirant's dealings with countless persons contacted in his incarnations.* If a person must get bound to someone, it is best for him to get bound to God or the Master, because this tie ultimately facilitates emancipation from all other Karmic ties.
When the good Karma of past lives has secured for the aspirant the benefit of having a Master, the best thing that he can do is to surrender himself to the Master and to serve him. Through surrenderance the aspirant throws the burden of his Karma on the Master who has to think out ways and means of freeing him from it. Through serving the Master he wins an opportunity to get clear of his Karmic entanglements. The relation between the Master and the disciple is often carried on from one life to another for several reincarnations. Those who have been connected with the Master in past lives are drawn to him by an unconscious magnetism, not knowing why they are thus drawn. There is usually a long history to the apparently unaccountable devotion which the disciple feels for his Master. The disciple is often beginning where he had left off in the last incarnation." ~Meher Baba, DISCOURSES, Vol. III, pp. 93-94
Life at its Best
The PDF file of the Meher Baba book I read while on vacation can be found here:
http://www.ambppct.org/meherbaba/Book_Files/Life.pdf
It's very short; you could probably finish it in an hour or two. I hope someone will read it and be as touched by it as I have been. I can't think of any other book I've read that has reached me so profoundly.
http://www.ambppct.org/meherbaba/Book_Files/Life.pdf
It's very short; you could probably finish it in an hour or two. I hope someone will read it and be as touched by it as I have been. I can't think of any other book I've read that has reached me so profoundly.
Synchronicity Journal July 26, 2008
I was in an airplane headed from home to Chicago, IL in order to catch a train there to go to Montana. I was reading a bit from a Meher Baba book. A passage I had just read was named "The Real Gift", about the gift of love from God. After reading it, a stewardess handed me a cup of cola with a napkin that read, "The gift that will never be re-gifted."
The passage I read can be found here: http://www.avatarmeherbaba.org/erics/realgift.html
The passage I read can be found here: http://www.avatarmeherbaba.org/erics/realgift.html
Dream Date July 30, 2008
I was in my summer pajamas at the end of a magazine aisle in a store. There were manila file folders, all of them were empty except for one, in which was a Prevention magazine. Paul McCartney was on the cover.
I wanted to go down the magazine aisle, but there was a man standing there perusing through the magazines. I didn't want him to see me in my pajamas so I walked around the aisle to go in through the other way. I saw him leave, so I thought it was safe to go down the aisle, but when I went down the aisle he was there again, as if he hadn't left at all.
I wanted to go down the magazine aisle, but there was a man standing there perusing through the magazines. I didn't want him to see me in my pajamas so I walked around the aisle to go in through the other way. I saw him leave, so I thought it was safe to go down the aisle, but when I went down the aisle he was there again, as if he hadn't left at all.
Vacation Stream of Consciousness
I'll write more later, and will respond to comments as well, but I'm very tired from the vacation. I have some things to say about what I experienced, about people and what they do on long train rides, a dream I had about shopping in a magazine aisle while hiding from a man because I was only in my pajamas, my life-changing experience reading Meher Baba's _Life at it's Best_ and my new search for a Perfect Master, my experience with seeing the most beautiful and complete rainbows I have ever seen, my learning about Micro Bursts and bear grass, seeing a bear and other animals. There is a lot for me to say, but I'm too tired to say it all right now. I will probably come online after I sleep for a while to write about everything.
Here is just a taste of things to come:
A double rainbow. (Taken from inside the train as it was leaving to head home.)
A rainbow halo in the clouds on the flight home. (Can you see it?) I'd love it if someone could explain this phenomenon to me.
This last photo was taken as I was saying goodbye to the lodge we stayed in. It's the most beautiful and complete rainbow I've ever seen, and it perfectly arcs above the lodge.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)