Education!

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Congratulations; you are making a most wise decision to invest in your own mind. No better, more important decision is possible!:) Education will repay you many times, very richly, and continuously, for the rest of this life, and beyond! It is a great delight and pleasure to hear that you are taking a course in "world religion."

We can all learn so much from each other; closed-minded and closed-hearted "Christians" could learn an immense amount of spirituality from the beautiful symbolism of Hinduism and the spiritual psychology of Buddhism.

Keep up the good work, my friend.:) Never stop learning, listening, and growing!:)

Relevant Facts Re Education of Candidates

Thanks to Chris Finer for this valuable data, which really puts everything in its proper perspective:

Look at the educational background of our candidates:

Obama:
Occidental College - Two years
Columbia University - B.A. political science with a specialization in international relations
Harvard - Juris Doctor (J.D.) Magna Cum Laude

Biden:
University of Delaware - Double major: B.A. in history and B.A. in political science
Syracuse University College of Law - Juris Doctor (J.D.)


vs.


McCain:
United States Naval Academy - Class rank 894 of 899

Palin:
Hawaii Pacific University - 1 semester - undeclared major
North Idaho College - 2 semesters - undeclared major
University of Idaho - 2 semesters - journalism
Matanuska-Susitna College - 1 semester
University of Idaho - 3 semesters - B.A. in journalism with specialization in sports reporting

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Love, Nature, and Education: The Interior Vow

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There is nothing wrong with your "nature." But the problem lies in your education. Education cannot change your nature, and your nature is always much greater and more powerful than education.

Your truest core-nature is Love. This means two things: 1) You want to love, and 2) only giving and receiving Love can ever bring you full contentment, satisfaction, or fulfillment.

So, make a personal and private vow in your own heart to begin re-educating yourself with truly positive spirituality, and add to that vow that your ideal and goal is to love yourself and all other creatures.
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The Work of Love

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The work of education here continues apace. The latest writing-project is a four-volume set called the "Enlightenment Tradition" series. The books are finished, and now, require only proofing and polishing.:)

Volume I is an intro called Hearts of Glowing Love. Volume II is Hearts of Passionfire, and is about mysticism in Judaism. Volume III is Hearts of Ecstasy, and concerns mystical Christianity (gnosticism). And Volume IV is Hearts of Moonlight and Roses, about the Sufi traditions.

It is highly recommended that you invest whatever is necessary in your education, for it will pay off very handsomely and richly in the long run. It will help you to create a happier and fuller life.

Time does seem to pass more quickly when you have something larger than the self to which you can devote it. Everybody needs, but few have, a passion for which to live, as the practical Center of their lives and heartminds.

Friendship is the treasure of this or any other life. Please always continue to appreciate and honor (respect) your friends. For, of all the riches that this life offers, none is more golden, none more irreplaceable, than friendship. Every hour that you "invest" in friendship will return to you multiplied and amplified. If you are very, very successful, you can build a whole life around, and of, your Love.
For friendliness is a form of Love.:) And so is courtesy.

She is wealthy indeed who cannot count her dear friends on the fingers of one hand. Friendship 101 is what this life is all about. It will teach you patience, forgiveness, tolerance, and a host of related and indispensable lifeskills. And an "investment" of time (the "gold" of the universe) in friendship will always pay off in the longterm.

But when any friendship becomes dangerous to your health, mental balance, or general wellbeing, you must, out of reasonable selflove, act to dissolve it. To do this, of course, you need not be hateful or cruel; a friendship is like a rose. If you do not cultivate, nourish, feed, and care for it, it will tend to wither on its own.

People often forget the sometimes challenging work of "maintenance" that any friendship deserves and demands. This includes emails, visits, phone-calls, other sharings, or even periodic and appropriate small gifts. It also includes the kindness of avoiding hurtful gossip.

That does not mean that we cannot share our deepest feelings, and even tragedies, with good friends. It simply implies the vow of the heart never to become bitter or vicious. We seek interior tranquility, in other words, and wish that also for all, including even former friends.

And we, as the people of Love, never waste timenergyon vengeance. For great and lovely karma takes care of all, bringing to each her own rewards. (There is no such thing as an "innocent victim.")

But you cannot, and must not try to, become the "mommy" or "daddy" of any other adult.

Any behavior that is rewarded will be repeated. This is most basic psychological law. Had you remained her friend, you would have been responsible for having rewarded these behaviors, and in this way, would have harmed her life. This goes against ahimsa, the principle of non-harm.

It is not wrong to celebrate the end of a destructive relationship! It is now time for laughter and relief, not moping and tears!:)

Always remember that, in a good friendship, you have very few, or no, expectations, and zero demands.

Never let go of this quest to cultivate a deep and spiritual mind. For this is the single diamond centerpiece of any life well-lived. People will always "tempt" you to become shallow, but the shallow life is like the "unexamined" life-- not worth living. In the future, your spirituality will bring you the interior strength and joy needed to survive the challenging earthlife with sanity and happiness.

Working with animals is great! We need as many compassionate human beings as possible on this poor little planet. Have you ever met a llama? They are very sweet hearts and tender souls, and a "relationship" with one is a jewel.:)

Working with the animals is a very real manifestation of the very best within you-- your Love-nature. One of the favorite historical beings, Brother St. Francis, showed how Love for other species could be the very backbone of a satisfying, creative, and deeply spiritual life.

It is also an indispensable aspect of selflove to make sure that we get as much fun out of life as possible-- provided that the "fun" does not harm ourselves or others.:)

A life of tranquility is worth a bushel of bucks, and more!:)

Love is a matter, not of words only, but of the rich and balanced blend of words and works, or action.

Friendship without forgiveness is like watermelon without water; it is only a dry husk, tasteless, a counterfeit of the real thing. It brings no satisfaction or peace to the heart, and never creates joy. It is very sad to see a person who has not mastered this very important lesson; she creates interior hells for herself, over and over.

The sweet Goddess of Love can reach into our hearts and lives in any way.

She is always "talking" in the deeper Mind, but we have largely forgotten how to listen.:)

May Love continue to bless and fill your heartmind, and may It fill the hearts and minds of all creatures everywhere!:)

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In Memoriam

Thanks to Linda Bartisch.

LEST WE NEVER FORGET

Subject: In Memoriam
Strange as it may seem, only yesterday it was reported that the British School system has been ordered to cease teaching about the Holocaust since it offends the Muslim citizens. AND THEY DID IT! God save the Queen. Think about it. Incidentally, "Mohammed" is the second most common name currently being registered in the UK for new births.

Please forward this message! We cannot, we must not, ever forget what happened in Europeover 60 years ago, because it could happen again. Anyone, any group, could be the target. It has been said that those who refuse to study history are doomed to repeat it. In this case, those who are attempting to rewrite history are probably planning to repeat it! The hatred is already there, in place, taught to the children from infancy, with promises of glory and honor to those who carry out the plans. Forewarned is forearmed, and I'm doing my small part by forwarding this message. I hope you'll do the same. Make sure your children and grandchildren understand this too.

In Memoriam.

It is now more than 60 years after the Second World War in Europe ended. This email is being sent as a memorial chain, in memory of the six million Jews, 20 million Russians, 10 million Christians and 1,900 Catholic priests who were murdered, massacred, raped, burned, starved, and humiliated with the German and Russian peoples looking the other way!

Now, more than ever, with Iran, among others, claiming the Holocaust to be "a myth," it is imperative to make sure that the world never forgets, because the Islamo-Fascists want to do it again.

This e-mail is intended to reach 40 million people worldwide!

Join us and be a link in the memorial chain and help us distribute it around the world.

Please send this e-mail to 10 people whom you know and ask them to continue the memorial chain.

Please don't just delete it. It will take you only a minute to pass this along. Thanks!

Bearing Your Cross: Suffering and Wisdom

Bearing Your Cross: Suffering and Wisdom
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Every person on earth comes to this place in order to take various tests, exams-- to test her mental, emotional, and spiritual strengths. More often than not, a real "test" involves something challenging or even "scary"-- something the fear-filled ego would rather avoid altogether.

In very early Christianity, the "Cross" of Jesus became the universal archetype (symbol) of all suffering. For the "passion" (suffering) of Jesus became a model of how to handle all pain and suffering. We are to turn it over to God (Love), relax into the "pain" with the confidence that the Holy Spirit of Love can lesson our pain. Meditation, for example, might not get rid of all pain all the time; but several studies have shown that it can lessen pain-- physical or mental-- by up to eighty
percent.

Going into even deeper meditation, as Jesus did, can eradicate even more pain, as the human mind begins actual mergence, melding, or fusion with the Mind of the One, deep in the Unconscious.

I know hundreds of [people, some with a fair degree of intimacy. Every one of them is facing some challenge-- usually a major one-- in this life. Souls do not come to earth for "vacation." (There are higher universes for that.) Earth is not a play-world (although many do exist). Earth is a "school-world," and no one is really here to have fun! Souls come to earth to learn, and only to learn. So, we have opportunities to learn from every minute of every day, and from friends, family, enemies, and strangers. They are all the "teachers" of the person on the Way.

That is one reason why the cosmos often looks "hard" or "unfeeling" or even "uncaring" to us. For it simply does not matter that we enjoy our lives here. All that matters is that we are learning; but, still, one of the things that we learn is how to have more fun! We are blessed, in fact, to find bliss!:)

Each must "bear her Cross," that is, take her tests and exams. We are asked to do so with patience and understanding, not kicking and screaming like toddlers. How a person faces suffering is a faithful barometer of her spiritual wisdom, indicating even her spiritual "age" (maturity).
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"A Course in Miracles" and the Dreamworld

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I like some of the content of the book A Course in Miracles, but the book is seriously over-named. It is clearly not a "course in miracles," for it does not tell how to do miracles, in the accepted definition of that word. So, the title is actually a bit absurd. Despite the "grabber" of a name, no doubt to sell more copies, it does contain some good and useful material. It is largely an adaptation or modification of much of the Twelve-Step program material.

Sadly, a cult is forming around the book. It is seen as the "new Bible." Believers are gathering, and dividing themselves spiritually and socially from "inferior" non-believers. I do not accept the dogma that the book was "written by Jesus Christ," as believers insist.

Nor do I see the book as infallible, as many believers are starting to claim. The book was written by a psychologist, not by Jesus. A realistic, practical assessment tells us that we can include this book in our libraries and sources, but we cannot reasonably join the cult that is forming around the book, without sacrificing our independence and other freedoms.

There is nothing particularly original, and certainly nothing "spectacular," about the book. The writing is clear but ordinary. It contains a few good ideas, but, again, has nothing to do with miracles in the usual definition of that word.

Re your inquiry about the "reality" of the everyday world. It is true that the great saintmystics, particularly of Indian tradition, point out that our world is a "virtual" one, or, a dream. No material object is real. They are all products of Mind. They are dreamimages, or "virtual" reality.

But Mind is real. Since this Mind indwells you, this means that you-- and all other thinking beings-- are real. That is why human and other sentient (self-aware) life is so sacred. All thinking and aware beings are real,and holy.

Life on earth is a great school. We do things, and accomplish tasks, not so that they will last forever (they do not), but so that we can learn from them. Every minute is valuable because we can learn from that moment, and enrich our minds and hearts.

The whole "show" is about Love. Earth is a Love-school. So, every event and situation is designed to help us learn to love ourselves and other creatures. Just as a little child can learn about real estate and real money by playing Monopoly, although it is "just a game," we can learn very much about ourselves, and about compassion, goodness, and kindness from the various environments to which earthly life exposes us.

Every person is of inestimable value. So, we are here to learn to "invest in people," not just bucks and unreal material things. (The reason that they can never satisfy is that, deep down, we know that money and "stuff" are unreal.)

Your friend has gone way too far, and has misunderstood everything important, if he says that human beings are illusions. Instead, they are a part or expression of Mind, or Reality. In an unreal world, human beings are certainly, and very, real indeed.

In spirituality, we are always talking about "sentient" beings. These are self-aware beings. This category includes most of the higher mammals, and certainly, includes all human beings. Any creature who can say, "I am," with meaning, distinguishing herself from other creatures, is a "sentient" being. (This category includes all developed brains of mammals, but does not include reptiles, amphibians, fishes, insects, microrganisms, etc.)

Deliberately harming any of these sentient beings can create terrifying and disastrous karma. This is where the principle called ahimsa enters the life of the wise. For this principle is taking a vow never deliberately to harm any sentient being.

So, your grand-daughter, like yourself, is both real and sacred. She is to be treated with kindness that, in its fullness, blossoms as Love. Love is the most important principle in the enlightened life.
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The Ego as Servant of Love

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Thank you for an uplifting lettter!:) It was quite sweet. In it, you say that you are not a mystic, but I must gently and mildly disagree. We are all put on earth to cultivate the mindset and attitudes of the mystical Way. The use of "Ifree" is not, of course, a goal in itself. It is simply an exercise in mindful awareness. If it makes you aware, perhaps even a little uncomfortable, during those moments when your mind ennucleates on the self, then it has more than served its noble purpose.

The ego is not "ugly" at all. It is not an "enemy." Instead, it is a teacher. Without at least some cooperation from it, no one can make any progress on the scale of growing awareness.

So, we must elicit its cooperation-- not fight against it. And no one-- including all other people-- can ever make the ego "ugly," although we can allow it to become so. That occurs, for example, when we yield to it as our unqualified master. Then, it must work to replace God (Love) as the Number One in our lives, and it simply is not qualified to handle that job; so, it inevitably fails.

It might be said that the ego is always a failure when it comes to a beautiful life-design. But, being friends and peaceful warriors together on this nanodot called "earth," we all do share the same assignments; and, happily, we can help each other over the many "bumps" in the road.:)
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