Ancient Flight . . .

The Vedas and other Indian epics tell of vimana, flying machines of the gods, offering sometimes in depth descriptions of these in the Sanskrit texts. The heritage of Hindu sacred texts also tell of a variety of planets that serve as either heaven or hell realms, or varying realms in-between or outside of. Ancient Sumerian tablets tell of beings on other planets, and according to some purported experts, of the catastrophic consequences of collisions of planets and peoples with the inhabitants of earth. And below is a hieroglyph from a 3,000 year old archaeological sight in Abydos, Egypt depicting what look startlingly like flying machines.

There is a hieroglyphic depiction in the upper left that is clearly a crane-type helicopter, with an open place in the center to hoist and carry . . . big heavy chunks of rock to build a pyramid? The crane area of the "helicopter" is even directly below the center of lift, i.e., under the center of the rotors. Compare to the modern crane-copter in the pic above.







There is also an odd UFO lookin' thingy in the center-right, that many have noted looks much like another sort of flying machine. Compare this to the photo of a UFO taken from a boat on the way to Victoria Island in British Columbia. Minus the tail-fin, they are a perfect match--save for the odd curvature of the wings which might indicate the craft's wings are flexible, and curve according to steering and other flight requirements. The shape of the bellies of the two "craft" are extraordinarily similar.

I might consider the live photo a hoax, except for the fact that no one else seems to have made a connection between the live photo and this particular ancient hieroglyph, at least that I could find on the internet. Also, I discovered another photo of the same type of UFO taken in Great Britain, that despite critic's claim that one or the other must be a fraud, both shadows and angle of view differ enough between the photographic evidence of the two sightings to prove this was no photo-shop contrived similarity.

Below are a few more ancient models of what seem clearly aircraft. The metal model, one of many similar artifacts found from Central and South America, is dated to well over one thousand years old. A German aircraft engineer made a model of one of these, and it flew quite well. The wooden model is from an Egyptian tomb, and dates to 200 BCE, and has been tested in wind tunnels as extremely efficient at flight, once the apparently missing tail-wings were replaced.





I suppose there goes the notion that my great-grandmother's second cousins were the ones who invented flight.

More on evidences of advanced technologies from ancient times, and traces of extra-terrestrial influences upon ancient civilizations, later . . .

Who Benefits From Fear? It's a Good Bet You Don't . . .

Fear, both personal and corporate, has set the tone for much of many America's reception of the last few years. Has this paranoia benefitted the average person? made life safer for the average American? and even if so, is this safety worth the freedoms it seems to cost: government agencies going unprosecuted for illegally accessing phone millions of Americans telephone records, zenophobia and control of the masses by fear, increased hassles at the border and unwarranted scrutiny of average Americans' lives, etc.? Let's hope Obama's administration and the current members of Congress continue to shift the tone, and without the least undue compromise.

Check out this examination of "fear" and the American psyche:

http://www.utne.com/Politics/Overcoming-American-Fear-Culture-On-Eve-of-New-Presidency.aspx

End Marijuana Prohibition!!!!!! 'Cuz it's just stupid!

As I was checkin' out the news on the internet the other day, I noted the supposed controversy over Olympic Gold Medalist Michael Phelps shown in a photo puffin' from a pot pipe. I couldn't help but be annoyed at how FUCKING ABSURD it is that such a thing is even given the least mention in the media these days.

Most of the reporters who wrote on this story likely do or certainly have smoked cannabis. I would put money (were I a gambler) on the fact that at least a few of the folks on the Olympic committee puff.

For an idea of the spectrum of people who smoke this still villainized plant, check out this advertisement . . .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0mEDE_w1xo
http://www.chroniccorner.net/welcome.html


WHAT IS THE FRICKIN' BIG DEAL!?!?!?!?!?!?

Dimensions of the Divine as a Lover . . .

In the fluctuating reality I have been experiencing of late, things destroyed by fire seemingly miraculously restored (see post entitled, "I Now Have Confirmation: This Isn't the Same Laramie I Left Behind (or somebody's playing tricks on me . . .)" and so forth, I have yet to discern if I am still in that dimension wherein Devi or some other benevolent deity is merely "working with me"/doing karma-yoga with me/etc. serving as explanation enough for dissettling anomalies, and not displaced to some new or old place in time-space wherein other storylines are presuming to supercede the story of the eternal romance of my Self and the divine feminine, however She might incarnate or manifest in and through illusion/maya/Maya in my life, that for most my years on the road has sustained my soul.

DOn't mistake a presumption in the previous, as the understanding of a relationship between practitioner and the divine even physically embodied as a lover is not uncommonly reported (and is sometimes a central theme) throughout world religions. From the Judeo-Christian-Islamic traditions there are many accounts of the meeting of human and divine described very sexually (Song of Solomon, church as "bride of Christ," Catholic nuns reporting being entered by the spirit of God underneath layered habits and between otherwise chaste thighs, the "beloved" lauded in Rumi and Gibran and some Muslim notions of heaven), to the more ancient expression of the three divine couples of the Hindu Trimurti, tantra and so forth to fertility cults throughout the globe, it grows obvious that love and romance and various expressions of sexually expressed devotion are central to most mythological paradigms.

The patriarchal religion I'd known previous to on the road explorations and renunciation, and the rather droll and repressed reality that seemed to accompany said system, were an influence and a reality I had assumed largely dispelled from my life, or transformed and properly reordered. I believed myself liberated to a mode of existence wherein the eternal romance of Deva-Devi was manifest in and through life lived, and the playful lila of Siva and Parvati, Radha-Krishna, etc., influenced, and informed and infiltrated my personal life stories (and other's life stories, too).

In discerning and verifying out-of-place objects and other aberrations and anomalies upon my return to Laramie after three-years-gone, I have to wonder if some of the operative assumptions I've made of my relationship to my surroundings previous to these "changes" (inexplicably altered doorframes and seeming deaths and other indices of space-time shifts) still apply as they did previously.

I've no doubt that Devi is present somehow and somewhere, as I am certain the good Self (अत्मन् atman) yet resides in my form, but after such displacement and disorientation as I've yet to adjust to, one year "back in town" after three-years on the road, I'm less certain of where I stand with my eternal Beloved. Signs are uncertain and confused where they were once rather readily read, and indications are something's more than a tad out of place in the place I've mostly called home for most of this life.

A plea I've made on occasion: Oh, for an interdimensional GPS or a chart or charts of all facets of reality that might be traveled, and not merely the two-dimensional representations of overt geographies you can buy at a bookstore or look at online. Rather, a mode of locating subtle positioning, and through which one might find the portals and keys and Shangri Las hidden throughout the globe and amongst the world's many layers. Perhaps some sort of hand-held instrument designed to locate the positions of lost friends or lost loves or to find wherever it might be "home" has been moved to . . .

If any of you have access to such an instrument or set of maps, please leave a comment below . . .

My Favorite Scripture Passage . . .

The First Three Verses of Patanjali's Yoga-Sûtra in Sanskrit-English Translation

Samâdhi-pâdaï

I.1
atha yogânuåâsanam
atha = now
yoga = process of yoking; union
ânuåâsanam = teaching, exposition

Now, the teachings of yoga.


I.2
yogaå citta-vëtti-nirodhaï
yogaï = process of yoking; union
citta = consciousness
vëtti = patterning, turnings, movements
nirodhaï = stilling, cessation, restriction

Yoga is to still the patterning of consciousness [or "alteration of patterns of sense vibration"].


I.3
tadâ draæøuï svarûpe ‘vasthânam
tadâ = then
draæøuï = seer, witness, pure awareness
svarûpe = own essence, identity
avasthânam = state of abiding

Then, pure awareness can abide in its very nature.

Which Came First: the Mountain or the ॐ?

This is a mountain in the Himalayas called ॐ पर्वत् (AUM Parvat) . . .

The obvious question that must be asked, at least by a mad social scientist like me: is this a megalithic petroglyph ?!  Did a king (or maybe giants) have this sacred symbol carved on the side of this mountain, the combination of the Devanagari letters AUM, by ordering the removal of who know how many million tons of rock from the slope of this massive high altitude peak?!  Else perhaps an ascetic was inspired by the shape of the snowfields on this mountain, and developed (had revealed to him/her?) the Devanagari script.  One or the other must be true, no?!  This mountain is on the pilgrim path (yatra) to Mount Kailash, and so the ॐ  taking up the side of such a massive mountain on this ancient sacred pathway CANNOT BE COINCIDENCE !!  Maybe Shiva Himself or Ma Prithvi Devi or Vishnu put the ॐ  there?!  What could possibly be the explanation for the ॐ  of  ॐ Parvat ?!  Feel free to enlighten me if you know the answer . . .

Introducing the Sailbus/Boatmobile

Whilst endeavoring to keep myself busy whilst I wandered the eastern United States I came up with a design for an amphibious sailboat, at home on both highways and the high seas. Here's what I came up with . . .




With any luck I'll have it built within a few years . . .

Reading the Map Like Constellations: The Trishul I Live Amidst . . .

What is the meaning of the trishul, and the figure holding said made of mountains trishul ("trident" is the familiar English term for said ancient weapon of God), outlined on these maps?

You can double-click on an image for a closer view.





I had a sense that the three mountain ranges that extend from Colorado into southeast Wyoming formed something of a trishul, though I had no idea how accurate a presentation of this symbol of the presence of Mahadeva, Siva, Hara, Shankara, Great God was formed millions and millions of years ago by processes geologic and Divine. I did not imagine that this trishul even has a danda (staff), which is the Front Range of Colorado.



The satellite photos above shows rather clearly that I was not mistaken about the trishul, sign of the presence of Siva, formed by the Laramie, Snowy, and Sierra Madre Ranges, with the Front Range as the danda. I did not conceive of the figure holding this auspicious weapon until I looked at the trishul via satellite photos. If this is not proof enough of the truth of the Divine, writ large through the landscape and manifest long before humans were (at least supposed to) exist on this planet and supposed to be making up myths about Gods with Divine Weapons, then I s'pose death and a visit with Yama may be what's required for the skeptics amongst . . .


http://western-hindu.org/2009/10/14/shaivite-hindu-symbols-the-trishula/

What is Marriage?

A recent hot topic in this nation is whether or not same-sex couples ought to have the legal right to officially sanctioned matrimony. I have an opinion regarding this matter that is informed by a number of diverse cultural responses to differences of gendering, and also a bit by experience and personal sentiment.

First I ought to note that I have sincere sympathy for those who do not fit within the proscribed traditional norms which this society has, until fairly recently, enforced with no little tyranny. This said, I shall state that I do not believe that "marriage" between a man and a woman and "marriage" between a man and a man or a woman and a woman are interchangeable or the same thing. That said, I do believe that same-sex couples who wish to make a commitment to each other ought to have some sanctioned mode by which they might do so, and through which they might be afforded the same rights and benefits and respect as male-female married couples.

In light of the notion of reincarnation, it is clear that gender is not necessarily something that is intrinsic to a soul. A man in one lifetime might become a woman in another, or vice-verse. Thus it seems not unlikely, assuming the verity of said conception of a soul's pilgrimage through life and death and life and death, etc., that the proclivities and sexual identity from one lifetime might carry through to another. Thus it would be to whatever degree "natural" for some who are born men to maintain an identification with "female desire," or vice-verse. Perhaps some part of said person's self had yet to complete some portion of the dharma of being the gender of a former incarnation.

In regards to the question of "marriage," I am inclined to examine the practices of various cultures which maintain different categories than the dichotomy "male/female" and "man-and-wife" in terms of their constructions of gender and marital union.

Among the Bugis of South Sulawesi in Indonesia, priests known as bissu are imagined to embody both male and female genders as an ideal of balance of said energies. In addition to this third gender, there are calalai, biological females who assume the "traditional" male gender role and may take a female partner as wife, and calabai, biological males who assume the "traditional" female gender role, and may take a male partner as husband. This society finds harmony in this arrangement, and maintains the belief that each of these genders is a necessary part of the balance of their communities. They do maintain differentiations, however, and though all of these genders are considered important and respected parts of an integrated society, they are not "the same."

In Hindu mythology, the incarnation of Siva-Sakti as Ardhanarishwara, male and female united in one body, male on one side and female on the other, is represented as the original state of the genders. Indeed, there is a biological condition called tetragametic chimerism, or "true hermaphroditism," where two separate ovum are fertilized by two separate sperm, and these would-be twins meld into one organism. In such case as one zygote is male and one is female, the result can be an individual with female attributes and genetalia on one side, and male on the other, often with different pigmentation delineated directly down the center of the body, exactly as depicted in the Ardhanarishwara murti ("murti" would translate to something like "sacred representation/symbolic embodiment" or "icon." Above is a murti depicting Ardhanarishwara). Unfortunately, when such sacred children are born, the confused standards of society generally proscribe "corrective" surgery. To me this is sacrilege and a violation against nature (ब्रह्मन् brahman). Such children ought to be revered, and perhaps even have shrines built to honor them. Such beings are reminders of our true Self, both encorporating and transcending gender difference, yet without blurring important and valuable distinctions.

A recent reconstruction of traditional Native American constructions of gender differentiation recognizes the status of differently gendered individuals as of "two-spirits." The Lakota call these differently gendered persons "winkte." The Dine (Navajo) have the term "nadle" to describe such people. In Polynesian culture there is a third gender called "mahu."  In India there are physiological men who dress as women known as hijra (as well as other designations in other regions) and in some cases these live in communities with gurus. These are generally devotees of Siva.  These peoples living "alternative lifestyles" are generally revered by their culture, often granted sacred status, and are recognized as bridging the supposed dichotomy of male and female, and often as bridging the supposed gap between spiritual and material worlds.

So far as I am concerned, consensuality, lack of coersion and age appropriateness are the most important factors.  As the Divine is not bound by gender neither is it necessary for people to be bound by narrow definitions.
To return to the original discussion, it seems that in light of the variation of gendering in these other cultures, there ought to be tolerance, respect, and indeed officially sanctioned legitimacy granted to same-sex unions. My opinion, however, is that said unions ought to be understood as not less than, but not the same as, marriage between a man and a woman, as each of these other cultures acknowledge in their expressions of various deployals of gender identity and sexual partnership.

Namaste . . .

Ten Avatars of Vishnu: Evolution Personified

Just discovered (or was reminded of) something epiphanous, astounding, simple and profound. Vishnu, the second person of the Hindu Trimurti ("trinity"), has ten avatars that quite clearly express the progressive stages of human evolution.

Matsya, fish avatar
Kurma, tortoise avatar
Varaha, boar avatar
Narasingha, half-human, half-beast avatar
Vamana, dwarf avatar
Parasurama, axe-wielding avatar
Rama, warrior-king avatar
Krishna, cowherd avatar
Buddha, enlightened avatar
Kalki, coming avatar to end the current age

This quite clearly exemplifies that the debate phrased as "creationism versus evolution" is unnecessary and rather mute. Indeed, this example of a healthy amalgamation of ancient "religion" and "science" (the "religious-science" of India is known as "Ayurveda") expresses a clear understanding of the principles of human evolution thousands of years before Darwin. Once again my respect for the teachings of India are reaffirmed.

Indeed, many of the texts of the Vedas might be read as encoded scientific formulas, arguably even to the level of expressing advanced "quantum-physics" type principles (perhaps I'll get to the Vedic references to flying machines and other advanced technologies, and even potential references to and evidences of ancient nuclear war, at another time).

Link to book review of Vedic Physics: Scientific Origin of Hinduism

http://home.ica.net/~roymanju/Rajaram.htm

Maybe Columbus Found India After All: Traces of India Amongst American "Indians"

I promised some evidences of early colonization of America by ancient Indians/
"Hindus" (i.e., people of the Indian subcontinent, south Asia). By these evidences I intend to refute the theory generally held by academia and popular culture that Native Americans all came from north Asia across the Bearing Strait land bridge (as well as the Mormon myth that Native Americans were Hebrew--not to say no Hebrews or other Europeans, Asians, Africans or others ever ventured here before Columbus, just that most early colonists of the "Americas," or as this land was named by it's earlier colonists from India, "Patala," were either Hindu or north Asian).

Indeed, India had established ties with America long before Columbus, Leif Erickson, or even early Chinese explorers set foot on American shores.

One of the above ancient temples is in the Americas, and one is in India. Can you tell which is which?

Apache's call themselves "Inde," i.e., of the Indus Valley, Hindu, "Indian."

Apache people worship Yusn, lord of wealth, one of Siva's names is Jatin, and Siva is known as Lord of Wealth.

Pima god "Siuuhu," or "Sewa." Hindu god Siva.

Viriseva and Vairubai, names of male and female deities worshipped by natives of Northen Mexico. Seem likely to translate to "Lord Siva" ("vira"--"great," "eminent man"; "seva" phonetically close to "Siva")and "Bairavi" (one of Parvati's names, i.e., Siva's consort).

Nah-big, O'Odham (Arizona native tribe) word for water-siphon.
Nag-beg, Kashmiri term for water siphons named after water-serpent deity.

Vah-Mat, O'Odham word for snake.
Veh-Mar, Sanskrit, "poinonous snake."

Baboquivari mountains in southern Arizona, traditional name given by O'Odham people, and a source of much gold.
Baba-Kubera, Sanskrit, "father"-"god of riches and treasure."

Recall that the conquistador Coronado was seeking "Quivira," fabled city of gold. Obviously very much like the name of Hindu deity, "Kubera," again, a god of riches and treasure.

"Some tribes, such as the Huicholes in Central Mexico, even remember from what Indian seaport they left for America - Aramra in Gujarat. The Huicholes revere a part of the beach at the old Mexican seaport of San Blas, Nayarit, as Aramara, "Place of Origin of the Huicholes." Millenniums ago, Gujarat was called Jukhar. Juj-Kha is an O'Odham name for "Mexicans." The Navajos call them Nakaii (Nagas). The Apaches claim to be Inde (Indus People.) They worship Shiva as Yusn. In Sanskrit, Yishan = "Shiva." Apache = "Enemy" in O'Odham. In Sanskrit, Apachnan = "Destroyer." Another name of the Zunis ("Zoonyees") is Ashiwi (Azhuva?, "Way of the Serpent," in Sanskrit). Two of their principal deities are Shivani and Shiwanikoya. Zoonya (Zuni?) and Zeenya ware epithets of ancient Kashmir. According to Indian historian K. P. Chon, the Naga Azhuvas, perhaps the forefathers of the Zunis, were India's oldest ruling dynasty. He said that they ruled for more than a thousand years." (copied from Webpage, "Journey to Baboquivari, Gene Matlock explores the paths of ancient migrations," in the article, "The O'Odham, Native Americans with Ancestors from India?" link at end of post)

Deity's names are useful for finding still extant connections linguistically and culturally, as people generally are more careful to maintain the names of gods than other words. Also, words for the sun and moon often maintain their structure better than other common words.

Cherokee "Lucky Hunter" god, sometimes called first man: Kanati.
Sanskrit for hunter, kSAnta, etymologically quite close to Kanati.

Cherokee goddess of corn, Selu.
Sanskrit "selu" means many, a term oft associated with corn/grain/abundance.

Creek god called on for strength, Hayuya.
Sanskrit for "exhibiting strength," ojAya.

Creek Supreme God was Master of Breath.
Breath, pranayam, is the source of life-energy and is central in Yoga.

Choctaw deity, "Hashtahli," "sun completing it's cycle."
Sanskrit, "asta" setting sun, "li" end.

Cheyenne for "sun," Éše'he.
Again, Sanskrit "asti," setting sun and the direction to India from the Cheyenne lands.

Cheyenne for moon, "Taa'é-eše'he."
Sanskrit for particular full moon, "taiSa."

Aztecs.
Sanskrit, "Astika," faithful, one who believes in existence of God/another world.

"Kiva," round half-underground Hopi ceremonial houses.
Sanskrit "ki"--anthill, "va"--dwelling

Maya people.
Maya, hindu Goddess of illusion.

And of course the Swastika (not the tilted version of the Nazi's, mind you) is found from ancient Indus Valley seals to ancient Native American sights.


Most of the above examples were found by a simple comparison of Native American words with words meaning the same in Sanskrit I found in a Sanskrit lexicon, and from similar research done by others. I imagine I could go on for pages and pages with this stuff if I chose, and mind you, these etymological similarities are as strong as any touted by any PhD linguist. Indeed, there is ample evidence that people from ancient India--and very sophisticated peoples, at that--were the forebearers and ancestors of many Native American Tribes. Yet again, the official version of history and archeology is found quite wanting, if not outright in denial of obvious truths of human history.




http://www.vandemataram.com/html/diduknow/diduno-mexico.htm

http://www.viewzone.com/baboquivari.html


http://books.google.com/books?id=Eh1WHqo0JN8C&pg=PA530&lpg=PA530&dq=ancient+hindu+america&source=bl&ots=QyqtiTi6k-&sig=j3_M1nezgLoWXKDRDxBCS-wd3YA&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=7&ct=result

http://www.viewzone.com/kokopeli.html

http://vedicempire.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=25&Itemid=26

http://www.jansamachar.net/display.php3?id=&num=49&lang=English

http://books.google.com/books?id=Obgdz8auwkMC&pg=PA52&lpg=PA52&dq=hindu+artifacts+in+america&source=web&ots=c44PyVw213&sig=SQpAOScDUw54XrWWibcIyGmtgL8&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=4&ct=result#PPA53,M1

Mind Your P's and Q's: English-Sanskrit Cognates/Obvious Derivative Words

One of these photos is of an ancient seal found in the Indus Valley depicting Pasupati, "Lord of Beasts," an ancient form of Siva. One of these is from an ancient artifact depicting Cernunnos, the "horned god" of Europe.

Below is a list of words/roots from Sanskrit that are the obvious sources of various English words (many, many other like etymological lineages are extant, if many are not so obvious):

rta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . right (though not "as opposed to left")
hari (as in, "hari krsna") . . . . . . hooray
cut . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . cut
aum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . amen
vidya . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . idea
asti . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . is (via the German "ist")
svasar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . sister
dva . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . two
trayas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . three
din.gi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . dinghy (small boat)
jangala . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . jungle
naranga . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . orange
sraman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . shaman
sarkara . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . sugar
kal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . call
amb . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ambient
kakh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . cackle
pard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . fart, "pardon me" (maybe a stretch)
pun.d. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . to pound
badh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . bad
yoga/yuj . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . to yoke
rap . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . rap ("talk")
seva . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . service
stha_ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . stand
smi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . smile
lih . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . lick
dam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . dam
sur . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . sir
sutee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . soot
prati . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . pretty (as in "pretty close")
ramb . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . rumble
varn.a . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . varnish
vanta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . want
baad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . bath
banda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . bond
carya . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . car
dama . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . domicile
danta . . . . .. . . . . ... . . . . . dental
divya . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . divine
harda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . heart
go (cow) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . god (whew!!!!! Blowing your mind yet?)
jan(to be born) . . . . . . . . . . . . genesis
kri . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . create
nau/navya . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . navy
patha . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . path
puuy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . pee-yoo-ee (i.e., stinks)
sriiv . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . shrivel
tat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . that


And on and on the obvious connections of India and Europe, Sanskrit, the sacred language of India, and European words. Indeed, the Middle East is only and at best intermediary to the truer source of the cultures and religions of "the West."
It is a given in etymology (even in the "Western" academic tradition) that Sanskrit (or the theorized and rather dubious "Indo-European" language) is a major source of European languages, but I just thought I'd offer a few examples to get you thinking about where your culture comes from . . .

Later and more controversial: Sanskrit-Native American language cognates . . .

Retooling America: "Green" in Ten Years

In the current debate regarding clean and renewable energy versus dirty and war-prone fossil fuel extraction, and the obviously necessary transition from the former to the latter, I have heretofore stood somewhere between the extremes of the "business as usual" approach, and the "100% transition in ten years" approach, largely because I imagined such a radical transition as the latter would cause suffering due to harms done the economy by the means such a radical approach would imply. Perhaps this was intentions of ancestors or "conservative" consciousnesses grasping on to influence in my life, or vestiges of fears having been drilled into my head in recent trialsome times. It has just occurred to me, however, that it has been exactly such radical transitions in the recent history (100 years or so) of this nation's economy that have brought the economy back to "health" after times of hardship.

It was largely due to the radical policies of the "New Deal" that the Great Depression ended . Programs now taken for granted such as Social Security as well as various other radical economic policy shifts, followed by the nation's swift "retooling" to meet the challenges of Nazi and Japanese aggression indeed brought the economic prosperity of this nation very effectively back to better standards of living for the general populace.

Similarly, a radical shift towards an environmentally sound--"Green"--economy might be exactly what is necessary both to ensure the sustainability of our existence on this planet and to spur the economy to a proper and healthy mode of growth to stave off recession. After the New Deal had begun to turn the economy around and to alleviate economic suffering of average folks, the nation-wide mobilization of citizens for the common cause of opposing Nazi oppression and Japanese aggression helped to shift the economy to a level of prosperity comparable to that of the twenties. Similarly, if this nation is spurred to decisive action to make a radical shift towards environmentally sound economy and lifestyles by both discourse (i.e., "media coverage," etc., to encourage individual action), and officially sanctioned and enforced economic and industrial policies (legislation and willful action on the part of industry), then in fact such a radical shift will accomplish both goals of a healthy economy and a healthy relationship with the environment.

Conclusion: It's time to mobilize and act. "Green" within ten years!!!

लिल Lila, the Divine Play of Life

लिल (lila) is a term I have found quite useful. With all the injustices and imbalances and inequities and violences I have seen and read of in the world around me, to imagine all this as but scenes in a divine play made the best case for what in “Western” philosophical terminology is called “theodicy,” which is basically the attempt(s) to answer the question, “If God is good and God is omnipotent, how can there exist evil?” To envision all the ills of this world as merely illusion, playing out of something like a scripted theatrical production solves many of the problems in justifying the ills of life. We are thus all merely emanations of aspects of the divine, refracted through a crystalline lens, acting out various scenarios of variegated possibilities of divergence from Self. When all is said and done, the curtains drawn, it all makes sense and there is no further need for justification. All sufferings are shown as merely imaginative experiments of possible pathways, and proper unity and purity are shown as having never having truly faltered.

Not that I ever believed there is no place for justice to be exacted by players in this play, mind you, nor that inexcusable violences or abuses ought be overlooked. Rather I believed that so long as one maintains purity of mind and spirit, nothing cannot be overcome or transformed and fitted within a wholistic view of existence that finds life good and worthy of living, beautiful and aesthetically intact.

Well, someone sought to challenge my very effective mode of dealing with the world's ills, for better or worse, a mode which indeed made ills quite ineffective and evil at most a nuisance. I was drawn into a rather desolate and perverse version of “lila,” and indeed one I am not sure well fits the unified version I had in mind. It seems as if some other contending paradigm sought to prove it’s verity above my own, and specifically the Western version of guilt and the inherent evil of humanity, i.e., Judeo-Christian understandings of sin and guilt and suffering. It seemed rather as if the beliefs and intensions of those I had known when I was a Baptist minister were coming back to haunt me. Indeed, the depression and undue attributions of guilt and fear were again somehow injected into my mind to assail the beautiful and truly liberating mode of existence I had come to know and share along the truly र्त (rta—“righteous," and "correct”) path I had found upon abandoning the errant world view of Christianity.

In the reality I had come to know, evil and ills always met due कर्म-धर्म (karma-dharma, “action-consequence/teaching”), and all of life and being was on an exciting and wonderful journey back to the source, अत्मन् (atman—the true and good and pure and benevolent “Self”). Everything that was not of or commensurate to this good Self would be transformed or burned away in the process of तपसि (tapasia—“purifying fire”) through the course of the pilgrimage that is life (or lives) lived. In actuality, these notions are not so far from some of the teachings of Jeshua ben Joseph (aka, “Jesus”), though from other of his teachings I think he should have spent a bit more time in India learning from the yogis.

In the interim, between beginnings and return to अत्मन् (atman), the here and now is time to practice भुतदय (bhutadaya--"compassion") and योग (yoga—“union,” or as Patanjali in his Yoga sutra put it, “Yoga is the alteration of sense vibration” towards a more pure expression of our true, good divine Self), and to celebrate the beauty of existence and each other, and the archetypal modes of divine play that lead us back to the pure union in and of देव-देवि (Deva-Devi--"God-Goddess").

The challenge I faced was a manipulation of चिदचित् (cidachit—“mind and matter”), a use and abuse of powers of illusion to attempt to dissuade me from my path, and to return me to living as a fearful sheep. Well, despite struggles and sufferings and assaults on and even in my mind, my resolve is still firm. Perhaps I now view the playing field or theater of life with a bit less trust, a bit less of what might be called “naivety,” for better or worse, as it seems clear some have or at least recently have maintained some degree of power to attack that good balance and philosophy I have found. Yet I remain convinced that indeed, “all the world’s a stage” is a better metaphor than many, and that when all is said and done, the plot will meet proper dénouement, and we shall all have cause to rejoice at a play well played.

There is a story as yet unwritten: truth. This story would make the X-Files seem mundane musings. This tale would likely drive most supposedly sane folks beyond the capacity of reason, and would make the disclosure of those government conspiracies and cover ups that indeed exist, from the knowledge of extra-terrestrial visitations to the acknowledgment of the workings of the hidden governing bodies of this world, and even admission of the reality of सिधि (sidhis, "magical powers") seem but trifles to the truth that lies behind these deeper veils. Certain of the worlds mythologies give glimpses, if one has an eye to read between the lines. Stories of gods and goddesses, constructions of earth and heaven and underworld realms give hints of the manner in which reality is (realities are) made and maintained and destroyed, and to the origin and destination of each and all. Yet these all fall short of the subtle and hidden truth that is yet somewhere unreached by all save a few minds, and likely less than a handful understand this true nature of reality, or ब्रह्मन् (brahman,) to use a language more precise, if perhaps still somewhat lacking in the perfect precision that might describe that to which I am eluding.

This truth is not so "terrible," save as it is far from what we are taught and conditioned to believe. These knowledges are not of "heaven" nor "hell," nor any such mundane metaphors. Perhaps more like the still waters of a mountain lake, or the majesty of a mountain, yet not quite nor merely. It is not what most understand as "God," nor can this be reduced to dogma. It might be read as not entirely unlike a लिल (lila, Sanskrit for "divine play"), and yet without acting. Simplicity that would strike dumb our busy world, wisdom that would make the most revered of men and women seem fools.

Light and dark are not even applicable terms to describe that of which I am here endeavoring a feeble and humble attempt to put in words. Resonant with human concepts of good and true and right, yet not encompassed therein, though not breaking with purity. This of which I speak is always already present within each and all, and yet can scarce be grasped, and again, even less easily conveyed in words. Not silence, nor din, though may to some degree be apprehended in solitude, and on occasion in music, both of human artifice and of the song of birds and the wind, rain falling, crickets chirping, waves crashing upon the shore and a rivers rush towards the sea, and even the subtle hum or aum of earth and sky and beyond.
Consider.


Blessings . . .

Communique

Here goes my first endeavor at this medium, endeavored partially to vent my fury regarding the state of things in this insane world, partially to make myself more available to people I have known and loved over the years, and partially because the words I write might just make a difference, however slight, in the lives of any who happens to read this one of so many millions of like pages of rants published as "blogs."

Regarding the content I intend to print in this medium, well, everything from personal narratives to politics, religion to science, counterculture musings to mainstream criticism. I have lived an interesting life thus far, and though perhaps not so well travelled as many, have encountered some truly amazing places and peoples, ideas and inside information on the underbelly of this land and the subtle workings of life.

I've been a Baptist preacher and a sadhu, a wandering hippie and a working man, and I have only just begun to explore and experience the wonders of this world. Hopefully those insights and experiences I intend to share in these entries will offer inspiration, hope, and cause whoever happens to peruse these pages to question what ought to be questioned and to have strengthened faith in what is solid and true and good in this beautiful and crazy world.

Enough for now . . .

Namaste