A spiritual focus on fair & honest elections, from Garybeck & me

[Amaryllis]

A few weeks ago, I was talking to Garybeck about our respective efforts in the election reform arena, and how at times it seems like we are up against insurmountable odds. Just before we ended the conversation, he asked, “How can we end this on a positive note?” because we were feeling kind of down over the magnitude of the challenge.

We started talking about looking at it from a larger perspective, the bigger picture, in terms of a spiritual overview. Even though the situation looks bleak from the perspective of what I know of outer circumstance, I believe that Spirit (Higher Power, God, whatever your paradigm is) is in no way limited or restricted by present circumstances. This is a very good thing to remember when dealing with seemingly insurmountable odds.

Every day my intention (which I remember to do most of the time) is to take a few minutes and imagine love and good will and Spirit flowing into the whole situation, without any attempt to influence it in a particular direction or toward a specific outcome, because I believe that Spirit knows far better than I from my limited perspective what is best, and that it can come up with outcomes far greater than I can from my limited knowledge and I do not want to place any limitations on Spirit. I do not focus on the problems when doing this, because I don't want to put energy into the problems, but rather my attention is on the concept of fair elections. I ask to be guided to know my next steps and then I try to quiet down my mind, or surrender to that greater viewpoint, so I can get a sense of those next steps. For me, this works a lot better than trying to figure it all out with my mind.

I started thinking about forming an informal group of people who have this perspective, for several reasons:

1. It helps a great deal to have others who are on the same wavelength to remind each other of this bigger picture when we forget, or when we are feeling discouraged or afraid.

2. I see this spiritual focus as a crucial action to be taking in this effort toward fair and honest elections.

I asked Garybeck what he thought, and he liked the idea. I have since checked it out with a couple of other DUers, who also liked it, and we decided a thread on this would be a good idea. So, the idea is to find like-minded people who are interested in this approach, and then each person contemplates, meditates, prays, or whatever you want to call how you connect with God, Spirit, Higher Power, or whatever you want to call it, in whatever manner you are most comfortable doing so, to bring a spiritual focus to our efforts.

We would know there is a group of us doing this, rather than all of us doing it just on our own. I wasn’t thinking of a particular time, because of the time zone differences. If people like, in addition to a few minutes each day, we could say every Sunday (Sunday only because more people seem to not work on Sunday than any other day) we focus on this at whatever time is best for us, or if you like, we could try to pick a time, but again, different schedules and time zones could make this tricky. What I don’t want to do is to get into a big discussion of details of when, etc. What I would like is to keep it simple. We could have a thread to remind us (every Sunday?) and on this thread we could maybe discuss how the process is working for us.

What are your thoughts, you wonderful, inspiring, inspired, brilliant, dedicated, thoughtful people?

[intheflow]

1. Are you aware of the DU prayer circle group?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topics&forum=237

Your idea seems to fit right in there, although it's not exactly a high profile, well-visited group.

But I like the idea, and would be interested in participating. I like a thread being posted every week, but for those of us who don't hang out in this forum, it might be hard to catch it. Maybe a pm reminder system? but that could be way too time consuming.

Wish I could help more. But I do think you've got something here. We've tried the press, we might as well work with prayer.

[Amaryllis]

8. Could pm those who don't hang out on this forum who want to participate

if there aren't many. This is pretty much the only one where I go.

[hvn_nbr_2]

27. Several other groups and forums would like to know about this

Here are some other groups and forums where it might be a good idea to post a pointer to this thread:

Seekers on Unique Paths Group
Prayer Circle Group
Christian Liberals/Progressive People of Faith Group
Astrology, Spirituality, and Alternative Healing Group
Ancient Wisdom and Pagan Spirituality Group
Religion and Theology

[garybeck]

37. networking with others would be great

do you have URLs for any of these groups?

g

[Helga Scow Stern]

2. This sounds like a very healthy activity.

When many of us are trying so hard to make it better, it is good to step back sometimes and realize that it is all really in the hands of spirit, and then get back to work.

The love spirit delivers effectively neutralizes the fear and hatred that can become so overwhelming from focusing on some of these events and characters who are trying to steal so much out from underneath this country.

Spirit also transcends the polarization that threatens to get out of hand, by bridging us all through the heart. There is no more powerful force, than the love from spirit, in my experience. Miracles happen once that love is felt.

[Amaryllis]

9. Yes! In the hands of spirit. Do whatever we can, and then remember

that. First three steps of the 12 step programs; I call them the surrender steps.

And yes, the fear can become consuming, and the anger, and I for one have to keep coming back from, as you say, that place where "the polarization threatens to get out of hand," to a more detached place. And it sure helps to have others to remind me when I forget, and just to know that others are focusing on it also.

I love this in your post: "There is no more powerful force, than the love from spirit, in my experience. Miracles happen once that love is felt."

[cprise]

3. In order to have faith in humankind

...it is necessary for me to devote a part of my imagination to the possibilities that result from goodwill. Regaining my sense of perspective (and realizing its limitations) is something that I pause for daily, and a part of what keeps me going.

We are all part of a humanity that is daily sifting through our material and spiritual surroundings looking for a 'something better'. But in our quests we can become so myopic and miserable.

Some of the Unitarians here who are familiar with ecumenical services may have a lot to contribute toward your idea. They have a prayer-ethic (sort of like a work-ethic) best described as "service is prayer".

Just some semi-random thoughts.

[Amaryllis]

11. Good will...very important because it's so easy to get polarized over

the outrageousness of what is happening. And again, easy to get caught up that and very helpful to have others to help with regaining perspective.

[denese]

4. a wonderful idea

I would love to be a part of this.
I believe there is a lot of truth to the sentiment, whenever two or more are gathered...
Thanks for doing this.

[Amaryllis]

10. I thought of "whenever two or more are gathered..." when I thought of

the idea to try a thread on this. I believe that too, regardles of what paradigm you hold for source, God, Higher Power, etc.

[Melissa G]

5. i'm in n/t

[emcguffie]

6. I would like to participate.

In some ways, this is the best thing some of us can do. I can't get around, because of my job, combined with bad health. (Someday, when I go on vacation, I will. Or if I go on sick leave.)

But this is something I can do, and mean to do, but often forget. If I were to be reminded, the odds get oh so much better!


Ellen

[Amaryllis]

12. I do best when I use this as a starting place

for all the other actions I do in election reform. But like you, I forget, and this would make the odds much better!

[emcguffie]

20. I'm having hell weeks at work

The Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues is meeting these next twoweeks, and there are a thousand or more folks here for it, most of them indigenous. I am running around like the proverbial chicken.

It's funny, because of this I have become somewhat familiar with a few Native American prophecies that fit with what is happening from the Hopi. I think his daughter is due here this week. I must check. But I imagine there will be a lot of prayers going out from this location over the next two weeks.

[Joe Chi Minh]

22. A simple "dedicated" prayer for Christian Duers,

(adaptable to the liking of those who prefer the concept of some form of sovereign ruling spirit), which might be said each day, would surely reach God's ears and touch his heart. Something like, perhaps:

"Merciful Father(/Being), it has been said that, if we want to change the world, we must start with ourselves.

Only you know the deepest secrets of our hearts, so that none of us can truly know to what extent we personally have failed as individuals in our calling to be "other Christs", choosing to ignore the promptings of your spirit.

But what we can clearly see now, is that, what has recently been happening to our country, suggests that there has been a failure of love on our part, as a people, towards our fellow human beings, at home and abroad, and we are reaping what we sowed.

Apart from tolerating mass unemployment, ruinously low wages, and millions of homeless fellow-citizens living and sleeping rough, we have complacently looked the other way as our nation has mercilessly subverted progressive governments all over the world, usually with unimaginable cruelty; and for no better reason than to maintain and/or raise our own living standards. Even by the sorry standards of most other Western countries, the level of our country's materialism -not withstanding attendances at your churches - has been a byword. As with the Jewish people in Old Testament times, though, we find that our pockets are like sieves, our crops dying from drought.

Insofar as we share some measure of complicity in these outrages, however passively and tacitly, and acknowledge it to you, we entreat you in your merciful forgiveness to restore us to the health and holiness we know you plan for us, and which we now truly desire as a nation, with the help of your grace, to work towards".

It's too long and wordy, but there might be the germ of an idea someone else could worked on; perhaps along the lines of a much simpler prayer of contrition and petition I couldn't manage. The Jewish people used to offer up such prayers to God in very difficult times, in Old Testament times. Maybe simply the Our Father, for the specific purposes of your country's restoration.

Please don't imagine that this post is an implicit insult to your country and its people. So-called "Old Europe" is admirable in many ways, but in the UK at least, we have the politics of despair. We no longer have the option of even a social democracy.

I had a very funny experience this morning. At Waverly station, I looked up at a VDU with the times of the trains, and immediately spotted on the far right of the screen an unbroken column of entries, "on time, on time, on time, etc, etc". I'm sure Anthony and his corporate friends would have been so proud !

[emcguffie]

21. second reply

My thinking about the praying has been that what I should ask for is for the truth to come out, sooner rather than later.

Should we concentrate on a particular?

[Amaryllis]

34. My preference would be for each person to decide their focus; my own

belief is not to ask for a specific outcome, but just shine the light of spirit on the issue to resolve in the best way for all concerned.

[denese]

44. YES!!!

Beautifully put!
Denese

[AtLiberty]

7. Count me in...

This is such a lonely, isolating mission...

The strength comes from within...

[rigel99]

14. ditto

on the lonely isolating..

but awesome spiritual thread...

I will spend today (sunday) burning a prayer candle that the US finds 'truth' in elections and restores honesty to voting...

I will also do my taoist meditation to find the best 'strategy' for fighting yet another day....

[helderheid]

13. This is so wonderful!

Thank you for starting this thread! I'll contribute more soon (when I am a tad more centered - been a busy day).

[rigel99]

15. my coping tactics....

I've had to build spiritual tools and wanted to share them...

1. play music that is light and airy(something that lifts the burden off)

2. time in nature (beach, mountains, trees, flowers) to remember it's all going to return like nature is elastic so is the human spirit

3. burning candles

4. bubble baths

5. taoist meditation or reading the tao (all things become less panic stricken when viewed thru the lens of the tao)

and mostly talk to other DUers who have become lifelines.. genamo for instance....

[rigel99]

16. one more spiritual coping tactic

read amaryllis threads (and solarbus too!)

[Kip Humphrey]

17. I seek the space between perspectives - a space of little distincion

Within that space, I contemplate the creation wave we call the movement.

[autorank]

18. Am I too combative to join?

This is a good idea. PM me or whatever. Maybe we could recite my DU Elections Creed, just kidding.

O8)autorankO8)

On edit: Here's a good, easy to use resource. I have it, should read it more.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0062504088/103-7878435-8367857?v=glance

[Amaryllis]

19. Combative? Don't know if that's relevant. :) I'd say the qualifier is if

you wanna do it!

[meganmonkey]

23. This is a wonderful idea, Gary & Amaryllis

I don't know if you remember me but throughout November, December, and much of January I spent about 10 hours a day in this forum. I had to let go for a long time. I couldn't sleep at night, I was neglecting my relationships and I wasn't focusing on my job when I was at work.

I think it got that way because it was SOOOOO HEAVY, you know? For a while, this forum was hopping. There was constantly new evidence and there were more obvious things happening (e.g. Boxer standing up on Jan. 6th, events in Columbus and elsewhere...). Then it all kind of slowed down, and I just felt this dry bitterness sapping all my energy and I couldn't get anything done here or in the rest of my life. Not to mention Michigan in the winter....blah.

I know the fight is far from over. I know there is much to be done. And the last month or so I have been trying to get the momentum back to work on this.

A couple weekends ago I drove down to Columbus for the Teach In. I needed to get my feet wet again, and I did. I met some awesome folks, DUers and others, and I was lucky enough to spend some time with Andy S. He is an inspiration. Considering everything he is going through, he flew out to Ohio from Baltimore right before he was supposed to have surgery so he could be at the Teach In. He is not giving up. I shouldn't either. I have no excuse.

I guess my point is - I get bogged down with the numbers and the reports and the machine analysis and I forget what this is REALLY about. I forget that it is about living, breathing human beings and a passion for democracy and integrity - that what we are fighting for is so huge it is going to take ALL of us.
So I think this is a fabulous idea - a means for us to connect as spiritual living beings, to give ourselves a little push, some shared energy and prayers, to remind ourselves we are more than some words on a computer screen. And to focus on each other to increase OUR power - because together we are so much stronger than we are scattered around the country in our own little worlds.

:applause:

[Amaryllis]

26. Meganmonkey, HOW could we forget you? Of course I remember you!

And I'd love it if you were a part of this. I'm not quite sure yet what "this" is exactly; just put out my ideas as far as I'd thought them through.

[Kip Humphrey]

28. meganmonkey, I too remember you and am glad to see you back

Recognize, appreciate, interact, relate.

These are the moments of enlightenment residing between perspectives that guide me and empower me. These moments of experiencing bring me out of my self-consuming mental model of the world and mindful point-of-view perspective into a realm of experiencing who I really am and who you really are. Experiencing reality without separation empowers me to create from nothing, direct my life above my mindful limitations, and redirect the energy of conflict and confusion into alignment with that direction.

Our Democracy movement overlays a fundamental paradigm shift in the mindfulness that consumes us - a shift from the conceptual to the experiential. When we vote in the last election we experienced John Kerry winning. The concept that Bush won denied and directly violated our experiential reality. With reality bent to deny our collective experiential, we all were driven to regain a sense of equilibrium in reality. We responded with resistance to being convinced to deny our experiencing. Isolation, outrage, disjointed reality: these were the points of disruption to reality we experienced.

Our power is derived from reality torn asunder. Reality is Kerry won. We experienced it directly and irrefutably. The concept that Bush won denied our collective experiential. Seeking the equilibrium of reality, we have acted by directing the undirected energy of conflict and confusion cascading from that moment when the conceptual denied the experiential.

We are drawn together and empowered through recognizing, appreciating, interacting, and relating. Thus empowered, we direct our lives and our movement. Thus directed, we are closer to experiencing directly reality without separation, beyond the limits of our mindful models of the universe and between perspectives.

[meganmonkey]

29. Geez, Kip!

Bring a tear to my eye and give me the chills - (at work, nonetheless!)

You are absolutely right in your characterization of what happened. We DID experience a Kerry win, yet this warped, 'faith-based' non-reality gave bush** a second term.

'reality torn asunder' - that's what happened. No wonder it was all so unnerving.

Well, it's good to be back :hug:

[Helga Scow Stern]

31. "Our power is derived from reality torn asunder"

that is a profound statement with profound implications.

Might it mean that our power then is that in bringing consciousness to a rip in "reality," we bridge a new reality of greater justice, beauty, and love coming into being?

I use these adjectives to describe how open consciousness impacts with chaos theory, according to Terence McKenna, Rupert Sheldrake, and Ralph Abrams.

Of course, as soon as we think this of ourselves, we become no more effective than Frist, et al.

So this opennesss between perspectives is key.

[Kip Humphrey]

32. This "power conversion", if you will, enables us to be greater than

our selves.

"our power then is that in bringing consciousness to a rip in "reality," we bridge a new reality of greater justice, beauty, and love coming into being" - that which moves and motivates us and brings us into moments of experiencing reality more directly, unhindered by perspective and carrying a new paradigm: recognize, appreciate, interact, and relate... Something to contemplate.

[Helga Scow Stern]

30. I remember you too!

You were an inpsiration to me, as many here were and still are. I know what you mean about needing to rebuild some kind of "normal" life after 11/2/2005. I had been going full bore since then and have had to step back and regroup. I do think we got an excellent momentum going, and I don't think anything will slow it down now.

[meganmonkey]

33. Yay!

:hi:

I do see the momentum. I am trying to catch up with all the mathematical analysis stuff - there seems to be a bit of controversy around it :o . It's all a bit over my head though.

It certainly looks like the pace is picking back up in here, which is awesome. I guess we do need to take time now and then to get grounded. But it's sooo nice to get active again!

[Peace Patriot]

50. meganmonkey, try this great summary of the statistical evidence...

...written for non-statisticians, to catch up...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=203&topic_id=371726&mesg_id=371726

Time for change  (290 posts)
Sun May-22-05 12:39 PM
Original message

A non-statistician's view of the E-M exit poll controversy

-----

I hope I didn't post this too late for you to see it.

[Peace Patriot]

51. Also, FYI, there really is no controversy (other than that between the...

...the truth-tellers and the Bushites/B.S.ers). The "Reluctant Bush Responder" theory has been thoroughly debunked. And it really was never anything more than the pollsters, Edison-Mitofksy, trying cover their asses (with an unsupported theory). Someone who used to be with USCV, but who revealed, late in the recent controversy, that she's now working of Edison-Mitosfky, sided with them but only on a minor point. (Her handle is Febble.)

[blue4barb]

24. I'm in. This is just what I needed to lift up my spirits

when the hopeless feelings start to take over my thoughts.

Thanks, Amaryllis and Garybeck.

[Peace Patriot]

25. Start with 12 noon on Sunday in Philadelphia. Spirit of 1776.

Pick the Sunday for this to begin. (Next Sunday? Soon?) (No--see below, Statement to Accompany--this 4th of July...). Publish a list of time zone times here (for the U.S. and around the globe). It might be inconvenient for some but not very much if the prayer is kept to 1 minute (or even less). I was trying to think of a scheme to switch the prayer time to midnight at the Solstices or on the 4th of July (mid-year), in order to make it global and to have the convenience of the moment (daytime) shift back and forth. I was also liking the idea of a seasonal shift back and forth from light to darkness (acknowledging our dark side?). --but that's probably too complicated

I do think the 4th of July (on a Monday this year) should have some special focus. (Also, the 4th of July next year--our 240th year as a...gulp...free country.) (--and 4 months before the 2006 by-elections) (See below...)

This needs to be very, very, very simple.

------

THE PRAYER

"May the soul of democracy be restored in the United States of America. May every vote be counted."

------

(Perhaps) A statement to accompany distribution of the prayer:

This prayer originated among American citizens who have been investigating the 2004 presidential election.

It is our hope that all Americans, and everyone in the world who wishes us well, will say these words silently to themselves, or in groups, praying each to our own God or Higher Spirit, every Sunday at noon/Philadelphia (adjusted by time zone), starting on the 4th of July 2005 and concluding on the 4th of July 2006.

America is land of many religions and beliefs, and it is a fantastic experiment in whether or not people from vastly different backgrounds can live together in peace, and can together seek justice and fairness for all. If the American experiment is to continue being successful, we need to rise above our differences and learn to strengthen our common spirit of justice and fair play. We need to meditate upon democracy. We need to pray for inspiration and renewal. We need a Second American Revolution, guided by the great religious leaders and strategists of non-violent change in the 20th century: Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King.

The American Dream has come to mean prosperity and a "level playing field"--a chance for everyone to pursue happiness. We think it means much more. We think it means rich and poor having an equal voice in government. In the last election, many poor people and minorities were not permitted to vote. That vote suppression alone probably changed the outcome of the election. But there is more--an unfair and non-transparent election system, with its key component being secret, proprietary programming code in the electronic tabulation of the votes, controlled by private companies with a partisan interest in the result.

We are doing everything we can to inform Americans of the need to restore fairness and transparency to our election system. The fact that many Americans don't know about it has many serious implications, including the failure of American journalism. Our election system strongly favors the rich, as it is--due to the influence of campaign contributions. There are many things that need to be changed, to restore justice and fairness and a "level playing field." The most critical is that every vote be counted.

Our country is where modern democracy was born. It has been seen as the beacon of freedom by many people around the world. We are a generous and justice-loving people. We are also a very progressive people, believers in science and in practical solutions, and we are very good at finding practical solutions to whatever problems are presented to us. These are our strengths. Let us meditate upon our strengths, and pray for a strengthening of our spirit as well. We are the keepers of a profoundly progressive view of human life, that all human beings are created equal. We have seen the enormous benefits of this belief. We need to protect this precious heritage, improve upon it, and pass it along to future generations. We hope that this simple prayer will help unite us in that purpose.

-------

COMMENTS?

This prayer and this plan are open to suggestions. Feel free.

[rigel99]

36. Shoot I can't wait till July 4th..

I just prayed this prayer today...

it's a fantastic idea.... I'm in for the month of june.. all the extra intention I can give...

thanks amaryllis... a flower, an amaryllis for you today!

[Amaryllis]

35. Hey, you guys, I'm kicking this for a reminder...I haven't exactly figured

out how to organize this thing...should I just post a reminder thread each weekend? Is that an okay thing to do?

[garybeck]

38. looks like a lot of people are interested, now what?

it has been suggested to work with other existing groups with a similar focus. we should get URLs and contact them.

maybe we can join their efforts and bring a focus on the eleciton to their groups.

it was also suggested that people can "do their own thing" whatever it is, and just know that others are doing it too. I think this is good but it also couldn't hurt if people shared ideas on things to do

for example

visualizing white light surrounding objects and people involved, like Conyers, Kerry, the Constitution, the Capitol building, Lehto...

asking the "higher power" (whatever symbol, name, or diety you are used to) to assist those who are working for truth and justice and peace. letting go of all desires and allowing the Universe to respond in the best way possible

[Amaryllis]

39. Thank you, Gary. I like those ideas. :) And, we need some way to keep

this in the forefront of our attention. A weekly thread? Keep kicking this one? I was really discouraged earlier today, and reading some things on this thread is very helpful.

[garybeck]

40. yeah, that's why I think it's a good idea for us to choose

a time to focus our energies together. whether it's once a week or once a month, in addition to our daily practicies, we can focus at the same time. this will help remind us, and keep it going. and studies have shown that things can happen when people focus their energies together.

I would suggest doing something together on every full and new moon. This would align our energies with the power of Nature. We could do it at noon, midnite, or even better, the actual moment of the full/new moon. The points about timezone difficulties are valid but I think if we resolve to do it "no matter" what time it is it will demonstrate our resolve and how important we think it is.

[Helga Scow Stern]

61. That is a good idea -- every full and new moon. The next one is

Monday, June 6 at 11:55 am EDT.

Will you remember to start a thread that day reminding us?

[helderheid]

42. I like this too

Very much.

[denese]

43. asking for truth

garybeck,
I love your ideas. I think it would be wonderful if we were all doing something at the same time. Something that I do already is sending energy, or white light to the people and/or places involved in events important to our cause (getting our country back).
I think if more people were doing something like this at the same time it would make it that much more powerful.
My constant prayer is for truth. We don't need any miracles, we only need people to see and know the truth.
Denese

[autorank]

41. Finding versus working toward happiness.

Someone pointed out the different perspectives on happiness -- European and American.

In America, we talk about "finding happiness," as thought it's a thing that we'll locate and consume, e.g. a product.

In Europe, they talk about creating the conditions for happiness to occur, its a process.

If we're always clamoring for a product and we add the "instant on" (as in your TV) gratification needs we've been raised with, we ignore the process which is a real adventure and joy (at times).

Voting Rights and election reform is the most fundamental public process available to Americans today. It is that which enables all other things. I'm honored to be part of the process.

:hi:

[FreepFryer]

45. Amaryllis - I admire your work and believe in positive visualization -

But I don't believe in 'spirit' per-se.

I'd be in the front row if this concept can include the 'non-spiritual' folks who believe in the power of collective imagination and creative visualization to promote positive outcomes.

[Amaryllis]

54. See this quote from Garybeck's post:

#53
Just an example of how words and definitions cause unnecessary disagreement sometimes, when people actually agree on the issue more than they realize.

#47 I just think if we're going to get into a discussion here about spirituality, it's worth mentioning that we can do this within the context of any and all the religions. Not to mention the many people who consider themselves "spiritual" but not necessarily "religious." As I discuss in my book, a lot of this is just semantics and if we look at what people are referring to, rather than the words they use, the differences start to melt away sometimes.

I would add that we can do it completely outside the context of any religion or particular belief system. The twelve step programs do this quite effectively.

So, Freep Flyer, I would suggest that if the basic concept appeals to you, I don't think it matters what you label "spiritual" and what you don't. Based on your post, I wouldn't label you "non-spiritual." We can handle nuances!

From your post: "I'd be in the front row if this concept can include the 'non-spiritual' folks who believe in the power of collective imagination and creative visualization to promote positive outcomes."

One of the main reasons I wanted to do this is because we spend so much time focusing on the problem, and "fighting evil" and putting our attention on it, that I think it's important we also consciously choose to put our attention on what we DO want.

I like this from Gary's post: "asking the "higher power" (whatever symbol, name, or diety you are used to) to assist those who are working for truth and justice and peace. letting go of all desires and allowing the Universe to respond in the best way possible"

For me personally, I like the "letting go of all desires and allowing the Universe to respond in the best way possible" part, whether you want to call it universal intelligence or higher power or spirit or whatever, because I think it has access to far more possibilities than I can come up with from my limited knowledge and perspective.

But the whole idea with this is that each person can use the concept in whatever way works with their paradigm, and if we do it together, it has many benefits.

[FreepFryer]

56. I think 'any and all' religions isn't inclusive of the non-religious.

This topic isn't really inclusive of those people, whether you would put me in that category according to your world view or not. Many folks with more orthodox views would disagree, or even call me 'heretic'...

...I just get all skeeved when I read this stuff and it seems to pre-suppose the need to believe in a 'higher power' beyond just 'us'.

[Amaryllis]

57. Did you read the next sentence in that quote:

"Not to mention the many people who consider themselves "spiritual" but not necessarily "religious." As I discuss in my book, a lot of this is just semantics and if we look at what people are referring to, rather than the words they use, the differences start to melt away sometimes."

I personally don't consider myself religious, and many of the people posting on this thread are coming from a far more "religious" perspective than I do. I would like this to be inclusive of anyone who is interested and would hope it wouldn't sink into the mire of semantics arguments.

And, I thought I made it clear, but maybe I didn't, that I don't believe it requires a belief in anything in particular, so I maintain what I said in my original answer to you: if the basic concept appeals to you, welcome.

Please read Peace Patriot's post number 52, which says it very well:
Here are a few paragraphs from that post:

So, PLEASE, non-believers, skeptics, agnostics, atheists, those with rebellious minds, JOIN IN. View it as a scientific experiment: the effort to discover unusual tools, those hinted at in physics, to energize the parts of our brains that work best collectively and that reach for higher goals, such as democracy, fairness, justice and compassion.

To the practical--or say, the sports minded--think of it as being "in the zone"--in tune and in sync with everything and everyone, so that the universe seems to be favoring you (and possibly is).

You don't have to believe in the spirit, to experience whatever it is that we all call spirit. It may just be that you've discovered the tool of time's circularity, or of light bending--or that we are discovering it together.

[garybeck]

58. please read my post here

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x368889#372453

I believe it's just different definitions of the word "religion."

[FreepFryer]

60. I read it. In the conventional definition of religion, atheists opt out.

You're welcome to the experiment, but please don't parse it to include atheists when it doesn't.

I'm not saying it's a bad idea (it isn't), or that it's against my personal beliefs (it's not), but a great sage said it best:

"I'm completely in favor of the separation of Church and State. My idea is that these two institutions screw us up enough on their own, so both of them together is certain death."
-- George Carlin

[emlev]

46. Conference on Spiritual Activism--Berkeley, CA in July

I recieved this announcement today. Thought it might be of interest to some who frequent this thread.

http://www.tikkun.org/community/spiritual_activism_conference

A prophetic voice in Jewish, multireligious, & American life
Special Alert - May 24, 2005 
 

The Conference on Spiritual Activism

  The Shalom Center encourages spiritually rooted activists of all traditions and communities to take part in a conference initiated by the Tikkun Community,  to be held on the West Coast in July.

This is the announcement/ invitation sent to us by Rabbi Michael Lerner:

You are invited, by the Buddhist Peace Fellowship, the Catholic peace organization Pax Christi, The Tikkun Community, the University of California at Berkeley Peace and Conflict Studies Program, the Pacific School of Religion (Methodist Seminary), the International Association of Sufism, and many others to participate in the Conference on Spiritual Activism at the University of California, Berkeley, this summer, July 20-23rd. Leaders and activists of the Methodists, Presbyterians, Catholics, Episcopalians, Muslims, Quakers, Jews, Buddhists and progressive Evangelicals will be working together with many people who are not affiliated with any particular religious tradition and who see themselves as ?spiritual but not religious.? 

The Conference on Spiritual Activism is a response to the growing recognition that the alliance of the Religious Right with the political Right has created a new and dangerous reality in the U.S.

The attempts to pack the courts with judges who question the validity of the separation of church and state and who oppose the basic social legislation of the New Deal that sought to protect the poor and working people are only one dimension of the danger.

The attempts to dismantle social security, the dismantling of environmental protections, the rejection of badly needed stem cell research that might contribute to finding cures or prevention for Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease, the continuing militarism (most recently in serious discussion of a war with Iran)-all these perspectives, so at variance with the highest values of our religious and spiritual traditions, have been given legitimacy by the Religious Right.

That is why religious and spiritual leaders are appealing to YOU to help us create a Spiritual/Religious Left.

We will be putting together a Network of Spiritual Progressives that can remind the country that the basic thrust of religious and spiritual wisdom is not to give support to the Bush Administration's preferential option for the rich (cutting taxes on the rich and cutting social programs for the poor), but to provide caring for the poor and the oppressed.

As Jesus put it, what you do to the least powerful among you is what you are doing to God.
Or as Isaiah hears God's voice, it is not the rituals of religion that God demands, but ?to feed the poor, house the homeless, clothe the naked, and break all forms of oppression.?

The Network of Spiritual Progressives will:

1. Challenge the misuse of God and religion by the Religious Right-and champion a progressive spiritual politics
2. Challenge the anti-spiritual and religio-phobia tendencies in some sections of liberal and progressive culture, while working to create a more inclusive progressive culture that is welcoming to secular and to spiritual and religious people.
3. Challenge the American ethos of selfishness and materialism by  championing  a New Bottom Line for American society- so that institutions get judged efficient, rational or productive not only to the extent that they maximize money and power, but also to the extent that they maximize love, caring, kindness, generosity, ethical/ecological sensitivity and awe and wonder at the grandeur of the universe.


A critical role in this process will be played by people who consider themselves ?spiritual but not religious.? Many such sympathize with the anger that some secular people have toward the religious world, given the way that God and religion have been used to justify oppression, authoritarianism, sexism, homophobia, etc. But unlike secular people, they recognize that there is a spiritual dimension of reality that is being reached for (however imperfectly) by religious communities, and that that spiritual dimension needs to be respected. With this awareness, ?spiritual but not religious? can play an important bridging role between secular and religious. If the hard-nosed secularist cynical rich of the Right could forge an alliance with the Religious Right, we should be able to find a way to build a progressive movement that is respectful toward both secular and religious people. And the first step is to create a Spiritual Left voice.

We really need you to change your summer plans and come to the Conference on Spiritual Activism July 20-23 at the University of California Berkeley (and while you are at it, you could extend this to a beautiful trip to Big Sur, or Yosemite, or the Redwoods). But if you can't come, please please please Join The Network of Spiritual Progressives. By joining at this early stage, you can participate in the shaping of this project.  For more information: http://www.tikkun.org/community/spiritual_activism_conference/document.2005-04-27.5780162886

Among the  issues to be discussed at the  conference:

* Sexuality  (how to have a spiritually sensitive approach that can challenge the  manipulation of sex by the marketplace to sell its goods, without falling into  repressive approaches that demean sexual pleasure, limit women's reproductive  rights, or demean  homosexuality)
* Science  and Religion (how can one be respectful of both? and how does that play out in  debates about evolution?
* Separation of Church and State: (how best to challenge the attempts by the  Right to pack the courts and undermine 1st amendment separation without  becoming first amendment fundamentalists who oppose introducing values into  the public sphere). 
* Secularism and Moral Relativism (how to challenge the assaults on secularism  being made by right-wing Protestants and by the former Cardinal Ratzinger  while still maintaining a spiritual commitment and affirming objective moral  truths)
* How to get A New Bottom Line into our economy, our work places, and our  approach to environmental  issues
* The Social Responsibility Amendment to the U.S. Constitution (every corporation with income over $50 million/yr must get a new corporate charter  once every ten years which will only be granted to those corporations which  can prove a satisfactory history of social responsibility to a jury of  ordinary citizens).


The full program has much more than we can put in a single email, but please check it out. http://www.tikkun.org/community/spiritual_activism_conference

Among the speakers and workshop leaders at this event will be Rev. Jim Wallis (the progressive Evangelical editor of Sojourners), Buddhist teacher Sylvia Boorstein, Carl Pope (national chair of the Sierra Club), Arun Gandhi (grandson of the Mahatma), Sufi Shakh Kabir Helminski, former Episcopal Bishop John Shelby Spong, Van Jones (director of the Ella Baker Center), thandeka (author, Learning to Be White), Rabbi Michael Lerner (editor, Tikkun), Rev. Ignacio Castuera (national chaplain, Palnned Parenthood), Rick Ulford-Chase (moderator of the Generarl assembly of the Presbyterian Church, USA), James Winkler (General Secretary, Board of Church and Society, United Methodists), Mubarak Awad (Palestinian non-violence activist), David Korten (author, When Corporations Rule the World), Riane Eisler (author, The Chalice and the Blade), John Dear (Jesuit peace activist), Michael Nagler (founder, Peace and Conflict Studies, U.C. Berkeley), Mary Elizaberth Moor, director, Women in Theology Program, Emory U), Joan Borysenko (author, A Women's Book of Life), Carole Lee Flinders (author, At the Root of this Longing), Welton Gaddy (national chair, the Interfaith Alliance), Dave Robinson (national chair, Pax Christi), Jonathan Granooff (chair, American Bar Association's Committee on Arms Control & National Security), Mathew Fox (author, Original Blessing and former Catholic priest silenced by Cardinal Ratzinger), Rita Nakashima Brock (Faith Voices for the Common Good), Romal Tune (African American Leadership Council), Rev. Debra Haffner (Religious Institute on Sexual Morality, Justice & Healing), Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey, and many more.

Please send this invite to everyone on your email lists-even if you can't personally come, you are connected to others who would love to be in on the ground floor of this amazing process of creating a Spiritual Left, and the conference in July is that ground floor!  And please join or donate to this effort: www.tikkun.org.  

The Network of Spiritual Progressives is a project of The Tikkun Community, an interfaith organization whose Core Vision can be read at www.tikkun.org.
 
------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Shalom Center | 6711 Lincoln Drive | Philadelphia, PA  19119
www.shalomctr.org | [email protected] | 215.844.8494

 

[garybeck]

47. multireligious, peace, truth, left...

most of us here have not shared the "other" things that we do in our lives, besides trying to save our democracy from fascist tyrannical murderers.

it's pretty obvious that I am also involved in environmental and solar energy issues; the Solar Bus has been rolling for quite some time before this election, and in pursuit of truth it just sort of arrived here.

in the spirit of this thread I would like to share another project of mine, which I also came to in the pursuit of truth.

about 20 years ago I was non spiritual, non religious, atheist, whatever you want to call it. but I was also open minded and objective. I unexpectedly once noticed a common thread between Judaism and Hinduism, which sparked my interest and changed my life forever. I went back to college to take some courses in comparative religion and started focusing on the concept that all the world's major religions have more in common than is widely accepted.

I ended up writing a book about this, a simple and straightforward look at the commonalities of the world's religions. I'm not trying to say that all the religions are "the same" but I have found in my research that they are not mutually exclusive either. And I believe if people focused on the similarities more, perhaps the world would be a more peaceful place.

I'm not trying to hawk my book or anything like that. I just think if we're going to get into a discussion here about spirituality, it's worth mentioning that we can do this within the context of any and all the religions. Not to mention the many people who consider themselves "spiritual" but not necessarily "religious." As I discuss in my book, a lot of this is just semantics and if we look at what people are referring to, rather than the words they use, the differences start to melt away sometimes.

This is one key difference between our side and theirs. Most liberals are accepting of others' views, open minded... The neocons are about "our way is the only way". I believe this is a very dangerous view.

Here's an image of the cover of my book:



in the interest of not trying to appear like a salesman I will not provide a link for ordering or anything like that here. it will suffice to say that it can be found on amazon and if any DUers want a friendly discount you know how to get a hold of me.

Remember Bush's famous "48 hours" speech he gave warning Saddam just before the invasion? As he spoke there were leaders from all over the world meeting in the UN to try to prevent the war. As a pure coincidence, I was also there at the UN, for a conference on interfaith dialog. The conference was interrupted and someone came in and informed us of what Bush had said. We were all distraught and bewildered, and it was hard to focus on our conference. There we were discussing how the religions can work together, while our leaders were starting a war that had religious connotations. It was surreal, a feeling I'm starting to get used to (know what I mean?).

Jesus said the truth will set us free. That's one of my favorite quotes of all time. I thought of it a lot when I wrote the book because the more I realized how much the religions share, the more I realized that someday when the world recognizes this, we will become free.

I think the quote also applies to our situation with politics. The truth is on our side. Right now, we really are becoming the oppressed people. Our country is going in the wrong direction and our freedoms are being taken away day by day. But the truth could set us free. I pray it will someday soon.




Well about 3 times I almost deleted this without posting it. I really don't want this thread to turn into a big religious debate. I just wanted to acknowledge that all people of all faiths and spiritual views are welcome here.

Peace,
Gary

[emlev]

48. Great post, Garybeck

I hope a lot more people read it than have responded!
I recently found out about your book and look forward to reading it some day when I have time to read again.
Maybe the conference organizers would like to pay your way to Berkeley to speak???

[Peace Patriot]

52. Beautiful cover, garybeck!

I look forward to reading your book. Aldous Huxley wrote on this theme, too. (I believe it was called, "The Universal Philosophy"--had a similar point, finding the common themes.)

Freepfryer, above, made a rather plaintive plea regarding non-believers--FF doesn't believe in the spirit, per se, is how he put, but groks the power of collective visualization.

The power of collective visualization is how I bridge the rebelliousness of my rational mind to the world's religions. That is how I understand religion. It is a human creation that devises various tools to energize our collective psyches toward the higher goals that seem to be pulling us, or luring us, along the evolutionary trail.

Of all the religions, I find the roundness--or I should say sphericalness--of Buddhism the easiest to fit to my understanding of the physical universe and human life. We return--again and again--until we get it right.

What are we trying to get right? Our unity with the great cosmos--and our essential freedom.

Anyway, people need different kinds of tools to energize their psyches for collective work--just like kids need different educational systems to draw out their highest intelligence. Some need traditional practices; some need repetition; some need to be entirely free of all that. Etc.

And, in all this, I've come to realize that the human mind has vast, mostly untapped capacities--that many have equated with religion or the spiritual (or by which--or because of which--people have created the concepts of religion and the spiritual).

I don't DISbelieve in the spirit, because I'm not sure we are all agreed on what the word means.

The other profound influence on me is study of cosmology and astronomy. The universe is vast beyond imagining. The numbers involved literally stagger the mind. And it is a very, very, very strange place, indeed. Basically--despite all our smarts, and all our new telescopes and other methods, and despite Einstein and all the geniuses who have followed him--we have no idea what is going on. We are very like intelligent ants trying to comprehend the whole earth. The more we learn, the bigger the mystery becomes--ballooning far, far, far beyond our capacity to imagine it. We don't even really know what the universe IS. There is a compelling theory that there are many universes. There are objects in the heavens that defy all known physical laws. We seem trapped in time, here (in these human bodies, on earth), yet time is entirely a function of the earth twirling around the sun. It is not a line. It is a circle (and possibly a sphere).

And then there are our own very, very, very small (compared to the universe) but highly flexible and highly mysterious brains.

If time and space and gravity--and all the other elements of creation that we thought we had identified and pinned down--can behave in the bizarre ways that they do, in the macro-cosmos--what of us? We are a little fragment of it all, physically. And our minds go out to it all, creatively (trying to imagine it), intellectually (trying to understand how it works), and possibly psychically (trying to...?).

So, I rule out nothing--is what I'm saying. The interaction of human and universe could be creating God, and the bending of light, and the circularity of time, and the theoretical ability of gravitons to penetrate time, and the subatomic disappearance of time and of matter, may be tools that we are grasping at, to help us infuse human understanding and compassion into the universe (create God, become God).

Spirit then could be equivalent to psychic power--a kind of energy (for lack of a better word) that we each possess, that we each nurture and create more of, and that reaches its most profound level in collective human meditation and prayer.

So, PLEASE, non-believers, skeptics, agnostics, atheists, those with rebellious minds, JOIN IN. View it as a scientific experiment: the effort to discover unusual tools, those hinted at in physics, to energize the parts of our brains that work best collectively and that reach for higher goals, such as democracy, fairness, justice and compassion.

To the practical--or say, the sports minded--think of it as being "in the zone"--in tune and in sync with everything and everyone, so that the universe seems to be favoring you (and possibly is).

You don't have to believe in the spirit, to experience whatever it is that we all call spirit. It may just be that you've discovered the tool of time's circularity, or of light bending--or that we are discovering it together.

[garybeck]

53. yeah, I grock it :)

as far as "religion" goes, I think it's useful to recognize there are more than one definition of the word. To some "religion" connotes fundamental institutions. to others it is a personal thing.

to me, I like to go to the original and oldest meaning of the word. It comes from a Greek word 'relinkio' which means "relink" and it refers to a relinking to the source of life. It therefore can be defined as ANYTHING that helps a person relink to truth. going for a walk in the woods can truly be a religious experience if it makes you feel connected to nature.

And even science can be religious because one of its goals is to discover the truth of our existence.

That's the meaning of religion that I use personally. I realize it's a very broad interpretation of the word but I like it. I used to have a lot of negativity attached with the word; whenever I heard the word I got a sick feeling. Not anymore.

If you check out the cover of my book you'll see there's not just conventional religious symbols on there. There are also symbols for science, including physics and psychology. That's because they are actually bringing us to the same truths that the religions agree on. For example quantum physics is really discovering the spiritual nature of the universe. Similar things are happening in psychology.

So you don't have to be dogmatic or unscientific to be religious in my book. And many people who wouldn't use the word "religious" to describe themselves, I would consider them to be religious by my definition of the word.

Just an example of how words and definitions cause unnecessary disagreement sometimes, when people actually agree on the issue more than they realize.

[Peace Patriot]

62. Hey, I love that fact, garybeck! Original word for religion was relink...

...from the Greek relinkio.

Maybe that's a name for our Spirit of the Left movement: RELINKIO.

I like that a lot.

Something happened to our brains, at a certain point, and we UN-linked from Nature and the Goddess. Us western creatures. It's a very distinct and remarkable phenomenon, with a start point in the early 5th century (after a couple of centuries of unpleasantness, but more or less equal power, between Christians and Pagans), and then an almost unbroken hostility to Nature and smashing of the Goddess for ten centuries afterward. One is forced to view it as some sort of evolutionary necessity (and I think women need to learn to view it objectively--it can really rile modern women up, especially vestiges like the Pope saying women can't be priests because we don't have dicks--in so many words--and fear of the return of witch burnings and repression).

And, in all that repression--and in westerners' long, difficult road back to a more balanced viewpoint--some important links were lost, between science and religion, between us and nature, between rational and irrational.

Carl Sagan was very hostile to astrology, for instance--and a bit too much the advocate of pure reason--and thus failed to realize and acknowledge that astrology was the MOTHER of astronomy! The spiritual desire to understand our place in the universe prompted us to look skyward and begin making observations, and trying to link ourselves to the sky in some way--with a belief in actual direct influences, star to human--and we thus began to notice that the positions of the heavenly bodies portended seasonal changes, and we also began associating these with goddesses and gods. This was the highly respected wisdom of its day--astrologers WERE the astronomers. They started keeping calendars. They learned how to predict eclipses, and when to plant things. And they believed in a direct relationship between the human world and "the stars."

Would we have ever become astronomers if we hadn't been astrologers first? And, is this holistic view of star to human--macrocosm to microcosm--actually not more accurate than the strictly rational, "prove it" attitude of modern science? We are, after all, the actual physical products of exploded stars. Could there also be a psychic connection? Are our brains in some way a microcosm of the mysteries of the great universe?

Relinkio.

If you value the human brain and its flexibility and its hidden capacities, then you have to believe in democracy, because ANY and ALL human brains could contain--or discover--information, tools and connections that are vital to us all. Any child could grow up to be an Einstein or a Gandhi. Any child could grow up to discover the cure to all disease and old age--the key to eternal life. Any child could grow up to discover a psychic link to people on the other side of time and space, in a parallel universe, or very far away. Any child could transform our future world. We must permit that to happen. We don't know where wisdom and survival and beauty might reside.

We have lost the link between these higher desires and education.
We are allowing our political system to turn against "any child"--to let children be underfed, and poor, and bored, and uneducated.

Education designed to foster our genius as a species. Not to serve industry. Not to be slaves. To create the future.

Democracy must see to this. This is democracy's goal, in fact. Creating better people. Giving everyone a chance.

Relinkio.

If you value the earth for its beauty, and as our Mother and our home--a spiritual insight--you will stop purchasing products that trash the earth, and if enough people have this insight, trashing the earth will become unthinkable. The Father god has his points--justice, protection, advice to humans, laws to live by, order, unity, good works, and redemptive sacrifice. So does the Mother god. Care, nurture, generosity, plenty, the circle of life, joyous celebration.

Relinkio.

[Amaryllis]

55. And by putting our attention on the vastness of all this, it moves us out

of that place of feeling like we are up against such insurrmountable odds. We are putting our attention on, and opening our imaginations to, all kinds of creative possibilities, and to a whole universe that is so much larger than what we see when we focus on what the Dark Side is up to.

[denese]

59. Your book looks amazing

I can't wait to get a copy.
Thanks for sharing about it here.
Denese

[merh]

49. Post about Andy's surgery (going on right now)

that is actively going in GD
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x3724871

[starmaker]

63. Psalm 73

ÊÊÊ 0: A Psalm of Asaph.
1: Truly God is good to the upright, to those who are pure in heart.
2: But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled, my steps had well nigh slipped.
3: For I was envious of the arrogant, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
4: For they have no pangs; their bodies are sound and sleek.
5: They are not in trouble as other men are; they are not stricken like other men.
6: Therefore pride is their necklace; violence covers them as a garment.
7: Their eyes swell out with fatness, their hearts overflow with follies.
8: They scoff and speak with malice; loftily they threaten oppression.
9: They set their mouths against the heavens, and their tongue struts through the earth.
10: Therefore the people turn and praise them; and find no fault in them.
11: And they say, "How can God know? Is there knowledge in the Most High?"
12: Behold, these are the wicked; always at ease, they increase in riches.
13: All in vain have I kept my heart clean and washed my hands in innocence.
14: For all the day long I have been stricken, and chastened every morning.
15: If I had said, "I will speak thus," I would have been untrue to the generation of thy children.
16: But when I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task,
17: until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I perceived their end.
18: Truly thou dost set them in slippery places; thou dost make them fall to ruin.
19: How they are destroyed in a moment, swept away utterly by terrors!
20: They are like a dream when one awakes, on awaking you despise their phantoms.
21: When my soul was embittered, when I was pricked in heart,
22: I was stupid and ignorant, I was like a beast toward thee.
23: Nevertheless I am continually with thee; thou dost hold my right hand.
24: Thou dost guide me with thy counsel, and afterward thou wilt receive me to glory.
25: Whom have I in heaven but thee? And there is nothing upon earth that I desire besides thee.
26: My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion for ever.
27: For lo, those who are far from thee shall perish; thou dost put an end to those who are false to thee.
28: But for me it is good to be near God; I have made the Lord GOD my refuge, that I may tell of all thy works.

[garybeck]

64. VISUALIZE:

a house of cards falling

see the faces of bush, cheney, rumsfeld, on the cards.

they are falling.

falling.