View of Enlightened Society

A Talk With Shastri Dan Hessey

At the beginning of Hessey's talk, he spoke of the darkness of our age and the challenge of seeing basic goodness in ourselves. To me and other Shambhalan's, it makes much more sense to see the basic goodness within and outside ourselves rather than concluding we're all basically evil. Because if we are doomed to fail as a race, there's not much hope outside of a Deus ex machina ending for our species. 

A woman in the class brought up something Pema Chodrin said about basic goodness being like the sun. There might be clouds blocking it, hurricanes and even the shadow of the Earth covering the light, but like basic goodness, it is always there, shining within us if we can recognize it. 

Someone else in the class contrasted Hessey's statements about the dark age by bringing attention to the good things happening within our species and that there is always hope for our future. 

In regards to the promise of basic goodness, it was stated that the bad things we see happening in the news about the fall from grace of others isn't the same fate we have to endure. We always have the ground of basic goodness within which we can tap into even when things appear darkest. Those who get sucked in and lost, are the ones who lose sight of who we are at our most basic core. 

In describing the Shambhala vow, Hessey said that in taking it, we become citizens of the world or citizens of goodness. What is interesting about the Shambhala perspective, is that it is a major contrast from the perspectives in Western religion. Many Christians for example, don't see basic goodness as our core nature. They look upon humankind as fallen and stained by the curse of sin. Perhaps this is why their view is dominated by a future finding completion in an apocalyptic and violent conclusion where a God outside ourselves must come down and save us from ourselves.

The Shambhala vision of the future is more benevolent, where humanity discovers our basic goodness in time to end the nightmare and save the world. The scale of their vision is unlimited and all pervasive. Inclusive rather than exclusive. Everyone can tap into their basic goodness and unity doesn't imply uniformity, which means perfect freedom is the highest good.

Even if this is a more optimistic view of our future, the Shambhala perspective doesn't try to gloss over what is happening in the world. They acknowledge the degradation of spirit and the environmental distraction brought about through an acceleration of imbalanced materialism blocking the light of our basic goodness. The spiritual traditions of indigenous people are suffering because their spiritual view of the world is waning.

The hope for the materialistic orientation of our species is to reconnect with basic goodness and bare witness to unnecessary suffering. And someone in the class observed how the internet is helping the world bear witness to what's happening on a global scale. The whole world is awakening to a larger picture. What now happens thousands of miles away can effect all of us.

The Shambhala spiritual warrior will not turn their back on what is happening, but will acknowledge the sadness and suffering of our world. And the challenge is to avoid the temptation to build a cocoon to block yourself off from all the negativity. And within the Shambhala community, the spiritual warriors work to benefit the world; to be guided by basic goodness and trust that it can make a difference. And this is possible when sharing in the same journey together.

Within the Shambhala practice, when one starts to relate to basic goodness, you will find your connection to it. Having a community that acknowledges basic goodness provides the strength needed. Hessey then used the example of the Mycelium mushrooms, which are single organisms that can spread out for miles. Humanity finds some similarities to Mycelium when viewed as a single organism. When we look deeper than the surface of our species through meditation practice, we see our universal core connecting to all human beings; the spirit.

Hessey went on to say that humanity is coming to a crossroads. If we are to build a better world, we must acknowledge basic goodness in all beings. This is the task of the Shambhala practitioner, who is not a warrior of aggression, but a warrior of peace.

One of the students brought up 9-11 and how it had such a polarizing effect on the world. Hessey expanded on this observation by stating that every generation has something like their Pearl Harbor. At the time, Americans demonized the Japanese. And after 9-11, many have demonized the Arab. Hessey then asked what the root of this behavior was. "Are they fundamentally different?" Some of them want to kill us, and some Americans want to kill them. But if we don't look carefully at this question, the idea of the Shambhala warrior doesn't go very deep.

It was then acknowledged that the most difficult part of embracing basic goodness happens in the face of violent threats. "What if someone wants to kill my kid?" How do we deal with that? Is basic goodness always forgotten when it comes down to survival of the fittest? If we don't first understand the nature of fear, "we can't understand fearlessness." "We have to see if fear in our heart is lodged stronger than basic goodness." If we see the world in terms of our fears, it pervades every action. "What do we do with the fear?" When basic goodness is fully understood, there can be a paradigm shift.

Many struggle with the contrast of basic goodness and fear that it may be just wishful thinking. Every moment we have the choice to listen to basic goodness or follow our fear. And if we don't have confidence in basic goodness, everything turns into fight or flight and is based on self interest.

On other hand, if you experience directly, basic goodness as a child or through meditation practice, you can trust that. But one might say "it's so weak in all this competitive aggression, how can it possibly survive?"

And that is the brazen depths of Shambhala; that basic goodness has equally the strength as that survival fear, but expresses itself through kindness and goodness rather than through competitiveness and aggression. We don't' trust that right away but can trust a direct experience of basic goodness as the basis of our path. And that is what the vow is about.

Hessey went on to describe more about the vow, that it was about paying homage to the great lineage of Shambhala spiritual warriors along with acknowledging that basic goodness is always available. Also of great importance is being gentle and compassionate towards yourself and to delight in the details of life. The end result of the Shambhala practice is finding the ability to train and tame your mind like one does a wild horse.

Although the term kingdom in Shambhala is significant on a mythological level, it was spoken of more in spiritual terms, unlike the western concept where world powers go to war and defeat their opponent by capturing their enemy's king or conquering their capital. Kingdom in the Shambhala sense was more in alignment with the indigenous spiritual system, with no king or capital to conquer. Even though indigenous people's way of life has been changed forever, as a people they have survived and their convictions remain viable. In Shambhala, the word for King is Sakyong which means, "Earth protector."

What was interesting about the Shambhala vow ceremony; Hessey explained that not taking the vow was perfectly ok too. This sounds totally different than the perspective of many Christians, who make you feel as if there is something wrong with you if you don't subscribe to their formula for salvation.

Without the implications behind the vow that acknowledges basic goodness, many may instead view Western and Eastern culture as cursed and doomed to fail. But if we look deeper, we can see another perspective in the natural tendency of caring and connection that takes place in every society, leading to health and well being. Taking the vow is seeing the promise of this basic goodness in society to prevail over its alternative; for the potential of humanity to go beyond warfare and aggression.

The implications of the vow and choosing to see basic goodness overcome the alternative, will naturally lead one to drop fears of the worst case scenario unfolding and instead find the courage to believe the best in our nature will prevail. And on a national scale, we can see both these sides being nourished. In the end, which one will be favored over the other? We can see the fears people have about the right coast; becoming consumed by a materialistic and militaristic dogma, leading them to more competition of resources and using more aggression to preemptively strike at enemies. More and more energies are funneled into the creation of deadlier machines capable of more swiftly destroying humans by the millions.

This scenario makes real the fears of those who only see Empire. A battle over oil security throws the world into turmoil and great depression, as America turns into a war economy. The right coast breaks the great rebellions will with the right oppressing the left through force and violence as they seize control of the left coast, dictating complete domination over the internet, turning it into tool of persecution of those with a spiritual orientation. In the end game of this world view, the West is doomed to engage in a tragic clash of civilizations with an outcome leading towards the self destruction of our species.

As an alternative, the depth of spiritual courage to believe in basic goodness overcomes the fear afflicted racial divide of surfaces, as our nation turns its energies towards the left coast. The electronics industrial complex is consumed by a spiritual and artistic renaissance of reformation, as its essential beauty shines even brighter. Conflict minerals are abandoned, off shore workers treated more justly as new technologies bring down prices of the miraculous machines capable of educating humans by the millions.

 

The young and hopeful generation discovers alternative energies capable of transforming our civilization as America turns into a peace economy, dedicated to the spiritual mission of helping humanity fully realize the dream of world spirit. The materialistic and fear filled frenzy of the right coast is tamed by the beauty and power of a spiritual vision for a brighter world. The lion now dedicates its energies towards protecting the lamb and helping to realize its hopes. In this world view, the East and West are destined to fulfill their potential as the nightmare is eclipsed and the dream reborn.

Visit to Resurrection Fellowship

I decided to check out another mega church today which I found outside Loveland. It is called Resurrection Fellowship and has a very impressive website where they post all their sermons by video. Their rock band was quite good and supplied a heavy dose of Yin energy (my recording) which helped wake me up faster than if I went to a Buddhist service.

The sermon today was interesting and contained a mixed message that partly inspired me while also making me shake my head. It is the same dichotomy I usually experience in Christian churches where one faction of the congregation exemplifies the love of Christ they teach by practicing what they preach about complete freedom, while those in the other faction take their scriptures too literally and look at you weird when you talk about reading Carl Sagan, the Dalai Lama and appreciating Atheist thought. The sermon today did a good job at presenting both these sides, coexisting together as a paradox. I look at one side and I like what I see, but then I turn to the other and and it makes me cringe and worry about where they are going.

Every polarity seems to have one side that appears more good and forward thinking while the other side appears more deluded and backward thinking. I analyzed this phenomena extensively in a presentation I gave to my Buddhist sangha in 2010. The subject matter illustrating my points were taken from the movies, Avatar and Star Wars. I argued that the great polarity and the contrast between yin and yang, showed that both sides were bound together and contained the seed of their opposite. This is why they always go together. And we can see this beautifully illustrated by the military and electronics industrial complex. (Click this link to see the image below at full size).

The left coast symbolically appears more benign, forward thinking and leaning towards a spiritual reality of hidden depths that strives to unite humankind by working to enhance our inner potential. It is this side that seeks peace and has mastered the creation of machines that can educate humanity by the millions. On the other hand, the right coast symbolically appears more evil, backward thinking and leaning towards a material reality that sees humankind divided into factions based not on an internal reality, but through the illusion of surfaces that at first may appear more real than depths. It is this side that wages wars and has mastered the creation of machines that can kill humans by the millions.

The male and female gender are two other prime examples of the inseparable nature of the two sides, dividing our world into nearly two equal halves. And both sides need and give rise to their opposite. And even if one appears to have more goodness than the other, the reality shows that it is far from perfect. 

Apple with the big picture

The electronics industrial complex might have the big picture, but they still have problems like exploiting off shore workers and harvesting conflict minerals. And employees working for the electronics industrial complex ultimately support the right by paying taxes which get funneled into the military industrial complex. And workers of the military industrial complex buy smart phones and computers to support the left side. This yin and yang relationship between left and right is inseparable and its contrast finds expression in countless other places around us. We see Republican and Democrat power constantly ebbing and flowing. A Republican president is elected only to be replaced by a Democrat. And then the Democrat is eventually driven out by the Republicans. It's a never ending dance where one side is eventually eclipsed by the other.

The problems arise of course when one side believes they should always eclipse the other and doesn't understand the need for balance in the world. They may see their opposite as completely evil without any redeeming quality. This is how the concept of spiritual warfare comes about; when the side who is more materially oriented dictates the rules that seek complete control over access to the spiritual. And this control paints a picture of reality that has no tolerance or place for the truth of the opposite side which is ironically more in tune with the spiritual. What is needed to counter this frightening prospect that we see repeating throughout history, is wider acceptance of a new paradigm, that sees opposites coming together, not for war, but to enrich and find harmony towards a more perfect union. The right hand may be favored by some, but not so much as to neglect the place of the left at its side. And the left side may be favored by some, but not so much as to refuse the place of the right at its side.

From the start of Resurrection Fellowship's service, I noticed there is a subconscious awareness that the spirit is where all the power resides. The military industrial complex may appear the most powerful in a material sense on the outside, but it is the electronics industrial complex that wields the greatest power of spirit within; knowledge on the internet, moving images and music tap into internal realities that will hold the allegiance of any human stronger than those gained through external ones, with the fear of death or injury that the right side is capable of inflicting.

The sermon was presented by Pastor Todd Hudson, a visiting preacher. I recorded his talk and present a very interesting part here, where he elevates the power of spirit as being one and the same as the masculine Lord. Even though the spirit has feminine connotations, a male Christ is the one who wields its power. (click on quotes to hear the audio) "Second Corinthians three seventeen says, "The Lord is the Spirit and where the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom." Right? And I think that's what the church needs to be about. Not about programs, it's not about methods, it's not about ideology. It's about a demonstration of the spirit's power and it's very, very real, that draws people in to connect in a relationship with him."

It is interesting that Pastor Hudson equates God with the freedom of spirit, and then uses it's characteristics to negate the characteristics of religion; "programs," methods" and "ideology." What is important is a relationship with him, which really translates into a relationship with spirit. And in this relationship is perfect freedom. On one level, Pastor Hudson acknowledges this as it dictates a large portion of his theology. But the other half, exhibits characteristics of the other side of the spiritual / material polarity, that seeks to control and restrict the nature of this perfect freedom granted by the Holy Spirit. This is illustrated in a section of his sermon where he talks about the great evil enemy.

"I remember my first encounter with the Demonic. I was at a young man's house, him and his family, several us were broken up and were praying over him and over their house. They had seen kind of some strange things happening in the house. and all of a sudden I began to realize, we're up against something that's different here than I've ever seen before. And I realized there may have been something Demonic going on. So we asked the young man, can you say Jesus is the Lord? And his eyes rolled back in his head and his voice got real deep. and he said, "nice try." And In that moment I did the only thing I knew to do. I went into the hall and called the only Pentecostal pastor I knew, and said, how do I handle something like this? They never taught me how to handle this in the Bible college I went to. so I called and asked her, what I do with this? and she walked me through on how you do a deliverance. And we set that young man free that day. And that was the start of many, many opportunities I had to move in dealing with deliverances with people."

If the power of the Holy Spirit grants perfect freedom, why would Pastor Hudson ask the young man they were trying to deliver from evil, to restrict this freedom by declaring Jesus as Lord? Such a request, negates the very nature of freedom in spirit and the needed acknowledgement of the left and right side coexisting together. Is the perceived opposition to a request denying the opposite side, a sign of evil? Or perhaps it is a sign of refusing to acknowledge the other side of a polarity that holds a legitimate place with its opposite. And when this is the case, opposition may turn violent in response to violent opposition to the reality of freedom in spirit. A pastor who was acting in the freedom of spirit, may have experienced something much less disturbing than one whose world view dissects reality into a spiritual war against a great evil enemy. This kind of pastor would tell the young man, "The power of the Holy Spirit gives you freedom to declare Jesus as Lord, or to deny him. Both are OK. It is your choice and there is nothing wrong with choosing one over the other." Such a position rooted in true freedom, would prevent spiritual warfare; violent opposition to the material side controlling access and dictating the rules for finding access to the freedom in spirit.

I experienced a similar reaction to some of the Christian authority figures throughout my life, who would say things pushing my buttons and going against what I experienced in the freedom of spirit. The things they would tell me would often create violent opposition within myself, to the narrow and self destructive world view they were trying to perpetuate. I even once wrote a short screenplay about my experience, embellishing some of the details to improve the story, but staying true to the reality I perceived, where the so called "good side" is often responsible for spiritual warfare and creating the monster. The "Demonic" many Christians refer to, might simply be the violent resistance to what is perceived as a fascist request; the fear that you can't be who you are in the presence of these people because they will not accept that. This is the conflict they used to have between a right handed society trying to force left handed people to abandon their orientation and follow the mainstream.

Pastor Hudson's sermon continued to straddle the essence of both sides of the polarity, declaring God as perfect freedom and then contradicting it with restrictions to the freedom dictated by the limitations of a one sided theology. "He also wants us to bring freedom to those who are oppressed. There are so many people who are demonized and we have a responsibility to take back territory from the enemy." This part sounds great minus the part about an enemy. It's the side of Christianity I find no opposition to. But then Hudson's statements take the turn for the other side: "I want you to understand today that spiritual warfare is real. Demons are real. And we're called to help bring freedom to people who are facing that. And here's the good news today. We do not fight for victory. We fight from victory. We've already been given the victory. We've already been given the authority to advance the kingdom and to drive out Demons in Jesus name."

And in contrasting this statement, Hudson again changes course, focusing on the freedom of the spirit whose nature is love. "And our mission statement of the church is going to be very simple. It's this; "that we exist to help people experience freedom by demonstrating the love and the power of God. It's important for us to demonstrate the love of God. The Bible tells us in first Corinthians 13, that if we have all these other spiritual gifts, if we operate in miracles, in prophecy and tongues and all these other things but if we don't have love, we are a noisy gong or a clanging symbol. Nothing else matters without love. So we need to demonstrate the love of Christ to a watching world."

In an internet age, the world wide web makes it possible now for the whole world to truly watch. My blog can be read by someone on the other side of the planet, that can watch and hear the side that matters most; that the love of God is all that matters (freedom). The other things, "miracles," "prophecy," "tongues" are examples of those things that don't matter when it comes to love.

Hammond appeals to this power of love and freedom describing it's opposition as "Satan." "It does not say anywhere that the armies of hell are going to attack the church and God's going to protect us from that. It's not what it says. What's it say? It says the church is going to be on the offensive and the gates of Hell cannot prevail against the kingdom of God. You see we're on the offensive, not the defensive. And Satan is cowering in fear because he knows that when a church operates in the freedom and the power of the Holy Spirit that he does not have a gate that's big enough and strong enough to stop us. (clapping)"

But who is Satanic? Some faceless entity in our world? Or are they Muslims? Hindus? Jews? Those who don't declare Jesus as Lord? Unless they have freedom to be who they are without worry, then the freedom and love is dead and this message is a noisy gong or a clanging symbol. But if this talk of the freedom and power of the Holy Spirit is taken seriously and granted to unbelievers, then love and true freedom are present.

Pastor Hammond spoke of his early skepticism of the fundamentalist world view dropping by the way side in the presence of charismatic Christians. What is interesting, is that charisma is defined as, "compelling attractiveness or charm that can inspire devotion in others." Someone who is charismatic brings to mind a suave personality that is magnetic. They will get you to say it's ok to believe in what you would otherwise say is wrong, simply because they make you feel good within their presence. This dynamic plays out in the world between people all the time. I have come into the presence of charismatic Christians, Muslims, Jews, Buddhists, Hindus, Sikhs, atheists, etc. Each had a powerful magnetism that made you want to come over to their side and believe what they said was true, even if it went against what you had investigated and found out through experience on your own.

Pastor Hudson demonstrates the nature of this charisma in another part of his sermon, where he describes himself as a "kid in a candy shop." It is telling that he uses this description, because kids in candy shops usually go after as much candy as they can, without questioning or resisting their impulses. They only do things that make them feel good. Kids also blindly believe what their parents tell them, such as Santa Clause is real, etc. There is a part of me who also is a kid inside and I want to believe we live in a world where the miraculous is possible. And these stories go on all over the planet. There are Muslims who declare they have witnessed such miracles from Allah, Jews who have seen them from Yahweh, Buddhists that have been healed by the medicine Buddha. If these miracles are experienced, the praise is often given to whatever cultural God present in that location.

Pastor Hudson continued his sermon from a perspective void of any skeptical thought about another possibility that might be going on. "So, we're in this prayer meeting and this guy's praying over my wife. He's not touching her. He's got his hand over her head. And my wife goes down. And I'm thinking to myself, oh my goodness. I think my wife was just slain in the spirit and she doesn't even believe in that. I know that's not faith, I know that's real." "A couple weeks later I was down at the Rock at a pastor's meeting. (inaudible) is in town and he's praying over the pastor and guess what happens to me. I'm slain in the spirit. First time I go down. I experienced something I'd never experienced before."

From the side of my perspective, the phenomena of being slain in the spirit may just be a result of advanced human practitioners of Chi energy. Chinese Tai Chi masters have demonstrated the power to throw people down without even touching them. This is a human potentiality present in all cultures who learn its secrets. The difference between East and West, some evangelists will say it's an exclusive power only to them from God and if an Easterner displays the same power, it's Satanic. And from the perspective of the Easterner, this power isn't exclusive but available to all human beings learning to harness it, because everyone has Chi energy flowing through their body which is nothing special or unique only to their religion.

Pastor Hudson then spoke about the concern about the issues of healing experienced in ministries. "When we start talking about healing, one of the things I've experienced in the ministry over the years is that some people are very careful and concerned about healing. They become concerned about giving testimonies. Because they say, what about the person who didn't get healed? What about the person who didn't get the miracle that somebody else got? Are they going to be blown up by this? I want you to know today, we don't have to defend God. God's still sovereign and he's the one who ends up deciding who gets healed and who doesn't get healed. But we're called to be faithful. We are called to trust, we're called to anoint, we're called to pray and let God do the work that he can do. And you know sometimes it's our unbelief, it's our lack of faith that stands in the way. The Bible says even Jesus couldn't even do many miracles in his home town of Nazareth because of the unbelief."

Perhaps there is a better explanation here rather than God playing favorites, barriers of unbelief and demons terrorizing. I have a friend who has been a victim of religious abuse. She lost some of her fingers in a fire and had fanatical Christians praying over her for the lost fingers to grow back. When they failed to appear, they told her it was because of her lack of faith in scriptures. I have had similar experiences with Christians telling me my Lyme disease was caused by my unbelief.

The rest of what I captured from Pastor Hudson's speech, no longer threw up any red flags in my mind. It expressed the power and freedom of spirit that I am attracted to. And if Jesus is a symbol, representing all the good things in Hudson's sermon I agree with, then this Jesus should definitely be Lord. It would be hard to imagine any violent opposition or spiritual war resisting this kind of Jesus and the freedom and love offered. And in this way, Jesus as symbol of freedom and love in your life, is a savior. Because if you have this good component guiding your actions, then people are going to judge you as good. But where this symbol of love and freedom is absent, there is fanaticism and an effort to wage war on those who think and act different. And it is usually the fanatics who don't find salvation from the wrath of war by the opposition; a great enemy seeking to destroy them.

Here are some of the many parts of Hudson's sermon that I felt conveyed an accurate message of the freedom of spirit.

"One morning God woke me up with a vision statement for this church. And it really comes from Jesus. As he began his ministry, he stood up in the synagogue and he quoted one day from Isaiah the prophet, it's recorded for us in Luke chapter 4. He said, "The spirit of the Lord is upon me. Because he's anointing me to proclaim good news for the poor. He's sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set free the oppressed and to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." And when you begin to look at the ministry of Jesus as it plays out in the gospels, it's really just a fulfillment of this statement. This is his life's mission statement. And he fulfills it everywhere that he turns in his ministry and that's what he's called us to do as well. And as I thought through what this scripture is really all about, what this statement's all about. It's all about freedom."

"And he's called us to be generous with those who are the least of the lost, those who are on the margins of society; the widows and the orphans. You know in first John chapter two it says this, this is how we know what love is, that Jesus Christ lay down his life for us. And we ought lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brothers and sisters in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be on that person? And the answer is, it's not. Because if you really love God and you've really experienced his love in your life, you can't look at somebody else in need and not have pity upon them. You see authentic Christianity that people are drawn to, is a Christianity that's in the power of the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit brings us to have (inaudible) compassion on those who are in need and we've gotta have an aspect of our ministry that reaches out…"

"And Jesus says, I came to bring freedom. Freedom from anxiety and freedom from depression and anger and addictions and people (inaudible) abuse and greed and all these things that are on that list and that list can go on and on. He said, I came so that you can walk an emotional and relational and spiritual healing in freedom. I came here to bring freedom to the prisoners. He also said I came to bring freedom from disease. I want to give recovery of sight to the blind. You see he's called us to anoint people with oil and to believe and to trust and to pray over them and to declare healing and wholeness."

"For a church, that wasn't just a mission statement for Jesus. I think that's a mission statement that he's calling every single believer to operate in. To operate in freedom, to operate in freedom in the Spirit. To help bring freedom to people who are poor and who are oppressed and need the freedom of God spoken upon in their life."

When we don't see this perfect love and freedom of the Holy Spirit, we will find spiritual warfare, and violent opposition to what is perceived as fascism, slick marketing campaigns and being out of alignment with the good, true and beauty of spirit, accessible to all human beings in every culture. This idea is paralleled in the story of Christ as lamb (associated with gentleness, pure innocence and goodness) sent to Earth to appease his wrathful father who wants to destroy humankind for their wickedness. And this same lamb like nature is what people aspire towards to appease the wrath of others, who want to punish the wicked one sided vision found in religious intolerance. And when the lamb is the alpha, the lion becomes the omega, sent to defend the work and good intentions of the lamb.

And in looking at America as a whole, made up of the left and right coasts, it seems that this order has been reversed, putting the fate of our nation in question if judgement ever befalls us from the rest of the world. For it is not the lamb, who came here first. It is the imbalanced lion who has lost sight of the lamb, acting like a wrathful fanatic on the world stage, not fighting for the freedom of spirit, but for special interests of greed and the ego of religious dogma. And now that the lamb is taking shape on the left coast, it is calling to the lion to remember its mission; to rein itself in and defend the gentle side of America and take orders from those connected to freedom of spirit; the good, true and the beautiful. These are the ones who are able to tame the wrath of the lion, showing a new vision for our world that renews our purpose and revives our hope for a brighter future.

It is the lamb side of America I hope will be defended by the lion, not put on trial and executed as it has in the past. But with all the trouble the lion is getting itself and our country into by losing sight of the lamb, the fear is that history will repeat itself. That another attack on the U.S. by external enemies will cause the lion to continue its imbalanced course, scapegoating the lamb as an obstacle to its never ending wars and mission of dictating the rules that seek complete domination over access to the freedom of spirit for the rest of the planet. This is the Empire leading to Armageddon scenario we have to avoid for something much more desirable.

This is the intention I took in visiting Resurrection fellowship. After the service I got to meet the pastor Jonathan Wiggins, who I presented with my Resurrection / Reincarnation brochure as window into the ideas of the my other project; The Return. My goal is that this script may be turned into short 25 minute movie that becomes a vehicle for the message of two sides coming together for a more perfect union of peace. The hope in this search for this healing balm is to end unnecessary spiritual warfare and achieve what's good in our world without the detour towards evil and self destruction. Since I don't have all the resources to make this project happen on my own, I'm seeking out the enthusiasm and energy of others who share a vision of two sides of the polarity; the lamb and the lion joining together in the peace and freedom of spirit. Perhaps it will happen, and perhaps it won't. But I've got to give it a try and hopefully find the power beyond myself to make it real. And who knows where it might lead. Perhaps my dream of the left and right, east and west, Christians and Buddhists coming together may actually come to pass. And this short can be finished and entered into film festivals, propelling me to start and finish the rest of my dreams and other projects. And perhaps this can coincide with the awakening said to be already happening all around our planet, where threats of Empire and a World War III scenario can be thwarted. And maybe the apocalypse inside my body can come to an end as I find the resources to transform my chronic Lyme disease into good health. And just maybe our world will not end in a hellish nightmare, but be transformed by a beautiful dream, leading our species into a brighter future, greater wholeness and fulfillment without first experiencing a nightmare. This is my hope that the dream may be reborn.

Earth Day 2010

A speech by James Cameron on Earth Day in Santa Barbara.

Estes to Loveland in 5 Minutes

This is my first new entry at my blog since Gaia's closing. :-(

Shot this footage in January while driving back to Laporte from Estes Park, CO. Sped it up to 500% to make a 25 minute drive condense down to 5 minutes. Music was found at a great new website I came across called Jamendo.com. The song is Gypsy Romance by Jacques Bellanger. His personal website is: http://jbabebel.perso.sfr.fr

Buddhist Faith Fellowship: Community

Originally Posted to firesofcreation.gaia.com on Feb 3rd, 2010

Just put another promotional video together for the BFF, this time focussing on our community. Audio credits for the song are below:

The music used in this video was taken from Wake Up.org (http://wkup.org):

http://wkup.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=243:wake-up-song&catid=41:listen&Itemid=131%E3%80%88=en

It was composed and performed at Plum Village by the following artists:

Written by Phap Linh; Guitar & Vocals: Joe Reilly; Female Lead Vocals: Melina Bondy; Cello: Phap Linh; Bass Guitar: Phap Luu; Keyboard: Phap Dan, Andrew; Djembe: Phap Dang; Guitars: Phap Lai, Luc Nghiem; Harmonica: Phap Man; Backup Vocals: Plum Village Sangha. Recorded and rehearsed on Thursday, January 28th, 2010 in Plum Village. This recording is the third take. For more of Joe Reilly's songs, follow the link to his website at: http://joereilly.org

Successful Operation

Originally Posted to firesofcreation.gaia.com on Jan 28th, 2010

One of my cousins recently sent a message alerting me to their son's plight this week. Here's  a picture I took from their blog tracking his progress, of him being airlifted to another hospital where he received emergency surgery to remove a brain tumor. :-(  Luckily he pulled through and his progress has been encouraging. I was grateful that the prayers and visualizations everyone sent out for a successful surgery have been realized. I continue to send more prayers of positive visualization for his full recovery and hope that this too will be realized.

Loss of a Friend

Originally Posted to firesofcreation.gaia.com on Jan 28th, 2009

Just got word this week that a friend passed away. :-( Went through my photo album and found this shot I took of him on a trip across Long Island Sound returning from a friend's wedding. 

Mike was a very creative guy who was a wonderful music composer. He sent me a lot of his compositions and I promised to use them in one of my short movies. I hope to honor that promise with something worthy of his talent. 

BFF Welcome Video

Originally Posted to firesofcreation.gaia.com on Jan 5th, 2009

Put this short video together as a teaser for people attending our sangha at the Buddhist Faith Fellowship for the first time.

Humanity's Prayer

Originally Posted to firesofcreation.gaia.com on Dec 17th, 2009

I put this little video together for my World Citizen Practice blog to express the highest human aspirations as a prayer for a future in which our species is finally united in peace. I think this fits squarely with the spirit of the holidays, "Peace on Earth and goodwill towards all men." Or more appropriately,  "...towards all humans." ;-)  My commentary can be found here.

President Obama's Peace Prize Speech as it Should Have Been

Originally Posted to firesofcreation.gaia.com on Dec 11th, 2009

I've had the domain Americatransformed.us for awhile and haven't had time to build my grand vision for it yet. ;-) I used it for awhile when I was campaigning for Obama. And now it seems appropriate for me to use it to present the vision of Obama that I had hoped was going to manifest and bring about real change; ending the Bush administration's bungled military campaigns.

This is Barack Obama's Nobel Peace Prize Acceptance Speech that I reworked a little bit to cut out justification for the war in Afghanistan. The rest of his original speech I thought was wonderful. But it is unknown what would happen if he gave this speech rather than the one originally delivered. Would the Military Industrial Complex make him their number 1 enemy? Would he alienate himself and Democrats from the GOP half of our nation? Just as junkies have to be weaned off of drugs gradually, perhaps Barack is seeking to gradually wean from war, those in our nation who are addicted and intoxicated by visions of further Middle East conquest. Unfortunately this is a naive hope in the face of new troop deployments to Afghanistan.  :-(

World Citizen Practice: Victory Tabernacle

Originally Posted to firesofcreation.gaia.com on Oct 29th, 2009

I attended a very fascinating service at Victory Christian Church in Middlefield this last Sunday. I've always seen this church when driving by it on route 66 and have been curious as to what it's all about. I first checked the website and discovered that it seems a bit fundamentalist in orientation with their statement of beliefs. But as part of my World Citizen Practice every month, half of my fellowship is intended to take me outside my comfort zone and home base at my Buddhist sangha. 

Another reason I am more open to explore what was once considered incompatible with my spiritual orientation is the gradual realization that in going beyond surfaces, things aren't always as they appear. Even though I may attend a Buddhist sangha that is guided by the teachings of spiritual leaders such as Teitetsu Unno, Shinran Shonin, Thich Nhat Hanh, Pema Chodrin, The Dalai Lama, Ekhart Tolle and even the historical Buddha himself, not everyone will agree as to what the implications of where these teachings should lead. There are Buddhists who voted for Barack Obama just as there are Buddhists who voted for John McCain. 

There are Buddhists who favor Fox News and there are Buddhists who favor CNN. And even though one of our highest aspirations is to become "food and drink during time of famine, to give assistance to the helpless and the poor," what if the poor people being assisted are illegal immigrants? It may not sit well with Buddhists who are anti-immigrant and support measures of shutting down the border between the U.S. and Mexico to keep them out. The point I am getting at here is the moral cohesion and certainty is blurry everywhere you look and this includes Eastern and Western centers of fellowship. 

Even though a Christian church may appear to have fundamentalist and dogmatic leadership, there are always members within their midst who are more liberal in their thinking. They may not rock the boat and they may not speak their mind in the presence of more conservative leaders and fellows, but they are nonetheless there and think outside the box. There may even be some members who are non believers or will later become non believers. This is just a natural course of being human and how there is often a constant shift in orientation that contradicts one side of a duality that was once deemed the standard. We hear examples of this from both sides too. 

There have been instances where rock hard atheists had conversion experiences, devoted their life to Christ and became "born again." There are also instances of steadfast missionaries who had conversion experiences that lead them to atheism. And as a rule of thumb, there is a piece of yin within yang and yang within yin. Some who may appear to be oriented on one side of the duality may display characteristics that would orient them to the other side and vice versa. 

Learning to live with this reality has been an exercise in tolerance and going deeper than the appearance of surfaces. I used to believe that those who displayed such hypocrisy were corrupt and potentially untrustworthy. What I have gradually discovered though is that these contradictions of the duality exist even within myself. I come from a family split down the middle between the atheist and theist orientations. Even if I favor the atheist orientation, it is entirely possible I may have offspring that adopt a Western theism just as my Christian grandfather gave rise to pagan children who followed a guru and favored an Eastern spirituality.


Before he died, I became one of the most loyal and trusted helpers of my grandfather, helping him go shopping, run errands and even go on trips across country with him. In helping him, I not only became an indirect supporter in the fundamentalist ministries he donated money to or bought books from, (Jessie Duplantis, Kenneth Hagin, John Hagee, Pat Robertson and Benny Hinn to name a few) I also became an indirect supporter in the election and reelection of a politician (George W. Bush) whose legacy as one of the most misguided presidents in U.S. history is being hotly debated by people around the world. Even though I didn’t approve of everything my grandfather did, I still loved the guy dearly and saw the good within him. 


The choice at hand is not how we can make war on our opposite or our hypocritical selves, but about how we can accept, integrate and create something new with the other side so as to potentially make peace with them.

In my forays into Christian fundamentalist churches, I have had to fight back fears that it will lead me into a direct confrontation with their dark side. But there is also the possibility that their side might open up to its opposite. Rather than seek a continuation of warfare, perhaps they might see the potential for wholeness where East and West unite and create lasting peace together. 

When I first arrived at Victory, the members that greeted me were friendly and outgoing. They took a genuine interest in knowing who I was and finding out why I was there. But as the sermon started, I saw some red flags go up inside my mind. The minister (Pastor Pete) began with an offhanded comment about hippies. (both my parents were hippies and I have hippy friends) Then he performed a prophetic pronouncement over a young kid in the audience, declaring that he would become a great business man and leader for the Lord. Not my kind of thing but I took it in strides and was open enough to stay, pushing the limits of what I was used to. 

Then there was the worship provided by Victory's very own rock band. People would move to the front, raising their hands towards heaven and shouting glory to their God. Afterwards the pastor told us that the purpose of praise and worship is, "to give God the glory. To let him know that you appreciate him, to express your love. I mean what can we give the Lord physically? well we can't, he owns everything. But we can give him our heart. and so we can bless him as we let him know that we love him and appreciate him."

Pastor Pete then began his sermon which was Part III of Understanding the Biblical Church. Here is a excerpt of part of the sermon I found the most compelling and took down after listening to the recording:  

"What is the local church and why is it so strategic? The local church is critical because it is the place I submit myself and my family to spiritual oversight and accountable living. If you're a parent this morning you want your children to listen to you and submit themselves into your parental leadership for their lives. Well guess what? In a pastoral sense it's the same thing. It doesn't matter how old chronologically someone is. When they come to Christ, they are an infant. That was one of Paul's issues with Timothy. 

When you read second Timothy chapter one, he says two things to Timothy. He says first of all, you need to stir up the gifts of God that are in you. The implication being, because if you don't, no one else will. You gotta stir it up. Second thing he says in verse 7, for God has not given you a spirit of fear but of power and love and of sound mind. Why was he saying both of those things? Because Timothy was being harassed and beaten down and intimidated by people older than him. They were trying to leverage their age over Timothy and harass him into submission and here he is the pastor. Whether they were doing it intentionally or not is not clear in the scripture but the effect on Timothy's life was that he was shying away from his call because he was being intimidated, looking at peoples age and position. 

I remember that happening to me years and years ago early in the ministry. There were people two in a half times my age and they had to listen to me. I was always taught, you respect your elders. Mr. So and So, Ms. So and So, Mrs. So and So. Yes, ma'am, yes sir! And now God puts me in this place where I'm teaching people two in a half times my age. I tell you what, I always held that with great respect. Even though I could preach and administer to them in the Lord, and had the anointing to impart to them, I always respected them for the position they had in mind. 

But Timothy was loosing a handle on this. So, let's go again, let's look at number three and lets look at the scripture. This is what the writer of Hebrew said regarding this issue. He said, obey those who have, (to paraphrase a little bit) the spiritual rule over you, the spiritual leadership in your life, and simply learn to listen. Why? For your spiritual leaders watch out for you and those who are, must give an account for their leadership. Let them do so, let them do their job with joy and not grief. For, if they had to do it with grief, it would be unprofitable for you. 

Let's dissect a couple words. First is the word submission. What he means by that word is to yield under. So when you are being submissive, it doesn't mean you don't have a brain, it means you are choosing to yield under someone else's anointing and spiritual authority. I'll tell you what, you will never be a good leader unless you learn how to be a good follower. You will never be given your own thing unless you can be faithful to that which is called another. Who said that? Oh yeah, Jesus did in Luke 16. If you can't serve someone else's vision, you'll never be given your own. Oh, you'll get a vision but it will be a pipe dream. Understand? You'll never make a great leader unless you're a great follower. It just starts in the trenches."

What was interesting to me at this point was the use of the word "trenches" which wasn't the first time I heard this word used in the service. It evoked imagery of warfare for me and even the church name, "Victory" could refer to a game, or a battle. 

Pastor Pete's service continued...

 "I'll tell you what, this spirit of submission, here's the difference. Someone can obey on the outside, you can only submit on the inside. Jesus was submissive to the will of his father even unto the death at the cross. He submitted here because when his flesh was tempted in the garden of Gethsemane, he wanted that cup to pass from him, he took it back and said nevertheless, not my will father but yours be done. You can only submit in here."

 This was the part of the sermon that made me a bit uncomfortable. One of the many criticisms lobbed at Christianity from atheists is the story of Christ submitting to his divine Father who wants him to be executed as a sacrifice. One of the other stories that this evokes in the Old Testament is the story of Abraham and Isaac. Abraham thinks he hears God telling him to sacrifice his son Isaac, who obediently allows his dad to bind and prepare to have him stabbed with a knife. 

If the New Testament was supposed to be the new revelation of God, why does Christ so obediently submit to his father's will of sacrificing himself? What kind of father would send off his own son to be sacrificed even if we are told that it was for reasons of cosmic importance? Did not Abraham believe that his son being sacrificed was of cosmic importance to his God? 

It could be said that there are thousands of fathers today in this nation who have not resisted their sons being sent to be sacrificed on the battle field of Iraq and Afghanistan and we are conversely told by our leaders that the shedding of their innocent blood is the necessary ingredient for the salvation of our nation's freedom. If this is mirroring the New Testament story, how much has really changed since the Old Testament? In the New Testament, God allows the son to be sacrificed and in the Old Testament, he stops it from happening. Is this an instance of the yin being within the yang and vice versa? The Old Testament is usually known for its childish depiction of God where as the New Testament is supposed to show a wiser, more loving and evolved God who acts more like an adult. 

Pastor Pete continued...

"You can make people obey and comply on the outside but you can only submit on the inside.The reality of inside is the essence of the New Testament. And the Old Testament, what was it about? Outward sacrifices, keeping all the laws, keeping all the customs, showing up in Jerusalem for the feast. And in the New Testament, Jesus said, and now I say, you've heard it said that basically it's wrong for a person to commit adultery, that guy should be stoned, but I say to you, if a man lusts after a woman in his own heart, I consider that he has already committed adultery with her. 

What was the issue? The message was this, whatever was externally based and judged in the Old Testament, everything now is internal. everything is internally evaluated judged and assessed. Why? Because now we have the Holy Spirit in us. He dwells in us. In the Old Testament he dwells among us. So in other words, you can't have a new and better covenant without taking the responsibilities that come with it, which is, let me change you from the inside out instead of just making you a bunch of people that keep outward observances of feast and holidays and festivals. I want to change you from the inside so that you actually want to do it. So this is what it comes down to. Let us do our job with joy."

 This part of the sermon I really liked and it sent the wheels inside my head spinning. It also reminded me of the banner hanging on the wall near the church sanctuary's entrance. (pictured above) On it was the first and last letter of the Greek alphabet and symbolically, it is representative of God as the first and last revelation ending with the return of Jesus Christ to Earth. The way the Greek letters were merged together on the banner made me realize that this is the Christian version of the Yin and Yang symbol. And in Pastor Pete's assessment of the Old and New Testament, made me think about the masculine and feminine relationship as they relate to the nature of matter and spirit. 

The journey we take in life begins with the masculine side, (the material). We are preoccupied with our appearances and the superficial surfaces that surround us. We may follow rules and the crowd, not because we feel compelled from the inside, but because of what we fear from the outside. The same thing can be said about children just beginning to understand how the material world works. They don't jump off of tall buildings because they don't want to, but because they fear the consequences. Later in life our compulsions to pull off dangerous stunts that threaten to punish us by the material laws of gravity are diminished and a new will comes into place from the inside, compelling us to live in accordance with the laws of gravity because we want to and are concerned not only about ourselves but others. 

By the same token, the latter half of life is marked by connecting with the inside. We realize that our looks are impermanent and our external surfaces don't necessarily determine our identity. The Old and New Testament basically describe the internal evolution of the human race. Our early ancestors were dominated by the external compulsions of fear from a wrathful, vindictive and childish God. Then in the New Testament, a new inner sanction came into being and God became kinder, wiser and more adult like. And in the Old Testament account of Adam coming first, this would correspond to the banner and the Alpha symbol which is often placed in front of male to describe their egotistical orientation when not in touch with their feminine side. And as a Male's sex organs are external, outside the body, conversely, a female's sex organs are hidden inside the body. Paster Pete describes the New Testament revelation being guided by the Holy Spirit, that hidden and invisible force that resides inside the body rather than being external on the outside. 

The last revelation, "Omega" must come at the end of time in order for the birth of world spirit to bring peace and the beginning of a new human kind who is no longer estranged from the divine. And as Jesus stated, "The first shall be last and the last shall be first." This now makes sense in context of the masculine coming first to find itself last as the feminine becomes the only one capable of giving birth and nourishing new life to be the first of a new revelation. This new revelation; World Spirit, is the new consciousness that will unite the world and bring God's will to be done, "on Earth as it is in Heaven."

Pastor Pete ended his sermon with a great couple of sentences pointing his congregation towards the "Omega" of the Holy Spirit and the new Revelation.

"Make our job a joy. We don't rule over anyone with an iron hand. We don't rule in the flesh. We don't ever take our anointing and our position for granted. We're always one in equal living. Hallelujah. But let your heart be open in peace. That's something God will always bless."

I left Victory church feeling glad that I had explored it. The people who came up after the service to introduce themselves were very kind and genuine. I even got to meet pastor Pete and shake his hand. It felt liberating to connect with my opposite orientation in a domain I used to be intimidated by. I now seek to passionately share my gospel of coexist with Christians just as passionately as they seek to share their gospel of Jesus Christ with me. And even though my sangha feels it is a better path to be lay rather than monastic, something must also be done to break the spiritual monasticism of just remaining inside your comfort level amongst your own kind. My world citizen practice is a means for me to become a spiritual lay person, finding a relationship and learning from those outside of my orientation as well as offering whatever perspective I have from my angle that may enrich their lives.