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Journalings

This is a place for sharing items that I think might be of interest to others. My e-mails often involve sending some newly discovered website or an updated project to many different folks, so I thought it might be more efficient to try this approach. Feedback encouraged, and I have turned on the comments permission now that there's a Spam control. Feel free!

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Name: Sender-Barayon-Morningstar
Location: San Francisco, California,

More than you want to know right here on my website!

December 18, 2006

Religions Arehttp://www2.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif Like Peaches - They Don't Travel Well

I believe that religions innately are watershed-specific. They have to do with making friends with your local elves, sprites, demons, godlet and goddesslettes. Cultures that know the names and histories of their local spirits I admire very much - such as the Australian aborigines, who have songlines and dream traditions that are very very rich. The closest thing to this I think was when we at our hippie commune starting naming various parts of the land, such as "Gruesome Gulch," "Zen Trail" and "Oilpan Rock." Certain trees received descriptions, "O.B.'s Tree" etc. We didn't get as far as discovering the names and histories of various landmarks, but I think we would have over time.

Where religions go haywire is when the people of one watershed go over the hill to the next one and insist that the other folks take on their belief system. Sort of as if one of our commune went to the commune next door and insisted that everyone there agree that the Zen Trail was the best trail in the universe. But next door had their own local tree and water spirits, rock trolls and fairies. So it's irrational to try to put the our belief system over theirs. I guess what I'm saying is that I view religion as intimately tied up with watershed. Christianity would have been fine if it had stayed as Nazarenism or Galilee-ism, and Judaism as -- well, wherever it began -- Judah, I guess. May a million religions bloom!

Of course overarching beliefs, like the Golden Rule, would be found to be common to all. Yes? Maybe even the original set of commandments given to Noah? Noah-ism is still viewed as an early 'covenant' religion, by the way, with the rainbow the sign of God's contract (hm...).

Above all the local belief structures - and I would include amongst these knowing the personal names of your individual trees and rocks and springs - you move into "spirituality," which is a whole other thing that has nothing to do with communal watershed practices and all to do with the individual's personal experience of the cosmos.

Another group that I admire very much is the Santal tribe of India. Here's a brief description from the book titled "The hill of flutes: Life, love, and poetry in tribal India: a portrait of the Santals," by W. G. Archer, that describes them in detail (and remains one of my favorite books). Out of print by available used on www.campusi.com for around $9.

"The Santals with their cheerful disposition and love for hunting, singing and dancing, lead freer, less inhibited lives than do Hindu and Muslim cultivators. They speak their own pre-Dravidian language of Santali, worship their own Santal bongas or spirits, regulate their village life in a democratic manner and celebrate their own Santal festivals with dancing and feasting. (Archer 1977:15)

Continuing from a Google quote:

The Santals, the largest tribal community on the Indian Subcontinent, numbers approximately 5 million people. They are scattered throughout north India as well as in Nepal and Bangladesh. In India the Santals are found mainly in the states of Bihar, West Bengal, Orissa and Assam. Santals speak Santali which belongs to the Munda group of languages of the Austro-Asiatic language family (Gautam 1998:14). The Santals prefer to call themselves hor (Santali; human being. A common term in all Mundari languages) or adivasi (sanskrit; original settler).

An Archer quote regarding an earlier sociologist who put a Santal dictionary together: "Bodding`s reference to the Santals chief spirit, Maran Buru, as 'the devil' and his description of Santal poetry as 'often pure gibberish' were later to outrage me but his huge Santali-English dictionary staggered me by its encyclopaedic learning and gave me indispensable help. (Archer 1974:11) "

No doubt by now the Santals have been converted to some form of Christianity and their culture destroyed. The same has happened to various other tribes found on the Indian subcontinent that also formed various very interesting cultures, such as the Muria tribe that developed the tradition of the children's center or 'ghotul,' where kids had their own subculture from the age of 5 or so. The main source for information on this group is "The Kingdom of the Young" by one of my heroes, Verrier Elwin, an English missionary who went to India to convert the heathen. He took one look at the Muria culture and said, "Heck, they've got it more together than we do!" So he married a native woman and spent the rest of his life studying and writing about their way of life. Click here for an essy on Elwin I put together.
Also here's a quote that came up on Google from what seems to be a documentary on the Muria tribe:

[quote] THE MURIA

30 minutes Colour 1982 Film-maker: Chris Curling

The Muria of Central India live in a forested area encircled by mountains. Their relative isolation has allowed them some differences from the rest of India, in particular their lack of caste. Their land is protected by the government, each family is ideally self-sufficient, and marriage, which unites the four clans of the Muria, is seen as the basis of social order.

The focus of this film, like the ethnographies of V. Elwin (1947) and S. Mansingh Gell (1984), is on the institution of the ghotul in Muria society. The ghotul is a dormitory within the village where all people from about the age of twelve until their marriage must stay. The ghotul is governed by the young people, cared for by them, and in many ways is a society of youth within the larger society of Muria village life. The years of the ghotul are seen as a time for freedom and exploration, as a preparation for adult life. An aspect of the ghotul which captured the Western imagination is its relation to the trinity of sex, love, and marriage. Elwin's original ethnography, of which abridged versions are available in French, Italian, and English, portrayed ghotul life in a way that continues to embarrass the Indian government as well as raising ethical questions about the anthropologist's use of public and private information. The anthropological advisor for the film, S. Mansingh Gell, asked that her name be removed from the credits because, in her opinion, the final version of the film does little to correct the sort of stereotype found in Elwin's study.

Despite these problems, The Muria is an interesting and informative film that does try to explain the ghotul and its relevance to Muria society. The ghotul is in some ways opposed to the rest of the society. During her ghotul years, a girl has a choice of partner, while afterwards her bridal partner is chosen by others. During ghotul years, the young have more money, more friends, and more freedom than they will have again in their lives. All this creates a deep nostalgia for the ghotul; young and old alike remember their ghotul years as the happiest of their lives.

[End Quote]

It makes me want to order the movie!!! But Elwin's book is available and a fascinating read. It was boiled down from a much larger manuscript that I also have as a photocopy.

I developed the concept of futuristic youth centers for our culture that I named "Go-too's," which I wrote about in some detail in various (unpublished) novels. More about that another time.

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Combining Two Sacred Names of God

On what I suppose you would have to term an 'intuitive' basis, I would submit that the ancient Hebrew name for their god was based on the sound of the breath, inhale and exhale:

Inhale: Eeeeahhhhhohhh Exhale: Hooowehhhhehhhh
This sound runs a 'circle' through all the vowels -- I A O U E
('i' pronounced 'eee', 'a' pronounced 'ahhh', 'o' pronounced 'ohhhh',
'u' pronounced 'oooo', 'e' pronounced 'ehhhhh')


The reason for this was simple: it was everyone's desire to die with God's name on their lips. What was easier than to make God's name the sound of the breath itself? The irony also is what better place to 'hide' the name of God than the last place anyone would look - where everyone sounds it thousands of times daily? I have to smile when I think of the irony! It wasn't that the 'Name of God' was not allowed to be spoken. It's just that when someone asked, "What is the name of God?" the rabbi would reply by breathing. The listener assumed that the response was a silent one, and thus that he was trespassing on forbidden ground. Over time it became a tradition to understand that the Name of God was never to be uttered aloud when, in fact, it was 'spoken' on every breath. How much funnier can it get?

Now, looking at a competing name that came along later, "Allah", I would submit that 'Ah-lah-lah-lah' is based on the heartbeat - the pulse - also a good idea for the name of God inasmuch as it's the last 'sound' the body makes before ceasing to exist. So here we are with an ancient argument. "God's name is the breath!" "No, God's name is the heartbeat!"

This has led to a lot of difficulties, with both sides forgetting a long time ago what the argument was originally about.

I have therefore suggested a new name for God that combines both: Eaaahhhwahhhooowehhh-la-la-la-la

Inhale: Eaaahhhohh
Exhale: Hooowehhh-la-la-la-la (the la's on the pulse)

Anyway, I wonder if anyone else has caught onto the 'breath' connection. If you know of someone I could write to about this, let me know!

While we're on this topic, I also prefer 'Yahushua' for Jesus. Use of the correct 'sound' I believe is evocative when praying to an entity, and I think praying to "Gee-ziz" tends to send the prayer to the Great Mother Eesiss (Isis), which is sort of funny when you think of all these Southern Baptists sending up their hosannahs to the great Egyptian mother goddess.

Happy Birthday to Yahushua, Incarnating Sun of the Galactic Breath!

Chugging at 55 renas, with no perceptible polluting by-products,

R

December 17, 2006

Enlightenment for Us Donkeys

This is from last March, 2006, but I think worth posting inasmuch as it
cover an ongoing discussion I've been having with this amazing teacher.

If it 's not too presumptuous, I thought I would make a few comments on
J-teacher's marvelous "Finding the Light Within." First of all, dear and
wonderful, J-teacher, I must, echoing Gloria, thank you very sincerely for
all your postings on Awareness, inasmuch as you are always and most
thoroughly RIGHT ON -- although perhaps requiring a level or two of
understanding or preparation that might not be immediately apparent or
reachable by some of us more Eeyore-esque types. And if these
"preparatory levels" are not required, why then are there not hundreds of
enlightened bodhisattvas spreading out all over this planet? Or perhaps
my name is not Ray Sender, but Race Ender - coming in last as usual, (as
I used to in teenage sailboat races, but always with the prettiest girl
as crew).
Anyway, onward to the fascinating essay at hand, and let me just say I
have not labored over these comments, but just wrote them from my heart
as spontaneously as possible. I will first quote J-teacher and then add
appropriate comments:

From The-Way-of-Light Yahoo list
J-TEACHER: I would like to further elucidate the "View" of The Way of
Light approach. Of course, anything we can do to develop greater love
and compassion in ourselves and others is always beneficial. However,
we are pursuing a different method here through the Way of Light to
achieve even greater impact on one's life and society.

This method entails exposing the cause of all un-compassionate action
and all un-loving intentions and deeds. Once the "impediments" to living a
truly spontaneously compassionate and beneficent life have been exposed,
self-liberated and resolved, one's natural Heart of love and compassion, the
Mother Light, will shine forth with tremendous power.

COMMENT: I find I can resolve "impediments" by "dissolving" all lateral
chest tensions (armorings) via smiling purrs that resonate the trachea on
both the inhale and exhale, which in turn vibrates the aorta/heart/
circulatory system. Done enough and thoroughly, the heart is liberated to
beam in all directions. I suggest this as a very easy and natural method
that can be practiced sub-vocally in all settings (Just recently I purred
silently through a full day's conference, or at least for about three hours
of it!)

J-TEACHER: You see, without our compassion having power and strength,
guided by the Light of Wisdom, the brilliance of our own intrinsic
Awareness, our actions may be only of "token" benefit with no lasting
result. So the question becomes rather, how do we empower our lives
authentically from the domain of infinite Goodness, the very core of our
own Being? This intrinsically present core of infinite Goodness has its own
Wisdom that self-illuminates and guides one's actions in bringing benefit
and blessings to all beings spontaneously. Why is this not apparently
"working" in our lives now?

COMMENT: It's not "working" in many lives because dissolving the
impediments (armorings) has not been made easy enough, nor have the
methods offered been shown to be very natural. (well, you do point to our
innate buddhahood as the basically natural state, but still... again, where
are the thousands of liberated beings?)

J-TEACHER: [snip]
Every time we carry on a "train of thought" we are empowering this
"ego-consciousness", the unsuspected interloper and "hijacker" of our
Bliss. Why do we keep doing that? From habit and not knowing better.
Both "good thoughts" and "bad thoughts" empower this confused "mind of
thinking" equally. At that level of consciousness: "Any thought is
better than no thought" it thinks! And you know what? Its suspicions
are accurate, for "no thought" means no energy is being fed to this
engine of self-centered consciousness. What would happen if we stopped
feeding our "minds" with thought-energy?

COMMENT: But HOW? The ability to just 'stop feeding thought-energy' is
for the highly advanced and/or talented student. But I think there is
an easier way for us donkeys: when waves of bliss pour out of our hearts,
they overpower thought-energy, and the 'thinker' is just swept along,
like a surfer riding in the 'tube.'

J-TEACHER: A couple of things would occur: eventually our minds would
become calm AND we would notice underlying and along with this
"confused thinking mind" exists a pure and pristine Awareness that
intrinsically contains all the Joy, Compassion and Wisdom one could
ever imagine possible. We would also find these newly revealed treasures
as having been present and available all along! How amazing!!

COMMENT: Again, but HOW? We can unveil our own innate heart-self,
yes. But again, how do we donkeys achieve this melting-away of obstacles
easily and naturally?

J-TEACHER: The more we reduce the obsessive activities of empowering
our "thinking mind", the greater the chances of our experiencing our
pure and perfect Presence of Awareness, the ever-present Son-Light. As
our "thinking mind" drops away from lack of being energized, we now find
our newly ascended and now prominent Awareness supreme within the
primordial domain of the Clear Light of our Being. By further "bathing"
ourselves in this Presence of Awareness beyond "thinking mind", we discover
within the depths of our Being, the original womb of infinite Love,
Joy and Compassion, illuminating our Awareness from within, known as the
Mother-Light. It is here we discover our true Power, the Heart of
Unconditional Love and the Wisdom that brings benefit to all beings
without bias or choice. All the empowering Energies of Infinite Goodness
are now manifesting directly in and through our daily actions from moment
to moment. Without any diversions of that Energy now feeding the
consciousness of an imagined self and generating its wasteland of confusion
and pain, we are totally Aware and truly empowered.

COMMENT: So beautiful and so true. But again, the HOW? The how easily HOW?

J-TEACHER: To come to this state of Awareness of our own Being, we have to radically "cut" the tree of confused "thinking mind" at the root. We do this by cutting off our trance-like dependence on "thinking" and "imagining" from moment to moment. When you catch your self "thinking" just gently pull your attention away into this present moment, free of thought. Practice this continuously. If we are completely free of "thinking", we have eliminated the root suffering.

COMMENT: Yes, this is very elegant and beautiful, and does indeed work very well. I love it! But also I find that I can just "drop" into the heart with the smile/purr/snarl method. Once centered in the chest, the head just falls into its proper place as a thinking 'appendage' and not the fake center any longer. Also I sometimes copy the Zen master Hakuin's facial mudra as depicted in his self-portrait.


Please note the slightly crossed eyes and the suggestion that the cheeks are drawn in because of the vacuum created between the soft palette and the tongue. Also, I 'intuit' that the front chin muscle is drawn up slightly (this I consider the 'compassion mudra.')

J-TEACHER: As our underlying Presence of Awareness becomes more dominant, and our "thinking mind" drops into the background, which is the reverse of our current situation, a Knowingness will become vividly present in all situations. A subtle intuition will now guide us towards skillful action, without having to rely on "thought". At that juncture, your potential energies of thought will now arise as the mirror-like "clarity" of your Awareness, without ever developing into "thoughts" which are of a much coarser nature and vibration, the vibration of ego-consciousness. "Thinking-mind" is the function of our deluded ego-consciousness. "Knowing" Awareness is spontaneous, thoroughly creative and always arises from the Heart of Compassion. It's "ok" to drop your "thinking mind"! But just listen to your ego now! "Oh, no, we can't do that... what if.... blah, blah blah...!" Look where "listening to your ego-mind" has gotten you so far! Fearlessly, and without the slightest tinge of hesitation, just cut it off at the knees, no on second thought, better cut it off at the root! Be diligent and thorough from moment to moment. To clarify, this "chopping off" of thought is really very subtle. You simply "notice" and then immediately "stop paying attention" to any and every thought that passes through your Awareness. "Thinking" is a kind of trance that "distracts" us from our current "here and now" environment. We are to the degree of our distraction, out of touch with our with Hearts as well.

Following this practice of "dropping mind and thought", your Awareness will eventually self-liberate all thought spontaneously, without any need for practice or effort. The more you simply remain in Presence of Awareness, resting relaxed yet fully alert, you will experience greater dissolution of the ego and it's "thinking mind". Having arrived home, centered within the Mother Light of your own Being, you are now joyously free in living out your life of choiceless service for the benefit of all beings, beyond hesitation nor need for "thinking" what one should or should not do!

COMMENT: Yes, really so very perfect and wonderful! I find there is a place where the heartbeat pulses within the voice, perhaps most easily practiced with a steady tone such as OMMM... If the heartbeat modulates the steady tone, and you 'speak' from that pitch and modulation, you cannot help but speak from the heart in a 'heartfelt' manner.

This is also why when a singer sings with a natural vibrato, not a 'faked' one, we find it so very moving. I suppose, in a sense, this 'heartfelt' voice can be practiced and applied as just a 'technique,' but then perhaps not. Because if the practice produces the natural effect, you once again are drawn into the heart. I supposed I would have to go interview some professional singers to find out!

Does all this make sense? I feel very grateful for your lessons and comments, J-teacher, but I also feel that we must search for the very easiest access methods so they can be brought to the largest numbers of people! I would be very happy if others would try out the smile/snore/purr method and the Hakuin facial mudra, as two of several easily applied access gateways. Time's a-wastin'!