Author: Firoozeh

Paris Talk

abdul-baha-paris

Friday, 20 November 2015

Paris Talk

In October, 1911, an elderly man of 68 who had been visiting London set out to travel to Paris, where His intention was to announce to the people of Europe in general, and France in particular, the Bahá’í message that all mankind needed to become one human family. Having been released from nearly 60 years in exile, prison and house arrest, He wished to share His Father’s message that the religions of the world were all from the same source and that the world should be united. His name was ‘Abdu’l-Baha, and during His nine-week stay in Paris, He gave nightly talks to crowds of seekers wishing to hear how He thought the world could be changed. The series of talks He gave, to people from all walks of life, were later published as a book, known as “Paris Talks”. Each talk has a simple theme: that we should be welcoming to people from other lands; that prejudice should be abandoned; that there is real spiritual aspiration in the West; the need for union between the peoples of the East and the West; the need for both material and spiritual progress, and so on.
The social and religious teachings which ‘Abdu’l-Baha was giving are totally the opposite of the ideas which drove a group of hate-filled terrorists to slaughter innocent people in Paris in November, 2015. One hundred years later, and the teachings of ‘Abdu’l-Baha are just as necessary today as they were then. More so, because the dreadful weapons of the terrorist of today were not even invented then. The ideas that drive ISIS are a long way from the ideas towards which the world is currently moving. In the modern world, many people take for granted that all religions are of comparable value, whether they personally follow a religion or not. The current wave of terrorists assert that one religion is superior to the others, even though they do not actually practise its teachings on how human beings should treat one another! It may be that the foot-soldiers of ISIS are really trying to find a role in life, rather than actually following a religion. They simply have not caught the “spirit of the age”, which is that we are moving towards one world, that everyone should be supporting each other, that mutual aid and tolerance should be the hallmarks of civilisation.

I have no idea why ‘Abdu’l-Baha chose Paris as the place to stress these particular ideas. What I do know is that the world now needs to replace division and “religious” rivalry with unity and harmony. ‘Abdu’l-Baha constantly stressed to His listeners the need to avoid any kind of harm or upset to others: “Beware lest ye harm any soul, or make any heart to sorrow; lest ye wound any man with your words, be he friend or foe. Beware, beware, lest ye offend the feelings of another.” Even further from His ideas was the concept of people deliberately causing physical harm to others: “Force and violence, constraint and oppression are condemned in this divine cycle.”

Paris must rise above the current tragedy and show the cosmopolitan spirit for which it is famous. In one of the “Paris Talks”, ‘Abdu’l-Baha said, “This meeting in Paris is a truly spiritual one… Lift up your hearts above the present and look with the eyes of faith into the future!”

It is the future which must become the talk of Paris.

By Paddy Vickers

Why Is Earth’s Schumann Resonance Accelerating?

Why Is Earth’s Schumann Resonance Accelerating?

by

maxresdefaultThe Ancient Indian Rishis called 7.83 Hz the frequency of OM. It also happens to be Mother Earth’s natural heartbeat rhythm, known as the “Schumann Resonance.” According to Wikipedia,“Schumann resonances are global electromagnetic resonances, excited by lightning discharges in the cavity formed by the Earth’s surface and the ionosphere.”

For many years this resonance frequency has hovered at a steady 7.83 Hz with only slight variations. In June 2014 that apparently changed. Monitors at the Russian Space Observing System showed a sudden spike in activity to around 8.5 Hz. Since then, they haveczc499stotliwoc59bc487-schumanna recorded days where the Schumann accelerated as fast as 16.5 Hz. (The graph is usually blue with some green, and no white.) At first they thought their equipment was malfunctioning, but later learned the data was accurate. Everyone was asking, what’s causing this intermittent spiking activity?

Is the Earth’s frequency speeding up? Since the Schumann frequency is said to be “in tune” with the human brain’s alpha and theta states, this acceleration may be why it often feels like time has sped up and events and changes in our life are happening more rapidly.

These emerging resonances are naturally correlated to human brainwave activity. So this means, we are changing. Many years ago I was trained in EEG Neurofeedback, so I looked at what these accelerated frequencies might be telling us about human evolutionary change. A 7.83 Hz frequency is an alpha/theta state. Relaxed, yet dreamy—sort of a neutral idling state waiting for something to happen. A 8.5 – 16.5 Hz frequency moves one out of the theta range into more of a full calmer alpha state with faster more alert beta frequencies starting to appear. (This correlates with slowly waking up cognitively). Since the Schumann Resonance hasSchumann-resonance-before-it-went-down had sudden spikes between 12 – 16.5 Hz (see pic’s white areas),  I found this even more interesting. In Neurofeedback, 12-15 Hz is called Sensory-Motor Rhythm frequency (SMR). It is an ideal state of “awakened calm.” Our thought processes are clearer and more focused, yet we are still “in the flow” or “in the know.” In other words, Mother Earth is shifting her vibrational frequency and perhaps so are we. This may be one of many signs that we are AWAKENING.

Scientist’s report that the Earth’s magnetic field, which can affect the Schumann Resonance, has been slowly weakening for the past 2,000 years and even more so in the last few years. No one really knows why. I was told by a wise old sage from India that the magnetic field of Earth was put in place by the Ancient Ones to block our primordial memories of our true heritage. This was so that souls could learn from the experience of free-will unhampered by memories of the past. He claimed that the magnetic field changes are now loosening those memory blocks and we are raising our consciousness to greater truth. The veil is lifting. The blinders are coming off. If true, it raises even more intriguing questions.

Whatever is happening, it’s clear that this acceleration may make you feel more tired, exhausted, dizzy, depressed, and even strange as you raise your own frequencies to be more “in tune” with the New Earth. Adaptation is not always an easy process, but keep in mind it’s all part of your own unique AWAKENING.

Dr. Kathy Forti is a clinical psychologist, inventor of the Trinfinity8 technology, and author of the book, Fractals of God.   amazon.com/author/k

 

Why all these changes in the world?

“THE world’s equilibrium hath been upset through the vibrating influence of this most great, this new World Order. Mankind’s ordered life hath been revolutionized through the agency of this unique, this wondrous System—the like of which mortal eyes have never witnessed.” – Baha’u’llahhttp://reference.bahai.org/en/t/b/PB/pb-63.html

 

Special thanks to Sue Emmel

The First 100 Years Are the Toughest

The First 100 Years Are the Toughest

A Thought Experiment for Living Longer, Happier Lives

Gregg Braden

Why does the maximum human age seem to hover around the 100-year mark?  Why not 200 or even 500 years?  If we’re to believe accounts in the Torah and Old Testament texts, many ancient people measured their lives in terms of centuries, rather than the decades that we use today.  Adam, for example, is documented as having lived for 930 years, Metheselah for 969 years, and Noah for 950 years.

According to the texts, these men were not simply shriveled husks of their former selves, meagerly surviving and hanging on to the frail thread of life.  At advanced ages, they were active and vital, enjoying their families and even starting new ones!

And why not?  We clearly live in bodies that are built to last.  The Torah states that Noah lived for 350 years ‘after’ the Great Flood.  If he was 950 years old when he died, this would mean that he was fit and vital enough to build the ark that would ensure the survival of the entire human race when he was 600 years old!

If there was a time when people lived longer and healthier lives, what happened?  What changed?

Through countless texts, and spiritual traditions that have spanned centuries, we’re reminded that we are souls expressing ourselves through bodies.  And while they’re made of the elements of the universe, it’s our souls that bring the bodies to life.  When our souls hurt, our pain is transmitted into our bodies as the spiritual quality of the life force that we feed into each cell.

Is it possible that the 100 years or so that we see as the duration of human life is actually the limit of how long the body can endure unresolved hurt in the soul?  Does a century tell us how long we can bear the sadness and disappointments of life before they catch up with us?  We can all attest to the pain that comes from watching the people we love, the pets we cherish, and the experiences that we grow attached to disappear from our lives.

Could a lifetime of loss, disappointment, and betrayal have the power to disable even our strongest and most durable organ:  the heart?

Or maybe our hurt is more ancient and goes even deeper.

In addition to such obvious sources of pain, perhaps there’s another one that’s less obvious, yet so monumental and universally shared that it’s hard for us to even bear thinking about it.

Across cultures and societies, creation stories state that to become individual souls in our bodies in this world, we must ‘break away’ from a greater collective soul family.  At the same time, one of the deepest universal fears is just that:  the fear of being separate and alone.

Perhaps the great hurt that underlies any other is the pain of separation from a greater existence.  If this is true, maybe we miss our larger soul family so much that we try to fill the void by re-creating a sense of unity through smaller families here on Earth.  It’s no wonder, then, that their loss can be so devastating to us.  It throws us right back into the pain of the original hurt.

For many people, it’s their longing to ‘hold on’ to their families, their relationships, and memories of their past experiences that creates the conditions that lead to their greatest suffering.  When they yearn for the things that they can never have again, and the people they miss, alcohol and drugs too often become the socially acceptable anesthetics that are used to numb such deep soul pain.

If we can find a way to appreciate the time that we share with those we love, as well as a way to feel good about the time we had when it’s over, then we will have taken a giant step toward our greatest healing. From this perspective, the same principles that allow us to hurt ourselves to death also work in reverse.  They offer us the healing power of Life.  This key appears to be related to the way we feel about what life shows us.

Adapted from the Secrets of the Lost Mode of Prayer.  Pages 74-78, Gregg Braden.

peace and tranquility of the world

Heartflags

Peace and tranquility of the world

“The Great Being, wishing to reveal the prerequisites of the peace and tranquility of the world and the advancement of its peoples, hath written: The time must come when the imperative necessity for the holding of a vast, an all-embracing assemblage of men will be universally realized. The rulers and kings of the earth must needs attend it, and, participating in its deliberations, must consider such ways and means as will lay the foundations of the world’s Great Peace amongst men. Such a peace demandeth that the Great Powers should resolve, for the sake of the tranquility of the peoples of the earth, to be fully reconciled among themselves. Should any king take up arms against another, all should unitedly arise and prevent him. If this be done, the nations of the world will no longer require any armaments, except for the purpose of preserving the security of their realms and of maintaining internal order within their territories. This will ensure the peace and composure of every people, government and nation. We fain would hope that the kings and rulers of the earth, the mirrors of the gracious and almighty name of God, may attain unto this station, and shield mankind from the onslaught of tyranny.”

Excerpt from Tablets of Baha’u’llah –http://reference.bahai.org/en/t/b/TB/tb-12.html)

Special thanks to Sue Emmel

Unity in Diversity

Unity1

‘Unity in Diversity

Unity in diversity is a natural phenomenon – a universal law if you like that governs and typifies the basic and fundamental characteristic of all natural living systems. All living organisms and closely tied in to their environment and form a reciprocal relationship with it. Without this unity, ecosystems would disintegrate and collapse.

The paradigm for human development, on the other hand, has not followed this basic, but natural pattern. Since our primordial and initial stages of development and until recently, mankind has followed a fragmented and isolationist, exclusive, patterns of development. Countries and nations sought supremacy over others, and over the very natural environment they so critically depend upon. Such a old world order approach is now giving way to a new and more advanced, an holistic, approach.

Unity in diversity, in terms of human development turns out to be the magic catalyst that would usher in the New Age of Collective Consciousness. That we are a single species, belonging to a unified race of Homo sapiens, inhabiting a unique planet with abundant but not unlimited, resources and sharing a common destiny has become clear.

As a concept this is all fine and good, and a germane to the transition that we are all witnessing the world over. How, therefore, does this translate into actions on the individual level? How does this new paradigm affect our communities? Which patterns need to be established to engage our institutions into this mode of operation?

Looking into the world of nature is always fascinating and insightful. If we consider that life on earth arose some 3.5 billion years ago, then it would be logical to assume that life today on this beautiful and blessed planet of ours, has matured and reached a very complex state – with manifold and intensely interlinked connections and dependencies. Would it not follow that the examples we see in nature represent vast stores of knowledge and if we consider Gaia as a ‘living’ entity then she is full of wisdom and experience!

So long as our development patterns deviate from, or defeat these natural patterns we are sure to see backlashes and serious consequences in terms of environmental degradation, climate change and so on. Our attitudes and our vision has, for the last several thousand years been based upon inward, selfish, and egocentric drives – basically a projection of the inner state of man. We must thrive at the expense of others. However, this narrow and child-like quality, while responsible for the majority of our ills, has to come to an end when we as a species come of age. We are now emerging from this confused state and see another state where questions are being put forward not only by individuals but by the masses. We recognize the futile and blind-ended approach our civilization currently is taking, and at the same time desperately searching for more viable and more sustainable patterns.

Where does unity come into this quest? Diversity is a natural law – in nature this is a desirable, indeed a highly prized quality. Variations in the gene pool are what makes species successful and endows adaptability and enhances survival under new conditions.

Humanity is going through new conditions, some which have been caused by its own actions, whether directly or indirectly, while others are the result of the march of time …. Forces which are beyond our control and we are finally coming to terms with and appreciating as the Divine Will and Plan for mankind. The world of man is not apart from the world of nature, and while unity in diversity is a common natural law, it equally must sooner or later become expressed into our development – this is the natural order of the universe. If we do not adapt and evolve we become extinct.

The new state of mankind is that where unity is achieved as a result of its diversity becoming the de facto consideration. From the family unit right across our community infrastructures, our regional institutions, national governments and international bodies. How do we welcome this unity into our minds and consciousness? In nature this law is expressed via mechanistic and collective interactions that we as thinking and cognizant being must internalize and SELECT consciously. This is NOT and automatic process governed by physics, chemistry or biology. We therefore must surpass these basic levels of interactions and what we have that is unique is our spiritual capacity.

In the words of Bahá’u’lláh, the Most Noble Soul to have ever drawn breath on earth:

“The well-being of mankind, its peace and security, are unattainable unless and until its unity is firmly established. This unity can never be achieved so long as the counsels which the Pen of the Most High hath revealed are suffered to pass unheeded.”

Endowed with a probing mind, intelligence and a soul that is conscious and aware, inherently light seeking and yet potentially light reflecting, unity becomes a new state of existence. It must become our currency of thought, the syllables of our language, the rhythm of our music, the theme of our songs, the equations of our science and the new glorious color of humanity.’

Sam Saté-Askew