Aflame

Let us accept love as the impetus for the expansion of consciousness.
The Heart will not be aflame without love; it will not be invincible nor will it be self-sacrificing.

M. Morya





Of Note: Thanks again to my Sister for this fiery photo.

Right Around the Corner

In the depth
of winter,
I finally
learned
that within
me there
lay in
invincible
summer.

Albert Camus

Of note: This resplendent picture was provided courtesy of M. Huffman. The quote came via the Word for the Day from www.gratefulness.org

To Gene or Not to Gene

You will be reassured to know that the Vatican is still in the sin business, or more accurately, the anti-sin business. I guess that shouldn't have surprised me. With new kinds of human activities would come new kinds of sins. Recently, Monsignor Gianfranco Girotti, the head of the Vatican's sin police at the Apostolic Penitentiary, was asked what constitutes new sins in the twenty-first century.

The esteemed monsignor cited violation of human rights, genetic manipulation, drug and alcohol abuse that "weaken the mind and cloud intelligence" and the imbalance between rich and poor as new sins of humanity. Also on the new sin list in the last several years has been highway accidents caused by road rage and the rape of the environment.

" 'If yesterday sin had a rather individual dimension, today it has a weight, a resonance, that's especially social, rather than individual,' said Girotti, whose office deals with matters of conscience and grants absolution."

When Monsignor Girotti was asked about the recent bout of priest sex scandals that plagued the Church, he "acknowledged the 'objective gravity' of the allegations, but contended that the heavy coverage by mass media of the scandals must also be denounced because it 'discredits the church.' " One can see that the Vatican's head sin policeman has no intention of opening up that can of worms. It would appear that enlightenment comes slowly to some and not at all to others.

But, having said that, the monsignor was on to something with his mention of gene manipulation and the concept of group responsibility. As we move forward with genetic and embryonic research and its many applications, ethical concerns abound and few have been answered at the group level in a comprehensive fashion, politically or otherwise.

For example, a TIME magazine essay by Nancy Gibbs entitled "Wanted: Someone to Play God" states: "As medicine redraws the map of what's possible when it comes to making children, we all have an interest in asking how far we should be allowed to go" (3-3-08, p. 68.) American politicians have been loath to jump into the foray on this one. Because of that trepidation to outline reproductive guidelines in relation to embryos, Ms. Gibbs believes that it is a good thing that most doctors are ethical individuals "since there is nothing stopping them from implanting 10 embryos in a woman hoping to give birth to a softball team."

Europe has taken a different direction in this regard because these governments actually pay some of the costs. Gibbs explains: "Italy and Germany forbid embryo storage; England limits doctors to implanting two embryos, or three if a woman is over 40. Sweden and Belgium allow only one. Many lawmakers are driven less by moral than medical concerns for the health of mother and baby and the costs associated with premature and multiple births."

Of concern in the USA are the half a million left over embryos on ice--are they people or property? Could they then be sold? When genetic research is a bit further along, will it be possible to cull the worst and keep the best? These and many more questions have yet to be answered in a comprehensive fashion. Ms. Gibbs concludes:

"This is a moral wilderness, full of hope and traps. I don't expect aspiring parents to bring order to it when all they want is to survive the journey and start a family. That job is surely one for policymakers, to monitor the immense social and scientific experiment we've been conducting in private and make sure that we weigh the risks before we embrace the promise."

A new Democratic President--who will not be burdened with neo-con values--might want to tackle this Herculean task. It would certainly take courage and political will, but would be an enlightened endeavor. As Einstein once said: "Any fool can make things bigger and more complex. It takes a touch of genius and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction."

Speaking of Europe as I have been doing, they are ahead of us on another genetic front--that of forensic DNA tracing that consists of keeping an extensive DNA database of arrested individuals. In 1995, England started a DNA database which now contains 4.2 million records of folks who've been arrested, even for minor infractions. No conviction was necessary to be included on the list.

With this large bank of information the authorities are able to conduct "familial searches" that provide near matches, rather than identical matches. A few very old crimes have been solved with this new technique--one involved a local, upstanding man now convicted for a rape twenty years ago. He was traced through a close relative, but some have responded in outrage at the government's reach. The WSJ reporting in a front page article quoted a Harvard Medical School professor as saying the use of familial tracing would increase criminal apprehension by 40%, but would "raise new legal challenges, as a new category of people effectively would be placed under a lifetime genetic surveillance" (2-23/24-08.)

Genetic profiling has been around since 1984, but its inventor now asks if it's ethical to keep DNA data on innocent people, such as people arrested but not convicted of a crime. In the US, a national DNA database contains 5.6 million records, mostly of convicted felons, and few would argue with this use of personal data. Eleven states, however, have passed laws like those of England, allowing DNA profiles to be stored for those merely arrested and not convicted. Civil libertarians say this is going to far because it "places sensitive personal information in the hands of the government" which has been known to abuse the privilege.

It is true, governments have often not acted in the best interest of its citizens. One area of particular genetic concern to me is the leaching of pharmaceuticals into the ground water, and EPA's less than candid response to the problem. Ten years ago I began looking into this matter because a small article caught my eye in one of the science magazines. The concern at that time was the number of genetically mutated frogs and alligators as well as feminized-fish in Florida and other places, such as northern Minnesota.

What's more, fertility rates in human males was dropping dramatically worldwide. At that time I shook my head at the irony of it all. Here, we were worried about being killed off through violence like wars, when in reality we were simply and silently being rendered infertile.

At some point, the government convened a meeting to look at the situation, but nothing much happened in the intervening years, except an occasion article on the topic, which I always read with interest. However, recently, the Associated Press conducted a five-month investigation and found that pharmaceuticals polluted most of the groundwater in the United States--in trace amounts. Contained therein were every conceivable drug, including the illegal variety. When Benjamin Grumbles of the EPA was asked to comment, his response smacked of the politically acceptable: "We recognize it is a growing concern, and we're taking it very seriously."

Obviously not as seriously as the Associated Press. Their National Investigative Team "reviewed hundreds of scientific reports, analyzed federal drinking water databases, visited environmental study sites and treatment plants and interviewed more than 230 officials, academics and scientists. They also surveyed the nation's 50 largest cities and a dozen other major water providers, as well as smaller community water providers in all 50 states." What they uncovered should keep us awake at night. The bottom line--no water is free of pharmaceuticals, even rural or bottled water or deep aquifers.

The EPA tells us that the amounts are tiny, so as not to worry. However, reports from 10 years ago said it was the combination of drugs, even miniscule, that were effecting the frogs, alligators and fish. The combined contaminants settled into the muck at the bottom of the lake, then were progressively taken up the food chain. Keep this in mind as you hear more about this potentially incendiary problem and future campaigns against the overuse of medications.

The solution may be in our own genes. It was previously thought that it took eons for genes to adapt to a changing environment. SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN magazine, February 2008, reported on a study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA that concluded: "Genes have changed more in the past few thousand years than in the past few million because of altered living conditions. . . [and] this change is ongoing." Thus, surviving what we have created may be the work of those tiny genetic factories in us whose main role may be to save us from ourselves.

And finally, on the News You Can Use front, you will be delighted to know, I'm sure, that anyone born between 1950 and 1970 contains a very distinct carbon-14 isotope print. This piece of information came to light when reading an article in Wisconsin Outdoor News on determining the age of the state's sturgeon. A brand new technique was created that dated those fish born between 1950 and 1970 based on this unique carbon 14 isotope, and the information is being communicated worldwide to other sturgeon growing regions. Turns out these humongous fish are older than originally believed, a fact that will affect how many are harvested annually. So much for the fish, now on to those of us born during these fateful years.

During the course of their research, these fish biologist did some digging and found that the atom bomb testing done during the 1950's - 1970's left an indelible mark on the environment and everything in it, including us. Every year after 1958 when atomic bomb testing was ramping up, a greater level of the carbon 14 isotope was spread far and wide. These levels are so accurate, they can be used to precisely measure age, and it was this breakthrough that contributed to the ability to age sturgeon. Cool, huh? I wonder if this affected our genes as well? Maybe AP will do an investigative story on that in ten years as these baby boomers come of age.

Todays' Weather Report: It was absolutely gorgeous today at 44 degrees. If I sound delirious, I am. You should have seen me out in my shirt sleeves taking in a few rays. That cats were running around outside like there was no tomorrow, except Beaner, of course, who snoozed the day away.

God Is a Pacifist and Other Myths, Parts I & II

PART I

I was raised a Roman Catholic. No, there were no nuns with rulers or patent leather shoe incidents (although a telephone book on the dance floor did create the necessary separation during a slow number.) But "being a Catholic" did leave me with a cynical belief that whoever God was, He sure did not get it right.

After all, what kind of God would kill a young child with a dreadful disease before she even knew His name? Why would He bother at all? Or, strike dead a middle aged couple in the prime of their lives on their way home from Saturday morning shopping in a grizzly car accident? God must have a sick sense of humor, I concluded, and I was not amused.

It was easy to be angry at God when I was young. After all, He wasn't around to listen anyway I thought. Then, there were the bigger universal questions, take war for example. Why was it that the Irish Catholics and Protestants were killing each other in God's name? Which one had it right? Why didn't He just step in and stop the whole mess? After all, God was a pacifist, wasn't He?

He was all-knowing, all-loving, all-powerful, and all-PEACEFUL. At least that's what I'd been taught to believe. It sure did not add up with what I saw around me. Because of that, I pictured a delinquent God sitting in Heaven eating bon-bons and smoking Lucky Strikes. In the end, it made it easier at the wise age of 25 to dismiss God as a myth.

"OK, Susan to mind: 'God idea. You can go away now.' " And it was gone. For 20 years.

PART II

But, I found that God did not let go so easily. A plan was in place for this lifetime that could be undone, but was NOT to be undone. Apparently, the questioning of God's existence was a preliminary exam to the full test to come, and I had passed. One had to respect a God that passed you when you dismissed Him as a fable, kind of like Santa Claus.

But, it finally dawned on me that passing this test was not like getting a diploma and a party and a better, cushy job:

"You want me to do what? Meditate every day? You've got to be kidding? I'm the one with hyperactivity, remember? YOU gave that to me as a birth legacy. When does the happiness part start?"

Or, "Love my fellow man unconditionally? Now, that's going a little too far. YOU love him, I'll just watch--I've seen how You love him, and it isn't pretty."

And then, a little revealing light: "We are all divine? Hum, that would make us Gods, too. OK, that's more than hard to believe, but You say there's more? Oh, come on. You mean to tell me this mess on Earth is all OUR fault? We can't blame any of it on You and have to take full responsibility?"

"That sounds insane. Who are You anyway?"

------TO BE CONTINUED NEXT SUNDAY-----

Of note: This quite personal essay was written in October 2004 as part of my spiritual studies. The photo was taken in 2000 by Jim whom I had just recently met and was also the year these formal studies began. Nothing has been the same since.

Today's Weather Report: Lovely warm day, even if it was a little below zero again this morning. Not sure of the temp at this moment but the snow is melting here and there and dripping from the roof.

The Big Bang

Have you ever wondered why the beginning of the universe was called the Big Bang? You might have thought that this moniker represented the loud explosion that brought the universe into existence. That's what I thought, too. But after reading about the eccentric physicists who named it, I realized that explanation would be way to mundane. I could imagine these guys, who are generally a quirky bunch, sitting around with a couple of beers at the end of a long day reminiscing about their more youthful days when they made whoopie several times a week. The Big Bang was probably their tongue-in-cheek tribute to those youthful days of ardor and romance.

Actually, these smart fellows may have been on to something. Many cosmology tales speak of sex as the origination of the universe. Not in the physical sense of which we are so familiar, but rather as it relates to energy. Ancient Wisdom reveals that in the beginning were the two Origins: positive energy and negative energy, attractive energy and repulsive energy, life and love.

Could it be that the Big Bang was actually an orgasm of universal proportions which produced the galaxies and other planetary structures we see today? In the initial intense heat of mega-millions of degrees every electron was born that will ever exist, and it is from these electrons every material thing in the universe is created--over and over and over in a never-ending process.

It could be from these positive/giving and negative/receiving archetypes planted deep in the universal consciousness that males and females continue the process of physical creation. Some say that over many lifetimes, humans experience every conceivable sexual state and finally come to know the real meaning of sex in all its truth and beauty. When the initiate knows sex as energy, he is safely past the potential abuse of its potent, creative power, and all is revealed to him.

Looking around us, sex is everywhere and defines every aspect of nature, from the tiniest to the gargantuan. Even DISCOVER magazine this month joined the tabloids in exploiting its titillating properties. On the last page ran the enlightening story, "20 Things You Didn't Know About Mating." You might be interested to know that even though life emerged on Earth almost 4 billion years ago, the act of sex did not evolve until a billion or so years later. Or maybe not.

I have to admit, the list does gets more informative as it goes on. Did you know: that an octopus called the paper nautilus impregnates its female counterpart by shooting his penis-tentacle into her, leaving it there? One might say that's a gift that keeps on giving. That an male Australian anteater has evolved a penis with four heads and only two are used in copulation? It probably keeps the other two as spares.

That French-kissing is very rare as is having sex face-to-face? Only one breed of parrot and humans French-kiss while only a few mammals breed looking at each another. The utilitarian doggy-style is the position of choice, it would appear. That abundant alcohol makes male fruit flies hyper-sexual while it makes human males just the opposite? That homosexual behavior is found in 1500 species of mammal, fish, reptile, bird and invertebrate? Actually, probably in plants and minerals too, if the truth be known.

Which brings us back to the quirky scientists with sex on their minds. The DISCOVER magazine article went on to detail the mating habits of a tropical monkey, and the scientist who recorded the loud orgies:

"Barbary macaques have a distinctive way to get their mates to make a sperm donation: Yelling. If the female does not shout, the male almost never climaxes. How do we know this? German primatologist Dana Pfefferle watched a group of macaques, counting the females' yells and the males' pelvic thrusts. She says this works is 'quite weird, but it's science.' "

This month SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN magazine, not to be outdone, described the work of David Levy, the artificial intelligence researcher at the Museum of Sex in New York City. Dr. Levy, who has written a book Love and Sex With Robots, believes that soon robots will become mates in marriage. Not in all marriages of course, but it will give folks an alternative to marrying a real, live person.

Recall the robotic dinosaur, Pleo, that was discussed in detail a few blogs back? As robots "learn" by interaction with humans as Pleo did, marriage to a human android might not be that surprising and could have its advantages. When Dr. Levy was asked about this, he responded:

"If the alternative is that you are lonely and sad and miserable, is it not better to find a robot that claims to love you and acts like it loves you? Does it really matter if you are a happier person? I know that people think the idea is totally outlandish. But I am convinced it's inevitable."

Levy goes on to say that even now robots can be made to look decidedly human and can fool the uninitiated for about 10 seconds. Over time, the resemblance will increase as will the fooling factor, I'm sure. Whats more, the goodly researcher stated emphatically, "It's just a matter of time before someone takes parts from a vibrator, puts it into a doll, and maybe adds some basic speech electronics, and then you'll have a fairly primitive sex robot." I hate to tell the obviously sheltered doctor, but that's already been done, and it didn't take a PhD.

Heck, I would expect much more from a robot than "primitive" sex. After all, I'm sure the Japanese, who are undoubtedly the world's foremost android experts and venerate the sexual act, can figure out how to create a life-like mechanical creation to satisfy a sex-hungry human, male or female. The possibilities are endless, as are the ethical concerns.

We have no idea what the future will look like exactly, but we do know that it will be radically different than what we see today. No matter what technological advances are made, we must be certain that the factors that make us human continue to evolve in an ethical manner. Thus, to be a part of our collective lives, robots must add to our experience and not adversely change the values we live by, which are ideally:

"The love of truth, which is essential for a just, inclusive, progressive society;
A sense of justice, recognition of the rights and needs of all;
A spirit of cooperation, based on active goodwill and the principle of right human relationships;
A sense of personal responsibility, for group, community and national affairs;
Serving the common good, through sacrifice of selfishness; only what is good for all is good for each one. these are the spiritual values, inspiring conscience and the consciousness of those who serve to create a better way of life" (Lucis Trust.)

And finally, if robots are to become sex partners, the pricier the better as far as human satisfaction is concerned. On March 5th, the WSJ reported that MIT conducted an enlightened study of placebos suggesting that "the cost of the placebo drug affects expectations." Mind you, these are fakes, not the real thing, which means that our brains translate expensive into better, even if it is not the truth.

These researchers conducted a thought-y experiment--the kind that MIT is known for--in which two groups of volunteers were given fake pain pills: one that supposedly cost $2.50 vs. one that supposedly cost 10 cents. Following the trial in which the duped groups underwent various real shock levels, they were asked to describe their experience.

The results were unequivocal. 85.4% of the expensive-pill group reported a reduction in pain, while only 61% in the cheap pill group did. The MIT researchers concluded that people's experiences are driven by many factors, including price. My conclusion was less diplomatic: the mind is a wonderful thing, but easily duped. Which explains why robots as marital partners may turn out to be a hit, but only if they are expensive.

Of note: The accompanying photo reminded me of the light/male and dark/female aspects of the Big Bang and was contributed by M. Huffman from a recent picture taken at her house in Texas. Thanks so much!

Todays Weather Report: Day in and day out we awake to well below zero! Enough already. My maple tree under glass in the house has started to leaf out, a sure sign that spring is coming soon. Day light savings time starts tonight, the earliest ever.

Against the Wall

If you are not leaning,
no one will ever let you down.

Of note: The author of this pithy quote is Dr. Robert Anthony. My Sister contributed the zen-like photo.

From the Mountaintops

Quick, what are the Four Freedoms as enumerated in the United Nations Charter, two of which are guaranteed to every man, woman and child in the United States of America and protected by the First Amendment? If you aren't aware of what they are, you would join a majority of Americans who take their fundamental freedoms for granted. The Four Freedoms were made famous by Franklin Delano Roosevelt as he addressed the nation during his State of the Union speech in 1941, before we became embroiled in World War II. If truth be known, freedom is part of our divine heritage and cannot be given, only taken away. If taken from us, it creates a hole of desire that only freedom can fill. President Roosevelt obviously knew this when he eloquently proclaimed:

"In the future days, which we seek to make secure, we look forward to a world founded upon four essential human freedoms.

The first is freedom of speech and expression--everywhere in the world.

The second is freedom of every person to worship God in his own way--everywhere in the world.

The third is freedom from want--which, translated into universal terms, means economic understandings which will secure to every nation a healthy peacetime life for its inhabitants--everywhere in the world.

The fourth is freedom from fear--which translated into world terms, means a world-wide reduction of armaments to such a point and in such a thorough fashion that no nation will be in a position to commit an act of physical aggression against any neighbor--anywhere in the world."

Eleanor Roosevelt took up the baton and included this language in the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights when the time came to form that august institution following the war. Since then, the record of the United Nations has been spotty as far as human rights is concerned, but the ideal of freedom is the measuring stick against which every nation's activities have been measured. It is the belief of many that some day the ideal will become the real, and that will herald a time of true liberation.

For millenia, freedom has caught the imagination of many people and nations that have lived without it. The cry of freedom is particularly evocative at this time. As "prisoners" struggle to understand that a state of freedom is their birthright, pain is the result. That too is a birthright. One has to look no farther than Pakistan to see evidence of the populace struggling to find what freedom means to their culture, particularly after the murder of the former Prime Minister Benazeer Bhutto at year-end 2007.

One Pakistani group in particular caught my eye as they emerged from hiding following the election there a few weeks ago. On February 26, 2008 the front page of the WSJ highlighted the struggles of the eunuchs and transgender entertainers who cheered after the recent elections pushed out the Islamist oppressors who had cracked down on their age-old profession. Many might think that these men would not exist in an Muslim country--at least openly. But, indeed, they did.

The article explained that "in a [Pashtun] society that strictly segregates women and men, these transgender musicians perform--for male audiences--at weddings and other social occasions, swinging their hips in suggestive gyrations." They also had a popular theater all their own, sold music listened to by thousands of Pashtuns as well as videos of their performances. These guys were well-received, indeed, and filled a void left by the absence of women in a more secular Muslim culture.

This all changed in 2002 when the strict Islamists came to power in northern Pakistan. The celebrated theater was shuttered; the busy video and CD stores bombed. The entertainers feared for their lives, and instead of being praised for their artistic expression, they were reduced to poverty. Many hid in the ghettos and subsisted by cooking and cleaning.

Hope can now be heard in the voices of these liberated artists, who dream of re-opening their beloved theater. And even though they may still be targeted by extremists, fundamentally these men are now free. One of these newly-liberated souls, revealed this hope, as he squatted under a poster of Bhutto: "My dream is to dance at Nishtar Hall once again. And my bigger dream is that one day my dancing will be allowed on TV." Who knows, this may be the next reality show in Pakistan, and this talented artist may get his break. Only in a free society would this be possible.

The recent National Geographic reported on the people of Bhutan who have also been offered this chance of freedom through democracy. In this case, however, they are being forced by their King to do so and this tiny, poor Buddhist nation wants none of it. If asked, a majority would deny a desire for more freedom because their benevolent monarch always provided all they wanted or needed--even if in modest amounts.

But the visionary King is pushing forward, none-the-less, and has even demonstrated how to vote, literally. For the first time, roads are reaching villages that were once a day or two walk to the next village or town. A few cell-phones have been distributed, but many remain unused. One man excitedly explained to the rest of the village that as he painted in a nearby city, he saw a big box come out of the sky. It made him almost fall of the ladder. This hapless painter had never seen an airplane, and the villagers listened as if to a madman.

The lesson here is that freedom is relative at least as viewed from the vantage point of humanity. Only the Soul fully knows liberation. The core struggle we experience is an effort to gain that elusive state of being. Buddha's admonition to strive for detachment was his way of ringing the freedom bell. The Christ further elaborated on this point, but added the law of love to the mix.

It is now time for the next revelation on the evolving theme, and one for which humanity has been preparing for eons. Thus, current events look chaotic, but in reality are simply the physical demonstration of a deeper evolution to unimaginable heights of freedom. This might not be the place for those who fear the mountaintops, but those of us who do are in for quite a ride.

Of note: M. Huffman once again provided this lovely photo, this time from her travels out West. The Four Freedoms information was provided by Wikipedia, because I was not sure what they were either nor their history. Wikipedia is a great source, is it not, and illustrates so well the power of the collective mind to change the world.

Today's Weather Report: Icy, icy roads were the result of last evening's drizzly rain. From the 40's yesterday, it went down to 30 and that provided the scary terrain. This morning it was 9 degrees, but is now sunny and again in the 30's.