Some of you will remember that Joanne and I kicked off our Dinner and A Dead Guy series in July, 2004 to help Serge, Mark, and Kris develop The Kris Chronicles website and what would turn into The International Sessions a year or so later. When I look back over the last four years, I can only think, “My we’ve all come a long way, baby!”
I really enjoyed that period of helping The Kris Chronicles to test its wings and begin to soar. We learned about the nine sisters, clans and clusters of consciousness, quadrants of consciousness, idea atmospheres, idea threads, soundlets, nodi, and much more. During this time, I began to write up a summary of the core concepts Kris introduced, while also providing some links to Seth, Elias, and Wilber’s integral ideas to show the connections between them all.
I managed to publish 47 reviews during a period that ended in January, 2007.[1] However, I was knee deep in my Integral Certificate program, so I wasn’t able to keep up on that front. Thankfully, John “Your Faithful Reporter” Hawkins took over and has done a wonderful job continuing to provide written summaries that we all find helpful!
In April, 2007 Rose introduced herself to Joanne on our Ouija Board, and changed our lives dramatically. We began to concentrate on what we now call The Teachings of Rose, and strapped ourselves in for yet another roller coaster ride.
In November, 2007 after Joanne’s Crone Ceremony we held our first official Rose group session in Chatsworth, California. Joanne enjoyed it so much that we decided to hold group sessions as soon as we could, but realized that we first had to organize the growing body of written, audio, and video material from our regular Rose sessions.
By February, 2008 we were able to hold our first Rose Potluck Dinner. We thought about calling it Dinner & A Dead Gal, but it didn’t feel right, and we wanted to honor our time spent with Serge, Mark, Kris, Ellen, and the many others who attended The International Kris Sessions.
So we left that title alone.
The Potluck Dinners were born out of the core elements of D&DG, namely sharing our home and hearth with our friends. The D&DG logo Joanne created said, “Eat, Drink, Think.” That kind of sums it all up, don’t you think? Sharing food and drink along with exploring conscious creation ideas is as good as it gets!
Joanne had explored her Seasons of the Soul book (still unpublished) during this period, so she always cooked up a feast. However, channeling Rose didn’t allow for her provide all the food, so the potluck idea seemed like a natural fit. Joanne and Gail Becker, two “Borledim queens,” always contribute a tasty dish, and folks magically bring an array of complementary dishes, deserts, and drinks to satisfy all. Now that the Rose website is up and running, I can continue to report on our sessions.
We’ve held seven Potluck Dinners to date, and Rose has talked between 1:15 and 2:30! So we’ve had several marathon sessions, but they all contribute to the growing conceptual foundation available on the website. The first two (Feb. and Mar.) have already been transcribed and published. We also publish a pithy Podcast excerpt the following Monday, so you can stay up to date. Eventually, all these group sessions will be made freely available on the website.
Session 260, June 21, 2008
Saturday was hot, hot, hot – the fifth day of 110+ degree heat, and our central air-conditioning unit began to give up its ghost! We thought briefly about canceling the session, but decided that it was just barely cool enough to proceed. Our neighbor, Gordon, brought over a fan, so we had three fans going in the living room when the session began around 4:45 PM. Ten folks and Rumi the Cat attended: Jo, Paul, Gail, Drew, Gordon, Caryn, George, Sarah, Shireen, and Boris.
Rose began with a riff on “the way of spirit” which is one of her central emerging themes. Essentially, when we are truly in tune with our intent and purpose in life, we find our way of spirit, which includes the very best expressions of our potentials, happiness, and fulfillment. The specifics don’t matter as they will be tailored to each of us, and we will each be different. But once we truly find our personal way of spirit, our lives blossom accordingly.
Next, Rose opened the floor to questions, and I asked a question about Rob Butts who had passed away on Memorial Day. I had wanted to ask it at the end of our last session, but since folks were really engaged on other topics I decided to wait. I’m glad I did, as Rose spoke for a half an hour about Rob, and as you’ll see, we had a couple guest appearances. (You can listen to the entire segment on the Podcasts page.)
There were five main things that stood out for me. First, Rob was instrumental in so many ways in getting the Seth books out that he could be considered a co-author (that’s my take, Rose didn’t say that literally). Also, Rob and Jane were pioneers, paving the way for the work many of us are involved in today with Elias, Kris, Rose, and many others.
Second, Rose allowed both Joseph (Rob’s entity) and Rob speak through Joanne. Now, we had previously witnessed evidence of mediumship with the Rose phenomenon in private sessions, so I mention this to new folks in the group, because we never know what Rose will say during a session. But this was the first time that JoRose allowed another essence tone through in a group setting.
I asked Rose about how this works, and she said that she serves as a kind of “traffic cop” or meditating force so that Joanne doesn’t get overwhelmed with various energies that seek to speak through her. And Joanne is happy to do so, as long as it is in helpfulness to others.
So Rose let the Joseph Aspect came through first, and he spoke from a much wider perspective about Rob, his life, and impact on the rest of us. For example, he mentioned that Rob was an excellent dreamer, and had used those skills to develop his painting abilities. It was very beautiful and moving.
Then Rob came through briefly and spoke about his feelings about the Seth phenomenon. I had a strong sense of the energetic shift from Rose to Joseph, and the shift to Rob was more subtle. But I kept visualizing him sitting right there on the couch between Joanne and Gail, in terms of his self-portrait that kept popping into my mind’s eye.
Keep in mind that Joanne doesn’t perform a Kevin Ryerson-type action, where she engages different voices and personalities. Her voice remains mostly the same, and Joanne is present to some degree, but there is a discernable change in fealing tone, and perspective shifts from we/us to I.
Third, during the previous delivery, I noticed a single tear fall from Jo’s left eye, and I wanted to know if that was Joanne, Rose, Joseph, or Rob’s tear? I suspected that it was Jo’s, and Rose confirmed it. She said that since they share Ilda intent (according to Elias, Joanne “belongs to” Ilda, and Rob aligned with Ilda), Jo had a great affinity for “Robert” as a friend and role model.
Fourth, I asked Rose about Rob’s entity name of Joseph and Serge Grandbois’, who channels Kris, essence name of Joseph. Were they the same essence tone? Rose confirmed that they were indeed two “very different” groups of essence tone (Kris is on the record saying the same thing).
Finally, I asked about the concept of “lineage mind” from the work of Ken Wilber in relation to Seth, Elias, Kris, Rose, and others who channel similar information, and Rose said that there is indeed a strong connection between them all, but that when translated into human form the politics of lineages may serve to lessen their effectiveness. I acknowledged that the notion of “lineage mind” in not anchored in Framework 1 terms, and Rose pointed out that it is nonlinear in that sense. So when we linearize “lineage mind” in physical terms, again, we may be lessening its potency due to human politics (i.e., selfishness, greed, power drives, etc.). But this is not a hard and fast rule, just something to be aware of as we go forward.
Since it was so hot, we broke early and had dinner around 5:20 PM. It consisted of fresh Polish sausage and smoked salmon with Russian dark rye bread, Gandolfo deli sandwiches, a homemade turkey meatloaf, apple salad, and potato chips. For desert we had chocolate éclairs and lemon meringue pie. We washed it all down with white wine and homemade red iced tea. It was too hot for coffee or tea.
During the break we watched The Seth Phenomena by Bob Terrio, who had just sent me a DVD version. It was great to see Rob talking about Jane and Seth, showing us pictures of the two of them that had never been published, and talking about some of his dreams and paintings. He also talked about Jane’s paintings, something many people don’t know about.
We reconvened around 6:30 PM. and Rose spoke for another 35 minutes, but it was hard to concentrate with the heat, whirring fans, and full bellies! Still, Rose talked about intent again, and asked those present to report back on the intent name exercise she had suggested several sessions earlier. Dead silence… Rose suggested that those interested check out the exercise, and report back later.
Rose moved onto other questions, and George asked about his friend’s essence families intents, orientation, and essence name. Rose responded with Sumari/Sumafi, soft, and “Scruffy McGee.” I put that in quotes because Rose had given that name to George after our last session as a response to a past life that he and daughter Sarah shared. Rose called his focus “Scruffy McGee” and hers “Tahiti Rose.” Clearly, these are not focus names, but one of Rose’s tests (that we are slowly getting used to!).
From what we can discern, Rose is pushing away, to some extent, from naming too many focuses (and famous focuses) to get us to concentrate on this lifetime, as it is easy to get caught up in “other focus” information to the point of neglecting our present situation. In other words, when we use it as an escape or distraction from dealing with problems in the now, even if other lives seems more enticing or exotic, we are abusing the purpose of the information. So this is Rose’s not so gentle way, in my opinion, of beginning to guide us beyond the “sage on the stage’s” pronouncement of too much other focus information.
As I said to George after the session, “When Elias, Rose, or anyone tells you that you have 411 focuses, how can you actually prove that it’s empirically true?” We can’t! So until we widen awareness enough to be able to verify or falsify these claims through our own direct experience, we need to take them with a healthy grain of salt, engage our inner skeptic and understand why this information is being given, presumably in helpfulness, at this time.
I come back to the fact that it’s meant to enhance our “way of spirit” in this lifetime, and help us develop our fullest potentials in the here and now. All the rest may be sexy and engaging, but it’s only metaphysical speculation until we can directly know it. So it seems that some of Rose’s tests are designed to make us discern beyond taking her pronouncements as literal fact, which they may well be! But, it’s important to fall back on our own experience and knowing to determine what is and isn’t useful.
Next, Rose asked us what impressions we had about a lifetime that all present shared. I humorously imagined that we were the “Scruffy McGee” Raiders of Ireland who farmed animals and vegetables together. Rose said this was good answer, as it was an honest impression on my part. J Rose then went into exploring how this other lifetime fealt, in other words, what kind of impressions did we get from imagining our selves during this time?
She pushed again, and pointed out that our lives on the “ragged shores of twelfth century Ireland” were as valuable as those in which we were kings or queens. But what did we feal when we got into trouble or did something that violated another? That is, what was our degree of empathy or identification with others? Since “they are all us” in larger terms, the extent that we can walk a mile in another’s shoes will determine our ability to empathically connect with them-as-us.
Rose was prodding us to begin to “see” and feal others as Aspects of Self to whatever degree we can. This ultimately leads to compassion for self and others as well, which in the long run reduces our suffering as well as that of others. Just trying makes a difference! We need to reach out in our own ways to relieve all suffering. So the focus information is an exercise to help us relate to others, whether they’re a Scruffy McGee, Tahiti Rose, King, or Queen of all kinds. “And when you realize this, that’s when you really learn the way of spirit. That’s when you really know how to be in your own skin, by reaching out to others, too.”
It’s a challenging topic for sure, and will develop further. Rose continued on related ideas, and the session ended somewhat abruptly around 7 PM. as the room temperature had risen to around 95 degrees! However, we broke into small groups and continued to snack and chat. The last folks left by 10:30 PM. A good time was had by all.
P.S. We had a technician out to test our air-conditioning unit on Monday, and we determined that it was better to replace the entire HVAC unit, which is 27 years old and failing, than just upgrade an expensive compressor. While that’s going to cost some serious coin, the good news is that when we meet again on July 5th, even if it’s 113 outside again, it will be nice and cool inside!
Endnotes
[1] Reviews 1-41 can be found in the NewWorldView Library as Dinner and a Dead Guy Reprise/Aspect Psychology. Reviews 42-47 can be found in this blog.
June 20, 1919 – May 26, 2008
Joanne and I received the following email on Tuesday May 27th:
Dear Folks,
As some of you may have heard, Robert F. Butts passed away just before 3 o’clock in the afternoon on Monday, May 26, 2008, with his wife Laurel Butts at his side, in St. Joseph’s Hospital, Elmira, New York, after a brief illness. He would have been 89 in June.
Up until a few weeks before his death, Rob was active and busy with his many projects, deeply involved as he was all his life with painting, writing, and directing the ongoing publication of the Seth material and the related lifework he co-created with his late wife Jane Roberts, who died in 1984. Laurel told me that Rob died peacefully, as she held him, and that she knows Jane was there also, as he made the transition from this reality to all that lies beyond.
Laurel has arranged an inclusive service for Rob as well as for Jane, scheduled for Monday, June 2nd, at 10 a.m. at St. Mary’s of the Lake Church, 5823 Wallworth-Ontario Road, in Ontario, New York, a small town just east of Rochester, N.Y. Other arrangements are pending.
I am grateful to Laurel for holding the phone to Rob’s ear a few hours before he died so I could talk with him one last time. As I’ve written elsewhere, he and Jane were not only my friends but something even more than mentors to me – they were my psychic parents, the pivotal figures in the development of my creative abilities in this life, and very likely in other lifetimes as well. My heart goes out to Laurel, who is in my thoughts every day.
Sue Watkins
We had gotten word that Rob was in the hospital the previous week, the same hospital that Jane spent her final days in Elmira, NY, and was being treated for cancer. Laurel had sent out word for well wishes to be sent there. So during our Saturday Rose group session, people signed a get well card. I was actually printing out a topic from Sethnet in which people expressed their get well wishes on Tuesday when we got the news that Rob had passed away from our friend Masa in Japan. (I later thought this to be appropriate imagery of how far and wide the scope of Rob and his life’s work reached.)
Initially we were stunned by the news, but then everything became clear. Many cancers are treated on an out-patient basis, and I realized that Rob had been more ill than we realized. So we want to join Sue Watkins in extending our heart-felt condolences to Laurel Butts. I’m glad to know that she was with Rob during his final hours, and sensed Jane’s presence as well. Laurel has been with Rob for over twenty years now, and has been instrumental in helping Rob with Jane’s legacy.
Speaking of which, where do we begin to honor the legacy of this man and his life’s work? Rob was instrumental in the Seth phenomenon. He transcribed every word in every Seth book between 1963 and 1984. He created hundreds of paintings based on his experiences with Seth and Jane. He archived all of Jane’s work after she died, and fulfilled his promise to her, with Laurel’s help, to publish all the Seth material after she died. He worked with Prentice Hall editor Tam Mossman to donate all of Jane’s work to Yale University’s Sterling Archives, where it remains one of the most popular archives visited yearly. Presumably, after Rob’s passing additional materials will finally make their way to that collection.
I was struck by Sue’s comment that she considered Rob and Jane her “psychic parents.” I felt the same way back in the late 1970s after I had discovered the Seth books. I couldn’t get enough, eagerly awaited each new book, and read them cover to cover several times. Since I had been raised in a secular family, my father was an electrical engineer and mother non-religious, I didn’t have much of a spiritual framework. So my first spiritual information was encountered during my teen years in the shamanic teachings of Don Juan as chronicled by Carlos Castañeda. But in my early twenties the Seth books blew all that away, because they provided a detailed map of All-That-Is, and further, provided exercises to check out the territory through direct experience.
Back to the psychic parents concept, I know that many people felt that way about Jane and Rob over the years. So I was delighted when I found Seth’s reference to this when The Way Toward Health was published posthumously. The following is from February 1, 1984.
(4:35. “Will you say something about the feelings I’ve had about parenthood lately?”)
Let us take a break.
(“Okay.”
(Jane had ginger ale and a few puffs. “If you hadn’t asked, he was going to say something about your parenthood thing,” she said. We talked about how strange it was that no one had been in yet to take her blood pressure and pulse — not that it would have mattered if they weren’t taken. Resume at 4:40.)
Now: If you examine your feelings about parenthood in general, you will see that they bear an astonishing similarity to your feelings about your painting and our work. Only the focus is different. You are indeed both parents of an amazing body of work, and the psychic parents of innumerable people of all ages. You have set aside, however, the conventional idea of a family, as symbolized by your (car) dream of the other evening. You are actually exchanging one kind of a family for another, vaster concept, that also involves parenthood, however — but a psychic rather than a physical parenthood. The letters you receive are often like letters children write to their parents. ~ p. 83.
Like many, I wrote to Rob and Jane over the years. While I never met Jane physically, she has been in my dreamscapes since the late 1970s. While Rob played a secondary role in terms of dreamscapes, in my heart, I still had strong paternal feelings for him and his work. In this way I considered them my “spiritual parents,” and Seth as what Eastern spiritual traditions consider a “root teacher.”
I had the pleasure of visiting the “Hill House” in Elmira, NY in 1991 and again in 1993 with my friend Bob Terrio when we made The Seth Phenomenon: An Interview with Robert F. Butts video. It remains one of the most thorough pieces ever recorded on Seth and Jane, with Rob describing his many paintings and sharing various stories about helping with the Seth books. This was also when we first met Laurel Davies.
I was awestruck during that first meeting! Rob was already in his early 70s, and the house was full of his paintings. I sat in a refurbished version of Jane’s Kennedy rocker and imagined what it must have felt like to be present during a private book as well as group ESP session. There was that famous painting of Seth. I saw Jane’s and Rob’s offices, his lined with various print editions of Seth and Jane’s books, along with the classic quote on the wall from Seth, “You get what you concentrate upon, there is no other main rule.” Laurel was a gracious hostess and made us feel at home as we went about setting up lights, cameras, and sound equipment for the shoot. Rob autographed my two aging hardback copies of The “Unknown” Reality, and they remain two of my most prized possessions to this day.
During this time Lynda Dahl and Stan Ulkowski has taken over Maude Cardwell’s Austin Seth Center, and created Seth Network International. Joanne and I would meet birds of a feather at our first conference in late October, 1996 at New Haven, CT. Stan and Lynda would go on to marshal the largest gathering of Seth-folk, over 420 if memory serves, at the now famous Elmira, NY SNI conference held in June 1997. The Seth books were back in print, thanks to Amber-Allen and Janet Mills, as well as Jane’s Aspect Psychology books. So it was a resurgent period. It’s also when we met Mary Ennis, who channels Elias, and moved to Castaic, CA to help that fledging group publish and expand the Elias forum, which in my view, expanded many core concepts in the Seth Material.
Returning to the present, we all have similar memories with the Seth books, Jane, Rob, and Laurel over the years. My memories are not special in that respect. I share them only to show the enormous respect I have for Rob and the deep appreciation for all his work over a period of forty-five years (1963-2008). The creative legacy of Rob Butts and Jane Roberts is truly a national and global treasure!
I hope that more information will become available as the years roll by, and their legacy will continue to grow. Their work was avant garde in the truest sense of the term, it was ahead of its time, and as such, remains mostly ignored and unappreciated by large segments of the current population, most of which have no clue about the tremendous influence they had on popular culture in the 1970s and onward. After all, The Nature of Personal Reality, their best seller, coined the New Age mantra “you create your own reality.” And authorship is not nearly attributed to the primary source often enough due to continued ignorance of the channeling phenomenon. Hell, even Oprah says she was “spooked” by the Seth books when interviewing to Ester Hicks a couple years ago! Ironically, I don’t think the infamous cover of Seth Speaks helped any. J
In larger terms, Rob’s passing marks the end of the beginning of a “shift in consciousness,” or what Seth referred to as a religious reformation that would center around the “Christ entity” to be completed by 2075. Many other authors and futurists imagine this shift in their own ways. For example, physicist Peter Russell called it an approaching singularity or white hole in time, social philosopher and psychologist Ken Wilber called it the centaur stage of development that features “vision-logic,” sociologist Jean Gebser called it the integral-aperspectival structure-stage of collective evolution, John White predicted the emergence of a new species of human called homo noeticus, Elias, channeled by Mary Ennis, coined the term “shift in consciousness” in 1995 which is now used by The Institute for Noetic Sciences, author Arjuna Ardagh called it The Translucent Revolution, futurist Ray Kurzweil envisioned an Age of Spiritual Machines, and on and on we go!
In any case, Seth, Jane, and Rob created their own vision of this shift and left a legacy for us all to explore. I can’t say thank-you or express my appreciation deeply enough for pointing out that the next 50-60 years will be a time of rapid change and global transformation beyond what our wildest science fiction could predict. It will be fun to see how the Seth Material stands the test of time, and what role it, along with Jane’s wonderful Aspect Psychology, will play in foreshadowing major trends and probabilities that the collective are exploring. Will any of us will live to see the following Seth quote become reality?
“This material will take its place in the conceptual and emotional life of Western civilization, and finally will make its way throughout the world. New ideas are not accepted easily. When they take fire however, they literally sweep through the universe.” ~ The Early Sessions, Book 2, p. 314.
It’s an exciting time to be alive, and in the spirit of Seth’s Practicing Idealist we are all encouraged and challenged to live, love, and laugh each day to its fullest. Thank you Rob for your creative genius, inspiration, and humble way of living Seth’s words in the life you lived.
I also want to send my condolences, again, to Laurel Davies-Butts, who was a second wife to Rob, and helped in too many ways to mention here. We also owe her a lot, and so I’d like to say a heart-felt “thanks” to you as well. We’ll await news of any memorials to Rob and ways to help support you in the days ahead. If we can do anything, please don’t hesitate to ask. In the mean time, we will carry on and do our best until it’s our time to move to that next chapter as well.
Thank you Rob for everything! We love you, and will miss your earthly presence.
Finally, as a tribute, here is a small gallery of some of Rob’s paintings that were on display during the 1997 and 1999 SNI conferences in Elmira, NY. They were shot by Rodney Davidson. Enjoy!
Here’s the portrait painted by Stephen Bennett at the 1997 Elmira, NY conference.
Well, not exactly, but this was the humorous theme I had in mind as Joanne and I drove to Las Vegas a week and a half ago for our yearly vacation. We had never jointly been to “Sin City,” though I had been there for a couple of days when I was four and my parents drove back from Ventura, CA to Elkins Park, PA. It’s only a four hour drive from our current home in Castaic, and since it was so close we figured this year that we should check it out at least once, though we sensed it might not really turn out to be our cup of tea. So Joanne booked our hotel and three different shows to see, and they formed the foundation of our week. We would see Blue Man Group, Monty Python’s Spamalot, and Cirque du Soleil’s O!
The drive was four hours of mostly high desert chaparral with several cities dotting the way, so most of our time was spent cruising through sparse mountain ranges and the Mojave Desert. As we approached the Nevada border, there was a little pop-up town consisting of two Casino/Resorts that were literally in the middle of nowhere. We wondered if someone’s driving to Las Vegas, why on earth they’d ever want to stop here? To save on gas perhaps? It was a truly odd spectacle, one that we drove past in a matter of minutes back into high desertscapes.
The final stretch of mountains released us into a valley. In the distance we could see the “Emerald City,” something that looked really big, but was, again, in the middle of nowhere. That is the truly odd thing about Las Vegas.
As we approached the little dots became bigger, and the skyscrapers grew in size, and we realized that Vegas is much bigger than it looks from a distance. We continued to drive for miles until our exit into the heart of the downtown Vegas strip.
The incongruent thought of “Rose Does Vegas” popped into my head once again. It seemed like such a disconnect! As we turned off the freeway into the bowels of the strip, we were overwhelmed by streets packed with cars, cabs, and ad-trucks pimping escort services. The sidewalks were teeming with people dressed in all sorts of garb. We weren’t exactly sure what the dress code would be, but the strip was littered with what looked more like an Atlantic City Boardwalk crowd. No offence to the East Coast or AC, but I was surprised to see so many t-shirts, shorts, sandals, and varying outfits.
It had been a long drive, we were tired, and traffic was jammed. We took our time looking at many of the forty-plus Casino/Resorts on the way to our destination at the Venetian. They were vast and took up many city blocks each. We saw the Great Pyramid, the Statue of Liberty, The Eiffel Tower, a Pink Flamingo, among other things all jammed into the strip. It created sensory overload for us as first time visitors.
We made our way into the parking garage at the Venetian. You have to walk through the Casino to get anywhere by design, so the path to check-in is littered with one-armed bandits, cigarette smoke, flashing lights, nervous people sitting and gambling amidst the throngs other folks walking around. As we made our way to the main lobby, we saw the Sistine Chapel painted overhead. Again, more overload.
We checked in, and collapsed in our room. Opened a bottle of champagne on ice, and feasted on snacks we brought with us.
As I kicked up my feet and began to finally relax, I was again struck by the thought “Rose Does Vegas” and how the basic vibe here was so materially oriented, seemingly a million miles away from what Rose stands for, which features an integration of the material, mental, and spiritual. And yet, something told me there was much to be explored before reaching any final conclusions.
As the week progressed we alternated between hanging out at one of the twelve pools and jacuzzis, seeing a show every other evening, dinning out, and for Jo, the necessary shopping excursions.
Though we were drawn to the slots, we didn’t spend a penny on them. In fact, we ended up “winning” a quarter because Jo found one on the floor of the Bellagio during one of our evening trips (only one show was at our Casino – Blue Man Group – so we had the chance to visit three other Casinos during the week).
I missed the sound of real coins going bing, bing, bing as they use to dance out of the slots and those coin filled cups used to hold your “winnings” from my days of Atlantic City gambling in the late 1970s. Everything was now electronic, and even though bound by Nevada law to pay equally for all, I just didn’t trust those machines. They were too easy to rig, and I knew they are programmed in favor of the house. I didn’t feel like trying my “luck” in that manner.
It seemed that most people I saw during the week at the slots sat like robots, smoking, drinking, staring, and pressing buttons over and over, some winning, but most losing to the house. I read a gambling paper in the Venetian Sports Book, the place with thirty giant monitors with horse races, and all sporting events televised, that said the poker machines were your best bet to bet the house if played properly. I filed that away for another day, and just watched part of a baseball game to while away an hour one afternoon while Jo was shopping. It was still fun to explore.
Still, we didn’t spend a lot of time in the Casinos as they’re noisy, smokey, and full of throngs of hopeful people whose next big win is one button push, winning hand, or roll of the dice away. We settled into a routine where, after a nice breakfast, we’d hang out at one of the pools for 4-5 hours, relax, swim, read, and even meditate. I brought my Holosync CD with me, something new that I’ve been testing for the past six weeks, and have been making solid progress with (more on that later). It was fabulous to be able to spend an hour each day, Monday through Friday, sitting at a pool in the shade and simply “turning on and tuning out.”
The Holosync CDs use “difference tones” – a phantom tone created by the brain/mind system when two slightly different tones are fed into separate ears– to induce altered states by sympathetically vibrating the brain. You begin in waking beta, and gradually “dive” through alpha (highly relaxed) to theta (dreaming, REM), and finally to delta (deep dreamless sleep). Now it’s way cool to be awake during this, and why this is possible is because our brain/mind systems function in all four frequencies at any given time. It’s just that certain when certain frequencies dominate we happen to be in waking, dreaming, or deep sleep state.
So it’s not like in waking beta, there’s no alpha, theta, or delta energies. It’s just that those signatures tend to have very low amplitudes (or energy levels). So the CD uses a pleasing combo of rain and gong sounds to occupy the “monkey mind” (random thoughts) while the low frequency difference tones force both hemispheres to entrain or resonate more deeply at alpha, then theta, and then delta. So it’s common to fall asleep during the first months of this practice, though the goal is to maintain awareness and concentration as you move through these states.
Now, back to the Venetian pools, it was great to set up camp on lounge chairs, often by water fountains that add some white noise to mask the constant monkey mind Musak they have playing just about everywhere. This current version of Vegas is ORANGE [1] heaven after all – the culmination of the glitzy material world with big buildings, flashing lights, shiny objects, and the very best designs, food, shopping, service, and comfort that anyone would want to have. Seriously, everyone should go there at least once for a week to experience this, but what was missing was that more GREEN accommodation of quietude, serenity, and silence in appropriate doses. I believe that is the future of Vegas through an integral lens, but that’s another blog!
So did Rose Do Vegas? We toyed with the idea of having a session, as we brought along the video and audio recorders, but as the week wore on we just didn’t feel the need to do so. We were enjoying the comforts, service, and down time as well. Our previous vacation in Maui in 2007, though two weeks in Paradise, was hardly restful. It was more of a bootcamp that laid our foundation with the Rose Agenda along with other key information.
So we gloried in the fact that we could take a bit of rest this year and just enjoy the opulence and abundance. At least, these were the things we focused on, as there was plenty of opportunity to experience the “What Happens in Vegas Stays in Vegas” vibe that encourages people toward excess and extremes. We saw some of that as well. Ironically, while we were asleep by 10-11 PM each night, that’s when the restaurants begin to close and the night clubs begin to open. They go until 5:30 AM. We saw revelers in the Casino lobby one morning as we ate breakfast who had been up all night. Two young men were wearing plastic crowns, holding half consumed beers, and a cigarette in the other hand. They were a hysterical sight. They were in the midst of an all-night bender and having a great time of it!
Somehow I know that Rose would approve in any and all cases. It’s more a question of balance, equilibrium, and extremes, and learning when to say enough’s enough! No small challenge in an environment like Vegas that is cleverly designed to solicit excess at every turn.
Joanne engaged Rose one day at the pool privately. She had just finished reading a book called Loving Frank about Frank Lloyd Wright, the architect, and his tragic mistress Mamah Borthwick. According to Elias Mamah was a focus of Joanne’s, so she was riveted as she read it. Jo wrote down session notes, put down her notebook and airtyped Rose, and then captured what Rose said in her notes. I will note for the record that Jo didn’t autowrite with her pen, she airtyped as she has from the first month, and then captured that with her pen. It was easy in such a relaxed environment.
On Friday, May 9th, I had an wonderful experience during my Holosync meditation. We had spent six nights at the resort, so I was rested and relaxed. As my CD moved from the Dive into the second half called Immersion, designed to ramp up delta energies, I continued to experiment with the kind of air-typing Jo does with Rose. I was sitting in a towel-draped lounge chair, legs crossed, back and head up, with my hands resting on my thighs. I began by asking if my inner self was present. I got the usual answer, “I am always present” through my fingers. This is a grounding way I open my recent experiments with airtyping, as Rose has been encouraging me to do so.
This was my fourth session that I had done with the Holosync CDs, the previous three at home in my office sitting at my computer. Because I was rested and relaxed, I found that “sweet spot,” for lack of a better term, and had a deep conversation with mySelf for around twenty minutes. That’s a long time at the beginning, so I was excited! I was so relaxed yet awake, and the exchange really flowed smoothly, my airtyping fingers serving as the voice of inner self, and my internal thoughts acting to represent Paul.
At one point I asked, “What can I call you?” and the response was “Friend.” I really liked how neutral it was. I didn’t get Krishna, Buddha, Jesus, or Maitreya – the usual New Age sort of thing, just a friend. Nor a teacher, just a friend. That’s about as unthreatening a personification I could hope for. So I was pleased. At one point Friend suggested that I call these interactions Conversations with mySelf, modeled after Neale Walsch’s popular Conversations with God, but in a less distorted form because God doesn’t speak in a single voice through any single person, place, or thing. Instead God or All-That-Is speaks through everything and everyone, so that’s a sure sign you’ve got distortion when anyone claims they speak for God.
I was also pleased because of this session’s length, though Friend clearly suggested that I take my time, and there was no rush to develop my airtyping skills, because the main focus right now is on Rose and building our website, books, and workshops. Still, Friend was also very clear that this breakthrough on my part was due to Rose, and that she was involved as well in supporting my development. Rose continues to encourage all of us to experiment with the many different types of channeling and energy exchanges that suit our innate intents. In my case, airtyping is the perfect thing to develop, because it suits my Sumari/Sumafi intention.
Afterwards, I told Joanne, and asked her if she had been looking at my fingers? She hadn’t, but she was very emotional and excited for me, as she intuitively knew that I had made a breakthrough. I quietly asked for her notebook and simply wrote down:
May 9, 2008 2 PM
Conversations with mySelf [2]
I resisted the impulse to take notes afterwards. I drew the line, as this was my vacation! So I trusted and allowed, per Rose’s themes for 2008, and let it slide into the dreamy memories of that CD induced delta state. In hindsight, the CD was a key tool for learning to induce this state, something Friend suggested I would leave behind like training wheels in time. But I can’t recommend this CD program highly enough, and it goes to eleven different levels, and I’m only at level one. So it’s designed to allow us to tailor it to our needs, and how far we wish to take it.
Later that evening, we saw O! by Cirque du Soleil at the Bellagio. What a way to spend our last night! The Bellagio is one of the best designed and run places in Vegas, and being Friday evening, it was packed. We first had dinner in a restaurant bar, watched the Lakers lose to the Jazz (though they won their series 4-2), noshed on finger food and washed it all down with fine wine and water. The show let us both speechless. It was simply the most creative use of the proscenium arch in theater I had ever seen.
Sumari creativity combined with Zuli perfection of body, movement, grace, and power.
There was a twenty foot deep water tank whose top is level with the stage. So there were synchronized dancers, acrobats, fire dances, contortionists, clowns, high divers, and host of other characters all mixed in a surreal unfolding of exotic music to tell a dream-like story of the many different kinds lives we live. Sometimes the “floor” was solid, sometimes it was water. All that was missing was ice skating!
They went into the audience, pulled out planted cast members in two instances onto the stage and into the water, where they simply disappeared. I had seen a promo piece on O! when it premiered several years ago, so I had some sense of the incredible logistics involved, and yet I was still completely blown away. As the final curtain fell, we just sat and took about ten minutes to try and make sense of what we had just seen. It felt like we had been abducted by aliens or something. The experience was both familiar and strange.
We walked back to our room and in the morning, after another lovely day at the pool, drove home to our kitties. On the drive home I was struck by the fact that Rose did end up “Doing Vegas” in some sense, and yet, there was no need to judge or condemn the many activities that occur in that surreal city. It is truly one of the ten wonders of the world, and everyone should “Do Vegas” at least once in their lives. Whether or not what happens there needs to stay there is up to each of us to decide anyway. Sin City may not be for everyone, but we discovered that there is something for everyone to explore, whether you’re touched by a Blue Man, attacked by a Killer Rabbit, or encountered a mermaid, it’s all a choice.
Endnotes:
[1] For more information on the worldview color system, see Emerging New Worldviews.
[2] I want to acknowledge Grey Bear’s sharing of what he calls Conversations with Myself here on NewWorldView. I have read some of his postings in Ellen Gilbert’s Inner Visions forum, and had forgotten the title during my experience. So when I returned from vacation and noticed that he had posted another series with the same title, I felt comfortable that my slightly different spelling is enough to distinguish and honor the two sources as unique, creative contributions.
We just finished a fun, fun, fun weekend around Mary Ennis’ annual visit to Castaic, CA where the Elias phenomenon began thirteen years ago. During that time, Mary’s delivered over 2,400 sessions! Jo and I hosted this year’s session in our Community Clubhouse, which had been completely refurbished since Mary’s last visit, so the room looked great with its new furniture. Around thirty-two people attended, and there were several new folks as well.
Elias spoke for close to two and a half hours. He opened by informing us that a new wave in consciousness was ramping up, and the perception wave was finally winding down. But he teased us a bit before actually saying what belief system the new wave would emphasize by saying that those with a Vold belonging to or aligning with would have particularly intense times ahead. Also, those who are politically-focused or thought-focused would as well. Then he said that the new wave would focus on… emotions. Since sexuality and emotions are baselines of our human experience, I suspect that we’re going to see some incredible expressions in the coming years. So, strap yourselves in for the ride if you haven’t already.
Elias complimented the entire forum saying that we collectively made it through the recent perception wave in very good shape, meaning less trauma-drama than in previous waves. While the perception wave was relatively short, under two years, we should gear ourselves up, because this emotion wave is going to last a while and be an intense one (thinking of the truth wave that lasted over three years)!
Elias then queried the group to share what we had taken away from our own experiences in terms of perception. At least nine or ten people took their turns, one by one, guided by Elias’ comments and occasional elaborations. I was struck by the clever format because even though everyone didn’t have time to offer up their perspectives and experience, just listening to others stimulated my own responses and reflections from events over the past two years.
According to Elias, perception is the causal, creative element that creates 100% of our reality. So my musings went into the area of beginning to more deeply understand my multidimensional selfhood in more direct terms, which involves widening egoic awareness to understand that objective awareness alone is not 100% causal. And while beliefs are very, very important, they are really a subset of perception. So they, in turn, cannot be considered 100% creating of reality either, even though they play a key role. Still, these waves in consciousness help us, through introspection, to better know our preferences and opinions, and create what we truly desire.
After an hour or so, we had our break. As we gathered for the second half, I announced the release of Jo’s new Rose website – www.essence-of-rose.com – that will replace her In the Rose Garden blog here on NewWorldView (it will close down at the end of April). I also invited those staying over until Monday to come to our house the next day for a Rose Potluck Dinner and group session at 4 PM.
Through the entire session I was struck by how consistent Elias’ teachings remain over the years, and how well he guides the group energy. As the second half began, we continued sharing our experiences with the perception wave, and gradually moved onto other topics. While everyone came away with their own highlights, I was struck by two questions asked by Drew (Matthew in the early sessions) during this part. The first was about whether the saying “God is love” is a distortion because love is a human belief system. The second was about the nature of intent, and its relation to those who purposefully seek out a life of suffering.
Elias was careful to define the context of his words, and said that when we define love as a human feeling – a very important human feeling – it is relative to human perceptions and could be considered a distortion. Thus to equate “all of consciousness” (Elias’ term for All-That-Is) with this human expression limits a broader context in which other expressions of love also exist. This expands into a transpersonal, transcendental love in my view. While Elias didn’t use those exact words, he defined a broader context in which expressions of love, as knowing and appreciation, exist throughout all of consciousness. In that context, to say “God is love” is accurate, because it is an Absolute Truth.
I learned something very important in this exchange, because I had never been able to reconcile Elias’ Absolutes with the nondual, ever-present, always already Consciousness spoken of in all the world’s great spiritual traditions. It’s a subtle distinction, but one worth exploring. It caused me to review my Digest on Absolutes (“there are no absolutes!”), and then to update my introductory note on my Digest on the belief system of truth with the following:
Finally, we need to explore an important, yet subtle, distinction Elias implies with this concept, namely, the difference between duality and nonduality. Elias’ truths (relative) and Truths (Absolute) apply only to dualistic constructions within all of consciousness. They do not apply to the nondual, ever-present, always already shunyata or emptiness that is the Primal Cause of all be-ing. Therefore, what Elias is talking about thus far only applies to dualistic manifestations or constructions that he is familiar with. The great nondual philosophers, for example Patanjali and Nagarjuna in the East, have all shown convincingly that nondual reality can never be fully described or expressed, only experienced. According to Nagarjuna, as cited by Ken Wilber:
“It cannot be called void or not void,
“Or both or neither;
“But in order to point it out,
“It is called Void.”
In this context, nondual reality is not something to be attained or sought. It is simply the realization of the ever-present, always already opening in our awareness in which the action of consciousness occurs. It can be talked about, and pointed out, but all those are secondary, dualistic constructions. Another way to understand this simple feeling of be-ing is to inquire, “What Aspect of my awareness never changes, even as my perception changes, from waking state to dream state to deep dreamless state to waking state?” In other words, no matter what states we experience, which by definition are temporary because we cycle through them every day, what remains constant in all states is eternal, timeless, nondual Spirit: Primal Cause of all of consciousness. Therefore, this Primal Cause can never be fully realized by the words Elias uses to describe the Absolute Truths within all manifest, dualistic realities, for it can only be directly experienced. It has no beginning and no end. Thus, the ONLY Absolute Universal Truth is the ineffable, radically unqualifiable, nondual Primal Cause. Everything else, like tone, color, love, consciousness, etc. are dualistic to the core and, as such, are always secondary constructions. So it’s important to properly situate Elias’ relative truths as human belief systems and Absolute Truths as qualities in all manifest, dualistic constructions in relation to all of consciousness.
However, Elias doesn’t use the terms nondual and dual, though coincidentally Kris, channeled by Serge Grandbois, has. Rather than belabor the point, let me recommend Ken Wilber’s The Simple Feeling of Being as an accessible yet thorough overview of the nondual traditions. This is not a book with endnotes and complex intellectual theories, like his academic work, but a compilation by senior students of his “poetry,” the best means to hint at the simple essence of nondual reality. (See also my book review in the Library.)
Why has Elias chosen not to go into dual and nondual distinctions? Only time will tell. In the mean time, these thoughts were triggered by the way Elias discussed how “God is love” can mean different things in different contexts. As long as we clearly define them, we can explore these nuanced contexts from multiple perspectives.
Now, let’s return to Drew’s second question, something he’s been exploring for years, and also recently asked Rose about: how does our innate intent work? Is it possible for us to choose a lifetime of misery and suffering, and as such, would trying to alleviate or change that suffering interfere with our deepest desires for this lifetime?
Elias provided a long answer, but I was able to boil it down to a well known philosophical argument: is our universe and reality predetermined, or do we have the free will to change anything at any time? A subset of this explores the nature of probabilities, and how can we change them if our intent is to experience a life of, what many might define as, suffering.
Of course, there is no simple answer to these penetrating questions, but Elias did restate that our “pools of probabilities” exist as potentials and are not preordained (his term). In this light, Elias does not promote a deterministic view of reality, but promotes free will (doing and choosing). He stated again that we create probabilities in the moment, in the now (thinking of Seth’s “point of power”), and therefore we can indeed change our path at any time. Moreover, Elias said, “You can have it all.” While there’s many who suffer, and in reality, no one suffers 100% of their life. We may choose difficult circumstances politically, economically, relationship-wise, health-wise, etc. but in all cases, if we are choosing, we can create significant change through our ability to act in the now.
Otherwise, beliefs in a predetermined universe produce social systems like the caste system in premodern India. It used the belief system of karma to justify the poverty of the untouchable class. As a result of misdeeds in earlier lives, they are punished and must “burn off bad karma” by being reincarnated into underprivileged circumstances. Therefore, their problems didn’t need to be dealt with by the government. That’s just the way it goes! In effect, since their punishment for bad karma is predetermined, they deserve it and can be ignored. This kind of deterministic theology also occurred in the West during the Middle Ages. If you were born poor or of royal blood, it was God’s will, and that was your lot in life, and it couldn’t be changed.
So Drew was using Elias’ information to understand his own suffering from a deterministic perspective. He felt he couldn’t, or shouldn’t, do anything to change his situation. But Elias didn’t reinforce those beliefs, and gently reminded Drew, and the group who followed with compassion, that our true power lies in choice (free will), and noticing what we do and choose. If we really desire it, there is nothing stopping us from attaining our desires: good health, loving relationships, financial abundance, ending war, violence, and on and on; nothing at all. Needless to say, Elias gave us a lot to assimilate, as always.
Elias ended the session with his usual, loving encouragement to the entire group, with best wishes for our continued fulfillment in any way we desire. After the session people dispersed to various places to enjoy dinner and continued conversation. It was great to see so many old and new faces.
After cleaning up and closing the clubhouse, Jo and I went home and got some rest to prepare for the Rose Potluck Dinner and group session at our house the next day. By 4:30 PM Sunday, we had sixteen people over for our fourth Rose group session. Jo spent the hour beforehand “resting in Rose” or meditating so she’s “in state” and relaxed by session time. I greeted people, and then gave a short introduction to what’s been going on and what to expect.
Coinkidinkily, Jo had just celebrated her first anniversary of Rose coming through on the Ouija board, April 5th, on Saturday during the Elias session. Jo made a point, when sharing her experiences with the perception wave, to express her deep appreciation of Mary and Elias, for without them, she wouldn’t be doing this. And I’d like to express the same thing, not only to Mary and Elias, but Ron, Cathy, Vicki, Bobbi, Lynda, David, Gail, and many others who’ve contributed to the Elias forum over the years.
I mentioned that we had held 234 sessions in the first year. This was possible because Jo autotypes her “vespers,” or one on one sessions with Rose. She also holds voice sessions, which I continue to transcribe. We have over one thousand pages at this point, and have finished up to session 90, in terms of final notes and editing. We will add more material to the new website as we continue this process in the months and years ahead (we are looking for transcribers to help. If you’re interested, please contact me at helfrich@newworldview.com).
Next, I provided an overview of the phenomenon to date. The main point was that Jo progressed from the board to autotyping to voice channeling very rapidly, and continues to “airtype” as Rose “speaks” through her fingers. So I instructed folks to watch her hands during the session, because Jo often verbally translates directly from her fingers. In this light, Jo is a “conscious channel” (like Ron/Patel) as opposed to a “trance channel” (like Seth, Elias, Kris, C9, Defrene, etc.). Thus, Jo is present to varying degrees, and can actually speak as well. This takes some getting used to, because we’re not used to Jane, Mary, or Serge interacting during a session. They are dissociated in varying kinds of sleep or meditative states.
So it’s kind of fun to watch Jo react to Rose as she translates in real time, though once she gets on a roll, she speaks so quickly now that she “knows” the words before they get “airtyped.” Yet the autotyping is a key skill she will continue to use for writing books (Rose has dictated two small books already). Rose has also been training Jo to access deeper states, so I consider her more of a “light trance channel,” because she can’t just rattle off Rose if her “monkey mind” is too engaged. She knows when she has to “go deeper” and people have begun to observe how her energy and state changes during the course of a voice session.
Next, I pointed out a few of Rose’s eccentricities and what to expect, for example, her use of “tests.” She does this to stir the pot and get a reaction to bring issues, beliefs, etc. to the surface. She will make what may seem like an outrageous or illogical statement that, if taken literally, is absurd. For example, my favorite so far, “Kill the terrorists!” It can be quite challenging and takes getting used to, because she’s not really promoting murder as a solution to social problems at all. Instead, she’s using a Zen-like technique to force the rational mind and intellect to loosen up, and move into deeper intuitions and inner sensing for problem solving and inspiration.
Also, Rose makes up new words (neologisms) to help break up the linear flow of language, and entrenched beliefs and habits. For example, she uses words like treantea (explore multiple choices), sonter (breathe in essence), weany boy/girl (wean of fear, guilt, shame), feal (mergence of feel+real), and more to help widen awareness and nuance new ways of perceiving things.
Then I talked about the “nun-thing,” another one of my favorites. The Rose energy, as expressed through Joanne, represents a newly emergent feminine energy intended to rebalance social structures on a global scale dominated by patriarchal, masculine energies that have become way out of balance. This energy is tailored for this shift in consciousness, this period of transition to new worldviews to help restore the feminine side within all people to better balance.
I also addressed the question, “Is this the same Rose as Elias’ Rose?” Our answer is “yes and no.” I explained that the Rose energy must be translated through any channel, and as such, it will be colored by Aspects of the multidimensional self. For example, with there is Rose <> Tyl <> Joanne, and Rose <> Elias <> Michael <> Mary – two different expressions. Further, we have begun to get some information on Christ and the so-called nine children of Rose, but we are taking our time before going down that rabbit hole! All of which is to point out that when you engage Rose/Joanne, do not expect the exact same translation, vocal style, or definition of terms as Seth, Elias, Kris, etc. It’s like having different orchestras and conductors interpret Beethoven’s ninth symphony. There will be many similarities, but also differences, and learning to discern these takes time and intelligence.
The session began around 4:50 PM. There were several references to concepts from the Elias session that took us into some really deep waters right away, including the nature of love (knowing and appreciation), Rose’s fallibility, compassion, selfishness, shadow projections, fear, “terrorism” and bullies, and more.
We took a break at 5:45 PM. for a potluck dinner that included pasta salads, garlic bread, an almond rice dish, and plenty to wash it down with! Gail Becker was a huge help in organizing the food, and making everything yummy. She also took this picture of Jo in session. Thanks Gail!
We resumed at 7:20 PM. and went for another ninety minutes! That’s around five hours of session time including the Elias group the day before. Concepts included fun, following our bliss, learning to channel, changing self and changing the world (long interaction here), the shift in consciousness, and a finale that featured Jo’s nascent mediumship skills. We’ve documented several encounters with relatives and friends in our first year, and a participant asked about a friend named Charlie. Without skipping a beat, Rose allowed Charlie to come through, much to Jo’s surprise and laughter! She actually had to disengage and laugh out loud because Rose made the switch so fast. The exchange with Charlie included a test from Rose – information about someone named Carol, a yellow cab driver in Santa Monica. We will continue to track all of these encounters to determine their authenticity, and what’s going on in terms of the energy exchange.
Finally, the session wrapped at 8:50 PM. and we continued to talk over desert (cookies, cupcakes, and candies), coffee, and tea until 10 PM. went folks began to say their “goodbyes.” Thanks to all of you who participated in the Elias group and Rose Potluck this year, all in all, we had a wonderful weekend in Castaic!
(This post was inspired by a topic started by John McNally on Sethnet by the same name. I began to write a reply and I realized that it belonged here.)
I am more optimistic about the Democrats chances in November, even Clinton will be better than McCain, though ironically, some Republicans are debating that! However, it is now possible that a groundswell of Barackomania may sweep him into the White House in January.
I don't often post political speeches, but Barack Obama has a real gift to galvanize his audience and provide hope for much needed social changes. We Boomers lived through the sixties and saw times of turbulent change and a new, postmodern worldview emerge (what we call the GREEN altitude in integral). So this has harmonic resonances to those times, feelings, and issues, but I don't know if the collective has enough momentum yet. Yesterday's speech certainly puts his candidacy in a new light, and may be a watershed moment in his presidential bid.
Also, for those of you who get HBO, check out the John Adams mini-series. It shows the American Revolution from his Bostonian perspective, and how the revolution sprouted from The Boston Massacre and Tea Party to Lexington, Concord, and Bunker Hill and spread across the Colonies. I was born in Philadelphia, PA and worked at the Franklin Institute Science Museum for ten years, so I've had a front row seat to learn about how the American Experiment has unfolded through history. And I suspect we may be witnessing, and participating in another small but unique shift in the process during this election cycle.
As Margaret Mead said, "Never doubt that a thoughtful committed group of citizens can change the world. Indeed it's the only thing that ever has."
Additionally, we can now factor in Jane Roberts's moving American Vision that closes The God of Jane: A Psychic Manifesto to reveal how hopeful she was of our American Experiment, and how The Seth Material, and related bodies of work, could take their place in the public sector some day, and stop being relegated to likes of Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, and other fundamentalists. That is, what she called psychic naturalists could provide a grass roots groundswell of authentic, psychic, spiritual, altered-states fueled contributions to the collective, free of the premodern, superstitious nonsense that riddles so many religious movements based on metaphysical Absolutes (like virgin births, bodily resurrections, heaven being up in the sky, etc.). Jane's work is a testimony to post-post conventional cognitive and spiritual lines that not only took a rational approach to her altered states and abilities, but began to understand the systemic nature of collective co-creation.
Perhaps the Obama candidacy will be one small step in the direction of addressing to the much needed social, fiscal, educational, military, and economic changes needed to realize Jane's American Vision to burst forth. In other words, we need a strong foundation of healthy, educated, dedicated, awake, and creative citizens to achieve that Vision, and the current system, as we all know falls way short because of old wounds, racial, class, and gender divides, ethnocentric ways of thinking, and ingrained patterns that no longer provide adequate solutions from a global, systems perspective.
Further, the worldviews of current entrenched political and economic interest (AMBER/ORANGE conservatives) tend to commit what Wilber calls the level-line fallacy, thereby reducing all authentic transrational, inner senses fueled cognition to Freudian prerational, infantile dissociative pathology (a variation of his pre/trans fallacies).
Therefore, we also need to consider the emerging integral movement of Ken Wilber and Don Beck, among others, who are showing new ways to solve problems by taking a wider view with an Integral Politics and integral approach. As Einstein is oft-quoted, "The significant problems we face can never be solved at the level of thinking that created them."
Barack Obama is showing signs that he has the pluralistic vision, spiritual depth, and political will to begin what could be an eight year run at countering the regressive policies of the Bush Family legacy (Wall Street Republicans = AMBER/ORANGE in integral stages). To this end, I share the following:
March 18, 2008 ~ Philadelphia, PA
Barack Obama ~ An Excerpt
"We have a choice in this country. We can accept a politics that breeds division, and conflict, and cynicism. We can tackle race only as spectacle—as we did in the OJ trial—or in the wake of tragedy, as we did in the aftermath of Katrina—or as fodder for the nightly news. We can play Reverend Wright's sermons on every channel, every day and talk about them from now until the election, and make the only question in this campaign whether or not the American people think that I somehow believe or sympathize with his most offensive words.
"We can pounce on some gaffe by a Hillary supporter as evidence that she's playing the race card, or we can speculate on whether white men will all flock to John McCain in the general election regardless of his policies.
"We can do that.
"But if we do, I can tell you that in the next election, we'll be talking about some other distraction. And then another one. And then another one. And nothing will change.
"That is one option. Or, at this moment, in this election, we can come together and say, "Not this time." This time we want to talk about the crumbling schools that are stealing the future of black children and white children and Asian children and Hispanic children and Native American children. This time we want to reject the cynicism that tells us that these kids can't learn; that those kids who don't look like us are somebody else's problem. The children of America are not those kids, they are our kids, and we will not let them fall behind in a 21st century economy. Not this time.
"This time we want to talk about how the lines in the Emergency Room are filled with whites and blacks and Hispanics who do not have health care; who don't have the power on their own to overcome the special interests in Washington, but who can take them on if we do it together.
"This time we want to talk about the shuttered mills that once provided a decent life for men and women of every race, and the homes for sale that once belonged to Americans from every religion, every region, every walk of life. This time we want to talk about the fact that the real problem is not that someone who doesn't look like you might take your job; it's that the corporation you work for will ship it overseas for nothing more than a profit.
"This time we want to talk about the men and women of every color and creed who serve together, and fight together, and bleed together under the same proud flag. We want to talk about how to bring them home from a war that never should've been authorized and never should've been waged, and we want to talk about how we'll show our patriotism by caring for them, and their families, and giving them the benefits they have earned.
"I would not be running for President if I didn't believe with all my heart that this is what the vast majority of Americans want for this country. This union may never be perfect, but generation after generation has shown that it can always be perfected. And today, whenever I find myself feeling doubtful or cynical about this possibility, what gives me the most hope is the next generation—the young people whose attitudes and beliefs and openness to change have already made history in this election.
"There is one story in particularly that I'd like to leave you with today—a story I told when I had the great honor of speaking on Dr. King's birthday at his home church, Ebenezer Baptist, in Atlanta.
"There is a young, twenty-three year old white woman named Ashley Baia who organized for our campaign in Florence, South Carolina. She had been working to organize a mostly African-American communi