“New Age”; New Spirituality; New Way of Looking at Life

The New Age is about meditation, yoga, psychics, ghosts, angels, acupuncture, ecology and saving the earth/environment, kinesiology, chiropractics, massage, mind/body connections, herbs, homeopathy, centeredness, organic foods, mediation, celebration of solstice, Native American and Indian, mother earth/Gaia, goddess, therapeutic touch, Hindu’s, Buddhists, Jain’s, whirling dervishes, native drumming, chants, mantras, positive thinking, affirmations, goal setting, returning to the natural, recycling, reduce, reuse, psychedelics and opiates, transcendence, getting in touch with our inner selves and inner qualities, taking care of our bodies, family, intentional communities, inner voices, Kirlian photography, networking, UFO’s, crop circles, chakras, balance, yin/yang, Tai Chi, martial arts, holograms, mental telepathy, The Holy Grail and the Knights of The Round Table, clairvoyance and clairaudience.

The New Age made stars like Shirley McClain, Deepak Chopra, Ram Dass, Edgar Cayce, Rolling Thunder, Black Elk, Swami Sachitananda, Robert Monroe, Brother Charles, Dr. Bernie Segal, Gerald Jempolski, Joseph Chilton Pearce, John Holt, Jean Houston, The X Files, Steven Covey, Tony Robbins, James Redfield, Raymond Moody, Barbara Max Hubbard, The Tibetan Monks, Carlos Castaneda, Dr. Wayne Dyer and Luke Skywalker.

It’s about looking at your dark side or shadows self. It’s about letting go of fear and learning to be alive! It’s about finding “the force” inside of yourself as Luke Skywalker discovered, your true inner power. Life is not about searching for things outside. When you learn to control the many facets of yourself, you will have ultimate control of your life. Learning to control your life means keeping the body, mind, spirit and emotions in your total control at all times. It means watching your thoughts and keeping them positive. It means watching your emotions and focus them for the good. It means keeping your body healthy, clean and pure and not depending on the medical profession to do it. It means that everything that you need to live you can find inside of yourself.

If the human mind can conceive it, then it must be so for reality is created by the minds. Life is mandated with possibilities, which we create. There is no longer a God outside of ourselves rather; we are our own God selves who create our own realities with the mind, heart, body and spirit. We manifest our souls by the responses we choose to life’s circumstances. WE are the co-creators with God.

Remember in the Old Catholic catechisms it said, “We are made in the imagine and likeness of God.” In the Torah it states, ” God breathed into man the breath of life”. If you take that statement one step further, then we are God. And what is God? Hargrave in The Rosicrucian Teachings states, “God is the unfathomable shadow, the unreachable (yet reflectable) center, the impenetrable (yet solvable) mystery, the unimaginable (yet knowable) majesty who as we approach, recedes, alluring us to the mountain of achievement.”

There is really nothing new in the “New Age”. All of these things, ideas and practices have been around for centuries, some since recorded history. So why do we call it new?

It is a scientific fact that we do not use our minds to capacity. This is because our higher brain is relatively new, historically speaking. As the brain evolved from the Reptilian to Mammalian, all previous knowledge from that brain is still utilized by human beings. We still have instincts, we still have knee jerk reactions, and we are still relatively unconscious living by our animal instincts. Even the current level of violence in this country is an example of residue from the Reptilian brain.

As this third brain developed, it still carries over aspects of the other two brain functions. What we are witnessing on the physical reality is the third brain observing itself evolve. In other words, the resurgence of all of this activity that was mentioned in the first paragraph is being created in order for us to view how the evolution of the new brain thinking will be formulated from the old. All of the activity within the development of this “new” knowledge contained in our third brain has been developed outside of ourselves so that we might see what is about to be manifest within. As we stated earlier, inventions come from taking old ideas and creating something new. This is what the brain is doing for us.

Philosophy, existentialism, theosophy even theology to some degree has eluded to this “observer” self. In this instance, we are viewing our creations in the physical, which, in fact, is the capacity of the inner world. We need only link up the two. How is this achieved?

Look at “virtual reality” technology. The viewer sees reality from many different perspectives simultaneously. Holograms give this same perception with still life images. Computers that are placed upon the head to cover the eyes and focus them on the technology with the headgear, create worlds that appear to exist thus fooling the mind into belief. Go to Disney World or Paramount Studios and ride their new virtual exhibits. One can become nauseous from the visual appearance of motion, which in reality does not exist. Technology has mastered a way to override the brain into believing that it is in an airplane, spaceship or moving object. (And we ask the question, what IS reality?)

Ancients and mystics, again, have taught the idea that our perceptual reality is an illusion. And we have visibly created that philosophy in our technology. Life IS about perception. When we change our perception, we change our view of the world. As a master teacher once said when you reach nirvana or bliss or enlightenment, you must still chop wood and carry water. The only thing that is different is a shift from inside.

Perception may confuse you. Let us take the example of a baseball game. The FACT is that everyone agrees that the game takes place on a certain day at a certain place at a certain time. However, everyone who views that game sees it differently. A father watching his son sees it from the eyes of a proud father. A girl in the stands with her boyfriend on her first date sees it differently, if she sees it at all. The statistician sees the numbers. The sports announcer sees it his way. The umpire sees it another. The fans that got drunk and were fighting in the top bleachers see something else. The hot dog vendor sees another view.

Each went to the same game and each comes back with a different story to tell from their own point of view. This is our narrow reality. It would be impossible as well to remember everything that happens at each moment with our current brain development. For instance, while you are reading this book there are things happening around you. The electricity is running through the walls of your room. Cars are moving outside. The water heater is warming the water and the refrigerator is doing its thing. There may also be a plane-flying overhead. Our current state of mind cannot function on all of these events simultaneously, however, I believe that is where we are headed. This is why we have invented such sophisticated technology so that we might know where we need to reach. We have needed a model to reach towards.

Did you notice within the past ten to twenty years how people have more than one job and have many interests? It is not peculiar to see someone who is a real estate agent doing part-time work as a Network Marketer and acting in the local theatre. More and more people have a multitude of venues to manifest their creative tendencies. However, there is more to this.

Unlike our parents or great grandparents, our minds are coming into this new perception of awareness. In order to achieve a 360-degree perspective of the world, you must EXPERIENCE the different facets. That is why within your lifetime you might change jobs 10 times. The ability to see with a holographic view is attained by getting the mind to observe from many perceptions and you “must go through to get to it” in the new level of perception.  This occurs from seeing life from different angles.

“Networking” is another reflection of how the mind operates. It is nothing new. How did you learn about a favorite restaurant or product? Chances are that someone got so excited that they told you about it. You went and were pleased with the service and food and you told people. This method of advertising has been going on since the beginning of recorded history. This is another reflection of the human mind and the way it functions internally.

The mind is linked to series of thoughts and connections that are cross-referenced with the triggering of outside stimulus like a word or symbol. For example, you might see a baby crying and this might bring you back to a time when you were upset as a child. Or certain foods that your Mom cooked, the aroma or sight might bring thoughts or feelings of warmth or memories of youth. (This is why overeaters have such difficulty letting go of foods because their memory is linked with love.)

These are the “networking” skills of the mind. Now James Redfield in The Celestine Prophesies brought this link a step further with synchronicity. These are a series of events seeming to be unrelated that when taken to their end, lead to discoveries heretofore unknown. The book was so popular because this story epitomized the “feelings” and occurrences that people are having in their lives today. As this evolution of the mind continues, more and more individuals will feel this strange set of circumstances in their lives over and over. This adventure is the path of true knowledge. What seems like meandering on a path leading nowhere is the outside manifestation of our own inner awareness to reach a goal that has been previously set by the mind.

For example, I set my goal more than twenty-five years ago to find a curriculum of education that would encourage people to become fully human. My life has seemed like a meandering path from one place, job and event to the other. I have owned several businesses, done many jobs from being a legal assistant to a social service director, to a director of marketing. Each job, event and situation in my life, as I now see it, had a purpose. Each gave me a different perspective so that my peripheral vision expanded. That purpose was a new educational model. Had I stayed in the field of education and teaching, I would have never found my answer. It took seeing life from many perspectives and LIVING it and going through the pain of defeat and the joy of victory to get to this place.

There was a great book many years ago called Mr. God: This Is Anna. Anna, age eight, took a lot of mirrors and placed them on a table. She discovered that by putting them perpendicular to each other she created objects with many, many sides. She declared that we as human beings have many, many sides to us that we are unaware of. The closer Anna got with the mirrors, the smaller was the object but the numbers of angles increased. Until one day, she got the mirrors very, very close together and guess what she discovered? They formed a circle.

Mystics and ancient writings have used symbols to explain much of life. The idea that a circle represents God or perfection is very common. The notion that the square represents human beings with edges and corners that need to be softened is also prevalent. The Rosicrucian’s and Knights of the Templar, who were the precursors of the Masons, say that when we can learn to make the square into a circle, we will have achieved the essence of the meaning of life (or the squared circle).

Circles have 360 degrees and squares have 360 degrees. Therefore, human beings need only to learn that they are divine and they will remember their own perfection. We do this through becoming observers of others. Whatever faults we see in another are the “edge” we need to soften in ourselves.

However, there is a need to change our patterns of behavior in mind, body, spirit and emotion. When, as therapists know, the body has formed a pattern of behavior either internally or externally, it must first find something outside of itself to model. Whether you try meditation to calm the mind, or chiropractics to straighten the spine or yoga to discipline the body, these must be practiced over and over until the body responds automatically.

Most people use computers these days. In order to access it, one must know and understand the interconnections. For example, when entering the computer you cannot access the file you want immediately. You must first go into one program like hard drive, then perhaps another like Word Perfect and then into your file. In order to cut and paste, you must first block out the information to be pasted, then go to a new file, then go back to cut and past. Individuals who use computers can do this instantly, however, remember the time when you were first learning? You must first understand the networking framework of the computer. This is also how the mind works. In order to access information, a series of sometimes-unrelated events or occurrences or words or symbols gets you to the place you want to go.

Heroes give us a place to reach and stretch and grow. They personify some model of some aspect of life we wish to achieve. This is why the ancients used metaphors of gods and goddesses. Their direction and life lessons give us something tangible to reach for. However, the point of models, heroes, gods and goddesses is that we are NOT to put them on a pedestal. In fact, there was a book call “If You See The Master On The Road, Kill Him”. The point of this book was that instead of worshiping the hero, we are to take the good that they depict and let go and go on to the next lesson. In Ashrams, for example, individuals stay far too long. They worship the GURU, instead of taking the teachings and applying it to life. Application of virtues, goodness and morals in daily life are the whole point of the teacher. One teacher of mine said, “My finger points the way to truth. Will you sit and observe my finger pointing the way or will you leave and follow the path to truth yourself?”

This was Christ’s message and Buddha and all of the other mystics. You can achieve this place right here on earth. Christ healed the sick with the touch of his hands. How is that different from therapeutic touch or psychic surgery• (psychic surgery is a discipline used primarily in the Philippines. The surgeon goes into a meditative trance and then is able to part the flesh of the body, with his hands, and remove the problem. It is a long process of healing the body. Unlike allopathic surgery, one must get to the root of the problem by changing lifestyle, habits and thoughts)? Christ changed the loaves and fishes to feed many. He knew the law that energy is neither created nor destroyed but changed from one form to another. He knew it and he practiced it consciously. How is this different than the magician who bends forks?

He rose from the dead. Now we have the current philosophy from people like Mother and her husband Shri Arobindo that we can transcend these bodies; that we death can be transcended. Actually, there is a great deal written these days regarding these phenomena like the five books of The Life and Teaching Of The Masters Of The Far East. These tell of tales of Masters who walk the earth able to move from one place to the next without motor vehicles of any type. They merely use the understanding of transforming matter. These individuals actually exist somewhere in the Far East, a whole society.

There have been many, many experiments by governments, our own and others as well (notably Russia) who have tried to recreate this very phenomena. The Philadelphia Experiment is one example. It is the tale of how the US military tried to make an entire battleship disappear- and succeeded. It was aground at the Philadelphia naval yard and was “teleported” to Virginia and then back again. The story goes that none of the crewmembers on board knew that they were involved in an experiment (typical government style). Afterwards, survivors experienced extraordinary events and circumstances that changed their lives forever.

Then there is Alex Tonus who decided to dedicate his life as one of the governments’ experiments. Alex discovered that he could transport himself from one place to another and still keep his body in the original place. The government would place Alex in a leaded room and ask him to appear sometimes in another city where scientists would be able to observe him. Alex performed these feats with great success over and over.

We are literally viewing the past so as to make way for what is evolving in the future. Everything that we have created in the physical world, we will achieve through human consciousness. For example, the idea that computers are doing all of our thinking is a reflection that this is the capacity of our minds. The reason that information is coming to us so quickly through computers is that as this evolution of the mind transpires, it will reach a critical mass level or saturation point. At this time, the mind will then be capable of everything that computers achieve.

The computer is a direct reflection of the capacity for high-level human thought. Their parallels to humans are obvious. Programming must precede use. When programming is achieved, the computer can only function at the level to which data has been input. There is a special language that is universal. This language retrieves information that is input into the system. For the human mind, language, events, symbols all trigger memory retrieval. Everything is symbolic and functions on many levels.

An analogy in science might be that a grain of sand, a flea, a dog, a human, and a tree, the sky are all on this plane of existence. However, the flea, which sits on the back end of the dog, cannot “see” the sky or know of its existence. It is merely too small. When the dog gets washed, the flea assumes some force of nature has created the disturbance. In essence, it was a human being giving the dog a bath. In this instance, there are many levels of existence that the flea is not aware of however, they do exist.

Humans know other levels of existence through inventions like the telescope, microscope, sonar and Kirlian photography. These show us in pictures the existence of other worlds, which we cannot see with our eyes. Presumably, there are millions of worlds that exist simultaneously which we are unaware of.

Look at electricity. Can you explain how electricity works? Most people cannot. However, we know it exists by the results of harnessing its energy flow. The same holds true for magnetic, solar, nuclear and other types of energy invisible to the eye. We can assume, therefore, that within this earth plane, that there are many levels of awareness going on at the same time and like the flea, we just do not have the perceptual awareness because we are so “small” to see them.

Another example is the ability to be psychic. There are a lot of “controlling” people using this ability because the masses have been fooled to think that this is something mystical and magical. (Actually, most psychics when you ask about their past had one or both very controlling parents, most of the time alcoholics.) However, EVERYONE has the capacity to be psychic if he or she chooses. You have experienced it for brief moments in your life. Perhaps you were burned and observed yourself behind yourself. Or in the process of meditation you saw yourself from the view of above the ground. When you found yourself separated from yourself, this was a moment of psychic awareness. The “ego” separated itself from the body to observe itself. This is what a “psychic” does. You may also have experienced yourself saying words you did not know you knew or ideas. You heard them as if for the first time when they came out of your mouth. Again, your “ego” got out of the way for you to tap into this energy that is available at all times.

However, what happens is that over time, one can tap into a level of awareness that, like electricity or magnetism, is invisible to the eye but accessible to the sharp, clear mind. This phenomenon of psychic is often induced into awareness by tragedy, drama or unexpected events (Some people view it as a mystical experience or spiritual awakening, like the children of Lourdes or the stigmata). It is merely a part of the brain that is being developed over time. Everyone is born psychic but the ability atrophies because parents, teachers and significant others do not know how to spark its growth. If you do not nurture its existence, it withers. We know this from our past experience with intelligence of the mind. If the mind is not stimulated with an intelligent surrounding, it atrophies. However, as we have learned from individuals like the “Wolf Boy”, any human characteristic can be retrieved from the human organism with the proper stimulus.

This level of awareness was what was trying to be achieved unnaturally through psychedelics and drugs. Some people were just too impatient to get there naturally through evolution. This state of awareness CAN be achieved overtime because we are at the stage of the evolution of our brain that will manifest this phenomenon. Children are born with the ability today.

The very thing that people were searching for through drugs can never be achieved permanently through drugs. In fact, the whole point about becoming balanced about taking care of the body, about keeping the mind in control as well as the emotions has to do with bringing this power into being. (And by drugs it is meant hard drugs, marijuana, coffee, alcohol, cigarettes. Each of these kills the nerve cells that enable the flow of energy to occur). If you have done drugs at any time in your life, you will never be able to reach this state of awareness. To understand why, it is as if you have short-circuited the brain’s ability to achieve it. AND the chakras must be in balance. If any one of them is off, then the manifestation of this energy produces side effects.

People who have first chakra (Chakras are energy points in the body that receive energy, spiritual energy. It is as if your body is a wall with seven outlets. However, each one of them performs a function for receiving energy. They are found in specific areas of the body. The study of chakras is a study within itself!) Imbalances will have a problem with creating abundance in their lives. People with second chakra imbalances will have a need to be overly sexual and promiscuous. (These are just some examples of the blockages of this energy flow). Just as electricity flows through a series of lights on a wire, the bulbs will not light up if one of the bulbs is burned out. So it is with this energy.

People have been in touch with this energy in the past but it short-circuited their beings. The insane asylums are full of them. These people are not crazy. Have you ever spoken with one? They talk about hearing voices or seeing the dead. How is that different from a psychic who gets paid thousands of dollars to do a reading for movie stars? They hear and see things that we do not. That is because they have tapped into this energy and no one in their lives was able to tell them what they were experiencing.

Search and seek out individuals who have achieved some level of awareness to help you.  Recently there was a Native American born teen who thought he was going crazy because he was hearing voices. A religious zealot informed him that he was possessed by the devil and need to be extricated of the evil being. People mean well however, if you are not with someone who understands your inner space, you need to seek out books, tapes and people who do.

One avenue to pursue in triggering this awareness to surface within you is through tears. Tears are the means with which the body cleanses its hurts, the hurt of the human heart. It is a pity we have not allowed tears. However, it is not just the tears themselves that create clarity, it is tears with a specific focus. For example, the thoughts of a loved one will invoke tears. When you are in pain or hurt. What have we done for years to children who cry? We give them the message that crying is for sissies or is a bad thing to do when in fact; it is one of the roads to freedom. How do you feel after a good cry? Lighter? Free? Like you have let go of a heavy burden?

Crying at a sad movie, crying at funerals, crying when hurt, these are all means to release pent up hurts that have been submerged in your lifetime. AND they need to get healed before you can get anywhere. So if you are going to a therapist and you do not cry at your sessions, consider that you are NOT getting to the root of your problem. You are staying in your head to solve it and generally, THAT”S the problem- your head or thoughts.

Getting back to the example of electricity. As I am typing this on my computer, as you are reading presumably near a light, an electrical field is circulating. You see, electricity does not flow THROUGH the wire it flows at a distance around it. This computer has an energy field that extends far beyond the screen. Kirlian cameras photograph this field of energy that YOU have around your body. It is Taurus (doughnut) shaped much like the shape of the energy field that surrounds the earth.

This energy field is surrounding everyone all of the time. As Kirlian photography has shown, these energy fields affect each other. We know that we can influence others by our advice and we also influence people on a much deeper level. You will merge with the energy field in your relationships. This energy field manifests itself in characteristics. Therefore, what we call “attraction” is like two magnets attracting…opposites attract. What this means is that you will attract to you people who fill the need to enable you to find the part of yourself that is missing or underdeveloped or that you are unaware of at the moment.

If you are a person who only sees the positive in life and denies the negative, then you will attract what you deny. These characteristics will irritate you until you realize that this person is reflecting an aspect of you that you need to look at (your mirror). However, because we are untrained in these understanding, in relationships we “merge” with the other instead of finding our own self. Merging is an unhealthy position to be for it does not allow you to be YOU. What happens is that you become the other person and are wrapped up in their negative as well as positive characteristics. When people get divorced, they feel a sense of loss and emptiness because they have merged with their partner. In the past, this is what couples did for intimacy. Losing your own identity to another is not healthy. It also does not enable you to grow into being fully human.

It seems that the only real lasting relationships are those that have the same spiritual focus (for lack of a better way to explain it). People who are committed to becoming more or better, people who share the same religious philosophy, people who are committed to their direction in life together, can weather all of the storms.

Without the storms, we would not know the sunshine and rainbows with appreciation. Storms, hurricanes, tornadoes are all a necessary part of life to give us perspective. Weathering storms builds character. We know the night because it is the absence of light. And that is all that darkness is…the absence of light. If you see someone who is reflecting grumpy behavior, just remember, they are temporarily under cloud cover. The sun will shine again BUT only if you decide to respond in that manner. If you BELIEVE that this person is in fact the darkness that is manifesting in their behavior, that is all they will ever be or become. If you keep remembering that there is light beyond that wall, you will find that your world changes dramatically.

There is a gray area here in that again, you are the observer of your reality. Because you see a person as good does not mean that THEY see themselves as such. You are not responsible for what they see only what you see. Therefore, when you see your divorced mate and really FEEL that they are perfect just the way they are, your responses to that person will change.

Eventually, that person will change too but there are no guarantees. I cannot change my former husband but I CAN change the way I see and respond to him. Before, the sound of his voice would automatically bring irritation all over my body. I could not hear a word he said and I would always be ready to jump. When I changed my view of him and saw him as a human being with weaknesses and strengths, I could really hear what he had to say. Now, sometimes he has better insights on how to raise our children than I do. I hear the “truth” of what he says when I let go of my anger. I keep remembering that he is made in the image of God as well and sometimes he can tap into the truth when I am blinded by my emotions.

In spiritual circles, the word for this phenomenon is forgiveness. It is the message of Christ. It is the most powerful tool in the world to reach to clarity of perception. When you can forgive EVERYONE in your life, you will feel the most incredible sense of freedom and joy. It doesn’t mean that you will never feel pain or get angry. It means that you are no longer weighted down with heaviness. You will respond like a child. Children get angry yell, blow off steam and forget in the next instant. They are off and playing with that person again. Now adults, well we get angry and hold onto the anger for years, sometimes a whole lifetime and never let it go at death. (How about the siblings who don’t speak to each other well into old age. Or the son who hates his dad so much he can never forgive me even on his deathbed). There is a lot to be learned in observing children. They hold many of the answers to life’s questions in the palm of their hands.

One of the greatest abilities of a child is their sense of touch. They touch and mouth everything. That is because this is how they get a 360-degree view of the world- from all senses. And what do we do, we try to keep them from putting things in their mouth! Then when they get to be adults we wonder why we need massage and kinesiology. The acupressure point for the heart is in the palm of the hand in Chinese medicine. Isn’t it amazing how we “touch” with our hands and with our hearts?

When we touch someone we are extending the energy of our hearts. It is such a shame that we have come to the point where we no longer touch each other, especially children in school, for fear of being sued. Touching sensitizes and activates the senses. It heightens awareness. It relaxes, soothes, and is the greatest tonic for every aliment known to us.

There was a study done at a library where one group of people were touched by the librarian on their way out the door, either with a hand shake or some other form. The other group was not touched at all. When questioned immediately outside of the exit, the group that was touched overwhelming agreed that this was the best library in the world. The other group has mixed feelings and most were negative.

Mediation is a recent tool used to lessen the burden of the courts, especially in divorce cases. What mediation does is try to create win/win situations for everyone involved in a dispute. Everyone should be required to take mediation classes. What they do is to enable the mediator the ability to see all sides of a dispute. As the mediator becomes more and more proficient, she discovers that first) she has no ability to determine the outcome, only participants can: second) she begins to understand that there are many sides to any situation and everyone is right from their own perspective. The mediator, unlike a judge, does not accept responsibilities for decisions: the participants do.

All the mediator does is create fertile ground for neutral. Neutral is a good place to be. Think of your car. When it is in neutral it is neither going forward or back. It is merely running in place. For people to get to a common ground neutral is the best place to be.

The major lesson of the “New Age” is that EVERYTHING WE SEE OUTSIDE OF OURSELVES IS MERELY A REFLECTION OF OURSELVES IN THE WORLD OF PERCEPTION WE ARE IN, AT THAT MOMENT”. If you are observing that a child is acting belligerent, it is the denial of that part of yourself, which you see. If you see a beautiful sunset, it is that part of yourself which is reflected. EVERYTHING is a reflection of our own inner minds.

Now, with that understanding, what is the point of getting angry? Who are you getting angry at? You are e-moting at the reflection of yourself in the mirror. Remember, everyone is made in the image and likeness of God. AND everyone is God. Therefore, everyone is God and all YOU are reacting to is the vision of YOUR OWN THOUGHTS! We create the reality we choose to see or that we were taught to see or that we believe we see.

Re-spond-ability is the direction of the “New Age”; the ability to respond in the moment, not from our experiences of the past or projections for the future. Be Here Now, as Ram Dass proclaims. Getting in touch with the present moment takes discipline and gentleness. One of the best examples of this combination of values is the martial art, which has become very popular in the US.

Tai Chi is the idea of disciplining the body to focus in a gentle, slow moving manner. It is about allowing your opponent, as his energy is coming at you full force, to be able to step aside and let his own anger trip him up. The normal reaction for humans is to fight back. These arts teach the principle of surrendering your ego and instincts to a higher goal- inner stillness. This is the place of peace and bliss.

The exercises involved in mastering the art are very gentle. There is a slow rhythm. And yet, after doing the exercises, one feels as if they had done a vigorous callisthenic regime. It seems that the fast pace of aerobics and gymnastic pursuits are much more harmful to the body in the long run than this gentle slow deliberate movement. (The above explanation does not do justice to the art of Tai Chi. It is truly a masterful alternative to conflict resolution.)

These disciplines that have reemerged from the past are all a way of creating a stillness and peace of mind. Whenever you direct your focus intentionally on something, everything else will be put on hold in your mind. If you focus your attention on silence and stillness, it enables you to be like an empty vessel. Nature abhors a vacuum. Both Joseph Campbell and Carl Jung speak of that place in the ethers that is just beyond our grasp; that Cosmic Consciousness that few in history have reached its gates.

This is the place of the new evolution and everything in our culture today resonates with the path it is to take. Being in the eternal NOW is where life’s lessons will take us. You will learn to be omnipresent, omniscient, all seeing. What this means practically is that YOU will KNOW what you need. Only in the silence when all of the clutter and obstacles are removed can you come to this place.

You have had glimpses of this in your life- times of inspiration, waking from a dream and having insights, going on vacation or traveling and finding a solution to a problem back at work. This is the place where true power lies…it is within you. The answers are ALL inside of you waiting to be tapped. You can become your OWN attorney or mechanic or electrician.

How do you achieve this freedom? What is being a free spirit? How can we achieve this within the limitations of our bodies? There was a time when I did not feel connected to my body. I felt like I was a foreigner living in a foreign. Truly, I fancied the notion that perhaps I WAS from another planet. Then one day I had an acupuncture treatment. There seemed to be a body, me, hovering about six inches above me on the table. During the treatment, that body merged with me and for the first time in my life I felt like I belonged here. That may sound like a far-fetched tale however; it made me more aware of the fascination with UFO’s and ghosts that abounds in the media.

There were times, many, in my life when the pain was so intense that I did not want to live. I felt that I could not endure it any longer. I tried consciously to get myself off of this place during that period; however, someone- a friend or relative- always came into my life to stop me. It was as if someone did not want me to die. I have had two near death experiences as well. I have been on the edge of death so many times, I believe, for a reason. Because I made a vow to myself that if there is a thing called karma, and it’s about coming back here over and over, I want this to be my last time. I believe that I will not leave here until whatever it is I have to do is accomplished. Maybe all it is is this book, who knows.

I believe after these experiences that being on that place of the edge of death enables one to see life with more clarity. And as long as you do not step over the boundary, no matter how hard it is, you WILL prevail. If you dream big, the challenges are big. Everyone who succeeds does so after many failures. Failures are a part of life that is very important. Because when we learn to feel our pain, really feel it, then allow ourselves to let it go, there is something of the past that is released each time. Something heavy, some part of our shadow selves.

This edge of pain where the threshold seems unbearable is the place where we refuse to let go of our ego. Recent books call it “let go and let God”. We continue to think that we have the answers, we know it all. That is our mind thinking. It is not true intellect, power and knowledge. Imagine that the all-powerful knowledge that I speak of is like this image. Suppose you pretend that you are the god that is in the sky and you hold the earth in the palm of your hand. Can god now see a speck of sand or a blade of grass? Can god see a human? Of cause not, it’s too big.

The consciousness or intellect I speak of is so big; it cares only about the whole and does not look at the parts- we humans. So there is somehow a plan that is so vast, it is bigger than we are. All we have to do is set our sights- our goals and aspirations- is willing to work and let the rest fall into place. You have to be willing to follow the rapids of change as the course turns to the left and the right seemingly out of control or away from your goal. However, when the adventure slows, you will find that every turn you take and every place you have been was another step to your goal.

The key to the journey is FAITH! Faith in knowing that you WILL succeed. The greatest of the great failed and failed and failed until one day, they succeeded. It is as if the universe wants us to savor our victory when we accomplish it! To be a free spirit and still maintain faith, one must be as a Redwood tree. Redwoods are deeply rooted in the earth; else they would not be able to grow so tall. Yet, when you stand beneath their majesty, you can see how much they sway in the wind. The depth of their roots is equal to the distance of their movement and freedom at the top. So it is to be fully human, the deeper you go in understanding youself, the more freedom you have in this world.

The New Age is about freedom in a new way than we have experienced prior to this time. It is a way of being. Education, parenting, medicine must find the way back to freedom. The exact principles this country was founded upon.