Thank you, Lily, for reminding me to have compassion for the perpetrators of
this "out-of-balance" situation we are feeling . I have been struggling with
what to say in the fairbooth to the theme, "Star spangled memories uniting
Bonner County."
I visualize a big picture of the Milky Way over the top of the front of the
booth with a dot representing our solar system and the caption "You are here."
I've seen this in a catalog of posters and tee shirts. It's not my invention.
This is what I wrote so far. Anyone have any corrections or additions?
Memories that unite Bonner County
We are citizens of the planet earth in one of ~10,000,000 solar systems in the
Milky Way Galaxy. All our puny knowledge and technologies pale in comparison to
the forces and relationships that exist as a consequence of our cosmic
citizenship. It seems like a miracle to us how microscopic things works
too—such things as the DNA and enzymes in all plants and animals and the
bacteria and fungi that live in the soil. This is a gift that has been given to
us by the Creator.
Human consciousness makes it possible for us to help create in our world. We
must be careful to respect nature and the diversity on our planet and not
pollute or extract so much or give power to institutions or corporations that
throw the whole planet out of balance and send out negative vibrations of greed
and lack of compassion which attract similar vibrations all over the planet.
We can do our part by visualizing a world in peace with high quality food and
medicine available for all.
Best wishes, Merla
P.S. Bob Wilson, the Extension Agent, returned my phone call just now and he
doesn't think a refractometer is "scientific." I read him Tony's and Hugh's
explanation that I sent to the list recently and he repeated that it wasn't
"scientific." I think the suggestion that was given that I learn to use the
refractometer privately is good. The trouble is that a refractometer is way
down on the priority list for the Barberie household and my only hope of getting
one was with the grant--so it may be a while....I just hope that the test plots
we're doing show more than subtle differences.
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
> Dear Merla,
>
> Your letter rang out to me. But before I get into it, I wish to express
> regret to listmembers who have written to me a while back around the subject
> of "Smallest Entities -- and MCS". Continuing fabric softener and gas
> exhaust billowing thru my windows are the key culprit to the exhaustion that
> has immobilized me on corespondence catch-up let alone more basic life
> activities, but thanks to a listmember who reached out to me with energy
> work, this has begun to improve the past couple days, and I hope to catch up
> on all corespondence soon.
>
> Merla, to your key question, << Is it better to stiffle negative feelings,
> let a lot of things just go by and always try to feel appreciation for
> everything? >> the lesson I've learned from AA on this is that it is very
> important to honor ALL of our feelings. I think that any anger we feel in
> connection with life-destroying attitudes and actions is perfectly
> understandable in the light of our basic survival instincts. What is being
> done to the earth is threatening our very survival (and that calls up the
> equally "natural" instinct of fear). If we were not angry and fearful about
> it, that would be unnatural!
>
> Our anger gives us the "clue" that there is something wrong, and that is the
> first step in being able to take action, gather information, that will be
> necessary to correct what is wrong. I look at Christ overturning the tables
> of the moneychangers in the table as an "archetype" for the value of
> righteous ("reality-based" -- untrammeled greed, and lack of compassion for
> the suffering of creatures damaged by it, DOES threaten the very roots of
> life) anger. This is just one way in which a so-called "negative" emotion
> actually is positive.
>
> As far as another what is called "negative" emotion -- fear -- is concerned,
> I have "looked" closely, using a method called Focusing (described in a book
> by the same name by Eugene Gendlin, Ph.D) at my own body's experience of fear
> and the survival-based function it serves (fight, flight, or freeze) and at
> the end of a years-long process, come to realize that Christ's "Forgive them
> Father, for they know not what they do" is based in a "scientific"
> understanding of the bodymind.
>
> To wit (and in very abbreviated form to what I will delineate in the book I
> will write if I ever get a place to live where I am not constantly getting
> zapped by chemicals that fling me into bed all too often -- of which my
> essay, <<The 'Spiritual' Nature of 'Physical' Matter and, by Extension, of
> Our Material World">>, posted a couple/few weeks ago to this list, is the
> draft first chapter):
>
> <<Those greed-gripped individuals whose polluting (whether with chemicals or
> with "manipulated" lifeforms -- genetic engineering) and otherwise
> systemically-destabilizing actions are causing our global ecology to
> downspiral precipitously, are *responsible* but not to *blame* for what they
> do, because they are in a hypnotic haze induced by a fear-full bodymind.
>
> This fear (of not having enough, of not being enough) is carried by them in
> their bodymind into every situation, and colors their every perception of
> reality and hence their every action. Their lack of accurate perception of
> the value of the material world -- including of their own bodymind
> irrespective of how much money or "power" they have -- leads to a lack of
> accurate perception of the damage they do, and so they continue it and deny
> that it is damaging to anyone who points a finger and says, "Look, look what
> you are doing!"
>
> If they cannot see themselves, the world, their actions, accurately --
> properly -- then are they not what is (I would say, rather
> anachronistically), called "mentally ill"? As such, they are sick and
> suffering individuals, and can be forgiven, for "they know not what they do".
>
> Hence, we can "love" them (a "positive") even though we feel anger and fear
> for how their lack of acurate perception threatens our very survival, and
> even while taking whatever steps we need to take to protect ourselves against
> their damage. We acknowledge the validity of our feelings, and then move on
> to the love-based actions that in our best estimation, can help to heal the
> world through correction of misperceptions wherever we encounter them.
>
> In that context, if it is true, as Sri Aurobindo "proves" to my satisfaction
> in his The Life Divine, that the foundation of life is goodness, then
> compassion for the sick-and-suffering who trample that goodness, becomes the
> natural benchmark for action in regard to them, once we have accurately
> perceived by way of our experience of our OWN bodymind states, how enslaved
> they are to THEIR bodymind states.>>
>
> The seeming paradox of how "negative" actually is "positive" in this context,
> and consonant with your comment: << I think this question applies to what is
> happening in the world today that we are all thinking about all the
> time...how DO you turn it around>>, is reflected in the fact that:
>
> It is seeing how our own *if out-of-balance* fear and anger can paralyze us,
> or lead us to repeat actions that harm ourselves or others, that lets us
> fully bodymind "see" and understand the haze of misperception and the
> bodymind grip that such misperception can have upon the destroyers/damagers
> of our Earth. That understanding not only lets us forgive them (for what
> they know/*see* not what they do), thus "freeing" us to move onto the
> positive work, but also points to the bodymind nature of the underlying
> source of global ecological downspiraling, and hence gives clues to what must
> be addressed to reverse it.
>
> Namaste,
> -Lily
>
> you wrote:
> << Subject: Re: FW: [globalnews] Stop the Corporate Takeover of our Water
>
> I'm in the process of trying to have good vibrations most of the time because
> of
> a book that was recommended to me=D6Excuse Me, Your Life is Waiting by Lyn
> Grabhorn. Her thesis is that you can only turn things around by maintain=
> ing
> strong positive FEELINGS, even in the face of all kinds of things happeni=
> ng that
> you don't want or when you want something which is seemingly impossible; =
> that
> attacking these "don't want" issues just makes them worse and longing for
> something comes out of a "don't want" mentality too. These feelings can =
> draw to
> you the same negative vibrations from other people on the same and differ=
> ent
> issues. I just started this and it is working, but I just had my first s=
> etback.
>
> Tonight around midnight I woke up with the most caustic fear around the i=
> ssue of
> the fairbooth that I'm working on for the county fair. The generator was
> running and I went outside and turned it off and took some of my St. John=
> swort
> tincture and ate some cottage cheese. I'm feeling better.
>
> The unreasoning fear is alienating people and being ostracized for critiz=
> ing the
> present administration's ties to Monsanto and patenting of life. I bough=
> t a
> video at the Global JAS conference which shows the implications--It start=
> s out
> with pictures of bubbling hot springs at Yellowstone and saying that the
> microscopic creatures that live in the hot springs were going to be paten=
> ted
> until there was an outcry. It goes through the issues of the utility pat=
> ent and
> seed breeding, through the patenting of indigenous people's medicines tha=
> t have
> been developed over 100s of years and the patenting of cell lines from
> indigenous people's DNA.
>
> The theme of the fair is "Star spangled memories uniting Bonner County," =
> which I
> take to imply a patriotic war theme which I am not in sympathy with at al=
> l. The
> "united we stand" mentality is strong here and sometimes it gets to me,
> especially when some of my fellow organic growers are so much into silenc=
> e on
> these issues and won't work in my booth. It's hard to maintain my positi=
> ve
> feelings and as tonight=D6I wake up with a powerful, negative feeling tha=
> t I have
> to turn around. Butting heads with people of like mind gets to me a lot =
> more
> than butting heads with someone who is my exact opposite.
>
> I knew that trying always to keep good vibrations would be hard, but when=
> you
> backslide after a period of focusing on being positive, it is scary.
>
> Has anyone had experience with trying to maining continuous positive
> vibrations? How has it worked for you? For years I have been just facin=
> g pain,
> sadness, anger head-on and working through them, but such honesty makes i=
> t hard
> on your spouse and can put you at odds with other people too. Trying alw=
> ays to
> keep good vibrations is a very different way of being, but I think it doe=
> s draw
> people to you. The idea of manifesting what you want with good feelings =
> is
> brand new to me. I gave up praying for anything personal that I wanted l=
> ong ago
> and instead just worked for what I wanted. That makes me a nag, and I'm =
> always
> trying to accomplish some project. Is it better to stiffle negative feel=
> ings,
> let a lot of things just go by and always try to feel appreciation for
> everything? The two philosophies are at odds. I find it hard to relax =
> when
> there is so much work that needs to be done. Is this the half-full, half=
> -empty
> conundrum or is this a change of emphasis from accomplishing things by do=
> ing to
> accomplishing things simply by feeling good and staying plugged in to you=
> r
> Guidance?
>
> I think this question applies to what is happening in the world today tha=
> t we
> are all thinking about all the time...how DO you turn it around=F3by havi=
> ng
> fairbooths about it in enemy territory or simply by having strong good fe=
> elings
> about how you would like things to be and enjoying life?
>
> Merla
>
> > It seems the only way around the future is through it...on our terms.
> > Possible alternatives would be groups of likeminded folks forming commu=
> nities
> > around their farms and siezing control of their destiny, water, and
> > environmental policy...seems like this needs to become a more serious
> > discussion...
