""In the future there will be neither darkness nor thunderbolts neither ferocious ignorance, nor bloody retaliation... in the future no one will kill anyone else, the earth will beam with radiance, the human race will love." "The day will come...when all will be concord, harmony, light, joy and life"" "VICTOR HUGO "Les miserables"" "Go, go, go, go!" ""CONSCIOUSNESS IS WHEN WE FEEL THE SUFFERING OF EVERY CREATURE WITHIN OUR OWN HEARTS"" ""THAT IS OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH THE HARMONY OF BEING" "THAT IS AWAKENING"" "Joseph Campbell" "UNITY" "I COSMIC" "Think of now what the Universe is." "Space..." "And outer space." "A coagulation that becomes a Nebula." "And out of the Nebula," "Millions of galaxies." "And out of this constellation of galaxies," "Comes forth our home galaxy." "The Milky Way." "A group of some 400 billion stars" "Orbiting a galactic center." "And of those 400 billion stars, the one orbiting star that is closest to us" "Is the Sun." "And planets orbit around it." "And among those planets is our rich planet..." "Which like the Sun and all the galaxies" "Also came out of that Nebula." "Neil, we can see you coming down the ladder now." "That's one small step for man," "One giant leap for mankind." "And our particular planet was not too far from this sun," "And not too close," "Not too hot or too cold." "So then," "Out of this Earth of ours" "Have come fauna and flora..." "And bacteria." "And fish." "And lions." "And lambs." "Out of this Earth, have come we," "As the eyes and the ears," "And the consciousness..." "And the breathing of the Earth itself," "As its children." "And since the Earth came out of space," "Is it any wonder" "That the laws of space live in us?" "When Galileo recognized that the law of ballistics" "On this Earth operates on other planets," "He began something" "That came to fulfillment in fruition in our memoirs." "Because when the astronauts were asked after going around the Moon," ""Who navigated?"" "They answered, "Newton."" "How is it that we can ascertain something here" "With absolute certainty," "Something that pertains over there?" "In other words," "The laws of time and space," "Were precisely known to man" "As are the laws within our own heads." "They are already in us..." "Because we all come from the same galaxy," "The same nebula," "The same universe." "And so we reach the point..." "Why do we see opposites in one another?" "Why is there any division whatsoever?" "We all exist in the same atmosphere." "Why, then,do we separate and distinguish?" "I am interested neither in black power or white power" "But human power for all of us here." "How, in name..." "We are earthlings" "For we are human," "Animal," "Tree." "Not the same but equal." "Just consider the root of the word "universe."" ""Uni" equals one," "As in unite," "Union," "Unanimous." "And 'verse' equals turn" "Or change, as in," "Reverse or versatile." "Therefore, the word "universe" quite literally means..." "All turned into one." "As Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan wrote," "The creatures with which we are concerned," "Namely us, were not so long ago" "Noisy, quarrelsome," "Clever, tool-using" "With prolonged childhoods and tender regard for their young." "One thing led to another" "And in a twinkling,their descendants had multiplied all over the planet," "Killed off all their rivals," "Devised world-transforming technologies" "And posed a mortal danger to themselves" "And to many other beings with whom they share their small home." "It is a common trait we primitive organisms seem to share," "A weakness for territoriality..." "Which not only prevents man's understanding oftheir fellow earthlings," "Their fellow beings, but of the Cosmos" "Which we are only a fraction of a part." "It's easy to think of us as isolated from the Cosmos." "A self-sufficient world minding its own business." "But all cannot be understood" "If we imagine the Earth hermetically sealed" "From the rest of the universe" "With only a little sunlight trickling in from the outside." "Out there and down here are not separate compartments." "The Sky and the Earth are one." "Each of us is a tiny being" "Permitted to ride on the outermost skin" "Of one of the smallest planets of this solar system" "And only for a few dozen trips around our local star." "Which means we each inhabit a frighteningly shallow zone" "Of environmental clemency." "However, because we are such primitive organisms" "Always striving against each other for power and supremacy," "We conquer in order to maintain a few more inches on which to stand triumphant," "But in a universe beyond measure." "Due to this territoriality," "We also streamline the destinies of weaker earthlings" "Into extinction or ruin." "And then have to audacity to claim their chosen patch" "On the surface of this sphere as our own," "If only for a brief period of time." "The longest lived organisms on Earth" "Endure for about a millionth of the age of our planet." "We're blunt, we are fleeting, transitional characters." "And our tiny, fragile world is lost in a cosmic ocean" "Vastly beyond our most courageous imaginings." "So despite all our posturing," "All our imagines of importance," "Self-congratulatory chauvinism," "Clearly, we as human beings," "Have not been given the lead in this rather epic cosmic drama." "Perhaps, someone else has." "Perhaps, no one else has." "In either case, we have good reason for humility." "If we were randomly inserted into the Cosmos," "The chance that we would find ourselves home or near a planet" "Would be less than one in a billion trillion trillion." "That's a one followed by thirty three zeros." "In everyday life, such odds are called compelling." "Worlds are precious." "Can we be trusted with our own future?" "Are we capable, if need be, of fundamental change?" "Are we wise enough to know what changes to make?" "Can we alter our character?" "Can we improve our societies and find another way to be alive?" "Or are we too entrenched in traditions?" "For it is here, and only here, on this litt e patchof raw Mother Earth," "That we are in some pain and with no guarantees..." "Working out our destiny." "The whole universe is a manifestation of energy" "Which we now know from our atom." "We are such energy." "We are made up of atoms." "But the atom emerges as a complete replica" "Of the energy structures in all forms of life..." "Cosmic." "Planetary." "Human." "Mineral." "Vegetable." "Animal." "As such, all living things are not just a chemical reaction" "But an energetic charge." "A coalescence of energy, in a field of energy," "Connected to every other thing in the world." "This is the totality of our human experience." "Of being incarnate." "Of life in the Cosmos," "Mind, body, heart and soul." "But because human beings are so preoccupied" "By an externalization of life," "By appearances, by the material and by the individual," "A sort of blindness perpetuates." "We are obscured by possession." "Possession of the moment, possession of the material and of the ego." "ARMENIAN AND GREEK ORTHODOX MONKS FIGHT" "IN THE CHURCH OF THE HOLY SEPULCHRE JERUSALEM" " ISRAEL" "Even now, as Dante said," ""What a mockery is made"" "Of this brief battle for possessions" ""That makes so short a life."" "And the disagreements that arise only lead to our break-up" "And ultimately, the rupture of humanity." "Conclusion, suffering." "So, it is precisely because we are so preoccupied" "By this externalization of life" "That we shall begin from the outside and work our way in." "We are living in an age that Nietzsche called "a period of comparisons."" "There used to be horizons that kept people apart." "Vast distances." "But technology has overcome all that." "So today, we live in an age of comparisons." "The distances in the physical world" "Have been replaced by distances in the mind." "II MIND" "The world is a projection of the ego." "And what we see as human tragedy" "Is the effect of all those egos." "The consequences of which we experience collectively as society." "The great Hindu sage, Sri Ramana," "Called our persona "the apparent actor."" "This persona is essentially the mask or appearance one projects to the world." "Basically it's the ego, whose function is to separate," "To divide into classes," "To create duality." "For the ego ideal, is to be a sole ideal." "It's all about me." "How can I win?" "How can I dominate?" "How can I impress?" "How can I be the best?" "But at the expense of what?" "This is why everything we see is a result of our thoughts." "You think you think them and so, you think you see them." "The inner world, then, is the cause of the outer world." "Therefore, in order to surrender the ego and find true peace of mind," "We have to have mutual thoughts." "There are times when this world appears" "On the brink of degenerating into massacre." "Somehow, the population has adopted a great apathy." "We see an increased apathy towards suffering," "Human and animal alike." "By definition," "Apathy reflects a lack of interest in things one does not consider important." "But where did this apathy come from?" "It's as if society is growing numb, oblivious to any equality." "Blinded by ego, by gain." "And yet, the gain of what?" "The gain of objects?" "The gain of lines on a map?" "Human beings are so selfish." "They will kill others for money, of course," "For any kind of gain." "That's a pretty common one, to value money over life." "In fact, the ego often prizes this species we call money" "Over humanity, over all expressions of life." "But how can we answer to our own conscience?" "Time is so temporary, so impermanent." "Nothing material endures." "Because only a few years of existence separate birth from death." "So this is a reality that won't last." "Therefore, there is no such thing as fame" "And fortune and power over others." "Selling out integrity for power over others is an error." "You are sacrificing it all for an illusion." "Clearly, there is within the human that which is almost reptilian," "Those who wantedly kill others for the fun of killing..." "And hasn't been eliminated and still expresses itself strongly in some people." "To witness humankind in this state," "As pieces unto themselves, is heartbreaking." "It's heartbreaking because their hearts are broken." "All strangers to the truth" "And yet, ironically, all strangers of the same blood." "Human." "If humans, in the physical sense," "Are all strangers of the same blood," "Then on the purely molecular level," "How tragically senseless or absurd" "And futile is war?" "The war of being against being." "The idea of countries or superpowers" "Willing to wipe out all human life" "At one point or another in history" "Because of political differences." "And they do it all for the planet, century after century." "Each one a jealous rival of the next." "Mankind has been at war for 95 percent of recorded history." "How many times do we have to die in war" "Before we realize how absurd it is." "The sheer irony of political leaders on both sides" "Being seriously prepared to incinerate millions of people" "Have some misguided sense of national interest." "When they were planning the mega bomb," "The idea was that if they lost the war," "They would destroy all of human life." "Actually, "mega" is a fitting term" "Because that's what you also call "megalomania."" "That's the sadistic nature of the super ego." "Power and money and control." "One succumbs to the glamor of all that." "One of the great seducers is glamor." "The glamor of success." "The glamor of prestige." "Megalomaniacs have no common sense." "Megalomaniacs don't care if their entire country gets wiped out." "That's the degree of insanity." "Megalomania, you might say," "Is the extreme opposite of what divinity would be." "They almost hate humans," "Hate humanity." "Why, then, do we put our trust in such leaders?" "Such dictators?" "The wars being waged now" "Will seem as meaningless to people a hundred years from now" "As the theological conquests of the middle ages appear to us today." "But when will human beings grasp this concept?" "What generation will come forth and mark the turning point" "Of all civilizations by eliminating war from this planet?" "This very notion of war must end" "If we are to evolve any closer to enlightenment," "Awareness, consciousness and unity." "For this reason," "Wars, once and for all, must become a thing of the past..." "And only that." "For even there," "How they pockmark human history." "Therefore, our desire should be to never experience war again." "19th century civilians" "Couldn't possibly fathom the wars to come in the 20th century," "Wherein millions would die." "A very high price to pay." "But for us, now, in the 21st century," "We can only look back somberly and acknowledge" "It has already been paid." "If only we could go back in time and somehow warn" "Our 19th century ancestors of the wars ahead," "The terrible wars to come." ""Which wars?" they'd ask." ""Against whom?"" "When speaking of human history" "We recount the rise and fall of nations and ideas." "Or as historians Will and Ariel Durant surmised," "We tell sad stories of the death of kings." "Is it possible that, after all, human history has no sense?" "That it teaches us nothing?" "And that the immense past" "Is only the weary rehearsal..." "Of the mistakes that the future is destined to make..." "On a larger stage and scale." "It's almost as if, in our struggles for power," "We are actually confronted by the threat of peace." "Why can't we seem to share power peacefully" "And get back to the basic things that matter?" "Sadly, too often, the only thing we do share" "Is our distrust of one another." "During the Mutiny on the Bounty," "Fletcher Christian hoped to avert disaster," "Beseeching his crew by saying," ""We have only to persuade society of something they already know."" ""That inhumanity is its poorest servant."" "What else is there to be served by war?" ""This wind of destruction?"" "For soldier and civilian alike," "The sight of war, it's bloodshed," "Death and destruction." "Is a shock from which you recover only slowly," "If at all." "War is not neutral" "And does not permit us to remain neutral." "Whomever sees war quakes," "Mysteriously shaken to the core." "War has been part of civilization for so long," "It's like a creature with some dark origin we cannot fathom." "It is as though the framework of war itself sees and hears." "The mechanism understands," "Has its own will." "In the hideous nightmare it projects across the soul," "The awful apparition of war fuses with its terrible work." "War is the accomplice of the executioner." "It devours, eats flesh and drinks blood." "War is a sort of monster created by judges, politicians," "Generals and civilians." "A specter that seems to live with an unspeakable vitality" "Drawn from all the death it has brought over the centuries." "Those were Victor Hugo's words, paraphrased," "When riding at the battle of Waterloo." "They seem applicable to any war" "And also portray a relevance years ahead of their time." "Why, with all our technology and wisdom," "All our religions, our 12-step programs and self help books," "Why are we still such savages?" "Are we not all earthlings," "Each and every one of us?" "Energy, bodies," "And as for the human race, all connected by the same human blood" "And therefore, all kin." "There is a level of consciousness which we all share," "In so much as we all share a human body..." "Even with the dogs and cats and mammals and vertebrae..." "Because we all share an animal body." "Why, then,we all share the impulses that animals have?" "To speak." "To reproduction." "To aggression." "And winning through." "For they are also clinging to life," "Begetting," "Building nests," "Making their way." "Sometimes, life is monstrous..." "And there is often a sense of horror." "What is it that life does, it has to kill and eat other life?" "An eternal treadmill of living by killing." "The whole world is involved in slaughter and bloodshed." "And we have all been part of a vast interlocking, murdering machine." "And the slain will have to rot..." "And give their blood here..." "In the merciless soil." "As Henry Miller stated," ""It only indicates our persistence" "In the primitiveness of self-interest."" "So what can we hope from this killing of life," "This killing of kin?" "Men still tear one another to pieces." "Humanity against humanity, for the sake of humanity." "What logic is there in this living by killing?" "How can we care for power, pleasure, our own lives even," "When all those others, kinsmen," "Civilians, humans and earthlings alike, must perish?" "How can we dare spill the blood that unites us?" "The destruction of war impacts all life," "Human, animal, tree." "War is the ultimate collapse of unity." "For in our effort to defend the rights of some," "We assault the rights of others." "This has been the formula throughout the history of man." ""The arc of human history is long,"" "Lamented Dr. King," ""But it bends towards justice."" "Indeed, to look back at the history of human rights" "Is a long, unbroken line." "Here the most frightful, vengeful massacres" "Have been perpetrated again and again" "Throughout the endless, bloody past of man." "At first, there were no rights, human or otherwise." "If you were in with the right crowd, you were safe." "But if you weren't, then you weren't." "Until a man named Cyrus the Great decided to change all that." "After conquering Babylon, he did something completely revolutionary." "He announced that all slaves were free to go." "He also said people had the freedom to choose their religion," "No matter what crowd they were a part of." "They documented these words on a clay tablet known as" ""The Cyrus Cylinder."" "That was the birth of human rights." "The idea spread quickly to Greece, to India and eventually to Rome." "They noticed that people naturally follow certain laws," "Even if they weren't told to." "They called this "natural law,"" "But it kept getting trampled by those in power." "Not until a thousand years later, in England," "Did a king agree that no one can overrule the rights of the people." "Not even the king." "People's rights were finally recognized" "And they were now safe from those in power." "Almost." "It still required a group of British rebels" "Declaring their independence" "Before the King realized that all men were created equal." "This isn't to say he liked the idea, but he couldn't stop them." "Thus, America was born." "The French immediately followed with their own revolution for their own rights." "Their list was even longer" "And they insisted that these rights weren't just made up," "They were natural." "The Roman concept of natural law had become natural rights." "Unfortunately, not everyone agreed." "In France, a general named Napoleon decided to overthrow the new French democracy" "And crown himself Emperor of the world." "He almost succeeded." "But the countries of Europe joined forces and defeated him." "Human rights were again recognized" "And they drew up international agreements" "Broadly granting many rights across Europe." "But only across Europe." "Somehow, the rest of the world still didn't qualify." "Instead they were invaded, conquered and consumed by Europe's massive empires." "Until, like Cyrus the Great," "A young man from India decided to change all that too." "His name was Mahatma Gandhi." "And in the face of violence he insisted that all people of Earth had rights," "Not just in Europe." "Eventually, even Europeans started to agree that this was not easy." "Two world wars erupted." "Hitler exterminated half the Jewish population of Earth" "In horrifying Nazi death camps." "All totaled, 90 million people died." "Never had human rights been so terrifyingly close to extinction." "And never, had the world been more desperate for change." "Accordingly, the countries of Earth banded together and formed the United Nations." "Their basic purpose was to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights in the dignity and worth of the human person"" "But what were these human rights?" "Were they the proclamation of Cyrus, the natural laws of Rome," "The declarations of France?" "Everyone seemed to have a slightly different idea of what human rights should be." "However, under the supervision of Eleanor Roosevelt," "They finally agreed on a set of rights that applied to absolutely everyone." "The Universal declaration of human rights." "The French concept of natural rights had finally become human rights." "So, to summarize, first only the fortunate ones had any rights," "Until one person decided that other people should have rights as well." "Except, not everyone agreed." "And it took a few thousand years of fighting," "And declarations and more fighting," "Until everyone finally concluded that human rights should apply to all." "And one would think they all lived happily ever after,except for one problem." "If people have the right to food and shelter," "Why are 16,000 children dying of starvation everyday?" "One every five seconds." "If people have freedom of speech," "Why are thousands in prison for speaking their minds?" "If people have the right to education," "Why are over a billion adults unable to read?" "If slavery has truly been abolished," "Why are 27 million people still enslaved today?" "The fact is, when it was signed," "The universal declaration of human rights" "Did not have the force of law." "It was optional." "And despite many more documents, conventions,treaties and laws," "It's still little more than words on a page." "So, the question is, who will make those words a reality?" "I have a dream today." "When Dr. King marched for racial equality, he was marching for rights" "That had been guaranteed by the United Nations for almost two decades." "But still, he marched." "When Nelson Mandela stood up for social justice in the 1990s," "His country had already agreed to abolish such discrimination for nearly 40 years." "But still he fought." "Those who fight today against torture, poverty and discrimination" "Are not giants or superheroes." "They are people." "Kids, mothers,fathers and teachers." "They are freethinking individuals who refuse to be silent." "Who realize that human rights are not a history lesson." "They are not words on a page." "As Eleanor Roosevelt said," ""Where after all do universal human rights begin?" "In small places, close to home."" "Throughout human history,whenever there is a growing concern about rights," "Natural rights, women's rights," "Civil, equal, animal, environmental," "The right to life, the right to choose and so on." "It's because of a growing concern about oppression." "Oppression and dominion are due to the pridefulness of the ego" "Which wants to be better than another." "But all that exists, loves its life and just wants to be." "When you look in the eyes of another being," "You can see that it loves its life." "That it is." "That it knows that others are." "You can see that it loves its life to the same degree that you love yours." "So, we may think of ourselves as egos on this planet." "But actually we are all just a part of this universal process." "This Cosmos of which we are all but morsels." "The Earth is an energy system." "Every drop has microscopic life in it." "Except we, who live on Earth at present," "Are not provided with our own inner source of energy." "So we are energy dependent and have to constantly acquire." "Each of us is built in a mysterious way," "A human body out of a couple of little cells in our mother's womb." "But this is not something we do consciously." "And these bodies have complex organs" "Specifically directed towards certain aims and intentions." "Yet none of these are designed by our reason," "Our ego or by our consciousness." "Furthermore, none of these organs even asks consciousness" "What they are functioning for." "It being a job of consciousness forever," "To discover what this body is all about." "Consciousness, as we know it," "Typically comes much later in life" "And as other notions of how things ought to be," "What virtue is, and so forth." "That is the meaning of being incarnate." "Consciousness embodied in flesh." "So then, how should we nourish these bodies" "Encircling our consciousness?" "III BODY" "Well, for starters we know that we are what we eat." "When it comes to nutrition, we now know," "That everything you eat and drink has an effect on your mind and body." "To state the startling fact right off," "It is almost an accepted consequence of modern life" "That we will succumb to some type of degenerative illness" "Sooner than we would expect." "That's the karma of protoplasm." "Everyone wants to have more energy, of course." "But one particular function of the human body demands a great deal of energy." "And that is the digestion of food." "As Harvey Diamond outlines, we need to understand the effect" "Food has on the length and quality of one's life." "And inform people how to eliminate the cause of their health problems," "Rather than constantly battle the effects of" "Violating these natural laws that govern our bodies." "Simply put, any food the body can't use" "Becomes toxic and becomes waste." "Isn't it interesting that we eat in such a way" "As to not cleanse but pollute our bodies." "We actually eat in such a way as to clog them." "That's why there are so many heart bypass operations per year." "Because people's arteries are so clogged." "Just consider all the mammals." "Have you ever seen a fat tiger or a koala in the wild?" "Have you ever seen animals in nature" "That have lost their teeth and use false teeth to eat?" "Or have hearing aids to hear?" "Or have glasses so they can see?" "Or are wearing toupees because they went bald?" "Or have pacemakers to make their hearts pump?" "Or dialysis machines for their kidneys?" "Have you ever heard of a million animals in a year dying of heart disease?" "Or Cancer?" "Or strokes?" "Or Diabetes?" "Animals in nature are magnificently healthy" "In comparison to the health that we humans experience." "Their bodies are not clogged and they are not overweight." "That is why they experience a state of physical health much superior than ours." "Since meat is generally thought to be the most ideal source of protein," "Think of some of the most strongest animals on the planet." "Elephants, oxen," "Horses, mules," "Camels, water buffalo." "And what do they eat?" "Leafy matter, grass and fruit." "All nutritive material is formed in the plant kingdom." "That is why all the animals have strength." "Particularly those whose strength we harness,have all the protein they need." "And as such, it is far more important for us to think in terms of" "How much fruit or vegetables we are going to eat during the day" "Than how much protein." "But here is the real truth." "Because we eat animals, they end up killing us" "After we've killed them." "In essence, the human loses." "He loses when he wins." "He dies when he kills." "The heart is at the center of it all." "Therefore heart disease points to what?" "Food as the culprit." "Food that cannot be eliminated." "So, on one hand, we have food industries" "And even governments, claiming the benefits of eating meat." "And on the other, we have our common sense" "Finding that point of view very hard to swallow." "Literally." "One could even argue that humans do all they can" "To actually make meat look more like fruit." "They alter its texture, change its shape," "Sweeten it, make it smoother," "Rounder." "We even reintroduce smells of the Earth back into the meat" "By seasoning it with herbs, all of which come from plants." "The same could even be said for the processing of dairy products." "All mammals take milk from their mothers during infancy." "But then they are weaned and spend the remainder of their lives" "Sustained by other foods." "Nature dictates that we are to be weaned at an early age." "Humans, however, are the only species on Earth" "Who continue drinking milk after infancy." "And what's stranger still is that we don't drink our own milk." "But rather the milk of another species." "We much prefer drinking cow's milk" "Even though it's intended for baby cows." "Like humans,cows only produce milk when they have babies." "But to us, the babies are byproducts." "Millions and millions of them each year." "And we don't want all those babies." "So, we take their mother's milk for ourselves..." "And all the baby cows are killed, if not used to make more milk." "This is how one affects the other." "So what does compassion for animals" "Have to do with being conscious or being loving?" "Such compassion actually crosses species lines." "That's because consciousness is when we feel the suffering of every creature" "In our own hearts." "That is our relationship to the harmony of being." "That is awakening." "So this is why the question of consciousness is being raised," "In how we feed the body." "Joseph Campbell taught that the primal image of life" "Is all too often this massive, consuming monster." "Which would not even be here if we are not consuming life." "Or let's put it in another way." "Relying on death," "Living by killing." "If the definition of incarnate is consciousness embodied in flesh," "Then, as protoplasm, are we not here" "To evolve beyond the primal function?" "Leonardo Da Vinci stated," ""The time will come when man shall look upon the murder of animals" "As they now look upon the murder of men."" "That was 500 years ago." "Henry David Thoreau suggested that," ""It is part of the destiny of the human race"" "In its gradual improvement" "To leave off eating animals" "As surely as the savage tribes," ""Have left off eating each other."" "That was 150 years ago." "Martin Luther King Jr." "Expressed that," ""One day, the absurdity of the almost universal belief"" "In the slavery of other animals will be palpable." "We shall then have discovered our souls" ""And become worthier of sharing this planet with them."" "And that was less than 50 years ago." "And so we must reconcile consciousness..." "To this rather monstrous, self consuming thing..." "And not remain on the primitive level indefinitely." "This is what we call metamorphosis." "This is how we evolve beyond the once primal image of life..." "Wherein, living by killing is transformed..." "Into living by loving." "IV HEART" "To all of humankind's difficulties, problems," "Confusion and anguish." "Krishnamurti discloses that most of us want the security of loving and being loved." "But what is love?" "Everybody talks of love." "Every magazine and newspaper and every missionary" "Talks of everlasting love." ""I love my country."" ""I love my king."" ""I love some book."" ""I love that mountain."" ""I love pleasure."" ""I love my wife."" ""I love God."" "Is love an idea?" "The church has defined it in one way, society another." "Adoring someone, sleeping with someone," "The emotional exchange, the companionship." "Is that what we mean by love?" "Can love be divided into the sacred and the profane?" "The human and the divine?" "Or is there only love?" "Is love of the one" "And not of a many?" "If I say "I love you,"" "Does that exclude the love of anyone else?" "Is love personal or impersonal?" "Moral or immoral?" "Family or non-family?" "All these questions indicate, don't they," "That we have ideas about love." "Ideas about what it should or shouldn't be." "A pattern or a code developed by the culture in which we live." "One might ask, why is it that obscenity" "Is always connected to sex" "Instead of to war and even bigotry?" "The government says," ""Go and kill for the love of your country."" "Is that love?" "Religion says, "Give up sex for the love of God."" "Is that love?" "Is love desire?" "For most of us, it is desire with pleasure." "The pleasure that is derived through the senses." "This belonging to another," "Being psychologically nourished by another," "Depending on another." "In all this there must always be anxiety," "Fear, jealousy, guilt." "And so long as there is fear," "There is no love." "And so love is not to do with pleasure and desire." "Don't you know now what it really means to love somebody?" "To love without hate," "Without jealousy, without anger," "Without wanting to interfere with what he or she is doing..." "Or thinking." "Without condemning." "Without comparing." "Where there is love, is there comparison?" "When you love someone with all your heart," "With your entire mind," "With all your body," "With your entire being," "Is there comparison to something else?" "No." "Because there is nothing else." "When you totally abandon yourself to that love," "There is not the other." "It's non-dual." "It's unity." "Really, to care is to care as you would for a tree" "Or a plant." "Watering it, studying its needs, the best soil for it." "Looking after it with gentleness and tenderness." "The world is an educational institution." "And every creature in it is trying to learn a lesson." "Now what is the lesson to be learned?" "The lesson to be learned is egolessness." "To quench ego." "To cancel the noise of eye and mind." "This is my body," "These are my thoughts," "These are my words," "This is my country, etcetera." "My tears," "My family," "My nation," "My belief," "My religion." "All that ugliness," "It is all inside you." "In this torn, desert world, there is no love," "Because pleasure and desire play the greatest roles." "Yet without love, your daily life has no meaning." "And you cannot have love if there is no beauty." "Beauty is not something you see." "Not a beautiful tree," "A beautiful picture," "A beautiful building" "Or a beautiful woman." "There is beauty only when your heart and mind know what love is." "You can see all this happening inside yourself if you watch it." "You can see in a moment the whole structure in nature," "This shoddy little thing called "me."" "When you see it with your heart, not with your mind," "When you see it from the very bottom of your heart," "Then you have the key that will end sorrow." "So when you ask what love is," "You may be too frightened to see the answer." "That fear is not love." "Dependence is not love." "Jealousy is not love." "Possessiveness and domination are not love." "Responsibility and duty are not love." "Self pity is not love." "The agony of not being loved is not love." "So, if you can eliminate all these," "Not by forcing them" "But by washing them away," "As the rain washes the dust of many days from a leaf." "Then perhaps you will come upon a strange flower," "Which man always hungers after." "To find this extraordinary thing" "That man has sought endlessly" "Through sacrifice," "Through worship," "Through relationship," "Through sex," "Through every form of pleasure and pain" "Is only possible" "When thought comes to understand itself" "And comes naturally to an end." "After all, the first separation is within our thoughts." "But as Eckhart Tolle wrote," ""At the heart of consciousness"" "Lies the transcendence of thought." "A new found ability of rising above thought," "Or realizing a dimension within ourselves" ""That is infinitely more vast than thought."" "Then love has no opposite." "Then love has no conflict." "It means that you are not seeking," "Not wanting," "Not pursuing." "There is no center at all." "Then, there is love." "And that's how you find it." "Krishnamurti concluded by saying," ""You know intellectually"" "That the unity of humankind is essential..." ""And that love is the only way."" "This is the universal principle of compassion." "Out of many," "One." "After all, what is the meaning of life" "If not to elevate our level of consciousness?" "Was it only to have a family?" "To list one's accomplishments or to seek advancement?" "Was there some enterprise we had sought to master?" "Was it only being a success in the eyes of the world?" "Was it all pursuit of fame?" "Killing ourselves for recognition?" "Are we only addicted to attention," "Glory, pleasure seeking?" "Was progress our only obsession?" "Consuming things our defining quality?" "More capital, more comforts." "It's not that these things are wrong, but what is the real meaning of life?" "To be an air-breather?" "What is the average mortality table of human beings anyway?" "80, 85 years?" "So with all that getting, yet understanding." "Because the only achievement we take with us when we die" "Is our level of consciousness, nothing else." "V SOUL" "What does this vast and mysterious universe of ours" "Have to do with the human struggle," "Our conflicts, our wars?" "What does war, for that matter, have to do with what we consume?" "Moreover, what does consumption have to do with unconditional love?" "And what does love, in fact," "What does any of this really have to do with energy" "Or states of higher consciousness or unity?" "Are these not separate issues," "Separate pieces," "Separate compartments?" "Or are they all interrelated within the fabric of mortal life?" "Across the cosmic horizon," "Space is expanding faster than the speed of light." "And though we come out of space, out of the universe," "Our physical lives are fleeting." "How can this be?" "Reason demands a better answer" "And that answer is given." "Our life of Earth has only one aim and purpose," "To identify our physical bodies with our energy bodies." "The physical self with the eternal self," "That part of us which will never cease to exist." "It's as if life is a collage" "Of all the things that ever existed." "And when it's our turn to go into the afterlife," "All that remains is this question..." "What is the purpose of this existence?" "Is it mystery, is it meaninglessness?" "And upon reflection of our experience in this life," "Between ego and consciousness," "What of this have we abandoned and what have we deepened?" "What, beyond all these experiences, have we come to discover about ourselves?" "About one another." "And in light of all this," "What difference has it made?" "The sky is still blue." "A second is still a second." "What change has occurred?" "Babies all come into this world with nothing" "And exude pure joy in their nothingness." "Their total lack." "It's as if the essence of every creature" "Is eternal joy." "They have no guile." "Their thoughts are only neutral." "And similarly, in old age," "They leave this world with nothing." "But this time, hardened, cynical," "More bitter." "And yet, the sky remains blue" "And a second is still a second." "So what really changes over a lifetime?" "There are two incontrovertible facets of life" "That all of us must come to accept, sooner or later." "First, the integration of our consciousness to physical existence." "Or in other words, birth." "And second," "The withdrawing of consciousness from physical existence." "That is so say, death." "But, even though all our knowledge and experience may be limited" "To this material existence" "And only these five senses," "We can still not believe that what we truly are" "Or all that we are, is limited in the same way." "Why do we have this conception of ourselves," "Of something deeper within us" "That is non-biological, immortal," "Even spiritual?" "And if so, then this true spiritual nature" "Emphasizes the underlining unity of all forms of life." "In essence, it's the golden rule..." "To do unto others." "Well, define others." "But the answer is, any expressions of life." "Why is it then, that so many people," "Even spiritual people," "Are not convinced that all beings deserve moral consideration." "We want to save the whales and the dolphins" "And the harp seals, for instance." "But cows, chickens and pigs, not so much." "Why is any group of beings left out?" "There can be only one reason." "Perceptions." "And how does this perception not mirror itself in society?" "These beings we are known to have empathy for." "But these beings we don't consider important" "And have apathy for instead." "Yet, this emotion we call compassion," "Is the recognition that you and the other are one," "Not separate." "Such compassion may as well be regarded as scientific evidence" "That we are indeed spiritual beings on a deeper level..." "Beyond these five senses and beyond the laws of biology," "Beyond protoplasm." "And the awakening of that compassion are all expressions of life," "We might say, is the virgin birth within you." "Survival, then, is the second law of life." "The first is that we are all one." "Millions of people are already striving for peace," "For equality, for the animals," "For the environment, for the trees, for penguins," "For the sea, for the Earth." "Millions of earthlings are pacifists already waking, singing," "Reducing suffering, acting consciously," "Positively reconnecting themselves with nature." "For universal responsibility," "Realizing and recognizing that all turn into one." "Into one nation Earth." "For we only have one Earth, even though we are consuming the resources" "Equivalent to four Earths everyday." "So now, we must ask ourselves, "Why do we fight?"" "For oil, water, food, money," "Power, land, climate," "Reserves, religion, resources, rights?" "Consciousness ensues from goodwill" "For the genuine welfare and happiness of others" "As opposed to viewing the world at large as a gain-seeking transaction." "It used to take thousands of years for humankind to develop." "But millenniums became centuries and centuries are becoming decades." "This gives us hope." "We are the universe and the nebula and the galaxy" "And the solar system and the planet" "And the being and the atom." "All one." "So we can transcend all these positionalities" "And that is "Homo Spiritus,"" "Which we call a being with an advanced and full spiritual awareness." "This is the evolution of consciousness from the earliest forms of man." "The Cro-magnon," "The Neanderthal," "Homo Erectus, and eventually, Homo Sapiens." "Which, due to the emergence of the frontal cortex literally translates as," ""Man, the wise."" "Next, is the evolution of consciousness," "From an animal brain to an etheric brain" "Allowing for greater empathy and understanding." "It's a new branch of human evolution, wherein the dragon, ego," "That has kept man small, fearful and separate,falls away." "We begin processing things differently than any of our hominid predecessors." "Finally crossing over that critical line from" "Destruction into construction." "This is the emergence of Homo Spiritus,the awakened man." "The highest levels of consciousness achievable in physical form." "In short, that is compassion." "No duality." "And so, there must be something of divinity within each being." "Something infinite." "An energy." "A consciousness." "So then, what are we really questing for, beyond territoriality?" "It is the fulfillment of what is potential in ourselves." "Our true selves." "It is not an ego trip." "There is nothing you can do that is more important than being fulfilled." "You become a sign, you become a signal," "And it has nothing to do with your persona" "Or the mask that society puts upon you." "Mortal life, then, is a metamorphosis." "A transition from the abject..." "To the angelic." "From the wretched to the divine." "Therefore, we show kindness and sympathy" "To all living things and all sentient beings." "Each of us is a vehicle through which consciousness operates." "And not only are each of us such instruments," "But even animals and trees are." "There is consciousness there." "There is sensitivity there." "You can see a plant turn towards the sun all by itself." "That is a manifestation of consciousness." "And so, how does one put one's mind" "To a state of identity with this consciousness?" "We've simply got to evolve beyond any act" "That involves the destruction of any life." "No more war, no more racism." "No more sexism." "No more speciesism." "No more opposite intensities." "What we really need is to gather all the different tribes" "And crossover into each other's realms." "And then do away with the tribes all together." "Because when all Earth's one," "There will no longer be a need for tribes." "No longer a need for organizations." "Organizations form groups..." "And groups create parts." "And parts are not unity." "Because all causality," "All theology, all science," "And all religion are still in a dualistic frame of mind." "If God is indeed infinite," "Then spiritual reality means there is no holy land" "Or promised land," "No geological favoritism," "No Bodhi tree, or Mecca," "Or Jerusalem or Vatican," "Or Salt lake city." "No group outside of which there is no salvation." "No special races, cultures or chosen people." "This separation from wholeness is the only lack in this world of ours." "The universe is there..." "Here, all around us." "It is in being, it is in process." "And we, in all our disequilibrium," "Are learning to accord with this process." "And, to have compassion with all that lives," "To suffer the sorrow of every creature within our own hearts." "The next item is eating live fish." "How does one prepare it?" "Get ready..." "Set ..." "Go!" "He took one minutes 29 seconds" "Thanks to the most eficient chef" "The fish mouth has to move or the chef fails." "Harmonious relationships come from compassion with suffering" "And understanding of the other being..." "In whatever form they have taken in this life." "The spectrum of life in this planet is multitudinous." "And so we must evolve beyond separation based on form," "Beyond perceiving opposites," "Beyond dualities" "And the primal image of life." "Remember,the very definition of universe means," ""All turned into one."" "That is why we call it metamorphosis." "A child becomes the parent." "The acorn becomes the mighty oak." "The caterpillar becomes the butterfly." "And the primal human being..." "Becomes enlightened." "So instead of a limited race, a universal, limitless all." "We must go beyond these pairs of opposites." "As we evolve closer and closer to Homo Spiritus," "We become attracted to that which is benign." "We increase in sensitivity." "We think a kind thought for all the world." "Because unity is compassion for all things." "It's a more powerful level of consciousness," "Because one's conscious level is more consistent" "With every expression of life." "Humanity is more than a unity." "It is a complete unit." "And combined with all conscious life," "All earthlings, all beings, it is a great unit." "No one part or one unit" "Can be separated from the whole." "Human," "Animal," "Or tree." "Not the same, but equal." "WATER FIRE BIRTH DEATH" "WOMAN MAN RICH POOR" "GAY STRAIGHT BLACK WHITE" "FAT THIN HERBIVORE CARNIVORE" "SUN MOON LOVE HATE" "PEACE WAR MONK TERRORIST" "BIOHAZARD RECYCLE" "ART COMERCE" "RELIGION EVOLUTION CREATION" "GANDHI HITLER PROSTITUTE NUN" "CHINA TIBET CATHOLIC PROTESTANT" "ISRAEL PALESTINA SUNNI SHIITE" "HUTU TUTSI" "SERB CROAT" "REPUBLICAN DEMOCRAT POLITICS RELIGION" "TAOIST SIKH SHINTO BAHAI" "HINDU BUDDHIST CHRISTIAN MUSLIM JEW GENTILE" "GOD DEVIL" "RAMA SHIVA KRISHNA" "ABRAHAM MOSES" "BUDDHA JESUS MOHAMMED" "BIBLE CORAN TALMUD" "GITA" "UNIVERSE EARTHLING" "NATURE ANIMAL" "HUMANITY" "UNITY"