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Tools For Conscious Awareness
Newsletter For
A Next Step...Light Center for Transformation and Healing
Vol. 104 -Addendum- May, 2009
In Truth, Simplicity, Love and Service
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FEATURES:
THE GREAT INVOCATION
COMING OUT OF THE DARK
CHAOTIC NODES
YOUR STUFF
A RESTAURANT WITH NO CHECKS
MASS COUNTERFEITING OF AMERICAN COINS
COUNTERFEITING SIGNIFICANT TO CHINAS OVERALL ECONOMY
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JAI MAHAMAYA KI JAI!
JAGADAMBE MATA KI JAI!
VICTORY TO THE DIVINE MOTHER!!
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Enlightenment is not imagining figures of light, but making the dark conscious.
Carl Jung
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Sometimes were forced in directions that we ought to have found ourselves.
Lionel the butler in Maid in Manhattan
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From the point of Light
within the mind of God
Let Light stream forth into our Minds
Let Light descend on Earth
From the point of Love
within the Heart of God
Let Love stream forth into your Hearts
May Love increase on Earth
From the Center where the Will of God is known
Let Purpose guide our Wills
The Purpose which the Masters know and Serve
From the Center
which we call Humanity
Let the Plan of Love and Light workout
And may it seal the Door where evil dwells
Let Light and Love and Power
Restore the Plan on Earth
Let Light and Love and Power
Restore the Plan on Earth
Let Light and Love and Power
Restore The Planet Earth
Buddha/Christ Full Moon: Wesak
Enjoy the Sacredness!
Send prayer intentions.
ONS
M
Thank you Marge!
Why be afraid if Im not alone
Though life is never easy the rest in unknown
Up to now for me its been hands against stone
Spent each and every moment
Searching for what to believe
(chorus)
Coming out of the dark, I finally see the light now
Its shining on me
Coming out of the dark, I know the love that saved me
Youre sharing with me
Starting again is part of the plan
And Ill be so much stronger holding your hand
Step by step Ill make it through I know I can
It may not make it easier but I have felt you
Near all the way
(repeat chorus)
Forever, forever I stand on the rock of your love
Forever Ill stand on the rock
Forever, forever I stand on the rock of your love
Love is all it takes, no matter what we face
(chorus out)
Gloria and Aretha singing it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUZTYlj0lSo&NR=1
.
"I AM a being of violet fire!
I AM the purity of God desires!"
(Saint Germain)
This seems an important and exciting Article by Tom Kenyon, Hathors,
posted April 27, 2009 about "Chaotic Nodes" and good news. Here are
the first few sentences:
" Any energetic system that shifts to higher or lower orders of coherency
passes through chaotic events in its journey to a new resting energy state.
Your earth is no exception to this.
With this in mind, we anticipate a planetary increase in chaotic events.
By this we mean that a large-scale chaotic event(s) is near. We call such
events, Chaotic Nodes. They are a precursor to geometric progressions of
chaotic events, and you are at the threshold of such a node.
Chaotic Nodes are actually crests in quantum wave potential driven by the
interaction of many energetic domains simultaneously.
Lets take a look at water as a metaphor for what we are discussing, and
then we would like to extrapolate this to your world situation."
Looks like REAlly good times to me! Check out the full article!
http://tomkenyon.com/chaotic-nodes
How much stuff do you surround yourself with? Go ahead take a look around your computer and the room where your computer is set up. Now go room by room in your home, apt. , office and NOTICE what furniture, appliances, shelves, objects de arte, etc. have you placed around yourself. As you do this room by room also NOTICE how looking at what surrounds you makes you feel.
Are you pleased by what you see-feel? Does looking at your surroundings and the things in your surroundings make you feel happy, joyful, satisfied, grateful, sad, melancholy, annoyed, confused, depressed, etc.? Do you find yourself not feeling much? Are you numb to your environment?
We have become such a consumer oriented society
that buying just for the sake of buying
useful or not
things to fill our cabinets, closets, homes with is a major occupation and preoccupation. We expend a lot of our precious energy buying to have. We also do the very same thing with having to have
antiques, aunt Matildas old trunk, etc. etc. Why do we do this? I feel it is SO WE CAN PRETEND TO FEEL SAFE AND LOVED. Some of us cushion ourselves with stuff
like a protective buffer.
Some of us cling to things like we cling to people because we are really good clingers. The act of clinging can create for us patterns of stuckness and stop the flow of our natural harmonic resonance with life. My good friend Leonard Orr, father of the Rebirthing movement discovered that pain gets created by clinging to a negative thought.
And many in the metaphysical mind set will be quick to say, Oh, but I am not my thoughts! Say it all you will dear ones. Most of us have been conditioned by our emotional thoughts and many of them while unconscious, remain secure in our subconscious patterning which runs a lot of shows and lives
.that is until we consciously become aware of them and seek to transform them.
Dr. Richard Schulze of The American Botanical Pharmacy has a lot of stories to tell about people he worked with who were stuck in illness and other issues. He knows his formulas and programs for detox and prevention can reclaim health back from any dis-ease. But a few of his clients did not seem to improve with his regimens. With these people, he actually went into their homes to find the cause of their stuckness.
Having done quite a lot of inner work himself, Dr. Schulze would go into their homes and feel for the culprit keeping his patient caught in dis-ease. In one home, he found a diploma for a degree hanging in a prominent place on a wall. This degree, while struggled for, was a trophy of a career that was never brought to fruition
but it was a daily reminder of a sacrifice and a regret
for it had been achieved to please a parent and not the individual. And yes, she screamed as he tore it from the wall and smashed it into a hundred pieces and then she healed.
Another woman had a locked bedroom that was filled with baby things and baby furniture
for a child that did not live long. She had maintained it as a memorial to a dead child. She really got upset and hysterical when he started throwing the things out of a second story window. AND, of course she healed quickly thereafter.
Dr. Schulze is a big guy and is rather dramatic, but it is a point well taken. We must be willing to free ourselves from the past that binds us and we must be willing to give up that which hold us back. Dr. Schulze recommends we go thru our possessions at least once a year and give or throw away what we dont use.
Actually, he used to say, Give away 1/3 of your stuff every year.
My recommendation is that you start psychologically to prepare yourself and give away that which you are ready to part with. If you force yourself to let go of things, you may become regretful and feel loss. On the other hand if you are not willing to give up that which is just taking up space in your life, you might need to see-feel how very much your possessions own you and how they are taking up a lot of your energy. Psychic debris--piles and boxes of unused things can really slow you down and clutter your thinking and energy body.
The Native Americans have a beautiful tradition called the GiveAway. The Give Away is an empowering act
in it they give away everything to free themselves. They do not stay free of things for long AND the willingness to do it, is so very liberating. Could you do this?
I thought it rather magnificent that buying and spending are down in this country. It is too bad that a recession has to be the reason why. A desire for a higher consciousness and a return back to what is really important like family, relationship to the land and each other would bring us eventually back to ourselves instead of to the things we possess.
If you are not offended by the four letter s word by George Carlin and even if you have seen it before, the youtube piece by him on stuff brings home some of what this article refers to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvgN5gCuLac
JUST SO WONDERFUL!!! THIS IS WHAT OUR FUTURE WILL LOOK LIKE, EXCEPT THERE WON'T BE ANY NEED FOR MONEY ANYMORE... THE OFFERING TO ALL OF THIS FREE NETWORKING SERVICE IS IN THE SAME SPIRIT...
Forwarded by Mark Graffis (mgraffis@gmail.com)
From: http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/1025/p20s01-ussc.html
A restaurant with no checks
At the Karma Kitchen in Berkeley, Calif., customers pay what they want - including nothing - for a meal.
By Paul Van Slambrouck | Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor
from the October 25, 2007 edition
Berkeley, Calif. - Patrons of Karma Kitchen don't need to fight for the check at the end of a meal. There isn't one. Instead, the "guests" of this restaurant are handed a gold envelope with a handwritten note on the outside that says, "Have a lovely evening." Inside a bookmarker-sized card states: "In the spirit of generosity, someone who came before you made a gift of this meal. We hope you will continue the circle of giving in your own way!"
On a sun-splashed, late-summer evening along Berkeley's Telegraph Avenue, the street musicians are in full flight, students laden with books hunt for cafes with seats and Internet access, and strollers have that aimless Saturday-evening gait.
Here at Karma Kitchen, though, things are starting to buzz. By 6 p.m., most of the seats in the small, yellow-walled restaurant are taken, and the noise level is rising above the background sitar music. But some of the most interesting conversations are taking place at the doorway as the maitre d' greets customers.
"Have you been here before or heard about Karma Kitchen?" asks Viral Mehta, one of the restaurant founders and greeter for the evening. Two young professional women say they've heard about it, but invite further explanation. Mr. Mehta obliges: "Your meal has in effect been paid for by someone before you, and you are free to leave whatever you like when you are done. All of us working here are volunteers and are providing this in the spirit of service."
One of the women, a gerontologist who works with the disabled, is visibly moved. The other woman nods. "OK, so we either volunteer or we make a donation, right?" "Well," pauses Mehta, "actually you could do both or neither. It is all up to you."
Ground rules set, the two take a table, blending into a mix of young families with children, students, and a surprising number of out-of-towners, many of whom have heard of the restaurant by word of mouth. What they all have in common is that they are taking part in an experiment, one particularly fitting for this antiestablishment university town.
The sound bite for this restaurant is that meals cost whatever you want to pay, starting at zero. But the real idea beneath it runs deeper than the cost of a dinner. "This is about creating a shift in perspective," says Mehta. "It's a very simple shift but the shift is fundamental. It is a shift from transaction to trust. From a contract to a compact. From being separate to creating community."
While too puny to regard as any serious challenge to Western economics, this restaurant fits loosely into a smattering of activities across the country and abroad that operate under the principles of the "gift economy." They range from fledgling filmmakers like Smooth Feather Productions in New York (which uses volunteer artists to make films free for individuals and groups) to meditation camps to new forms of music distribution (Radiohead this month offered its latest music as a digital download on the Internet, priced at whatever the customer wants to pay).
The common principles are volunteerism, no pleas for funds, and a view that these activities are not about changing the world. Rather, as Smooth Feather founder Silas Haggerty notes on his website: "We do small things, change ourselves not the world."
The ethos behind "gift economy" activities is to offer goods in the spirit of service with the conviction that the act, if genuine and without strings, will be self-sustaining. Put simply, a service or product is offered with the assumption that the act of giving is its own reward, and that it is likely to generate more giving in an ever-enriching circle.
The economics of this can work in mysterious ways, or not at all. None of Karma Kitchen's founders, for instance, would have bet on support from a cab driver who brought a group of out-of-towners to the restaurant's door a few weeks ago. After hearing about Karma's credo from his passengers, the cabbie gave them money to pass along to the restaurant.
Nor was anyone expecting a $100 donation from a woman in a supermarket line who was so moved when she heard about the restaurant from one of its founder that she later handed him a $100 bill in the parking lot.
The idea behind Karma Kitchen began percolating in March among Mehta, wife Pavi, and a network of young people who have been doing charity and volunteer work in Silicon Valley for several years. Rather than start from scratch, which was not feasible, since the eatery was going to be operated by volunteers who have day jobs, the group decided to approach successful Berkeley restaurant owner Rajen Thapa.
As Pavi Mehta recalls: "He said, 'I am a man of action not words. Tell me what you need and when you want to start.' "
So much for lots of careful planning. Within a month, Karma Kitchen had opened, taking over the premises each Saturday night of Thapa's Telegraph Avenue restaurant.
It was a joining of like minds. Mr. Thapa has used his Berkeley restaurants to support a school for poor children in Nepal. "I myself started from poverty and hunger and was only able to move ahead when someone gave me a scholarship to attend school," he says.
While Karma pays Thapa a small fee for use of the restaurant on Saturday nights to cover the salary of chefs and some food ingredients, the fee pales in comparison to what he'd normally make on the highest volume night of the week. "We are all experiencing the satisfaction one gets when serving other people," says Thapa.
The volunteer staff is central to Karma Kitchen and distinguishes it from other restaurants that have sprung up across the country with no fixed pricing. Indeed, for those behind Karma Kitchen, the volunteer component is every bit as important as the food experience for guests. "The act of service, whatever it is, transforms you," says Mehta.
The biggest challenge to Karma Kitchen is sustaining an operation that requires such a heavy dose of volunteer spirit and muscle. But the restaurant has been operating for over six months with no lack of servers.
An hour before opening, the night's volunteers gather for an orientation. "Lately we have been very busy, and it can be high volume for five hours," says Pavi Mehta to the group. "But don't forget the generosity. In thought, word, and action, be in the space of generosity."
The volunteers weigh in. "For me this is about giving and putting aside my ego," says one. Adds another, half of a husband and wife team, "we heard about it from a friend, and we wondered should we eat here or volunteer. We decided to volunteer."
So far, the restaurant has routinely taken in more revenue than the fee it pays to the owner. The net profits are turned over to Charityfocus.org, an umbrella group that funnels funds to other "gift economy" activities.
It doesn't hurt that the food is very good. Put together by chef Chatra Lamichaney, who has cooked in restaurants in Cyprus, Iraq, India, and Vietnam, the menu is a full course vegetarian and mostly Indian meal. It starts with a salad, followed by steamed dumplings, cauliflower and potato curry, rice, lentil soup, and baskets of freshly baked flat bread. No alcohol or meat is served. "You know I'm from Michigan, and frankly I think some people will be sort of suspicious of this whole California, tofu, squishy thing," says first-time visitor Megan Hulce of Los Altos. "But I have to say I love it. I'll be back to volunteer."
Just the sort of circle of giving the founders had in mind.
Mass Counterfeiting of American coins February 27, 2009
by Brian Harring brianharring@yahoo.com
With the collapsing American economy, many Americans are rushing to invest in gold; either coins or bar, and also silver. One of the most popular forms of this investment are American coins. Where there is a need, there is always someone to fill it and in this case, the filling consists of the massive counterfeiting of gold coins, silver coins, and even Swiss gold bars in China. Initially, it appeared they were only faking Morgan dollars, but then it turned out they were also making $20 Liberty, and Indian Head gold $2.50, $5, and $10 coins, of all dates. Evidently, this is extremely easy with today's computer-and-laser-die-cutting technology, and the fakes are being die-struck in vast quantities, not cast, and visually at least, are superb copies.
The good news is that these fakes are readily detectable with a 0.01 - gram scale, as the Chinese in their greed are using lower carats of gold and lower grades of silver than the genuine coins, to maximize profit, and thus, in most cases, the fake coins and bars are lighter than the real ones. In a few cases, the silver coins of high numismatic interest are actually OVER weight - it appears that the supply of accurate planchet stock is a major difficulty for the forgers.
Here are links to a two-part article about this in Coin World Magazine:
http://www.coinworldonline.com/counterfeits/articles/20081203/counterfeit_1.asp
http://www.coinworldonline.com/counterfeits/articles/20081203/counterfeit_2.asp
Note: They are even faking PCGS and ANACS slabs!!:
http://www.coinworldonline.com/counterfeits/articles/20081203/counterfeit_3.asp
A friend who has an extremely wealthy friend in Europe (on the order of several hundreds of millions) asked this person to make enquiries at his bank. The bank told him candidly that indeed, the Chinese are also faking sovereigns, half sovereigns, French 20 Franc gold, and various denominations of Nicholas II Russian Rubles, of all dates, as well as Swiss gold bars. They said any gold bars they are offered for purchase are both weighed and the serial numbers checked with the manufacturers. The Chinese do not know the serial and manufacture date numbering systems on the gold bars, and so that error is quickly detectable.
The US Secret Service has just this week been made aware of this problem, which was new to them, and if they decide to launch an investigation, they have indicated that while they cannot do anything about the operations in China, they can, and will, seize any counterfeit US coins they come across. Dealers in these fakes would also be liable to fines and jail time. Foreign fakes are not under their purview, but if that business turns out to be substantial, there could conceivably be an FBI investigation of fraud in interstate commerce, targeting companies who are mail-ordering fake foreign coins. Individuals who have been cheated might also sue their suppliers - in short, this could turn into a huge mess.
General appearance aside, it is very easy it is to spot fakes - just with a scale reading to 1/00th of a gram, and a table of the correct weights and sizes of the coins or bars they are buying. (In the case of large-size bargold, unless buying from the manufacturer or a reputable bank, the serial numbers need to be verified, so that one does not buy a Chinese bar with a lead or mercury core)
Herewith a listing of what I have uncovered so far:
1. The U.S .Morgan silver dollar. All dates and all mint marks
2. The U.S. gold coins viz the $2.50, $5.00 and $10.00 Indian head issues
3. The U.S. copper penny viz 1909 S vdb
4. Three gold Imperial Russian roubles from the reign of Nicholas II
5. A gold 20 franc coin with the head of Napoleon I on the obverse
6. The South African Krugerrand
7. British sovereigns and half sovereigns of different monarchs and dates
And in addition, they are also making fake gold bars from the Credit Suisse people.
It was always considered that numismatics as a relatively fraud-free area of collecting, but it appears that a coin collector today has to carry a digital scale around. This doesn't affect me very much, but I too have wondered at the sudden appearance of all the Morgan dollars. Fortunately, the ones I have came down to me from my grandfather, and I'll be very careful picking up individual pieces that fill blanks.
As for Krugerands and similar gold pieces that are traded for bullion prices, it is obvious that the Chinese have lowered the purity and thus debase the value; otherwise, a fake Krug would have as much gold as a real one.
The counterfeiting of general goods and infringement of intellectual rights (such as software piracy) in the People's Republic of China (PRC) comprises a significant portion of China's overall economy. Consider these facts:
- In 2006, an estimated 8 percent of China's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was generated from counterfeiting.
- The PRC's own State Council Research and Development Center estimated that there were $19 billion to $24 billion worth of counterfeit goods flooding China's economy in 2001.
- Brand owners estimated that 15 to 20 percent of all well-known brands in the PRC are counterfeit.
- Up to 80 percent of all worldwide counterfeiting is done in China, according to some estimates.
- In 2005, U.S. Customs seized $93 million worth of counterfeit and infringing goods, nearly 70 percent of which came from China (and this is only what Customs actually caught entering the country, which is probably a small percentage of the total).
- The manufacture of counterfeits is primarily centered in the two southern Chinese provinces of Fujian and Guangdong.
In Truth, Simplicity, Love and Service,
Om Shanti, Shanti, Shanti, Om Peace.
Young Toni Delgado and Young Kelley Elkins
A NEXT STEP...Light Center for Transformation and Healing
P.O.Box 429
Dona Ana, New Mexico 88032
toni@anextstep.org
www.anextstep.org
575-382-8771
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