Social Profit, Money and Butterflies

Here’s an enlightening 1/2 hour audio visual that is well worth watching.

It’s a discussion between Lynne Twist and Deepak Chopra on “Social Profit”, money and butterflies.

Lynne Twist is a San Francisco based social activist who besides raising many hundred of million of dollars for social issues, in particular the Hunger Project, eloquently describes the present state of humanity, and together with Deepak discuss the caterpillar and its transition to a butterfly, and the similarities with today’s’ societies.

The caterpillar voraciously consumes all food in it’s path, in an unconscious automated state, oblivious to the amount that is available – it just eats. That is until the imagines cells inside the caterpillar form in large enough numbers and conglomerate, and a switch occurs. All other cells then become the nutritive soup that feed the imagines cells, and the transformation occurs: from caterpillar to butterfly. Is that where we are now: ravenous caterpillars’ approaching a new phase of development. Lynn and Deepak describe this quite well. (As does this link here: Butterfly Effect)

It’s a pretty good analogy.

And Deepak’s closing remarks: the genetic code responsible for the wings of the butterfly is the same gene code for the beating of the human heart.

Amazing.

Here’s the video:

Keep in mind these important facts:
God is a verb not a noun, and there are two states for creation: asking and allowing.

Is There Any Difference Between Islam and Christianity?

Yesterday I was riding on the Storm Peak Express Ski Lift at Steamboat Springs, Colorado, USA, sharing that ride with a very felicitous beared fellow. He reminded me very much of the character “Chicken Joe” from that wonderfully light movie Surf’s Up (by Sony Pictures Animation, 2006). My ski lift riding companion was also a boarder, and I suspect he may even have been from Wisconsin. ;o)

The conversation began with him asking me “do I know how to relax?” I replied that yes I did, and coming to Steamboat from Kuwait was part of that. We talked some more, about my experience in the Middle East, and then he asked me about my understanding at an intrinsic level of Islam and how it was different to Christianity.

After a few moments thought, I answered that intrinsically the religions are same [and reflecting now, they are similar to each other perhaps like no other religions]. I said that at the core each religion promotes ways in which to behave; towards others, towards ones self. They both promote how to act, how to eat, how to live, how to be. They were both life systems designed to manage the ones ego. They were both life systems spelt out many hundreds (thousands) of years ago by people who practiced what they spoke.

It was a very enlightening conversation for me.

Upon further reflection of the conversation it made me realise just how similar the two religions are. It helped put into perspective for me that the reasons the two religions appear so different is not because of their roots, but because of the layers of interpretation the various tribes and groups have placed upon them over the many years the practices have been in use. This has been influenced by many things: by the need for power, for control over others, by intermingling of local traditions and beliefs, and ultimately by the ego. Ironic because the systems are practices whose ultimate intention is to manage the ego. [I deliberately don’t use the phrase “control” the ego, for the ego cannot be controlled, much like a wave, representing the ego, cannot be controlled, it can only be surfed, or a slope, can only be skied, not changed].

So, in essence, Islam and Christianity are identical life practices. Both promote simple practical means to achieve peace and harmony in ones life, with others and espcially with ones’ self.

This quote summarises the practice very well.

Spread love everywhere you go, but first and foremost in your home. Love your children, your spouse, your neighbour… Let no one who comes to you, leave without being better and happier. Be the living expression of goodness, be it the goodness of your face, goodness of your eyes, goodness of your smile or the goodness of your warm welcome.

Mother Teresa

Just helping us to remember: god is a verb and is not a noun.

The Electronic Communication and Consciousness Conundrum

When an email is sent or a blog is created, it is the written word that is transmitted – nothing more, nothing less.  Many studies have shown that the written word – words – only transmit 10%, at most, of the intended meaning of the communication.   My fellow Australian Allan Pease – specifically “body language” – pioneered these studies in the 1970’s.  I am sure however that implicit and explicit knowledge has been around as long as we have been around.

So what happens to the rest of the communication?  How does the recipient get to 100% of the message, or at least the message they think they get?

We make it up.

Without the balance of the information (the 90%) the recipient will draw on their own database of information to complete the message – to get to 100%.

That means that what is in the recipients database – their mind, their memories, their experiences – will have far more impact on the final message than the original 10% of the orginal message.

Sound like a good chance for miscommunication?  Absolutely!

So, what are the chances that the 90% ADDED to the message by the recipient ALIGNS with the Sender?

That depends on one thing: the level of consciousness of the recipient.  The message will be lost if the receipt is unconscious.  Skewed by bias and innuendo, the recipient will create a message that fits only with their own world view, and will have very little relevance to the senders intended message.

With increasing levels of consciousness, the correctness of the message will approach 100%.

What does this mean – “increasing levels of consciousness”?

Well remember that each human on this planet – that means you and me – is a balance of two things: their conscious beliefs and their unconscious beliefs.  An unconscious person draws heavily from their beliefs, their superstitions, their history, their parents, their peers, and the community around them.  Are they an active participant in their lives?  Not really. Look at them as a leaf in a stream. They will go wherever the stream takes them.  Self determination is low.  Awareness of the world around them – and their involvement in it – is low.

Consider a conscious person, even one in the early stages of awakening.  They have assimilated their experiences and even developed their sub-conscious to be a reflection of their conscious self determination.  They are either awake, awakening or somewhere in between.  They understand their role in creation, their influence and their impact.

So what happens?

An “unconscious”, unaware person builds up the 90% missing information in an unconscious way.  So much so, they even believe they are getting 100% of the message from the sender just by reading their words.  This is how wars begin.

The conscious person on the other hand, understands the limitations of the communication medium and will either, depending on their level of consciousness, ask questions until they are clear on the communication (an unconscious person will typically be fearful of asking questions for fear of “offending” the sender, or most commonly, being seen to be “ignorant” or a “lesser person”), or the conscious person will be in direct connection with the sender empathetically. But that my friends is another discussion.

The key: become conscious.  Meditate.  Remember that god is a verb not a noun.