The Road To Hell...

Posted by Ren in The Present

We make a ladder of our thoughts where angles sleep, but sleep ourselves at the floor; our high resolves look down upon our slumbering acts." ~19th century poet and social critic Letitia E. London

The need to separate intention from desire is something most of the worlds ancient wisdom traditions place great importance on. In fact they all have some sort of dogma or practice designed to teach just that; often by… Staying Hungry!

Now why would keeping yourself hungry (by fasting) keep your intentions pure? We'll get there in a moment; first I assure you this IS NOT an article about or advocating fasting (far from it) BUT as most people are not really aware of why that particular practice is so deeply rooted in some of THE most sacred times for so many of the worlds most influential religions, AND it does serve a VERY important (but often overlooked) purpose (that IS relevant to this article), it's important to remind/inform about the practice (the links will take you a bit deeper into each religions periods of fasting if your curious to know more).

On the Judeo/Christian (more "western" oriented) side of things there are the fasting traditions which include Jews fasting for Yom Kippur (their time for reflection and "atonement") and one of their most important periods of the year - AND - there is the Christian fasting period of Lent, an equally important 40 day period of fasting and prayer preceding the most important Christian holiday (Easter).

On the more "eastern" side of things there is Islam's holy month of Ramadan a 30 day period of fasting and prayer which marks that wisdom traditions most sacred period - AND - in Buddhism; one of who's foundation pillars is the suppression / mastery of desire (which is one of the things this article will touch on), there are also fasting traditions aimed at purifying spiritual intent.

Although there are MANY other ways the worlds codified spiritual practices use to quiet the mind and refine intention (such as meditative practices, repetitive rituals of prayer or physical activities, even the extreme practice of self flagellation because the mastery over pain is another [all be it extreme] way to teach the mastery over desire), the wise ones all figured out one of the easiest (and most intellectually neutral) ways to quiet the mind and train the spirit how to master and control desire, is simply by giving the body (our strongest inner voice when it comes to desire) something to focus on (like hunger).

The time proven theorem is that if you master that most basic desire to eat (or at least focus on suppressing it), your spirit is free to pray on and put into action your good intentions (and eventually should be able do so without having to distract a part of yourself with hunger suppression).

For some of the aforementioned religions fasting also teaches empathy for those less fortunate. And remember, the practice often occurs during THE MOST SACRED TIMES for the respective religions because they all recognize the importance of teaching the differentiation between (end of introduction… whew! )…

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Most of us want to do "good" but... to want ANYTHING (even to do "good" things) is an ego driven DESIRE and once desire is involved things inevitably become subject to corruption.

A long time ago, the most wise awakened to the realization that to act out of want (for any reason) is ALWAYS doomed to failure. Those wise ancients put a great deal of good intention into codifying ways for us to avoid the corruptive influence of the "I want" because they knew that...


Even our best and brightest (be they intellectual, "moral", "spiritual" artistic or political), are subject to the same derailments of good intentions that the rest of us fall pray to (often in direct proportion to the degree of ego reinforcing admiration / adulation they receive). It's why the repeating pattern of history is punctuated by "great" people who often disappoint in one way or another (often causing great suffering to others). That's what vows of poverty and various practices of abstinence and self denial were designed to prevent and it's (arguably) the "best" amongst us who would most benefit from said practices.

And what about the expression that to get anything "worthwhile" done, you really have to "WANT it more then anything in the world "(?). That's true sometimes actually (the "I want" can be the trigger for a good intention) , but if the "WANT" remains the motivating call to action, the "road to hell" awaits.

Aside from having real faith, we can benefit from constantly reminding ourselves (by whatever means at our disposal) to act ONLY out of intention (which arguably makes it impossible to act "badly"). Acting out of the "WILL to power" places no ego fueled catalyst between an intention and an action - and - since "pure" present actions rising out of intention do not gratify the ego (there's no time for them to), all such acts are truly… "SELFless" in nature so we can do good for ourselves and others -and- yes.even "feel" good about ourselves (but that's nothing to be held on to less you wind up back on that "road to hell").

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An extreme example of an action motivated by pure intent is the sacrificing of ones own life (or the placing of ones own life in mortal danger) for another. Anecdotes tell us when something like that happens, it's immediate. It's not something that's pondered on or justified. The ego and its desire for self preservation is overridden and action is energized only by the immediate intention to save a life (or prevent harm or sadly, to take life).

• One person takes a bullet or a stab for another.
  
  
• A stranger rushes into oncoming traffic to rescue.. a dog!
  
  
• One stranger puts himself between two others who are about to fight (without considering they themselves may be harmed).
  
  
• And sadly, in asymmetric warfare, one person gives their life to take the life of "the enemy" (or often who they have been manipulated into thinking is "the enemy")
  
  

All of the above are SELFLESS acts. NO ONE in the above examples desired to do what they did, they just acted out of a present tense will to power, an intention… and all had to instantaneously suppress desire to act. All such folk who are lucky enough to live to reflect on their actions… will inevitably say things like "I didn't think, I just acted". But this article isn't a rumination on heroism.

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I can understand why although its one of the most important aspects of many religious dogmas its often one of the least emphasized teachings (it does after all empower the individual without necessarily intellectual, "moral" or codified "spiritual" reference points and then of course... there's the fact that the more empowered one is, the less DESIRE one has for belonging to organized religious institutions or cults… which can be bad for their bu$iness). However…

It actually IS dangerous (and can create sociopath like behaviors) if one separates all spiritual consideration from the mastery of desire and acts out of "pure" intent without a solid "spiritual" foundation (the "I" can then become more important then the "WILL" and back on the road to hell you go!). Without intellectual / spiritual vigilance, one can be misguided (even by themselves) or "programmed" into "negative" behaviors quite easily. One does not, after all, want to wind up purposely doing "bad" things for "good" reasons and doing "good" things for "bad" reasons… never makes up for the "bad" either. So, if your "seeking" along the aforementioned lines, please be MINDfull.

It can be a hair thin (and perpetually moving) line that separates the "I want" from "I WILL"; walking it requires careful, constant self reflection and perhaps a "trusted" external guide of some sort (which it'll be up to you to research, use, and eventually discard when it [or he or she] is no longer needed as such).

Then there's also the notion that a dear friend of mine has which says until you eliminate the concept of "I" from the whole equation, you can't get anywhere near a mastery over any part of your true self but I think I'll leave that concept for one of "The Renegade Sufi's" guest blogs (if he wants to tackle it at The Gravaton) and just say...


My good wish for you is that you learn to intuit the difference between your desires and intentions, that you learn to carefully juggle your intellect, your gut instincts and your spiritual leanings to find the best path to keeping your (ACTIVE action producing) intentions "pure". It wont always gratify in the way you might expect but… it will make you a better person and you'll avoid un-INTENTION-ed harm to yourself and others.

Thanks to Daisy Sola (of Sola Pilates), Allyson Grey (of CoSM) and (the Renegade Sufi) Dawoud Kringle for assisting my research for this article. And thanks to the next member of the Gravaton Collective, the next main guest blog author and my life long "brother"

J. "Myztico" Campo

for providing the imagery that accompanies this article*.

All the Gravaton Blogs I write are triggered by a good or bad event (either personal or external) that I come into contact with; then I try contextualize said event for myself in "public" view with these articles (with the intention of helping at least one other person). In the case of "The Road To Hell", the idea came from finding out that a "good" person had been doing a very bad thing to me. (On the advice of one of the friends I thanked above) I held off on writing this piece until I could digest the circumstances more fully and then… came a GOOD trigger event and it was that (person) which inspired me to put fingers to keyboard for this piece. So with affection, respect and love this one is …

For Natalia Lincoln, A gifted speculative fiction writer (and that's an Amazon purchase link for her latest book "The Mirror" up there), performing musician, composer, brave surfer of life's waves and currently… one hell of a jelly doughnut (sorry , lil inside joke on that last one).

Welcome to the Gravaton

Peace

Ren

You've just read an entry in the Gravaton Mini Blog. To read more you can always return here as well as visit the other blog site The Gravaton Blog which will contain different (though sometimes related) content. Go see for yourself.

*all images copyright 2008 J. Myztico Campo

History Repeats its Own Spiritual Crisis.

Posted by Ren in The Present

"There is a desperate search for the sacred in a society predicated on the idea that there is no power greater than the state (or more specifically, the economic market forces that dictate its operation and values)." -- Dawoud

This guest Gravaton Mini-Blog appears thanks to the always reliable "Renegade Sufi" (my friend) Imam Dawoud Kringle. It remains his intellectual property and is presented here on a non-exclusive basis. If there were any edits or suggestions by me they have already been incorporated into the article with the authors permission.

Introduction

Some months ago, I was scheduled to perform as a featured musician at an event held in a large art gallery in New Jersey. The subculture that was the "target audience" was what I would describe as modern entheogenic shamans (read users of various hallucinogenic [mostly illegal] substances many of whom claim "sacramental" and "spiritual" reasons for doing so).

There were panel discussions, a dance performance, and other presentations of various kinds.

Three minutes into the piece I was scheduled to perform, a drum circle started playing nearby! (said drum circle was one of the scheduled events, as was my performance). Although I couldn't believe the gatherings organizers would allow two separate simulations music performances to occur within such close proximity, I suppressed my first impulse to stop, pack my instrument, and walk out (only the thought of offending my friends, and some other admirers in attendance, prevented me from doing so) and I instead, with my heavily amplified instrument began more of a street fight (with the nearby drum circle) than a musical performance. After a while, I realized there was no point in continuing. So, tired and disgusted, I brought my music to a close as elegantly as I could.

This experience, in a place that was supposed to be about fostering a strengthening of our sacred interconnectedness, lead me to some thoughts I'd like to share.

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The ordeal I described in the introduction (at the hands of the participants in the drum circle) is but a symptom of a greater problem.

I see this whole enthogenic "scene" as a modern manifestation of what had happened in the 60's. This is the early 21st century Peace & Love era. And I see the same thing happening to it that happened 40 years ago where It started out as an ideal but lacked the discipline, focus, and respect for true wisdom and knowledge that would have given it the strength to survive.

My experience as a performer and/or speaker at various events in the entheogenic "scene" has shown me that all too many of the people who seek some kind of "instant enlightenment" through entheogens, yoga, meditation, or whatever, are just spinning their wheels. This is not to say that these tools are bad or useless. But they are a means to an end, and a 'seed" that must be cultivated in fertile soil.

Individuals turning to entheogenic "enlightenment" require a real foundation in a spiritual discipline of some kind (a decent level of intellectual and emotional maturity wouldn't hurt either) before embarking on what amounts to chemical self experimentation. With a solid intellectual and spiritual foundation, they have a chance at the kind of insight that will permit them to actually evolve their being via their chosen "sacraments" and practices.

There is an old Buddhist story. A Shaolin monk addressed his students and announced that such and such a student had achieved Enlightenment. The other students later asked him how he felt now that he was Enlightened. He said "As miserable as ever!"

What we have now (as it was 40 or so years ago when the psychedelic subculture began) are for the most part weak, unfocused, spoiled children who mistake a few hours of sensory overload for a genuine spiritual experience. They mistake the map for the territory, and mistake the experience for the lesson. They will come back from their experience unchanged, uninspired; and as miserable as ever.

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There is a propensity in the modern day entheogenic scene to mix and match religious and mystical elements in an indiscriminate manner. Hinduism, Buddhism, a "politically correct" and watered down version of Sufism, and smatterings of paganism and polytheistic beliefs are thrown together helter skelter in whatever way suits the moment. It would be incorrect to say that the method is inefficient, because there is no method at all. No foundation upon which to build.

Ego driven idealism and an attempt at a non-hierarchical spiritual anarchy (without a necessary method and foundation from which to at least depart) will guarantee the downfall of any new age movement . In fact, they misinterpret and deride the need for a hierarchy. All things that exist are hierarchical. The error they make is that they do not wish to sacrifice their ego to allow themselves to be guided - and wear a mask of resistance against potential tyranny to hide the fears of their ego. The historical model of the 60's bears witness to this. In the end, apart from a handful of enlightened beings who arose from that period, most walked away and "sold out" - and the rest fell victim to the ugly realities of an earthly existence that they were not prepared to face.

I believe that among the current seekers of entheogenic "spirituality" are some enlightened people who are initiating an authentic apotheosis. But there are serious obstacles to overcome. I advise the reader with all the sincerity at my command to meditate on what I've said and am about to say.

Many people tax their psychological and spiritual resources because of an inner calling to seek something spiritual. The true spiritual quest often then gets clouded by taking too much of whatever substance is at hand, or being distracted by the other senses, or social awkwardness, etc. This self defeating pattern is part of the spiritual crisis our post-Western civilization is now in the midst of.

One of the things that many users of entheogens report is coming to a new found awareness of the profundity of the "web of life" and their place in and connection to it. Typically, when anyone is brought face to face with something deeply spiritual, something inside them remembers their true origins, the true "source". An (often temporary) "awakening" occurs. Yet the ego, the mind, tries desperately to pull them back because we are, for the most part, dimensionally challenged beings.

Often, what we see (including when taking entheogenic journeys) blinds us. What we think (from an egocentric perspective) numbs our potential wisdom and our "Firasah" (the quality of being able to see by the Light of Allah [aka God]).

We often fail to see (and or remember) that our minds (through which we catalog the entire experience of life, let alone the experience of a "trip"), is not the extent of our beings. It is only a small tip of a very vast iceberg that the entity we insist upon calling "I" cannot fully (if ever really) perceive.

But the totality of our being… always perceives us; and is shouting into our largely deaf ears a desperate invitation to unite with it and become whole beings. It's the interplay between the cruder material mind and ego and the ephemeral magnetic pull of that "source" which seeks to unite us with it, that gives us all the impulse to "seek". And even though in the seeking, we can often loose our way, an unwavering practiced faith in the greater power of that which always perceives us, can keep the light of Allah (aka God) helping to illuminate our way even when we miss-step in our impelled quest for higher states of knowledge.

Since this entire rumination was triggered by my having had a challenging time at a musical performance one day, I'm brought (in closing) to something I notice with my music: When I perform, and the music happens as it should, there is no more "I" to play the music. There is only the music, and the listener. Dawoud no longer exists. Which is the reason why, although I'm delighted that people enjoy what I do, any compliments I usually receive are a bit embarrassing. There is no Dawoud to take credit for the music. I have been given a gift: what right have I to expect a reward for it? Keeping this in mind is one of the ways I keep from losing my way, every day.

Ma'a Salaam {With peace}

Dawoud Kringle

Welcome To The Gravaton.

You've just read an entry in the Gravaton Mini Blog. To read more you can always return here as well as visit the other blog site The Gravaton Blog which will contain different (though sometimes related) content. Go see for yourself.

Digital Life 2008 Coverage Starts

Posted by Ren in Fun Stuff

where a few dozen vendors who want to get a head start on this years Digital Life hoopla (and get some early press buzz), filled our goody bags with all manner of press kits (on paper, disk and thumb drive), product demos (boo) and product samples (yay!).

It's a tiny fraction of the size of Septembers show for the general public and the emphasis for the press preview is on making sure folk like me have everything we need to tell our audiences about their products and services as opposed to Septembers main event... where the goal is to provide as much hands on fun and wide eyed wow appeal for the general public as possible.

By Monday July 14 The Fun Forums will become a willing cog in this great goofy promotional machine with a small forum here dedicated to the dozen or so of the products that I found of interest at the press preview with an average of one to two articles a day trickling out on through early August before Digital Life coverage resumes in September.

There will be a little something for everyone from toddlers right on up through corporate IT administrators. So don't forget to take a peek at the Digital life forums every once in a while as you bounce through the Fun Forums.

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Site News Break

Mini-blog revamp DONE!

Posted by Ren in The Present

As you can see (if this isn't your first time here) The Gravaton Mini-blog has gotten a code and cosmetic revamp.

During this process, there were sometimes minute by minute (if I happen to have been working on it while your viewing it) changes (even screw ups) in appearance. Thanks for understanding.

If you've been here during the initial re-build, NOW WOULD BE A GOOD TIME TO REFRESH YOUR BROWSER CACHE so things look as they should otherwise your browser cache will eventually reset itself in 24-72 hours anyway (they all do).

The end result is now a more robust interface for posting and viewing multimedia content within the mini-blog (when an article calls for it).

All the popular social bookmarking protocols (like Digg) have also been added to the bottom of each article along with a Digg tracker in the sidebar (for those that are already logged into Digg.

Last update July 8th (prior updates are in a site news post)

OK, lets test out the in article MP3 player with an interview done at last years digital life show (2008 pre show coverage begins Fri. 7/11 BTW) where Molly McLaughlin, Associate Editor At PC Magazine puts pixel counts in perspective and goes over some often overlooked specs you should be considering in a Digital Camera.

Please use the contact us link in the sidebar if you CANT hear the audio file below and let me know your browser & OS version. If no problems arise in the next 3 days or so, we're good to go!

Thanks for riding out the process with me.

Welcome to the Gravaton

Peace

Ren

You've just read an entry in the Gravaton Mini Blog. To read more you can always return here as well as visit the other blog site The Gravaton Blog which will contain different (though sometimes related) content. Go see for yourself.

Come Talk To Me

Posted by Ren in The Present

There's an old technique in contract negotiation: NEVER be the one who walks away from the negotiating table… Never!

In any situation, the only way for two or more parties to have a chance to come to an understanding.. (assuming they should want to).. is if they keep communicating. Now that can't happen if at least one of the parties walks away from the "negotiation". This holds true in all dealings (not just contract talks) at all levels, even between nations.

Since we mostly live in linier time, our crude attempts at communication often fumble as we process what we hear while we plan what we're about to say (effectively taking ourselves out of the present which is where we most need to be when attempting a communion of understanding with another). I'm guessing that's why people have fallen back so much on email and texting as it enables us to focus on what we want to say without the distraction of being in the fluidity of a live conversation and hey… those things are useful but…

you can't look into the eyes of an email, or read the inflection or body language in a text message so if its important to you, then eyeball to eyeball is the only way to go (falling back on the phone if there's no other way).

It seems (for both people and nations) the more important something is to us, the more fearful we are of direct communication about it. Perhaps because we fear having our "illusions" deconstructed which can happen as you see yourself or your ideas reflected back at you in the "mirror" of how someone else responds to what you give off. One needs to have both strength of ego and a "balance" of perspective (about oneself and the other party) in order to move past that point where ones inner reality goes splat against the windshield of another's inner reality (which is how it can feel sometimes).

In the swirling of words and actions between people (who are almost always in different past/present/future inner states of being at any given time) its often easy to give off unintended signals and in turn, be blind to or misinterpret the signals aimed at you.

That the above happens, is inevitable, but when it happens too much between the same people or groups or governments then communication breaks down as people just give up trying to make themselves understood (or give up in fear of some sort of rejection of their wants or needs -- including how they may want or need to be viewed by others).

Usually right before parties stop trying to communicate about something "important" comes… Anger… then add a dash of recrimination, a touch of resentment and poof! bridges get burned for good. The great irony is that often… the most intimate communications, (the core truths if you will), lie hidden in between the final angry, spiteful words (or the equally powerful silences) that usually precede the breakdown. Now I'm not gonna lie to y'all, it's usually too late when things go that far off the tracks. Soooo….

My good wish for you is:

Always try LISTENING to others with an open mind and (most importantly) an open heart…

Be patient, its very rare that two or more people are in the same (past/present/future) inner space at any given time and you might have to wait a long time for the wheel to come around so to speak but…

If it matters to you, persevere in good faith, in a present tense state of mind (without any expectation of an outcome) then…

If it matters to the other(s) whom you want (or need to) come to an understanding with, just give it time, it'll happen, I promise you (well, that's how its supposed to work at any rate) and…

If a synchronicity never occurs, then find something positive to take away from the experience.


Hey! You could even write a mini-blog about it in the hopes of helping another get through a similar experience. Hmmmm. Ya know, that's not a bad idea.

Down below, a different version of the song up top** with subtitles and a more hopeful ending because I am, above all, always hopeful.

The dedication:

To the one for whom words were left unsaid ("I did not come to steal").

And to the one… who now… may not be listening ("come talk to me").

Welcome to the Gravaton

Peace

Ren

You've just read an entry in the Gravaton Mini Blog. To read more you can always return here as well as visit the other blog site The Gravaton Blog which will contain different (though sometimes related) content. Go see for yourself.

*Performed By Peter Gabriel & Paula Cole ** Performed by Peter & Melanie Gabriel

The Messenger, And The Message

Posted by Ren in The Present

Its easy for anyone to have an occasional flash of inspiration and insight. I'd like to think that even I'm capable of it. Those "flashes" of inspiration might even be of some use to yourself or those you might share them with.


Sometimes though, we can confuse the source of inspiration / insight with the person that delivers it.

On a metaphysical level there is a shared spiritual wisdom pool that informs almost all the codified philosophies that most of the worlds religions use as a basis for their teachings. Also, any reasonably well read person can, just by relying on memory and a little creative knitting of various concepts, come up with some insightful ideas (whether they're being sincere or not, whether their intention is to be of help… or simply to engender worshipful admiration or.. both those things at once).

If you hear or read some really helpful and / or inspirational words and those words motivate you to find some new personal truths to guide yourself by, remember these old expressions:

That's to say "universal" truths tend to reveal themselves universally to anyone that takes the time to quiet their minds and contemplate the nature of simply… "being". That a few universal truths might come to you and… that you might be able to express them (and sometimes you won't be able to as much as you can just feel them), does not mean you are the source of that wisdom. And if that wisdom comes to you via another, they likewise are not the source but rather just the conduit to transmit that knowledge to you.

While there are effective ways to express universal truths and those ways can be tailored to target specific people in specific situations (either to help and / or manipulate them)… believe it when I say that… absolutely nothing your either hearing or internally receiving by way of spiritual insight is an original idea. All those 'truths were received, pondered upon, interpreted and often grossly distorted thousands (or depending on your view of human history, tens of thousands) of years ago.

It's a blessing to undergo spiritual transformation fueled by receiving wisdom from whatever source feeds it to you But It's extremely dangerous to confuse the messenger with the message (whether the messenger is your own internal conduit to the source or someone else who passes you insights they have received or just extrapolated from what they've read).


Always stay open to receiving the message but be ever vigilant not to confuse it with the messenger. (Even some of history's worse and