(Continued from Part 1/2.)

You’ve asked what level of enlightenment Ascension is. The discussion of that matter may be more than most people wish to hear and so I attach it here parenthetically. Those who don’t wish to ponder it can skip this section.

The ascended level of enlightenment is called sahaja nirvikalpa samadhi and constitutes liberation from the need to be reborn into the dualism of the Third Dimension. I confirmed that assertion with Archangel Michael:

Steve Beckow: What level of enlightenment does Ascension correspond to? I think it’s beyond the normal seventh-chakra enlightenment. I think it is what is called Sahaja Samadhi. Am I correct?

Archangel: Michael: Yes, it is. (11)

And I also confirmed it with the Divine Mother:

Steve Beckow: The last question is I’m trying to understand what level of enlightenment Ascension corresponds to. And I think it’s beyond the normal seventh-chakra enlightenment. I think it is what is called — and I’ll make this clear to readers —sahaja samadhi. Am I correct?

Divine Mother: Yes, it is beyond what you think of with your seven chakras. It is beyond, because what you are doing with the chakra system, even with the thirteen, we have emerged from the Third-dimensional realm, which is that reference point for the chakra system, into the new. So yes, you are correct, in this question and in this statement.

SB: It’s wonderful to have that confirmed. Thank you very much, Mother.

DM: It is wonderful for us as well, you know! … Now, you understand that most people – and yes, you will do a good job of explaining – have no conception of what this really means.

SB: Well, you know that I have a website that discusses Sahaja Samadhi at length. … If I take that material and present it to readers, would that be adequate?

DM: That will help. (12)

Sri Ramana Maharshi describes sahaja as “the state in which awareness is firm and one-pointed, even when objects are sensed.” (13) He associates it with the state in which “the screen [of awareness is] permanently exposed. This is Self-realization, Mukti, or Sahaja Samadhi, the natural, effortless state.” (14) He continues:

“When the waveless ocean of the external and the steady flame of the internalNirvikalpa are realized as identical, the ultimate goal, the Sahaja Nirvikalpa Samadhi is said to have been reached.” (15)

“Remaining permanently in the primal state without effort is Sahaja.” (16)

Granted that sources like Saul speak of “full consciousness” and “unification with God,” what they’re referring to is in fact neither “full” consciousness nor “unification” with God, but definitely a stage towards it. But I’d imagine it’s probably easiest and wisest for them not to make so fine a distinction when they’re addressing a world audience, many of whom are just awakening.

So the Christ is very much an intimate and essential part of Ascension but not in the way many people think. It’s the soul or Christ or Atman, which is our essence, and our expanding awareness of it is what Ascension is all about, whether Ascension to the Fifth Dimension or Ascension to every dimension beyond that.

Footnotes

(1) “Transcript of Interview with Jesus on Biblical Mysteries, Dec. 20, 2011,” athttp://goldenageofgaia.com/world-disclosure-day/the-masters-speak/transcript-of-interview-with-jesus-on-biblical-mysteries-dec-20-2011/. I assume Jesus meant that, if I were to say I was the truth, and know that to be true absolutely, then I too would be speaking as “the Christ.”

(2) Shankara in Swami Prabhavananda and Christopher lsherwood, Shankara’s Crest-Jewel of Discrimination. Hollywood: Vedanta Press, 1975; c1947, 68.

(3) Bodhidharma in Red Pine, trans., The Zen Teachings of Bodhidharma. Port Townsend, WA, Empty Bowl, 1987 , 16.

(4) Loc. cit. I.e., it serves as the basis for the higher levels of enlightenment.

(5) Meister Eckhart in R.B. Blakney, trans., Meister Eckhart. A Modern Translation. New York, etc.: Harper & Row, 1941, 105.

(6) Jacob Boehme in Maurice Bucke, Cosmic Consciousness. A Study in the Evolution of the Human Mind. New York: Dutton, 1969; c1901 , 183.

(7) Ascended Master Hilarion, channelling through Mabel Collins, Light on the Path and an Essay on Karma. Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1974, 15.

(8) Krishnamurti in Lutyens, Mary. Krishnamurti: The Years of Awakening. New York: Avon, 1975, 171-2.

(9) John Ruusbroec in James A. Wiseman, John Ruusbroec. The Spiritual Espousals and Other Works. New York, etc.: Paulist Press, 1985., 147.

(10) Ibid., 74.

(11) “Archangel Michael: Detailed Instructions for Dec. 21, 2012 and After,” athttp://goldenageofgaia.com/2012/12/archangel-michael-detailed-instructions-for-dec-21-2012-and-after/

(12) “The Divine Mother: Come to Me as I Come to You – Part ½,” Oct. 17, 2012, athttp://goldenageofgaia.com/2012/10/the-divine-mother-come-to-me-as-i-come-to-you-part-12/. The website is From Darkness Unto Light and the particular page on which this information can be found is http://www.angelfire.com/space2/light11/fdl/e1.html.

(13) Ramana Maharshi in Vasistha Ganapathi, ed., Sri Ramana Gita. Tiruvannamalai: Sri Ramanashramam, 1977, 27

(14) Ramana Maharshi in S.S. Cohen, Guru Ramana. Memories and Notes. 6th edition. Tiruvannamalai: Sri Ramanasramam, 1993, 82-3.

(15) Ibid., 88.

It’s almost surreal, but it’s true. Monsanto has officially give up its fight to spread genetically modified seeds and plants throughout Europe.

In a time when the power and political influence of Monsanto Co. seems nearly insurmountable, this is a huge victory for opponents of genetic engineering. For those in the U.S. and other countries where Monsanto’s stranglehold is palpable, it serves as a rally cry to keep up the good fight.

“We’ve come to the conclusion that this has no broad acceptance at the moment,” Monsanto Germany spokeswoman, Ursula Lüttmer-Ouazane, told Taz, a Geman newspaper. According to Reuters, European officials for Monsanto also told Taz “that they were no longer doing any lobby work for cultivation in Europe and not seeking any new approvals for genetically modified plants.”

Just as in the United States, millions of European citizens have spoken out against Monsanto’s unchecked control of agriculture through the use of patented, genetically-modified seeds and plants.

A recent poll in Europe found that 60% of respondents considered “Frankencrops” a threat to public health. In 2007, the United States launched a planned retaliation against European countries for refusing to take GMOs into their food chains. In 2009 Monsanto sued Germany because it banned these products, reported FarmtoConsumer.org in late 2012.

Unlike U.S. leaders, those in Germany and elsewhere were not impressed by Monsanto’s well-known intimidation tactics. By January 2013, eight European nations had publicly banned the cultivation of genetically modified crops. Earlier this month, these and other European countries joined the massive March Against Monsanto, a global event that saw millions take to the streets in protest.

For Monsanto, this latest action was apparently the last straw.

“We’re going to sell the GM seeds only where they enjoy broad farmer support, broad political support and a functioning regulatory system,” corporate spokesman Thomas Helscher told Reuters. “As far as we’re convinced this only applies to a few countries in Europe today, primarily Spain and Portugal.”

Despite Europe’s strong stand against Monsanto’s GE crops, there are plenty of countries still under its financial and political control, namely, the United States. Here’s hoping that Europe’s victory will be only the first chink in Monsanto’s armor — one that can be exploited by the relentless voices of the millions of Americans who don’t enjoy a corporation deciding what they can and cannot eat.

Read more: agriculture, bees, european union, genetic engineering, gmo, monsanto

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Wasting food is like stealing from poor, pope says

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Francis denounced on Wednesday what he called a "culture of waste" in an increasingly consumerist world and said throwing away good food was like stealing from poor people.

"Our grandparents used to make a point of not throwing away leftover food. Consumerism has made us accustomed to wasting food daily and we are unable to see its real value," Francis said at his weekly audience in St. Peter's Square.

"Throwing away food is like stealing from the table of those who are poor and hungry," he said.

Since taking office in March, Pope Francis has said he wants the 1.2-billion-strong Roman Catholic Church to defend the poor and to practice greater austerity itself. He has also made several calls for global financial reform.

Around 1.3 billion metric tonnes (1.43 billion tons) of food, or one third of what is produced for human consumption, gets lost or wasted every year, according to the United Nations' food agency.

In the industrialized world the majority of waste is by consumers, often because they buy too much and have to throw away what they do not manage to eat.

A U.N.-backed study released on Wednesday said simple measures such as better storage and reducing over-sized portions would sharply reduce the vast amount of food going to waste.

In U.S. restaurants, diners wasted nine percent of the meals they bought, partly because of a trend to increase the size of everything from cheeseburgers to soft drinks, said the report by the World Resources Institute and the U.N. Environment Program.

Francis said the "culture of waste" was especially deplorable given the prevalence of hunger in the world. The United Nations says hunger affects some 870 million people, while 2 billion suffer from at least one nutritional deficiency.

The Argentinian-born pontiff warned that too much focus on money and materialism meant financial market dips were viewed as tragedies while human suffering had become normal and ignored.

"In this way people are discarded as if they were garbage," he said.

(Reporting by Catherine Hornby in Vatican City, Alister Doyle in Oslo, Terrence Edwards in Ulan Bator, Deborah Zabarenko in Washington; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky and Gareth Jones)