Aisha North: Welcome to the Fourth Gathering Around the Pond Sunday August 4, August 2, 2013 at http://aishanorth.wordpress.com

Dear friends!

We have entered August, and even if July – at least for me – has been more eventful than most, I think we are in for another busy month. The energies continue to overwhelm us at times, and I think we all feel the need for some assistance to keep the balance now. And this Sunday, we get a new chance to get an extra boost, for then we have another Gathering coming up at 21:00 Oslo time. Here is what the CCs shared about it:

”As many of you have ascertained already, the pressure is starting to increase in so many ways. You may feel as if ready to explode one moment, for then, to feel as deflated as a punctured balloon. These phases will fluctuate, and as we touched upon in an earlier message, you will find it hard to maintain equlibrium during all of this. But let not this make you think that you are doing anything wrong, far from it, for these waves of energetic upheavals will make their mark on you all in some ways. So try to take them as they come, and know that no matter how high or how low you feel, there is nothing wrong in either.

For you will all feel as if you are stuck in an elevator at times, endlessly going up and down, with no apparent set course to follow. So the best you can do, is to just try to enjoy the ride. This may sound flippant, but we do assure you that we are not making a joke out of this, for we know that you are all suffering from some sort of malaise because of this. In other words, what we mean is that even if the symptoms from all of these energetic upheavals will be less than pleasant at times, they are in fact only signals that you are indeed moving forwards, even when you yourself feel barely able to crawl on your hands and knees.

These times are certainly more than challenging in so many ways, and even if you are amongst those who feel themselves in smoother waters at the moment, we think you will all find a way to benefit from the upcoming event that is scheduled for this Sunday. For then, you will all be given an opportunity to collectively connect to this vast and ever growing grid of energetic filaments that you have helped to create, and through this, you will find a way to ease off a bit from the daily upheavals that these high voltage doses of energy seem to deliver on a regular basis at the moment.

We know that this may sound like the last thing you would want to do, namely to engage with even more of these energetic messengers, but trust us when we say that if you do, we think you will all find a way to ease into these soothing and calm waters, and thereby get a welcome respite from all of the wild fluctuations that you are feeling the brunt of now. You see, the surface of this vast reservoir of energy is always calm and still, and so you can go for a dip or even a prolonged swim there safely in the knowledge that no sudden squall will appear that could threaten to inundate you. And under that surface, the energies that resides there are so powerful now, they will in effect help to keep you buoyant in even the hardest of winds.

In other words, if you do find the chance to be part of this collective event on Sunday, we think you will all feel how this underlayer of energetic support will seep into you, and it will do so whether you choose to connect on the same hour as the others, or if you choose another more opportune moment for you. You see, this huge ocean of supportive energy is always there, ready to be tapped into, and even if you decide to do it at your own pace, it will help you to stabilize yourself even during the most intense battering of the waves that may arrive later.

For you see, this ocean of bliss as we like to call it is always there, but it is not only for resting, but also for recharging and rebalancing, and as you rest on the calm upper layer as it were, the deep layers will be the ones that will do the work. In other words, as you immerse yourself in this grid of loving light you will be held suspended and at ease while the whole of your being will get a much needed boost of balancing and recuperating energies to help you weather out any storm that may be ahead.

We know that to some, this may sound ominous, and you will start to search the horizon for any dark clouds already. But please know that we are not saying this in order to make your alarm bells go off in any way. We are just saying this in order to make you all remember that there is indeed a place to go whenever you feel the need for some energetic assistance in these already rather tempestuous times.

And this Sunday, you have the opportunity to head for this sanctuary in the company of so many others, and the combined effect of so many ”swimmers” at the same time will make the experience for each and every one of you even more effective. So try to head for the shore and join in, even if it means only dipping your toe. For we do know that in these days of such intense waves, going for another swim in this energetic ocean will seem least likely to be on your list of things to do. But trust us when we say the effects will be far more pleasant than this daily commuting up and down the energetic elevator you are currently trapped within.”

I am looking forward to ease mysef into these calm waters and just BE. I will breathe deeply and slowly and let myself float there, allowing my body and mind to receive these balancing energies. There is still much work to do for us all, and in order to be better able to support each other, we must also remember to support ourselves. So I hope you will join me this Sunday, as we gather for another swim in this beautiful Pond.

With much love and gratitude from me, Aisha

Here are some examples of local time that corresponds with 21:00 Oslo time:

London: 20:00

Helsinki: 22:00

Sao Paulo: 04:00 PM

New York: 03:00 PM

El Paso: 01:00 PM

Los Angeles: 12:00 PM

Singapore: 03:00 AM Monday

Tokyo: 04:00 AM Monday

Sydney: 05:00 AM Monday

You can find your local time here: http://www.thetimezoneconverter.com/

Ahem. The constructed Self

(Continued from Part 1.)

The second layer is the constructed self, (3) which is like a house built from vasanas.

In response to our vasanas, we create a persona or mask. We live within the parameters of this created self, fashioned out of our decisions as to how to react in the future so that we don’t land up again facing the situations we fear.

Another way of looking at things is to say that the constructed self is built from all that we’ve done, felt, and thought about the trauma we’ve experienced in the past. I believe this constructed self is what will now collapse.

I’ve had the experience of departing the constructed self. The way I did it was to mentally stamp my foot and say “No!” with an intentionality that felt as if it came from the whole of me, at which point the constructed self fell silent and seemed to have departed. It does return, but it has never been as troublesome as it was before.

And I discovered that such emotions as worry, anxiety, fear, etc., only existed within the constructed self, not outside, a very pleasant discovery.

The third troublesome layer is our ego. We could think of our ego as our auto-pilot. We can use it to fly the plane, even though we remain ultimately in control and responsible for our actions.

The ego wasn’t always troublesome. It served us well during a period in which we tried to outcompete and even vanquish our neighbor. It definitely suits and serves the caveman in us. And as long as endeavored to remain the top Neanderthal on the block, it was our trusted friend and ally.

It just doesn’t serve us when we want to leave all that behind.

“Ego” is the Latin word for “I.” We have many “I’s” and the ego is one of them. Our lives are about going deeper and deeper into the mystery of who “I” is. Ultimately we’ll find that our “I” is the same as everyone’s “I” and that that “I” is God.

But at a more superficial level, that “I” is the ego, the sense of us as separate beings.

To say that the constructed self will collapse or that we’ll pull ourselves out of it is not to imply the death of the ego. The ego itself is far more resilient than the constructed self and persists through many levels of enlightenment.

The ego lives on separation, duality, and polarity and doesn’t want to surrender itself easily. It bristles at anything that seems to threaten its survival – enlightenment above all. It resurrects itself after enlightenment, as Sri Ramakrishna describes here:

“‘I-consciousness’ persists. It disappears in the state of samadhi, no doubt, but it comes back. In the case of ordinary people the ‘I’ never disappears. You may cut down the aswattha tree, but the next day sprouts shoot up.” (4)

“You may reason a thousand times, but you cannot get rid of the ego. The ego is like a pitcher, and Brahman like the ocean — an infinite expanse of water on all sides. The pitcher is set in the ocean. The water is both inside and out; the water is everywhere; yet the pitcher remains. … As long as the ego remains, ‘you’ and ‘I’ remain. … The ego cannot be got rid of; so let the rascal remain as the servant of God, the devotee of God.” (5)

I actually saw the face of my ego once in a moment of stress and it was a fearsome sight: red in the face, consumed by anger, a raging fiend. That scared me straight, you’d better believe!

Andrew Cohen once said: “What is the price [of enlightenment]? Ego death.” (6) But the ego does not die with the stages of enlightenment prior to at least Fifth Dimensionality. Whether it dies then or is simply attenuated, I’m not certain.

But the constructed self can be left behind.

The situation with the constructed self is rather like a knight being encased in a suit of armor. The suit of armor is the constructed self. The knight, when he steps outside the armor, retains his ego, but is free of the confinement of the armor plating.

Many, many of us are seeing our vasanas quiet down after years of processing them. But we may not have stepped outside the constructed self.

And we need to learn how to recognize when the ego auto-pilot is on and manually disconnect from it when it seeks to fly us into territory where we don’t want to go. It remains useful to tell us when we’re about to walk against a red light or call someone by the wrong name. But its usefulness will shrink and shrink in the times ahead.

What is the one best answer to all this processing of “toxic negativity”? For me, the one best answer is to do with it what God does with it. We could also have said to respond with the new paradigm of the divine qualities.

God does not resist so let me not resist what’s occurring.

God is passive awareness so let me be passively aware of what’s occurring. Let me be with it, without resisting it, simply observing it until it disappears.

Awareness is not neutral. Awareness is like a solvent. What we observe with passive awareness will pass away as quickly as it will for anything.

Of course it’ll have its own time and cannot be rushed. But it will disappear fastest if we simply allow and observe.

What we resist persists. What we accept passes away. As Sri Rajneesh and many other sages are fond of saying: This too will pass. It’s only if we resist it that it persists.

And if it passes away through our observing and accepting it, we’ll have peeled away one more layer instead of reacting to it and creating a fresh one.

Footnotes

(1) The Hathors through Tom Kenyon, “Orchidium,” June 27, 2013, athttp://tomkenyon.com/orchidium.

(2) There is an extensive literature on how to source or complete vasanas, on this site. See: “On Processing Vasanas” at http://goldenageofgaia.com/on-processing-vasanas/. However the advice given above as to how to be with a vasana is for me the essence of the matter.

(3) You can find articles on the constructed self under “The Path of Awareness” athttp://goldenageofgaia.com/spiritual-essays/the-path-of-awareness/.

(4) Paramahansa Ramakrishna in Swami Nikhilananda, Swami, trans., The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna. New York: Ramakrishna-Vivekananda Center, 1978; c1942, 105.

(5) Sri Ramakrishna in GSR, 708.

(6) Andrew Cohen, In Defence of the Guru Principle. Lenox: Moksha Press, 1999, 13.

Iran gets new president, vows 'constructive' foreign relations

Yeganeh Torbati 2 hours agoPoliticsForeign PolicyMahmoud AhmadinejadIranHassan Rouhani

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Dr.Hassan Rouhani, Secretary of the Iranian National Security Council and advisor to the President, (R) and Pakistan's Foreign Minister Abdul Sattar, speak during a joint press conference at Foreign Ministry in Islamabad April 26, 2001. Rouhani said that Pakistan and Iran "Principally have the same views on Afghanistan" that there was no military solution to the conflict, there should be a broad-based government, extremism was very dangerous and there should be ceasefire. REUTERS

By Yeganeh Torbati

DUBAI (Reuters) - Hassan Rouhani took office as Iran's president on Saturday promising "constructive interaction with the world" after eight years under Mahmoud Ahmadinejad marked by diplomatic confrontation and damaging sanctions.

The politically moderate 64-year-old cleric's resounding victory at June's election raised hopes of a negotiated end to the dispute over Iran's nuclear program and an easing of the sanctions that have hit the OPEC country's oil exports.

That could avert a possible new war in the Middle East. Both the United States and Israel have said all options - including military action - are open to stop Iran getting nuclear arms.

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei endorsed Rouhani's election win in a statement read out to political, religious and military grandees assembled at a Tehran religious site.

Khamenei praised the "selection of a worthy individual who has more than three decades of service to the system of the Islamic Republic ... and who from the time of the revolutionary struggle ... has resisted the enemies of the Islamic Revolution."

Symbolizing the handover of power, Khamenei took the presidential mandate from Ahmadinejad and handed the document to Rouhani.

Khamenei then kissed Rouhani on the cheek and the new president kissed the leader on his shoulder, a sign of supplication.

The start of Rouhani's presidency puts an end to the Ahmadinejad era during which Iran grew more isolated and came under wide-ranging United Nations, U.S. and European Union sanctions over its nuclear program.

Rouhani faces enormous challenges, including inflation he put last month at 42 percent, unemployment, and political divisions between conservative, moderate and reformist factions.

"Moderation does not mean deviating from principles and it is not conservatism in the face of change and development. Moderation ... is an active and patient approach in society in order to be distant from the abyss of extremism," Rouhani said in a short speech after becoming president.

"In the international arena we will also take new steps to promote the Iranian nation towards securing national interests and removing sanctions. Although there are many limitations, the future is bright and promising," he said.

"The orientation of the government is Iran's economic salvation, constructive interaction with the world, and a restoration of morality."

Rouhani's first test is persuading parliament to approve his list of proposed ministers, which he is expected to present on Sunday after he takes his oath of office in parliament.

"Rouhani will certainly appoint more competent men and women to key economic ministries and institutions. He will also follow saner economic policies," said Shaul Bakhash, an Iran historian at George Mason University in Virginia.

"But the economic problems are staggering ... Above all, without a serious easing of sanctions, it is difficult to see how Rouhani can get the economy moving again."

CLEAN HANDS

Ahmadinejad defended his time in office, telling state television late on Friday his administration was the least corrupt in history, and blaming sanctions for economic problems.

"We promised to have clean hands; I say with confidence that this government is the cleanest government," Ahmadinejad said, according to the Mehr news agency.

"The enemy has introduced heavy sanctions and the nation has faced problems. We have made our utmost effort but we couldn't resolve all the pressures. This issue has been very difficult for us."

Rouhani has said he will appoint ministers from all political factions, based on their ability, but hardliners have demanded the conservative-dominated parliament reject nominees associated with the "sedition", their term for the months of protests that followed Ahmadinejad's disputed 2009 re-election.

Parliament's confirmation of such candidates would be "a betrayal of the people and the system," Hossein Shariatmadari, editor of the influential hardline daily Kayhan, wrote in an editorial this week.

A source close to Rouhani confirmed to Reuters that he will nominate Mohammad Javad Zarif, a U.S.-educated former ambassador to the United Nations, as his foreign minister.

Another likely pick is Ali Jannati for culture minister, an influential post which oversees domestic and foreign press in Iran and vets cinema, theatre, literature and other arts. Jannati has served as ambassador to Kuwait and his father is Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, a hardline cleric.

During Ahmadinejad's presidency, press freedoms were curtailed, newspapers shut down, and this year about a dozen journalists were arrested in a crackdown on the press.

In an interview with the reformist Bahar newspaper this week, Jannati sought to distance himself from his father's views and indicated he would support more freedom for artists.

"Intellectual matters are not hereditary," Jannati said, according to Bahar. "I am hopeful that given my views on the fields of music, art, and film, the cultural and artistic atmosphere in the country will soften so that artists can breathe more easily."

More than 200 animals were rescued from deplorable conditions in a residence in Texas on July 25.

The SPCA of Texas reports that it took custody of a total of 221 animals from a property in Kaufman County, near Dallas: 166 rabbits, 36 guinea pigs, 12 goats, five cats, one dog and one bull.

We’ve brought you some tragic stories recently about the mistreatment of animals, but at least in this case, the SPCA has hopefully ensured a happy ending for these animals.

The SPCA initially received a complaint of suspected animal cruelty on July 16, and they visited the property, along with a deputy with the Kaufman County Sheriff’s Office. However, the animal owner refused to respond to them, and realizing it was imperative to get these animals out as soon as possible, they went ahead and obtained a seizure warrant.

What the SPCA found on July 25 was shocking.

I have no idea why anyone would want to hoard animals, much less keep them in such revolting conditions.

Photo Credit: SPCA of Texas

As reported by the SPCA of Texas:

Eighty four of the rabbits, two of the guinea pigs and two of the cats were found in a big barn on the property. These rabbits and guinea pigs were living in feces-encrusted wire cages. The rabbits were housed in cages stacked two high, and feces from the rabbits in the top cages was able to fall down on the rabbits in the bottom cages.

One hundred and sixteen more rabbits and 34 guinea pigs were living in a small shed inside feces-filled cages. These rabbits were living in wire cages, and several of these guinea pigs were living inside a fish tank.

The rabbits appear to have various health issues, including open sores, matted fur, hair loss, ear discharge, eye discharge and long nails. Some of the guinea pigs have hair loss.

In addition, the SPCA found 11 goats outside the barn, a cat and two kittens in a feces-filled wire cage located outside the shed, and the dog in a small wire cage behind the shed without access to food or water. The bull was discovered with one of the goats in a small pasture behind a trailer.

The SPCA of Texas removed the animals and took them to two local animal care centers, where they will stay until the animal owner faces a hearing on August 2. At that point, the SPCA of Texas will probably receive final custody of the animals, who will then be evaluated for adoption or placement on a case by case basis.

Let’s hope this story will have a happy ending, like the one that happened in Mississippi in May, when more than 200 animals, including over 50 miniature horses, who were living in deplorable conditions, were rescued. Many of the animals were taken in by the Humane Society of South Mississippi and many of those have been adopted into new homes.

Lydia Satler, Mississippi State Director for the Humane Society of the United States, expressed her delight at this outcome:

“It’s amazing, the first day you are on the scene it’s heartbreaking and your focus is removing them from the conditions. Seeing them getting the medical care they need to get healthy enough to travel on to the next phase of their lives knowing they are not going to be suffering anymore, it’s very gratifying.”

A huge shout-out to everyone who is involved in rescuing animals from gross mistreatment. Thank you so much!

Read more: animal cruelty, animal rights, bulls, cats, dallas, dogs, goats, guineas pigs, kaufman county texas,rabbits,texas

Photo Credit: < href=https://www.dropbox.com/sh/3pufq1ow91dj2cz/VtGLazRH0P#f:DSC_1797.JPG target="_blank">SPCA of Texas