Category Archives: READING MATTER

Books I read & recommend

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POINTS OF VIEW

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Flora Borsi - Animeyed

“You have seen that the universe is at root a magical illusion and a fabulous game, and that there is no separate “you” to get something out of it, as if life were a bank to be robbed. The only real “you” is the one that comes and goes, manifests and withdraws itself eternally in and as every conscious being. For “you” is the universe looking at itself from billions of points of view, points that come and go so that the vision is forever new.”
~ Alan Watts ~
( Image: Flora Borsi, “Animeyed” )
...and other stuff, INSIDE THE BOOK, ORDER OF OMEGA TIME TRAVEL CULT, READING MATTER, UNIVERSES

Why Nikola Tesla was the greatest geek EVER

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THIS IS THE FIRST PAGE OF A VERY EXCELLENT ON-LINE “COMIC BOOK”  ABOUT NIKOLA TESLA.  READ THE ENTIRE THING HERE:  Why Nikola Tesla was the greatest geek who ever lived – The Oatmeal

Additional notes from the author:

  • If you want to learn more about Tesla, I highly recommend reading Tesla: Man Out of Time
  • Also, this Badass of the week by Ben Thompson is what originally inspired me to write a comic about Tesla. Ben’s also got a book out which is packed full of awesome.
  • There’s an old movie from the 80s on Netflix Instant Queue right now about Tesla: The Secret of Nikola Tesla. It’s corny and full of bad acting, but it paints a fairly accurate depiction of his life.
  • The drunk history of Tesla is quite awesome, too.
  • X-rays: just to clarify, Tesla did not discover x-rays, but he was one of the early pioneers in its research.
  • Cryogenic engineering: I’m referring to the cryogenic engineering that has to do with using liquified air to cool a coil and reduce its electrical resistance (Patent No. 11,865), not freezing people and waking them up in the future so they can fight Wesley Snipes.
  • Transistor: Tesla’s influence on the modern transistor can be found in patents 723,188 and 725,605. (a better explanation here)
  • Radio: Tesla was the nicest geek ever until he decided to sue Marconi a few years later. 8 months after Tesla died, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Marconi’s patents on the invention of radio. So Tesla eventually won that battle, although he was dead by then.
  • Tesla VS Edison: I could write a novel on the differences between Tesla and Edison, but seeing as how this comic is already huge I decided to leave many things out. For instance, Edison killed cats and dogs, but Tesla loved animals and had a cat as a child. Originally Tesla wanted to be a poet, but after getting zapped by static electricity from his kitty he was inspired to study the effects of electricity. One could vaguely construe that Tesla’s cat was responsible for the second industrial revolution, which arguably makes it the most awesome cat who ever lived. 
    Edison believed that fossil fuels were the future and that there were enough resources in South America to provide for the next 50,000 years. Tesla believed that renewable energy sources like hydroelectric, solar, and wind power were the future. This is remarkable because in the 1890s there was no such thing as “going green,” so Tesla’s ideas on conservation were very forward-thinking at the time.  (From OATMEAL)
...and other stuff, ART, FREE ADVICE, LIVES, MOVING PICTURES, POETIC NONSENSE, READING MATTER, UNIVERSES

GODISM TURNED UPSIDE DOWN

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I recently read two books by Robert Heinlein: “The Cat Who Walked Through Walls”, which is the sequel to an earlier book, “The Moon is A Harsh Mistress“.   His books are full of witty wisdom, revolutionary revelation and practical philosophy.  Many of the ideas of the so-called “New Age” movement were written by Heinlein, who was, ironically, a military and scientific man, as well as a scholar and fiction writer.  Here are two of my favorite statements from these books….

“The Almighty-God idea came under attack because it explained nothing; it simply pushed all explanations one stage farther away. In the nineteenth century atheistic positivism started displacing the Almighty-God notion in that minority of the population that bathed regularly. Atheism had a limited run, as it, too, explains nothing, being merely ‘Godism’ turned upside down.”

Light_dispersion_conceptual

godism upsidedown

“The hardest part about gaining any new idea is sweeping out the false idea occupying that niche. As long as that niche is occupied, evidence and proof and logical demonstration get nowhere. But once the niche is emptied of the wrong idea that has been filling it — once you can honestly say, “I don’t know”, then it becomes possible to get at the truth.”  

–– Robert Heinlein, from the book THE CAT WHO WALKED THROUGH WALLS

...and other stuff, FREE ADVICE, LIVES, READING MATTER, SOUNDS, UNIVERSES

OUT OF BODY EXPERIENCE

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“Out of Body Experience (OBE)” — A radio interview by Art Bell with Robert Monroe ( Part 1 of 10 )

( Excerpt from Captain of My Ship, Master of My Soul, by F. Holmes Atwater )

“Many who have read or heard of Bob Monroe’s three books naturally associate The Monroe Institute with what Bob called the out-of-body experience or OBE. Over the past 40 years we have continued to explore this phenomenon which has led us to the discovery of many valuable expanded states of consciousness.

Bob Monroe and I quietly discussed his books and his out-of-body experiences in personal conversations away from public scrutiny. I treasure these private conversations, for they are the roots of my current understanding. Years ago, in Bob’s first book he wrote about encountering a Faraday cage while in the out-of-body state. He described an experience during which he was unable to penetrate the walls or get inside. When I asked him about this, he said that in later years he tried again and found that he was easily able to pass into and through the Faraday cage.

Bob explained that his first encounter with the Faraday cage was limited by his belief system. He believed, based on his earthly knowledge, that a Faraday cage was impenetrable and that belief was so strong it carried over into his out-of-body experience. Learning to overcome his beliefs enabled Bob to explore far beyond the often-narrow confines of Earth-life expectations.

In another private conversation with Bob, I asked him about the concept of an astral body or second body apart from the physical body we occupy in the waking state. Bob smiled and said that he realized that in his books he left the impression that when out-of-body we retain a bodily form very similar to our physical facade. He went on to say that he no longer experienced himself in that way, that he thought of himself “more like a spot or point of light.”

Based on Bob’s experience, he felt that the notion of a second body was a habit or carryover perception from the Earth-life system of beliefs. To him, the humanoid form was simply “local traffic” on the interstate. Our true form includes humanness and more, much more than we can know if we limit our beliefs to the Earth-life system.

The very concept of an out-of-body experience suggests that we survive physical death. Couple this with a deep-seated common yearning, a nostalgia for something that seemingly eludes us, a heartfelt longing to return “home” or perhaps to our true identity, and it is easy to imagine the possibility that when we eventually die, each of us will travel out-of-body to our point of origin in a spiritual domain. This is indeed an intriguing notion.

The out-of-body experience (this side of dying) has often been viewed as something that happens to us. Many wonder why some people seem to have such experiences while others do not. Is it possible to learn how to have an out-of-body experience? What can be done to prepare for or encourage the experience?

The manner in which the out-of-body state is imagined actually limits the experience. What is needed is a whole new understanding about ourselves (and human consciousness) that will allow us to realize who we really are and recognize the validity of our experiences.

There is no magic key. There is no magic pill, no magic incantation, and no magic procedure that will bring about an out-of-body experience. The only thing that will bring about the out-of-body experience is your own personal growth and your own personal processing so that your view of reality shifts. Once your view of reality changes – when your perceptions deepen – you will be consciously aware of your out-of-body experiences and even more.

I am really saying that you are having these experiences already. But because you have, for some unknown reason, compartmentalized your consciousness within your body, you are seemingly unaware; you do not realize what is already happening. You need to change your perceptions of reality so that you can begin to recognize the true nature of your existence. This realization is inevitable. You can begin working on it now or simply wait until your body wears out or is fatally injured and you leave it behind. Even then the delusion of separateness remains available.

Find your personal truth. Throw away the ideas and opinions of others that seem strange to you. The only opinion that counts is the one that you hold. Be honest with yourself.

Examine your inner beliefs. Think about who you really are. Are you the car you drive or the house you occupy? Are you the clothes you wear? Are you the day’s hairdo? Are you just your body? Or is there something more that entices you?

Embrace humanity. See yourself as one with all, without the perceived barriers of race, religion, sex, or economic level. Go within and embrace the feelings of those around you. Empathize with the pain and suffering and rejoice at the joy and love. Marvel at the wonder of an emerging perception of reality that was here waiting for you all along.

Confront your fears. In regard to the out-of-body experience, ask yourself, “What am I afraid of?” If you don’t get an answer, realize that many fears are unconscious. Use your fear as a reminder (to put you back in your right-mind, so to speak) that you have forgotten who you really are. All fear is based on the notion that you are not a divine expression of God I Am, which, of course, is baloney.

Integrate your consciousness. If you are not recognizing your true nature, you may have compartmentalized your consciousness into just one expression of you, your body. As a result, you believe your mind is in your head and that all there is to your divine essence is your physical body. This is your reality. It’s all you have to go on.

Well, I’ve got news for you. It’s all a matter of perspective. You can begin to realize these other parts or expressions of yourself by first looking for them in others. Smile.

Claim your power. Elect yourself president of all you survey. You are the only one in charge of your own perceptions.

An out-of-body experience isn’t something that happens to you. It’s just another way of being, an alternative available so that you might know, might recognize who you really are. The true out-of-body experience you seek includes the realization that you are and always have been and always will be greater than your physical body in both physical life and beyond. This being the case, Guidance – your spiritual self – has always been and will always be one with you.”