Chopra part 2: The Universe self-organizes and all matter is inter-connected energy

From Chopra’s beliefnet.com article.

“
If you trace DNA down to its individual atoms, each is more than 99.9999% empty space. If you take an individual electron, it has no fixed position in either time or space. Rather, ghostly vibrations wink in and out of the universe thousands of times per second, and what lies beyond the boundary of the five senses holds enormous mysteries. Enough mysteries, in fact, to be consistent with God. I don't mean a personal God or a mythic one or any God with a human face. Set aside all images of God. What we observe once we get over the superstition of materialism is that random chance is one of the worst ways to explain how the universe evolved. Here are a few reasons why: --The various constants in nature, such as gravity and the speed of light, are too precisely fitted with each other for this to happen by chance. --If any one of six constants had been off by less than a millionth of 1 percent, the material universe couldn't exist. --Events at opposite ends of the universe are paired with each other, so that a change in the spin of one electron immediately produces a twin effect in another electron. This ability to communicate instantly across millions of light years cannot be explained by materialism. It defies all notions of cause and effect. It defies chance. --Every electron in the universe exists as a wave function that is everywhere at once. When this wave function collapses, we observe a specific isolated electron. Before the wave collapses, however, matter is non-local. The ability of objects and events to be everywhere at once seems like an attribute of God--omnipresence. The ability of electrons separated by millions of light years to "talk" to each other seems like another attribute of God--omniscience. This doesn't mean that God explains the universe. It means that there may be governing forces at work which allow the existence of universal consciousness. The self-aware universe is a plausible theory…

Without a doubt there is enormous design, complexity, organization, and interconnectedness everywhere in nature… The physical world can't deliver God, not because God doesn't exist, but because the solid, physical world is an illusion--as quantum physics proved long ago--and one must look inside consciousness itself to find what God is about. If God is a universal intelligence, that will turn out to be a fact… When you get to the primal state of the universe, what is it? A universal field that encloses all matter and energy. This field is everywhere, but it also localizes itself. A molecule in the brain is one expression of the field, so is a thought. The field turns out to be the common ground of both the inner and outer world.

… We are in God as a fish is in water…. In the past, thinkers saw intelligence and consciousness all around them, and they set out to explain their source, which some called God. It's not necessary to use such a word. But it is necessary to find the source. Are information fields real, as some theorists believe? Such a field might preserve information the way energy fields preserve energy; in fact, the entire universe may be based upon the evolution of information. (There’s not the slightest doubt that the universe has an invisible source outside space and time.) A field that can create something new and then remember it would explain the persistence of incredibly fragile molecules like DNA, which by any odds should have disintegrated long ago under the pressure of entropy, not to mention the vicissitudes of heat, wind, sunlight, radiation, and random mistakes through mutation. …There is the possibility of an ordering force in Nature… The entire universe is experienced only through consciousness and consciousness is invisible and non-material.
“

Cheers!

Cool Chopra talk...

We had a wonderful evening listening to Dr. Deepak Chopra talk at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center last night. He shared his Secrets with us and mentioned that they are similar to The Secret (the new DVD), but that there is more than one. Still, focusing on just one of the Secrets changes one’s whole life. Thanks to Nana for babysitting!! Are you interested in meaning in your life? I wanted to share with you some of the things we learned:

Your Soul is a Piece of GodStuff
One’s “soul” or “consciousness” is a piece of GodStuff, if you will, that is everywhere in the universe and in you. So you don’t die, just as God doesn’t die. Your “you-ness” is on loan from God to go out and create the universe. You may think you are “you,” but you are mistaken. No ego: You are a piece of God-Consciousness and your brothers and sisters here are too.

You are more than your brain structures. (This particular idea is hard for me to accept being a trained cognitive scientist, but I’m considering it.) Consciousness is within you and everywhere, too. But your soul is certainly not just “solely” in your brain (pun intended). Your ego and physicality tries to trick you into thinking you are you on your own here. Don’t be tricked. You are, scientifically speaking, one with the universe. The science: Your atoms are energy waves that are one with the universe.

We Co-Create the Universe
Your intentions create the universe every moment. Whatever you turn your attention to, you create more of it. Examples: If you are worrying about being late, you will have more lateness in your life. If we are fighting against something, more of that opposition is often created. If you are worrying about getting out of debt, debt is all that you will see for a very long time.

However, if your intention is to create more wealth, you will attain that. If your attention is turned towards promptness, you will achieve impeccable promptness. If your attention is on being more loving, you will have more love. If you turn your attention to spending more time on something, you will achieve that.

Strangely, channeling this Power of Intention and Law of Attraction in the universe doesn’t require “work” in the way we have come to understand it. (This idea is also a bit hard for me to believe entirely.) Channeling this universal energy through the Power of Intention does not require hard work: It does require attention and action, sure. But I am not writing this e-mail. That would be hard work and who wants to do that? I am the conduit through which “consciousness energy” is writing this email. In a way, this email is writing itself and I am just helping to bring about what is already there. Whatever “work” you do, it is not really you doing it. Act as a channel through which the work does itself and you facilitate that.

As Churchill has said, “You create the universe as you go along.” This “we create the universe” theory has scientific basis as shown in quantum physics. Science has shown that the lens you use to observe the thing co-creates the thing you observe.

The Law of Abundance
Other secrets… Whatever you feel and think, you create more of it. A “Gratitude Attitude” creates more abundance. Trust in the Law of Abundance. There is MORE than enough. Always. It’s easy to be humble and unthreatened and happy for others when you know there’s plenty to go around. These are the qualities of the enlightened.

The Universe does not know scarcity. Scarcity is a lie and it is trying to trick you. Don’t be fooled. There is never any scarcity. No Fear. Believe in scarcity and guess what you have? Scarcity.

Have the courage to be who you want. Have the courage to want who you are. Don’t think, “Oh, I can’t do what I really want b/c it is not marketable.” Do what you really want with a little common sense and the path will arrange itself. This is your life. Life is too short not to make it yours. Whose life are you living, anyway? Whose fault is that?

Use the Power of Intention to create more abundance. But the trick is, if you doubt the Law of Abundance, the “magic” ends. Never doubt abundance or the Power of Intention. If you doubt for a minute, stop: Choose gratitude again as soon as possible. You never have a “bad day:” you had a bad minute and you chose to let that influence the rest of the minutes. The power of this positive way of thinking and choosing to feel is that you can hit the restart button as many times as you want at any given second at any point in your life and you will restart your positive path. Don’t look back.

Focus on Good
You are not a “bad person:” you made a mistake or acted out of ego and you are holding on to self-judgment and guilt. The universe (God) has already forgiven you! Forgive yourself and move on to create more abundance and give. Be Forgiving: Along with Abundance and Intention, it is one of the most powerful laws of the universe.

Do not be scared into believing in God b/c you are afraid of hell. That type of preacher is a fear-monger who wants your cash. If you are focusing on not sinning, you often create more of a sin framework: You are setting yourself up to see judgment and sin. When your heart is open and forgiving, you don’t need faith; you can’t help but see God all over the place. If you can see life and goodness at work, you are seeing God.

Karma
Also, whatever “static” you are getting, it is because you are creating it. Whatever you see is a reflection of you. The Secret DVD talks about the Law of Attraction: What you put out, you get back: Karma. This is hard to hear. Personal responsibility is painful, but it is the only way to have true freedom over your own life. Every time you complain or blame others, you are not taking responsibility. If you have static in a relationship, flow like a river and don’t resist. More resisting creates more static. If there is nothing to resist, the confrontation falls away.

With that said about you being a magnet creating what you get, sometimes we are just in the wrong place for our own natures. Some of us have experienced this dissonance in a bad work environment, house, or relationship. That environment may not be a good match for us. That’s not your fault, but it is up to you to change your environment.

Final Thoughts
Trust in Gratitude Attitude. Never doubt. The universe (God) delivers every time. Follow your Bliss!


PS- I was thinking about the psychology that caused 9-11. It was violent resentment brought about by an “I’m not getting mine” attitude and belief in scarcity, not abundance. It was easy for the terrorists to let fear rule and not take personal responsibility for their lives. Criminals are created in the same way.

Baby Boomers Growing Older, but Will They Grow Up?

There's been a lot of press lately about baby boomers hitting retirement age and growing older. There's always a lot of press about whatever baby boomers are going through because there's just so many of them. Still, one wonders what this kind of national attention and societal mindset has done to the boomer psychology and the non-boomers who love them.

Millions of people have grown older and retired and it wasn't news. Millions of people before the boomers learned to face the end of their careers, possible ill health, and grandparenthood with quiet aplomb. Instead of following the modest and noble example of the greatest generation before them, the boomer psychology tends toward self-centered narcissism, as is encouraged by national news on boomers.

Not only did the boomer generation pioneer thinking for oneself and protesting war, they also relaxed social norms that protect children being born into intact families. Not only did boomers assert their right to self-expression and discovery, they also pursued careers and self-interest at the expense of their latch-key children and soaring divorce rates.

And now that boomers are entering retirement and grandparenthood, many are not letting go of their careers and are not making time to develop real relationships with their grandchildren on a regular basis. They would rather play golf and fight aging “every step of the way.”

Boomers, as Pulitzer Prize winning author Anna Quindlen quotes, “No one ever said on his deathbed, ‘I wish I had spent more time at the office.’” I would extend that to say, “No one on his deathbed has ever said, ‘I wish I had spent more time on myself trying to look or be younger.’”

Boomers, it’s all about friends and family. We non-boomers miss you, but we have given up trying to change you. We’ll be waiting here for you now and on your deathbed. The rest is up to you.

Written by a Gen-Xer, whatever that means.

Round 'N Round

Merge Records: "Round 'N Round (video)"

I love Lou Barlow. I love his cover of Ratt's (infamous) "Round 'N Round" from his Emoh record. What I did not realize until today, was that there is a video for it. It's not too exciting or anything, but I think it captures Lou's intent and feeling well.

Rock on.

-Harry

Mistaken Cost of Nuclear Plant

The most common mistake in Cost-Benefit business models is not including all of the cost factors in the model. This mistake jumps off the page from President for Progress Energy Jeff Lyash's letter on the cost effectiveness of nuclear energy.

While nuclear energy has known cost effective benefits over fossil fuels, rarely do these cost-benefit analyses include factors such as the cost of protecting the plant from terrorist attacks (which they have refused to do), the cost of transporting the nuclear waste out safely on trucks and trains (also vulnerable to crashes and attacks), the cost of storing nuclear waste, and the cost to the environment for storing the waste, and the drain on state water resources.

Plus, in the event that there is an accident, the consequences should be weighted much higher for that potential cost. In nuclear power, the costs of human mistakes are much higher than for other types of fuel. Furthermore, until Progress Energy can assure fire regulators that their protocols are practiced and safe, the NRC may fine or block new projects, also escalating the costs for nuclear power. For these reasons, including possible terror attacks and nuclear waste’s toll on the environment, the cost of nuclear energy is much higher than business leaders think.

Levy's Fresh Air interview on Raunch Culture

I really found Ariel Levy’s take on the Rise of Raunch Culture to ring true. She says so eloquently what I, and perhaps many of us, have been thinking for a few years now. Click the link below to listen:

NPR : Women in the Girls Gone Wild Era http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6549015&sc=emaf

My thoughts are on why men behave badly is because women let them. If women respected themselves, men would be forced to rise to the task. The rate of out of wedlock births has skyrocketed to 37% last year. This bodes sadly for the feminization of poverty and the shrinking middle class.

It seems that these are desperate times for women. The times may call for the desperate measures of encouraging women not to “give the milk away for free.” It seems like this may be only bargaining chip young women have left.

Securing reproductive rights is also paramount. Levitt in Freakonomics links the drop in crime from the 90’s on to the unwanted children who would have committed crimes but who were not born to do so. Levitt also found that the one predictor of child success was that the mother was over 30 at the birth of her first child. Women need time to grow up and get their education.

Finally, a lot of my friends with young children, like me, are now looking for low-paying education or service jobs. These women were executives and software engineers, and me – a Ph.D. But we all want to work school hours and don’t want to scramble on holidays or in the summer. We can’t find any companies to hire us under these constraints. The jobs just aren’t there. There aren’t even many job-sharing jobs. I’ve been encouraging my bright mother friends to do consulting instead of becoming a teacher’s aide or a lunch lady. We need to create more flex-time corporate jobs, one way or another. Right now our choices are the tyranny of housewifery or somewhat sacrificing our childrens’ well-being or at least some needed time with them.

Thank you for teaching, mentoring, and encouraging young women today. They need you more than you know!

Residents want a playground near (St. Pete Times)

Amy's in the paper again! This one is from the Neighborhood Times section, November 12, 2006. Check it out: Residents want a playground near - Archives: St. Petersburg Times