Here's an excerpt from an email conversation with a life-long friend (he starts the conversation) about Disappearance of the Universe by Gary Renard and ACIM ( A Course In Miracles ), which I'm re-reading like a desert wanderer re-united with his favorite oasis:

Yep, DoU is very good.  IMHO It should be required reading for anyone doing the Course.

Perty fine writin', ain't it! Our study group decided (after listening to one of Gary's audio CDs last Wed.) that we would meet every Wed. night instead of just every other... Great stuff!

The thing I have a question about, and ACIM only gave a few guidelines about this, is: Is there a specific technique for forgiving?

YES! That's exactly what inspires me about Gary's work... the idea of quantum forgiveness, or realizing that

A) There's no "out there" if space time is a bogus projection of the egoic mind, therefore there's no "body" "OUT" there to forgive, and

B) also follows from the fraud of the hologram we're projecting we call 3D "reality", that if time is illusory, then all the EVENTS in space time are made up, too, so there's no person (including our limited idea of self) or thing, events or otherwise to forgive.

I'm finding that re-reading the Course after over 2 decades of relative dormancy in that regard, it is amazingly alive with new meaning when the idea that "God had nothing to do with making up the physical Universe"(my paraphrasing of a major 'gem' from Gary) is factored in... suddenly the Course is infinitely more potent than when I was trying to make God the scapegoat for a bogus reality he/she had nuthin' to do with! (and the beauty of it is that neither have we! We're all off the hook, and letting the holy spirit ... (transpersonal, yeah-I-think-I'm-overdue-for-abandoning-my-pathetic-little-sob-story-soap-opera, non-finite, non-local or whatever you wanna-call-it that pertains to our infinite unlimited nature) take hold of the wheel... do the heavy lifting makes all the difference !

(The study group is a big help in REMINDING me this in the zombified tranced-out Truman Show reality I've managed to conjure; your mileage may vary

Remembering that the person you are frustrated with is a Son of God seems (I'm sorry to say) just a bit phoney sometimes.

I'm reminded of the quote in Richard Bach's Illusions (now I gotta run and find it so I don't misquote ... back in a sec....
There... found it (and found another quote I wanna use in my book anyway... I STILL think Illusions would make a great movie, BTW) The quote (one of my faves!) I was looking for is this one (early in Chap. 12):

(The context: Richard is talking with Don Shimoda about walking through walls...)

R: "OK. You can make it appear that you can walk through walls, if you want. Is that a better question?"

D: "Yes. Better. But if you want to be precise..."

R: "Don't tell me. I know how to say what I mean. Here is my question. How is it that you can move the illusion of a limited sense of identity, expressed in this belief of a space-time continuum as your 'body', through the illusion of material restriction that is called a 'wall'?"

D: "Well done!" he said. "When you ask the question properly it answers itself, doesn't it?"

R: "No, the question hasn't answered itself. How do you walk through walls?"

D: "RICHARD! You had it nearly right and then blew it all to pieces! I cannot walk through walls... when you say that, you're assuming things I don't assume at all..."

Maybe we're here to challenge our assumptions about "others" along these lines It seems like trying to force forgiveness through a fragmented thought system is just another "seek and do not find" exercise... since the egoic thought system IS totally phony baloney!

It doesn't get you to that place of fully releasing them.

I find when it feels phony, that I'm still dredging up beliefs about "others" based on the dualistic thought system of "we-they"; the heart and transpersonal awareness seem to be key vehicles for that understanding...

It helps to remember that it is actually imperative to forgive because that's the only way you can remember your immortal soul but even that doesn't always seem to be enough to get me to DO it.

It is TOTALLY up to us (only the ego applies pressure, extortion or fear/manipulation tactics; the Holy Spirit has nothing to lose, since it already has reality 'in the bag' ... I like the quote toward the beginning of ACIM of "... only the time you take it is voluntary"... Kind of a sweet, smiling gentle cajoling like an old friend calling you out to play...

To not make my brother's errors REAL requires looking beyond them from the beginning not to make them real then forgive them.

That's it!!! (kinda like Richard's eloquent and lucid question above If we still have 3D consciousness, I guess it means we have more practicing to do

So it really requires keeping our minds in Reality in the first place doesn't it?  But then if we WERE in Reality we wouldn't need to forgive in the first place.  Forgiving is for those who have forgotten Reality.

Yep; using the metaphor of the Course, we're still like toddlers having a bad dream (or hopefully moving toward more happy dreams), but still we're rather snoozy ... Ahhh, we're just remembering that we're already awake in TRUTH, but still just dreaming ...

I've read to page 150 at this point and the explanation of the separation is much more understandable than it was when I read it in ACIM (nothing against ACIM). That the Big Bang actually came from us creating a physical universe to hide in makes a lot of sense and is mind boggling to say the least.

Yes!!! That's something I some how missed reading and studying ACIM in the early 80's and until this past summer... SUPER MAJOR INSIGHT, it would seem! Now that I'm back into ACIM (about page 211 in the text today) it is like DU/YIR (Gary Renard's writing) is shining a huge grand opening spotlight on the text... How did I miss the exquisite coherence of this profound thought system before! I mean, I knew it was great (and even then figured it was probably the most profound spiritual document ever written, just that now it seems orders of magnitude more relevant... yeah, I know, no orders of difficulty

Anyway, if you have time, please respond to my email - particularly the forgiveness technique if one is given. I'll read it eventually but I'm curious to know what your thoughts are on this subject.

I think I mostly addressed it above, but the key seems to be to realize that it's not about "others thoughts about me" (since there are no "others") but MY thoughts (and feelings, since thoughts in this context includes the whole spectrum) about others that either liberates me or imprisons me to more nonsense...

Thanks man!  ()

Likewise, big time! ... and thanks for asking these questions, since I'm at a crucial point in my practice where I need all the reinforcement I can get for this unlimited thought system

Thanks to Haines for playing more of his Adyashanti tape collection on his Earth Mysteries radio show today on KVMR-FR, Nevada City, California. Here's a quote from today I particularly liked:

"Egos don't have the choice you think you have."

A good reminder to let go of our attachments to personal stories and identifications!

Here is a reply to a recent email that touches on the profoundly ineffable unity within us all, and how challenging it is to not become attached to reflections (or outcomes or effects)...

I am looking for a universal symbol that represents 'The-One', can you please point me to one?

Wow; that's quite a question! On a superficial level, I would suggest that the point might be a good candidate, since every point in space-time (and probably all other dimensions we can imagine with our finite human apparatus represents the profound unity we all share; another good representative might be a circle (in 2D) or sphere (in 3D) which can be arbitrarily large to embrace the oneness within in an egalitarian manner.

On a deeper level (and vastly more important one), it might be more appropriate to suggest that Oneness transcends all form, even the most eloquent examples of ineffable principles that we share intrinsically. My current work with "The Geometry Code" is intended to convey some of that universal connectedness that the cosmic mystery unfolds for us as we allow our consciousness to embrace more of the ALL. I'm currently reading The Disappearance of the Universe by Gary Renard which reminds me that The One does not recognize form, and our purpose is to recall our identity with The One. Geometric metaphors can only be guideposts, seen in the proper light for recalling our intrinsic Oneness, but any expression is but a reflection of the ineffable One.

Also, I have a friend who can program pics to emit orgone and tachyon energy. I am looking for a pic that is perfect for that. Preferably black and white. Can you please point me to one.

There are countless examples; I would also suggest that the most important element is your intention; the particular imagery is (despite my fascination with universal patterns) not quite as important, although still relevant.

Rhythm (example still image from the animations in The Geometry Code Screensaver/Meditation tool/eBooklet

I found this bit of musing on a page from my old website, while moving files over to the new one:

I see a world

where the intent of all creation is:
• to deeply feel the love of the Great Spirit, the Creator, and express that love in every thought, word and action, by unfettered choice, with commitment and integrity
• to know, with every atom of one's being, that what appears to be "we" is really "I"; to realize, more profoundly than the mere notion that we are all interconnected, that we ARE indeed cells of an infinite organism and each cell is boundless and precious beyond measure
• to become aware of the glorious unlimited spectrum of life in its inexhaustible beauty, wisdom and diversity, treating all creatures with compassion and respect
• to live in a sustainable way where we cherish the freedom and responsibility to share the truth and care for all aspects of the seamless fabric of life
• to recognize that all appearances of polarity and duality are but illusory reflections of a more profound underlying unity, and grasping the gift of this omni-present mirroring, savor the full range of life's blessings while not taking any thing too seriously
• to find joy and meaning in each moment, purpose in each atom, divine order in every pattern from the most minute to the most unimaginably vast
• to see the Universe through the eyes of gratitude, appreciation and humor.

Here's a thoughtful, heartfelt response from one of the 500+ subscribers to my email bulletin (who asked to remain anonymous) which mentions the public interest in videos such as "The Secret" and "What The Bleep" as indicative of a deeper longing for remembering our connection to natural law. While I don't have any first-hand knowledge of the information presented in the comments below to either validate or invalidate the claims about the some of the presenters mentioned; I DO know from my own experience that it is vitally important to hold the intent to make all choices of thought, feeling and action in accord with the optimum welfare of all life everywhere (rather than "manipulate" outcomes for limited personal "benefit"), and to ask for permission whenever our actions and choices involve others. Here is the response:

"Cheers Blessings and WoW back at you!! And Thank you for responding so immediately – and for so graciously hearing me. It seems our deepest intentions are ‘on the same page’.
I didn’t feel you were endorsing either movie – and that is part of what is so painful for me – the innocence with which “What the Bleep” is pointed to. I can’t really speak much about “The Secret”, yet. I know that some of the other scientists have also voiced complaint of misrepresentation regarding their presentation in “Bleep” --- but hard to find. Needless to say JZK Inc. doesn’t provide that info on their web page.!
I so agree with you regarding the hunger people have for ‘something’ unnamable. And I can recognize why “Bleep” has achieved such cult-like notoriety. Nevertheless – the kicker for me, and many of us ‘ex-Ramsters’ living in the Yelm area, is that when the movie premiered here in Yelm, it was a joke. We know the scam Ramtha is, and Dr. Joe etc., and assumed everyone would see through it. Many did. Too many haven’t.
It has always been a hunger in me to be able to articulate the ‘greatest gifts’ within me – so you inspire me now to attempt to articulate how the science and spiritual truth are one.
First, it seems to me it’s not so much the information/science as it is the manner and environment in which it is presented. What I know is that, for instance, with JZK Inc.’s Ramtha, the information for the most part is valid, presented in an abusive environment, and from a perspective of “power over” our world(s). I believe it’s the same in “The Secret”. The message seems to commonly be, ‘you have the capacity, the power to create your life and your world; as proven by quantum physics and the ‘fact’ that the observer impacts the observed.
In the New Testament, King James Version, Paul describes faith as: “the substance of things hoped for; the evidence of things unseen.” This is quantum physics. Buddhism has had the same understanding long before humankind could spell quantum. Some form of the story of the 3 Wishes is in every culture throughout time. Humanity today has proven it’s ability to ‘create/manipulate reality – to the nano level!!! – We’ve manipulated the environment and every living creature on it and our world is going to hell around us. So it seems. When will we understand that manipulation doesn’t work.?
To me it’s as simple as, we don’t have the capacity to see all parameters simultaneously. For instance, imagine being able to see the entirety of the planet earth, or to be inside the Platonic solids seeing all sides simultaneously. And, if chaos theory has any validity, and if the flap of a butterfly’s wings changes the weather on the other side of the world – how are we as individuals capable of knowing everything simultaneously to make the ‘right’ decision/create reality that isn’t ultimately destructive?
Without question our attitudes, our perspectives, our socio/cultural/ethnic/etc status impact/create how we experience what happens. It’s the old glass half full or half empty thing…. And, as your website so clearly is – our Intent is the key.
Most importantly, to me, is what Sacred Geometry shows us. There is an inherent harmony in our universe(s). When we are in tune/in alignment/allowing of that inherent harmony, ‘magic’ happens. Christians would call it, as I do, Grace. You can manipulate/impose your will/create your reality of angles and shapes – but nothing will make your heart and Soul sing like the work/play you do of flowing with the inherent Harmony. All that we call beautiful – whether of “Nature” or human made is that which reflects/articulates this Sacred Geometry/inherent Harmony.
There is a beyond duality that is accessible to us. The ability to impose our will upon the ‘substance’ of reality has always been known. The ‘evidence’ of the ‘unseen’ has always been recognized – simply called by different names. The point, therefore, to me, is recognize that there is a Harmony and to allow It. Isn’t that what the ‘great Teachers’ were saying?
Sooooooooo – yes, the science is correct. And we have a choice – to manipulate ‘reality’, or to flow with the inherent Harmony. Simple. Which is not to say it’s easy."

I woke up with this phrase reverberating through my consciousness:
"I'm not attached to any of this ... where can our hearts meet?"

"A life without change is not a life; it is a stagnant pool. To change your mind frivolously is a cop-out. To change your mind under the direction of the wisdom of the heart is a brush stroke on the masterpiece you are delivering to the world." - Alan Cohen

Mankind must remember that peace is not God's gift to his creatures, peace is our gift to each other. -- Elie Wiesel

... and thanks to Helene for this one:

"Humor is one of the most serious tools we have for dealing with impossible situations." - Erica Jong

Here's a preview of a coming attraction

I'm sitting in the deli section of the Ashland Food Co-op, where I frequently make a weekly pilgrimage for groceries. Only tonight, rather than moseying through the beets and bananas, I'm sitting on a wooden slatted chair with my trusty PowerBook here perched on a little round table with a brushed metallic finish (adorned with hundreds of little "scientific jewelry" disks as they used to be called). I'm making good use of my time to finish an outline for a proposal I will deliver with a new friend this weekend (it's quite exciting, details to follow!) to a local board of directors about an idea whose time has come. Meanwhile, I'm savoring the ambience of congenial folks pushing grocery carts around the aisles of mostly organic bounty, a handful of deli patrons, and the rather sporadic intercom voice requesting "grocery, line one". Meanwhile, just outside the window, a few folks browse around the always-full 4-sided kiosk with an assortment of flyers about events primarily about raising consciousness about one facet of life or another. Another young woman, probably a student at Southern Oregon University, eats something from a white cardboard deli container while perusing the funny page, and two other guys at different tables exhibit similar activity; the headline of one paper reading "Pushing on without mom brought healing"... a little vignette of the cafe vibe of our local co-op, which just announced plans to expand into Medford soon. I think I come here to shop as much for the kindred spirit community of the place as I do for the quality of the nourishment I take with me.

I've been pondering how much time and energy is expended on the pursuit of money, and it occurs to me that (not that it isn't important to have an effective medium of exchange – I've worked on developing a local currency in Nevada County, Calif. a few years ago, for example) ... perhaps we might do well to focus on the optimum medium of interchange – kindness, unconditional acceptance, tolerance, or whatever we might want to call it... not that the label is particularly important... Imagine what our world would be like if kindness was practiced with as much passion as material ambition seems to be at present!

Here are a few interesting links about consciousness, modern physics and interconnections I found while doing some research this morning on these subjects (most are courtesy of Wikipedia, where I've just started making a contribution here and there...)

Peter Russell (and his page on the New Frontiers website)
Perennial Philosophy
Philosopher's Stone
Copenhagen Interpretation
Many Worlds Interpretation
Common Dreams
TimeStar (thanks to Dan for this link)

Sometimes it's fun to see what synchronistically leads to the next web-woven thread in the tapestry... Perhaps one of these will lead you to some interesting ponderings or AHA moments If nothing else, pages like this serve as a little time capsule of where my thoughts have ventured during a portion of a day on this lovely planet...

This rings particularly true for me today... Is anyone else doing more soul-searching than ever before lately? I'm feeling a strong pull to draw on untapped inner reservoirs of knowingness, strength and calm to meet the coming year... and gather together with kindred souls to amplify the energy of that resolve... both in "virtual space" and face-to-face...

"We must go within to find our answers and recognize we are forging a new path. We must question all we have learned, we must discern for ourselves what is truth and what is not. Ultimately we are the only authority. Only out of a framework such as this may creative thought arise towards a World of Peace, Love, and Prosperity....." from www.Gnostic.Org

This morning, thanks to my astute partner and our dialogue, I had a revelation about how I can support myself (in the figurative, inner sense) which I know ultimately reflects in the outer sense materially. It dawned on me (before the literal dawn today) that I need to deepen my application of the "Serenity Prayer": "God grant us the serenity to accept the things we cannot change, courage to change the things we can, and wisdom to know the difference." I'll refer you to my 13Dec2006 post on "Responsible To and Responsible For" for an accompanying graphic, which seems to apply quite nicely. Specifically, my adolescent insight about "not conforming to anything, including non-conformity" now takes on a deeper significance; I'm at a point in my life where I need to release myself from needing to conform to imagined or perceived expectations of others in order to be truly at peace with myself, and at the same time, make the optimum contribution (response-ability) to those my life touches for betterment. The "Aha" moment was about allowing myself to accept inner support (which isn't contingent on ANYTHING outside myself, and relies only on a healthy respect for the soul I've been invested with) and trusting that the inner support is sufficient at each moment.

We've been enjoying John Mayer's most recent release, Continuum, which has a song I'm particularly fond of, "The Heart of Life". The lyrical gems for me are "Pain throws your heart to the ground; love turns the whole thing around; I know the heart of life is good" and "Fear is a friend who's misunderstood." The first lyric seems obvious (although we seem to be able to ignore that unshakeable knowingness sometimes - A Course In Miracles uses the analogy of a child's nightmare). The second lyric about fear being a misunderstood friend reminds me of a quote (not sure of the attribution) about the egoic mind being a great passenger (warning system) but a lousy driver. Move over ego!

Here's a lineup of our family holiday gathering and our SEVEN (not even counting Nancy's and neice Danielle's machines)... we're definitely an all-Mac family... I guess I'm responsible for this (so I hear Brother Jim was talking about how when my youngest nephew was only 18 months old, he had to wait his turn to use the computer (not anymore)

A quick post for this evening; I was listening to one of many wonderful interviews on Conscious Media Network, and found this gem (with which I completely agree! ... thanks for the reminder from consciousness researcher colleague Peter Russell : a quick test for asking ourselves how we want to respond to whatever appears in our lives at each moment: "Does it make my heart sing?"

I've been meditating on various geometric symbols that epitomize the quintessence of the 7 natural (or Hermetic) Laws of truth that apply to all life. A friend and mentor (Floyd Edwards, author of Symbolism of the Great Seal of the United States) introduced me to a book in the early 1970's called the Kybalion, which has been in print almost a century which describes these seven Universal laws. Since the book has gone out of copyright, you can also read it online in its entirety here.

One of the laws (#4 in the sequence presented in the Kybalion ) is the Law of Polarity which states that everything has its opposites; and all opposites are identical in nature, but different in degree. In light of contemporary systems theory, which reminds us that everything is interconnected, it would seem that the solution to the problems of limiting polarized perspectives (which threaten to keep our planet on a destructive course, from individuals to nations,) would be to embrace perspectives that INTEGRATE and reconcile seemingly different point of view -- with the realization that we're all one and merely operate (for the most part) from differing "degrees" of various polarized viewpoints.

I just listened to a superb interview by Ashok Gangadean addressing many aspects of this concept. I'm also realizing that a symbol that represents many aspects of this transcending vision is the "string art" genre which shows all possible permutations of a network. Theoretically, the ultimate symbol would depict every possible point in all dimensions of space time (and beyond) interconnected to every other point (which is what physics now suggests is the closest model of our Universe, to the best of my knowledge). However, a symbol with a dozen points around a central point suffices as a pretty good placeholder for us 3D folks Here's a sketch of my proposed candidate for a symbol for the law of polarity:

I woke up this morning thinking about our the geometry and (3D+) dimensions of our senses. It occurs to me that the symmetry of our 5 "traditional" physical senses (assuming we're "awake" and standing or at least sitting upright, perpendicular to the surface of the earth) is mostly horizontal for each sense. For example, our pair of eyes are situated "on a plane or a line" about the same distance from the surface of the earth; our ears and nostrils both have the same horizontal orientation. One might imagine a person's hands as being an iconic metaphor for the sense of touch. I seem to recall a graphic in a textbook years ago, showing the sizes of areas of a human body exaggerated to show how many nerve endings we have in a more correct proportion, and our hands (particularly finger tips) were huge, so if both our hands were "emissaries of the physical sense of touch (and nominally at the same height above ground, that would be another horizontally oriented sense. The last sense, taste relies on our tongue, which, although singular, seems mostly in aligned in a horizontal plane as far as the portion we usuallly see.

Now contemplate the spinal (vertical, if we're upright) orientation of the 7 "traditional" energy centers in the body, called the chakras in eastern lore. My understanding of the principle of health (and transcendence, enlightenment, etc.) is that balance is achieved through communication and integration of the energies along this vertical axis. For example, when our heart and head are in communion, we transcend the polarized notion of "we" and "they"... it seems that so often to resolve the conflicts in one dimension, we need to find a new dimension (in this case perhaps literally geometrically!) to see the whole terrain and not get caught up in the drama...

We just watched an inspiring film this evening, Il Postino (The Postman) about the life and poetry of Pablo Neruda, and I'm feeling a bit moved to allow some of the inner stirrings to see the light of day...

Unrepeatable Moment

The lost notes of an unnamed song
spiraling through cavernous memories
in our tender and tumultuous history ...
Rest for a moment in reflection,
frozen now in your vibrant canvas
to sing anew in a different galaxy
I wonder if the Akashic files will do justice
to the moment I heard your unfettered call
shattering the transparent facade around my soul.
When will we hear the password for the cause behind the wall?

Hi all:

Welcome! I've been meaning to revamp my website for over a decade, and finally listened to the promptings ... It was asking to be several sites, so here's the first site, brucerawles.com, which will be an ever expanding collection of my personal musings (this blog), favorite inspirations of all sorts - music, art, perhaps a Rumi poem here and there, a fun or mind-stretching video, books (so many great ones!) and whatever else I feel like sharing with the Universe. I'll keep other specific interests that deserve a site of their own (like sacred geometry) elsewhere. I want this to be interactive, so please use the "Contact Bruce" link freely, and/or (better yet) post replies to my posts here that YOU would like to share with the planet. I'm savoring an indoor day, watching the first snowfall outside the window here in southern Oregon. So many friends, travels, and worthwhile things to let you know about ... no time like the present to start! Cheers!

Contact Bruce here: