Sunday, February 7, 2010

Humanity and a Nation Divided

“United We Stand, Divided We Fall” is a proclamation that exemplifies the very foundation of our Nation. It along with the Constitution of the United States is what made America the land of the free and a strong and powerful country. But our economy as well as the entire world community is in peril and strife because of Egotism, Individualism, and Separatism. Our governments are divided, our house and senate are divided, our social structures are divided, and our families are divided. Unity and Oneness are not just words to be thrown around to informally initiate peace movements but rather are ideas and conceptions that govern the very structure of our universe.

Family is the source and the heart beat of our community. We need to start with preserving the family unit and securing our homes. A family divided within only perpetuates the evolution of a divided community and society. How can our economic structure survive if divorces are accelerating at an astronomical pace while families are being ripped apart. The only ones who win in a divorce are the attorneys and court systems as we pay ridiculous fees to resolve our differences while at the same time supporting the demand for more government. The ones who lose and are affected the most are our children. They lose their home, their parents are separated, and they become neglected financially, emotionally, and socially. The children lose, the parents lose, our families lose, and our communities lose which ultimately affects our global community.

A family will stand if it is united but will fall if it is divided and so do the principles and morals that go along with it that our country was founded on. How can we preserve our families and secure our homes if we lose them in foreclosure because of financial hardships and a failing economy. Our government bailed out the banks to supposedly save the “whole world” from total economic collapse yet the banks have not been successful in helping the American People who have been laid off from work and facing foreclosure on their homes. As our President himself has expressed disappointment with the banks calling them “Fat Cats,” their lack of cooperation is a prime example of the persistent greed that is plaguing our country and tipping the scales toward a total economic collapse.

Instead of dividing the spoil amongst themselves with insane bonuses paid out to top executives the banks and our government both need to take responsibility and use the stimulus money borrowed from other countries to help save our families homes from foreclosure, stimulate job growth, and stabilize our economic structure. The Home Loan Modification Program has only helped a small percentage of homes from foreclosure as banks use rigid guidelines making excuses why they will not lower percentage rates and modify mortgages. The banks and government need to work together and develop a Home Loan Modification Program that actually works and or suspend house payments for the unemployed families until they find sustainable work.

How can a society weather the storm, much less function, when our families are being dismantled because of unemployment, divorce, and foreclosure on their homes? Each act and degree of separation is of itself a cause and effect of the other. Whether it is divorce that leads to foreclosure, unemployment that leads to divorce, or foreclosure as a result of unemployment the result is the same. Our families are torn apart, our children suffer from separation, and our community breaks down from an economic crisis.

If our country as well as the global community is to resolve the destructive behaviors that have brought our world to the brink of economic collapse and utter chaos then we must move beyond the Egotism, Individualism, and Separatism that has divided our government, our community, and our families. We need to get back to and uphold the morals and principles that are the foundations of our great Nation. We must stand together as a family, nation, and world community and apply the ideas of Unity and Oneness to every aspect of our lives starting within.

David H. Atwell
www.consciousmind.com

Environmental Awareness

Mother Earth is a conscious living being and we are a part of her consciousness just as the cells within our body are a part of our consciousness. Whether “Global Warming” is indeed happening or not the truth is industrial corporations along with corrupt politicians are polluting our planet.

You don’t have to be a scientist to see that our streams and rivers are polluted with toxins and that our rainforest are being cut down at an astronomical pace. It doesn’t take a genius to take a deep breath and inhale the excessive carbon emissions present in any of our biggest cities.

When the cells within our body are productive and work together in unity our body is healthy, alive, and whole. However, when certain cells deviate from their intended purpose they become cancerous destroying the body and it’s internal environment.

Likewise, when Humanity is productive and works together in unity our Earth is healthy, alive, and whole. However, when certain individuals deviate from their intended purpose they become cancerous to our planet destroying her internal environment by means of war, pollution, and disease (dis-ease).

David H. Atwell
www.consciousmind.com

Real World Studios

“Real World” or so it seemed. Not too many people want to remember or even entertain the thought of where they were on 9-11-2001 but for me it was a “Great and Terrible day.” It was great because it was a time of incredible creativity for me as I was working on “The Source” and hanging out in Peter Gabriel’s “Real World Studios.” It was terrible because I was in Peter Gabriel’s Studio at the moment the Twin Towers were destroyed in New York and the “Real World” as I knew it changed.

It was my second time at Peter’s studio and my wife’s first as we stayed in Bath, England ten minutes away. It was no doubt a wonderful experience. However, we left the studio not even knowing what happened in New York and headed to London to stay for a few nights before we were off to Paris, France.

We arrived in London later that evening only to find all the hotels booked up. Everywhere we went nothing was available and I couldn’t for the life of me understand why. I didn’t have that problem ever before. We drove around until two o’clock in the morning looking for a place to stay when I finally pulled into a gas station for suggestions on where to get a room.

As I waited in line I saw a picture in the paper of the Twin Towers on fire. I was a little shocked but didn’t know the extent of what happened until we finally found a room and was able to watch the news. As we settled in we watched the news in disbelief and stayed up until six in the morning watching the video coverage over and over.

Obviously it was questionable if we were going to be able to get back home anytime soon much less make it to Paris. So we decided to skip Paris and drove to Dover to hang for a few days in a very surreal psychological environment while everything settled down a bit.

We were finally able to get a flight back home to the US only to later find out that my wife was pregnant with our twin daughters at the time all of this occurred. There were times she was not feeling well in England, which turned out to be morning sickness from being pregnant.

The “Real World,” whatever that means, changed in one brief moment of space and time. The Twin Towers were destroyed, I was working on a Double CD, and my Twin daughters were born shortly afterward in 2002. It was a case of the “terrible twos” while in the same moment a time of blessing and wonder.

Who knows what 2012 will bring or even 2020 but hopefully humanity will awaken, move past the ignorance, and stop the violence so we can live in a “Real World” of peace and love ushering in a “Great Day” to speak of instead of a great and terrible day.

David H. Atwell
www.consciousmind.com

Transcendence

The world is in a crisis of birth. Right before our very eyes Ego and the need for control is losing its grip on the world in which we live and the only constant that we can be sure of is this rapid pace of change. Every system is breaking down while at the same time new systems are emerging. Government's around the world that were designed to serve Humanity, not oppress its people, are now failing along with the financial institutions that support them.

What is taking place is a restructuring of government and an overhaul of its complete economic system that will eventually evolve its people beyond the enslaving concept of money consciousness. All the world government's are coming unraveled from within as control, violence, and wars are giving way to truth and it is truth that will emancipate the people from the ignorance that gives support to our governments to create more technologically advanced weapons of destruction.

Religion is giving way to spiritual truth and understanding which has been hidden to many throughout the ages responsible for the countless lives lost in wars fought in the name of God. Ignorance is giving way to awareness and darkness giving way to Light as the people rise above their differences and the need to be right in any given situation especially religious ideology.

The barriers are being shattered and our boundaries are being eliminated as we are walking through the walls of separation that divides our world into nations based on race, religion, and politics. Humanity is experiencing the time of no time and a quickening of the human spirit is taking place here and now that will transform our present state of awareness transcending our limitations allowing each and every individual to eventually ascend into higher levels of consciousness.

Instruments of hope and technological advances in restoration will replace our destructive behavior and weapons of mass destruction. Love will heal the wounds of Ego as peace and harmony will pave the way while fear and doubt give way to more constructive forms and thought patterns. Pain and suffering will dissipate and abundance will flourish as we move past scarcity thinking and accept responsibility for our actions as a direct correlation between cause and effect.

The future belongs to the ones who believe in the beauty of their dreams. The best way to predict the future and preserve our divine rights and heritage is to create it.

David H. Atwell
www.consciousmind.com

Reverence For Mother Earth

Article by IRA KENNEDY

American Indian Prophecies is not about the end of the world but, rather, a change of worlds-the beginning of a new Earth cycle. The prophecies of Black Elk, Wovoka, Rolling Thunder, Lame Deer, Sun Bear, and the Hopi are used to examine the differences between Western and Native American world views and their relationship to the future.

Written in the 1970s, the visions of Lame Deer and Sun Bear seem to be a logical extension of current events. After all, even prophecies conform to the laws of cause and effect. The difference between the prophet and the scientist is that the scientist relies on the process of deduction, while the prophet simply dreams. The scientist functions out of the conscious mind, the prophet from the unconscious.

There are two concepts common to all the prophecies presented here. One speaks of a change of worlds, another of the importance of American Indian traditions, particularly their reverence for Mother Earth. The old ways of the Native Americans cannot answer all of the dilemmas we face now and tomorrow. But, our present way of life is dysfunctional and outmoded. Choosing one or the other does not bring us into the new earth cycle envisioned by the prophets. Accepting certain Indian traditions doesn't mean rejecting all things from the white world. Each way can stand side-by-side like monumental pillars forming a gateway between which the path of the new way leads into the future.

Native traditions are rooted in magic, myth and metaphor; Western traditions, in science, history and fact. For the first time in human history both are accessible. In a very real sense these differing world views are like the two hemispheres of the brain: the intuitive right and the reasoning left. The synergistic potential of incorporating native and Western thought is an exciting and difficult prospect. But in a world that is long on problems and short on alternatives, this notion should be considered.

For example, take the concept of time. As mentioned earlier, the native view is circular, the Western is linear. In fact, Western linear time actually stands on end, the past is at the bottom, the new and improved present in at the top. That's called progress. Now, when you combine the two concepts the result is a spiral. It is a different image retaining the qualities of both, but its implications are deeper and richer.

For many, changing lifestyles and modifying world views have a quality about them akin to dying. For, indeed, such changes mean the end of the familiar world; but death isn't necessary. Imagine a caterpillar. It lives its life voraciously eating leaves until one day through some mysterious impulse it wraps itself in a cocoon and emerges some time later as a butterfly. It no longer creeps along on branches eating leaves, but takes wing and flies from flower to flower sipping nectar. The caterpillar didn't die, it transformed itself.

Human history is a story of transformation. We change our physical world through technology and our metaphysical world through religion. Many of our present difficulties arise out of the fact that our physical world is shifting faster than our ability to assimilate the changes. Concurrently, our spiritual life has atrophied from inattention. Our bodies and our spirits are off balance and out of sync. This results in feelings of confusion, impotence and stress. Anything we do under these conditions will be less than optimum. For our own well being we must transform ourselves, and remake our world.

Every place on earth, like every person, has a distinct character. Perhaps it is time to listen to the spiritual elders of this continent when they implore us to honor Mother Earth. Perhaps, with Western ingenuity and native wisdom we can cross the threshold into a new earth.

www.consciousmind.com