What is the Enneagram?
A fundamental element of the enneagram is its description of nine distinct personality types, each a reflection of different patterns of thought, feeling and action. Each of the nine types is rooted in a specific viewpoint or belief structure that largely determines what is important to you and how you interact with the world to fulfill your hopes and dreams.

Each of us adopted one of the nine patterns to protect a specific aspect of our selves that felt under threat during the development of our personalities. As you discover more about your enneagram personality type, you will also be learning about the unconscious motivations that determine much of your behavior.

Understanding your enneagram personality type can literally change your life-not only in your relationships with yourself and others, but in the way you cope with all issues and situations.

When I first heard my Enneagram type described, a whole slew of observations I had made about myself over the years suddenly fell into place. I had a short-cut conceptual system that made sense out of a lot of stuff that hadn't made much sense. That was one of the reasons that I decided, whatever this guy is teaching, I have to get involved with it and find out more about it.

Charles T. Tart
author of Transpersonal Psychologies and Body Mind Spirit

Who are you?
Type 1
A perfectionist, driven to do the "right" thing. Often critical of self as well as others, with a strongly developed sense of responsibility. Prone to repressed anger.
Type 2
A helper, needing to be needed. Will go the extra mile to please others at the cost of taking care of self. Gives and is proud of it, but strings are often attached.
Type 3
An achiever, efficient, goal-driven and focused on being a "winner." Concern with appearances-style over substance-can crowd out friends, family and self-awareness.
Type 4
An individualist, craving self-expression and emotional depth. Sensitive to beauty and meaning, but prone to melancholy, feelings of inadequacy, and envy.
Type 5
An observer, perceptive and capable of synthesizing information in new ways. Protective of privacy and personal resources and prone to emotional detachment.
Type 6
A team-player-or a rebel-vigilant for threats from the environment. Loyal and engaging, but full of contradictions which create self-doubt and indecisiveness.
Type 7
An enthusiast with a perpetual surplus of plans and ideas, eager for experiences and/or material goods. Habitual optimism may cover a fear of boredom and pain.
Type 8
A leader, driven to control self and environment, capable of both domination and protectiveness. Vulnerabilities and a tender heart are hidden beneath a tough exterior.
Type 9
A peacemaker, good at seeing all points of view and easily distracted from personal needs and priorities. Avoids direct confrontation but can be passive and immovable.

WHAT IS ORAL CHELATION?
Chelation therapy is a safe, non-surgical treatment used to rid the body of excess toxins, particularly metals. These chelators draw out toxic metals and other harmful substances that impair bodily functions and help the body eliminate these toxins via the kidneys. Oral Chelating agents can often prevent health problems from occurring by restoring circulation to the body's tissues. Chelation benefits every blood vessel in the body, from the largest veins to the tiniest capillaries and arterioles, most of which are too small for surgical treatment or too deep within the brain and other vital organs to be safely reached by surgery.

In arteriosclerosis, deposits of cholesterol, fats and other substances collect on the walls of the largest to the smallest arteries in the form of hard plaque. It has been found that calcium acts as the glue that holds the plaque together. Chelating agents bind with this calcium and carry it out of the body (removing the dangerous heavy metals at the same time). This breaks up the plaque deposits, unclogging the arteries and permitting normal blood flow

Clots of plaque in the artery walls can affect your brain (Alzheimer's), sexual organs, feet, legs, etc., as well as your heart.

DOES CHELATION LOWER THE LEVELS OF CALCIUM IN THE BONES AND TEETH?

Dr. Gary Gordon, who is a member of ACAM (the American College of Advancement in Medicine), states: No. In fact, it can increase bone calcium. When the chelating substance removes calcium from the blood stream, the body will automatically start pulling calcium from other parts of the body to make up for the loss in the blood (Serum calcium needs to stay at a constant level for heart function). The most available calcium is the calcium that is deposited in the arterial walls, known as calcium apatite. Other areas of the body also surrender their calcium, such as calcium deposits in arthritic joints, tendons, kidney stones, underneath skin, and in calcified bursae (that often lead to bursitis). Symptoms of arthritis are frequently reduced, and joint function improves with chelation treatment. At the same time, the EDTA stimulates the parathyroid to release a hormone called parathormone. Parathormone activates 2 types of bone cells, the osteoclasts and the osteoblasts. The osteoclasts break down bones and release calcium, while the osteoblasts build new bone, making bones stronger. This bone building process continues during oral chelation supplementation, providing you with the added benefit of increased bone mass while removing the excess calcium that is deposited in unwanted areas of the body, such as in the arteries and joints.

NOT ALL FORMULAS ARE CREATED EQUAL

For the past two years, Dr. Maile Pouls has been working as Director of Research for Extreme Health, Inc. She has been researching how people can remove heavy metals and fatty plaques from their bodies. She was also recently interviewed in the September issue of Alternative Medicine Digest Magazine about osteoporosis and the treatment of this degenerative disease through Extreme Health's Oral Chelation and Age-Less Formula. Extreme Health is privileged to have Dr. Pouls speak at the Holistic Dental Association's annual conference in May, 1999 in Denver, Colorado.

Dr. Pouls has a Ph.D. in biochemistry and human nutrition, as well as one of the largest clinical nutritional practices in the United States. She is the author of "The Nutritional Supplement Shopper", one of the most extensively researched books in today's market. It analyzes over 450 companies nationwide and offers a comparison study revealing the purest, most effective retail nutritional products available in America today.

Dr. Pouls studied detoxification for over ten years. It took a year to complete Extreme's revolutionary formulas. The Oral Chelation formula contains EDTA plus 16 other all-natural chelators. Extreme's Oral Chelation formula along with the replenishment formula, called Age-Less, contains 16 chelating agents, 31 anti-oxidants, 25 vitamins and minerals, 7 amino acids, 19 phyto-therapeutic super foods and herbal extracts and 3 enzymes.

This synergistic combination of nutrients supports the body's natural process of ensuring elimination of heavy metals such as mercury, lead, cadmium and aluminum from the body, and fatty and mineral plaques from the artery walls. This formula has nutrients to mobilize mercury and heavy metals from the brain and nerve ganglion, and natural chelators to bond and carry them out of the body. With a total of 60 synergistic ingredients, we believe you will not find another formula more comprehensive and effective in the market today. These oral chelating supplements are also convenient, affordable, and safe for both children and adults.

OTHER REASONS EXTREME HEALTH'S FORMULA IS REVOLUTIONARY

Extreme Health is one of the very few companies offering an Oral Chelation formula that combines the highest quality ingredients in just the right balance. Many other formulas fail to utilize the power of enzymes, which have been added to our formula. Dr. Pouls, who is also an enzyme specialist, realizes that without enzymes, proper digestion and absorption are not achieved. Your body may only be absorbing a small percentage of what you're ingesting without the added enzymes for optimal assimilation. Extreme Health's formula also has an exclusive ingredient that is extremely effective in detoxifying and protecting the liver, and normalizing liver metabolism to prevent further damage from internal and external toxins such as cigarettes, alcohol and environmental poisons. Numerous studies continue to prove how chelation therapy can be beneficial to many people who are suffering from degenerative health conditions and who are being offered drugs or surgery to control their symptoms.

Get A Good Dentist
Issue 126: Amalgam Replacement?

You can read this newsletter online:
http://curezone.com/forums/fd50.asp?f=83

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Protocol for Amalgam-Mercury-Silver Filling Removal

During chewing the patient is exposed to intraoral levels which are several times the EPA allowable air concentration. 2 During the removal or placement of amalgam the patient can be exposed to amounts which are a thousand times greater than the EPA allowable mercury concentration in the air.3 Once the drill touches the filling temperature increases immediately vaporizing the mercury component of the alloy. There are 8 steps to greatly reducing everyone's exposure:
All removal must be done under cold water spray with copious amounts of water. Once the removal has begun, the mercury vapor will be continuously released from the tooth.
A high volume evacuator tip should be kept near the tooth (1/2 inch) at all times to evacuate this vapor from the area of the patient. Polishing amalgam can create very dangerous levels of mercury and should be avoided especially for the mercury toxic patient.
All patients having amalgam removed or placed should be provided with an alternative air source and instructed to not breathe through their mouth during treatment.
continue reading
http://curezone.com/dental/dental_amalgam.asp

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Can't afford to get your amalgams removed?

I wanted to tell everyone about my experience in case you need dental work and can't afford it.
I had 9 amalgams and a bad crown that needed to come out. I had been reading the "bikerchicks" website with great interest but was afraid to go that far (I'm in Florida.) I thought I'd rather spend a little more money and go with a local dentist.
I found a local holistic, "metalfree" dentist and went for an appointment with him. He told me that 4 of my amalgams were so large that they would need to be crowned instead of refilled.... continue reading
http://curezone.com/forums/m.asp?f=42&i=1282

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Children and amalgam removal? by docb86

In skimming through this site, I have seen mention only of adults symptoms and amalgam removal. Has anyone had their children go through the amalgam removal process? My 10 year old daughter has experienced 5-6 of the classic symptoms mentioned by folks in this forum. (our observation and hers). ... reply
http://curezone.com/forums/m.asp?f=42&i=1325

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amalgam remove and depression. my story by jimmy1622

At the age of 11, I had 8 large amalgam fillings placed in my mouth by an unscrupulous dentist. I didn't have cavities in those teeth; but this Dr. assured me I would develop cavities in the deep grooves in my teeth if I didn't fill them. The amalgams were a "preventative".
(Sealants were already available at the time, but this dentist either didn't know about them or preferred to drill and fill.) During adolescence I became depressed. It wasn't always there, but it returned with regularity.
.... continue reading http://curezone.com/forums/m.asp?f=42&i=967

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My first amalgam removal by MrCooties

I thought I'd share my experience with my first amalgam replacement that was done a year ago. 3 teeth were done, by a "non-holistic" regular dentist who seemed supportive of my decision to remove my mercury and replace with composites. He was cheaper than the other dentists I checked out. He seemed in agreement that mercury might be bad, but still used amalgams as fillings on other people. He agreed to use a rubber dam and oxygen. ... continue reading http://curezone.com/forums/m.asp?f=42&i=1303

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11 amalgams and declining health by shagley

I had 11 silver amalgams 18 months ago and ever since have had major health issues. I am 24 and have been very physically fit all of my adult years but ever since having these fillings (my own fault as i didn't go to the dentists for 6 years) I have had nearly every symptom in the book and want them out of my head. ... continue reading http://curezone.com/forums/m.asp?f=42&i=1233

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Horrible amalgam-experience, now recovering! by dennyblylod

I went to a dentist here in Sweden 1 1/2 years ago and asked if he could remove my 16 amalgam fillings. I told him I had a few symptoms that were annoying due to my training for elite wrestling comeback, not my first though as previous multiple efforts had cased after long lasting infections, and that my mother in law had told me to get rid of them a thousand times since she had personal experience from amalgam illness.... continue reading http://curezone.com/forums/m.asp?f=42&i=1206

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Holistic dentists in Florida? by Azen

Wisdom teeth + holistic Dentist in Phoenix? by #22175

What type of Toxic Metal Test should I have done: Hair, Urine, or Saliva? by Pherlyss

Anyone here recovered from Mercury Poisoning? by shagley

Teeth with fillings vs. natural teeth by SebastianReed


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New Forums

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There are over 400 active forums/message boards on CureZone, covering just about any health subject that you may be interested in. If you have a suggestion on a new forum, post your suggestion here
Reproduce and forward freely!

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Extra Dimensions Would Have To Occupy A Tiny Space
University of Washington scientists using gravity measurements to hunt for evidence of dimensions in addition to those already known have found that those dimensions would have to occupy a space smaller than 0.2 millimeter.
In making that finding, the team headed by UW physics professors Eric Adelberger and Blayne Heckel gained new insights into gravity. One of the biggest mysteries in physics is why gravity is so weak compared with all other natural forces. A small magnet suspended above a table, for instance, can easily overcome the downward gravitational pull of the entire Earth and pick up a nail.

One idea, string theory, involves "extra" dimensions. It requires that there be 10 space dimensions, and it usually assumes that seven of those dimensions are curled up in regions so tiny they cannot be detected by current technology.

A new development in that theory suggests that gravity's apparent weakness could be caused by a unique property allowing gravity to leak off into "extra" dimensions, while everything else is confined to the normal dimensions of length, width and height.

Extra dimensions would be a millimeter in size or smaller and, until now, no experiment could have detected them. The Adelberger-Heckel team looked for anomalies at small distances that might signal the presence of extra dimensions.

"Gravity is the only way to see these extra dimensions, but the very weakness of gravity has meant that there was no way to test the theory," said Adelberger. "No one had even been able to detect the gravitational attraction between two millimeter-sized objects, much less see if the force could be stronger than expected."

The UW team recently measured the strength of gravity at a distance of just 0.2 millimeter and found no deviation from the gravitational pull predicted by the inverse-square law devised by Isaac Newton.

"No one had ever detected that gravity even existed at distances less than a millimeter," said Heckel.

"We find that if the extra dimensions exist, they have to be smaller than two-tenths of a millimeter," Adelberger said. "This doesn't say the extra dimensions idea is crazy. It's just not as easy as the simplest picture."

The research team already is fabricating equipment to test to 0.1 millimeter or less, and has begun planning an experiment to test at even smaller distances.

The findings, to be published in the Feb. 19 edition of Physical Review Letters, are based on results using a ring suspended just above a rotating disk. The ring contains 10 small holes and hangs by a tungsten fiber just 20 microns (less than one-thousandth of an inch) thick.

The rotating disk, with 10 similar holes, exerts gravitational pull on the pendulum, twisting it back and forth 10 times for every revolution of the plate. The amount of twist is measured by shining a laser beam off a mirror mounted on the ring.

The device, housed in the UW's Nuclear Physics Laboratory, has its main parts coated with gold, and a gold-coated copper foil less than one-thousandth of an inch is stretched between the ring and the disk. Those precautions are designed to prevent electrical forces from interfering with the gravitational tug being measured.

The Adelberger-Heckel team will continue trying to measure at smaller distances to explore whether some gravitational force might be spilling over from other very tiny dimensions.

"We don't know if these ideas are right, but they are revolutionary," Adelberger said. "There would be profound consequences if the ideas are correct." - By Vince Stricherz

[Contact: Eric Adelberger, Blayne Heckel, Vince Stricherz] 14-Feb-2001

BODY-Physical Aspect
Your computer just like your body is being attacked with all types of bugs, ads, pop ups, and hinderance that affect enjoyable living. The only thing that can help you with these problems is the truth and your participation in it. Life is a shared process and your transformation through it to the next dimension. If your knowledge is great, you might get a double promotion or better. Scientists have determined that there are perhaps eleven dimensions to this reality. This is called "the theory of everything."

When man first began to have some free time to think about these things, he looked at the stars, the sea, the birds in the air, the fishes in the sea, the earth, and the animals under the earth, fire and the mystery of the night. There were many dimensions he could not experience very well, so he began to imagine, "what would it feel like if I could fly, or live under water, under the earth, or on the moon?" There is perhaps no day that goes by when we do not think of these things. Perhaps a healthy imagination is a prerequisite to the "good life!"

I feel that computing, like so many other things, is a part of life. Although there are still many people that never heard of a computer the concept of better communication is not that foreign to them. This is built into every social unit from the individual to the greatest civilization in the world. Everyone communicates in many ways. Internal communication is composed of electrical, chemical, magnetic, physical, conscious and unconscious forces through the twelve body systems.

In the circulatory system, the action of the heart and its communication with the lungs are one of the primary body systems. Without air, the heart would stop in a few minutes. Without healthy air, the body would eventually die a lot sooner. That is one reason why smoking is bad for you. Without fresh air, the blood does not get feed very well. Did you know that blood is only one of the over ten thousand proteins the body uses to promote life and that they are all made up of only twelve essential amino acids?

Every day there are thousands of new discoveries that scientists uncover about the circulatory system, and how it works with the rest of the body. A good book on the subject is "The New Living Heart." Here is an sample of the book from chapter two and the index of subjects that the authors and editor felt were important to include. I also added twenty other pages to my Weblog and site with over two hundred new links, and a new page called the "BODY- Physical Aspect" to my Holistic homepage with another two hundred links.

One site I have been following for several years is called the "Curezone" because I like the people I met there. Perhaps, you too have some favorite sites you could tell us about in my Weblog pages? All you have to do is tell us about them in the Comment areas.

The only way any site can be successful is if there are other people visiting it. One reason why the Curezone is so successful is because of the participation of the visitors who also have a desire to share their knowledge of the "good life" with others. I have posted my ideas about the club on the dozen or so Bulletin Boards we have used and created several sites that highlighted PACC activities. Yet without new input, no club site can thrive. I would like to add links to your Weblogs, Blogs, Homepages, or Sites to make it all more interesting.

If you would like to further communicate with me and participate in this computing aspect of life let me know. My new homepage is: http://philcutrara1.tripod.com and my E-mail address or instant messenger address is: philcut@aol.com.

Happy Computing,
Phil Cutrara

The Power of Love
God gives us every good thing to enjoy, especially his love. Yet we ought to take care of all of these gifts, so that everyone will know that we love him too. "Many seek the favor of a generous man, and every one is a friend to a man who gives gifts." God gives us our body, mind, soul, and spirit. He blesses us with all of his grace.

We know his love through the power of the gifts of security, joy, peace, and warmth. These are the gifts of the Holy Spirit: "wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord." With these gifts we can do all things, so that all the people come to know his love.

In the book of 1 Corinthians 12, Saint Paul teaches us about the Spiritual gifts. He explains how they work through us for the greater glory of God. He talks about the wisdom of discourse, the power to express knowledge, faith, healing, miraculous powers, prophecy, the power to distinguish one spirit from another, the gift of tongues, and the gift of interpreting tongues. "But it is one and the same Spirit who produces all these gifts, distributing them to each as he wills."

Any minute of the day you can see these gifts in action. You can even feel them yourself. Does not your heart beat a wonderful sound to your ears? Do not all good people smile at you when you see them?

I remember the first time a religious person folder their hands and bowed to the Spirit in me. It was a wonderful gesture. Every time I see a person being healed my heart jumps with joy. Maybe it is because I see Jesus at work, and because that person has been given another day to enjoy all of God's love.

Masterpieces of the Internet

NEW LISTINGS
This page lists the titles of on-line books that have recently been added to our index, or whose entries have been recently revised. For a full list of available books, try the main on-line books page.

To suggest additional books we should list, see this page.

April 29, 2004
Theory and Practice of Online Learning (2004), ed. by Terry Anderson and Fathi Elloumi (PDF with commentary at Athabasca)
April 28, 2004
Pure Logistics: The Science of War Preparation (Washington: National Defense University Press, 1986), by George C. Thorpe, contrib. by Stanley L. Falk (PDF at ndu.edu)
Globalization and Maritime Power, ed. by Sam J. Tangredi (HTML at ndu.edu)
The Middle East in 2015: The Impact of Regional Trends on U.S. Strategic Planning (2002), ed. by Judith Share Yaphe (PDF at ndu.edu)
Firepower in Limited War (second printing, 1993), by Robert H. Scales (PDF at ndu.edu)
NATO Enlargement and Central Europe: A Study in Civil-Military Relations, by Jeffrey Simon (PDF at ndu.edu)
Acquisition for the 21st century: The F-22 Development Program, by Michael D. Williams (PDF at ndu.edu)
Crisis? What Crisis? Security issues in Colombia, ed. by James L. Zackrison (HTML at ndu.edu)
Korea on the Brink: From the "12/12 Incident" to the Kwangju Uprising, 1979-1980, by John Adams Wickham (PDF at ndu.edu)
April 27, 2004
The Princess Ilsee: A Fairy Tale (London: Saunders, Otley, and Co., 1867), by Anonymous, illust. by Eugene Froment (illustrated HTML at Celebration of Women Writers)
An Inquiry into the Scriptural Import of the Words Sheol, Hades, Tartarus and Gehenna, Translated Hell in the Common English Version, by Walter Balfour, ed. by Otis A. Skinner (PDF with commentary at free-yes.info)
The Duration and Nature of Future Punishment (based on the second edition), by Henry Constable (PDF at free-yes.info)
The Doctrine of Future and Endless Punishment, Logically Proved in a Critical Examination of Such Passages of Scripture as Relate to the Final Destiny of Man, by Reune R. Coon (PDF at free-yes.info)
The Eternal Duration of Future Punishments is not Inconsistent with the Divine Attributes of Justice and Mercy, by George M. Gorham (PDF at free-yes.info)
The Verdict of Reason Upon the Question of the Future Punishment of Those Who Die Impenitent (Boston: Nichols and Noyes, 1865), by Henry Martyn Dexter (PDF at free-yes.info)
The Valley of the Shadow: Eight Sermons on the Doctrine of Future Punishment (New York: T. Whittaker, 1878), by Charles Henry Hall (PDF at free-yes.info)
The State of the Impenitent Dead, by Alvah Hovey (PDF at free-yes.info)
Five Discourses on Future Punishment, by Cameron Mann (PDF at free-yes.info)
An Oral Debate on the Coming of the Son of Man, Endless Punishment, and Universal Salvation, by E. Manford and B. Franklin (PDF at free-yes.info)
Love and Penalty: or, Eternal Punishment Consistent with the Fatherhood of God (1860), by Joseph Parrish Thompson (PDF at free-yes.info)
April 23, 2004
The American Colonies in the Seventeenth Century (New York: Columbia University Press, 1904-07), by Herbert L. Osgood (HTML at dinsdoc.com)
April 15, 2004
Psalms of the Sisters (London: Pali Text Society, 1909), by Caroline A. F. Rhys Davids (HTML at Celebration of Women Writers)
The Lost Lemuria (London: Theosophical Publishing House, 1904), by W. Scott-Elliot (illustrated HTML at sacred-texts.com)
A Problem in Greek Ethics: Being an Inquiry Into the Phenomenon of Sexual Inversion, Addressed Especially to Medical Psychologists and Jurists, by John Addington Symonds (HTML with commentary at sacred-texts.com)
Wonder Tales From Baltic Wizards, From the German and English, by Frances Jenkins Olcott (HTML at sacred-texts.com)
The Four Ancient Books of Wales, Containing the Cymric Poems attributed to the Bards of, ed. by W. F. Skene (HTML at sacred-texts.com)
The Mabinogion (second edition with notes; London: Bernard Quaritch, 1877), ed. by Charlotte Schreiber (illustrated HTML at sacred-texts.com)
Folk Tales From the Russian, by Verra Xenophontovna (illustrated HTML at sacred-texts.com)
Popular Tales from the Norse (second edition, with introduction and appendix), by P. C. Asbj?rnsen and J. E. Moe, trans. by George Webbe Dasent (HTML at sacred-texts.com)
Japanese Fairy Tales, Second Series, by Teresa Peirce Williston, illust. by Sanchi Ogawa (illustrated HTML at sacred-texts.com)

See link called: Masterpieces Subjects or http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/subjects.html

Mysticism in World Religions
Mysticism is concerned with the nature of reality, the individual's struggle to attain a clear vision of reality, and the transformation of consciousness that accompanies such vision. This site explores the mystical traditions of six religions by comparing and contrasting quotations drawn from their respective literatures. These quotations have been organized by topic as seen below. Because I didn't want to bias the presentation by using terminology unique to a particular religion, I have tried to come up with broad, descriptive names for the topics.

Preview the site

Since this site consists of hundreds of web pages, I've also developed a single page called The Short List which includes an illustrative quotation for each topic presented here. Looking over this page will give you a feel for the entire site.

Focus on one religion

If comparative mysticism doesn't appeal to you, feel free to focus on Judaism, Christianity, Islam/Sufism, Hinduism, Buddhism, or Taoism. By selecting one of these links you will be able to access everything published at this site which pertains to that religion.

Focus on one mystic

If you'd prefer to concentrate on an individual mystic rather than a particular topic, check out Mystics, theologians and scriptures. By following the hyperlinked names on this page, you can browse through all the quotations which were drawn from the same individual's works, regardless of topic. Mystics, theologian and scriptures provides an alternative means of exploring the entire site. It also doubles as the site's bibliography.

See: http://www.digiserve.com/mystic/ or the Mysticism link.

Fundamental Theology: Faith and Reason
In one of my classes in Fundamental Theology our Professor asked us what does it mean when someone says, "Faith is the ground of being?" I responded that religious education teaches us about the faith of our family, however we need to embody this faith for us to truly know it.

We can believe the truths of our faith, and reason can help us better understand the truth; but it is knowing that God loves us by having a personal relationship with him that proves to us that God is real. It is through our own personal transformation that brings meaning to our life.

Through history the church has taught us about Faith and Reason. Pope John Paul II writings on the subject were published in 1998. Here is the beginning of
ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN FAITH AND REASON

My Venerable Brother Bishops,
Health and the Apostolic Blessing!

Faith and reason are like two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth; and God has placed in the human heart a desire to know the truth--in a word, to know himself--so that, by knowing and loving God, men and women may also come to the fullness of truth about themselves (cf. Ex 33:18; Ps 27:8-9; 63:2-3; Jn 14:8; 1 Jn 3:2).

INTRODUCTION

"KNOW YOURSELF"

1. In both East and West, we may trace a journey which has led humanity down the centuries to meet and engage truth more and more deeply. It is a journey which has unfolded--as it must--within the horizon of personal self-consciousness: the more human beings know reality and the world, the more they know themselves in their uniqueness, with the question of the meaning of things and of their very existence becoming ever more pressing. This is why all that is the object of our knowledge becomes a part of our life. The admonition Know yourself was carved on the temple portal at Delphi, as testimony to a basic truth to be adopted as a minimal norm by those who seek to set themselves apart from the rest of creation as "human beings", that is as those who "know themselves".

Moreover, a cursory glance at ancient history shows clearly how in different parts of the world, with their different cultures, there arise at the same time the fundamental questions which pervade human life: Who am I? Where have I come from and where am I going? Why is there evil? What is there after this life? These are the questions which we find in the sacred writings of Israel, as also in the Veda and the Avesta; we find them in the writings of Confucius and Lao-Tze, and in the preaching of Tirthankara and Buddha; they appear in the poetry of Homer and in the tragedies of Euripides and Sophocles, as they do in the philosophical writings of Plato and Aristotle. They are questions which have their common source in the quest for meaning which has always compelled the human heart. In fact, the answer given to these questions decides the direction which people seek to give to their lives.

2. The Church is no stranger to this journey of discovery, nor could she ever be. From the moment when, through the Paschal Mystery, she received the gift of the ultimate truth about human life, the Church has made her pilgrim way along the paths of the world to proclaim that Jesus Christ is "the way, and the truth, and the life" (Jn 14:6). It is her duty to serve humanity in different ways, but one way in particular imposes a responsibility of a quite special kind: the diakonia of the truth.(1) This mission on the one hand makes the believing community a partner in humanity's shared struggle to arrive at truth; (2) and on the other hand it obliges the believing community to proclaim the certitudes arrived at, albeit with a sense that every truth attained is but a step towards that fullness of truth which will appear with the final Revelation of God: "For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall understand fully" (1 Cor 13:12).

3. Men and women have at their disposal an array of resources for generating greater knowledge of truth so that their lives may be ever more human. Among these is philosophy, which is directly concerned with asking the question of life's meaning and sketching an answer to it. Philosophy emerges, then, as one of noblest of human tasks. According to its Greek etymology, the term philosophy means "love of wisdom". Born and nurtured when the human being first asked questions about the reason for things and their purpose, philosophy shows in different modes and forms that the desire for truth is part of human nature itself. It is an innate property of human reason to ask why things are as they are, even though the answers which gradually emerge are set within a horizon which reveals how the different human cultures are complementary.

Philosophy's powerful influence on the formation and development of the cultures of the West should not obscure the influence it has also had upon the ways of understanding existence found in the East. Every people has its own native and seminal wisdom which, as a true cultural treasure, tends to find voice and develop in forms which are genuinely philosophical. One example of this is the basic form of philosophical knowledge which is evident to this day in the postulates which inspire national and international legal systems in regulating the life of society.

See the link on the right: Faith and Reason or http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_enc_15101998_fides-et-ratio_en.html

Mysterous Mystical Adventure
A couple of weeks ago I over heard my nephew, and his cousin talking about what it felt like being lost in a cave for over two hours. He told me that he took his girl friend and another couple into the cave, but they were not very well prepared.

I remember the first time the Pittsburgh Grotto Cave Club took a group of us from the Community College to Bear and Con caves at Hillside. I was able to visit both caves. The trip to Bear cave was short because I took a path across the creek that looped back to another top entrance of the cave, and the main party passed deeper in the cave, and I was not sure which fork they took.

I guess when you are novice everything about caving is a mysterious mystical adventure. It almost seemed like the cave in the Fellowship of the Ring. You can almost imagine the path I took on the right side of the cave entrance that looped back to the top entrance. However, Bear cave is perhaps one of most worn down caves you will ever hear about in your life.

The only way I could think of how that group got lost was if they took the left fork in and tried to take the right fork back. The right fork has about a six foot wall on the left side you have to climb. If you miss it, you will think the room is a dead end, and you will circle back into the cave.

A lot has changed since 1974. Con cave is closed, and there are new rules about visiting Bear cave; but the adventure is still well worth the three mile hike up Hillside, and the over six hundred foot mazed cave exploration.

You will find the latest information at this address:
http://www.karst.org/bear_cave1.htm, and a mystical idea of what a novice might dream about before exploring their first cave. Click on the Fellowship Cave link on the right for all the details.