WE ARE MADE OF STAR STUFF
We are made of star stuff.

NASA: http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap960419.html

We are made of mostly carbon, nitrogen, calcium, oxygen, iron, and hydrogen. Proteins, and subsequently amino acids, are mostly made up of just four elements: carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, and nitrogen. In fact, 96.3% of your body is composed of these common elements.

see: http://anthro.palomar.edu/biobasis/bio_4.htm to find out more about proteins and what else we are made of...

There are many other elements, over 100 trillion atoms, and quarks that make us tick. Put them all together add some energy and you get some amino acids; but you are incredibly far away from making life or adding consciousness, even if you cook it all for over 3.5 billion years.

With every breath we take, we renew ourselves. Yet without food, and water; we would all soon die. I am not sure how much air we breath with every breath; but say for example it was a pint of air, and we exhale about the same. Everyone around shares what we exhale after the plants add some things to it, and it mixes with the air that has all the stuff of the earth, and the cosmos in it.

We share the stuff of those closest to us the most. Soon we begin to look, act, and talk like them. In fact, we are part of everyone who ever lived.

It only takes about a year to almost completely exchange our whole body for a new one. Although, our teeth might look the same, they are almost completely renewed every year, just like all the bones, and all the other stuff of our body.

James L. Forberg wrote about the Quantum Consciousness and Immortality of Our Dual Body.

"In order for you to begin to change your attitude about yourself and your place in the scheme of things, your body is really a good place to start. You have to recognize that we (our consciousness) are not native to this space-time dimension.

Your body is composed of quantum points, that take up no space in this universe. All of the leading physicists agree that quantum points are not things. These points collectively do outline or indicate the position of your consciousness, and the area of your control. The fields of the quantumstuff are phased (maximized) so that your form in the space-time dimension repels other material things, because the fields are different.

It might help to picture a thin rubber glove immersed in water. Your hand in the glove is the real you, your spirit or consciousness. The thin membrane of the glove can correspond to the quantum stuff that your body is composed of. The water it is immersed in is the space-time universe.

If you can visualize this you can see that your immortal self is separated from space-time by a thin layer of quantum material. The life force remains in the quantum dimensions, but is the director of your body. In our little visualization you can see that if the finger moves in the water (space-time), it is the hand in the glove (consciousness) that moves it.

I realize that we are thinking in a very simplified way, but it is necessary as a beginning for your change of attitude. Recognize that this membrane (the glove or quantum stuff) is throughout your body, not a simple thing like a sheet of rubber, but between each particle of quantum stuff and the space-time dimension.

When this glove (your body) begins to deteriorate, your consciousness pulls back slowly (in most cases) until the shell is left without any driving force. The deterioration of the physical body is caused by other forces that the consciousness is unable to overcome.

I'm sure you have heard many times when people speak of a dead body that it is only a shell, and that the soul has departed. That is a true statement if we are referring to chemical and electrical tests done on the body. The migration of the soul is a subject that is more difficult to prove. I believe, as do many that the consciousness lives on, perhaps to take on a new body at some time to experience new things in a different world.

The quantum particles we have been speaking of are points of a field of information. Maybe we could compare it to a field of radiation where the photons carry the information. At any rate these quantum points are the access tunnels to all of the intelligence of the cosmos. This includes every dimension outside of our own. Remember that intelligence isn't a physical thing and doesn't follow the rules of time and space.

When our consciousness makes a decision, even a little one, that decision is impressed on all of the quantum ports (our body), and the infinite possibilities of that other dimension are amplified by fazing the waves and are made real.

Physicists are experimentally aware that quantum stuff is moldable by our thought process. Nature is very stingy however, and will allow only one bit of information at a time to become reality. No matter how sophisticated the question (test) is, you will get only one answer of reality and everything else is hazy and indistinct.

The exclusion principal is the basis for the rule that says an electron, or any quantum entity will reveal an infinite range of possibility, but can be persuaded to reveal only one reality.

Since quantum stuff seems to react to consciousness, is it possible that the universe is constructed by consciousness? Are we constructs of a universal consciousness? Do we participate in this construction?

The question is open to you, but from my point of view we really do. Decisions I make effect others. If I decide to play golf on Saturday and the rest of the family wants to go to the mall, there will be a discussion, and then we will all go our own ways. Their reactions to this situation will effect still others. These actions and reactions modify our microcosm. The waves radiate outward shaping our present and influencing the future possibility.

If you believe the teachings of some of our religions, our planet is alone as a home for consciousness. The various religions like to emphasize that point. The idea of course is ridiculous as we become more aware of the probability of many other habitable planets. but that is how it stands right now. Since the planet itself has only been here for approximately 4.6 billion years, what sensate system organized the other ten or eleven billion years of universal expansion? Science has found that there is almost no room for changes in the progression of the universe or we would not be here to observe it. Since many in science have decided that matter does not exist unless it has been consciously produced, who or what did that?

One of the questions prompting this book was, are we immortal or are we not? I indicated that the particles of your physical body are indeed immortal, and have gone through many incarnations as particles. On various pages I have paraphrased many noted physicists. They state that once an electron, or any quantum has been in contact or proximity to another particle, they are forever in communication. This connection can span the universe. The quantum particles that constitute your body originated in the birth of the universe. The heavier particles were given birth at the center of some huge star that spit them out in a super nova explosion.

All of these quantum particles have an enormous history of contact with other particles. Each contact increased the effective range of the particles' communication. If we confine these possibilities to just our planet, we are still an extended part of a great deal of that planet. For instance the water of your body has been the same water in numberless places.

The same is true of all of the atoms of your body. If the science of the quantum is valid, our bodies (physical and non-physical) extend throughout earth and space.

Our self awareness is a consequence of the cohesiveness of the quantum stuff we are composed of. Remember that this quantum stuff appears solid, but is not. Your body is instead a field of waves. These waves of possibility exist not in time or space, but merely influence those dimensions. Your body and all matter seem solid because quantum points are exclusive. These entities tend to push away other points.

Dissolution of the physical body occurs in the presence of strong possibility waves whose phase runs counter to your present manifestation. This is a product of the interference mechanism we have talked about before.

Individuals who practice the art of acupuncture tell me that these points are centers of radiation. Small areas where our life force is at a maximum. The needles, or pressure (of accupressure) stimulate activity of the field and aid in healing by rebalancing the field of radiation.

Some equipment does exist that can analyze the fields of the body. The EEG and the magnetometer are two examples. These physical fields are the result of movement of electrons. Not only are their electrical changes, but a consequence of this is a magnetic flux.

If inspection of the body field were possible (it probably is) it would probably look chaotic. The acupuncture points we mentioned could be those points in the chaos that add together and peak. It is possible that an injury or illness disrupts the normal flow of the field and causes distress.

A conscious entity must have an integrated field of quantum forces in order to manifest as a physical body in space-time. Disruption of this carefully constructed field makes it increasingly difficult for our other dimensional entity to communicate in a physical sense.

Our physical body, and our non-physical body are one and the same. This statement isn't to be taken on faith but to be researched by scientists.

Physical scientists that are current with the investigation into quantum facts, all agree that matter is not what it seems. Its apparent solidity is a function of wave phase and amplitude. The phasings and resulting amplitude seem to be the result of conscious shaping. The process of thought forms a matrix of waves that constitute our physical body.

I am not bypassing the chemical processes of the genes and elements. Keep in mind that these things are all quantum stuff, and are under the influence of long lines of predecessors as well as the pressures of conscious manipulation."

see: Quantum Consciousness and Your Immortality

Stem Cell Research
Cell Image

Stem cells are primitive cells that give rise to other types of cells. Also called progenitor cells, there are several kinds of stem cells. Totipotent cells are considered the "master" cells of the body because they contain all the genetic information needed to create all the cells of the body plus the placenta, which nourishes the human embryo.

Human cells have this capacity only during the first few divisions of a fertilized egg. After 3 - 4 divisions of totipotent cells, there follows a series of stages in which the cells become increasingly specialized. The next stage of division results in pluripotent cells, which are highly versatile and can give rise to any cell type except the cells of the placenta.

At the next stage, cells become multipotent, meaning they can give rise to several other cell types, but those types are limited in number. An example of multipotent cells is hematopoietic cells--blood stem cells that can develop into several types of blood cells, but cannot develop into brain cells. At the end of the long chain of cell divisions that make up the embryo are "terminally differentiated" cells--cells that are considered to be permanently committed to a specific function.

Scientists have long held the opinion that differentiated cells cannot be altered or caused to behave in any way other than the way in which they have been naturally committed. New research, however, has even called that assumption into question. In recent stem cell experiments, scientists have been able to persuade blood stem cells to behave like neurons, or brain cells. Scientists now believe that stem cell research could reveal far more vital information about our bodies than was previously known.

In addition, it was recently discovered that some stem cells also occur in the bodies of adults, rather than exclusively in embryos. Many kinds of multipotent stem cells have been discovered in adults, and scientists believe that many more will be discovered. Research is now being conducted on both adult and embryonic stem cells to determine the characteristics and potential of both to cure disease.

http://www.stemcellresearchfoundation.org/About/FAQ.htm

Archimedes' Method Return 1998

The Method

The most extraordinary discovery gained through the Palimpsest is the Method - because this is the most amazing treatise of all the amazing works of Archimedes. It will not be an exaggeration to say that, even now, more than ninety years after its original discovery, scholars and mathematicians still can not quite explain what Archimedes did in the Method - or how he managed to make it such a mathematical success.

There are two main features to the Method, each of which, on its own, is an astonishing breakthrough.

Archimedes combines in this work pure mathematics and physical considerations. By putting segments of geometrical objects on a balance, Archimedes manages to measure the area and volume of the geometrical objects. In other words, geometrical discoveries are made by a physical thought-experiment.

Archimedes is able to perform infinite sums: he takes a sphere, for instance, and calculates its volume as the infinite sum of the circles from which it is made. But how can you add up infinitely many objects, and still come up with a finite sum? This was Archimedes' breakthrough, comparable to the modern integral calculus.

Both breakthroughs are essential features of modern science. Modern science is based on the discovery that mathematics and physics go hand in hand; and its prime tool is the differential and integral calculus, dealing with infinite sums and divisions. The Method can be truly said to have been two thousand years ahead of its time.

Comments by DR. DEVIEL NETZ

Urantia: The Great Cult Mystery by Martin Gardner
One of America's most acclaimed science writers has compiled the first complete history of a modern religious cult.

Gardner traces the cult's beginnings back to its "bible" The Urantia Book, a book supposedly revealed solely by celestial beings to correct the flaws in the traditional Bible. Published in 1955 under the direction of cult leader Dr. William Sadler, the Urantia Book is the largest work ever said to have been channelled by super beings through human contactees. It differs from earlier channelled "bibles" in that it contains a vast amount of modern science as well as a detailed biography of Jesus Christ, complete with facts not found in the gospels. As a result, many scientists and scholars are dedicated Urantians. In addition to discussing the beliefs of the Urantia cult, Gardner reveals two major developments that threaten to splinter the movement. He outlines how hundreds of Urantians now believe that they, too, are receiving their own messages from the celestials who are preparing Urantia (the cult's name for Earth) for a new revelation intended to usher in a utopia of "light and life," thus jeopardizing the authority of the Urantia Book. Gardner also addresses the extent to which Seventh-Day Adventist beliefs have penetrated the Urantia movement. He analyzes the flaws in Urantian science and discusses allegations of plagiarism on the part of the authors of The Urantia Book.

Gardner's skill and insight will reveal how modern cults arise and the extent to which believers develop a mind-set that becomes impossible to alter regardless of how strong the evidence is against those beliefs.

Martin Gardner (Hendersonville, NC), a founding Fellow of the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP), was the author of the "Mathematical Games" column in Scientific American for many years. Among his many books are The Flight of Peter Fromm, The Healing Revelation's of Mary Baker Eddy, Science: Good, Bad, and Bogus, The New Age: Notes of a Fringe Watcher, and On the Wild Side.

445 Pages Publication date 21st September, 1995

ISBN 0-87975-955-0

The Urantia Cult

The Urantia Book: The Reality Of God
P23:4, 1:2.1 God is primal reality in the spirit world; God is the source of truth in the mind spheres; God overshadows all throughout the material realms. To all created intelligences God is a personality, and to the universe of universes he is the First Source and Center of eternal reality. God is neither manlike nor machinelike. The First Father is universal spirit, eternal truth, infinite reality, and father personality.


P23:5, 1:2.2 The eternal God is infinitely more than reality idealized or the universe personalized. God is not simply the supreme desire of man, the mortal quest objectified. Neither is God merely a concept, the power-potential of righteousness. The Universal Father is not a synonym for nature, neither is he natural law personified. God is a transcendent reality, not merely man's traditional concept of supreme values. God is not a psychological focalization of spiritual meanings, neither is he "the noblest work of man." God may be any or all of these concepts in the minds of men, but he is more. He is a saving person and a loving Father to all who enjoy spiritual peace on earth, and who crave to experience personality survival in death.


P24:1, 1:2.3 The actuality of the existence of God is demonstrated in human experience by the indwelling of the divine presence, the spirit Monitor sent from Paradise to live in the mortal mind of man and there to assist in evolving the immortal soul of eternal survival. The presence of this divine Adjuster in the human mind is disclosed by three experiential phenomena:

The intellectual capacity for knowing God -- God-consciousness.
The spiritual urge to find God -- God-seeking.
The personality craving to be like God -- the wholehearted desire to do the Father's will.

P24:5, 1:2.4 The existence of God can never be proved by scientific experiment or by the pure reason of logical deduction. God can be realized only in the realms of human experience; nevertheless, the true concept of the reality of God is reasonable to logic, plausible to philosophy, essential to religion, and indispensable to any hope of personality survival.

P24:6, 1:2.5 Those who know God have experienced the fact of his presence; such God-knowing mortals hold in their personal experience the only positive proof of the existence of the living God which one human being can offer to another. The existence of God is utterly beyond all possibility of demonstration except for the contact between the God-consciousness of the human mind and the God-presence of the Thought Adjuster that indwells the mortal intellect and is bestowed upon man as the free gift of the Universal Father.

P24:7, 1:2.6 In theory you may think of God as the Creator, and he is the personal creator of Paradise and the central universe of perfection, but the universes of time and space are all created and organized by the Paradise corps of the Creator Sons. The Universal Father is not the personal creator of the local universe of Nebadon; the universe in which you live is the creation of his Son Michael. Though the Father does not personally create the evolutionary universes, he does control them in many of their universal relationships and in certain of their manifestations of physical, mindal, and spiritual energies. God the Father is the personal creator of the Paradise universe and, in association with the Eternal Son, the creator of all other personal universe Creators.


P24:8, 1:2.7 As a physical controller in the material universe of universes, the First Source and Center functions in the patterns of the eternal Isle of Paradise, and through this absolute gravity center the eternal God exercises cosmic overcontrol of the physical level equally in the central universe and throughout the universe of universes. As mind, God functions in the Deity of the Infinite Spirit; as spirit, God is manifest in the person of the Eternal Son and in the persons of the divine children of the Eternal Son. This interrelation of the First Source and Center with the co-ordinate Persons and Absolutes of Paradise does not in the least preclude the direct personal action of the Universal Father throughout all creation and on all levels thereof. Through the presence of his fragmentized spirit the Creator Father maintains immediate contact with his creature children and his created universes.

The Central and Superuniverses

The Urantia Book Index

What is Urantia?
A Small Urantia Page

Although material part is dominating in our everyday life, one shouldn't forget the mental side of it. Most of us have had questions like "Who am I?", "What am I doing on this planet?", "What is my mission in this life?", etc. While searching "truth" about us on this planet, I have found several interesting sources that cover pretty well questions like these and the most overhelming one is The Urantia Papers.

What is Urantia? Urantia is the name of our planet. And The Urantia Papers contains information about the history of Urantia, it's inhabitants, it's creators, and everything that is in any way connected to it. Interesting? You can find answers to many questions that have been unanswered for a long time by looking at places pointed out below.

Blueberries Trigger Neurons That Keep the Brain Sharp
2004 September 06


By BOB CONDOR Columnist
AT HIS OFFICE in Boston, nutrition researcher James Joseph is known as an early bird. He arrives "at the crack of dawn," said one co-worker, fresh from a bus ride during which he regularly chats with other passengers. His friendly nature no doubt cuts through the sleepiness of other early commuters.

A popular topic on the bus is the presidential race featuring home state Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry. To be an early riser, Joseph gets to bed sooner than most people, even when tempted by, say, last week's Republican convention.

"I tape the main speakers, then watch them the next day," said Joseph, who works at the U.S. Department of Agriculture Human Nutrition and Research Center on Aging at Tufts University.

Like most of us, Joseph doesn't feel confident predicting whether Kerry or President Bush will win in November. He is much keener to discuss the future of nutrition.

"It's all about neuron signals in the brain," said Joseph, who first broke into national consciousness with a 1997 study on the powerful antioxidant effects of blueberries and later co-wrote an insightful book, "The Color Code: A Revolutionary Eating Plan for Optimum Health" (Hyperion), which a must item for the health bookshelf.

"Cancer researchers have caught on to it by connecting the flavonoids in fruits and vegetables turning on signals. For them, it translates to killing cancer cells. We're taking the neuron signals concept and bringing it into the aging world."

Joseph joked that "old neurons are like old married couples - they don't talk to one another very well anymore."

Enter the humble and, uh, suddenly sexy blueberry to liven things up.

"What blueberries do is what simply can be called strengthening the brain by taking advantages of the brain's tremendous redundancy," said Joseph. "Blueberries have compounds that boost neuron signals and help turn back on systems in the brain that can lead to using other proteins to help with memory or other cognitive skills."

In contrast, people with Alzheimer's disease have weaker neuron signals. They take drugs to knock out an enzyme that destroys memory capacity, but the "machinery" that produces a substance necessary for strong neuron signaling is "not there anymore," said Joseph.

Eating blueberries and a diet rich in deep pigment from fruits and vegetables can preserve the brain machinery and boost the potency of neuron signals.

Joseph and USDA colleagues have connected blueberry consumption in rats and mice to fewer incidences of Alzheimer's disease and inflammation associated with arthritis. That's two for two among the most prevalent aging-related illnesses. One colleague has linked strawberries to specific cognitive tasks, while blueberries address other memory capabilities. For his part, Joseph said, in lab work, he is finding that purple grape juice acts just as effectively as blueberries.

Another exciting development from the Tufts lab: Consuming strawberries and blueberries before receiving radiation helped rats suffer fewer adverse effects. Radiation has been shown to accelerate aging.

"It might be that eating blueberries or other berries in the months before radiation therapy can cut back on cognitive and motor deficits (caused by the therapy) and maybe means no more nausea for patients," said Joseph, who added that more studies are in progress.

In late August, another USDA researcher and chemist based at the University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy, Agnes Rimando, released a study showing that blueberries work better than a common cholesterol-lowering drug with fewer side effects (such as muscle pain and nausea).

Rimando isolated the blueberry substance pterostilbene as the lipid buster. It is similar to resveratrol, the compound in grapes and red wine that protects against high cholesterol and has been projected as a memory booster. A glass of red wine per day is widely agreed to be a health enhancer.

Rimando is cautious about her findings based on rat liver analysis.

"I can't say how many blueberries a person needs to eat to have a positive effect on their cholesterol," she said.

Joseph's book persuaded the federal government to modify its recommendation to eat five servings of fruits and vegetables a day. Now the campaign calls for "five a day the color way."

Joseph said the message would be greatly improved if it were 10 per day. The goal is not so unattainable if you consider that the typical serving size is a half-cup. Doubling each serving to one cup of a fresh fruit or vegetable is easy enough and delicious as a bonus.

"One of the sad parts of the Atkins diet is that it has closed down the orange industry in this country," said Joseph. "People are too concerned about the carbs. Drinking orange juice and other fruit juices is a healthy thing to do."

Some thoughts on juice: Nutrition scientists have clearly found that too much juice for any of us, especially children, can contribute to weight gain. Six to 10 ounces of pure juice each day is the best route. Stick to juices that are 100 percent fruit, with no sugar or fructose syrup added.

If you are curious, yes, blueberry juice now is available at most supermarkets, along with natural grape juices and other pigment- rich juices. Blueberry juice is wildly popular in Japan and is catching on here in the U.S. Pomegranate juice is another option, though be careful to get the real stuff and then mix it with a sweeter juice (orange or grape) or water to please your taste buds.

For his part, Joseph makes a daily smoothie part of his early- morning wakeup routine, always throwing in one or two handfuls of blueberries. Frozen blueberries, a year-round staple, can reduce the need for ice in your blender. Adding a protein source (yogurt, milk, soy milk, nuts, powder) and flax oil (or seeds pulverized in your coffee bean grinder) makes a complete meal in your cup.

"In the end, it comes down to what you eat or drink," said Joseph, who started his health research path when he discovered he had high blood pressure that disqualified him from the armed services, even though he applied for officers' training school. "That's what's most important." Bob Condor writes every Monday about health and quality of life. He is editor of the Seattle-based Evergreen Monthly, which covers health, environment, food, social good, spirituality and personal growth (visit www.evergreenmonthly.com)

About My Blog by Phil Cutrara
Topic: About My Blog: View 10x7
My Blog, which is short for Web Log is a text based Web Site that has various Holistic aspects of reality that includes the person and all that one can be! It highlights these areas of life so that we all can become better and more like our Lord who prayed that we all may be one like the Father and the Son are one with the Holy Spirit.

When we look at our self we can discover many aspects of the body/mind and soul that is also part of creation that also has a body/mind and soul under other names like matter/consciousness and energy or faith/hope and charity all part of the design of God who created everything out of nothing.

ALICE'S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND
Mood:  special
Topic: Mental Aspects

ALICE'S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND
by Lewis Carroll
THE MILLENNIUM FULCRUM EDITION 2.7a
(C)1991 Duncan Research

Chapter I
Down the Rabbit Hole

Link Back to the Alice in Wonderland Directory

Alice was beginning to get very tired of sitting by her sister on the bank, and of having nothing to do: once or twice she had peeped into the book her sister was reading, but it had no pictures or conversations in it, `and what is the use of a book,' thought Alice `without pictures or conversation?'

So she was considering in her own mind (as well as she could, for the hot day made her feel very sleepy and stupid), whether the pleasure of making a daisy-chain would be worth the trouble of getting up and picking the daisies, when suddenly a White Rabbit with pink eyes ran close by her.

There was nothing so VERY remarkable in that; nor did Alice think it so VERY much out of the way to hear the Rabbit say to itself, `Oh dear! Oh dear! I shall be late!' (when she thought it over afterwards, it occurred to her that she ought to have wondered at this, but at the time it all seemed quite natural); but when the Rabbit actually TOOK A WATCH OUT OF ITS WAISTCOAT- POCKET, and looked at it, and then hurried on, Alice started to her feet, for it flashed across her mind that she had never before see a rabbit with either a waistcoat-pocket, or a watch to take out of it, and burning with curiosity, she ran across the field after it, and fortunately was just in time to see it pop down a large rabbit-hole under the hedge.

In another moment down went Alice after it, never once considering how in the world she was to get out again.

The rabbit-hole went straight on like a tunnel for some way, and then dipped suddenly down, so suddenly that Alice had not a moment to think about stopping herself before she found herself falling down a very deep well.

Either the well was very deep, or she fell very slowly, for she had plenty of time as she went down to look about her and to wonder what was going to happen next. First, she tried to look down and make out what she was coming to, but it was too dark to see anything; then she looked at the sides of the well, and noticed that they were filled with cupboards and book-shelves; here and there she saw maps and pictures hung upon pegs. She took down a jar from one of the shelves as she passed; it was labelled `ORANGE MARMALADE', but to her great disappointment it way empty: she did not like to drop the jar for fear of killing somebody, so managed to put it into one of the cupboards as she fell past it.

`Well!' thought Alice to herself, `after such a fall as this, I shall think nothing of tumbling down stairs! How brave they'll all think me at home! Why, I wouldn't say anything about it, even if I fell off the top of the house!' (Which was very likely true.)

Down, down, down. Would the fall NEVER come to an end! `I wonder how many miles I've fallen by this time?' she said aloud. `I must be getting somewhere near the centre of the earth. Let me see: that would be four thousand miles down, I think--' (for, you see, Alice had learnt several things of this sort in her lessons in the schoolroom, and though this was not a VERY good opportunity for showing off her knowledge, as there was no one to listen to her, still it was good practice to say it over) `--yes, that's about the right distance--but then I wonder what Latitude or Longitude I've got to?' (Alice had no idea what Latitude was, or Longitude either, but thought they were nice grand words to say.)

Presently she began again. `I wonder if I shall fall right THROUGH the earth! How funny it'll seem to come out among the people that walk with their heads downward! The Antipathies, I think--' (she was rather glad there WAS no one listening, this time, as it didn't sound at all the right word) `--but I shall have to ask them what the name of the country is, you know. Please, Ma'am, is this New Zealand or Australia?' (and she tried to curtsey as she spoke--fancy CURTSEYING as you're falling through the air! Do you think you could manage it?) `And what an ignorant little girl she'll think me for asking! No, it'll never do to ask: perhaps I shall see it written up somewhere.'

Down, down, down. There was nothing else to do, so Alice soon began talking again. Dinah'll miss me very much to-night, I should think!' (Dinah was the cat.) `I hope they'll remember her saucer of milk at tea-time. Dinah my dear! I wish you were down here with me! There are no mice in the air, I'm afraid, but you might catch a bat, and that's very like a mouse, you know. But do cats eat bats, I wonder?' And here Alice began to get rather sleepy, and went on saying to herself, in a dreamy sort of way, `Do cats eat bats? Do cats eat bats?' and sometimes, `Do bats eat cats?' for, you see, as she couldn't answer either question, it didn't much matter which way she put it. She felt that she was dozing off, and had just begun to dream that she was walking hand in hand with Dinah, and saying to her very earnestly, `Now, Dinah, tell me the truth: did you ever eat a bat?' when suddenly, thump! thump! down she came upon a heap of sticks and dry leaves, and the fall was over.

Alice was not a bit hurt, and she jumped up on to her feet in a moment: she looked up, but it was all dark overhead; before her was another long passage, and the White Rabbit was still in sight, hurrying down it. There was not a moment to be lost: away went Alice like the wind, and was just in time to hear it say, as it turned a corner, `Oh my ears and whiskers, how late it's getting!' She was close behind it when she turned to corner, but the Rabbit was no longer to be seen: she found herself in a long, low hall, which was lit up by a row of lamps hanging from the roof.

There were doors all round the hall, but they were all locked; and when Alice had been all the way down one side and up the other, trying every door, she walked sadly down the middle, wondering how she was ever to get out again.

Suddenly she came upon a little three-legged table, all made of solid glass; there was nothing on it except a tiny golden key, and Alice's first thought was that it might belong to one of the doors of the hall; but, alas! either the locks were too large, or the key was too small, but at any rate it would not open any of them. However, on the second time round, she came upon a low curtain she had not noticed before, and behind it was a little door about fifteen inches high: she tried the little golden key in the lock, and to her great delight it fitted!

Alice opened the door and found that it led into a small passage, not much larger than a rat-hole: she knelt down and looked along the passage into the loveliest garden you ever saw. How she longed to get out of that dark hall, and wander about among those beds of bright flowers and those cool fountains, but she could not even get her head though the doorway; `and even if my head would go through,' thought poor Alice, `it would be of very little use without my shoulders. Oh, how I wish I could shut up like a telescope! I think I could, if I only know how to begin.' For, you see, so many out-of-the-way things had happened lately, that Alice had begun to think that very few things indeed were really impossible.

There seemed to be no use in waiting by the little door, so she went back to the table, half hoping she might find another key on it, or at any rate a book of rules for shutting people up like telescopes: this time she found a little bottle on it, (`which certainly was not here before,' said Alice,) and round the neck of the bottle was a paper label, with the words `DRINK ME' beautifully printed on it in large letters.

It was all very well to say `Drink me,' but the wise little Alice was not going to do THAT in a hurry. `No, I'll look first,' she said, `and see whether it's marked "poison" or not'; for she had read several nice little histories about children who had got burnt, and eaten up by wild beasts and other unpleasant things, all because they WOULD not remember the simple rules their friends had taught them: such as, that a red-hot poker will burn you if your hold it too long; and that if you cut your finger VERY deeply with a knife, it usually bleeds; and she had never forgotten that, if you drink much from a bottle marked `poison,' it is almost certain to disagree with you, sooner or later.

However, this bottle was NOT marked `poison,' so Alice ventured to taste it, and finding it very nice, (it had, in fact, a sort of mixed flavour of cherry-tart, custard, pine-apple, roast turkey, toffee, and hot buttered toast,) she very soon finished it off.

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`What a curious feeling!' said Alice; `I must be shutting up like a telescope.'
And so it was indeed: she was now only ten inches high, and her face brightened up at the thought that she was now the right size for going though the little door into that lovely garden. First, however, she waited for a few minutes to see if she was going to shrink any further: she felt a little nervous about this; `for it might end, you know,' said Alice to herself, `in my going out altogether, like a candle. I wonder what I should be like then?' And she tried to fancy what the flame of a candle is like after the candle is blown out, for she could not remember ever having seen such a thing.

After a while, finding that nothing more happened, she decided on going into the garden at once; but, alas for poor Alice! when she got to the door, she found he had forgotten the little golden key, and when she went back to the table for it, she found she could not possibly reach it: she could see it quite plainly through the glass, and she tried her best to climb up one of the legs of the table, but it was too slippery; and when she had tired herself out with trying, the poor little thing sat down and cried.

`Come, there's no use in crying like that!' said Alice to herself, rather sharply; `I advise you to leave off this minute!' She generally gave herself very good advice, (though she very seldom followed it), and sometimes she scolded herself so severely as to bring tears into her eyes; and once she remembered trying to box her own ears for having cheated herself in a game of croquet she was playing against herself, for this curious child was very fond of pretending to be two people. `But it's no use now,' thought poor Alice, `to pretend to be two people! Why, there's hardly enough of me left to make ONE respectable person!'

Soon her eye fell on a little glass box that was lying under the table: she opened it, and found in it a very small cake, on which the words `EAT ME' were beautifully marked in currants. `Well, I'll eat it,' said Alice, `and if it makes me grow larger, I can reach the key; and if it makes me grow smaller, I can creep under the door; so either way I'll get into the garden, and I don't care which happens!'

She ate a little bit, and said anxiously to herself, `Which way? Which way?', holding her hand on the top of her head to feel which way it was growing, and she was quite surprised to find that she remained the same size: to be sure, this generally happens when one eats cake, but Alice had got so much into the way of expecting nothing but out-of-the-way things to happen, that it seemed quite dull and stupid for life to go on in the common way.

So she set to work, and very soon finished off the cake.

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Link to Chapter II: The Pool of Tears

 

Mysticism Defined by W.T. Stace
Topic: Spiritual Aspects




Walter Terence Stace is the most frequently quoted expert when defining mysticism. An English-born philosopher, teaching at Princeton (1932-55) Stace wrote on mysticism after his retirement in 1955. His most famous work on this subject, Mysticism and Philosophy (1960), was book of schloarship with less emphasis on the mystical experience than one might assume from the title. Fortunately, in the same year, Stace published a book for general audiences, The Teachings of the Mystics. This publication included Stace's thoughts on mystical experience, a few examples of that experience, and a wide ranging collection of writings on mystical philosophy gathered from the world's literature.

Below are highlights from his introductory chapter in The Teachings of the Mystics. This introduction clearly shows that Stace was a "purist" in that he did not honor beginning or intermediate states people experience along the path to full mystical experience. Visions, voices, insights, or powerful dreams are not mystical experience as he defines it. Only a "nonsensuous and nonintellectual" union fits his definition.

A Mystic is a Mystic

"By the word "mystic" I shall always mean a person who himself has had mystical experience. Often the word is used in a much wider and looser way. Anyone who is sympathetic to mysticism is apt to be labeled a mystic. But I shall use the word always in a stricter sense. However sympathetic toward mysticism a man may be, however deeply interested, involved, enthusiastic, or learned in the subject, he will not be called a mystic unless he has, or has had, mystical experience. (p.9)"

Some things which mysticism is not

"The word mysticism" is popularly used in a variety of loose and inaccurate ways. Sometimes anything is called "mystical" which is misty, foggy, vague, or sloppy. It is absurd that "mysticism" should be associated with what is "misty" because of the similar sound of the words. And there is nothing misty, foggy, vague, or sloppy about mysticism.

A second absurd association is to suppose that mysticism is sort of mystery-mongering. There is, of course, an etymological connection between "mysticism" and "mystery." But mysticism is not any sort of hocus-pocus such as we commonly associate with claims to be the elucidation of sensational mysteries. Mysticism is not the same as what is commonly called the "occult"...Nor doe it include what are commonly called parapsychological phenomena such as telepathy, telekinesis, clairvoyance, precognition. These are not mystical phenomena. It is perhaps true that mystics may sometimes claim to possess such special powers, but even when they do so they are well aware that such powers are not part of, and are to be clearly distinguished from, their mystical experience. (pp.10-11)

Finally, it is most important to realize that visions and voices are not mystical phenomena, though here again it seems to be the case that the sort of persons who are mystics may often be the sort of persons who see visions and hear voices...And there are, one must add, good reasons for this. What mystics say is that a genuine mystical experience is nonsensuous. It is formless, shapeless, colorless, odorless, soundless. But a vision is a piece of visual imagery having color and shape. A voice is an auditory image. Visions and voices are sensuous experiences. (pp. 10-12)"

The Central Characteristic

"The most important, the central characteristic in which all fully developed mystical experiences agree, and which in the last analysis is definitive of them and serves to mark them off from other kinds of experiences, is that they involve the apprehension of an ultimate nonsensuous unity in all things, a oneness or a One to which neither the senses nor the reason can penetrate. In other words, it entirely transcends our sensory-intellectual consciousness.

It should be carefully noted that only fully developed mystical experiences are necessarily apprehensive of the One. Many experiences have been recorded which lack this central feature but yet possess other mystical characteristics. These are borderline cases, which may be said to shade off from the central core of cases. They have to the central core the relation which some philosophers like to call "family resemblance. (pp.14-15)"

Two Types of Mystical Experience

"One may be called extrovertive mystical experience, the other introvertive mystical experience. Both are apprehensions of the One, but they reach it in different ways. The extrovertive way looks outward and through the physical senses into the external world and finds the One there. The introvertive way turns inward, introspectively, and finds the One at the bottoom of the self, at the bottom of human personality. The latter far outweighs the former in importance both in the history of mysticism and in the history of human thought generally. The introvertive way is the major strand in the history of mysticism, the extrovertive way a minor strand.

The extrovertive mystic with his physical senses continues to perceive the same world of trees and hills and tables and chairs as the rest of us. But he sees these objects transfigured in such manner that the Unity shines through them. Because it includes ordinary sense perceptions, it only partially realizes the description...(that is, an experience of complete unity)...It is suggested that the extrovertive type of experience is a kind of halfway house to the introvertive. For the introvertive experience is wholly nonsensuous and nonintellectual. But the extrovertive experience is sensory-intellectual in so far as it still perceives physical objects but is nonsensuous and nonintellectual in so far as it perceives them as "all one."

Introvertive mysticism..."Now it happens to be the case that this total suppression of the whole empirical content of consciousness is precisely what the introvertive mystic claims to achieve. And he claims that what happens is not that all consciousness disappears but that only the ordinary sensory-intellectual consciousnessness disappears and is replaced by an entirely new kind of consciousness, the mystical consciousness." (pp. 15-18)

"Of the introvertive mystical consciousness the Mandukya (Upanishad) says that it is "beyond the senses, beyond the understanding, beyond all expression...It is the pure unitary consciousness, wherein awareness of the world and of multiplicity is completely obliterated. It is ineffable peace. It is the Supreme Good. It is One without a second. It is the Self.""..."Not only in Christianity and Hinduism but everywhere else we find that the essence of this experience is that it is an undifferentiated unity, though each culture and each religion interprets this undifferentiated unity in terms of its own creeds and dogmas." (p.20-21)

Stace, Walter T. The Teachings of the Mystics, (New York:The New American Library, 1960).

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