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Archive for October, 2008

“12 Ways You Can Safeguard the Vote”

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“The Ten Signs of Intellectual Honesty” by Mike Gene

When it comes to just about any topic, it seems as if the public discourse is dominated by rhetoric and propaganda. People are either selling products or ideology. In fact, just because someone may come across as calm and knowledgeable does not mean you should let your guard down and trust what they say. What you need to look for is a track record of intellectual honesty. Let me therefore propose 10 signs of intellectual honesty.

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Befriend the Beast

Swimming with Tigers

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Vote For Hope

[editor's note: Rob wrote this preface to this week's Pronoia Resources in his weekly newsletter]

Dear Readers,

Before the last U.S. presidential election in 2004, What Is Enlightenment? magazine posed the following query to five religious leaders: “Many people argue that the upcoming presidential election is the most important in our lifetime. Do you agree?” 

Four of the respondents said, in effect, “Yes, because George Bush is bad for America and the world.” 

But the fifth religious leader, Zen Buddhist Jan Chozen Roshi, replied, “I don’t know. Our existence is so short, it’s like a dust mote in the eye of God. To say that the time in which my dust mote existed was the most important is a self-centered view.” 

Roshi’s wisdom reminded me of an anecdote told by Henry Kissinger, an American politician who was Secretary of State in the 1970s. Kissinger once asked Chinese premier Zhou Enlai what he thought of the French Revolution, which had happened two centuries earlier. “Too soon to tell,” Chou answered. 

I always like to keep these ideas in mind, even in times of relative peace and calm. But I’m especially fond of focusing on the *very* big picture when divine chaos is whirling around — like now. It helps keep me humble, and discourages me from any temptation I might have to believe I know the Whole Truth about anything, let alone about the mysterious long-term processes at work in the evolution of the human race.

There’s another factor that makes me cautious about getting embroiled in partisan politics and the narrow-minded hostility that fuels it. One of my main goals in life is to love everyone with passionate intensity — no exceptions. Not just the people I find beautiful and helpful and interesting and attractive. But also the people I don’t like and the people who don’t like me and the people I disagree with and the people who can’t or won’t do anything for me. 

In order to become the gorgeous genius I aspire to be, in order to fulfill the unique destiny I came to Earth to embody, I have to hold EVERYONE in my heart with compassion and empathy. As I contemplate how every single part of creation is interconnected, I’ve got to be aware that the creatures I’m allergic to and inclined to feel alienated from are also part of the great web of life.

That’s my spiritual goal; it’s essential to awakening my best self and cultivating an  intimate connection to Spirit. It’s also my selfish goal; it’s critical to my physical and mental health. Hatred always sickens me. Love always invigorates me.

*

On the other hand:

I was born at a specific moment in history with a unique outlook and a particular assignment. I can’t help but be passionate about the truth as I see it. 

And the truth as I see it is that Barack Obama is the best choice for President of the United States. He is definitely the most pronoiac candidate.

That’s why I’m voting for him and feel good about saying:

BARACK OBAMA FOR PRESIDENT

If you’d like to know a little more about my political perspectives, some (but not all) of which are shared by Obama, you can read them here. 

If the spirit moves you, you can also read this article from The New Yorker, which I largely endorse.

P.S. It’s crucial to keep in mind that Obama can’t single-handedly and magically heal all the havoc inflicted on America and the world by He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and his henchmen. The resuscitation will have to be accomplished primarily by we-the-people, and as much on the local level as in the federal realm.

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Vote For Hope

“Vote for Hope”, the best Obama song out there, by M.C. Yogi:

Free download of the song here

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The Audacity of Hope

The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream by Barack Obama

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Change We Can Believe In

Change We Can Believe In: Barack Obama’s Plan to Renew America’s Promise by Barack Obama

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“The Reinvention Guide: How Upwardly Mobile Minds Transcend Economic Downturns” by Elise Lelon

However humbled you’ve been by a layoff, whatever savings you’ve lost in your portfolio and regardless of the size of your home’s equity value – you’re still the one with all the power. When headlines hammer home what you cannot control, remind yourself of the one thing you do control: You. Rise up, opt out, and press refresh. With our economic world in flux, now is a low-risk opportunity to invest in yourself, do some reinventing, and finally collect on the raw potential of you. This can be a modest tune-up, or a head-to-toe overhaul. Either way, there’s value in considering how changing YOU might change everything.

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Healing the Soul of America: Reclaiming Our Voices as Spiritual Citizens by Marianne Williamson 

Synergizing the spiritual and the political

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The Great Turning: From Empire to Earth Community by David C Korten

We have the choice between a great unraveling and a great turning . . . All our institutions are failing at the same time that we have unlimited potential.

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Megatrends 2010: The Rise of Conscious Capitalism by Patricia Aburdene

More and more companies are discovering that placing social and environmental values ahead of the bottom line is actually helping to boost profits . . . significant numbers of both new-economy and old-guard companies are tapping into the wave of conscious capitalism by bringing meditation into the workplace, forcing stricter environmental controls on their vendors, and donating both time and money to social causes.

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Play Your Way to Success

A Whole New Mind: Moving from the Information Age to the Conceptual Age by Daniel H. Pink 

Expand your right brain if you plan to survive and prosper in the new economy . . . The keys to success are in developing and cultivating six senses: design, story, symphony, empathy, play, and meaning.

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“Restoring the Waters of Life to Democracy!” a talk by Caroline Casey

Big Mythic Forces are in play — sounds like a case for the Compassionate Trickster within us all! Let’s gather together so that we may be replenished for the adventures ahead, to toss the Ring of Power into the Crack of Doom, to re-animate the soul of this country, that the world may bloom again.

Saturday, October 18th, 2008
8:03 PM
Marin Civic Center Veterans Memorial Auditorium
San Rafael, CA
http://visionaryactivism.com/

P.S: Caroline says: “All of nature is willing to cooperate with us delinquent humans to solve the crises we have created.”

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“Money and the Crisis of Civilization by Charles Eisenstein

In the face of the [financial] crisis, people ask what they can do to 
protect themselves. ‘Buy gold?’ ‘Stockpile canned goods?’ I would like to 
suggest a different kind of question: “What is the most beautiful thing I 
can do?”

 

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Simple Beauty

Mud Structures

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Your Eternal Self  by R. Craig Hogan

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Imagine: What America Could be in the 21st century by Marianne Williamson

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“No More Fairy Tales by Andrew Cohen

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Love-Based Instead of Fear-Based

The Department of Heartland Security

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Top Ten Transhumanist Technologies

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