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by William Arntz
Heroes, skeptics and scoundrels… some miscellaneous rambling
If you ask me, I would say that dogma often is the last refuge of a scientific scoundrel, because someone who’s unwilling to pursue open questions and wants to fall back on something that he or she can understand, even if it doesn’t really answer the question.
I want to thank David (Albert) for his healthy skepticism. Fantastic claims require fantastic proof.
People come up to me in the supermarket and say ‘Gee were you in that movie’, and I say ‘yeah’.
Quotes by Stuart Hameroff
I was recently at a lecture at Ramtha’s School of Enlightenment by Dr. Stanley Krippner. (stanleykrippner.com) Dr. Krippner has been investigating consciousness, mystical experiences, modes of awareness, shaman and con-men for decades. He has been looking at, and talking to, all variations of spiritual teachers, mediums, ascended and descended beings in an attempt to bring a true, scientific perspective to the varieties of mystical experience and revelation.
He’s a hero.
Now you may think: “Well of course Will would think that, they agree with him.” And of course there’s some truth to that. But beyond that – what IS a hero?
Usually people think that a hero is someone who champions what they believe in – and only what they believe in. Case in point – Saladin. Who? The Arab hero who pushed the crusaders out of the Holy Lands after the crusaders came in and butchered the long-time inhabitants. In the west, Saladin for years was considered the arch-fiend. However he seems to have more in common with George Washington than Beelzebub.
So what IS a hero?
What is a Skeptic?
Is a skeptic the arch-fiend of spiritual types who think about crop circles, UFOs and paranormal experiences? And yet a true skeptic is one who does not base their opinions on their opinions, but rather on “the data.” If given data that contradicts their worldview, they throw out that worldview.
In our discussions with David Albert, he stated, flat out, that he was interested in pushing the scientific worldview as far as it could be pushed to explain things such as the measurement problem, and not resorting to a “spiritual” aspect to explain it. (The measurement problem is looking at the fact that measurement always affects the system being measured, or observed. There is much debate about whether a conscious observer has to be involved or not. It’s a debate that has been going on for centuries in one form or another.) What we learned in the process was how important the discussion and debate was about these issues, and to listen and examine theories in conflict with our own.
In other words, when you cannot discuss differing worldviews without name calling and mudslinging, then you are as dogmatic as the people you disagree with. In the true scientific pursuit of knowledge, theories usually clash. But it is out of that chaos that a grander understanding emerges. (Only to be discarded at some later date!)
And a scoundrel?
Someone who thinks they are never wrong.
William Arntz
Crystal Blue Persuasion
 by Sandy Fox
At the age of 11 or 12, I found myself riding along in the back seat of my mother’s light blue, 1967 Ford Galaxy. A song came on the radio that captured my soul. As I listened to these words “There will be peace and good, brotherhood, Crystal Blue Persuasion……” from the song Crystal Blue Persuasion, by Tommy James and The Shondells, it was like an entire universe opened up to me in a flash. As we know, the movie What The Bleep? explores how words have the power to create our world. I've also heard it said that words put to music escalate that power exponentially. This story is the journey of this song’s transformative power in my life.
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My map of peace
In my twenties I began creating visualization maps with three different themes. The first one was about abundance, the second about my loving marriage and the third about peace. It has been great fun finding words, phrases, pictures and items in cards, magazines, books, church programs and a myriad of other places to place on the map.
About five years ago, I added a clipping to the map from a travel brochure about Assisi, Italy that reads: “Peaceful Assisi, for many centuries, has been a place of pilgrimage, prayer and contemplation, with its power to inspire and rejuvenate, to sooth and comfort.” At the time, I didn’t know who I would go with, when I would go, how I would go or why I would go. I simply felt a deep call to an ancient place of peace in honor of a man of peace, St. Francis of Assisi.
The song continued playing in my mind, and in 2003 another seed for peace was planted. A vision for a peace institution in Seattle was being orchestrated in my mind. I found myself standing in rooms and seeing people in the midst of various activities and events. It is an institution with a focus on being for peace rather than being against anyone or anything. It was BIG.
In 2004, through a series of divine detours, I enrolled in the Seminary of Spiritual Peacemaking. This online program through the Beloved Community has allowed me to expand my awareness of the amazing work being done around the world for peace. The program focuses on the teachings of inner peace at the center of every religion as well as practical application in the world. About two months after I enrolled in the program, the founder, James Twyman, announced the first retreat planned for September 2005 in Assisi Italy. I wept with joy!
The intention of the retreat was to move into the consciousness of St. Francis of Assisi and then walk the walk of St. Francis from Assisi to Rome. It was definitely a “What the Bleep?” moment for me as I realized the magnetic pull of an item I placed on my visualization map years ago being completely fulfilled in a way I had never imagined. It was simply incredible.
The peace journey
In Italy, every morning we gathered together as James led us in the Sacred Office of Peace Prayers. Our intention was to speak the 12 peace prayers from the Baha’i, Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Jainist, Jewish, Muslim, Native American, Native African, Shinto, Sikh, Zoroastrian faiths. I found this really unified the group consciousness and set the tone for the walk. In addition, James sang the songs throughout the journey giving us a richer experience of the prayers. I remember one experience when James was singing the prayers in the first cathedral in Assisi. It is a stark cathedral void of stained glass, murals, sculptures or anything else of opulence. After he sang the 12 prayers for peace as well as the Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi, he asked the group to join him. We gathered in the altar area with him and began singing the Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi. I felt the group shift into a new level of awareness of peace as we felt the full range of emotions on the planet. Faces were flowing with uncontrollable liquid and I knew we were one with everything in that moment. One with all people, all experiences, all life.
Click image for larger view
On September 11th, our group of eighty spiritual peacemakers from all over the world joined with over 200,000 Italians to begin our walk for peace through the rich countryside outside of Assisi eventually culminating high above the streets of Assisi at the ancient castle, Rocca Maggiore, which means The Great Fort. This annual Perugia to Assisi walk hosted by Tavoladellapace (Table of Peace - tavoladellapace.it) celebrated their tenth anniversary walking for peace. Bright rainbow banners with the word “PACE” filled the streets. People were wrapped in peace. Every race, dialect and age came together to walk for peace. As I walked under the crystal blue sky, with hundreds of thousands of people, I wondered how our collective thoughts for peace brought each one of us to this unique moment in time. What were their respective heartsongs?
After this collective walk for peace with hundreds of thousands of Italians, our group began the 8-day walk from Assisi to Rome. In addition to speaking the peace prayers together each day we walked with the Cloth of Many Colors.
The Cloth of Many Colors comes from a project within the Beloved Community that has involved hundreds of thousands of people from more than fifty countries as it has been woven together and toured in many different parts of the world.
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