It has come to my attention, through various conversations of my own as well as some that other people have related to me, that the Tao Te Ching remains unknown to a very large portion of the population. Several people have asked me recently, which book has influenced me most in my life; my response is always the TTC and often I get blank looks. I realize that my path is less traveled, and I suppose we all get caught up in our own research; however, it’s a shame that this small collection of verses takes a back shelf in today’s world. The Tao is an enigma, no doubt; but regardless of one’s religion or personal philosophy, I highly recommend picking up a copy and giving it a read.

It doesn’t matter what religion you follow; this tiny volume is densely packed with honest, down-to-earth wisdom. Often particular religions are strict about avoiding any texts aside outside of their own particular manual; Christians often fall into this category, to my endless disappointment. Frankly it’s a big reason why I tend not to associate myself with this particular organized religion, even though I do happen to retain some of their basic beliefs. God is greater than any religion, I always say. It’s not Lao Tzu’s fault he lived thousands of years before Christ. Unfortunately, as well-meaning and kind as they can be, Christians are often the most close-minded of all religious groups in terms of their unwillingness to investigate beyond what their sect has dictated to them. Personally I think many Christians would be surprised how similar Lao Tzu’s words are to those of Jesus, and there is a great book, “Jesus and Lao Tzu: the Parallel Sayings” which describes this most succinctly. Another enlightening book is “Christ, the Eternal Tao”, which was written by a monk.

It’s imperative that all people of all faiths open their hearts and minds in order to avoid deception in the future. Truly this is part of my mission – perhaps the most important part. Real truth comes from within yourself, not from any outer source – therefore not even the TTC contains the ‘whole truth’, though it does provide a wider scope with which one’s inner self could expand awareness. All books, including the Bible, are tools, not ends in themselves. But putting limitations on the information and understanding we allow ourselves is exactly what the powers-that-be want us to be doing. If you think standard Christianity hasn’t been usurped by power-mongers and a suspicious elite, starting with the ‘compiling’ of the Bible in the fourth century, you have quite a bit of research ahead of you. (For that matter I take modern Taoism with a grain of salt as well; many sects have now become more like cults and one must always be on guard.)

Non-spiritual people also tend to neglect the TTC. But in truth it’s more a book of philosophy, or Way of Life, not a religion. FYI the book is not a long read, nor is it controversial – it’s a small collection of 81 verses, all of which touch your spirit uniquely and lovingly. Often I open to a random page and look for whatever wisdom Lao Tzu gives me that day; I do the same thing with the Bible at times, as well as the Upanishads, The Art of Peace, and other spiritual texts. I’ve read them all cover-to-cover by now, and though some might scorn me for using them as oracles; too bad. It works for me, and I don’t hesitate to recommend the method to others. If you’re looking for spiritual awareness and don’t know where to start, the Tao Te Ching is probably the softest touch.

If I can do anything with my blog, perhaps the single most important thing is to pass on this recommendation. If you’re curious about the Tao; if you’re stuck in your religion and want to get into your spirit; if you have no spiritual inclinations at all but are looking for inspiration – this is the book for you. If interpretation proves difficult, send me a note and I’ll help as much as I can – but I will say, each person is going to absorb the wisdom differently, and it’s actually an excellent tool for awakening your own spirit and sense of discernment.

Happy reading!!

On July 7 in history, the Battle of Hubbardton began in Vermont in 1777. United States begins its first military draft in 1863. President William McKinley annexed Hawaii as a territory in 1898. Construction commenced on the Hoover Dam on this date in 1930. In Roswell, New Mexico in 1947, an alleged ‘flying disc’ crashed and was recovered by the Air Force. In 1954, Elvis Presley made his radio debut. President Eisenhower signed the Alaska statehood bill in 1954, and President Reagan nominated Judge Sandra Day O’Connor to the Supreme Court in 1981. In 1985, German tennis star Boris Becker won Wimbledon at the age of 17 years, 7 months. Lt. Col. Oliver North began his public testimony at the Iran-Contra hearing in 1987. Famous birthdays include composer Gustav Mahler in 1860, baseball star Satchel Paige in 1906, science fiction writer Robert Heinlein in 1907, designer Pierre Cardin in 1922, and Beatle Ringo Starr in 1940. Deaths include Pope Benedict XI in 1304, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in 1930, former Rolling Stones guitarist Brian Jones in 1969, actress Veronica Lake in 1973, and Pink Floyd musician Syd Barrett in 2006.

For some Christians, triple sevens (777) “numerically symbolize Yahweh, the Father of Yeshua the Messiah” – though interestingly some debate this. There is a Christian call to prayer today. There’s even a minister (jokingly) suggesting the Rapture will happen today. These numbers figure prominently in the Kabbalah as well. 777 and other Qabalistic writings is a collection of papers written by Aleister Crowley. Not surprising, there is also talk of a harmonic shift today. A yoga instructor in Los Angeles is offering a gong meditation course tonight at 7 PM; he says, “The numerology on this day, 7-7-07, is phenomenal. Seven represents the aura. Three sevens equals 21 (2+1=3). Three represents the positive mind. Add the 7PM hour and you have 4 (the heart) sevens which equals 28 (2+8=10).”

Because so many people consider seven to be a lucky number, and it also happens to fall on a Saturday this year, many people have planned their weddings for this date. Las Vegas will certainly be busy this weekend. The new 7 wonders of the world will be announced today in Portugal. The Live Earth benefit concerts are today. The “Drop Sneakers, Not Bombs“ campaign to benefit Invisible Children aunches today. Also, YouTubers may know about the meetings today in NYC in Washington Square Park under the arch, in Berlin at the Brandenburg Gate, and perhaps in Miami and Australia too; check this out for more.

Interesting that Earth is at its aphelion at exactly 00 hrs UT; also, near-Earth object 2006 JY26 makes its fly-by today. NASA had planned on sending their new Dawn spacecraft into space today, ostensibly to explore two newly-discovered dwarf planets, Ceres, to which it expects to arrive in 2011, and Vesta, in 2015. It has since been delayed. Some believe NASA missions, among other things, are sometimes synchronized with Masonic symbolism. Who knows what else they will see out there; perhaps Eris, which some believe is Planet X? Here is a list of astronomic events for July 7 through history; here and here is more about the number seven.

Those who might have been wary of 6/6/6 last year, or don’t consider seven to be ‘lucky‘ either, may wait for 8/8/8 and 9/9/9 coming up soon.

Voegelin used the term in reference to what he saw as a Gnostic influence on modern politics. He recognized various political movements, particularly communism and Nazism, were set forth by an elite group of people who believed they possessed special, secret knowledge and even attempted to ‘create heaven on earth’ – or immanent-ize the eschaton. A grab for power based on totalitarianism and social alienation, as he saw it.

From the back cover of my book, “A secretive and selfish elite has kept spiritual knowledge as well as Earth’s true history and science hidden from the masses for centuries. Today, technology, religion, politics and apocalyptic scenarios continue to serve their agenda of ultimate global control.”

End Times scenarios are scattered liberally across our cultural landscape. Are we simply reacting to a growing sense of unease in our Orwellian nightmare, or is our subconscious trying to tell us something? 2012 and the end of the Mayan calendar cycle has brought other prophecies, Earth-shattering weapons technologies and astronomical warnings to the forefront. I devote a chapter in my book to such concepts, because I find them all strangely synchronistic. Aside from galactic alignment, devastating solar flares and the possibility of Planet X making its swing by our solar system and hastening a polar shift, our own weapons technologies are perhaps among the scariest to fathom. From Tom Beardon’s Fer-de-Lance, “If significant scalar effects are produced on Earth in a ‘pulse’ mode…the coupled resonant response from the Sun could be disastrous. The simplest Doomsday simulation would be for a violent expulsion of solar electromagnetic energy and particles…In that case, the fiery destruction of the Earth, strongly indicative of Biblical prophecy, would result. Particularly sensitive are the resonances of Sun-Earth, Sun-Moon and Earth-Moon systems.” Interesting to note the recurrence of such a fiery doomsday in over a dozen books of the Bible, the Koran, Zoroastrian scripture, Native American prophecy, and others. If such weaponry were the cause of our ultimate destruction, I would say someone has indeed done a very good job immanentizing the eschaton. Tesla would be mortified.

And there are other prophecies to be aware of. Christian End Times prophecy predicts Israel becoming a nation again and Hebrew returning as a spoken language; we take this for granted now, but this might have seemed impossible to our grandparents in their youth. Another prophecy involves rebuilding Solomon’s Temple in Jerusalem, which is tricky since the Temple Mount is currently occupied by the Muslim Dome of the Rock. But you can be sure, there are groups ready with the blueprints. Also the rise of a great peacemaker/Anti-Christ figure; popular nominees include Maitreya (and more recently, Jose Luis De Jesus Miranda) who will unite the world in one government and one religion. Back to Herr Voegelin and the Powers-That-Be; some point to certain US foreign and internal policies as being generated by the “New World Order”, the as-of-yet unrealized goal (?) of the world’s leading politicians and businessmen. I touch on this in my book too – make Machiavelli proud; manipulate the masses into misery and chaos, then offer to fix it. They’ll never know the difference. Fnord.

Lao Tzu wrote, “The master observes the world, but trusts his inner vision.” From my book, “Be aware of these forces, but never give in to fear. The battle is not fought in the outer world, but in our minds and spirits…Learn to create a new reality in harmony with the Tao. Just by changing our minds, we can change the world.” Whatever happens, this is the Way to peace. It’s Surfing the Tao. Immanentize the Eschaton? Bring it on, I’m ready!

The End of the World As We Knew It

The world we knew ended long ago.

Didn’t we know a place of peace before?

Perhaps it was only a dream.

Our planet suffers now

As a child left alone in the wilderness

Ignorance leads to starvation.

I cannot grieve for this doomed existence,

Yet I will know the sound of its final demise.

Not World War III.

Not a giant asteroid.

Not another ice age.

Not the anti-Christ.

Not the Battle of Armageddon.

Not the slaying of the dragon.

When every child’s tears turn to laughter,

This is the beginning of the world as we knew it.

In 1937, E.J. Thompson was writing a book about Buddhism and commented to Tagore, “To me it is increasingly clear that what the world needs is to take both Buddha’s and Christ’s teaching – the pity and tenderness of Buddhism supplies what Christianity lacks, in a certain ‘hard-boiledness’ (perhaps the fault of Christian nations). The subtle and many-colored beauty of your own wonderful life interprets Buddhism as nothing else does, and I am glad that I have known you.”

Tagore replied in his letter of the same year, “….I agree with you that both Christ and Buddha embodied in their lives the only true principles that can work for men’s common good; Buddha’s insistence on the renunciation of greed creates the necessary condition of the mind in which the love of others ceases to conflict with one’s own good. Do you know I have often felt that if we were not Hindus…I should like my people to be Christians? Indeed, it is a great pity that Europeans have come to us as imperialists rather than as Christians and so have deprived our people of their true contact with the religion of Jesus Christ…What a mental torture it is to know that men are capable of loving each other and adding to one another’s joy, and yet would not!”

(from Selected Letters of Rabindranath Tagore, Ed. Krishna Dutta and Andrew Robinson, Cambridge University Press, 1997)