newsletterno1July2001

This current issue of the Roche Miette Newsletter brings you an interesting material, in my opinion. First, Jeff Solomon shares with us his impressions from the trip to Peru and the Amazon. Although the whole text is interesting to read, I especially draw your attention to this fragment that describes how the ancient culture of the Inca nation influenced the kind of Christianity that developed in that part of the world (e.g., indigenous symbolism of the Holy Trinity). I believe that this was quite common around the globe - in Poland, for instance, and in many other parts of Europe, churches were being built on the sites of pagan worship. Similarly, many mosques were constructed where once Christian churches or synagogues stood. Although this may seem aggressive and radical, it also somehow preserves the vibration of the previous culture. No amount of inquisition, or political or religious suppression, can entirely eradicate these influences. The tradition of Christmas tree and gifts exchange around Winter Solstice is in fact... pagan and can be traced to the prehistoric times.

Similarly, the near death experience of Benedict Mellen-Thomas seems to place the current world religions in a broader context. If you take into account billions of years of our universe, 5000 years of Judaism, 2000 years of Christianity, 1400 years of Islam, etc., do not seem so significant. Haidakhan Babaji expressed a similar thought:

Both Babaji's words, and Benedict's experience seem to point out to certain common conditionings we are all subjected to. We all need to breathe. We all need to work and eat in order to maintain our bodies. We all are motivated by the powerful drive for procreation. The pain of labor is the same for all women, whether they are Jewish, Christian, Inca or Tibetan. It is good to keep these powerful conditionings in mind as they show our commonalities. In our human condition we are one - religious differences are secondary. "It doesn't matter," - God seems to say to Mellen -Thomas, whether we are Christian, Jewish, Sikh, or Bahai. What is really important, I believe, is how we live up to the ideals of our religions, and whether we are able to overcome superficial differences of the form.

One example that these superficial barriers can be crossed is the activity of the Interfaith Encounter Association based in Jerusalem. I am very glad that their hard work is being recognized by international organizations and parliaments, such as the Knesset. Closer to home, similar activities are being conducted by the Edmonton Interfaith Centre for Education and Action. You may support their efforts by buying a multicultural calendar or honoring Don Mayne, the founding president, through a fund-raising dinner (see the announcements).

Finally, as Winter Solstice is often associated with the time of transformation I give you some insights by Jacob Ramnagar about the upcoming "shift in consciousness and reality perception." Although these theories emerge periodically and are often looked at with smirk smiles, they may play a positive role as a counterbalance to otherwise dire predictions of our inevitable doom, mass self-annihilation, etc. Maybe it won't be that bad? Perhaps we can prevent disaster by shifting our consciousness and seeing that we are first human beings, operating under the same Laws of Nature, and only secondary different because of our culture, language and religion.

On this positive note, I wish you all Merry Christmas. After all, Christ-event represents a "shift in consciousness and reality perception" of the cosmic proportion, something that is still challenging today as it was 2000 years ago. So I wish my fellow Christians an ability to comprehend this shift. May we be able to implement its ideals in our daily living and how we deal with the people of other faiths. And for my fellow non-Christians I wish that the 2007 bring you inspiration and understanding that we are all travelers in the same boat of the human condition. There are many reasons why we should be grateful for being in this boat, as suggested by the poem of P'taah. If we look carefully, with right perception, we will see that we are all One.

The past ten days have been wonderful. We have just returned from Peru and the Amazon. Sharda and I joined an old school friend of mine from Australia and the 3 of us went off together to Machu Picchu, the Sacred Valley and the jungle.

We started in Peru, Lima. Like most large cities its has a good area and bad areas. We focused on the Miraflora area of Lima with its nice out door restaurants and a charming, Inca market. Vegetarian dishes are abundant and the food has a quality and a freshness that I had almost forgotten existed. We certainly cannot get the same from our hybridized supermarket waxy stuff that is the main fare of the America diet. The flavor of the vegetables and the variety was wonderful.

We enjoy native handicrafts. And the markets are alive with intense colors, amazing llama and alpaca fabrics, garments, and bags as well as ceramics of the highest quality and tourist trinkets. It makes for a very pleasant experience. The people are charming and genuinely friendly. We found only one sourpuss the entire trip, at an airline counter, and she obviously was not a morning person!

The next morning we were up at about 4am to catch a 6 something am flight to Cuzco. If you want to know how you will feel at 95 years of age, just go to Cuzco and 11,700 feet above sea level, and try running up a flight of steps! In Peru, the ubiquitous coca leaf is everywhere. It is served as a tea in restaurants and hotels and even on the airlines. Ask for tea in Peru and you get a brew of coca leaves, unless if you ask for Te Puro which is good old English black tea. The chewing of coca leaves is a great antidote for altitude sickness and the leaves are available everywhere. Evidentially, apart from a trace of cocaine, which is natural and not chemically refined, there are 13 alkaloids in the coca leave of great medicinal value. One of which is that Peruvians who use coca never get osteoporosis. It is a natural defense against calcium loss in bones. It is a natural defense against caries (tooth decay) and gum disease. Both unknown to coca users.

Cuzco is the ancient capital of the Inca Empire, From here, the Inca ruled and area the size of Europe. It stretched from Peru to Chile, Bolivia, Argentina, and Columbia. The ancient roads snake out over mountain peaks, seldom following the seeming easier valley route below. Tribute and pilgrims flowed to Cuzco from all over South America and a network of garrison towns every 10 miles or so, assured ancient travelers of a safe place to rest each evening.

We were most fortunate to have a village born young lady as our guide. Emelia's first language is Quetzl or Quetcha which is Inca. Her knowledge of her traditions was very deep. As we're neither Catholic nor Spanish (who, for obvious reasons, are not well liked due to the Spanish Inquisition that only ended in Peru in 1820!), she opened up to us. We learned a vast amount about the spiritual dimension of Inca life.

The Inca lived in vast, sophisticated cities with running water and buildings that rivaled any European City of the time. They believed in the Yin and the Yang, or the Tao of life. Every city was divided accordingly and energetically into the two. The male and female, Yin and Yang can be found in all things that they undertook. The other is the trinity of Divinity, expressed symbolically as the Sun (heaven), man (middle), and the Earth (mother). Mountains and nature has life and godliness. Therefore all undertakings, journeys, endeavors and buildings must be in harmony and with the blessing of the spirit of the land. Feng Shui, Inca style. So cities are laid out accordingly, in harmony with the land.

Great wealth flowed to Cuzco under Inca rule. And the Temple of the sun in Cuzco is the highest order of Inca stone masonry with finely honed black stone wrought so fine as to appear like the weave of a fine garment. In places vast rocks, weighing a Stonehenge like hundred tons or more, fit easily atop one another so seamlessly and without mortar, that a razor blade could not be inserted between them!

The temple of the Sun was said to have golden terraced gardens in which the crops of the empire and the animals were represented and planted in gold therein. There were golden corn fields, gold llamas and even the ground was sprinkled with gold dust. When the Spanish stripped the gold plates of the temple walls, the temple was covered in sheets of gold, it is said that the Inca hid the golden garden. The lost gold of the Incas.

When pilgrims and tribute bearers arrived in the valley of Cuzco, they approached from the mountain trails above, and as they approached they passed through the garrison overlooking Cuzco from the fort of Saxywaihman (Sexy Woman). From here the city is spread out before you. The Temple of the sun dominated a huge plaza divided in two by a man made river or canal. The yin and the yang of the city. One side the sacred the other the profane.
From atop the citadel the temple would have appeared as solid gold set in golden gardens! An awe inspiring sight.

Today a Catholic church is built over the Sun Temple and encloses its structure, like a dark cloak. As if to say, "our God is greater for ours encompasses and towers over yours." Built of the 1500s shortly after the arrival of the Spanish, the inquisition and imposition of the clergy upon the natives led to a decline in the Inca beliefs. The Spanish Inquisition, of which there is a museum dedicated to such in Lima, lasted about 300 years and the penalty for non-belief or dual belief was torture and death. The practice ended only in 1820 and after that the Spanish Empire fragmented and the nation of Peru gained its independence.

The fear continues. Although they are more willing to talk about it, few of the descendants of the Inca will admit to practicing the old ways. But they do. In the church art, in paintings and statues, the Madonna or the saints and even Jesus will inevitably have a sun or a moon or the face of a jaguar included somewhere in the piece. Even the beams of the churches, intricately carved in Spanish style have the stylized jaguar face in the Fleur de Lis like embellishments. In the court of the inquisition one can see such defiance right under the nose of the Inquisitors! So when the Inca went to church, they were surrounded surreptitiously by the old gods!

Some years ago. Sharda and I knew that we had to go to Peru to meet a great shaman. We delayed going for several years. There was a reason. We had to meet young Emelia, our guide. Through her, one thing led to another and she arranged for us to meet a Shaman, privately, in a village some distance from Cuzco. There were a great many people waiting to see him from simple peasants to some well heeled city slickers. He was quite young, perhaps under forty and very powerful! Sitting in his room was familiar like being with an old friend. As soon as we spoke to him he told us that we were going to India. We have plans to go in December. So this is not a normal thing one would say to someone if you were faking it. One thing led to another and his conversation and insight was as if we had met an old friend who knew a great deal about us. We spent over a couple of hours in conversation and then in ceremony.

Before we left, he produced a photo of Ammachee, the Indian saint from Kerala in India. She had been to Cuzco to meet with him. We gave him a photo of Babaji, our guru, and bade him farewell. We have arranged to go back for some further time to spent together. Anyone who is interested in joining us can let me know of their interest and we may put together a tour.

From Cuzco there is a Sacred Valley. This valley runs almost to the jungle and the mountain top citadel of Machu Picchu. MP was long hidden from Spanish eyes by the dense foliage that overtook the abandoned city. Having been "lost" until Hiram Bingham, an American explorer discovered it around 1911, it was the only intact Inca City ever found that eluded the Spanish Colonialists. Today a four hour train ride on a narrow gauge rail line is the only means of accomplishing Machu Picchu. The only means, that is, unless if you want to follow the Inca Trail. A 3-4 day trek over the mountain peaks along a narrow and often precipitous trail. A more benign, and modern trail also exists. It follows the route through the valley.

MP stretches for several hundred acres across the top of jagged mountain peaks and down the sides, almost vertically! Typical Inca terraces cling like steps on the mountain sides. These were for farming. Each level is a micro climate. Rising from the lower levels upwards, different crops, according to their climate needs were grown. Fresh water flows, still, through a series of ingenious fountains and plumbing's to all parts of the complex.

No single picture can embrace the full scale and complexity of Machu Picchu. (Jeff's and Sharda's pictures can be found at: http://www1.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=139298925/a=78560916_78560916/fromupload=true/t_=78560916 -P.R.)

It is in a place where mountain peaks rise like needles from the valley, sharp and almost vertical. Here the energy is palpable. This is no ordinary place, though its purposed can only be surmised. Emelia said that it was likely both a place of last refuge for the Inca king in the event of a crisis and a metaphysical training center, as witnessed by the many hostel - like accommodations for visiting pilgrims.

One needs more than one day to take it all in.

Following, we spent the next day visiting the several main Inca cities in the Sacred Valley, the markets and some pretty decent restaurants. Fresh juice is available everywhere. Papaya, orange, bananas in several varieties as well as the best grenadillas (passion fruit) I have ever encountered.

Unfortunately before we were due to leave for the Amazon, Sharda got ill. Food poisoning. The juice? You would think that with all our travels to India and Thailand, she would be immune. We missed a day. The doctor, Dr. Cuba, was a delightful and attentive man. He came to our hotel in Cuzco, an old colonial affair with nary a straight wall or balcony to be found. He gave Sharda a shot and I paid him accordingly. By the following morning she was not well enough to travel and at 5:30am he came out again, berated us for waiting until 5am and for not calling him sooner!
He gave her another shot and would not accept payment for the second visit! Any western doctors out there listening and reading this? Take note.

We joined our group a day later. We flew to Puerto Moldanado. PM is an outpost of civilization, and I use that term lightly, deep in the Amazon jungle. The trans Amazon highway is on the opposite side of the banks of the river and construction on the far side means that soon a bridge will span the river and the two coasts, the Atlantic coast in Argentina and the Pacific coast in Peru will be linked by road for the first time.

This bodes ill for the rain forest which is already under pressure from illegal mining, logging and slash and burn farming. Beneficiaries are corrupt government officials who are turning a blind eye to eco and conservation laws, large multi national corporations and McDonalds. Micky D gets a lot of cheap beef from slash and burn ranchers in the Amazon. Once the trees are gone, after one season of grazing, the earth is too poor to sustain farming and it is abandoned. And a new area is slashed and burned. As for the old area, soil erosion. Loss of top soil. Effluent and run off in the rivers kill fish and clog breeding grounds for mollusks and the like. The birds die off and the indigenous peoples retreat further into the jungle, or become cheap labor for the multinationals.

See the Amazon now folks, while you can. In hundred years from now, expect desert. The Sahara desert in Africa once supported huge game herds, cities, and vast forests. Once the forests go, nothing remains and the rainfall dries up.

From the air it is a wonderful spectacle. To see the Amazon, miles of vegetation and steam rising from the trees high into the clouds above. This is the forest breathing. The earth's lungs converting greenhouse gasses into oxygen! You can see it. It is real and it is dramatic!

Back on the ground, we took a motorized skiff or canoe down river for a two hour trip to the Amazon Jungle lodge. En route we saw many boats dredging for gold and spilling brown much back into the river. The lodge itself is delightful and semi-primitive, depending on what level you are used to traveling at. Simple wooden huts made of beautiful native hardwoods. Thatched. Screened windows. No glass. Single supply of water at ambient temperature. Tepid. Electricity from 5-10pm. Lovely clean beds, clean bathrooms, but no paper down the septic system, so put it in the waste basket!

The meals were fresh, delicious and filling. Even catered for vegetarians. We had a rice dish with vegetables cooked in banana leaves one day, and a lovely buffet the next with a wide variety of offerings.

Our jungle treks consisted of marshy slogs, through mosquito infested brush. Used loads of deet 100% strong and covered all exposed areas of our bodies and also covered our garments. Only got a few bites. Those who did not cover their garments got bitten through the fabric!

We saw a variety of monkeys, They were used to our jungle guides and they descended the trees for banana hand outs, grabbed one or two before scurrying nervously up into the canopy. One monkey grabbed three and hung by his tail and one hand, while clutching a banana in the other hand and one in each of his two feet!

The flowers, orchids, helliconia of giant proportions and the many other exotic varieties were amazing. So were the butterflies, swarms of them, everywhere. Birds. Everywhere was the call of birds. A thousand different tunes.
Daybreak is at 4.00 am and the symphony begins. You have to get up. Nature is calling! (Pun)

After the Amazon, it was back to Puerto Maldonado and Lima. A day of rest, dining and getting cleaned up. Ditched our coca leaf tea before boarding for the flight back to the USA.

The our 1130pm flight on American Airlines was delayed, After 30 minutes they announced a further hour delay to 1am. We were sitting in the lounge with an off duty flight attendant who has been with the airlines for 20 years, and she said if the problem is hydraulic they can fix it. Otherwise they cannot and we will be stuck in Lima another day.
By 1 am nothing. The passengers were getting really mad. Some were yelling and shouting to cancel the flight and put us up at a hotel. It was getting ugly, fast! I asked the supervisor exactly what the problem was, as they were not giving us any information or updates. He told me a computer was out. When I told the flight attendant whom we were sitting with, she said that we are not going anywhere today.

By 3 am I suggested to the supervisor from American Airlines that this was no way to run an airline. People have been up all night. The staff of AA have not even provided refreshments or water. I suggested that if they showed some concern and took care of the people, then they would be more relaxed. AA 's attitude was one of covering up the problem and delay, with no concern whatsoever for their customers. They did not want to spend a dime on drinks and especially not on a hotel!

At this point I canceled my booking with AA and rebooked a 10am flight with Lan Peru Airlines.

No point going back to a hotel somewhere. So we were up all night in the airport and all the next day. Lan Peru was fantastic. The airplane was cleaner, more modern, more spacious than AA. The food was better. AA refused to provide vegetarian meals for us. It is not an option on South American flights. Vegetarians take note. Lan Peru had decent veggie meals for us. Friendly, on time service and in flight entertainment. All missing on AA. The entire experience was a lesson. If you are going to a foreign country, fly on their National Airline. They take more pride because it is a reflection of their country. They are not just another big corporation ripping off the public, which is the distinct message I got from American Airlines.

So as you can see from the above, that is why there was no Weekend Humor the past two weekends!

Love to you all, Jeff.

by P'taah

To the God/Goddess of me,
I issue forth the thanks for the love that I AM
For the love in my life. For the love that surrounds me.
Thank you.

Thank you for the miracle of life that I AM
And the miracle of life I see reflected all about me.
Thank you for the gift of life.
And thank you for this perfect body, my health, my vitality. Thank you.

Thank you for the abundance that I AM
and the abundance that I see reflected all about me.
Thank you for the riches and the richness of my life.
Thank you for the river of money which flows through me. Thank you.

Thank you for the excitement and adventure,
and the millions of wondrous probabilities and wondrous possibilities.
Thank you.

Thank you for the beauty and harmony.
Thank you for the peace and tranquility.
Thank you for the wonderment.
Thank you for the joy.
Thank you for the laughter and play.

And thank you for the privilege of serving and sharing the gift that I AM.

Thank you, thank you, thank you! -- P'taah

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TOOLS FOR CONSCIOUS AWARENESS, Newsletter for A NEXT STEP…Light Center For Emotional Healing, Volume 74 ADDENDUM / NOVEMBER 2006

A NEXT STEP…light center for emotional healing
P.O. Box 429
Dona Ana, New Mexico 88032
toni@anextstep.org
www.anextstep.org
505-382-8771

In 1982, I died from terminal cancer. My condition was non-operable. I chose not to have chemotherapy. I was given six to eight months to live. Before this time, I had become increasingly despondent over the nuclear crisis, the ecology crisis, and so forth. I came to believe that nature had made a mistake—that we were probably a cancerous organism on the planet. And that is what eventually killed me.

Before my near-death experience, I tried all sorts of alternative healing methods. None helped. So I determined that this was between me and God. I had never really considered God. Neither was I into any kind of spirituality. But my approaching death sent me on a quest for more information about spirituality and alternative healing. I read various religions and philosophies. They gave hope that there was something on the other side.

I had no medical insurance, so my life savings went overnight on tests. Unwilling to drag my family into this, I determined to handle this myself. I ended up in hospice care and was blessed with an angel for my hospice caretaker, whom I will call "Anne." She stayed with me through all that was to follow.

I woke up about 4:30 am and I knew that this was it. I was going to die. I called a few friends and said good-bye. I woke up Anne and made her promise that my dead body would remain undisturbed for six hours, since I had read that all kinds of interesting things happen when you die. I went back to sleep. The next thing I remember, I was fully aware and standing up. Yet my body was lying in the bed. I seemed to be surrounded by darkness, yet I could see every room in the house, and the roof, and even under the house.

A Light shone. I turned toward it, and was aware of its similarity to what others have described in near-death experiences. It was magnificent and tangible, alluring. I wanted to go towards that Light like I might want to go into my ideal mother's or father's arms. As I moved towards the Light, I knew that if I went into the Light, I would be dead. So I said/felt, "Please wait. I would like to talk to you before I go."

The entire experience halted. I discovered that I was in control of the experience. My request was honored. I had conversations with the Light. That's the best way I can describe it. The Light changed into different figures, like Jesus, Buddha, Krishna, archetypal images and signs. I asked in a kind of telepathy, "What is going on here?"

The information transmitted was that our beliefs shape the kind of feedback we receive. If you are a Buddhist or Catholic or Fundamentalist, you get a feedback loop of your own images. I became aware of a Higher Self matrix, a conduit to the Source. We all have a Higher Self, or an oversoul part of our being, a conduit. All Higher Selves are connected as one being. All humans are connected as one being.

It was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. It was like all the love you've ever wanted, and it was the kind of love that cures, heals, regenerates. I was ready to go at that time. I said "I am ready, take me." Then the Light turned into the most beautiful thing that I have ever seen: a mandala of human souls on this planet. I saw that we are the most beautiful creations—elegant, exotic...everything.

I just cannot say enough about how it changed my opinion of human beings in an instant. I said/thought/felt, "Oh, God, I didn't realize." I was astonished to find that there was no evil in any soul. People may do terrible things out of ignorance and lack, but no soul is evil. "What all people seek—what sustains them—is love," the Light told me. "What distorts people is a lack of love."

The revelations went on and on. I asked, "Does this mean that Humankind will be saved?" Like a trumpet blast with a shower of spiralling lights, the Light "spoke," saying, "You save, redeem and heal yourself. You always have and always will. You were created with the power to do so from before the beginning of the world." In that instant I realized that we have already been saved.

I thanked the Light of God with all my heart. The best thing I could come up with was: "Oh dear God, dear Universe, dear Great Self, I love my Life." The Light seemed to breathe me in even more deeply, absorbing me. I entered into another realm more profound than the last, and was aware of an enormous stream of Light, vast and full, deep. I asked what it was. The Light answered, "This is the River of Life. Drink of this manna water to your heart's content." I drank deeply, in ecstasy.

Suddenly I seemed to be rocketing away from the planet on this stream of Life. I saw the earth fly away. The solar system whizzed by and disappeared. I flew through the center of the galaxy, absorbing more knowledge as I went. I learned that this galaxy—and the entire Universe—is bursting with many different varieties of life. I saw many worlds. We are not alone in this Universe. It seemed as if all the creations in the Universe soared past me and vanished in a speck of Light.

Then a second Light appeared. As I passed into the second Light, I could perceive forever, beyond Infinity. I was in the Void, pre-Creation, the beginning of time, the first Word or vibration. I rested in the Eye of Creation and it seemed that I touched the Face of God. It was not a religious feeling. I was simply at One with Absolute Life and Consciousness.

I rode the stream directly into the center of the Light. I felt embraced by the Light as it took me in with its breath again. And the truth was obvious that there is no death; that nothing is born and nothing dies; that we are immortal beings, part of a natural living system that recycles itself endlessly.

It would take me years to assimilate the Void experience. It was less than nothing, yet greater than anything. Creation is God exploring God's Self through every way imaginable. Through every piece of hair on your head, through every leaf on every tree, through every atom. God is exploring God's Self. I saw everything as the Self of all. God is here. That's what it is all about. Everything is made of light; everything is alive.

I was never told that I had to come back. I just knew that I would. It was only natural, from what I had seen. As I began my return to the life cycle, it never crossed my mind, nor was I told, that I would return to the same body. It did not matter. I had complete trust in the Light and the Life process.

As the stream merged with the great Light, I asked never to forget the revelations and the feelings of what I had learned on the other side. I thought of myself as a human again and I was happy to be that. From what I have seen, I would be happy to be an atom in this universe. An atom. So to be the human part of God ...this is the most fantastic blessing. It is a blessing beyond our wildest imagination of what a blessing can be.

For each and every one of us to be the human part of this experience is awesome, and magnificent. Each and every one of us, no matter where we are, screwed up or not, is a blessing to the planet, right where we are. So I went through the reincarnation process expecting to be a baby somewhere.

But I reincarnated back into this body. I was so surprised when I opened my eyes, to be back in this body, back in my room with someone looking over me, crying her eyes out. It was Anne, my hospice caretaker. She had found me dead thirty minutes before. We do not know how long I was dead, only that she found me thirty minutes before. She had honored my wish to have my newly-dead body left alone. She can verify that I really was dead.

It was not a near-death experience. I believe I probably experienced death itself for at least an hour and a half. When I awakened and saw the light outside, confused, I tried to get up to go to it, but I fell out of the bed. She heard a loud "clunk", ran in, and found me on the floor. When I recovered, I was surprised and awed about what had happened. I had no memory at first of the experience. I kept slipping out of this world and kept asking, "Am I alive?" This world seemed more like a dream than that one.

Within three days, I was feeling normal again, clearer, yet different than ever before. My memories of the journey came back later. But from my return I could find nothing wrong with any human being I had ever seen. Previous to my death I was judgmental, believing that people were really screwed up. Everyone but me.

About three months later a friend said I should get tested for the cancer. So I got the scans and so forth. I felt healthy. I still remember the doctor at the clinic looking at the "before" and "after" scans. He said, "I can find no sign of cancer now." "A miracle?" I asked. "No," he answered. "These things happen...spontaneous remission." He seemed unimpressed. But I was impressed. I knew it was a miracle.

I asked God: "What is the best religion on the planet? Which one is right?" God said with great love: "It doesn't matter." What an incredible grace. It does not matter what religion we are. Religions come and they go. They change. Buddhism has not been here forever, Catholicism has not been here forever, and they are all about to become more enlightened. More light is coming into all systems now. Many will resist and fight about it, one religion against the next, believing that only they are right.

When God said, "It doesn't matter," I understood that it is for us to care about, because we are the caring beings. The Source does not care if you are Protestant, Buddhist, or Jew. Each is a reflection, a facet of the whole. I wish that all religions would realize it and let each other be. It is not the end of separate religions, but live and let live. Each has a different view, and it all adds up to the big picture.

I went over to the other side with a lot of fears about toxic waste, nuclear missiles, the population explosion, the rain forest. I came back loving every single problem. I love nuclear waste. I love the mushroom cloud; this is the holiest mandala that we have manifested to date, as an archetype. More than any religion or philosophy on Earth, that terrible, wonderful cloud brought us together all of a sudden, to a new level of consciousness.

Knowing that maybe we can blow up the planet fifty times, or 500 times, we finally realize that maybe we are all here together now. For a period they had to keep setting off more bombs to get it into us. Then we started saying, "we do not need this any more." Now we are actually in a safer world than we have ever been in, and it is going to get safer.

So I came back loving toxic waste, because it brought us together. These things are so big. Clearing of the rain forest will slow down, and in fifty years there will be more trees on the planet than in a long time. If you are into ecology, go for it; you are that part of the system that is becoming aware. Go for it with all your might, but do not be depressed or disheartened. Earth is in the process of domesticating itself, and we are cells on that Body. Population increase is getting very close to the optimal range of energy to cause a shift in consciousness. That shift in consciousness will change politics, money, energy.

The Great Mystery of life has little to do with intelligence. The Universe is not an intellectual process. The intellect is helpful; but our hearts are the wiser part of ourselves. Since my return I have experienced the Light spontaneously. I have learned how to get to that space almost any time in my meditation. You can also do this. You don't have to die first. You are wired for it already. The body is the most magnificent Light being there is. The body is a universe of incredible Light. We don't need to commune with God; God is already communing with us in every moment!

I am very happy to share with you a most encouraging and supporting experience. On Wednesday, November 1^st, I was invited to a special meeting of the parliamentary Internal Affairs and Environment Committee of the Knesset, a meeting that dealt with the tensions between Jews and Arabs in Acre in general, and as they were manifested in the Simchat Tora events in particular.

Most of the speakers reflected the good relations that exist between the leaders of the different communities, the tensions between parts of the population and the need to restore calm in the streets of Acre.

When my turn came to speak gave a brief overview of the work of the Interfaith Encounter Association "that use interfaith dialogue in a constructive way in order to build good relations between people of different communities. Among other activities we maintain on-going groups, some of which are already active for four and five years, that bring together people of neighboring communities and build their good inter-communal relations, through joint management … [our activity] is not for religious people only but for people in general. Until now we formed 17 such groups, from the Upper Galilee to Eilat." (Quotes are taken from the meeting's protocol, translated by me into English).

I then added: "long time before the events a meeting was scheduled for tomorrow, in order to begin such activity in the City of Acre and in order to bring the excellent coexistence, which was praised by all, that exists on the level of religious leaders and heads of communities – also to the wide public.

I think that the goal of restoring calm is not enough to prevent such events in the future. We have to build a situation where the attitudes towards the other are not based of suspicion, or on fear, but on relations of good neighborhood – with neighbors who are different, but who can also be friends … I would be very happy if the Internal Affairs and Environment Committee of the Knesset would encourage such activities, encourage the state to support such activities and send its blessing and support to them".

These words spur warm responses from people of all parts of the political spectrum and as a result the committee adopted the following decision:

"We all encourage the joint life of all citizens of Israel – Arabs and Jews in the City of Acre, and call to maintain its character as a mixed city where Jews and Muslims wish to coexist together. The Internal Affairs Committee will encourage any interfaith activity in the City of Acre in particular and in general, wherever mixed population exists".

And the head of the committee added: "As a man of faith and tradition, I believe that every true religious person respects all religions because all religions are God's religions". (underline by P.R.)

The enthusiastic response, from right and left, to the interfaith activity gave me a lot of joy and satisfaction and strengthened my confidence in the great potential of the Interfaith Encounter approach for true and sustainable advancement of harmonious coexistence of people of all communities and all views.

In the meeting that took place the next day the support for the process of the Mayor and the leaders of the city's religious communities was secured and the next practical steps were agreed upon. I hope very much that in the coming months I will be able to report the activity beginning of the Acre Interfaith Encounter.

The Interfaith Encounter Association, P.O.Box 3814, Jerusalem 91037, Israel, Phone: +972-2-6510520, Fax: +972-2-6510557, Website: www.interfaith-encounter.org

New Muticultural Calendar.

The Edmonton Interfaith Centre is pleased to announce that this year we are now selling the Multicultural Calendar, $16, it includes a wide and comprehensive selection of holidays and faith observances. They also still sell the Golden Rule poster for $12.00, the Gandhi’s “Seven Deadly Social Sins” for $10.00 and the Green Rule poster for $12.00. Please look out for these special interfaith resources. They make wonderful gifts for holidays and other special occasions

Join us to Honour Don Mayne and Support our Centre.

Please reserve this date: Saturday, February 10, 2007, 6:30 p.m. Join us for our annual fund-raising dinner honoring Don Mayne, founding president of our Centre. The Dinner will be held at the Maharajah Banquet Hall, 9257 34A Ave. Tickets $50 ($25 tax receipt)

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News from the Centre is the newsletter of the Edmonton Interfaith Centre for Education and Action

11148 84 Ave, Edmonton Alberta T6G 0V8, 780-413-6159 (phone), 780-413-6143 (fax), intfaith@shaw.ca

www.edminterfaithcentre.ca

Bikkar S. (Randy) Randhawa, Ph.D., President, Netta Phillet, Coordinator and Editor

(November 2006)

"One God Notes" consist of quotations from spiritual writings of many religious traditions. The purpose is to inspire, to open hearts, so people perceive God's Presence in and around them. In this way I hope to create a sense of human and religious unity.

Roche Miette Association is an informal group of people who try to achieve the ideals of human unity as expressed in the Roche Miette Rule. One of the characteristics of this group of enthusiasts is love of Nature and willingness to love God through His Creation. In particular, we are drawn by the beauty of Roche Miette Mountain, near Hinton, Alberta, and organize once a year a non-denominational hike/pilgrimage to this mountain. People of all religious backgrounds are invited to participate with us in this auspicious event.

If these ideals appeal to you, you may want to support them through a financial donation. Please, send checks for "Roche Miette Association" to:

Piotr Rajski
Roche Miette Association
576, Lessard Drive
Edmonton, AB, T6M 1B2
Canada

Would you like to contribute to the Roche Miette Newsletter? Please, send your text in Microsoft Word or HTML format to rajski@shaw.ca. Of special interests are stories, reflections on the following subjects:

Human and religious unity.
Harmony between different religions, cooperation between religious groups.
Examples of interfaith dialogue, tolerance, forgiveness.
Love of Nature (especially mountains).
Spirituality.
Meditation, Contemplative Prayer.
Religious life, especially Practice of the Presence of God, pilgrimage.
Mysticism, especially in the context of the mountains.
Poetry, art, music, photographs related to the mountains.

Manuscripts to be considered should be original articles (not published elsewhere). Some previously published materials may also be considered if submitted with the info and consent of the publisher. Some promotional materials, such excerpts from books, can also be considered if related to the above topics. Announcements of interest for wider audiences are also occasionally accepted.

The Roche Miette Newsletter has a circulation of approximately 400 recipients. Copies of the newsletter are sent to National Library of Canada for research purposes. To see the previous issues you can visit http://rochemiette.ca/newsletter.html