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What is consciousness?

Posted on Oct 8th, 2008 by Jeff : messenger Jeff

Since I go to school on-line I do not have any immediate conversations with others, such as study group or just general discussion with other students hangin in the cafeteria or library… plus my sense is that many of you will have a more higher ideal or view or consciousness around this question. Plus if you could also suggest where your information or thoughts about consciousness came from, research, workshops, etc that would be helpful?

The text is entitled Thinking Critically about ethical issues, V.R. Ruggiero, 2008. In the definitions Ruggiero uses only seem to ask more questions and cloud the issue. First definition he offers and then seems to debunk “is an “inner voice,” but what kind of voice exactly? The voice of desire or discernment? The voice of emotion or reason? Our own voice? (If so, how does it differ from ordinary reflection?) The voice of society or custom? (If so, how do we explain the many times when conscience urges us to defy custom?) The voice of God? (If so, do we explain cases in which conscience fails to inform us that an act is wrong as failures to God?)”

The next definition, if those above questions where not enough to spin you around the spiral a couple of times, is “consciousness is a special “moral sense” or “intuition” that is innate in human beings. Ruggerio goes on to simplify and confuse things with using the word sense as physical “organ” as with eyes and ears. I do not agree with this at all. And then he goes on to suggest that “equating conscience with intuition ignores the fact that conscience can be developed whereas intuition is inborn.” I do not agree with this statement either, I believe that both of these conscience and intuition are inborn and can both be developed? Not taught per se but discovered from our sense of awakening, from our not wishing to be part of the crowd… of this is a course in ethics and ethics seems to be very fluid, ethereal even when the science does not wish to agree!

 

What I am asking with this blog is these questions that are to be answer for my class based on the above and other research I find. So if you have any thoughts, feelings and or emotions about how consciousness works please share here. Using the below questions as your guide. Thank you!

Discuss the idea of the conscience and its effects on people. Explaining what you believe the conscience to be.  Please include personal experiences and examine the critical questions: (1) Do all people have a conscience, and (2) What is the conscience’s source? 

 

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What confuses you most about the world?

Posted on Oct 12th, 2008 by Jeff : messenger Jeff
This is in Response to the Questions and Reflections for October 12, 2008:

That most people would rather mouth the words, of caring, of friendship, of love when it is convinent to them but not place their action to live their words, or even thoughts!

I am Love, Jeff
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Ethics Defined

Posted on Oct 17th, 2008 by Jeff : messenger Jeff
According to the text I have for this class "Thinking Critically about Ethical issues by V.R. Ruggiero 2008, "Ethics... is the study of right and wrong conduct... In a scientific sense, ethics is a descriptive discipline, involving the collection and interpretation of data on what people from various cultures believe," and here is he kicker, "without any consideration for appropriateness or reasonableness of those beliefs." Hmmm? So how does one begin to understand what and ethics are arrived at? 

Later in the same section Ruggiero suggest "the focus of ethics is moral situations--that is, those situations in which there is a choice of behavior involving human values (those qualities that are regarded as good and desirable)." So my questions is who makes the choice about the "qualities that are regarded as good and desirable"? 
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speaking our truth!

Posted on Oct 21st, 2008 by Jeff : messenger Jeff
I thought this might be a guide to some of us who have been challenged in the past few days with some of the energy here at gaia. I give you the words of Neale Donald Walsch via God..

....that you may speak your truth, but soothe your words

with peace.

 

Tell your truth as soon as you know it. Yet tell it gently,

kindly, and with compassion for the hearer. Someone

needs to hear the truth from you today...but that person

also needs your deep compassion as you speak it.

 

Seek to say what needs to be said with softness, and

with a wide open heart. Remember, the truth can hurt...

but it hurts a lot less if you care how it feels while

saying it.

 

You will not have to think but a second to know

exactly why you received this message today.

 



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Tagged with: truth, compassion, care

Diwali

Posted on Oct 21st, 2008 by Jeff : messenger Jeff
215px-diwali_diya
According to wikipedia.org this is what Diwali is! Thanks Susan1 for introducing this to me... and us:

Deepavali, or Diwali, (Markiscarali) is a major Indian festival, and a significant festival in HinduismSikhismand Jainism[3] Many legends are associated with Diwali. Today it is celebrated by HindusJains and Sikhsacross the globe as the "Festival of Light," where the lights or lamps signify victory of good over the evil within every human being . The festival is also celebrated by Buddhists of Nepal, particularly the NewarBuddhists.

According to one theory Diwali may have originated as a harvest festival, marking the last harvest of the year before winter. In an agrarian society this results in businessmen closing accounts, and beginning a new accounting year. The deity of wealth in Hinduism, goddess Lakshmi is therefore thanked on this day and everyone prays for a good year ahead. This is the common factor in Diwali celebrations all over the Indian subcontinent.

In many parts of India, it is the homecoming of King Rama of Ayodhya after a 14-year exile in the forest.[4]The people of Ayodhya (the capital of his kingdom) welcomed Rama by lighting rows (avali) of lamps (deepa), thus its name, Deepawali, or simply shortened as Diwali. Southern India marks it as the day Lord Krishna defeated the demon Narakasura. In western India it is also in honor of the day King Bali went to rule the nether-world by the order of Vishnu. (There is another festival 'Onam' which is celebrated in Kerala around the month of August to mark this legend)

Diwali is celebrated on the first day of the lunar Kartika month, which comes in the month of October or November.

In Jainism it marks the nirvana of Lord Mahavira, which occurred on October 15, 527 BCE. The Sikhs celebrate Diwali for a different reason; on this day, the Sixth Guru, Guru Hargobind Ji, was freed from imprisonment along with 52 Hindu Kings (political prisoners) whom he had arranged to be released as well. after his release he went to Darbar Sahib (golden temple) in the holy city of Amritsar. There, he was greeted by Sikhs and many other people. In happiness they lit candles and diyas to greet the Guru. In India, Diwali is now considered to be a national festival, and the aesthetic aspect of the festival is enjoyed by most Indians regardless of faith.[5]

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Tagged with: Harvest, lights, India

Photography on redbubble.com

Posted on Oct 21st, 2008 by Jeff : messenger Jeff
Dsc_3555
I have spend most of the day setting up this space in RedBubble.com to expose/exhibit and sell my photographs. So Please check it out 
<a href="http://www.redbubble.com/people/jeffstroud" title="View my art"><img src="http://www.redbubble.com/bubblewrap/logos/rb_logo.gif" alt="Buy my art" /></a>
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Does this happen for you?

Posted on Oct 22nd, 2008 by Jeff : messenger Jeff
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"If you're really listening, if you're awake to the poignant beauty of the 
world, your heart breaks regularly. In fact, your heart is made to break; its 
purpose is to burst open again and again so that it can hold ever-more 
wonders." —Andrew Harvey, *The Return of the Mother*

Andrew Harvey is one of my favorite writers! I have had this experience many time while reading his beautiful work, that "the poignant beauty of the world, breaks my heart regularly... when I see the love and support we share with each other, when we encourage our voice to say what needs to be said, with authenticty and honesty. Expecting nothing and receiving everything!


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in answer to boogie's (stacy's) Blogs

Posted on Oct 29th, 2008 by Jeff : messenger Jeff
There are as many wondrous and evolutionary events happening as there are fear filled dual events. If we chose to look... the following is a wondrous piece by Rob Brezsny:


THIS IS A PERFECT MOMENT
by Rob Brezsny

This is a perfect moment.
It's a perfect moment for many reasons, 
but especially because you and I are waking up 
from our sleepwalking, thumb-sucking, dumb-clucking collusion
with the masters of illusion and destruction.

Thanks to them, 
from whom the painful blessings flow, 
we are waking up.

Their wars and tortures,
their crimes against nature,
extinctions of species
and brand new diseases.

Their spying and lying
in the name of the father,
sterilizing seeds and
trademarking water.

Molestations of God,
celebrations of shame,
stealing our dreams and
changing our names.

Their cunning commercials
and blood-sucking hustles,
their endless rehearsals
for the end of the world.

Thanks to them, 
from whom the awful teachings flow, 
we are waking up.

*

Their painful blessings are cracking open 
more and more gashes 
in the shrunken and crippled mass hallucination
that is mistakenly called "reality." 
And through the fractures, 
ripe eternity is flooding in; 
news of the soul's true home is pouring in; 
our allies from the other side of the veil 
are swarming in,
inspiring us to become smarter and wilder 
and kinder and trickier.

We are waking up.

As heaven and earth come together, 
as the dreamtime and daytime merge, 
we register the shockingly exhilarating fact 
that we are in charge 
of creating a brand new world. 
Not in some distant time or faraway place,
but right here and right now.

*

As we stand on this brink, 
as we dance on this verge,
we can't let the ruling fools of the dying world 
sustain their curses. 
We have to rise up 
and fight their insane logic; 
defy, resist, and prevent their tragic magic; 
erupt with our sacred rage and supercharge it.

But overthrowing the living dead is not enough.
Protesting the well-dressed monsters is not enough.
We can't afford to be consumed with our anger; 
we can't be obsessed and possessed by their danger. 
Our mysterious bodies crave delight and fertility. 
Our boisterous imaginations demand fresh tastes of infinity.

In the new world we're gestating, 
we need to be suffused 
with lusty compassion and ecstatic duty, 
ingenious love and insurrectionary beauty. 
We've got to be teeming with radical curiosity and reverent pranks, 
voracious listening and ferocious thanks.

*

So I'm curious, my fellow creators. 
Since you and I are in charge of making a new world
-- not just breaking down the old world --
where do we begin? 
What stories do we want at the heart of our experiments? 
What questions will be our oracles?

Here's what I say:
In the New World we're creating,
We will ridicule the cult of doom and gloom. 
We will embrace the cause of zoom and boom. 
We will laugh at the stupidity of evil and hate; 
we'll summon the brilliance to praise and create. 

No matter how upside-down it all may appear, 
we will have no fear 
because we know this big secret: 
Pronoia is real. 
All of creation is conspiring to shower us with blessings. 
Life is crazily in love with us --
brazenly and innocently in love with us. 

The universe always gives us 
exactly what we need, 
exactly when we need it.

*

The winds and the tides are on our side, 
forever and ever, amen. 
The fire and the rain are scheming to steal our impossible pain. 
The sun and the moon and the stars 
remember our real names, 
and our ancestors pray for us while we're dreaming. 

We have guardian angels and thousands of teachers,
provocateurs with designs to unleash us,
helpers and saviors we can't even imagine,
brothers and sisters who want us to blossom.

Thanks to them, 
from whom the blissful blessings flow, 
we are waking up.

The roads they pave us,
the places they save us,
the tomatoes they grow us,
the rivers they flow us.

Their mysterious stories,
and morning glories,
their loaves and fishes,
granting our wishes.

The songs they sing us,
the gifts they bring us,
the secrets they show us,
above and below us.

Thanks to them, 
from whom the blissful blessings flow, 
we are waking up.


*

Postscript:

I'm allergic to dogma. 
I thrive on the riddles. 
Any idea I believe, I reserve the right to disbelieve as well.
But more than any other vision I've ever tested,
pronoia describes the way the world actually is. 
It's wetter than water, 
stronger than death, 
and truer than the news. 
It smells like cedar smoke in the autumn rain,
and if you close your eyes right now, 
you can feel it shimmering 
like the aurora borealis 
in your organs and muscles. 
Its song is your blood's song.

Some people argue that life is strife 
and suffering is normal. 
Others swear we're born sinful 
and only heaven can provide us with the peace 
that passes understanding.
But pronoia says that being alive 
on the rough green and brown earth 
is the highest honor and privilege. 
It's an invitation to work wonders 
and perform miracles 
that aren't possible in any nirvana, promised land, or afterlife.

I'm not exaggerating or indulging in poetic metaphor 
when I tell you that we are already living in paradise. 
Visualize it if you dare. 
The sweet stuff that quenches all of our longing 
is not far away in some other time and place. 
It's right here and right now.
Poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning knew the truth:
"Earth's crammed with heaven."

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global peace meditation today!

Posted on Oct 29th, 2008 by Jeff : messenger Jeff
Deepak Chopra and David Simon are offering an opportunity for us to be in Global meditation today here is the link to join them or just to remind ourselves that we can be and are the change we wish to see, and be in the world:

http://chopra.com/globalpeace
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Another event that is happening

Posted on Oct 29th, 2008 by Jeff : messenger Jeff
My group from Gateway to Conscious Evolution is having a group meditation Election Eve and each one is lighting a candle of reminder to stay focused on the change! 
Added to that is a prayer from Patricia Diane Cota-Robles. 
That can and will create a vibration shift in our thoughts and action...
  here is the prayer

A PRAYER FOR THE ELECTIONS
by Patricia Diane Cota-Robles

http://eraofpeace.org 

This is without a doubt the most important election we have experienced in generations. Let's join together, and pray for an outcome that will result in the very highest good for America and every man, woman and child abiding in this country.

A CALL FOR DIVINE GOVERNMENT 

I AM,  I AM,  I AM.

I AM my I AM Presence, and I AM One with the I AM Presence of all Humanity.

I invoke the great Beings of Light associated with Divine Government to this planet, and I invoke the Beloved Ascended Masters guarding the evolutions of Earth.

Blessed Ones, blaze the Sacred Fires of God’s Perfect Will and Divine Illumination in, through and around every person involved with electing the government of the United States of America at national, state and local levels.  

Blaze the Sacred Fires of God’s Will and Divine Illumination in, through and around the candidates, the electorate and the governmental officials associated with the elections in the United States of America. 

Let them feel and tangibly experience the Power, Wisdom and Love Nature of our Father-Mother God flowing through them as they listen to their hearts, fulfill their responsibilities, elect their government, and vote on all issues before them. 

SEAL this activity of Light within the Divine Balance of Power, Wisdom and Love, which is anchored in the hearts of all Humanity. Expand this Light daily and hourly a thousand times a thousandfold.

VICTORY IS OURS IN LOVE GOVERNING THIS PLANET!   (Repeat three times)

And so it is, Beloved I AM.

Patricia Diane Cota-Robles
New Age Study of Humanity's Purpose
a 501 (c) 3 nonprofit educational organization

Website: http://eraofpeace.org         
        

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