>>_ Swami's 2003 State of the Universe Address
>>
>>________________________________ by Swami Beyondananda
>>
>>_ Hello everybody -- it is great to be here ... and you know
>>_ what? We really have no choice. Because no matter where we
>>_ are, we are always here. And it is always now. In fact,
>>_ there's even a book called The Power of Now. I haven't had
>>_ time to read it yet, but I hope to get to it in a later now.
>>
>>_ Meanwhile, back in this now, the issue facing the United
>>_ States, and indeed the world is, will George Bush give in to
>>_ his Big Iraq Attack and order up a war? Latest reports say
>>_ that a war to force a regime change in Iraq will cost $200
>>_ billion. It is puzzling to me why some of those fiscal
>>_ fitness fanatics in the Republican Party haven't tried to
>>_ find a cheaper way to do it. Maybe if they offered the
>>_ Iraqis half -- $100 billion -- they could do it themselves.
>>_ Then we'd still have $100 billion left to spend on regime
>>_ change in this country.
>>
>>_ Because -- and I have to be blunt here -- the folks we have
>>_ in charge are fossils fueled by fossil fuels. And in the
>>_ reptilian brain, problems aren't solved, they're attacked.
>>_ Like the War on Poverty. Remember that? I'm happy to report
>>_ that it's finally over. The poor people have all
>>_ surrendered. And take the War on Drugs -- please! How many
>>_ billions have they spent? My solution is cheaper and more
>>_ effective ... improve reality!
>>
>>_ Now we have the War on Terrorism. We're going to terrorize
>>_ those terrorists into giving up terrorism if it's the last
>>_ thing we do! And it just might be. The good news is -- and I
>>_ have it on the Highest Authority -- there will indeed be
>>_ peace on Earth. Whether we humans are around to enjoy it,
>>_ that is up to us.
>>
>>_ No wonder there is so much fear, uncertainty and confusion
>>_ on the planet. I'll tell you how bad it's gotten. You've
>>_ heard of Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle? Well, they're
>>_ not even sure about THAT anymore. And so, more and more
>>_ people are turning to the mystics for answers.
>>
>>_ I have often said there are two kinds of mystics, the
>>_ optimystics and the pessimystics. Now pessimystics seem to
>>_ be more in touch with "reality," but optimystics are happier
>>_ and live longer for some reason. The pessimystics have been
>>_ crying, "The sky is falling, the sky is falling!" The
>>_ optimystics say, "No. It just looks that way because we are
>>_ ascending."
>>
>>_ Now, for those people who read the news -- not to mention
>>_ those unfortunate enough to BE in the news -- last year was
>>_ not an easy year to keep an optimystic attitude with so much
>>_ pessimystic evidence. Call me a hopeless "hopium" addict,
>>_ but I choose to accentuate the positive. For example, you
>>_ can say we human beings have moved further down the path of
>>_ self-destruction. Or you could say the Earth is ridding
>>_ itself of a virulent parasite.
>>
>>_ You can despair over continuing war, disease and starvation,
>>_ or you can go, "Hey, population control the good, old
>>_ fashioned way -- without birth control or abortion." Who
>>_ says "compassionate conservative" is an oxymoron?
>>
>>_ You can worry about the government taking liberties with our
>>_ liberties or you can say, "Life has become simpler! They've
>>_ boiled the Bill of Rights down to just one: You have the
>>_ right to remain silent."
>>
>>_ So I am not going to dwell on the negative. As my guru Harry
>>_ Cohen Baba used to say, "Life is like photography ... we use
>>_ the negative to develop." So let us look at the bright side.
>>
>>_ Like technological advances, for example. Forty years ago
>>_ President John F. Kennedy promised to have a man on the moon
>>_ by the end of the 1960s. Well, we have far exceeded that.
>_ > Thanks to the so-called Patriot Act, George Bush can have a
>>_ man on Uranus by the end of the week!
>>
>>_ George Bush was responsible for a great spiritual advance
>>_ last year, as well. He upgraded the Golden Rule for the new
>>_ millennium. It's now the Gold Rule: "Doodoo unto others
>>_ before they can doodoo unto you."
>>
>>_ And -- say what you will -- President Bush has made great
>>_ strides on behalf of minority representation. Never before
>>_ have we had a President who was looking out for a smaller
>>_ minority.
>>
>>_ Now this is the State of the Universe Address, and seen from
>>_ that higher perspective, things look great! I am happy to
>>_ report that the Universe continued to expand in 2002, and in
>>_ fact, they actually had to let the Photon Belt out a another
>>_ notch. An expanding Universe means more jobs too, so we can
>>_ expect a steady influx of aliens looking for work. Yep, the
>>_ Universe just keeps purring in perfection, ever-changing as
>>_ usual. The planets continue to harmoniously spin in their
>>_ orbits, and except for the occasional case of asteroids,
>>_ they just calmly go about their business.
>>
>>_ Meanwhile, back here on earth, things are a bit more
>>_ problematic. We still haven't fully recovered from that
>>_ vicious dogma attack of 911. But as an optimystic, I believe
>>_ you can indeed teach an old dogma new tricks, simply by
>>_ changing the emPHAsis to another sylLABle. Instead of
>>_ focusing only on emergency measures, why not take emerge 'n
>>_ SEE measures?
>>
continued in next post
>>
>>________________________________ by Swami Beyondananda
>>
>>_ Hello everybody -- it is great to be here ... and you know
>>_ what? We really have no choice. Because no matter where we
>>_ are, we are always here. And it is always now. In fact,
>>_ there's even a book called The Power of Now. I haven't had
>>_ time to read it yet, but I hope to get to it in a later now.
>>
>>_ Meanwhile, back in this now, the issue facing the United
>>_ States, and indeed the world is, will George Bush give in to
>>_ his Big Iraq Attack and order up a war? Latest reports say
>>_ that a war to force a regime change in Iraq will cost $200
>>_ billion. It is puzzling to me why some of those fiscal
>>_ fitness fanatics in the Republican Party haven't tried to
>>_ find a cheaper way to do it. Maybe if they offered the
>>_ Iraqis half -- $100 billion -- they could do it themselves.
>>_ Then we'd still have $100 billion left to spend on regime
>>_ change in this country.
>>
>>_ Because -- and I have to be blunt here -- the folks we have
>>_ in charge are fossils fueled by fossil fuels. And in the
>>_ reptilian brain, problems aren't solved, they're attacked.
>>_ Like the War on Poverty. Remember that? I'm happy to report
>>_ that it's finally over. The poor people have all
>>_ surrendered. And take the War on Drugs -- please! How many
>>_ billions have they spent? My solution is cheaper and more
>>_ effective ... improve reality!
>>
>>_ Now we have the War on Terrorism. We're going to terrorize
>>_ those terrorists into giving up terrorism if it's the last
>>_ thing we do! And it just might be. The good news is -- and I
>>_ have it on the Highest Authority -- there will indeed be
>>_ peace on Earth. Whether we humans are around to enjoy it,
>>_ that is up to us.
>>
>>_ No wonder there is so much fear, uncertainty and confusion
>>_ on the planet. I'll tell you how bad it's gotten. You've
>>_ heard of Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle? Well, they're
>>_ not even sure about THAT anymore. And so, more and more
>>_ people are turning to the mystics for answers.
>>
>>_ I have often said there are two kinds of mystics, the
>>_ optimystics and the pessimystics. Now pessimystics seem to
>>_ be more in touch with "reality," but optimystics are happier
>>_ and live longer for some reason. The pessimystics have been
>>_ crying, "The sky is falling, the sky is falling!" The
>>_ optimystics say, "No. It just looks that way because we are
>>_ ascending."
>>
>>_ Now, for those people who read the news -- not to mention
>>_ those unfortunate enough to BE in the news -- last year was
>>_ not an easy year to keep an optimystic attitude with so much
>>_ pessimystic evidence. Call me a hopeless "hopium" addict,
>>_ but I choose to accentuate the positive. For example, you
>>_ can say we human beings have moved further down the path of
>>_ self-destruction. Or you could say the Earth is ridding
>>_ itself of a virulent parasite.
>>
>>_ You can despair over continuing war, disease and starvation,
>>_ or you can go, "Hey, population control the good, old
>>_ fashioned way -- without birth control or abortion." Who
>>_ says "compassionate conservative" is an oxymoron?
>>
>>_ You can worry about the government taking liberties with our
>>_ liberties or you can say, "Life has become simpler! They've
>>_ boiled the Bill of Rights down to just one: You have the
>>_ right to remain silent."
>>
>>_ So I am not going to dwell on the negative. As my guru Harry
>>_ Cohen Baba used to say, "Life is like photography ... we use
>>_ the negative to develop." So let us look at the bright side.
>>
>>_ Like technological advances, for example. Forty years ago
>>_ President John F. Kennedy promised to have a man on the moon
>>_ by the end of the 1960s. Well, we have far exceeded that.
>_ > Thanks to the so-called Patriot Act, George Bush can have a
>>_ man on Uranus by the end of the week!
>>
>>_ George Bush was responsible for a great spiritual advance
>>_ last year, as well. He upgraded the Golden Rule for the new
>>_ millennium. It's now the Gold Rule: "Doodoo unto others
>>_ before they can doodoo unto you."
>>
>>_ And -- say what you will -- President Bush has made great
>>_ strides on behalf of minority representation. Never before
>>_ have we had a President who was looking out for a smaller
>>_ minority.
>>
>>_ Now this is the State of the Universe Address, and seen from
>>_ that higher perspective, things look great! I am happy to
>>_ report that the Universe continued to expand in 2002, and in
>>_ fact, they actually had to let the Photon Belt out a another
>>_ notch. An expanding Universe means more jobs too, so we can
>>_ expect a steady influx of aliens looking for work. Yep, the
>>_ Universe just keeps purring in perfection, ever-changing as
>>_ usual. The planets continue to harmoniously spin in their
>>_ orbits, and except for the occasional case of asteroids,
>>_ they just calmly go about their business.
>>
>>_ Meanwhile, back here on earth, things are a bit more
>>_ problematic. We still haven't fully recovered from that
>>_ vicious dogma attack of 911. But as an optimystic, I believe
>>_ you can indeed teach an old dogma new tricks, simply by
>>_ changing the emPHAsis to another sylLABle. Instead of
>>_ focusing only on emergency measures, why not take emerge 'n
>>_ SEE measures?
>>
continued in next post