Woody Allen is Back

Woody Allen arguably made some of the best films in cinematic history during the 1970's. Climaxing some would say with Hanna and Her Sisters after a brief exploration with his inner Bergman. Then like many artists he entered a surprising unpopular phase, comprised of small focused selfish films. Many people thought we had lost him forever. The 80s and 90s were diificult years for Woody Allen junkies. Then along came Deconstructing Harry and all was well in the universe once more.
On and off through the years we still see glimmers of that old philisophical wit and comic brilliance. 2003's Anything Else... his most recent Midnight In Paris... The point being that almost all artists go through our little phases, Some last longer than others. The 80s and 90s didnt treat Sir Paul very well either. But if we're lucky our lives are long, and these various phases come and go; and regardless of whether we make our art for the enjoyment of others or for purely selfish reasons, there's a damn good chance that if we keep at it and stay committed to that initial spark that first started our passion to create, we eventually come back.
Woody Allen's professional resserection and creative resurgence as a popular filmmaker over the last ten years has been a thrill to watch; as satisfying for the joy brought on by the pure love of his uniquely entertaining art as the encouraging rush of inspiration one feels when we see anyone make a comeback. The key is to never give up doing what you love most. And if you can help it, never stop loving what you do best. It may change and shift and morph over the years, but if you just stay consistantly working at it, no matter what that it is for you, Love and Death, or even Midnight in Paris may be right around the corner.

Touching the Divine - First Day of Lent 2012

Ash Wednesday

      Tonight was beautiful. One of those rare spiritually transcendent experiences... A small group, only 24 total, we're gathered in a tiny dimly lit chapel. No sit down stand up sit down stand up, but rather soft singing accompanied only by piano, set apart by a few touching and at times thought provoking (or confusing / challenging depending on how you look at it) readings, followed by a very simple but impactful sermon encouraging those in attendance to not give up anything (for Lent, as is the custom) but instead to remember that "the kingdom of God (think "enlightenment" if "God" isn't your thing) is near, here now, close at hand, and that we should/can keep it close to us, inside of us, at all times". 
      There truly wasn't a moment during the entire service that i personally felt bored distracted mentally or intellectually compromised or critical. In other words, I was present nearly the entire time. Meditative. This is rare for me in "church" I must admit, and I consider that a blessing in and of itself. I would never want to wake up one day and realize that my spiritual practices come from non-deliberate, non thought out indoctrination -- as in "i was raised _______(fill in the blank with a religion or non-religion of your choice. They're all the same). So I've always had a soft spot for healthy skepticism in regards to believing in a higher power, or religion or spiritual practices, especially any of the "big five" so called organized religions. Luckily for me, I've never had to worry about this. My path to the Divine was a windy one, filled with many questions and many answers, chock full of wonder, truth seeking, and a determination to accept nothing less than what i deem supernatural. Its been nothing less than deliberate. So when i do find myself questioning or thinking when in a church or any kind of religious or spiritual practice, i honor it. I know my aim is true and my heart is pure. I know my mind is a gift. 
      More on this subject later, in another future entry, for those who want more but haven't yet found a way to "get faith" or believe... But just so i don't leave you hanging: believing or having faith is NOT the answer, despite what 90% of those who call themselves religious may tell you or will claim when asked. No, blind faith, or even rational faith (an oxymoron if you ask me) is not the solution to the quest for spiritual enlightenment, and I don't care how many millions of scholarly books have been written about it. The answer is EXPERIENCE. You either experience profound spiritual transformation in your day to day life, or your just pretending, hoping for some sort of miracle or sign one day or worse yet hoping that your "faith" will get you into some special place after you've died or allow you some good karma while you're still here. 
       To me personally that road is paved with self doubt, guilt, regret and pretense. Up and down and up and down. Nope, faith is for pussies not courageous enough to admit to themselves that they aren't sure what they believe and afraid that if they admit it that they'll discover that there is nothing there to have faith in to begin with. Not feeling strong enough to go it alone, they use faith as an excuse to believe in a whole host of things that other people have taught them to, without ever taking their hands off the steering wheel long enough to see if they can drive the car themselves. Personally I can't live through faith. I need experience. Supernatural life altering transformational experiences that prove to me that a God-force exists, that paranormal supernatural divinely inspired events transpire in my life and the lives of others. And lucky for me I've experienced too many of them to count. 
      But a caveat: one needs to let go of two things: the thinking mind -- FEEL instead -- abandon thought for intuition; and faith -- let go of the idea entirely. You wouldn't use faith if I put a gun to your head and told you I took all the bullets out. You'd want to see it for yourself before I pulled that trigger. Well the universe and the Divine Force that created it, sustains it, and comprises it is as smart as you are. Trust that. You'll be surprised how smart God is. Ask for it. Be honest. Demand it. Not with faith, but with brutal radical honest humble but deliberate "I wanna know and I'm not going to stop asking until I get some answers" diligence and desire. 
      We are each and every one of us made up of nothing that was not already here long before we were. If you can think it, so too can God / the Divine / the Universe. After all, what do you think you're made of? So don't be afraid of the answers. Don't be afraid of the silent moments on the path of the search. If you want to know, sincerely and resolutely, and you do not allow your ego or your thinking mind or your prior indoctrination to get in the way, there is plenty to know. The answers will come. And they won't be in a book and they won't come through having faith. True spiritual enlightenment is downright cosmic. It is supernatural. It is paranormal. If it weren't, then it wouldn't be worth calling enlightenment or transcendent. I hope this makes sense. More on this later. I promise. 
      There was just something special about this evening and the simple somber atmosphere and the utter lack of pomp and glitter that we usually encounter in our home church in New York City. But from this point on in the service we entered a 20 minute improv new age like piano piece played by one man in while everyone sat silent and prayed or meditated... I fell into it with ease, all else fell away, just melted into this oneness with a divine sense of all that isness... The more I stayed centered and focused on nothing but this feeling, praying, connecting with this all encompassing love grace power beauty... the more joy I felt inside me and all around me. 
      I could tell I was kind of Stevie Wonder swaying a bit but I didn't care. My eyes were closed and I was just in it, going for it, soft subtle slow loving but deliberate almost mantra like prayer... I was reminded that to expand out to an outer bigger higher dimension is not from or through imagination, it is not envisioning anything, not "going somewhere else out there", but rather it is remembering that the outer bands of each smaller dimension touch the inner bands of the next larger / higher dimensions... And further, based on both intellectual flat-world / fourth dimension research and studies, and many supernatural experiential intuitive events from the past, I remembered that every dimension is contained withIN a successively larger / higher dimension, thus being and feeling right here/now IS the path to experience these higher dimensions where everything from spirits, angels, the deceased and the Divine must exist. 
       Even if they exist in worlds hundreds of light years away from "here", they still aren't going to be in 'this' dimension. And I'm not one who believes that traveling to and from and between other dimensions requires the death of the body, or mind altering drugs (though that's not a bad way to experience them initially when first starting out, as long as one recognizes that what's at play there is more neurologically induced rather than spiritually accessed), or through long hours of meditation, chanting, yoga or prayer, nor is a guru or a master needed. Accessing higher dimensions is a here-now experience readily available to us all if the desire is there and the will is strong enough. Not necessarily visible, or even audible. But certainly visceral, palatable, tangible. 
      So I sat, with eyes closed, and continued to meditate and pray, communicating and connecting, listening and feeling, until the piano playing stopped. A soft wide smile was on my face. I felt like jelly. I felt at one with IT; a soft beautiful merciful loving graceful He/She isness. It was comforting, encouraging. I felt content. Satisfied. I prayed for anything and everything that appeared in my mental space. I prayed for me, my family. I prayed for you. I prayed for us all. For world peace, for honest government, for the end of the bullshit and the beginning of the kingdom of Godliness on an earthly paradise. For an enlightened planet. I felt great. All is well. I ended. Slowly opened my eyes. I was surprised to see that we were alone in the small chapel. The others had all left. My beautiful new wife sitting quietly beside me smiling and patiently waiting for me to awaken. The pianist was packing up his few belongings. I walked up to him, thanked him and gave him a big hug. And we left, ashen crosses on our foreheads and unexplainable happiness in our hearts. 

Boys Just Wanna Have Fun Too...

What needs to be said? Except ladies and gentlemen please give a warm Transcendence Diaries welcome to Jimmy Fallon and Justin Timberlake doing their "HISTORY OF RAP" skits!!! (applaud now)




Justin Timberlake Jimmy Fallon History of Rap... by PayeTaChatte

Here's a link to the FIRST one, and maybe the best. http://www.iviewtube.com/v/169225/a-history-of-rap-jimmy-fallon-justin-timberlake-
No "embed" links currently available unfortunately, but def worth the click.

Prepare for the US/Israel to Falsely Announce that Iran Has Bombed a US Aircraft Carrier in the Persian Gulf

     This just in. The date is February 18th, 2012. The United States media may soon announce that the country of Iran has bombed American aircraft carrier the USS Enterprise after Israel actually bombs it to bury it in the Persian Gulf where it is currently parked. The Carrier is ancient and no longer in use, and thus needs disposing of. Being in the Persian Gulf is an odd place for a nuclear armed American aircraft carrier; but not if the United States or Israel need an excuse to declare war on Iran or their nuclear energy facilities. It may be the perfect place for the United States military industrial system to conveniently have this no-longer-useful giant war machine parked. Time will tell.
     In the meantime, we can stop this plan -- if there is even any truth to it -- by simply calling them out on it before they themselves make the announcement. Watch the video(s) below, and do your own research, bearing in mind two well-known facts: number one, the US and Israel have already pulled off these kinds of false attacks on their own soil in the past in order to drum up support and declare war on other countries (including Iran) -- see the 1953 CIA coup d'etat in Iran which ousted their democratically elected president Mosadegh (or research the history of BP Oil), or the Gulf of Tonkin sham re the Vietnam/Laos/Cambodian Massacres, Pearl Harbor during WW II, or the false US Liberty attack as a few examples; some may even point one in the direction of the September 11th attacks as the most recent examples... but only time and more research will eventually shed light on that increasingly American suspicious tragedy;
     Number two -- just sit down and watch read or listen to the news for the next few days: something regarding the country of Iran is going down. The media is having a field day with it. New information seems to be leaking on a near hourly basis from various "sources" in the United States government and/or military attempting to scare the US populace and implying that Iran is "an immanent threat to the safety of Americans". Most recently there has even been talk, regardless of how silly and unlikely it may seem, that Iran is preparing to attack the United States from secret military sights in South or Central America. It appears that the oil pipelines that the United States military is currently working feverishly to build running from the Caspian Sea into the Persian Gulf (the real reason why US Service men and women are in Iraq and Afghanistan) are not enough for the US and that running a pipeline right straight through Iran would be the easiest and least expensive path. That's obvious. An attack on Iran would also satisfy Israel's fear of a nuclear powered Iran, though getting around Russia and China now is becoming a daunting task for even the once powerfully influential United States due to the ever weakening "dollar" in the world's currency market.
     Much more can be said about this subject, but here is not the place for it. Transcendence is simply rising above the rumors and circus of day to day political shenanigans in order to diffuse the lies and deception and the "right and wrong game" so world peace will eventually transpire on earth in a real sense. Much to the shame and chagrin of a few well meaning but ill intentioned people who call themselves "Christians" there is simply no logical reason why we the people of planet earth must endure yet another war, or an "Armageddon" or a "tribulation" in order for this world peace to ensue. They may want it, because it is supposedly predicted in their "Bible" -- but as a practicing Christian and Buddhist myself, I find even the fantasy of such ideas reprehensible and entirely non-Christ like. Nuff said. Check out the works and writings of more educated and noted authorities on the subject of why the United States and Israel is so desperate to militarily strike the country of Iran yet again.
     This last statement refers to the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s. The US tried desperately to take over Iran through covertly supporting Saddam Hussein's Iraq during the eight year war with Iran in the 1980s, killing hundreds of thousands of innocent Iranians after the Iranian Islamic Revolution. When Iran proved too strong and resolute to defend themselves, the US started secretly backing Iran, selling them weapons at the same time as providing weapons to Iraq figuring both countries would eventually just blow themselves up and the US government could simply step in and take over both countries. That mission failed once the data started leaking to the international media and voila along came the forever damaging Iran-Contra Affair and perhaps even worse, a peace settlement between those two countries. Hence the US's eventual invasion of Iraq and the thinly veiled execution of Saddam Hussein. There was not a chance in hell the United States was going to allow Hussein to speak publicly in an international court of law. It would have been devastating to the reputation of the United States on the world stage. Though one presumes that most well educated people understand these facts. Again though, time will tell. 
     There are plenty of videos on YouTube already discussing this topic. Here is one. Here is the link: http://youtu.be/h52NF-AW49U

Do We Have the Time to Occupy?

Last Screening: IN TIME
          An innovative futuristic movie written and directed by Andrew Niccol that is well worth watching, IN TIME is an allegorical tale comparing the value of modern economics with time, ie the years months weeks hours minutes and even seconds you have left to live your life. 
          Everyone stops aging at age 25 due to the human race's ability through medical and health advances (such as those proposed by Ray Kurzweil in "Singularity is Near" philosophy) and is able to live forever -- at least biologically; but from there they only have one more year to live. Time is the new currency of this insightful vision of the future. Instead of working for or spending money one works for and spends time, as in a phone call costs you a minute off of your life, a days work earns you 24 hours to add to your life. Laziness will cost you your life. A fascinating concept. Creative screenwriting. More than a few innovative ideas throughout. Ideas such as "don't waste my time", time share, the "Out of Time Mission", a futuristic food bank of sorts.
          The film -- which stars Justin Timberlake and Amanda Seyfried -- also acts as a post-modern Robin Hood or Bonnie and Clyde tale where the rich live off of exploiting the poor -- by using up all of their time through ever increasing interest rates and cost of living expenses -- but the heroes of the story in the unfair Capitalist system that is clearly a reflection of modern times  devise a plan to try to steal back enough time to even the game. In reality  of course it's all about money, not time, but the message is loud and clear. We may be biologically able to live to 100 now, but without enough money for food clothing shelter medical expenses and the like no one would make it past age 5 if that. Again it's a fascinating concept to think about hats off to Niccol for the screenplay.
          in typical Socialist fashion the question is asked several times "Is it stealing if it was stolen?" Personally I'd say the answer is still a big rousing YES. it's not that we the 99% don't need to restructure capitalist society in order to re-balance the playing field in order to bring about a more fair and just civilization... We do. But not if it involves out of integrity acts such as lying or stealing in order to accomplish that feat. Anything in fact that would require us to rewrite history as most who have come before us have is still wrong, unjust, unfair unethical and immoral. By attempting to bring true justice to the world for the first time in human history, we would be committing the same unjust acts as our perceived enemies have through the centuries and thus would be no closer to creating an enlightened planet. 
          Hence I for one believe that we must do our best at all times to entertain enlighten and educate -- even protest march demonstrate "occupy" and commit large collective well-timed acts of non-violent civil disobedience -- without giving in to the temptations of those who've come before us  in order to bring about a more fair just and balanced world for all. Once lying or stealing blackmail kidnapping or any other acts not in line with the noblest virtues enter into our methods we are no better than the people who have created the unfair system of greedy selfish world government that we live in today.
         Borrowing the theme of the film IN TIME, the goal is not to be immortal or live forever biologically if it is at the cost of the safety health well being or lives of others. For that is not living. It's staying alive for the sake of staying alive but without truly living.
          In economic terms we may not feel like we have the time to participate in the Occupy Movement (OWS), but outside of that thinking, in our hearts, from our intuition and our highest intentions, we all know that we can in reality create the time, some at least, to participate in one way or another if we want to do more with our lives this just wait to die. Truth be told there isn't an area of our lives and culture as fellow inhabitants of earth that could not benefit from a good old fashioned house cleaning. 
          From the most obvious examples such as helping to spread the enormous wealth of the world in order to assure that no one ever dies again from thirst or starvation to restructuring the criminal global banking systems; from forcing the airline industry to give up those 140 million dollar a year executive salaries in order to provide their customers with more affordable and more healthy flying conditions (as in remove four rows from every plane so the average person has a seat big enough to not be squeezed up into an uncomfortable ball of pain and discomfort for hours) to dismantling the most cruel health care system in the modern world (pass laws to forever ban the pharmaceutical companies and the health insurance industry from the extortionist control they have over the medical establishment. And then of course there's Big Oil and the war profiteering weapons manufacturing companies -- arguably the most deceptive insidious and life threatening forces on planet earth today, the so called "federal reserve" which isn't federal at all, campaign finance reform in elected government systems and on on and on.
          Yep. Plenty of work to do. And there's no time like the present to start rolling up our sleeves to do it. Better news is that if we come together and unite as one people working collectively towards each cause we can easily make the changes we want to see take place in the world. If we don't, no one else will. We may not have the capabilities of technology to live forever quite yet, but each of us has at the very least one miraculous secret weapon perhaps even more powerful than immortality, the will to live fully the years we do have left and an unwavering desire to make the world a better place while we are still here.
          As always, to be continued....
          

On the Reasons for The Decline of American Influence in the Modern World part 1

          
          A reply comment from a recent Facebook comment thread that started with a wall post question that read: "Ron Paul just interviewed on CNN. Brilliant man. Only candidate who appears to be truly committed to American national soveriegnty & Constitutional values. But why? Why is Ron Paul the last man standing willing to defend these ideals publicly? Everyone already knows about the Bilderberg Group, Rockefellers, Rothschilds, Big Oil, the MIC et al who weild much of the real influence re what happens in the US and the West now, so let's assume that foundationally as the backdrop of the bigger picture w this question. No need to go into it as if it's not already known... In fact, could this simple fact be the sole reason why no one else is willing to speak up the way Paul does? Believing that it's impossible to be "selected" if one does? Or are they all just simply ignorant to what the American Republic is supposed to look like? (This is as much about the Dems and Obama as it is the Repubs FYI -- God love 'em but tthe Obama admin is obviously not very concerned w defending the Constitutional Republic America once prided itself on). So what gives?"
          There were plenty of good answers. The first few focused on the 9/11 conspiracy that took place in the United States on September 11th, 2001, perhaps our darkest hour thus far. And we've seen plenty of darkness since "Columbus" first landed on these shores 500 years ago. Other comments related to the stranglehold Israel has had on the US since the 1940s. And still others vehemently opposed these ideas entirely and instead leaned towards more partisan explanations for what ails the once great nation-state. A word for word copy of what I originally posted hastily in reply to all the informative and insightful comments follows below.
          Allen I know about all the 9/11 stuff, (and agree with the major ideas of it), and the war profiteering the US has been doing since God knows when... Just not sure how your 9/11 opening(s) relate to this seemingly "sudden" dismissal and disrespect for the US as a super power. The US gov has always committed high acts of treason corrupt deception lies and secret spy stuff all over the world... And yet has always maintained a high level of respect from most other nations. Maybe it was all fear based... But still, there's def a change in world opinion now, something we've never seen in our lifetimes... 
          My personal op is that it started with the blatant transparency of 2000's stolen election (public display of the country's disregard for its stated Democratic values) and really blew up with that administration's illegal invasion of Iraq (public display of the country's disregard for its stated committment to previously agreed upon rules of war & engagement post WWII, state sovereignty, and basic respect for human decency -- hard to believe anything the US gov claims to promote regarding liberty or democracy after Cheney/Bush/Rice and their 8 year reign of terror and torture in the Middle East). After the economic collapse Of 2008 (public display of their complete disregard for the laws and regulations that make Capitalism work safely, ie one cannot borrow their way to prosperity without a solid business plan behind the borrowing) what does the US have left? The threat of military might. 
          One also cannot help recalling Obama's shameful display of crow-eating disregard for democracy and human rights as he escorted a Chinese Communist dictator through a 21 gun salute on their way to a State Dinner at the White House in 2011; a moment one could arguably label one of the most embarrassing in the country's recent history. There wasn't a soul on earth who didn't see through that disreputable farce. As of late France Germany and others, and now Russia and China, have all begun to distance themselves from the US through sometimes glaringly insulting public remarks -- evidenced most recently by Russian Ambassador Churkin's comments on the Charlie Rose show for example, and even more offensive actions of non-cooperation in areas the US usually takes for granted -- Egypt's alleged upcoming trial of the 19 Americans being only one. 
          The fact that the Obama admininstration was helpless in our country's campaign to save the "three hikers" imprisoned by Iran and that it took a Hollywood actor (Sean Penn) to free them is more than a little disturbing in the context of this subject. Obviously the Israel situation plays a huge role in all of this, though no one with half a brain or concern for the safety of themselves or their family dares speak about it, and for good reason; see the book "They Dare to Speak Out:.." here: http://www.amazon.com/They-Dare-Speak-Out-Institutions/dp/155652482X. But as festering a sore as that pink elephant is in the American Oval Office, it still remains only one of the many incongruent inconsistencies and hypocrycies that threaten the US's reputation, economic stability and social security one could conjecture. 
          I for one, unlike our esteemed colleague Allen Niven, do not believe it is the sole cause of all the troubles that confront us presently. More to the point, my question is less about the myriad issues one could point to where the US has done wrong and been called out on it -- Israel for example, certainly a major impediment to the US regaining its reputation, the respect of other nation states or global cooperation in its attempt to recover economic stability -- and more about the question of whether or not this seemingly dire situation is due to one major recent event or a more slowly growing series of many events collected over time in the global psyche around American imperialism and its overt hypocrisy regarding nearly everything it claims to be sacred. 
          As Stu Stewart pointed out, Russia is certainly no angel in the human rights arena and has much to gain from the business of selling weapons of mass destruction -- that fact is obvious, and forget about their version of "what democracy looks like"' -- laughable at best -- why doesn't Putin just declare himself Emporer and just be done with it? But the fact remains that they're still a major player with ever growing respect and influence on the world stage. Which begs the question, is it all just coming down to economics? Has the threat of military might lost its impact for old glory? If so, besides apologizing and starting to make amends -- which would be the prudent, wise, intelligent and dare one say "just/right" thing to do, is there anything else the US can do to recapture its once admirable position in the world?

I Feel the Best Ive Felt in Years

A soft hushed meditative silence has filled the space now. The Wizards are going deep now. Over 3000 people in one room and you can hear the slightest of sounds... It's a peaceful quiet... light quiet conversation or the processing of others hundreds of yards away. Awareness of all that is has taken over. Life's major resistances are melting away. Everyone becoming softer. And softer still.
"Each moment you are happy is a gift to the rest of the world." -- Harry Palmer
I am happy. Wow. Truly happy. Not pretend happy. Just awoke from a process and took a walk to integrate. Deliberately stepped down just a bit to Observe how to describe wirh words what this feels like to share with others. Expanded. Soft. Light. Super light. As if I am walking on air. As if I don't weigh more than a pound or two. Free. Liberated. Soft again. Just so soft light expanded and happy.
It is good to be here. It is good to be me. I feel gratitude. Two and a half days still to go... More later. Xoxoxo