Treat invasive species – through prayer

Say the word "kudzu" to someone who lives in the American South, and that person might describe something resembling the city-gobbling plants of old B movies. Originally used in the 1940s to control erosion in the South, kudzu can grow as much as 60 feet in a season. Similarly, the aquatic fern known as giant salvinia, also affecting the South mostly, can double in size every two to four days and cover 40 square miles in three months.

Nonnative species are an environmental concern affecting the US economy in profound ways. Control of alien plant and animal species and their effects costs millions of dollars annually. Nor is the US the only country affected by this problem. A 2005 international workshop on "Invasive Plants in Mediterranean Type Regions of the World," held in France, attracted 110 experts from 24 countries.

Much work to control invasive species is already under way, but as nations grow even more interconnected, it's likely this will call for greater cooperation. Such efforts are often slowed down by political and social issues, as well as testing that may take years to complete.
Prayer is one effort that can be undertaken now. It will also help inspire efforts to uncover workable solutions. A spiritual concept that supports this work is Mary Baker Eddy's insight that there is only one Mind, or God. That Mind has infinite understanding and knowledge of its own creation.

Because God is Spirit, this creation, which includes each one of us, is spiritual and designed to be harmonious. In other words, it is meant to "work." It doesn't include destructive elements that war with one another, and as we affirm this in prayer, we can expect to see harmony and balance restored.

Since you and I are also spiritual beings, this state of existence is the reality for us. Our prayers to identify ourselves and the environment with these facts will make a difference. Prayer doesn't just stay inside our heads, so to speak. The effect of thought goes into the general mental atmosphere and strengthens all who are working toward good, providing fresh angles for inspiration and action.

It's unlikely that people in Jesus' day had to deal with global invaders on today's scale. But one of his parables offers some interesting guidance. It tells of a man whose wheat fields were invaded by tares, which were put there by an enemy. When they are young, tare plants look much like wheat; only as they mature are the differences visible. So the householder told his worried servants that they should wait until the harvest to root out the tares, when the two plants would be distinguishable (see Matt. 13:24-30).

As I read this parable from the standpoint of dealing with invasive species, it struck me that the tares were sown "while men slept" – during a period of inattention. To some extent, this is true with the spread of invasive species today. For example, boaters unwittingly have helped spread the zebra mussel, which can attach to their boats or be present in bilge water.

Through prayer, we can recognize who is in control of our mental and spiritual environment. As the Bible puts it, "in the beginning God created the heaven and the earth" (Gen. 1:1). This spiritual fact is the basis for our conviction that – again, turning to the Bible – "the earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein" (Ps. 24:1). That God-created environment is spiritual and complete, although we sometimes lose sight of the fact that this is the environment that we are to live in and to cherish here and now, not at some future time.

Looking at our circumstances in this spiritual light, we gain an increased desire to live in a way that harmonizes with this view and to take what steps we can to renew our spiritual vision of it.
Adapted from the Christian Science Sentinel.

Ramadan - a time for spiritual cleansing

IT'S nearing the end of Ramadan and Muslims around the globe will have been fasting from sunrise to sunset - that's around 14 hours every day, for a month. In today's material world where concerns are with how to obtain the latest must-have item, the period of Ramadan aims to make Muslims more humble and considerate to the many people who are starving in the world. We speak to four Coventry Muslims to find out how they are faring. TO non-Muslims fasting is most often seen as a quick-fix weight shifter or part of a detox health kick. But for the world's estimated one billion follows of Islam - including the two million in Britain - fasting is an integral part of their belief.

"Fasting is one of the five pillars of Islam and it is obligatory for all Muslims to fast," explained research and development scientist Ahmed Chawdhri.

"However, fasting is not compulsory for those who are not in a healthy state."

The 27-year-old from Potters Green says there are two parts that go with fasting.

"The first part is the physical aspect which is to refrain from food, drink, and sexual activity.

"The second is the spiritual aspect that is refraining from gossiping, lying, slandering and all bad character."

Muslims rise early before sunrise to eat before the fasting begins.

This time is known as sehri. It's important to have a hearty breakfast to ensure the body has enough energy for the day ahead.

Even so, going without sustenance for 14 hours is tough.

"I try to eat healthy food in the morning such as oats which is a slow-release carbohydrate. This provides me with the fuel for the day.

"I love bread so I tend to have some toast as well," said Ahmed.

Fasting is difficult enough, but many people have to work as well while feeling they are running on empty.

The Kenyan-born scientist has been working for 3M Health Care in Loughborough for two years.

"Occasionally it is difficult to concentrate when I'm fasting. I feel tired and can get headaches at work.

"But overall I enjoy the self-discipline, confidence and the reflection of spirituality that I go through in this month."

Spiritual food: GOD the provider

One of the most enjoyable activities of a church is the “covered dish dinner,” and most congregations I know have a communal meal at least occasionally.

Of course, we have a good example to follow. Jesus taught at many a meal: the feeding of the 5,000, the meal with the Pharisee in today’s lesson, the meal at Mary and Martha’s house and the last supper are just a few. In the 14th Chapter of Luke, Jesus makes some very pointed comments about our attitude around the table.

First, Jesus warns against pride and the desire for admiration. He is saying, “If you demand respect, you may be humbled to find others don’t think so much of you.” So one ought to practice humility as we think about ourselves.

But a far more important lesson has to do with how we think of others. We are accustomed to sharing our fellowship meals with those who are our equals; with other believers and our relatives and friends. We enjoy the companionship of those like us, both in our fellowship meals and in our Lord’s Supper observance.

But Jesus comments, “When you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame. And you will be blest, for they cannot repay you. You will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

Then, Jesus tells the story of the great banquet God is preparing. When the meal is ready, the worthy guests, those who were first invited, all had excuses. One had bought land, another had bought a yoke of oxen, another had just married. They all begged off and the master was angry enough to invite others in their place saying, “None of those who were invited will taste my dinner!”

You have been invited to a feast with the Lord. It is a feast of more than salads and cakes and pies and good breads. This is a spiritual feast that strengthens us in body, mind and soul.

The Psalmist in Chapter 36 says, “How precious is your steadfast love, O God! All people may take refuge under the shadow of your wings. They feast on the abundance of your house, and you will give them to drink from the river of your delights.” And Jesus said, “People will come from east and west; from north and south, and will eat in the Kingdom of God.”

God invites you to be a part of the Kingdom of redeemed and adopted children of God. What a privilege we have! Surely we will not refuse to come to the banquet because we are busy with a piece of land, or a girlfriend or boyfriend, or preoccupied with a new house or a new car.

Surely we would not refuse to eat at the banquet table with those who are different from us: the immigrant, the sinner, the enemy who has humbled us, the one who is crippled by drug abuse or alcoholism, the one who is blind to what we “know” is proper etiquette at the table of the Lord.

Or, could we be like the Pharisees who strained at a gnat and swallowed a camel, concerned only with the letter of the law and ignoring the spirit of it? Food is necessary to sustain our physical bodies. Spiritual food is necessary to strengthen the soul. The rich food at a covered dish dinner cannot be compared to the richness of God’s heavenly banquet to the soul.

The first Sunday in October is World Communion Sunday. We are given the opportunity to feast at the table of the Lord with Christians around the world. I encourage you to make time to join the family of faith to partake of the spiritual food God provides to all who are willing to come to the banquet.

Healing on the Spiritual Path

A public introduction and lecture of “Healing on the Spiritual Path – through the Teachings of Bruno Groening – medically verifiable”, will be held on October 2nd, 2007, 7:00 p.m. at Spirit United Church, 3204 Como Ave. SE, Minneapolis. The event is free and open to the public.

During the lecture the audience can experience the teachings of the late Bruno Groening (1906-59), who taught of a higher power as an energy, fundamental life force or divine power of life that can heal.

His simple teachings still draw thousands of people today to experience a spiritual and natural way to health and how to apply it for themselves. Considering all the facts presented in the lecture, the use of the word ‘incurable’ becomes unjustified.

The lecture is presented by a non-profit, international medical-scientific group that wants to prove the teachings, and fund their activities through voluntary donations.

The Spiritual Traditions of the Andes, an Interview With Doris Rivera Lenz

Are people who come to you for coca divination often unwell?

If you ask me if people are unwell, the majority are unwell, in their spirit or mind, there are lots of problems today. They are particularly afflicted in the stomach, the solar plexus, and the belly button. It’s the place of emotional pain, and also where we are joined to life. This is what ayahuasca is, the rope that connects us to life.

What about people who sense that their bad luck is caused by someone putting a hex on them. What do you do? Can you send the hex back to its place of origin?

The first thing is to discover what is going on in the present. The wife had an accident, the husband was unfaithful, they haven’t got a job, the house is falling down… Then I look to see their capacity to accept a criticism, to listen to the mother leaf ticking them off saying: you have done this, you are insecure, weak, a drunk, or a prostitute. What is the story? Is it karmic or something that they are doing?

When there is jealousy in the jungle the black brujo might send out virotes (poisoned darts in the spirit world) while a good shaman blows mapacho tobacco smoke, and cleanses you with his shacapa leaves, but this sounds like a more psychological approach, you are seeing what people are doing themselves. How do you make sense of the belief that the problem is caused by sorcery?

You have to show the person he is not the victim of sorcery and that he is creating the problem in his mind. They need to go back over it; talking about it brings it out and is the first part of becoming well again.

It is true that some people will take vengeance through black magic when they feel prejudiced or offended in some way, because they are sick. When people think they have power and feel superior, the ego can become very negative. The first thing I do is to wake up the consciousness of the person who has been harmed and tell them that evil does not exist! ‘You are inventing it’, I tell them. Black brujos do exist of course, but you need to use a bit of psychology.

The power of black magic does not exist?

Neither good nor bad exists, it is a universe, and we create the good and the bad. But I recognise that the person may feel attacked. When someone falls ill it means they are weak and the curandero must speak positively and encourage them to shine light on it. Then they can create positive thoughts for themselves. If I agree and say they are bewitched its makes them worse.

I see you are trying to shift that person’s reality around but do you recognise that it can exist?

Of course, but the act itself is not so powerful as white magic, it is the negative spirit of the black brujo which creates the power of the spell. If you get hold of a chicken and take off its feathers, put a toad inside, and hang it in the doorway of a hated neighbour, you can give them a nasty fright, but without a powerful negative spirit nothing will happen. But if the intentions are very negative and the person is weak they will pick it up quickly.

The most powerful brujos are found in the jungle where there are powerful plants for healing just as there are dangerous plants that can paralyse your body and so on. But plants have much more wisdom than people. Do you think that if I go to a floripondio and say I want help to do harm to so and so, that it will be at my disposal? You have to make a pact with the spirit.

Do people need to believe that your ceremony has done something?

When people trust that you are a white curandero they open up, you have special permission to go into their soul, and work with suggestion. Lets say you give them a bath in a herb with spines, and you ask permission from the spirit of that plant to heal the person with fright or a bad spell - you bathe them, you put them on a diet, you cleanse them and purify them. You call their soul and give them strength and they get well.

You are a psychologist?

Its OK to say that.

A lot depends on the mind and education of the person. Some curanderos hardly speak to their clients, do they?

Yes, I talk a lot, but there are times when I can’t say anything.

Is there something similar going on when you pass eggs over people?

There are several ways of working with an egg. We know that an egg is the union of the masculine and the feminine. We should recognise that this union is supremely sacred. We are the product of an egg too. So the egg is the total energy of the mother’s and the father’s cells. You take the first egg of a hen, which is virgin, and ask the ‘angelic’, elemental spirit to take away the illness of a person, you ask the spirit for permission to do it. Then you pass it over their body, its like an X-Ray. You can also do it with guinea-pigs or rabbits, but I don’t like doing it with animals.

Is it a mechanical process or is there a link between you and the client?

There is a link, a connection with the spirit of the egg, because I don’t have X-Ray eyes. When I break the egg into a glass of water, there is no set interpretation that says that a bubble here always means this or that. The moment the human mind comes into the passing of the egg or a coca leaf reading, the process goes out of balance. If I want to comfort you, and I say: you’re not going to die, you’ll be OK, its spoiled.

The fact that there is a long tradition behind these methods of divination helps you?

Of course, its an ancestral thing.

What is different about people from the West? What do they need?

Their heads cutting off! No, its only a joke!

To be serious though, their religion has failed them, the church authorities have kept vested interests and institutions going. Eventually people have thrown the baby out with the bath water. In Peru, the campesinos have never really believed in the European religion, the Pope, sin, guilt etc. which has only confused them.

When the Inca Atahualpa was told by the Spanish he should be baptized, he replied:
‘No, I won’t change my God, for a God which has died already. I believe in one with never dies.’
Mother Earth is the feminine aspect of God, and father Sun is the masculine aspect, and we are a product of that. We are Gods and we should believe in ourselves first. Its fine to have Gods; the Oriental ones, an Inca, an extra-terrestrial, Buddha or Crishna, but there will never be anything like Mother Earth and the Sun, or the moon. Think what would happen if we lost them? That is God!

All Gods come through Nature. You can have as many Gods as you want, it doesn’t close any doors, no one is being judged, but what has become of Western religion? Materialism, loss of identity, loss of customs. How can we help people in the face of the avalanche of problems being created today? Cut off their heads? Give them a heavy dose of positive cosmic radiation?

There is so much struggle today. Take the climatic changes, for example, it shouldn’t be raining at this time in Cusco, yet it is pouring down, so people are no longer thinking about nature but money and the help they need. People have become completely insecure. Imagine if we went to live in nature again, surrounded by mountains, or in the rainforest, in nature.

Yet the tendency today is for everybody to want to move into the cities everywhere, to live like America, build motorways.

Its sad. I’ve spent time with people in the Andes. I have seen people leaving their traditional clothes and customs for the Maranata religion. They are a group that says why do you believe in the Earth, the Sun, the puma and the condor? Again religion controlling the Andean campesino. These people go to the city and see a TV and think, ‘what a beautiful TV!’ They sell their llamas and buy one. I am sad to see their children who are so pure, being contaminated.

They learn negative habits and are hypnotized, and no longer want to work their land. It really hurts in my soul to see a Q’ero curandero obsessing about dollars meanwhile forgetting his power. This loss of values for material things is happening so fast, its incredible! It’s the Western influence which has been working over 500 years.

They see on TV the huge kinds of potatoes which can be produced using fertilizers, and they think ‘how beautiful, I want that’, but they don’t know how the earth is ruined by fertilizers.

What do you see happening in the future on a planetary level?

People will get a nasty shock from seeing the increasing changes and natural disasters on the earth and we will be shocked into changing.

The only way we can change?

Unfortunately yes. To avoid the fear we need to work daily to balance ourselves, so that the collective fear will not infect us. Even if those around you are overcome you must be a maestro and maintain your centre. We have forgotten the power that an offering has, look how we are eating this chocolate and we have forgotten to give a little to the Earth.

Every body worries about their future, no? But there will come a time when no one will want to consult about it any more, they will have finally woken up to the realisation that there is no future in the way we are going. They will be shocked into living in the present and this will create a new human being. We will realise that individualism doesn’t work and this will unite us in a shared future.

The desperation will show the necessity of love. Who will want to do harm or be aggressive when money and material things have become useless? We will come back to a new kind of community consciousness. We are beginning to anticipate all this and becoming more conscious, but we are swerving about. However, people who see only the material world, are blind to it and live isolated from humanity. What happens to them when there is an earthquake or tidal wave? This is what Pachacuti is about, an awakening of a new consciousness, a return.

There is so much wisdom in nature, she rears us like her children, teaches us to ask permission, to care for her like ourselves.
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/travel-articles/the-spiritual-traditions-of-the-andes-an-interview-with-doris-rivera-lenz-part-2-213656.html

Perspectively Spiritual

MU professor gives Hickman religion class a glimpse of the practices and beliefs of the Hindu faith.

Hickman High School seniors Molly Trull, right, and Kaitlin Bruegenhemke listen yesterday to Vellore Gopalaratnam of the Hindu Temple and Community Center of Mid-Missouri during their Classical Ideas and World Religions class.

Vellore Gopalaratnam explained Hinduism to a group of teenagers yesterday in a way they could understand.

Gopalaratnam discusses Hinduism yesterday with George Frissell’s Classical Ideas and World Religions class at Hickman. The class will hear lectures from speakers on other religions in coming weeks.

He compared the religion to the Internet.

"There is a vast range of beliefs practiced by different pockets of people, and there is nobody controlling it," he said. "The lack of structure is part of its attractiveness," but it’s also why "there’s so much disinformation."

Gopalaratnam spoke to George Frissell’s Classical Ideas and World Religions classes yesterday at Hickman High School, part of a series of guests who will explain various religions to students throughout the school year.

Bringing in people who practice the religions is a way for teens to get a firsthand look at different beliefs, Frissell said.

"It allows students who want to go into more depth than they would in a survey class to do so," he said. "Instead of a text, we read primary sources and try to talk with practitioners or scholars about religious traditions."

Gopalaratnam, a civil engineering professor at the University of Missouri-Columbia, hoped to dispel some of the myths about Hinduism during his hourlong presentations yesterday.

One of the biggest misconceptions, he said, is that Hindus worship many gods. Instead, Gopalaratnam said, Hindus believe in one supreme being that can take on different forms. That’s not a concept reserved for the spiritual world; Gopalaratnam said it applies to humans as well.

"To you, I’m a guest lecturer. To my daughter, I’m a father. To my students, I’m a professor. To my wife, I’m a husband," he said. "But I’m still the same person."

Gopalaratnam tried to use another real-world example to dispel the negative connotations surrounding idol worship. Idols of Hindu gods are only tools that help humans relate to religious abstracts. It’s no different than engineers using tools to visualize multidimensional ideas, he said.

Gopalaratnam also used his time with the class to plug the Hindu Temple and Community Center of Mid-Missouri’s Shanthi Mandir facility on Holly Avenue. The building houses performing arts events and programs that are open to the public. It’s also used by other religious groups in the community, he said.

The goal is to promote understanding and tolerance among all religions.

"If we can build a more tolerant Columbia, we can build a more tolerant Missouri; then we can build a more tolerant America and a more tolerant world," he said.

Senior Chrissie Merideth, 17, nodded in agreement with the sentiment.

Chrissie doesn’t practice a traditional religion but is interested in hearing from those who do. And learning about a religion is easier when it comes from someone who actually practices it, she said.

"I feel they have a better perspective," Chrissie said. "Mr. Frissell is a great teacher, but he’s never been part of that culture, so he can’t give us the kind of impression that someone who actually practices Hinduism can."

Frissell will host other religion speakers in coming weeks, including Robert Baum, who will provide information on indigenous African religions; Champa Lhunpo, a Buddhist monk; and Philip Clart, an MU religious studies professor who will speak about Confucianism.

Stephen Prothero, chairman of the department of religion at Boston University, kicked off the series last week with a presentation about religious literacy.

Reincarnation & Past Lives - 10 Sources to Help You Determine if You've Lived Before

We applaud those who question religious principles and reincarnation rather than accepting them without a second thought.

We acknowledge that many receive great benefit from their respective faiths, and that tradition involving their worship is ingrained in their lives. We also acknowledge the wonderful charity work done by many religious groups.

God (or however you want to refer to the higher power) inspires religious doctrine, but human interpretation of spiritual truth can easily be flawed due to many reasons such as a weak or obstructed spiritual connection, ego-self domination over higher-self, and in some cases, personal or political agendas. Anything constructed from earthly viewpoints rooted in the social norms of the times is bound to be distorted.

Consider Christianity: Many tenets (such as reincarnation) were eliminated from the bible in early Church history over a 300 year political process in order to strengthen the Church's foundation, thus its power and influence over the masses.

How do you find out what is valid and what is false? Do your own objective research. We've included a list of sources from Your Love Life and Reincarnation to get you started.

Few people are capable of expressing with equanimity opinions which differ from the prejudices of their social environment.