Hi...
     I've been away for so long...doing different things and focusing on a class in Rstoration/18th. Century Lit.   I have the log-in and password again after the shift to Gaia...
     It's warming up now that we are past the vernal equinox in the temperate zone.
     I've moved on to Unity on the North Shore as a spiritual home, which needs work and lightworkers at this time......I'm thinking more of how to serve and shed light and not think about receiving.
     I'm growing in intuition and acting as a magical being while doing ordinary things.   I've been working on the common yard in the building without resenting I'm the only one....it frees my creativity to work without hindrance..here there is only one cook making the broth....I've been doing yoga about once a week, but going back to simple fitness conditioning along with it at the YMCA.
     I finally checked out some Oprah clips on YouTube.....I was actually unfamiliar with her...thiugh she is local..and big...but I was pleased to see her defending enlightened thinking...the big rage now seems to be The New Earth by Eckhart Tolle, which she's promoting....I only skimmed the Power of Now, but it really helped in seeing mindfulness as power...so many baby-boomers are detached and anemic...not realizing how powerful it is to really listen and engage with whatever or whomever you with.   It gives me peace to know..I can't do everything or help everyone...but whatever I do, I can do it wholeheartedly and mindfully..and make a difference...in the moment by being realy engaged,
     I'm grateful for the Gaia (zaadz) community, that I can return to at will and plug in my consciousness.   There are so many wonderful people here, doing great things to bring the future to today.   I look forward to exploring Gaia an seeing what is going on here.  Blessings to you all.

     I'm still in the process of organizing and settling my family in.   I'm convinced we are in the right place at the right time, but there's so many little things to be done.   We moved into a four-unit building where co-working has been lacking, mainly because of ethnic division.   The spirit tells me that our presence will alter the collective equation.   But it will take time.   We made it through our first crisis..a blocked sewer.  It was eventually unplugged with no real damage.   Over the course of days in conversation with several knowledgeable people, I'm getting a grip on dealing with half century-old sewers.   I think of Mahatma Ghandi and the movie about his life.   The moments I loved most weren't the discussions of high level politics or the shifting history of the Indian peoples, but the simple situations.   What did Ghandi have to do when his wife refused to clean a latrine.   How did he have to learn to spin cloth and to make salt from the ocean.   Most of his life must have been a series of mundane moments where he had to practically work things out, but on a higher level.  His heart was to help his people rise and get unstuck in their collective spiritual history.   He did that by showing his life; leading an ordinary life in a higher divine way.
     I'm reminded of this in my present situation.   Organizing and grounding our household in this 58-year-old condominium is the perfect place to manifest spirit and divine love.   There has to be a lamp-post for wandering and confused post-modern souls.   Spirit dwelling in our ordinary condo can be that lamp-post.   We are always in the perfect place to shine spirit.

     While taking a Unity class on the Life of Prayer, I focused on one significant manifestation to bring myself and my family ahead.   We were due to buy a condo and begin investing in family equity.   We found a wonderful home in a four unit building with a front and back yard for my children to play in, and for me to connect with nature in the form of a garden.   The location is quiet, orderly, with wonderful schools and a sense of community and character.   Most importantly, the spiritual atmosphere is quiet and clear enough for me to meditate and connect with both earth and heaven.   We are only a few miles from Chicago proper which has so much alternative spirituality and new thinking coming in.   I'm not too far from Unity in Chicago, my spiritual home.
     We are putting the new place in order and cleaning up the old apartment.   I can see how we are all connected and we need to all be situated in such a way that we cn grow and connect with proper spiritual soil and room to grow and accomplish out purpose.   I thank God for a wonderful new home.

     A lot has happened.   I attended one meeting of the Intenders Circle, but it was enough to get me going in clarifying my prayer life and HOW to pray.   On June 17, 2007 I became a member of Unity in Chicago (they have a fascinating website).   This was after a four week Unity Basics class which was so enriching and enlightening.   It was led by Rev. Erica Trantham.   I'm now attending a weekly "Life of Prayer" class for personal growth, but it is a pre-requisite for prayer chaplains at Unity.   We are using the text, Pray Up Yout Life, by Charline Manuel.   It is so fascinating and we get some wonderful mindful discussion.   I have 3/5 sessions to go.   This instructor was some sort of intuitive before becoming a Unity minister.   I like being at Unity and fellowshiping with other intuitive people.   I'm not boxed in there, and all can grow.   Unity has some really respectable and useful principles and their emphasis is bringing people to practice, gently.   One just has to be careful, as a tolerant atmosphere brings in unusual seekers who can behave as diamonds in the rough.  
     I finished Memoirs of a Spiritual Outsider by Suzanne Clores, who has been a yoga instructor at YogaNow in Chicago.   It really opens the reader to the interior world of the Generation X seeker.   Suzanne relates her exploration of various spiritual paths in a  simple sincere way which opens the door of undersatding for the reader.   We live in a fascinating time and place where the individual can shop for and choose spiritual practice and religion.   Religion and spiritual practice must serve the practitioner in a positive way and not just enrich and empower the leadership.

     I haven't been back to the Intenders, as the time of the meeting shifted and it doesn't align well.    I made a notebook of the materials and I'm receiving a daily step article called The Intenders Bridge.   I've realized, that with family obligations, attending meetings can be difficult, but reflection and prayer can be excellent.   I was taught in Taoist Dahn Hak yoga that all i need to know is within me.   All else seems to be bringing out things to consciousness, being in integrity and acting out my dharma.
     I've resumed yoga.   One of the Beginners Level instructors, Suzanne Clores, is an author of Memoirs of a Spiritual Outsider.   I read the beginning, resonated with the energy and decided to order a used copy for one cent plus shipping from Amazon.com.   I began chatting with Suzanne after class for a few brief moments.   All the yogis at YogaNow in Chicago are incredible people.   If I can transcend the hustle and bustle of Chicago and beginner's performanc anxiety, I thrive in the presence of the yogis doing my practice.   The body is the temple of the holy spirit and yoga causes the body to rise to a state where its purpose can be fulfilled.  It can hum and purr, and not just clank or groan.  My dark cell is illumined by a shaft of light as I practice Indian yoga.
     I've resolved not to set foot in a conventional church and my wife seems to accept my step.   We are better at talking about our experiences, even though we thrive in different spiritual environments.   We are learning to respect diverse paths.   We both came from ethnic backgrounds where we subordinated our identities to a group which felt its survival threatened.   A few years ago, I began to emerge from the conventional matrix, desparate to align my life to my divine purpose.   Spiritual guides seem to indicate that my marriage can survive, but the path lies on a Razor's Edge.

     Yesterday, I attended a meeting of the Intenders circle.     It has been around for a decade, but I just connected with it this month through a fellow zaadster, Eva (Eva is a spirit of light) in Savannah, Georgia.
     I've heard about setting Intentions in metaphysical congregations, but I had never gone throught the basic training, which is what I need.     This group is clearly focused on one thing, like 12 step programs.
     I'm reading through the introductory booklet which gives all the basic nitty-gritty.   At the meeting, we had a potluck fellowship and a guided meditation before the Intention circle.   During the circle, each person shared a list of things they are grateful for and the list of their intention.   Careful attentuion is placed on language which will support and not hinder the process.   E.g. one shares an intention in the present tense with no expression of doubt, like "intend on,"  want to or future tense.     Metaphysics and language use are very interrelated.   Our words carry power and they can bring us forward or backward.     The meeting ended with a spiritual guidance reading from a Science of Mind devotional and AUM intonation
     I intend that I focus on the training seriously and ttrain myself in setting intentions.
     I recommend Intenders to anyone and everyone who seeks training or reinforcement in the setting of intentions, which is a type of prayer taught by Jesus to his disciples.   The group leader I encountered was very willing to help new people and the circle was arffirming and serious to the level of each person.   I found the group leader in a list found on the website.
     I studies Linguistics as a college minor and I'm fascinated with these metaphysical principles pertaining to the proper use of language in stating intentions and prayer.   Language is magical, as it carries power to alter reality and consciousness, negatively or positively, according to its use.   We can build up or tear down; we can hurt or heal.
     I've been so impressed with the people here at zaadz.     Many are talented, high-speed people on a track of prosperity, yet I've always gotten a gracious reply when I ask for information or wisdom in response to my many research queries.     I'm so thankful for being here.     Zaadz is bringing me forward in my spiritual evolution and I've had the privilege of giving to others and affirming their progress.     I've made real friends and interesting acquaintances.

     Recently I visited a local Intuitive.   It was my second session.   Both times, I didn't bring up specific issues or history, but he dug things out incredibly and deeply.    In the fall, I developed a wart on the leading edge of the ball of my left foot.   That is precisely the part of the body that steps out and touches the ground for a new position.   If that part of the body feels pain and shrinks back, the body doesn't move ahead, but shifts in the old position.   I was told the left side means the feminine aspect and the foot, moving out to a new place.   I was told I'm ready to move ahead, to step out into the magician's (alchemist's) role, but I've received opposition from the feminine aspect of my household.   I received deeper very specific wisdom on the male and female energies in the human relationship and how to bring them into balance.
   The logo representing me on zaadz is borrowed from the Nazorean gnostics, whose material I've started to study online.   One of the big spiritual goals in Western society is bringing the masculine and feminine back into balance.   Before marching into non-dualism, we must camp out in the realm of dualism and see the harmonious and good balance between masculine and feminine, dark and light, sun and earth, hot and cold, up and down...the old Tao.   Unity is made of smaller interdependent units, sometimes duality.   A healthy system must bring masculine and feminine into balance.
     I remember the church I attended as a child, St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception in Niles, Michigan, USA.   In the front before the audience, to the left and right of the priest's area were two statues, male and female. co-equal in size, posture and clothing.   On a more universal level, they represent the divine feminine and masculine gazing out at us.   Both are available anf present.   If one needs feminine energy, the Mother is there.   If one needs masculine energy, the Father is there.   We have the Earth beneath our feet and the Sun above our heads.   If we need mother Earth, we go into our cave, but if we need father sun, we stand out in his rays.
   May we appreciate both dual partners and seek out the one we are in need of.

     A few weeks ago, I bought a copy of the DVD version of The Secret.      Mainly, I was drawn to it in the esoteric bookstore I descend upon frequently.   I saw the first half hour, but fell asleep after 15 minutes.   I'll give it a try again when I'm not exhausted.   Its content appears to be centered on the Law of Attraction, an ancient Hermetic wisdom principle that is really popping out into the popular consciousness now.   The idea is that we attract or repel experiences and we can consciously choose to attract or repel new things.   Honestly, I'm still wrestling with the concept.   The idea is refreshing and liberating, inasmuch as I can observe what I'm attracting into my life and choose to rest or choose to attract or repel new things.   I can literally "change my mind."   This idea practically works out into prayer, certain types of meditations, spells or magic depending on the individual belief system.   Whatever the manifestation we choose, we then exercise will to appeal to the spiritual dimension with requests.   I must ponder more about my personal practice and become conscious and intent on atttracting what I need.   I must think about which modes serve my purposes.

     It's been two weeks since the last blog entry.     Jane had her Sixth Birthday and we had just under a dozen children over Sunday afternoon for a party.     Parties are such interesting time for observation.     I was taught that a good reader can do an intutive reading from anything, and parties are good times to observe the signs.   People are out of their routine and their comfortable element.   The energy flows and the childen are in motion.   There was happy chaos at the party.     I like to plan it out and let the details flow as the present spirit moves them.   In the postmodern era, RSVP's are usually mere guidelines etched in sllicone.   We did do well, as everyoine who showed up called at least a day ahead.   It was so nice to connect with old faces and bring them to our living room.
     Jane's favorite toy was a Bratz Katia fortuneteller.   It is an example of the simple robotics that make postmodern toys fascinating.   In the image of the reddish-brown haired Katia, wearing a veil and a fuchsia gem on her forehead third eye, a bust nods or shakes her head as she gives answers to a questioner's queries.   Under Katia's raised arms, bearing golden bracelets, sits a white orb.   This is pressed to elicit the motioned response of robotic Katia.   Jane loved the doll-bust and kept asking one question after another, joined by her seven-year old brother.   Jane began using the cute one-line expressions of Katia in her speech at the dinener table later.   In relationally busy postmodern urban America, a little girl received her second robot toy which became a companion and a tutor of colloquial English.   Her first robot was a double sized Barbie on a stand, which moves its arms and legs to digitally generated music or in response to sensors on Jane's wrists and ankles.  
     Information technology and simple robotics are changing our world.   I liked I,Robot because it portrayed a futuristic Chicago where the personal robot had become as ubiquitous as the personal computer is now.   My children will grow up to live in a world of synthetic teachers, synthetic friends, synthetic arts and synthetic experiences.  
     Intuition won't go out of style, as conditioned thinking patterns can't keep up with the pace of change and flow of people to and fro.   Those of us who are intuitives are the guides for people accustomed to conditioned thinking.   Conditioned thinkers are slaves or servants to pre-programs and inflexible routines, and overshafowed by those who CAN see beyond the horizon of the present and adjust to new realities.   Postmodern technology frees us up from routine labor to unleash creative pusuits which were once the secluded haven of the wealthy elite.   I embrace the new possiblities and the new experiences.   The future is at my doorstep.

     This evening I discovered and took another test on Beliefnet.     It's purpose is to discern spiritual type.     I scored 67 on a scale of 25-100.     I am described as an OLD FASHIONED SEEKER.:  "happy with my religion, but searching for the right expression of it."     I decided that this depiction is accurate and describes my search for the last couple decades.     I wish to continue the tradition I was born into, but I've been searching for a suitable expression of it.   I really enjoy learning from spiritual people from all over the spectrum, but I seek the right niche within my tradition.
     I've finished half of Ken Wilber's introductory book, and I've really enjoyed it.   It is so enlightening, and clarifies so many things I've gleaned from more sectarian sources, but it doesn't alienate the reader.   It may challenges specific beliefs, or in my case, levels of consciousness, but it doesn't try to pull the reader from one belief system to another.   This reminds me of Krishnamurti who did so well in enlightening his listeners without ensnaring them in yet another belief system (bondage).   I highly recommend Ken Wilber to anyone wishing to spiritually evolve and see more of the beautiful big picture of truth and knowledge.     I am grateful for this and other spiritual leads provided by the light of the zaadz community.      It has been so uniquely helpful in jumpstarting my spiritual evolution.