Fractal Enlightenment

An experiment in 1993 that has been forgotten was brought to light by the movie What the Bleep do We Know? The excerpt below is taken from that movie, and it got us thinking.

Even the material world around us the chairs, the tables, the rooms,the carpet all of these are nothing but possible movements of consciousness. And I’m choosing moment to moment out of those movements to bring my actual experience into manifestation. This is the only radical thinking that you need to do. But it is so radical It’s so difficult because our tendency is that the world is already out there independent of my experience. It is not. Quantum physics has been so clear about it.

So we are not just observers! Collectively we have the power to bring about changes with just our thoughts! Yes, it has been scientifically validated with the positive effect of meditation on crime. A two-month long transcendental meditation experiment was done in Washington, DC in 1993 to reduce violent crime.

The Transcendental Meditation (TM) technique, introduced by Maharishi Yogi, is a simple, natural, effortless procedure whereby the mind easily and naturally arrives at the source of thought, the settled state of the mind — Transcendental Consciousness — pure consciousness, self-referral consciousness, which is the source of all creative processes.

In Washington DC, the so-called murder capital of the world there was a big experiment in the summer of 1993 where volunteers came from a hundred countries to collectively meditate for long periods of time throughout the day. It was predicted in advance that with such a sized group you would have a certain percentage drop in violent crime as defined by the F.B.I. in Washington that summer.

Well, the chief of police went on television saying that “Look. It’s gonna take two feet of snow to reduce crime by that percentage in Washington, DC this summer.”

But by the end, the police department became a collaborator and author of this study because the results in fact showed a percentage drop in violent crime in Washington, DC which we could predict on the basis of previous studies that had already been done on a smaller scale. Are people affecting the world of reality that they see?

We wanted to do some research on the effects of meditation on crime, and found these interesting facts. This National Demonstration Project to Reduce Violent Crime and Improve Governmental Effectiveness brought approximately 4,000 participants in the Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi programs to the United States national capital from June 7 to July 30, 1993.

A 27-member independent Project Review Board consisting of sociologists and criminologists from leading universities, representatives from the police department and government monitored its progress.

Using time series analysis, violent crimes were analyzed separately in terms of HRA crimes (crimes against the person) and robberies, as well as together. The maximum decrease was 23.3% when the size of the group was largest during the final week of the project.

Based on the results of the study, the steady state gain (long-term effect) associated with a permanent group of 4,000 participants in the Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi programs was calculated as a 48% reduction in HRA crimes in the District of Columbia.

A very interesting experiment that teaches us that each one of us have the power to affect our surroundings in a positive way, you can read the entire experiment report here.

We love the Tibetans, a race showcasing profound understanding of mortal and life beyond death. In a previous piece we spoke about the Tibetan bowl, we still encounter that experience, but today we shall talk about something that may be tough to understand by many, the Tibetan funeral process.

The most common methods for deceased bodies after death is burial and cremation. While the Zoroastrians have a slightly different method, where the body is fed to the birds which is considered a good deed and the bones are discarded in a well. The Tibetan Sky Burial is somewhat similar, lets take a look at how it works.

Majority of Tibetans adhere to Buddhism, which teaches reincarnation, hence there is no need to preserve the body, as the body is only a vessel. Once a person dies the vessel is empty, the Birds may eat it, or nature may let it decompose. The function of the sky burial is simply the disposal of the remains.

The corpse is cut into small pieces and placed on a mountaintop to feed the birds of prey, in Tibetan the practice is known as jhator, that literally means, “giving alms to the birds.” As much of Tibet the ground is too hard and rocky to dig a grave, and with fuel and timber scarce, a sky burial is often more practical than cremation.

The government of the People’s Republic of China, which has forcibly occupied Tibet since 1950, prohibited the practice that they consider barbaric in the 1960s. They started to allow it again in the 1980s, perhaps after realizing they would save on resources via the Sky Burials.

A traditional jhator is performed in specified locations in Tibet, the Drigung Monastery is one of the three most important jhator sites. The procedure takes place on a large flat rock long used for the purpose and is always higher than its surroundings. Relatives may remain nearby during the jhator that usually takes place at dawn.

Prior to the procedure, monks may chant mantra around the body and burn juniper incense. The work of disassembling of the body may be done by a monk, or, more commonly, by rogyapas (“body-breakers”).

I am now going to revert to a live witness to a Tibetan Sky-Burial by Pamela Logan,

Men in long white aprons come out, and unwrap the corpse, which is naked, stiff, and swollen. The men hold huge cleavers, which are in a few strokes whetted to razor sharpness on nearby rocks. The bright sun and clear blue sky diffuse somewhat my ominous feeling. The coroners themselves, are not heavy or ceremonial, but completely businesslike as they chat amongst themselves, and prepare to start.

Tibetans believe that, more important than the body, is the spirit of the deceased. Following death, the body should not be touched for three days, except possibly at the crown of the head, through which the consciousness, or namshe, exits. Lamas guide the spirit in a series of prayers that last for seven weeks, as the person makes their way through the bardo–intermediate states that precede rebirth.

As the first cut is made, the vultures crowd closer; but three men with long sticks wave them away. Within a few minutes the dead man’s organs are removed and set aside for later, separate disposal. The vultures try to move in and are prevented by waving sticks and shouts. Then, the cutters give a signal and the men all simultaneously fall back.

The flock rushes in, covering the body completely, their heads disappearing as they bend down to tear away bits of flesh. They are enormous birds, with wings spanning more than 2 meters, top-feathers of dirty white, and huge gray-brown backs. Their heads are virtually featherless, so as not to impede the bird when reaching into a body to feed.

For thirteen minutes the vultures are in a feeding frenzy. The only sound is tearing flesh and chittering as they compete for the best bits. The birds are gradually sated, and some take to the air, their huge wings sounding like steam locomotives as they flap overhead. Now the men pull out what remains of the corpse, only a bloody skeleton and shoo away the remaining birds. They take out huge mallets, and set to work pounding the bones. The men talk while they work, even laughing sometimes, for according to Tibetan belief the mortal remains are merely an empty vessel. The dead man’s spirit is gone, its fate to be decided by karma accumulated through all past lives.

The bones are soon reduced to splinters, mixed with barley flour and then thrown to crows and hawks, who have been waiting their turn. Remaining vultures grab slabs of softened gristle and greedily devour them. Half an hour later, the body has completely disappeared. The men leave also, their day’s work finished. Soon, the hilltop is restored to serenity. I think of the man whose flesh is now soaring over the mountains, and decide that, if I happen to die on the high plateau, I wouldn’t mind following him.

Solar eclipse is a celestial show where the moon decides to step between the sun and the earth, its not rare that the moon decides to do that. It seems there are at least two to up to five solar eclipses that occur every year on earth. We do not tend to see them as they occur mostly around uninhabited places.

Although today the spectacle is offered free of cost by the creator, it may cost you some time but does that really exist? Perhaps not if you a time traveler, here’s something of interest, Solar eclipses illustrate the happy coincidence that while the Sun is 400 times the diameter of the Moon, it is also 400 times farther away giving the Sun and Moon exactly the same angular size.

Superstitions Related to Solar Eclipses:

There are superstitions around the world that are related to Solar Eclipses, well wind up at India but lets look too the west first.

A pregnant women should not go outside during an eclipse, and should fasten a safety pin under their shirt above their belly, so that their child would not be born with a cleft lip. During eclipses, expectant mothers from Mexico and some other parts of Latin America frequently wear bright red panties with a safety pin tucked through them, the result of a tradition dating back to Aztec and Mayan days.

It seems those tribes believed that the eclipse released energy that could cause birth defects and to ward off its power, pregnant women would step outside only if they tied a red string around their waists with an arrowhead attached to it. As superstition gave way to comfort, the string and arrowhead evolved into a pair of red panties with a safety pin attached.

The ancient Chinese believed that a dragon trying to swallow the Sun, to this day, a solar eclipse is “resh” or “Sun-eat” for them. The Chinese would shoot fireworks and bang gongs to scare the dragon away if they know a solar eclipse is coming it seems.

In India that all cooked food left uneaten during an eclipse becomes impure as without the sun light the number of germs increase, well this is not as funny as an astrologer called Anita Nigam, says that the consequences of this Solar Eclipse will not be good.

There may be heavy rain falls, landslides and thunderstorms. Coastal region will be highly affected. The film industry, music world, highly reputed capitalist, top level of Government officials and Sensex may also be affected. She also states that the solar eclipse will affect even the common people. I do hope you had a good laugh with that one.

(The funny part is since its the monsoon season its pretty easy to predict heavy rains, landslides and thunderstorms. The coastal region is always effected during the monsoon. I had a good laugh reading that)

Don’t forget that looking directly at the sun is not recommended so you know what to do, put on your shades to hide your glazed eyes!