tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-49616387775646591222024-03-18T14:04:03.691+11:00Swedenborg Association of AustraliaSwedenborg Association of Australiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268037524719930440noreply@blogger.comBlogger32125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4961638777564659122.post-73708834450165390252021-02-14T08:00:00.010+11:002021-02-14T08:16:22.664+11:00<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span face=""Verdana","sans-serif"" lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: verdana;">Ten
stages of mystical insight.</span><o:p style="font-size: 11pt;"></o:p></span></b></p>
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<br />There is one account of stages with which I do feel in full accord: the Zen ox-herding pictures (From THE THREE PILLARS OF ZEN, by Philip Kapleau.)These pictures don't come out of speculation but rather out of the experience of many mystics. They depict ten stages of mystical insight in
a series of paintings of a person and an ox. The person is the spiritual seeker; the ox is the Divine in a wild,
unknown, untamed form. Some may find it surprising that the Lord is represented here as an ox.</span>
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<span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;">Well, at first it is as though you are in the woods (1), and now and then you find the footprints of some heavy beast (2). You would like to see it, so you track it. Finally you catch a glimpse of it (3). Many are at this stage, having caught only a glimpse of the beast! Finally you catch him but he's a tough one (4). He once stepped on me and I can testify he is heavy. Finally the ox starts to work with you (5). Finally you two are in accord and you can ride the ox home (6).</span>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: verdana; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">This whole book is about the first six stages, in which one reaches friendship with the Divine; one can contact the Divine and learn from it. But there is still some dualism, that of the rider versus the ox, though now there is enough friendship and understanding that there is no longer opposition.
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: verdana; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">I have felt little need to describe the last four stages because the person who has reached stage six is well on their way, and
will be shown the last four stages in time. In the seventh picture the ox is forgotten. The monk came to realize he could reflect on the very Life in himself. Ox and self
are now the same thing. There is no other. The life one sees and feels within is the One life. The cut-off self never existed. There always was only
Life. The repeated experience of the eternal, of coming back to the Divine, gradually weakens the ego sense of
"I am a separate entity." Finding the One in so many people and contexts overcomes the sense of separateness. Finally we experience separateness and ego as illusion (Maya). Just as we repeatedly stepped from time to the eternal and back, we can also step from separateness to no separation and back again. Let us look at the last three stages, but realize that only direct experience makes these stages real. In the eighth picture we see just a circle drawn on the page. Even the seeker has vanished. This is the ultimate illumination. There is only this unity. In the ninth picture the world and all its beauty returns, but this is the world transfigured, permeated with the One. There is nothing to seek. It is obvious the One is everywhere. In the tenth picture the adept returns to the marketplace with helping hands, doing what he/she can. What was given is multiplied by being shared. The Zen ox-herding series represents the experience of many, and they are in a nearly universal language. You may have some sense of where you are in this series. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: green; font-family: verdana; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Wilson van Dusen, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Returning to the Source</i>, Ch14 Some Questions Answered</span></p>Swedenborg Association of Australiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17052354662922240256noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4961638777564659122.post-8846340509834216152017-06-06T20:20:00.000+10:002017-06-06T20:20:35.738+10:00<h2>
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Swedenborg’s influence on Sibelius</span></h2>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Sibelius, the famous Finnish composer, wrote ‘Finlandia’ and seven symphonies and so much else. He was married to a lady called Aino, who was very much into everything spiritual and supernatural.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">His recent biographer wrote a three-volume in-depth life of Sibelius and mentions that Sibelius bought a copy of Martin Lamm’s ‘</span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Life of Swedenborg</i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">’ and said that he completely devoured it. And he (Sibelius) went on to say that Swedenborg’s idea of everything being in divine harmony helped him to complete the writing of his 5th Symphony which he had been struggling with.</span><br />
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Swedenborg Association of Australiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268037524719930440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4961638777564659122.post-69314605985336631442017-04-26T19:55:00.001+10:002017-04-26T19:55:44.694+10:00<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b><i><span style="color: #cc0099; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">THINGS WE ALL SHARE</span></i></b><i><span style="color: #cc0099; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<b><i><span style="color: blue; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">By Julian Duckworth</span></i></b></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Today,
care for the world around us comes high on everybody’s list. This is something
we all share and must take responsibility for. We’re learning fast that the
world’s resources are not endless and we must clean up the planet and conserve
our use of virtually everything.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">This
stark fact can help to remind us of a number of important things. One is that
the human race lives in one community around the globe and none of us can
afford to live in isolation or stay unaware of the effect we may have on everybody
else. Today it is becoming possible to ‘seed’ rain clouds above heavily
populated cities to provide water, but the effect is to lessen the amount of
rainfall in the surrounding region. <o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">We have
been – and still are to some extent – greedy in terms of consuming resources
and taking so much for granted. We are slowly realising that the world works in
a very balanced way and to take too much not only deprives others from having
enough to survive on but harms the overall harmony of the planet. <o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">At the
beginning of the Bible there is the story of the Garden of Eden, obviously a
statement about a world that is functional as well as beautiful. It says that
God put human beings in the garden to tend it and take care of it. This is how
we need to be viewing the world around us, basically as a garden in need of
tending. <o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">The
present generation are not the ones primarily affected by the longer-term
consequences. We need to conserve and sustain the living planet so that our
children and their children can look at green trees and blue skies and live
safely and healthily in this world which is still a remarkably beautiful and
richly-resourced world in which to live. </span></i>Swedenborg Association of Australiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268037524719930440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4961638777564659122.post-35378536162110999402017-04-26T19:54:00.000+10:002017-04-26T19:54:28.372+10:00<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b><i><span style="color: #cc3300; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">LOSING A LOVED ONE</span></i></b><i><span style="color: #cc3300; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<b><i><span style="color: blue; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">By Julian Duckworth</span></i></b></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">How
unbelievably hard it is to lose someone you love because they have died. You
are still here but they are no longer with you, at least not physically. It
feels like you have lost part of yourself. At such times, words are not very helpful
to us, yet when words say the right thing they can be very powerful and
healing. <o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">When
someone loses someone they love – which is almost certainly going to happen to
all of us in our life – it is very hard for the people who love you to know how
they can best help or when to be around. But it is very important not to be too
much or too long on your own in your loss. It is important to allow your loving
friends to be there with you even without much to say to you. It is also very
important to make sure you have your own time alone.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">A
common experience when you lose someone you love is to find yourself moving
through all kinds of different feelings. You may feel anger, or emptiness, or a
strange sense of peace, or such things as guilt or blame on yourself or others.
These will come and they will go, because they are the way in which your mind
is managing this shock to your system. It is running through and trying out
every emotion. Let it do that and don’t be troubled by it all.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">It’s
often said that time is a great healer when death happens. That is really the
case but you can’t set the timetable. It will in all probability take a full
year to begin to get back into being yourself which surely is what the person
you love would want you to do. And don’t be surprised at a number of personal
changes that come to the fore, because life is going to be different from what
it used to be. <o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Many
people believe in life after death. Let them help you in their way at the right
time for you. This belief is universally shared by all religions across the
world. Let it help you.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
Swedenborg Association of Australiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268037524719930440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4961638777564659122.post-5793755937737766532017-04-26T19:52:00.001+10:002017-04-26T19:52:31.972+10:00<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b><i><span style="color: #339933; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">LAUGHTER</span></i></b><i><span style="color: #339933; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="color: blue;"><b>By Julian Duckworth</b></span></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Sometimes,
when people laugh, it’s at someone else’s expense. That’s a rather cruel kind
of laughter, though. A nicer laughter is to be able to laugh at some of the
foibles of life and not to take it all too seriously. Being able to laugh like
that eases everything and it’s a good place to be. Perhaps we could stretch
this idea even further and say that seeing and sharing the funny side of life
is the normal way we’re meant to be because it is healthy and healing. It
immediately dissolves tricky moments and tensions that come along. <o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">It’s
lovely watching a group of people, perhaps over a meal, being together, and
noticing the relaxed friendly laughter coming from among them as a group. They
are right into it and nobody seems at all self-conscious but catching
everyone’s fun. Laughter is contagious of course. They say it even does our
body good, lowering blood pressure, letting off steam and having a good
chuckle. There are even groups of people who get together, say in a park,
simply to be together to laugh.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Jesus
talked about having joy. This isn’t exactly the same as laughter, but it still
suggests a lightness of being, a feeling of well-being through having joy in
yourself. <o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">One
telling statistic that has emerged is that little children laugh (with that
wonderful open children’s way of laughing) about 300 times a day, but adults on
average only laugh about 15 times a day. Something got lost in the business of
growing up and we’ve forgotten the therapy and spontaneity of this precious
gift of laughter.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<br /></div>
<i style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">So
let’s aim to reverse that dreadful statistic and allow ourselves, more and
more, to be caught up in letting laughter do us good.</span></i>Swedenborg Association of Australiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268037524719930440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4961638777564659122.post-8867719359642182602017-04-12T17:22:00.000+10:002017-04-12T17:22:54.816+10:00<div style="text-align: center;">
<b style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">DEALING WITH </span></i></b><b style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">DIFFICULT
PEOPLE</span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: blue;"><b>By Julian Duckworth</b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0r_OzzuAiazccFlQlpCjlUzgPtMPty2DHFO4DGT-2Lh_H1cfiA-_I3ytR8xaJpxIE0dpPi0gTpE42kO9h-RghvuCDIwCBOx-Qin4CZE6F-we5zoESgip19m1ukO-khyphenhyphenOilfLKqNF3OxGG/s1600/Difficult+people.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0r_OzzuAiazccFlQlpCjlUzgPtMPty2DHFO4DGT-2Lh_H1cfiA-_I3ytR8xaJpxIE0dpPi0gTpE42kO9h-RghvuCDIwCBOx-Qin4CZE6F-we5zoESgip19m1ukO-khyphenhyphenOilfLKqNF3OxGG/s320/Difficult+people.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">This is
a situation we all have to cope with from time to time. What is the best way to
deal with someone who, for example, gets angry or is rude to you? Or it may be
as simple as someone who never gets around to doing what they said they would
do.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Perhaps
it will help to appreciate that in some way we are probably all a bit difficult
to deal with at times. You may be habitually unpunctual and always turn up late
– how annoying that can be. I may be someone who never puts things back where
they go. That can be maddening! These situations just need a bit more courage
and clear communication, to let the other person know that their habit is
something you aren’t prepared to accept. Say it and then get over it. If it
still happens, say it the same again. But don’t smoulder over it or else
everything about that other person will submerge under one grievance, which is
a great pity. <o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">But
some situations can be more full-on, and be almost a direct attack, or feel
like one to us on the receiving end. There are some techniques that can help
when it’s like that. Having an opening phrase perhaps – Excuse me, can you tell
me exactly what your problem is? Or, Look, if I’ve upset you, it certainly
wasn’t intended. <o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">You
have every right to stand your ground and be assertive against unwarranted
aggression. <o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Jesus said, Love your
enemies. He did not mean be soft with those who oppose you. He meant something
quite simple. When we do not retaliate but keep love as our energy towards
every other person, this takes away the energy coming to us and makes it truly
powerless. Anger feeds on anger but it can’t cope with love.</span></i>Swedenborg Association of Australiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268037524719930440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4961638777564659122.post-26017337164326418552017-04-12T17:19:00.000+10:002017-04-12T17:19:35.717+10:00<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b><i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="color: red;">ARE YOU CONTENTED?</span><o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b><i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="color: blue;">by Julian Duckworth</span></span></i></b></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><br /></span></i></b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAuMKXn8ut4boQVBRz2iVun1OeVReOVkyjOEgYycCNda0co7rPx1no4xRW5xI96FiVZ3ci-jvLTbiJow4iaaEGTAPe8J4-T8KBJ1pV2Fln48Q9gPtkgCgCuWKa_Plgizipy4UY7Ok0wZML/s1600/Contented.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAuMKXn8ut4boQVBRz2iVun1OeVReOVkyjOEgYycCNda0co7rPx1no4xRW5xI96FiVZ3ci-jvLTbiJow4iaaEGTAPe8J4-T8KBJ1pV2Fln48Q9gPtkgCgCuWKa_Plgizipy4UY7Ok0wZML/s320/Contented.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><br /></span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><br /></span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Maybe
asking yourself if you are contented is better than wondering if you are happy.
Being happy implies being cheerful and bright, and nobody can be like that all
the time. But we can be basically contented even though easy times and hard
times come their way, as they do.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Contentment
is about being glad to be who you are; it’s about accepting yourself and
feeling satisfied with what you are like, what you are able to do, and your
overall circumstances in life. It helps us to make the most of everything and
it keeps us away from all those niggling comparisons and envies. It can lead us
to be very thankful for what we do have, and make us more compassionate and
generous towards people who have less than we do. We can then start to help other
people towards their own contentment and acceptance of their life.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">God
makes each person completely unique and different from any other person around.
God knows that each of us is a special person and he loves us as if he only had
each one of us to love.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">When
you come to know yourself reasonably well, and find out what you are good at
doing and also what you can’t do very well, then you’re in a position to find
your best niche in life. Then you can throw yourself into life, enjoy being
yourself, make your contribution to what’s happening around you, and trust the
whole process.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">And
perhaps in the end the question we first asked ‘Are you contented?’ starts to
disappear because you’re no longer needing to ask it or to wonder if you are.
Getting on with life leads on to contentment so that if someone asked you the
question, you’d stop, pause and think, ‘Well, yes. I guess I am contented.’ And
that is a good place to be.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
Swedenborg Association of Australiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268037524719930440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4961638777564659122.post-40855779061817564012017-04-05T15:06:00.000+10:002017-04-05T15:06:01.329+10:00<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b><i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="color: red;">ALWAYS DO YOUR BEST</span></span></i></b><i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b><i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"> </span></i></b><b style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: blue;">by Julian Duckworth</span></span></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.3333px;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div>
<b><i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"></span></i></b><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<b><i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHtYZeaqfcLG28-Xm0zeKvKtsCXwZ_3fGtth82QXwzUvmfhEoXA-gmJnrISrPdt0e6hm6wBBOb7PxU33-d52UHz0YIZlctxSU7OyHYq2ftguoDh3EWT2gll-E0bSMsk0FhT3Wwu7bhJyLz/s1600/Always+do+your+best.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHtYZeaqfcLG28-Xm0zeKvKtsCXwZ_3fGtth82QXwzUvmfhEoXA-gmJnrISrPdt0e6hm6wBBOb7PxU33-d52UHz0YIZlctxSU7OyHYq2ftguoDh3EWT2gll-E0bSMsk0FhT3Wwu7bhJyLz/s320/Always+do+your+best.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></i></b></div>
<b><i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">
</span></i></b><br />
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<i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">It may
sound obvious of course that we should always try and do our best. But it
doesn’t hurt to be reminded about this from time to time. It gives us a
personal standard to set ourselves and if we adopt this it can also bring us a
real peace of mind. I did my best – who can argue with that?<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">You
might well ask, though, how do we ever know what our best possible is? Perhaps
we don’t nor ever will. But doing our best is not asking us to be perfect or
superhuman; it’s simply asking us to be sincere and well-intentioned. We can’t
guarantee how others will feel about the way we do things; that will vary from
person to person, and even though we do our best we might find that some people
don’t like what we did. We need to leave that problem largely with them, and,
if we feel that we did our best, it allows us to avoid feeling guilty or
blaming ourselves for the way things turned out. <o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">The
only person we have full responsibility over is of course ourself. We need to
be true to ourself. It will help too if we adopt the idea that other people are
probably doing their best because that stops us from blaming them.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">In the
Bible, Jesus talks about new beginnings. It is a marvellous thought that
whatever has happened in the past, any moment can become a brand new beginning
based on our decision to do our best. <o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">And
more: if we do our best rather than accepting our second-best, we become a good
example to people round us who feel that we have integrity and mean what we
say. They might not ever tell us to our face how good we are, but they, just
like us too, gain so much from being with people who can be relied on and
trusted to do the best they can.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">No one can ask for
anything more!</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
Swedenborg Association of Australiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268037524719930440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4961638777564659122.post-26077673885821117252015-01-16T12:42:00.000+11:002015-01-16T12:42:01.185+11:00Book Review of The Map of Heaven<h1 style="line-height: 45.0000pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;">
<div class="p0" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 45pt;">By Julian Duckworth</span></div>
</h1>
<div class="p0" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="p16" style="margin-bottom: 13.5pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">Many of you may already be familiar with Eben Alexander’s first and best-selling book “<i>Proof of Heaven</i>” in which he describes in great detail his personal experiences of continuing consciousness after the incontrovertible death of his brain.</span></span></div>
<div class="p16" style="margin-bottom: 13.5pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">Dr Alexander began as a dedicated neurosurgeon after years of training and preparation. He became highly thought of and an expert in his field of surgery. He had no thought that consciousness could or would continue on if the brain has stopped living or functioning, and he would have argued, he says, vehemently against the whole idea.</span></span></div>
<div class="p16" style="margin-bottom: 13.5pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">Until it happened to him during a sudden severe illness which shook him to the core because he saw, met and experienced events and beings after his brain died. This had such a profound effect on him that he could not deny the evidence of it and the certainty, for him, that consciousness continues on in powerful, new and beautiful ways after death.</span></span></div>
<div class="p16" style="margin-bottom: 13.5pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">This is all written about in his first book “<i>Proof of Heaven</i>” which has been a long best-seller. He has done many talks and tours on this subject in recent years.</span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFN_xYeyZTIFDWWXLx5xgf8MZ1c7qcuPl7PB2zfNDhdZcKbrvSphyA5KVrMQaHAgsa5CTzFS_kdGR5M3VamTO3PC4IwvV1wgnliOo2vYNdmI6Ck-GADk4CDVou3BcJe9B9Iajk1ktUXj7h/s1600/Map+of+Heaven.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFN_xYeyZTIFDWWXLx5xgf8MZ1c7qcuPl7PB2zfNDhdZcKbrvSphyA5KVrMQaHAgsa5CTzFS_kdGR5M3VamTO3PC4IwvV1wgnliOo2vYNdmI6Ck-GADk4CDVou3BcJe9B9Iajk1ktUXj7h/s1600/Map+of+Heaven.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="p16" style="margin-bottom: 13.5pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">The second book “<i>The Map of Heaven</i>” has just been published. It ranges far and wide – like any ‘map’ should – of very many people from antiquity to modern times who have put forward the idea of continuing consciousness. He introduces Swedenborg in roughly the middle of the book and later refers to him again several times, very positively.</span></span></div>
<div class="p16" style="margin-bottom: 13.5pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">It is probably best to give a short extract on Dr Alexander’s summary of Swedenborg and the afterlife. If you get the book, it is round about p62 onwards.</span></span></div>
<div class="p16" style="margin-bottom: 13.5pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">“Swedenborg had a particular interest in the brain and spent many years trying to isolate the seat of consciousness – the physical location of what, back in his time, was still called the soul. Then in the middle of his life, Swedenborg discovered (as the psychologist and Swedenborg scholar Wilson Van Dusen put it) that he had been ‘looking in the wrong place’. Swedenborg underwent a spiritual crisis. A series of terrifyingly vivid dreams finally led to a moment in which the heavens themselves seemed to open. Swedenborg’s old world cracked, buckled, and collapsed. A new one grew up in its place.</span></span></div>
<div class="p16" style="margin-bottom: 13.5pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">“Swedenborg devoted the rest of his life to studying and cataloguing the spiritual worlds he had discovered, with the rigour that he had previously devoted to studying the physical world.”</span></span></div>
<div class="p16" style="margin-bottom: 13.5pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">Then Dr Alexander goes on to outline Swedenborg’s understanding of these worlds and what they are, and where they are in relation to our sense of ourselves. He describes the familiarity of objects in the afterlife – there are trees! – and then he covers the all-important point that the laws of spiritual world life work rather differently than here. “The one rule we need to remember from here, however, is that we end up, in the end, where we belong, and we are led by the amount of love we have in us, for love is the essence of heaven. It is what it is made of.”</span></span></div>
<div class="p16" style="margin-bottom: 13.5pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">By all means, go and get yourself a copy of the book. It covers the afterlife extensively and shows the remarkable similarity of different peoples’ experiences and understanding of it. It is … a map of heaven.</span></span></div>
<div class="p16" style="margin-bottom: 13.5pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Arial;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">Julian Duckworth</span></span></div>
<div class="p16" style="line-height: 18.0000pt; margin-bottom: 13.5000pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<br /></div>
Swedenborg Association of Australiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268037524719930440noreply@blogger.com0Sydney NSW, Australia-33.8674869 151.20699020000006-34.711976400000005 149.91609670000005 -33.0229974 152.49788370000007tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4961638777564659122.post-37380376402724118462014-03-29T17:00:00.001+11:002014-03-29T17:02:06.824+11:00<div class="MsoNormal">
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<b><span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Religion Means Nothing if You're Still a Jerk.<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">By Curtis Childs<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"A life of religious devotion without
kindness is not a spiritual life."</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
- Emanuel Swedenborg<br /><br />
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The lyrics to the video <b><i><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHKQHL8gkQE&feature=em-subs_digest">Religion Means Nothing if You're Still a Jerk</a><o:p></o:p></i></b></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: green;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Lyrics:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Peace, please believe, that there's a lot of
human need <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">And a lot of hungry bellies that could do
without human greed<br />
And a lot of people packing churches looking for a seed <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">hoping for a higher love to patch up where we
all bleed <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">they're there to learn, it's a perfect
opportunity to say <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">hey we're all God's children and pump love and
aid into the community<br />
but what they get is politics, us and them, and judgement of the sick<br />
and then we use God to hit each other, like God's some kind of stick<br />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana;">religion means nothing if you've got it, but
you're still a jerk<br />
for me, you, and the planet, buddy it doesn't work <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana;">religion means nothing if you've got it, but
you're still a jerk<br />
for me you and the planet, buddy it doesn't work</span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Exhibit A: human ego, selfishness, and it
strives to subjugate, manipulate, and <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">criticize other people and their lives<br />
it's got territory in each of us and it's looking to rule and if it's in
charge, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">religious concepts are just another tool<br />
the way religions go to war, is the way countries go to war<br />
it's the way people go to war, for whatever they want a war for<br />
the mentality and the method here are all the same, isn't that odd?<br />
it's cause it's the ego driving all of it, the religious covering is just a
facade<br />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana;">religion means nothing if you've got it, but
you're still a jerk<br />
for me, you, and the planet, buddy it doesn't work <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana;">religion means nothing if you've got it, but
you're still a jerk<br />
for me you and the planet, buddy it doesn't work <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">you took faith over love, and that sticking to
your interpretation of the plan<br />
was higher on God's priority list than the agony of your fellow man<br />
why's there so much anti-religion stuff on the message boards,<br />
cause there's a lot of really mean people out there saying "I know the
Lord"<br />
you say belonging to a club is the way, but love is the way<br />
it's not a ritual you do, it's not a prayer that you say <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">the world has open hands, looking to you for
wisdom, but they find none<br />
let me remind you in a few lines, just how far you've fallen from<br />
you were meant to tell us:<br />
that there is meaning in experience, an antidote for the cold<br />
healing from our flaws, marriage of body and soul, a higher purpose, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">a message in the weather,<br />
and a divine protector who can string these hearts and moments together<br />
and how love in the eyes holds the potential, and eternity<br />
the still small voice say take, come and learn from me and <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">yes, you'll see them in a while again, they
were never just the flesh<br />
and I'll hold and you’ll smile again, as we watch the death of death<br />
and kindness is not a weakness, it's the holy core of life<br />
blood and competition too will pass, as epiphanies grow from strife<br />
and you were no accident, you are precious, and you'll be fine<br />
in short, the most beautiful things that you can tell a conscious mind<br />
it's not about doctrinal boxes or what you say or how you appear<br />
but this: when you walk in do people say "oh thank God you're here"<br />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana;">religion means nothing if you've got it, but
you're still a jerk<br />
for me, you, and the planet, buddy it doesn't work<br />
religion means nothing if you've got it, but you're still a jerk<br />
for me you and the planet, buddy it doesn't work<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
Swedenborg Association of Australiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268037524719930440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4961638777564659122.post-86679347487731851462013-06-02T18:04:00.000+10:002013-06-02T18:05:11.231+10:00Dr Leon James on Swedenborg<div style="color: #38761d;">
<b><em>Part 1 of Interview</em></b></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Here
is part 1 (of 2) of a film made by Hawaiian film maker Silas
Leger. An excellent film clip with some of Silas' own exquisite footage
of Hawaii while his mentor Dr Leon James, Professor of Psychology at the
University of Hawaii, superbly explains in simple language some ideas
brought to us by Emanuel Swedenborg such as discerning what motivates
us, being in alignment with Goodness, the nature of angels,
acknowledging the one source of Life, some correspondences between the
physical and spiritual body.</span><br />
<br />
The film-maker's comments about this video:<br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">University
of Hawaii Psychology Professor Dr. Leon James details Swedenborg's
Scientific Discoveries of the Spiritual World. Hawaii resident Nate Orr
also shares insights on living in alignment with the divine.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;"> </span><b><em> </em></b><br />
<b><em><br /></em></b>
<a class="wiki_link_ext" href="http://vimeo.com/10734299" rel="nofollow">http://vimeo.com/10734299</a><br />
<br />
<b style="color: #38761d;"><em>Part 2 of Interview</em></b><span style="color: #38761d;"> </span><br />
<div style="color: black;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Another excellent film clip with Dr Leon James explaining the idea
of our feeling of self, brought to us by Emanuel Swedenborg.</span></div>
<br />
The film-maker's comments about this video:<br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">"Angels
have something in their minds devils lack... Love and Understanding!
Devils think they are independent from God, while angels know that
nothing is possible without God, not even their own existence. Dr. Leon
James talks about this knowledge or acknowledgment gap between the two
opposite mind states.<br />
Angels think of their life from an "as if" or "as of" position. So they
think of self from a standpoint of "as of self" rather than the normal
standpoint of "self" meaning "my own self".<br />
Heaven = knowing you are nothing without god's continual gift of life<br />
Hell = knowing/thinking you have life separate from god<br />
Heaven and Hell are not places but states of mind - time is not real - only durations of states of mind are real."</span><span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;"> </span> <br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<a class="wiki_link_ext" href="http://vimeo.com/11281471" rel="nofollow">http://vimeo.com/11281471</a>Swedenborg Association of Australiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268037524719930440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4961638777564659122.post-75193482840126010572012-03-20T09:58:00.002+11:002012-03-20T10:09:14.555+11:00Comments on the film 'I am' by Tom Shadyac<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> <w:usefelayout/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} </style> <![endif]--><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Verdana; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language:EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">This extraordinary documentary chronicles Tom's journey of awakening as he travels around the world asking leading teachers and thinkers, such as Desmond Tutu, David Suzuki, Noam Chomsky, Lynne McTaggart </span><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Verdana;mso-fareast-font-family:SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-AU;mso-fareast-language: ZH-CN;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA" lang="EN-AU"><span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>‘What’s wrong with</span><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Verdana;mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language: EN-US;mso-fareast-language:EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA"> the world?’ and ‘What can we do about</span><span style="font-size:11.0pt; font-family:Verdana;mso-fareast-font-family:SimSun;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:EN-AU;mso-fareast-language:ZH-CN;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA" lang="EN-AU"> it ?’</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Verdana;"> This is an excellent film.<br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255);">Other questions he asks are: </span></span><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> <w:usefelayout/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} </style> <![endif]--><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Verdana;" lang="EN-AU"><br />Is there a problem that causes all the other problems?<br /><br />Are we basically just greedy, aggressive, and violent creatures wreaking havoc on the planet and each other? What about love, compassion, kindness, empathy? It seems to me the most important question, so I asked it – What is human kind’s basic nature?<br /><br />Is it possible that we have been looking at the world, each other, reality incorrectly? That things are really connected and not separate. If that is the case how do we change things? Can we change things?<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255);">In response to these questions the following is helpful and adds to the discussion.<br /></span></span><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> <w:usefelayout/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><object classid="clsid:38481807-CA0E-42D2-BF39-B33AF135CC4D" id="ieooui"></object> <style> st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } </style> <![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:center" align="center"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Verdana" lang="EN-AU">Nothing unconnected ever occurs, for anything unconnected would instantly perish. <span style="color:green">Emanuel Swedenborg, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Heavenly Secrets</i> 2556.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:center" align="center"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Verdana; color:blue" lang="EN-AU">oooOOOooo</span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:center" align="center"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Verdana" lang="EN-AU">Swedenborg’s view of the individual</span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;text-justify:inter-ideograph"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Verdana" lang="EN-AU">Swedenborg regards the individual as a degenerate being who can easily make the mistake of hoping for salvation by faith alone. Even the highest knowledge of Divine things cannot save a man: until he wills into action the truths he has acquired through knowledge, his essential being does not change. And when he learns to use his will correctly, the change takes place in stages and not all at once. It is because considerable patience and long-suffering is required, that the Lord declared:</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;text-justify:inter-ideograph"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Verdana" lang="EN-AU"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1"> </span>“In patience possess you your souls” (Luke </span><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family: Verdana" lang="EN-AU">21:19</span><span style="font-size:11.0pt; font-family:Verdana" lang="EN-AU">)</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;text-justify:inter-ideograph"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Verdana" lang="EN-AU">A literal translation of the Greek text reads:</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;text-justify:inter-ideograph"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Verdana" lang="EN-AU"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1"> </span>“In your endurance you will gain your soul.”</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;text-justify:inter-ideograph"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Verdana" lang="EN-AU">Transformation or rebirth is a very big process. In essence it is the birth of a new life, spiritual life, in the individual. Unregenerate men and women of all types have before them a tremendous and pleasing destiny if they will but apply themselves to </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:36.0pt;text-align:justify;text-justify: inter-ideograph;text-indent:-16.15pt;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;tab-stops:list 36.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align:none;punctuation-wrap:simple;text-autospace:none; vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Symbol;mso-fareast-font-family:Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family:Symbol" lang="EN-AU"><span style="mso-list:Ignore">·<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""> </span></span></span><span style="font-size:11.0pt; font-family:Verdana" lang="EN-AU">self-analysis, </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:36.0pt;text-align:justify;text-justify: inter-ideograph;text-indent:-16.15pt;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;tab-stops:list 36.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align:none;punctuation-wrap:simple;text-autospace:none; vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Symbol;mso-fareast-font-family:Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family:Symbol" lang="EN-AU"><span style="mso-list:Ignore">·<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""> </span></span></span><span style="font-size:11.0pt; font-family:Verdana" lang="EN-AU">self-correction, and </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:36.0pt;text-align:justify;text-justify: inter-ideograph;text-indent:-16.15pt;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;tab-stops:list 36.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align:none;punctuation-wrap:simple;text-autospace:none; vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Symbol;mso-fareast-font-family:Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family:Symbol" lang="EN-AU"><span style="mso-list:Ignore">·<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""> </span></span></span><span style="font-size:11.0pt; font-family:Verdana" lang="EN-AU">regeneration with the help of God. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;text-justify:inter-ideograph"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Verdana" lang="EN-AU">Every individual has a vital part to play in the building and expansion of heavenly life. The individual must wisely and lovingly devote himself to this supreme end of the creative process for it to become real for him. Without the constant caring action of the Lord God inside a person, not a single thing of regeneration could possibly take place. But the Divine activity must be acknowledged, received, and also reinforced by the individual’s will to reject all that is false and evil. The individual is the locus where the astonishing process of rebirth takes place. It is an exquisitely personal process that requires the joint activity of God and man, and the man always has the complete freedom to choose this as his way of life.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Verdana; color:green" lang="EN-AU">Dr Philip Groves, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Swedenborg’s Mighty Contribution</i>: Swedenborg’s view of the individual.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:center" align="center"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Verdana; color:blue" lang="EN-AU">oooOOOooo</span></b></p><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Verdana;mso-ansi-language: EN-US">What would a Swedenborgian response be to these 2 questions?</span></b> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:54.0pt;text-indent:-18.0pt;mso-list:l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops:list 54.0pt"><span style="font-size:11.0pt; font-family:Wingdings;mso-fareast-font-family:Wingdings;mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings;mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"><span style="mso-list:Ignore">«<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""> </span></span></span><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family: Verdana;mso-ansi-language:EN-US">What’s wrong with the world?</span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:54.0pt;text-indent:-18.0pt;mso-list:l1 level1 lfo2; tab-stops:list 54.0pt"><span style="font-size:11.0pt; font-family:Wingdings;mso-fareast-font-family:Wingdings;mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings;mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"><span style="mso-list:Ignore">«<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""> </span></span></span><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family: Verdana;mso-ansi-language:EN-US">What can we do about it?</span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Verdana; mso-ansi-language:EN-US">These are the responses from people who are very familiar with Swedenborg’s Writings.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Verdana; mso-ansi-language:EN-US">What’s wrong with the world?</span></b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Verdana;mso-ansi-language:EN-US"></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Verdana; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-fareast-language:EN-US" lang="EN-AU">The pervasive atmosphere is a spirit of living life for oneself, which arises out of the appearance that one is an autonomous independent being. There is something deep within that seeks to preserve this at all costs (which is from the Lord) however when the Lord is not acknowledged this is misinterpreted and leads to behaviours and a willingness to sacrifice the happiness and well-being of others – if that’s what it takes (fully justified of course). Without a sense of connection to the source of all life we create an illusionary world in with we can exercise a false sense of control and effectively make our self a god of our own little world. <span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="color:green"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Verdana;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language:EN-US" lang="EN-AU">David Millar</span></span></i><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Verdana;mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";color:green;mso-fareast-language:EN-US" lang="EN-AU"></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Verdana; mso-ansi-language:EN-US">What can we do about it?</span></b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Verdana;mso-ansi-language:EN-US"></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Verdana; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-fareast-language:EN-US" lang="EN-AU">Acknowledge the illusion we live in, look to the source, and attend to the quality of our own belief structures and patterns of being in view of our understanding of truths. We cannot change the world or others, what we can do is be willing to have the Lord change us. The Lord provides for this – work on ourselves (examine ourselves in an attitude open to seeing and responding to what’s revealed) - which is the most effective way to bring a change into the world. <span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="color:green"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Verdana;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language:EN-US" lang="EN-AU">David Millar</span></span></i><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Verdana;mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";color:green;mso-fareast-language:EN-US" lang="EN-AU"> </span><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Verdana;mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-fareast-language:EN-US" lang="EN-AU"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Verdana; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family:Tahoma; mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language:EN-US">When we go through regeneration we become completely different and altogether new because we have been born again. Even though our face and speech hasn't changed, our mind certainly has; it is now open towards heaven, and love to the Lord, love for others and faith all live together in it. Such a changed mind makes us completely different from before and in fact makes us new. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal">Swedenborg</b> ‘</span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Tahoma;mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language:EN-US">Heavenly Secrets’</span></i><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Tahoma;mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language:EN-US"> <span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>3212 <span style="color:green">(selected by </span></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family: Tahoma;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:green;mso-ansi-language: EN-US;mso-fareast-language:EN-US">Julian Duckworth</span></i><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Tahoma;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; color:green;mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language:EN-US">)</span><span style="mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US; mso-fareast-language:EN-US"></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Verdana; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: EN-US">Dedicate - or re-dedicate - ourselves to a life of service.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Verdana; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: EN-US">Teach it to and nurture it in our children.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Verdana; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: EN-US">Refuse to accede to the appearance that the ‘What's in it for me’, ‘Must look after number one’ philosophies are all that there is. The appearance, however, is not the reality. Countless people <i>are</i> dedicated to service and usefulness. <span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="color:green"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Verdana;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language:EN-US">Ian Arnold</span></span></i><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Verdana;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; color:green;mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language:EN-US"></span></p> <br /> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Verdana" lang="EN-AU"> </span></p>Swedenborg Association of Australiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268037524719930440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4961638777564659122.post-14847739147645414412011-03-27T22:54:00.000+11:002011-03-27T22:57:59.882+11:00Mehmet Oz Finds His Teacher<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> <w:usefelayout/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} </style> <![endif]--><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Verdana;" lang="EN">A very interesting article on Dr Mehmet Oz, author and renowned heart surgeon can be found at <a href="http://www.spirituality-health.com/NMagazine/articles.php?id=1768"><span style="">http://www.spirituality-health.com/NMagazine/articles.php?id=1768</span></a>. The title is ‘</span><b style=""><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Verdana;" lang="EN">Mehmet Oz Finds His Teacher</span></b><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Verdana;" lang="EN">’ and his teacher is <span style="font-weight: bold;">Swedenborg</span>. </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Verdana;" lang="EN"><span style=""> </span>He was introduced to Swedenborg by his wife Lisa and has found Swedenborg’s ideas very helpful in his practice of providing holistic healing. He realises the importance of</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Verdana;" lang="EN"> connecting with his patients on both the physical and spiritual levels, as true healing is never about curing just the body. Because Dr Oz has been a regular on the Oprah Show and now has his own show, Swedenborg’s ideas are being promoted by him in various ways such as this article.<br /></span>Swedenborg Association of Australiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268037524719930440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4961638777564659122.post-56926833352341215072011-03-27T22:14:00.000+11:002011-03-27T22:15:17.536+11:00Strong influence of Emanuel Swedenborg on Theosophists, Christian Scientists, Transcendentalists, and New Thoughters.<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> <w:usefelayout/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Verdana;" lang="EN-AU">Below is the link to a very interesting review of the book <em><span style="font-family: Verdana;">American Veda</span></em> by Philip Goldberg. The book tells the story of a new American tradition, derived from both the practices of yoga, and the philosophy of Vedanta. The reviewer, Michael J Altman, acknowledges that while Theosophists, Christian Scientists, Transcendentalists, and New Thoughters were influenced by Vedic texts, <b style="">Emanuel Swedenborg</b> and Franz Anton Mesmer has much if not more influence on these groups as Vedic texts. For full article go to <a href="http://www.religiondispatches.org/books/4395/why_there%27s_yoga_at_your_church_%28or_synagogue,_or_mosque,_or...%29_/">http://www.religiondispatches.org/books/4395/why_there%27s_yoga_at_your_church_%28or_synagogue,_or_mosque,_or...%29_/</a></span></p>Swedenborg Association of Australiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268037524719930440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4961638777564659122.post-67652572895817154752011-03-27T21:54:00.000+11:002011-03-27T21:55:31.530+11:00New Swedenborg Information Website: 'Spiritual Questions'<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> <w:usefelayout/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} </style> <![endif]--><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Verdana;" lang="EN-AU">Visit this new website to find out more about Swedenborg, associated ideas and institutions. The site is fully interactive, offering a real forum for discussion among those interested in the spiritual side of Swedenborg studies. <a href="http://spiritualquestions.org.uk/" target="_blank">http://spiritualquestions.org.uk/</a> </span>Swedenborg Association of Australiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268037524719930440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4961638777564659122.post-15654044059559417212011-03-27T21:48:00.000+11:002011-03-27T21:53:16.000+11:00International Swedenborg Symposium - Stockholm<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> <w:usefelayout/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><object classid="clsid:38481807-CA0E-42D2-BF39-B33AF135CC4D" id="ieooui"></object> <style> st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } </style> <![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Verdana;" lang="EN-AU">On 7th - 9th June 2010, experts and students of Swedenborg studies assembled in </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Verdana;" lang="EN-AU">Stockholm</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Verdana;" lang="EN-AU"> for a symposium on 'Emanuel Swedenborg: A World Memory, Context, Content, Contribution'. The event was organized by the </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Verdana;" lang="EN-AU">Royal</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Verdana;" lang="EN-AU"> </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Verdana;" lang="EN-AU">Swedish</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Verdana;" lang="EN-AU"> </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Verdana;" lang="EN-AU">Academy</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Verdana;" lang="EN-AU"> of Sciences, in celebration of the completion of a new catalogue of their Swedenborg archive. Go to <a href="http://www.center.kva.se/svenska/forskning/Swedenborg2010Program.htm">http://www.center.kva.se/svenska/forskning/Swedenborg2010Program.htm</a> <span style=""> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Verdana;" lang="EN-AU">for abstracts of the papers, photographs and videos of the conference.</span></p>Swedenborg Association of Australiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268037524719930440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4961638777564659122.post-19023087196897877232010-02-15T17:23:00.000+11:002010-02-15T17:24:01.212+11:00Spiritual Rays of Light<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/QizeyZGvXMw&hl=en_GB&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/QizeyZGvXMw&hl=en_GB&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>Swedenborg Association of Australiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268037524719930440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4961638777564659122.post-48049816731832741172010-02-14T11:39:00.001+11:002010-02-14T11:39:54.606+11:00Splendors of the Spirit<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/neo12_YAtq4&hl=en_GB&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/neo12_YAtq4&hl=en_GB&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>Swedenborg Association of Australiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268037524719930440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4961638777564659122.post-67278560868068440852010-02-10T13:25:00.000+11:002010-02-10T13:34:08.904+11:00Tortoises in Swedenborg's writings<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXnex0adAkXXx-xVEcK5wb69w06Ym0SVRceHR5zbjr7Fj7lp7Ao5st9gGYOHtLvP7poZNakLrrFBw3XN6VVo3hpLH7JEnGmtLMdfTW-yZi35ASYRphIijR1ySx0ALmleX9J8bVQNTIh1hY/s1600-h/b_turtles_swedenborg.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXnex0adAkXXx-xVEcK5wb69w06Ym0SVRceHR5zbjr7Fj7lp7Ao5st9gGYOHtLvP7poZNakLrrFBw3XN6VVo3hpLH7JEnGmtLMdfTW-yZi35ASYRphIijR1ySx0ALmleX9J8bVQNTIh1hY/s400/b_turtles_swedenborg.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5436437191935075266" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;color:navy;"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;color:navy;" ><a href="http://www.swedenborgdigitallibrary.org/contets/AR.html"><span style="font-style: italic;">Apocalypse Revealed</span></a> 463<br /><br /></span></span><span style="font-style: italic;">To this I will add this Relation. I looked forth to the seacoast in the spiritual world, and saw there a magnificent dock. I drew near, and looked at it; and, behold, there were vessels there great and small, and merchandise in them of every kind; and upon the decks were boys and girls distributing it to those that wished. And they said, "We are waiting to see our beautiful tortoises, which now and then rise up to us out of the sea." And, behold, I saw tortoises great and small, upon whose shells and scales young tortoises were sitting, which were looking at the islands around. The father tortoises had two heads, the one large, covered over with a shell similar to the shell of their body, whence they had a reddish glow; and the other small, such as tortoises have, which they drew back into the front parts of the body, and also to insert in an unobserved manner in the larger head. But I kept my eyes on the great reddish head; and I saw that this had a face like a man, and spoke with the boys and girls upon the decks, and licked their hands. And the boys and girls then stroked them, and gave them eatables and dainties, and also costly things, as pure silk for garments, thyine wood for tablets, purple for decorations, and scarlet for paints. [2] Seeing these things, I desired to know what they represented; as I knew that all the things that appear in the world of spirits are correspondences, and represent something spiritual coming down from heaven. And they then spoke with me out of heaven, and said, "You yourself know what the dock represents, also what the ships, and the boys and the girls upon the decks; but you do not know what the tortoises represent." And they said, "The tortoises represent those of the clergy there, who altogether separate faith from charity and its good works, affirming in themselves that there is plainly no conjunction between them; but that the Holy Spirit, through faith in God the Father for the sake of the Son's merit, enters into a man, and purifies his interiors even to his own will, out of which they make as it were an oval plane; and that when the operation of the Holy Spirit approaches this plane, it bends itself around it on the left side, and does not at all touch it: and thus that the interior or higher part of a man's nature is for God, and that the exterior or lower is for man; and that thus nothing that the man does, neither good nor evil, appears before God: not the good, because this is meritorious; and not the evil, because this is evil; since, if these appeared before God, the man would perish from both; and since it is so, that man is permitted to will, think, speak, and do whatever he pleases, provided he is careful before the world."</span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;color:navy;"><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;color:navy;" ><span style="font-style: italic;">True Christian Religion</span> 443</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">...from the morality of the external man, no one can form any conclusion as to the morality of the internal, since this may be turned in an opposite direction, and may hide itself as a tortoise hides its head within its shell, or as a serpent hides its head in its coil.</span>Swedenborg Association of Australiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268037524719930440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4961638777564659122.post-74739122787591102432010-02-05T21:02:00.001+11:002010-02-05T21:04:44.597+11:00Emma Curtis Hopkins on Swedenborgians<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.emersononlinestudies.org/Emma%20Curtis%20Hopkins.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 220px; height: 312px;" src="http://www.emersononlinestudies.org/Emma%20Curtis%20Hopkins.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />"No religious people are so happy as the Swedenborgians who search for spiritual meanings to all things and make all things render up to them food for daily living."<br /><br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emma_Curtis_Hopkins">Emma Curtis Hopkins</a>Swedenborg Association of Australiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268037524719930440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4961638777564659122.post-66076116713331159482010-01-23T17:22:00.000+11:002010-01-23T17:33:19.405+11:00Henry James Snr. & Swedenborg<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_E._Marty">Martin E. Marty</a>, in his <a href="http://books.google.com.au/books?id=PbQd6uLg5VQC&pg=PR11&lpg=PR11&dq=%22the+elder+James+fused+old%22&source=bl&ots=T9XM9kFH87&sig=6qMnSov15bln-lMqbxL8yLHMo30&hl=en&ei=6ZVaS_f1FI6OkQWt6ZyXAg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CAcQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%22the%20elder%20James%20fused%20old%22&f=false">introduction</a> to William James' iconic book The Varieties of Religious Experience, has this to say about Henry Snr., father of William and Henry:<br /><br />"Henry Senior found resources for making his break from old-style Calvinism in the writings of the mystic Emanuel Swedenborg, who was then enjoying a vogue in the United States. With the aid of Swedenborg and his own instinctive talent, the elder James fused old religion and new into a private blend..."Swedenborg Association of Australiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268037524719930440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4961638777564659122.post-26020145468767546052010-01-03T14:13:00.000+11:002010-01-03T14:19:20.733+11:00The roots of the New Age<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.cuttingedge.org/NEWS/earth7.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 514px; height: 410px;" src="http://www.cuttingedge.org/NEWS/earth7.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />From <a href="http://www.routledgereligion.com/books/Encyclopedia-of-New-Religious-Movements-isbn9780415453837">Peter Clarke</a>'s fascinating book <span style="font-style: italic;">New Religions in Global Perspective</span> (2006):<br /><br />"The writings of Emanuel Swedenborg...are among the principle sources of New Age thinking, in particular his metaphysical theology, which is an attempt to unravel the inner sense or spiritual sense of the scriptures."Swedenborg Association of Australiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268037524719930440noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4961638777564659122.post-66041600879820872532009-11-29T19:32:00.001+11:002009-11-29T19:46:28.675+11:00Helen Keller<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.ptff.org/CatalogueEntries2007/2007pics/814.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 695px;" src="http://www.ptff.org/CatalogueEntries2007/2007pics/814.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.swedenborg.com/book_detail.asp?pkproductid=180">Helen Keller</a> continues to inspire generations of people, but still very few know about her lifelong love of the writings of <a href="http://www.edwardtbabinski.us/history/helen_keller.html">Emanuel Swedenborg</a>.<br />In a beautiful book she wrote on the subject, <a href="http://www.swedenborg.com/book_detail.asp?pkproductid=90"><span style="font-style: italic;">Light in My Darkness</span></a> (originally published in 1927 as <span style="font-style: italic;">My Religion</span>), Keller lays out how very much <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emanuel_Swedenborg">Swedenborg's ideas </a>influenced her and helped her to make the best of her extraordinary life. The <a href="http://www.swedenborg.com/page.asp?page_name=acquisitions">Swedenborg Foundation </a>has also produced an absolutely fascinating documentary film of her life called <span style="font-style: italic;">Shining Soul</span> which is well worth seeing.<br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIaMgD1VmmY">Keller's</a> advocacy of Swedenborg was a result of some influential mentors in her life who were themselves prominent Swedenborgians. She was given access to braille editions of Swedenborg's writings, and in them she found great spiritual solace.Swedenborg Association of Australiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268037524719930440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4961638777564659122.post-49998883743019143922009-11-28T15:01:00.001+11:002009-11-30T16:37:51.131+11:00The Connection between the Ramakrishna Vedanta Movement and Swedenborgianism<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.belurmath.org/image/the_emblem_ramakrisha_order.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 338px;" src="http://www.belurmath.org/image/the_emblem_ramakrisha_order.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />A few weeks ago we were lucky enough to host a talk by the wonderful Rev. Pravrajika Mataji, and she inspired us all with wisdom, presence and deep understanding of spiritual truths.<br /><br />Many people may not realise that there is an unusual and quite important connection between the <a href="http://www.ramakrishna.org/rmk_ordr.htm">Ramakrishna Order</a>, of which Mataji is a senior Nun, and the <a href="http://swedenborg.com.au/history.htm">Swedenborgian movement</a>.<br /><br /><br />The <a href="http://vedanta-philippines.org/content-emblem.htm">Ramakrishna Order</a> was first brought to the West by Swami Vivekananda, an extraordinary person of truly impressive personality, towering intellect and great spiritual depth. The <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxUzKoIt5aM">Swami</a> came to <a href="http://www.ramakrishna.org/rmk_hstry.htm">America</a> in 1893 as a Hindu representative to the Chicago Parliament of the World’s Religions.<br /><br />It is not overstating it to say that the Swami stole the show, with his colourful robes, oratorical skills and great good looks. He received standing ovations at his talks, and introduced to the West the words of the Bhagavad Gita, that greatest of Indian spiritual classics.<br /><br />As is well known in Swedenborgian circles, the man behind the establishment of the first World Parliament of Religions in Chicago (and let’s not forget that it is taking place in a couple of months in Melbourne) was brought about through the efforts of one Mr. John Bonney, a prominent attorney and passionate Swedenborgian. It was his conviction of the presence of a common religious culture amongst all the world’s peoples that led him to establish the Parliament, and it was his words that opened and closed the great event, surely one of the most momentous in the history of inter-cultural understanding.<br /><br /><br />It seemed perfectly poetic that on the eve of the December 2009 World Parliament of Religions, we once more have a gathering of Swedenborgians paying rapt attention to another monastic disciple of Ramakrishna, one of India’s greatest spiritual masters.<br /><br />Another great Swedenborgian scholar is Wilson Van Dusen. In an intriguing paper called <a href="http://www.sfswedenborgian.org/SwedenborgianTheology/VanDusenAdvancedSwedenborg.pdf">THE SAME SUPREME DOCTRINE IN SWEDENBORG, HINDUISM, AND BUDDHISM</a> he sets out some of the intriguing parallels between the spiritual writings of Swedenborg and the doctrines of Hinduism, the most ancient of mankind’s spiritual traditions. Though Swedenborg had no contact with the great religious texts of the East that we know of, he certainly had access to the great wisdom of God that is available to all, irrespective of race and religion. Van Dusen says that, like the Hindus, Swedenborg saw the importance of a direct experience of God, an experience which will encourage people to deepen their spiritual lives and arrive at the truly universal spiritual understanding of one-ness.Swedenborg Association of Australiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268037524719930440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4961638777564659122.post-15340596421214883472009-10-13T16:12:00.000+11:002009-10-13T16:14:19.725+11:00The Swedenborg Whale<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikd7ldI7wCdTpo_YAJQDY5M9Ofs9yZv4epZh2KBGYrC5OxDmTtdxxefADKQo9LY3V2MWSu5evtlZThsVsc1sFSyF7aJF1tJ-tls4tw6BsJbQ4VEEPxHcQ2_4SKHQncW9mGfonGupia7rLB/s320/prehistoric-whale-2.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikd7ldI7wCdTpo_YAJQDY5M9Ofs9yZv4epZh2KBGYrC5OxDmTtdxxefADKQo9LY3V2MWSu5evtlZThsVsc1sFSyF7aJF1tJ-tls4tw6BsJbQ4VEEPxHcQ2_4SKHQncW9mGfonGupia7rLB/s320/prehistoric-whale-2.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Science News: <strong>Prehistoric Whale Discovered On The West Coast Of Sweden</strong><br /><br />ScienceDaily (June 8, 2009)<br /><br />The skeleton of a whale that died around 10,000 years ago has been found in connection with the extension of the E6 motorway in Strömstad. The whale bones are now being examined by researchers at the University of Gothenburg who, among other things, want to ascertain whether the find is the mystical "Swedenborg whale".<br /><br />There are currently four species of right whale. What is particularly interesting is that the size and shape of the whale bones resemble those of a fifth species: the mystical "Swedenborg whale", first described by the scientist Emmanuel Swedenborg in the 18th century.<br /><br />"Bones from what is believed to be Swedenborg's right whale have previously been found in western Sweden. However, determining the species of whale bones found in earth is complicated and there is no definitive conclusion on whether the whale actually existed, it could equally well be a myth," says zoologist Thomas Dahlgren and his colleague Leif Jonsson.<br /><br /><strong>DNA tests conducted</strong><br /><br />To determine the species of whale that has been found Thomas Dahlgren has conducted DNA tests that are to be analysed in conjunction with researchers at the Natural History Museum in London. The whale bones are interesting in several respects. The fragments of bone were collected in a clay deposit and remains of marine organisms that today are also endangered species were found around them.<br /><br />"The hunt for the large whale species, which led to the extinction of the Atlantic grey whale and perhaps the Swedenborg whale, may also have caused the extinction of a large number of species that are dependent on whale carcasses for their survival," says Thomas Dahlgren.<br /><br /><strong>Preserved in clay</strong><br /><br />The whale bones are thought to be around 10,000 years old and were found 75 metres above sea level, but in a site that at that time was located out on the coast. It is conjectured that the bones have been preserved for such a long time as they were surrounded by fine, oxygen-free clay. The largest whale bone, approximately 2.5 metres long, is part of a jawbone. Among the smaller bones is a vertebra. Discussions are underway on whether the bones can be put in order and potentially put on public display.<br /><br /><strong>Facts about the Swedenborg whale (Balaena Swedenborgii)</strong><br /><br />The whale species is believed to have existed in the North Sea from the period when the inland ice melted until about 8,000 years ago, and subsequently to have died out. Ten collections of bones from the species have been found in the west of Sweden. However, there is speculation that the bones have been mistaken for other species, and that the Swedenborg whale never existed. Source: <em>Swedish National Encyclopedia</em><br /><br />Adapted from materials provided by University of Gothenburg.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Whale cartoon: <a href="http://cidutest.files.wordpress.com/2007/08/whalesongs.gif" target="_blank">http://cidutest.files.wordpress.com/2007/08/whalesongs.gif</a>Swedenborg Association of Australiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14268037524719930440noreply@blogger.com0