The giant-impact hypothesis posits that billions of years ago a Mars-sized body named Theia collided with the early Earth.
The immense energy from this impact not only significantly altered Earth’s rotational dynamics but also resulted in debris being ejected into space. Over time, this debris coalesced to form the Moon.
We do not know for sure if Theia existed and if it collided with the young proto-Earth, but the evidence is compelling.
“As we gracefully transition from the meditation and visualization practices that unravel the sublime Clear Light of Reality, it is time to gently steer our minds toward the profound philosophical doctrines embedded within the Chikhai Bardo1. One of the first doctrines we encounter illuminates the intrinsic purity and luminosity of the mind, often referred to as “Rigpa” in Tibetan Buddhism. This state, akin to the vastness of the clear sky unmarred by passing clouds, is the inherent nature of the mind. Recognizing and resting in this nature is key to liberation. We are guided through practices such as sky-gazing, where we allow our minds to merge with the vast openness, experiencing the unobstructed nature of Rigpa, and witnessing the transient nature of phenomena without attachment or aversion. We then delve into the transient nature of life, as vividly portrayed in the Chikhai Bardo. Here, we learn that embracing impermanence opens the heart to the infinite possibilities of each moment and fosters a deep appreciation for the preciousness of human life. Visualizing an ever-flowing river, we internalize the fluidity and transient nature of existence, fostering a deeper acceptance of change and loss.
“At the heart of the Chikhai Bardo’s philosophical wisdom is the teaching of liberation through recognition. The teachings resonate as a call to awaken to our intrinsic purity and to see through the illusions that veil our true selves. Meditating on a rainbow, practitioners explore the transient and ungraspable beauty of phenomena, inviting a non-dualistic perception of reality. The resonance of compassion and the cultivation of Bodhicitta play a significant role in guiding our journey. The melody of altruistic love and intention for enlightenment is enriched and emphasized, leading us through shadows and into the warm embrace of enlightenment.”
-Guide to the Tibetan Book of the Dead
Purity of Mind is important for spiritual development. What that means is that we practice thinking in terms of peace, love, tolerance, and joy while pushing away thoughts of anger, jealousy, and violence. There is also the idea of clearing the mind of all thought when engaging in spiritual practices, but that is easier said than done. Learning to avoid negative thinking is the first step.
The author of this book may not know what is being hinted at here, but spiritual development doesn’t come from randomly looking at things in the sky. You have to look at the sun in a proper way that is safe (never stare at the sun!) with the idea of eventually seeing beyond the physical sun to the Spiritual Sun. It is the Light from the Spiritual Sun that awakens and develops the spirit and soul.
One thing materialists fail to grasp is that everything physical is transient. Some things may last only minutes, while others last for billions of years, yet nothing physical is eternal. Only the spiritual is eternal. That is why developing our spiritual Self is so important.
There are several levels of illusion (or veils) that we need to see through. Just within the physical realm we see people are distracted from the truth with pleasant things they are told are important when they are not. Trust me when I say that God doesn’t care one bit who wins the football game or the hockey game. We are told that such things are important so we allow ourselves to be distracted away from what is really important. Just on the physical level, the wealthy and powerful want to keep the rest of us distracted from their greedy activities.
Beyond the physical, we need to see the spiritual. It has been veiled from us for a long time, but the veils are now being lifted and slowly some people are awakening to the truth.
One other important thing that spiritual students need to develop is altruistic love or the love of all that God has created. It is difficult for some to grasp, but we need to learn that we can love a person even while disliking their behavior. God doesn’t like a lot of the things we do, but because he loves all of us, he can forgive wrong behavior (that doesn’t mean there won’t be a karmic debt to be paid). If you have a pet, sometimes the pet will misbehave by doing something like peeing in the house or chewing on the furniture. We don’t stop loving the pet because it occasionally misbehaves. That is how we must treat all people and all beings.
1Tibetan Book of the Dead
The Earth is bathed in high-energy particles. Known as cosmic rays, most of them are protons striking us at nearly the speed of light. Fortunately, the atmosphere protects us from any significant harm, though the particles can strike with so much energy that they create a shower of lower energy particles that do reach Earth’s surface. That’s actually how we can detect most cosmic rays.
We aren’t entirely sure what accelerates these particles so tremendously. There are phenomena that can do it. Nearby supernovae can generate lower energy cosmic rays, but the origin of the highest-energy cosmic rays is less understood.
When we first began searching for planets around other stars, one of the surprising discoveries was that there are planets orbiting white dwarfs. The first exoplanets we ever discovered were white dwarf planets. Of course, these planets were barren and stripped of any atmosphere, so we had to look at main sequence stars to find potentially habitable worlds. Or so we thought.
As we discovered more white dwarf planets, it became clear that some of them might retain atmospheres and water. Perhaps they were an outer planet with a thick atmosphere before their star swelled to a red giant, or perhaps some of the gas ejected by the star to become a white dwarf was captured by the world.
A team of astronomers have mapped the nearby universe, from about 425 million to 800 million light-years (which translates to some 130 to 250 megaparsecs), and discovered the largest-known structure residing there. They’ve named this massive collection of galaxies Quipu. And they said it stretches some 1.3 billion light-years (400+ megaparsecs) long, containing the mass of some 200 quadrillion stars.
Saturday, February 22, 2025
10:00 AM COMMUNION
Chapel of The Holy Child
Lector: RM Barbara Whitney
Cantor: RC Amanda Buchanan
Reader: Rev. Bruce Kanzelmeyer
Sunday, February 23, 2025
SUNRISE DIVINE SERVICE
Church of the New Epiphany
Leave: 5:45
Gate: 6:30
Service Starts: 6:33
Sunrise: 6:48
Concelebrants:
RF Robert Petrovich
Rev. Bruce Kanzelmeyer
Assistant: Barbara Whitney
OPEN-AIR COMMUNION
Church of the End Times: RM Elizabeth Reece
Church of the Americas: RM Barbara Whitney
Wednesday, February 26, 2025, Noon
Chapel of the Holy Child
Rev. Michael McIntyre
Friday, February 28, 2025, 9:00 am
Chapel of the Roses, Steamboat Priory
RF Ted Staver
HEAD OVERSEER’S WEEKLY MESSAGE
Wednesday, February 19, 2025
This past Saturday’s readings were from the Testament of Levi and a continuation from the Prophecy of the New Covenant, Chapter 91: Testament of the New Covenant (pp. 971 – 979). Click here to read the first scriptural reading, and click the audio button below to hear the reading from our Second Advent scripture.
Once again, please feel free to ask me any questions by calling 775-786-7432 or emailing me at messages@cosolargy.org. I am always at your service.
In Light+,
Gene
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“Where there is envy and strife, there is an incompleteness; but where there is unity, there is completeness. Since this incompleteness came about because they did not know the father, from the moment when they know the father, incompleteness will cease to exist. As one’s ignorance disappears when one gains knowledge, and as darkness disappears when light appears, so also incompleteness is eliminated by completeness. Certainly, from that moment on, form is no longer manifest but will be dissolved in fusion with unity. Now their works lie scattered. In time unity will make the spaces complete. By means of unity each one will understand himself. By means of knowledge one will purify himself from multiplicity into unity, devouring matter within himself like fire and darkness by light, death by life.
“Certainly, if these things have happened to each one of us, it is fitting for us, surely, to think about all so that the house may be holy and silent for unity. Like people who have moved from a house, if they have some dishes around that are not good, they are broken. Nevertheless, the householder does not suffer a loss but rejoices, for in the place of these defective dishes there are those that are completely perfect. For this is the judgment that has come from above and that has judged every person, a drawn two-edged sword cutting on this side and that. When the word appeared, who is in the heart of those who pronounce it—it was not merely a sound but has become a body—a great disturbance occurred among the dishes, for some were emptied, others filled; some were provided for, others were removed; some were purified, still others were broken. All the spaces were shaken and disturbed for they had no composure nor stability. Error was disturbed, not knowing what she should do. She was troubled, she lamented, she was beside herself because she did not know anything. When knowledge, which is the abolishment of error, approached her with all her emanations, error was empty, since there was nothing in her. Truth appeared; all its emanations recognized it. They greeted the father in truth with a power which is complete and which joins them with the father.
“Each one loves truth because truth is the mouth of the father. His tongue is the holy spirit. Whoever touches truth touches the mouth of the father by his tongue at the time when one will receive the holy spirit.”
-Gospel of Truth
Envy and strife happen when greed abounds. We see much of this in the world today. The greedy who take far more than they need are considered by most to be heroes instead of sinners, but greed is still one of the seven deadly sins, and in one way or another, karma will catch up with the greedy. At a minimum, we know that those who choose the pleasures of the physical world, will not move on to the spiritual realm when they die.
Ignorance does disappear when one gains true Knowledge. There are, however, two kinds of ignorance. One can have ignorance of the physical world due to a lack of experience and education. However, even highly educated people regarding the physical realm can be ignorant of the spiritual, which is the worst kind of ignorance as it endangers the immortal Soul.
With Knowledge and Truth, we become purified, in the sense that we know right from wrong rather than just accepting the opinions of others on what is right and wrong. When we have true Knowledge, we also have universal Love, Love for all beings, love for all that God created. That doesn’t mean that we accept all kinds of horrid behavior, but it does mean that we separate the behavior from the person. Perhaps if more people practice this, we would have less evil behavior in the world. When a lot of people are sending negative thoughts and negative energy towards such people, that energy only makes them worse. If they were sent more love, at least some of them would start to change, and a few be completely changed into the loving beings God intended us to be.
When The Word appears, as it has now in the Sun of Righteousness, some “dishes” will be filled, some left empty, some purified, others broken. This is an allegory. Dishes here represent the human spirit and soul. Those who seek and take in The Word found in the Light of the Spiritual Sun will be purified and saved. Those who cling to materialism will not be filled by the Light and will perish as do all material beings. So seek completeness by taking in the Light of the Spiritual Sun, don’t remain incomplete.
Hypervelocity stars (HVSs) were first theorized to exist in the late 1980s. In 2005, the first discoveries were confirmed. HVSs travel much faster than normal stars, and sometimes, they can exceed the galactic escape velocity. Astronomers estimate that the Milky Way contains about 1,000 HVSs, and new research shows that some of these originate in the Milky Way’s satellite galaxy, the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC).
