Only within his own soul can a man find the means to unseal the lips of an initiate. He must develop within himself certain facilities to a definite degree, and then the highest treasures of the spirit can become his own.

He must begin with a certain fundamental attitude of soul. In spiritual science this fundamental attitude is called the path of veneration, of devotion to truth and knowledge. Without this attitude no one can become a student. . . . There are children who look up with religious awe to those whom they venerate. . . . From the ranks of such children are recruited many students of higher knowledge. . . . It is a blessing for every human being in process of development to have such feelings upon which to build. Only it must not be thought that this disposition leads to submissiveness and slavery. What was once a childlike veneration for persons becomes, later, a veneration for truth and knowledge. ~Rudolf Steiner

“It is unfortunate that many people think spirituality, as with some religious cults and churches, is all about worshiping individuals. Mr. Steiner explains that, while this may be true of children (and childish or lazy adults), It is not true of the real seeker, the person seeking a higher life, a higher world. To that person, it is not about worship, but about gaining knowledge, wisdom, and truth. And true knowledge (Gnosis), wisdom and truth can come only from awakening your spiritual faculties and using them regularly until you reach a high state of enlightenment, a state where you don’t have to look up things in books, or debate them with intellectuals, he simply knows what is right and what is wrong, what is true and what is lies, distortions, or half-truths.”

< Read the entire article online on Harold’s blog at spiritsun.net. >

contributed by Harold Boulette

Week 7A

 Two thousand years ago Jews would stone a person for working on the Sabbath.  By comparison, in the 21^st century, people are being criminally charged for the abuse and killing of domestic animals.  A seven-year-old child in Western culture today can do math problems using zeros; a concept unfathomable 1,500 years ago and that child would have been celebrated as being beyond genius.  Many expressions of music, art, and architecture from the past century would be virtually indigestible for anyone living 700 years ago.

A new science lies on the horizon that suggests that humans are evolving in a fashion not apparent by any biological display.  Cognitive anthropology is the study of cognition to identify conscious peculiarities between cultures, past or present, and peripherally includes inter-species investigations of humans, primates, dolphins, birds, canines, rodents, even lizards, ants, and bees. 

Carl Jung made a good case for cognitive anthropology, although a bit wishful, long before the science was born, stating, “The differing degrees of self-knowledge within [humankind’s] own species are of little significance compared with the possibilities which would be opened out by an encounter with a creature of similar structure but different origin. . . . The possibility of comparison and hence self-knowledge would arise only if [humankind] could establish relations with quasi-human mammals inhabiting other stars.” (The Undiscovered Self, rev. trans. by RFC Hull, 1958, paragraphs 526 and 525.

Like all previous weeks in this tour, this is just a brief introduction, and the citations are only a whisper compared to all volumes on the subject.

PART A

Daniel Everett, No title (Everett talks about the Pidaha (pronounced pih-ra-ha), a people who have no words for colors or numbers nor consider any distant past or future), September 9, 2013: 46 minutes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ad6V9AKt24U&list=PLvUXF94GJw3PJURjalMdE57CNjjAmfCi4

Klaus Zuberbuhler and Con Slobodchikoff, “Wild Talk,”Radiolab,October 18, 2010: 21 minutes. http://www.radiolab.org/story/98611-wild-talk/

Ed Green et al., “End of Neanderthal Man,” September 23, 2008: 5 minutes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIQNzbd4-RY

Robert Sapolsky,”The Uniqueness of Humans,“TED Talks, Stanford University, 2009, posted January 2010: 38 minutes.

https://www.ted.com/talks/robert_sapolsky_the_uniqueness_of_humans

by Michael McIntyre

< WEEK 7B >

No teacher of the spiritual life wishes to establish a mastery over other persons … He would not tamper with anyone’s independence. Indeed, none respect and cherish human independence mote than the spiritually experienced. … Whenever the initiate leaves his enclosed spiritual sphere and steps forth before the world, he must immediately take a third law into account. It is this: Adapt each one of your actions, and frame each one of your words in such a way that you infringe upon no one’s free-will.

The recognition that all true teachers of the spiritual life are permeated through and through with this principle will convince all who follow the practical rules proffered to them that they need sacrifice none of their independence. … Originally all rules and teachings of spiritual science were expressed in a symbolic sign-language, some understanding of which must be acquired before its whole meaning and scope can be realized. This understanding is dependent on the first steps toward higher knowledge, and these steps result from the exact observation of such rules as they are given. ~Rudolf Steiner

“This is one way you can tell the true spiritual teacher from the phony, the cult leader. The true spiritual teacher tells you what you need to know to grow spiritually (note that it is not necessarily the same for each individual), but makes no effort to force you to follow that path. She may recommend that you eat certain foods and avoid others, but will not criticize or ostracize you for eating something you were advised to avoid. A real spiritual teacher may recommend that you dress in certain colors, for example, if you are a very materialistic type, he may advise that you avoid wearing red or orange and instead wear green, blue and purple. He will not, however, kick you out of the school because you show up in an orange jacket.

“On the other hand, the cult leader who tells you what to wear, where to live, who to marry, etc. and enforces it with a strong hand is not at all a spiritual leader. The preacher who insists that you cannot possibly be saved if you do not join his church and follow his rules to the letter is also not a real spiritual teacher. And the preacher, church or religious group that tries to get laws passed to force everyone into their church, or at least to follow it’s teachings,  is also a fraud. A real church or spiritual school would, of course, love it if everyone followed their teachings, but they would never try to force anyone by legal means, by violence, or by any other form or coercion.”

< Read the entire blog online at spiritsun.net. >

by Harold Boulette

This week we will look at the brain. Any of us are able to drive an automobile without knowing the inner workings of the machine. But a professional race course driver is certainly familiar with engine design and dynamics. There are many popular misconceptions about the brain, and having some primary understandings of the brain will leave us better suited to talk about consciousness in light of our Teachings.

The first three videos in this week’s selections are short: 24 minutes total. They are a good introduction to basic brain structure and function that may be referred to at any time and will help prepare you for presentations in later weeks.  

Asap Science. 7 Myths About the Brain You Thought Were True, June 6, 2014.  3 minutes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfgkAJmp9-A

Iain McGilchrist. The Divided Brain, October 2011. 12 minutes. https://www.ted.com/talks/iain_mcgilchrist_the_divided_brain

Armando Hasudungan. Brain Overview: Lobes, Diencephalo, Brain Stem, and Limbic System, September 19, 2012. 12 minutes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRyp8EdRUiE

Nancy Kanwisher. A Neural Portrait of the Human Mind,  March 2014. 18 minutes.

http://www.ted.com/talks/nancy_kanwisher_the_brain_is_a_swiss_army_knife

Neil Burgess. How Your Brain Tells You Where You Are, November 2011. 9 minutes.

https://www.ted.com/talks/neil_burgess_how_your_brain_tells_you_where_you_are

Daniel Wolpert. The Real Reason for Brains, July 2011. 20 minutes.

https://www.ted.com/talks/daniel_wolpert_the_real_reason_for_brains

Susan Herculano-Houzel. What Is So Special About the Human Brain?, June 2013. 14 minutes.

https://www.ted.com/talks/suzana_herculano_houzel_what_is_so_special_about_the_human_brain

— Michael McIntyre

< Read WEEK 7A >

For the present we are less intent to the Vision, and cannot yet open the eyes of our mind to behold the incorruptible and incomprehensible beauty of that Good; but then we shall see it, when we have nothing at all to say of it. For the knowledge of it is a Divine Silence, and the rest of all the senses; for neither can he that understands that, understand something else, nor he that sees that, see anything else, nor hear any other thing, nor in sum move the Body. For shining steadfastly upon and round the whole mind, it enlighteneth all the Soul; and loosing it from the bodily senses and motions, it draweth it from the body, and change it wholly into the Essence of God.

For it is possible for the Soul, O Son, to be deified while yet it lodgeth in the body of man, if it contemplate the beauty of the Good. ~Hermes

“In other words, the human brain/mind is not capable of really understanding the worlds of spirit and the beings that dwell their, especially God. Because of this, men have tried to create God, angels, and other spiritual being in their image rather than learning what they truly are.”

< Read the entire blog online at spiritsun.net. >

by Harold Boulette

 One way to better understand consciousness is to study cognitive development in infants and children. Comparing these levels of development may indicate how cognition in the human species became more sophisticated over the course of thousands of years. 

Cognitive science also investigates how humans process thought compared to other animal species, such as dolphins, birds, bonobos, and chimpanzees. Many of these animals display a capacity for thinking in symbols, self-awareness, and the empathetic ability to assess the disposition of other creatures, or in a sense, “read their minds.” The ability to predict what another is thinking or feeling, because we can think or feel as they do, is sometimes referred to as “Theory of Mind.” Fifty years ago these traits were thought to be exclusive to humans.

There is, however, a conscious attribute which may be more present in humans and perhaps absent in any other species: metacognition. Metacognition is the ability to assess, oversee, and then reformulate the way we think. This skill enables us to redefine ourselves, giving us agency over the evolution of our consciousness.

Radiolab, Jules Davidoff, Guy Deutscher. Why Isn’t the Sky Blue? 22 minutes.

http://www.radiolab.org/story/211213-sky-isnt-blue/

Alison Gopnik. What Do Babies Think?, July 2011. 19 minutes.

https://www.ted.com/talks/alison_gopnik_what_do_babies_think

Paul Bloom. What It Is Like to Be a Baby: The Development of Thought, September 2008. 49 minutes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eznq75eBy2oHYPERLINK “http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eznq75eBy2o&list=PL00E937C5BB0B1A1C&index=5″&HYPERLINK “http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eznq75eBy2o&list=PL00E937C5BB0B1A1C&index=5″list=PL00E937C5BB0B1A1CHYPERLINK “http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eznq75eBy2o&list=PL00E937C5BB0B1A1C&index=5″&HYPERLINK “http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eznq75eBy2o&list=PL00E937C5BB0B1A1C&index=5″index=5

Alise Shafer Ivey. Metaphor and Metacognition, July 3, 2012. 24 minutes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ymzIdDMDvM

Susan Savage-Rumbaugh. The Gentle Genius of Bonobos, February 2004. 18 minutes.

http://www.ted.com/talks/susan_savage_rumbaugh_on_apes_that_write?language=en

— Michael McIntyre

< Read WEEK 6 >

I am drawn by the law of spiritual gravitation towards union with the Universal Soul and can no more escape return there than the mortal elements of man can escape their return to dust. Man sees glory by the reflected light of glory within him, he knows love by the love within himself. The sun is seen by the light of the sun and not by any light within man. Man sees the spirit by the light of the spirit, and not by the light within his mortal self. Only by the light of the spirit can the spirit of man be lit. … I am your own true self which should be forever cherished. By listening to my whispers, by letting your thoughts dwell on me and by knowing me, the whole glory of the greater spheres is opened unto you. ~The Kolbrin Bible GLN:17:10-11

“This section of the Kolbrin Bible may be confusing because of the change in voice. In most of the previous sections, it was fairly obvious that the speaker was God. In this section, the speaker is our own souls. Our souls are telling us what we need to do to awaken them and the vale of doing so.”

< Read the entire blog online at spiritsun.net. >

by Harold Boulette

Two trees are growing in paradise. One bears animals, the other bears people. Adam ate from the tree that bore animals and became an animal and brought forth animals, and so Adam’s children worship animals. The tree whose fruit Adam ate is the tree of knowledge. So his sins increased. If he had eaten fruit from the tree of life, the one bearing people, the gods would worship men and women for in the beginning God created man and women. Now they create god. In the world humans make gods and worship their creations. It would be better if the gods worshiped them. ~The Gospel of Phillip

“Much of the Gospel of Phillip can be confusing, and seemingly contradictory, and this paragraph is no exception. Lets start with the two trees we have all heard of but few understand: The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil and The Tree of Life. Many don’t get that this is a very allegorical story, although I don’t know why. “

< Read the entire blog online at spiritsun.net. >

by Harold Boulette

 In week 4 we look at the difference between consciousness and being consciously aware, from the perspective of researcher and skeptic Susan Blackmore. The second talk posits that the expression of consciousness requires a “local” in order for consciousness to reside; this would be in accord with Cosolargy’s teaching that we have to generate a Light body in order that 5-D Consciousness can have somewhere to reside.

Susan Blackmore. Brain, Mind, and Consciousness.  Delivered to the Skeptics Society, 2005;uploaded to YouTube Jan. 26, 2011: 56 minutes. Available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdMA8RVu1sk

Antonio Damasio. The Quest to Understand Consciousness. TED talk,Mar. 2011: 19 minutes. Available at https://www.ted.com/talks/antonio_damasio_the_quest_to_understand_consciousness

— Michael McIntyre

< Read WEEK 5 >

Those who love the pleasures of this present life pass from evil thoughts to actual sins. Since they lack discrimination, they turn almost all their sinful thoughts into wicked words or unholy deeds. Those, on the other hand, who are trying to pursue the ascetic life, struggle first against evil thoughts and malicious words. So when the demons find such people cheerfully abusing others, indulging in idle and inept talk, laughing at the wrong time, uncontrollably angry or desiring vain and empty glory, they join forces to attack them. Using love of praise in particular as a pretext for their evil schemes, the demons slip into the soul – as through a window at night – and despoil it. So those who wish to live in virtue should not hanker after praise, be involved with too many people, … or abuse others (however much they deserve it), or talk excessively, … ~The Philokalia

“Many people think that it is perfectly acceptable to dream of doing things they know are wrong, as long as they don’t actually do them. Spiritual teachers know better. The quote gives one reason why: When you keep thinking about such things, you soon start talking about them to others. And, as you talk about them more, they soon start to sound reasonable and you start doing them. And it you don’t, someone you have talked to about them does.”

< Read the entire blog online at spiritsun.net. >

by Harold Boulette