His Holiness the Dalai Lama is Given a Warm Welcome in Wiesbaden, Germany

Wiesbaden, Hessen, Germany, 12 July 2015 - Arriving early this morning in Frankfurt at the end of a long flight from New York, His Holiness the Dalai Lama was welcomed at the airport by representatives of the Indian Consulate and Frank Auth on behalf of Friends for a Friend. The drive through the fertile countryside to Wiesbaden was fast. In fields on either side of the expressway stood an array of golden wheat.

After some rest during the morning, His Holiness joined old friends, including former Prime Minister Roland Koch and his wife, for lunch. During a short meeting with sponsors of the afternoon's public talk he paid tribute to his long friendship with the German people, reaching back to his first visit to Europe in 1973, and the people of Hessen in particular.

At a meeting with the Press immediately afterwards he outlined his commitments to sharing with others the idea that cultivating humane inner values is the real source of human happiness. He also mentioned his commitments to promoting inter-religious harmony and preserving the culture and language, as well as the fragile natural environment, of Tibet.

He was asked to begin with what he felt about the pro-Shugden demonstrators and their noisy protest in the street outside. He replied simply:

"I'm happy to see they enjoy freedom of expression. The practice and the spirit they are referring to has been controversial for nearly 400 years. Over the last 80 years or so it was the source of severe and divisive sectarianism. This is something that needs to be carefully investigated."

Asked about the celebrations of his 80th birthday His Holiness said that it was more important to do something meaningful with your life, to dedicate your actions of body, speech and mind to the well-being of others. This, he said, is how he'd lived. About the conflict between Buddhists and Muslims in Burma, he said it is really sad. He mentioned that he had appealed to these Burmese Buddhists, when their feelings of anger are aroused, to remember the face of the Buddha, who he is convinced would offer the Muslims his protection if he were there.

It was a short drive to the Wiesbaden Kurpark where a small pavilion and stage had been erected and 12,000 people had assembled to welcome His Holiness and hear what he had to say. Frank Auth of Friends for a Friend warmly welcomed the public, the Mayor of Wiesbaden, Roland Koch, Claudia Roth and that longstanding friend of the people of Hessen, His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

Before any further speeches were made, Auth invited Tibetan singer, Dechen and her band to perform. To the band's mellow accompaniment she sang a song focused on the mantra of compassion Om mani padme hum, which paid respect to the Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara or Chenrezig.

The Mayor of Wiesbaden remarked that the people of the city were proud to have His Holiness among them once again and noted the long friendship that has existed between them. Claudia Roth, a Green Party politician who is one of the leaders of the German Parliament, the Bundestag said:

"We are happy to have this exemplary man here. Thank you for all the work you've done for freedom in the face of difficulty. We thank you too for your efforts to achieve a world without war. You bring a light to our hearts; we support you and hope you live long and in good health."

Roland Koch told His Holiness that the gift they could offer him on his 80th birthday was continued solidarity.

"We keep up with what's happening in Tibet and we stand with you. The Dalai Lama is always welcome here. While most of us want to be friends with China, we also want to see human rights upheld in Tibet."

He recalled attending celebrations of His Holiness's 60th birthday in Delhi and looking forward to marking his 70th birthday in Lhasa. In retrospect he realises it wasn't realistic and he acknowledged that one of the things he's learned from His Holiness is to think more of the long term. He too ended with wishes for His Holiness's good health and long life.

His Holiness began his address in his customary way:

"Dear brothers and sisters, once more we are gathered together here. This place, the city of Wiesbaden and the state of Hessen is close to my heart because of the generous, warm feeling the people here have consistently shown me. I'd like to thank all the organizers and volunteers who have made this meeting possible.

"I've known Claudia Roth and Roland Koch a long time. We have a steady friendship that will last as long as I live. I don't know which of us will go first, but I think this is the kind of friendship that will continue into our future lives as well.

"Whenever I meet people, I always think that we are first of all human beings and that all of us are mentally, physically and emotionally the same. We all want to live a happy life, and we all have a right to do so. I believe that to live a happy life we depend on the rest of the community. This is one of the reasons I admire the European Union because it is based on putting the common interest ahead of narrow national interests. I look forward to when we might have a similar African Union, an Arab Union and even an Asian Union."

He explained again that whenever he speaks in public he thinks of himself as just another human being the same as everyone else. He said that if he thinks of himself as a Buddhist, as someone from Asia or as His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama it only serves to create a distance between him and the people he's talking to. He stressed that it is on the basis of what they have in common that every individual has a responsibility to think of the well-being of all 7 billion human beings alive today. It's in this context, he said, that he regrets that the existing education system is oriented towards materialism with little place for inner values.

"If we want to create a more peaceful world, we need to find a new approach to introducing human values into education from KG up to university."

He mentioned his commitment to promoting inter-religious understanding, something he'd learned from encounters with wonderful practitioners of the world's other great religions; people like the Catholic monk Thomas Merton. He ended his talk with the suggestion that the best birthday gift he could hope for would be if other people responded more warm-heartedly to each other.

Answering questions from the audience he told them he had no regrets in life, that whatever he'd done had been done with a sincere motivation. When a young boy asked if there was one god or many, he replied it was difficult to know but that he was young enough to have the time to investigate this for himself.

He stressed the need to use our human intelligence, based on our common experience, common sense and scientific findings. We may learn that thinking of others happens to be good for us both. He mentioned the need to know more about how the mind works:

"Compared to what we can learn from ancient Indian traditions, modern psychology is quite rudimentary. We can all study these things, the mind and our emotions. At the age of 80, I'm still studying and I recommend you to do so too."

When a man from China told His Holiness in English that he and his wife had come to see him, wanting to learn from him, wanting to hear how to be a good person, and wanting to know when he would come to China, His Holiness replied:

"You should ask the Chinese government. If they give a positive signal, I'm ready to come."

As the afternoon came to an end, His Holiness waved to the audience saying:

"Last night I was flying here from New York. Now I'm looking forward to a good, sound sleep. I hope you all sleep well too."

original link with photos http://dalailama.com/news/post/1299-his-holiness-the-dalai-lama-is-given-a-warm-welcome-in-wiesbaden

Discerning The Holy Spirit Verses Demons

A demon is believed to be a force that can be conjured and controlled. They are also believed to have the ability to possess or inhabit the body of humans and the only way to rid the person of them is to conduct deliverance and/or Exorcism. Demons are portrayed differently in different cultures. Some believe demons to be actual physical beings that can take the form of anything, including animals. Others consider the real demons as more of a spiritual force of evil battling for one's soul. They  have been feared and written about in almost every culture in one form or another.

One way Satan gains control of the mind is when we place our trust in what many Christians mistakenly call the Holy Spirit. What I mean is  "God told me to do this. . ." However, what God told them to do is completely contrary to God’s word. Jesus said in John 8:47 "He who is of God hears the words of God." God never, ever, ever leads us contrary to the Word of God. So when we receive anything we think is the Holy Spirit, the first question we must ask is "Does God’s word agree with what I believe is the Holy Spirit speaking to me?" Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 11:14 "And no wonder for Satan transforms himself into an angel of light."

Familiar spirits are known as demons who will present themselves to look like a loved one or someone who may have passed away in the house..... or even present them self as a helpless dead child in order to draw you in. If they can gain any kind of sympathy from mimicking a child or even somebody who's lost and stuck and can't cross over as they call it. These vile creatures will do whatever it takes. They want your SOUL!  They operate under their master, Satan. They influence people to create hate and hurt. Basically raise hell and torment us relentlessly. They spew lies and make a person believe such horrible things of others and ourselves. To knowingly open oneself to the work of demons is an evil act: "Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in a fire, who practices divination or sorcery." To knowingly open yourself up to these demons and their tasks is considered a sin. They are very evil spirits. They are very convincing to make you believe it's a passed loved one making contact. Test the spirit each time. Ask if he/it believes Jesus Christ is the son of man and does it worship Christ. You'll know real quick then if it's real and not eyes playing tricks on you or a person seeking attention.

Demons are more familiar with your mental archives than you are and they will without a doubt replay all the nasty and mean words your friends said to you in the past. You must always test any spirit or "guide" by asking if they believe Jesus is the son of God and if they were sent from God . You'll hear replays of all the hurtful things that any ex or current spouse or boyfriends/girlfriend has said to you no matter how many years have passed. Demons will always remind us of anything that cause us real emotional pain. Ever wonder why you have such a hard time forgetting those heart breaking words that someone you loved said to you as a child? Demons are helping it stay very fresh in your mind. They will always make sure these memories creep up at the worst possible times. Especially when we are going through events in life that causes us to go through minor depression whether was a loved one who passed away or broken heart or something someone very close to us that we thought we trusted ended up stopping us in

Demons will attack your emotions and body at any possible chance they can get. They are very patient. As I have said before they will wait till the worst possible time in your life and then attack when you are at the breaking point and can't take anymore. If they can oppress you ( get you to feel emotionally depressed) they can get you to believe it’s a sign that you've done something wrong or you're not worthy of God's love for mercy. Your mind is one of the main things they attack. Satan is the father of all lies we must remember this all times. All of the horrifying conclusions we draw during the dark night as we try to fall asleep causes us to start feeling that the Lord has abandoned us are really misinterpretations of the very real emotional and past physical and psychological events we've gone through in the past or the recent past. They always have perfect timing, as I said they are very patient.

As humans we are without a doubt easy to deceive. It is so very vital that we learn how to discern between God and demons. It is so very important that we find a way to become familiar and admit our own weaknesses. We all fall for the negative mental flashbacks. Understand that it takes a lot of time and discomfort to learn how to catch demons in the act of deceiving you. When they see you start to make strides in this area, they will instantly react with a new strategy that is much more invasive and also intense in their attacks.

You will never win this spiritual battle in your own strength. You will only be successful when you draw your strength from the power base, God Himself. There you will find the strength and stamina to "stand against the wiles of the devil" (Ephesians 6:11) Satan's Nature is the nature of a man that causes him to act as he does. The same principle exists as we try to better understand Satan. John identified the devil as the originator and chief practitioner of sin (1 John 3:8). He further described Satan as “that wicked one” (1 John 5:18). Jesus called Satan a liar (John 8:44) and thief (John 10:10).

We need to put the focus on the Lords Angels! Who are 100 times more powerful than any demon or devil, I can tell you that right now. Why not put the word out on these good angels and not just fallen angels? There is so much comfort and solace there, no fear.

Angels bring assistance in time of need

The LORD, the God of heaven, brought me from the home of my father and from the land of my relatives, and he solemnly promised me that he would give this land to my descendants. He will send his angel before you, so that you can get a wife there for my son. (Gen 24:7)
If you feel the Devil is attacking your mind with fears, worries, anxiety etc., you can pray in the Name of Jesus and resist and overcome him!--Jesus said, "Behold, I give you power over all the power of the Enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you."-Luke 10:19. This power is YOURS if you believe His Word, claim His promises and pray in the Name of Jesus! In fact, if you are filled with faith and His Holy Spirit, you have the authority to resist the Devil directly, just like Jesus and His early disciples did. Remember we do NOT have to be in bondage to Satan and his army of demons.

Written By Biblical Demonologist Jennifer L Auld

Do Angels Communicate Telepathically and Other 'Mind-reading' Musings‏

I have often heard the following-- :"Angels read each others minds now, and when we die our souls will do the same with each other.So, why can't demons read them...". Here are some thought re: demons reading our minds.

1. True mind reading is a divine prerogative--an extension of His omniscience..see #7

2. In the Mark gospel, and scripture in general, the miracles of Christ are given as a validation of His divinity (divine Messiah) In Mark 2: 1-12 is a wonderful story of where four friends of a paralytic lowered him from the roof so that Jesus might heal him--it was so crowded they could not get in otherwise.Jesus was delighted with their faith and told the paralyzed man that his sins were forgiven.In v 7 it says that the scribes were thinking to themselves that Jesus was blaspheming because only God can forgive sin. v.8 Immediately, we are told that Jesus knew what they were thinking (real mind reading) and He then asked them which was easier: to forgive a man's sins or to heal a paralytic. Since the process of sin forgiveness is invisible Jesus gives them empirical evidence of ability to forgive sins, and therefore is God...and he does this by healing the paralyzed man. The miracle proved his deity,but note that central to this whole divine validation is Jesus reading their minds.It is the first of three miracles designed to show He is God: he reads minds, he forgives sins, he heals a paralytic.So, to say that only God can read minds is actually an integral part of this text.

3. Nowhere in the bible is Satan or his demons said to read minds...BIG omission if true

4. What appears to be demonic mind reading is really demonic influence. They project thoughts into your mind, which sounds like your "mind-voice"...no raspy voices and hisses in the mind. Then they turn around and tell you what you were thinking about, trying to seem like they have the ability to read your mind.But all they have done is parrot back what they projected in there. So simple...so crafty...so persuasive to the undiscerning.

5. In my opinion, mind reading by another creature would be tantamount to mind-rape...an unnerving access or forced entry into our most secret, sacred, private place. God's goodness would not allow this unwarranted intrusion....especially with His adopted children in union with Christ.

6. As a corollary to #5, Satan tries to convince us he can read our minds because it instills fear

7. The Lord knows the thought of man (Ps. 94:11);You perceive my thoughts from afar (Ps. 139:2) there many verses in the bible which speak of God knowing what is in our minds or hearts.In Ps. 139:1-6 David is worshiping God for His omniscience--in that context His knowledge of our thoughts is stated. Though intelligent, filthy spirits are not all-knowing. We must not attribute divine traits of the Creator  to any creatures.
Any attempts by experiment (e.g. The Rhine Inst.) to engage in telepathy will expose one to demonic oppression.

8. In a section that is dealing with this very issue of who is privy to our thoughts, we read ..."No one can know a person's thoughts except that person's own spirit, and no one can know God's thoughts except God's own Spirit." (1 Cor.2:11) The stress is on inability...Inaccessibility to our thoughts by anyone but God is similar to the fact that only God Himself knows what He is thinking.Nobody has the ability to know our thoughts, or God's thoughts.It is as if Paul said. "Only a person;s own consciousness is aware of his secret thoughts, just like nobody but God is privy to His own unrevealed thoughts." The Holy Spirit, as part of the Trinity, knows and reveals to us God's thoughts...or some of them. Do you see the force of this argument....Only God knows His own thoughts, and only we know our own thoughts.If you question the latter then, you must question God as well...and we are all in agreement that demons cannot (inability) read God's mind.To me, this text is conclusive...BUT

9. What of the point that angels read each others minds now, that we will read each others minds in heaven, and that must mean that demons can read our minds now.....Well, do angels really read each others minds? I don't think so. Let me explain, and I admit of using some conjecture. Unfettered mind reading is a mind-rape as we said.

We assume that angelic communication is telepathic, but I would urge caution here. What I mean by telepathy is direct communication from one mind to another mind. But what if there is another form of communication that we are unaware of? For example, what if there is a higher/different form of verbal communication that is spoken and heard? Perhaps a different frequency is used in angelic or demonic communication, but it is still basically verbal communication, and not telepathic as we conjecture. God, pure Spirit (except for Jesus' glorified body in heaven), SPOKE the entire universe into existence. Also, in the book of Acts we are told that God spoke Hebrew to Paul, while he was on the road to Damascus. I don't know, and may I humbly suggest that nobody really knows, how angels and demons communicate. I am simply suggesting that the finite categories of our minds cannot envision all the possible means by which pure spirits  might communicate. I admit that telepathy sounds plausible, but again, are there other means of communication between angels that we haven't even thought of? Clearly the bible is not clear on this matter, and humility should guide us.

Let us assume that angelic communication is similar to what we call telepathy. What then? Let me offer a model that does not entail mind-reading. Given the arguments above, it behooves us to not attribute divine traits to creatures.

Angelic communication, as well as soul-to-soul communication in heaven, will be achieved via passive receiving and active transmitting.The angel or soul that is "talking" is the active transmitter of thought, and the one listening is the passive receiver of that information.Then the roles are reversed when the receiver wants to answer--he then actively transmits his thoughts to the others mind, while the others mind receives it.But, and this is crucial, at no point is the angel or soul having their mind "read".There is not involuntary or forced access to our minds, even in heaven. The problem arose when we wrongly assumed that, for mind-to-mind communication to happen, we must   "get into another person's head or mind".That assumption is a non-sequitor...meaning, it dos not follow (wrong conclusion) The back and forth of mind-to-mind communication does not necessarily entail accessing the contents of the other's mind...just transmission and reception.

A body-less soul, even in heaven,is incomplete.. For we will put on heavenly bodies; we will not be spirits without bodies. (2 Cor.5:3) It is a fascinating paragraph, which speaks of our desire to be clothed with our glorified bodies. These "spiritual" bodies will be physical in nature, but perfected and endowed with new powers...much like Jesus's post-resurrection body in which He was able to walk through walls or just appeared, but He ate fish as well  (Luke 24:43) "And they gave Him a piece of broiled fish, and He ate it as they watched." No vaporous apparition was He! He HAS a glorified human body now, and will for all eternity. But in this state, His communication was NOT telepathic...it was voice to eardrums during the 40 days before He ascended. The purpose of salvation is not to free us from the prison house of the soul--the physical body--which is what Plato and the Gnostic taught. Rather, the gloriously grand sweep of redemption is to restore to us the fullness of our perfected humanness. Only a gloriously excellent Savior could bring about such a glorious salvation!

Mark Hunnemann is the author of Seeing Ghosts Through God's Eyes: A Worldview Analysis of Earthbound Spirits. It's also available in eBook format.

Awakening Compassion, Celebrations of His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s 80th Birthday

Anaheim, CA, USA, 5 July 2015 - His Holiness the Dalai Lama began the day early giving an interview to Ann Curry for KIP News. He told her at the start that today he got up at 1am to begin his prayers. Wishing him a happy birthday, she asked him for his wish. He replied:

“The same as all beings, I wish to live a happy life. We all face a lot of problems that are essentially our own creation. The real point here is with our emotions. Unless we have some knowledge of how to tackle them we’ll run into trouble.

“My life is dedicated to the well-being of others. If humanity is happy, then I’ll be happy, because each of us is dependent on others.”

Ann Curry asked what makes him want to share compassion so much that at a time when other people would be taking it easy His Holiness is still working. He answered:

“It’s because this is my only profession. As a Buddhist practitioner and a student of Nalanda masters such as Nagarjuna I have learned about how the mind and emotions work. It seems that due to experience of that I can be of service to other human beings. Every day I pray for the welfare of all mother sentient beings. If I were to pray, but do nothing it would just be hypocrisy.”

Later, talking about whether or not there will be a 15th Dalai Lama, His Holiness told her that, recognised or not, he would still be there.

“I’m determined about that. The biography of the 1st Dalai Lama tells that when he was about my age he remarked about growing old and his students and disciples commented that he needn’t worry because he’d be sure to go to a Pure Land. He retorted that he had no wish to go to some such heaven, he wanted to be reborn where there was suffering in order that he could be of some help to others. I share that prayer.”

When Ann Curry asked for a message for the world to be posted on Facebook on his birthday, His Holiness said:

“I’d like to express my thanks to the many, many people who have expressed warm feelings towards me. So many have wished me a happy birthday, I’d like to ask them in turn to pay more attention to their own minds, to tackling their own emotions. Now I’m 80 and have faced a difficult life. At 16 I lost my freedom, at 24 I lost my country and news from Tibet has been heartbreaking, but throughout it all my best friend has been my intelligence and a sense of warm-heartedness. This is something I’d like to share with others.”

Interviewing His Holiness for CBS News, Carter Evans remarked that a lot of people seemed to be making a lot of fuss about His Holiness’s birthday and asked what he felt about it.

“Nothing special,” was the reply. “The sun will rise and the sun will set. It’ll be the same kind of 24 hours, but when other people know someone has a birthday they like to celebrate.”

Evans went on to ask why concern for the global environment is so important to him.

“I didn’t realise that there was any issue about the environment until I left Tibet. Then I was surprised to be told that I couldn’t drink water from any source the way I could in Tibet, because often the water was polluted. I began to realise that we need to take care of the planet as if it were our only home.

“When we see violence or scenes of violence take place, it has an immediate impact on the mind, but the damage being done to the environment doesn’t have that immediacy. We don’t notice it until it is often too late. That’s why it will be more effective if taking care of the planet becomes part of our day to day life.”

At the Honda Center His Holiness was welcomed to a special breakfast to celebrate his 80th birthday. Addressing the gathering, he told them we need to use our intelligence to promote loving kindness. He said the nature of compassion is not something new. It’s something we are all familiar with. We all have the seed of compassion in us that we can cultivate. In the past we learned about this from our religious traditions, but today many people claim no longer to believe and of those who say they believe, many go through the motions in the place of worship, but bring nothing with them when they leave.

“Cultivating the kind of compassion we can extend to our enemies requires that we use our intelligence. We have to use reason just as we do to understand that anger destroys our peace of mind.”

As he was about to leave the breakfast, His Holiness called two fellow Nobel Peace Laureates, Jody Williams and Shirin Ebadi, up to join him. He explained that they had last met at a gathering of Nobel Peace Laureates in Rome, at the end of which they had announced a determination to work for the elimination of nuclear weapons. They had also declared that the announcement by itself was not enough, there needed to be a timetable for reducing and eliminating these weapons of mass destruction had to be set and nuclear states needed to be held to it. His Holiness said they would need to mobilize popular support.

He followed this with a meeting with Representative Ed Royce who is Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs.

In an interview with Maria Hall Brown for PBS Southern California, His Holiness noted that 20 years ago little attention was paid to ethics or inner values, but over the last 10 years more and more people have begun to take an interest. He said that increasing numbers of people realize the shortcomings of the current education system. That scientists too are showing interest in the workings of the mind is a source of hope. He told a correspondent for the local Orange County Reporter that as human beings we all have responsibility to promote the idea of the oneness of humanity especially in multiracial, multi-religious societies.

After lunch, Ann Curry escorted His Holiness onto the Honda Center stage before an 18,000 strong audience. Singing children had already set the scene and a video depicting scenes from His Holiness’s life had been shown. Mayor Tom Tait introduced His Holiness to the crowd, explaining how he’d been to see him at home in Dharamsala and been made very welcome earlier this year. At the time His Holiness had been working on a ‘Book of Joy’ with Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

Founder of the Friends of the Dalai Lama, a prime organizer of the event, Ven. Tenzin Dhonden spoke next, expressing greetings to His Holiness and welcoming everyone in attendance. Among the many people he thanked for their support were Pierre Omidyar, Mayor Tait, the Honda Center staff and his own spiritual masters. He acknowledged His Holiness as someone who embodies compassion in person.

Facebook video greetings from #WithCompassion were shown featuring messages from Larry King, Arianna Huffington and many others. The video ended with a song ‘We are One’ by Runaground, who then appeared on stage to perform it again live, joined by a joyfully singing children.

Ann Curry then introduced an array of well-wishers who came forward to offer His Holiness words of appreciation. They included: actor Josh Radnor, Professor Robert Thurman, Bishop Desmond Tutu’s grandson, Australian Cody Simpson, Dr Elahe Mir-Djalali Omidyar, UCI VC Thomas Parham, actor Wilmer Valderrama, actor Julia Ormond, oceanographers Justin Nappi and Veerbhadran Ramanathan, comedian George Lopez, who had everyone laughing, musician Randy Jackson, rights activist and Nobel Peace Laureate Shirin Ebadi, businessman Anthony Melikhove, peace activist and Nobel Peace Laureate Jodie Williams, musician MC Hammer, and on behalf of the Apache Nation Jonelle Romero.

Thirty Tibetan children from San Francisco sang a traditional Tibetan song. They were followed onto the stage by activist, rapper and musician Michael Franti who played, sang and led the audience in a rousing song for His Holiness.

After cutting a huge cake, His Holiness took his slice to the lectern and addressed the audience.

“Brothers and sisters,” he told them, “I’m overwhelmed that so many speakers have expressed the importance of loving kindness. They have given me encouragement and hope. I have generally thought that I would not see a compassionate world emerge in my lifetime. However, there seems to be real enthusiasm for the idea that the source of peace is within ourselves and that to change the world we all have to develop inner peace. Since scientists and educators are also showing interest in this, maybe we can achieve a peaceful world sooner than I thought. As my friend Jodie Williams says, ‘We have to take action’ and there is a Tibetan saying that if you fail nine times, nine times you should try again.

“I’ve faced many difficulties, but I’ve remained truthful, honest and determined. As time goes on the truth becomes stronger, while the power of the gun diminishes. A more compassionate world is in the interest of all sentient beings, and even the environment will benefit too. The kind of universal compassion, unbiased compassion, that can be extended even to your enemy is within the reach of all of us.

“We all come from our mothers. We all have a deep experience of affection, even those who are now referred to as ‘terrorists’. In this large gathering I’d like to repeat that I am just one human being. We are all part of humanity. We are all the same and our future depends on others. Each day I dedicate my body, speech and mind to the welfare of all mother sentient beings. I say my favourite prayer:

For as long as space endures

And for as long as living beings remain,

Until then may I too abide

To dispel the misery of the world.

The ensuing discussion among the people on the stage with His Holiness touched on the fact that anger may bring energy to situations, but it is blind energy. Compassion is directed energy. That to lead a meaningful life, we need a calm mind and a sense of concern for the welfare of others. Compassion is a choice. Authenticity is significant. His Holiness pointed out that the crucial notions of freedom, liberty and democracy take for granted that basic human nature is good.

As His Holiness got ready to leave, Ann Curry summed up the sense of the gathering in her comment:

“It’s your birthday, but the rest of us seem to be the ones who have been made a gift. Thank you and happy birthday.”

At the Anaheim Theater Mayor Tom Tait welcomed His Holiness to a special reception. In this newly announced City of Kindness, His Holiness repeated his belief that progress towards greater kindness can be made through education. The Mayor described a project already run in local schools for children to create a million acts of kindness. He noted that reports of bullying are down and children are happier and more fulfilled. Mayor of nearby Santa Ana, Miguel Pulido, announced his plans to emulate the ‘million acts of kindness’ in the schools in his area.

At a further reception attended by 1000 people and organized by the City of Garden Grove, Mayor Bao Nguyen welcomed His Holiness, who spoke briefly.

“Respected brothers and sisters, inner values such as compassion and forgiveness bring us peace, comfort and inner strength, which are helpful to us. Anger and fear do us no good; they disturb our peace of mind. I see there are a lot of Vietnamese here. I’ve come across quite a number of communities like you in America, France and Australia, who have made an effort to preserve your cultural heritage and your Buddhist faith. I admire your determination.”

His Holiness was offered a certificate by the Vietnamese Americans of the USA. The Mayor of the City of Westminster praised His Holiness as a role model and when the Mayor of Garden Grove presented him with a key to the city, His Holiness responded:

“Ah, and compassion is the key to open inner peace.”

At the end of an unusually long and full day, His Holiness finally retired for the night.

Original link with photos http://www.dalailama.com/news/post/1294-awakening-compassion-celebrations-of-his-holiness-the-dalai-lamas-80th-birthday

Symptoms of Spiritual Pollution, Part 8

Continued from: 
Symptoms of Spiritual Pollution, Part 1
Symptoms of Spiritual Pollution, Part 2
Symptoms of Spiritual Pollution, Part 3
Symptoms of Spiritual Pollution, Part 4
Symptoms of Spiritual Pollution, Part 5
Symptoms of Spiritual Pollution, Part 6
Symptoms of Spiritual Pollution, Part 7

In my continuation on the blog series Spiritual Warfare from the last time I discussed the critical aspect of demons and your faith.  In this blog aspect I will now finish off what many refer to as the Spirits.  So from our last blog we have learned the demons are angelic creatures created by God.

Examine this: Demons are like massive freight trains raging down the tracks with you being a toad who has been pinned to the tracks.  That train is racing towards you and nothing you can do about it will stop it.  The only thing that is going to prevent you from becoming a toad splat is a third party who is stronger than the train who suddenly intervenes on your behalf.  That third party is God.  It is not God and an angel, not a whole band of angels, not angels plus your praying friends.  This is GOD alone.

So let me discuss holy angels for a moment.  Do you want to upset God who can protect you from demons during your life?  Do not start glorifying a guardian angel or discuss this. God abhors idolatry and idolatry is the worship of created things.  To avoid a painful lesson in how angry God will get with rebellious Christians, I suggest you need to dump the whole angel platform into the trash can.  Angels serve God and angels have nothing to do with you. 

Angels are not a personal squadron who are just waiting for you to tell them where to fly and go.   This idea that we can direct angels about is yet one more example of how big-headed we are.  God has not directed some angel with the assignment of guarding you in life.  So let me say this “you do not have your own guardian angel in life.”  This is a false superstition which man concocted from comments in the Bible, none of comments are based on fact. 

Psalm 91, King David decorates a ridiculous picture of how God will treat us in life. The point of the Psalm is to talk about how glorious God’s protection can be, and King David personally experienced a wonderful example of it.  Celebrating the miracles God has performed, David starts going off on what I shall say is falseness and ludicrous rants. We do not command any angels to assist, only God commands.

We humans have as much knowledge as a rock and egos as HUGE as the universe.  We state words like, “God has given us all guardian angels to protect us.” People get a grip here, this poem is Psalm 91.   Would you want to be held accountable for every “out of whack” statement you ever wrote down to someone you were captivated with?  No, you wouldn’t.  King David was obviously exaggerating.  David used vivid language to try and communicate his extreme emotions. Go try stepping on a venomous snake and see how that works out for you.  Go kick a boulder with your bare foot and see if an angel swoops down to protect you.  Oh, but Jesus said “we would trample on serpents.”  Yes, the Lord Jesus Christ said that.  Go step on that snake right now you’ll quickly discover you’re misinterpreting this passage and maybe others.

If we’re going to grow past spiritual infancy one needs to recognize that not every word in the Bible is God-breathed truth.  Some of it is man ego-breathed.   Statements about God in the Bible are not meant to be taken literally.  God makes these statements “I will remember your sins no more.”  This is the intricacy of God’s will.  So God has amnesia?  Of course not.  To really understand what God wants to teach us, we need to ask the Holy Spirit to give us the discernment we need.  Not this easy warm fuzzy feeling we acquire and call spiritual awareness.

God is the only One who can protect you from demons, and He will.  God will not entirely shelter you from demons.  On the contrary, God wants the demons to harass you at times. Demons are like snarling dogs who God has chained up so that they can’t reach you, but sometimes God unleashes them upon you.  When God does this act, those demons surge upon you trying to get as much damage done before God flicks them away.  There is only one reason that demons ever attack you: because God wants them to. 

Demons know we are wimps and they can’t wait to get their opportunity to nail us.  They are always hovering around waiting for God to give them permission to attack.  The frustrating aspect for demons is that God never gives them full rights over you.  If God did, they would tear you apart.  Remember:  The train versus the toad?  Terrifying situation isn’t it?  So there is only one source of hope: the mercy of God.  God is good and He carefully limits when demons can access you, how much access they have and what kinds of things they can do against you. 

Every demonic encounter a person has is controlled by God. It is in those moments because God is good.  God will never leave you, nor will He let demons do more damage than He feels is beneficial for the long-term health of your soul.  Okay, so if you’re powerless in this situation and God is the One controlling everything, what do you pray? God isn’t going to take orders from you.   God already knows you want the demons to go away. Here’s what you need to learn: Everything that God does to you in this world is done to draw you closer to Him and strengthen your personal bond with Him. 

How does this work?  Remember the four essential attitudes from the previous blogs?  God uses the demons to help cultivate those attitudes.  Focus on reverence prompts you that God is infinitely stronger than demons are, so do not have to be afraid because God is on your side.  Focus on submission leads you to pray, “Help me to learn everything which you are trying teach me through this experience.”  Focus on dependency steers you away from trying to direct God in your life.  Focus on trust motivates you to keep truths about who God is: He is good, He loves you, and you can count on Him to always do what is best for your soul.

Do you understand spiritual warfare now when it’s explained correctly?  This has everything to do with focusing on God and the desire to fully cooperate with the methods and nothing to do with trying to overcome the enemy. Those four core attitudes are what turn demonic attacks into blessings in your life.  Stay allied to God and allow Him to pour those four values into you.   You shall become more confident, be at peace and not fearful as the oppression by demons envelopes you.  Therefor the feeling of being threatened by demons shall become minimal because of having such deep trust in the One who controls their activity in your life.

I hope you found this blog series helpful.


Rev. Bradley Luoma, Exorcist

Pareidolia Is Very Common In The Paranormal

Hello everyone I sure hope you had a wonderful weekend and a safe and healthy 4th of July Holiday. Needless to say here in Florida it was a very hot one. But we had some pretty nasty thunderstorms that's for sure.

Pareidolia, apophenia
The word pareidolia refers to the human tendency to perceive random things occurring in nature as significant, usually meaning of human origin. Examples are seeing a face in the bark of a tree (visual pareidolia, and the human-appearing thing is a simulacrum) or hearing a human voice in the white noise of radio static (audio pareidolia). More recently, Michael Shermer has also used the word patternicity to mean a similar thing. Also see apophenia - the human tendency to find relationships between things or events that have no connection to each other.

According to Wiki Pareidolia is a psychological phenomenon involving a vague and random stimulus (often an image or sound) being perceived as significant, a form of apophenia. Common examples include seeing images of animals or faces in clouds, the man in the moon or the Moon rabbit, and hearing hidden messages on records when played in reverse.

The word comes from the Greek words para (παρά, "beside, alongside, instead") in this context meaning something faulty, wrong, instead of; and the noun eidōlon (εἴδωλον "image, form, shape") the diminutive of eidos. Pareidolia is a type of apophenia, seeing patterns in random data.

I have viewed countless images that were deemed evidence and come to find out they were nothing more than Pareidolia.  Example: you know how clouds in the sky can look like a "bunny" in form but we know it's not a actual bunny?? There are many images that do not seem to be a trick of the eyes after all. We have to be very careful in examining our findings and not jump to conclusions to quickly without taking the time to seek any possible natural explanation. I can't express this enough.

Many don't even try to find a organic exclamation or they do a half a$$ job for selfish reasons. It's a type of fraud in my humble opinion. And the more fraud that happens the less we are going to be believed when we do have a phenomenon that cannot be explained. It hurts the fields credibility tremendously and we've already got enough against us to begin with. We have  got so many frauds lying about having gifts or claiming years of experience or education that they cannot prove because they do not have.  I keep hearing about people are now taking money for events and not showing up it's just ridiculous! That's why I stay out of 98% of it. I post a blog once a week here about the subjects that I know. I don't discuss who are frauds for anything to that nature. I stick to myself and I write only about the subjects that I've researched over the years. I don't write about other people and go out seeking trouble. I do cases here locally when I'm called upon and I answer a lot of emails that have just general questions and that's it. At one point I had a radio show (anybody can do one) that was putting out a lot of useful information to people and it was bringing people to Christ but due to all the para drama it was just impossible... just too much backstabbing. I didn't make it about me. I didn't have just well-known people on the show to talk about subjects. It wasn't like that so I'm not surprised that it didn't work out. I refused to follow the para celebrity train and I refused to kick Christ to the side and change a lot of things that I was doing. I can't believe how many faces I see on posters that are now claiming to be specialists in their area when just a few years ago (or less) they were trying to learn. A lot of things are simple, you either are called to do so or not. In my opinion one can't just decide to be a Biblical Demonologist. It needs to be a calling or you will not have the Lords Hedge of protection when you are dealing with creatures that have never been human. When you go out and take credit and seek the glory you are putting yourself in so much danger. Just the typical enthusiasts that show up at all the events are now all of a sudden experts.... usually because maybe they know someone who is and they're being considered one all because they happen to know someone who is therefore, they gain trust easily. All the backstabbing and the lying and the cyber bullying and ganging up on people it is just embarrassing! Skeptics are watching us and they point this out to everybody!  They are convinced we're just trying to gain attention or a TV show. That's why probably the few people who do know what they're doing are quiet and stick to themselves but because they're not on flyers and at all these events and not a para celebrity it is thought they don't know anything. Just because somebody is not known and they don't have their face plastered everywhere or just because they are not on TV does not mean they do not know what they're doing. There are many of us that have been at this many, many years before this became popular in 2004. Now back to the subject at hand...forgive my rant........

One popular examples of this phenomenon is the incident known as The Face of Mars, which showed a face like figure on the surface of the mars as observed by NASA's spacecraft, Viking - 1. This image, when released by NASA, made people across the world think that there was something unnatural on Mars. But later after after this was investigated further with advanced technology showed that this face was nothing but a small hill on the surface of the planet, which incorrectly appeared as a face.


In 1971, Konstantin Raudive wrote Breakthrough, detailing what he believed was the discovery of electronic voice phenomenon (EVP). EVP has been described as auditory pareidolia. The allegations of backmasking in popular music have also been described as Pareidolia.

Ghost Boxes and the related prove to be Pareidolia in most cases BUT not all in my humble opinion.  The device is a receiver that scans, or cycles, through the radio spectrum. Since it is constantly scanning the airwaves, it generates white noise that is infused with AM and FM stations. Many believe any ghost or demon could then manipulate the spoken words and through the white noise, make communicate with the living. The device has dials and a lot of other trinkets that help the user hear the sounds more clear to the other side. Ones mind can play tricks especially if we really want to hear a demon. When your mind is in that mode it's so easy to hear what we want. Mind over matter type of situation. The power of suggestion is very much a contributing factor as well.

There is also a phenomenon known as hypnogongia. This happens either when we are just falling asleep or just waking up. During this time, many people have very real visual and auditory hallucinations. Again, if someone already strongly believes in the supernatural, they might intrepret these experiences as supernatural in origin.

Have you ever heard of The Rorschach Test? The Rorschach test was developed in 1921 by Herman Rorschach. The Rorschach test is a series of ten ink blots of varying patterns and colors. It is believed by many psychologists to be the key to unlocking someone’s psyche. The answers a person gives to the different blobs is supposed to be indicative of their personality. The concept is much akin to palm or tarot card reading. In fact the accuracy of such a test is narrow at best.

Apophenia is a form called pareidolia, people pull shapes or sounds out of meaningless data. The most well known example of pareidolia is probably cloud-gazing, in which people see shapes in the forms of clouds in the sky. Many people also obtain pareidolia when they pull meaningful sounds from static in the radio, and it can sometimes be extremely frustrating, as other people will not recognize those sounds or patterns. Apophenia is an example of what is known in statistics as a type I error, or a false positive. Most people do not bring on  apophenia by conscious choice; they simply draw connections where there are none out of a sense of false sensitivity. The behavior of someone with severe apophenia can veer into the absurd, as someone may go to elaborate lengths to support the connections he or she makes, or to avoid particular circumstances.

The term pareidolia first came up in 1994 and was used by Stephen Goldstein. It is a form of apophenia which is where the mind will attempt to find connections in random events, thoughts or patterns where none actually exist. Pareidolia concentrates more on the visual and audio aspects of the brain perceiving a vague stimulus as something more important in a persons mind. It is so well known in the field of psychology/psychiatry that they will occasionally attempt to induce a form of pareidolia in a patient to be able to assess them better.

I'm certainly not stating that everything is just a trick of the eye. I'm simply trying to illustrate it's easy for our minds to play tricks on us and we should not jump the gun on certain things without first seeking a organic explanation.

Written By Jennifer L Auld

The Creeping Darkness

By Reverend Mark Hunnemann

Ever heard of the "creeping darkness"? Or maybe I should ask: have you ever seen it? In this article I want to discuss some of the ways that demons appear. We are becoming so accustomed to the spiraling paranormal activity that I fear that some are becoming jaded...others have lived so long with "weirdness" that they do not realize what they are dealing with...still others of you are experiencing one/more of these but are uncertain as to what it is...and finally, some are even entertained by the antics of the "little girl".I am trying to heed the apostles warning to not be ignorant of Satan's schemes.There is tremendous diversity to demonic activity--from the seeming hilarious to the horrid--but they all emanate from pure evil. All of these I have some form of experience with--direct or indirect. I am intentionally focusing on some lesser known phenomena...some of which are very easy to brush off (sometimes literally) Remember that just because something CAN be explained naturally, does not necessarily mean it was caused naturally...sometimes we get foolish with debunking theories. On other hand, care must be taken with some of these phenomena to make sure that they were not caused naturally. Avoid both extremes--hyper skepticism and hyper-supernaturalism.

1. The Creeping Darkness is when a person is perhaps laying in bed and their eyes have become adjusted to ambient light. Suddenly, off in a corner, the darkness becomes even darker. A dark cloud... it may appear to be "pixelating" in the center...it creeps closer and closer-- the room becomes totally dark..Sometimes it will evolve into a shadow figure (humanoid shape) and other times it just slides through as a cloud...sometimes smaller and swirling. Usually it frightens the person terribly...I have not heard this said before, but it is my opinion that this is an intentional demonic parody of the cloud of glorious LIGHT surrounding the Lord (recall Mt of Transfiguration) Much demonic activity is a darkened mirror image of God's reality.

2. Floating faces -- could be very human like or monstrous...often composite--that is, a figure shaped like two or more creatures. Sometimes they float in mid air and other times appear on TV screen. I have had numerous cases with this and seen pictures of incredible weirdness (eg 3 ft "clown" kneeling on sofa with body suit on).

3. Indoor rain is when it rains inside the house! Using pre-existent matter, somehow demons are able to cause drops of rain-like substance to fall. I have a friend who had these drops fall on them while in bed. Sadly, they just attributed it to "paranormal activity" and is unfazed by it.

4. Hooded figures -- these are often seen at the foot or side of bed. There is no such thing as a real GRIM REAPER....God is in control of our lives and deaths (Psalm 139, etc) Demons appear in a way to bring about desired affect...this figure seems to cause considerable fear due to superstition of it being harbinger of gloom, doom, and possibly death.

5. Cobweb effect -- this occurs when there is no spider-web but one can feel on face/hair what clearly feels like a spider web--which it is not, but it has certain creepy effect, especially when walking about in the dark!

6. Bee sting -- or so it seems...a sudden stinging on one's arm. Not a scratch but a "sting".

7. Breezes -- if there is no way to naturally explain it,then it is important that you realize that demons can cause the sensation of a breeze. A cold spot is much more common phenomenon.I seriously doubt this is just the inadvertent effect of a demon moving close to you. Evidently, it is intentional...messing with you.

8. Doppelganger -- refers to seeing your own ghost, which is thought by some to be harbinger of doom. In "quantum jumping" it is one of an infinite number of each of us, that we access to siphon their energy.

9. Light bulb effect -- inside or outside, a sudden flash of bright light...gone instant later. Other light anomalies can occur. (This happened to me a week ago...outside).

10. Sleep paralysis -- This happens fairly often. Scientists say this can be explained, but not all cases can be. Cannot move or speak...frightening. Once, I was pinned in chair and demon cussed me in audible voice...not pleasant!

11. Vivid nightmares/dreams--this MAY be indicator of demonic presence or influence. We should always pray against this at night. From my experience, vivid nightmares often occur at beginning of infestation, and other phenomena start occurring later.

12. Appearance of ghost[s] of pet animals--given our love for our pets, this is cruelly effective means of demons gaining acceptance and foothold. I had one case with appearing/disappearing demonic cat.

13. Seeing the # 11 repeatedly ... apparently a worldwide phenomenon. Lots of alleged explanations, none of which are exceptionally persuasive. Historically, the Lord has never signaled any of His activity via numerology. That is occultic, and likely demonic if occurrences are beyond law of averages. Also, any activity (e.g. bangs) occur in three's, then that may be demonic--evidently, a mockery of Trinity.

14. Hearing conversations or whistling--usually voices just out of range to understand words.

I want you to remember this and burn it into your psyche--assume that ALL paranormal activity is demonic...angels do not play games with us--they are our servants (Heb. 1:14).

So, what should you do if one or more of these start occurring (or have been for quite a while)? Please do not do nothing...do not start taking pictures...do not attempt communication...SEEK HELP!! (you can contact me by replying to this).

Depending upon what is occurring, a direct, verbal rebuke in the name of Jesus is often more effective than praying TO God. For me, I do both

Some people I have helped with long term exposure to seemingly innocuous spirits, had experienced premature stroking, brain tumors, heart attacks, and death. I beg of you to see this activity for what it really is--the presence of unspeakable evil.

Mark Hunnemann is the author of Seeing Ghosts Through God's Eyes: A Worldview Analysis of Earthbound Spirits. It's also available in eBook format.