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.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama at the Glastonbury Festival

Glastonbury, Somerset, UK, 28 June 2015 - It was raining when the helicopter carrying His Holiness the Dalai Lama from London landed on a high field near the village of Pilton, site of the Glastonbury Festival. He was welcomed on arrival by Michael Eavis, the founder of the Festival and owner of Worthy Farm on which it takes place, and his third wife, Liz. The two men soon discovered that they are both 80 years old this year.

Robert Richards, principal organizer of the Festival led His Holiness to his car. They drove to the Festival Viewing point from where there is a clear view over the Festival area, the main stages, including the Pyramid stage, and camping grounds. This year 203,000 people are attending the event.

His Holiness and his party drove through the main Festival area to the King’s Meadow, site of a modern megalithic stone circle, now also adorned with a Tibetan style chörten or stupa. The BBC’s Alan Yentob met him and escorted him to a small wooden stage from where he introduced him to an audience of about 8500.

“Brothers and sisters,” His Holiness began, “I can see you’re enjoying this Festival, on my way here, I noticed that everyone seems to be full of joy. I’m happy to have been invited to this Festival of people. As I always say, the purpose of life is to be happy. Who knows what tomorrow may bring, but we live in hope. Without hope our lives have no direction. The 7 billion human beings like us alive today all have a right to be happy. And it’s sad to note that while you are here enjoying yourselves, in other parts of the world like Syria, Iraq and Nigeria, people are killing each other. Therefore, we need to promote a greater awareness that we are all human brothers and sisters, that we belong to one human family.”

He remarked that in the past inhabitants of the British Isles had been content in isolation and later embarked on a period of imperialism governed largely by self-interest. Now, however, we live in a globalized world. We exist in a global economy. Climate change is something that affects us all. For this reason we have to think about the well-being of the whole of humanity. Nature is telling us we have to find ways to protect the world.

Noting that a lot of the problems we face are our own creation, he said that one of the worst things happening today was people killing each other in the name of religion. Why is this? Because people lack moral principles. We neglect the sense that we are all the same as human beings.

“I speak to you now just as another human being. Like you, I too am subject to mental disturbances. Like you I love my life, in fact everyone loves their own lives and everyone has a right live a happy life. And yet, we tend to make problems for ourselves. What we need to do instead is to promote greater human affection. Problems like killing, cheating and exploitation arise when we only think in the short term. Our education systems are oriented towards materialism. We need to change this to a greater focus on the long term and teaching about inner values, secular ethics. This entails simple warm-heartedness and a real sense of brotherhood and sisterhood. On such a basis we could demilitarise the world and use the money saved to close the gap between rich and poor.

“I don’t expect to see real change in my lifetime, but if you young people, people who belong to the 21st century start to make efforts now, the later parts of the century could see a happier more peaceful world. Please think seriously about this. This is something I am committed to, just as I am committed, as a Buddhist monk to promoting religious harmony and as a Tibetan to the preservation of Tibetan religion, culture and language. Tibetan culture is characterized by peace and compassion, which makes it something worth preserving.”

Alan Yentob put several questions submitted by members of the audience to His Holiness. He asked him about the secret of his good humour and he replied:

“Faced with difficulties I take the advice of Shantideva, an 8th century Indian master who said ‘Think carefully about difficulties you face - if they can be overcome, there is no need to worry. What you need to do is make effort. If they can’t be overcome, worry is of no use.’ This is practical advice that I follow myself. My other secret is that I get nine hours sleep.”

Yentob asked when he gets up.

“I get up at 3am and I do about 5 hours mediation, mostly analytical meditation. I analyse who I am, and what the world is; the idea of interdependence.

“The real meaning of the word ‘jihad’ is not doing harm to others, but engaging in combat with your disturbing emotions. Every day I try to do this. Whether we are angry about some things or attached to others, our feelings about them are exaggerated. As an American psychiatrist told me, our feelings like this are 90% our own mental projection.”

Asked if he had greater faith in basic human nature than in religion, His Holiness said that society is the basis of our happy future. Out of concern for ourselves we are better to be concerned about others. He said, friendship is important in a happy society and that friendship is based on trust. And building trust is not something we can expect the UN or local government to do. It’s something we have to do ourselves as individuals.

His Holiness enjoyed a wholesome lunch at the Greenpeace Field, provided by Greenpeace volunteers, in the company of several of the Festival organizers. Afterwards, at William’s Green, he joined Guardian editor-in-chief Katharine Viner, Guardian columnist George Monbiot and director of 350.org May Boeve for a panel discussion about who can fix climate change moderated by James Randerson.

Randerson asked the panel what gave them hope and Viner replied, “The Pope”. Monbiot cited public awareness and His Holiness mentioned inner peace. As to what the UN discussions on climate change need to tackle, His Holiness said that countries tend to put their national interests first and ignore what is in the global interest. However, he said that national interest actually depends on global interest. Monbiot stressed that the onus should not be on consumption, but on keeping fossil fuels in the ground. May Boeve advocated divestment from fossil fuels, citing the examples set by Stanford University and the Guardian Media Group.

His Holiness expressed his agreement with the Pope’s recent aspirations to stem climate change. He pointed out how, despite the existence of a global economy, we think too much in terms of ‘us’ and ‘them’, when what we should be doing is considering everyone as part of ‘us’.

“At the recent Nobel Peace Laureates’ meeting in Rome we declared the need to address the elimination of nuclear weapons. We agreed that the time for just talking is over; we need to set deadlines for action and meet them. World peace likewise cannot be achieved by prayer alone, we have to take action. And we need to think about the world as our only home. We can’t escape to the moon. This planet is our only home and we have to take much more serious care of it.”

Arriving at the Pyramid Stage, Robert Richards explained to His Holiness that whatever profits Glastonbury Festival makes go to charities such as: WaterAid, Oxfam and Greenpeace. When Patti Smith, who has played benefits in support of the cause of Tibet for sixteen years, met His Holiness backstage she told him that she’d been a 12 year old girl in 1959 when Tibet was in upheaval and His Holiness escaped. One of her prime concerns was his safety and welfare. She went back out on stage to perform and shortly afterwards His Holiness came up to watch and listen.

Between songs Patti Smith announced His Holiness’s presence to the 120,000 strong crowd and suggested it would be nice if they welcomed him and sang to celebrate his approaching 80th birthday. She read a poem in his honour and then led him out onto the stage to cheering approval. The crowd sang ‘Happy Birthday’ as a gorgeous cake bedecked with fruit and a single candle was presented to him. He addressed the audience:

“Dear sisters and brothers, I really appreciate it when so many of you express your warm feelings to me and I reciprocate. Every day I dedicate my actions of body, speech and mind to the benefit of others. When you show me such warm affection it strengthens my enthusiasm.

“I’ve watched you musicians here and see that although your hair is white, your voices and physical actions are youthful. That encourages me in turn, although I’m now 80, to be more active like you.

‘We are all the same as human beings. We all want to lead a happy life. We can think of every day as a new day, as a birthday. When we wake up we can remind ourselves - ‘I need to be happy, I need to have warm feelings towards others. This will build self-confidence, honesty, transparency, which leads to trust. And trust is the basis of friendship. We are social animals and we need friends. This is a source of happiness that I wish to share with you. Thank you”

The response was a great roar of applause. Patti Smith resumed her set. His Holiness left the stage and drove back to the helipad where he boarded a helicopter to return to where he’s staying in London. Tomorrow he has been invited to visit Aldershot in Hampshire.

original link with photos http://dalailama.com/news/post/1289-his-holiness-the-dalai-lama-at-the-glastonbury-festival

Sleep Paralysis And Vivid Dreams Or Demonic Visitation? Part 2

Hello everyone. I pray you had a fantastic weekend and everyone you love is healthy. I'm writing more on this subject since the one I wrote last year just isn't enough to cover what I wanted. The amount of emails I get on the subject are in sane. This is really a topic people are researching and wanting more information about. This is just of course my humble opinion based on experience and research. I am a Biblical Demonologist and I believe Jesus Christ is the son of God so my opinions are all based on scripture as well. This topic can get pretty dicey so you are forewarned right now. Discussion of sexual content in graphic nature so please be advised ahead of time. I can't help it. I wish I could keep this more clean but I can't ladies and gentlemen. I suggest you do your own research on this. There are different types of demonology that is studied so you're going to run into different types of opinions on this.

Demons and devils are very intelligent, and very cunning, and very patient. They lie and manipulate better than the best lawyers and politicians. And they will subtly influence someone for decades if they have to, to get a specific result. They have no boundaries of what they will not do to further their own ends. They kill people, they cause severely debilitating illness. They tear families apart, they take all that is good and pure and drag it through the dirt and blood until there is nothing left. They are never to be taken lightly or as a joke. It is not adventurous or romantic or 'cool' to be as hunter. It is dangerous. Not just physically, but spiritually. Whatever they can do to you physically will end, because life is short. But spiritually... the soul is immortal...

I found the following three posts among many others made by people who really feel they were sexually attacked during sleep paralysis by a sinister entity. They are sharing experiences and discussing possible answers. I found these at abovetopsecret.com...

"I think the most frightening one I've had was when I was dreaming I was standing outside of a barn. A male voice inside beckoned me to enter. I did so reluctantly. Inside was complete darkness. I awoke in my room paralyzed, and heard the same voice say rather menacingly "You should not have done that." and then proceeded to laugh until I managed to wriggle myself free and shoot up in bed."

"I have woken up with bruises after having very vivid sleep paralysis and hallucinations."

" I suffer from this all the time with the exception of one or two nights a week. I am convinced its demonic, not scientific. This is an example of these things existing, there is no scientific explanation. When will people realise that WE DO HAVE A SOUL. and that spirit beings can affect us at our most vunerable, when we are asleep is easy for them. They like to play with us, cause us distress, and ultimatly are after your Soul. Our soul is fighting with them. I know some people might disagree and probably think im mad. But my response is take a look at what the bible says about this."

I found the following comment on a general yahoo question:

"for me the pressure seems to become light when i say things like "Give me power god" If these things are only our imagination then i dont understand why do the pressure become much lighter when i use "God" in my imagination. There are times when I am not scared and want to go against it, however it seems useless unless i mention the word "God" in someway. which again makes me believe that this is not just things people call imagination/hallucination etc..."

For those who do not know, sleep paralysis is when the brain awakens from Rem sleep but the body remains “asleep” (in paralysis). Sort of the reverse of sleep walking, which is when the body is ‘awake’ but the brain is asleep. You are are fully conscious but unable to move. This can last a few seconds or a few minutes. However, eye movements are still possible. Individuals experiencing this often feel extreme panic as they try to reestablish the connection between mind and it's connection. It can be very frightening. It seems so very real. It is a terrifying feeling being unable to move or speak. You can't even cry for help audibly. You are totally helpless it seems.

Incubus and Succubus are demons known for sexual pleasure and summoned for sexual pleasure and companionship. They are also known to be heavily focused on in Sleep Paralysis situations. They are found in different Mythology literature. My first blog on this last year goes into a tad more detail on mythology. A brief description...

Incubus: 1: An evil spirit that lies on persons in their sleep; especially one that has sexual intercourse with women while they are sleeping.

Succubus: A demon assuming female form to have sexual intercourse with men in their sleep.

For me personally the false "wake ups" were terrifying! I was getting to a point where I could not establish whether I was really awake or was I really dreaming? My safety was at risk and I feel it still is at times. I was having a lot of sleep paralysis when my father was dying. I came home to help my mother and waking up daily fearing " was this the day I would find my father dead?" I believe the high stress levels I was dealing with going through that and all the sad emotions and then the depression and the anger and bitterness I had at that time in my life towards God was a recipe for being extremely vulnerable to demonic attacks. I do believe however, there is actual legitimate "Sleep Paralysis" and it can be organically explained. This is not always the case.

Many people experience "dark shadows, shadow people" during this as well. That is a completely other subject right there that I will discuss and go into further details another blog. This subject is extremely difficult to write about and try to keep it to where it's understandable for most people. I'm trying not to branch out on other different parts of this just yet because I feel that can cause more confusion when your first researching the subject. Some people are researching this out of curiosity and there's some people who are really going through this as we speak so I'm trying to keep it as simple as possible. This is not something that's easy for me to write about. I am certainly not a professional writer or blogger for that matter. It is also hard for me because I hate to dig up the memories and at the same time I wonder if discussing this is going to trigger my dreams! Lol. I am a little paranoid, that's how ground shaking and terrifying my experiences were. For me I'm convinced it was demonic attack.

I have seen and heard many people who were and WERE NOT believers in Christ post that they called for Jesus Christ and things would get better or that entity would go away. They wake up feeling safe. This makes me extremely happy to see how many people are realizing they can call for help and how much power is in the name Jesus Christ. Those things flee pretty quickly don't they? They cannot tolerate the name of Jesus and his Holy name. This is great news and when you can move past the fear you can control your dreams and call directly for Christ or his Angels. I have said this before many times that demons are terrified of God's Holy Angels.

Written By Jennifer Lori Auld

Phenomenology vs. Biblical Reality

By Reverend Mark Hunnemann

Have you noticed that paranormal seminars are called "Phenomenology"?Why are they called that and what does it mean? I remember studying phenomenology in college as a philosophy major. It is a modern school of philosophy started by Edmund Husserl. He attempted to develop a universal philosophic method, devoid of presuppositions, by examining and describing our experience of phenomena. Frankly, though it has become fashionable to speak of the phenomenology of this or that, no two people can agree on a proper definition! Please Google it and discover this wonderment for yourself!

I will go on record and say that the way it (phenomenology) is meant in paranormal seminars is that it simply means the study of our experience of phenomena (in this case, paranormal phenomena). Another way of stating it is that of a radical empiricism. By that I mean, conclusions are deduced from experiences using the five senses AND our intuition. What a paranormal phenomenon looks, feels, tastes, smells, and sounds like will determine what the nature of the phenomena IS. Emphasis is on APPEARANCE in dictating ontology (the nature of being) as we proceed, I will contrast this method with what I call biblical realism. The differences are profound and lead to entirely different conclusions regarding the phenomena. I want to enliven this analysis by using a case study from a recent episode of the Dead Files. We shall see that the same basic flawed phenomenological presupposition is shared by paranormal seminars and the two principles on this TV show…perception equals reality. A thousand times—NO!

Last week’s Dead Files hit close to home…literally. This episode took place in a small town called Browns Summit, which is perhaps five miles from my hometown of Greensboro, NC. I want to re-tell the story and accent issues along the way. As usual, the medium Amy, her assistant husband, and Steve (retired NYC homicide detective) do their various walk-throughs of the location. From the outset, Steve indicates this is one of the most difficult cases ever. The parents and their two daughters are experiencing severely oppressive paranormal activity.

One daughter, we are told, has had 14 brain surgeries in the last few years. This has significantly reduced her ability to function normally. What was visibly moving to Steve (and me) was how viciously a special needs daughter was being singled out—she was being clawed on her skin, and seeing/hearing monstrous phenomena. Over time, she had regressed from a happy young lady to where she was muttering that she wanted to die. At one point in the show, you could actually hear her sobbing in the background…it was horrible. It did not, and does not seem fair—but such is demonic reality (jumping ahead).

The whole family is experiencing paranormal activity, but as is often the case, one person (usually the weakest) was being relentlessly hammered.They could not afford to move, but something had to change NOW. They were desperate for help, which is why they had called the producers. This was no “I Am Six” shameless parental attention grabbing. It does make me wonder, yet again, why a local pastor was not handling the case.

As has become the hallmark of this TV show, there was remarkable agreement between Amy and Steve as they conducted their separate investigations. Due to a tragic train wreck early in 20th century near the home, as well as the deaths of two children on the property, it was posited that these deceased humans were the causal agents of the oppression. 

Let me try to personalize or apply this—have you ever determined that a paranormal entity or activity was benevolent based on your perception or subjective feelings? If you have, then you are engaging in phenomenology. Your starting point for determining the identity of paranormal phenomena lies within you, and is based on your perception. Is that appropriate for a Christian? As followers or disciples of the Lord Jesus, we are called to a life of radical submission to Him in all areas of life. We do this primarily by conforming our mind, attitude, and behavior to the authority of scripture--and not our autonomous reason or subjective states. (Rom.12:1ff)

It makes want to weep every time a person tells me that they “know” that the presence in their home is benevolent. Do we not realize that demons can not only project thoughts into our heads, but also feelings? That which is pure evil can make itself look and feel as if it were perfect love. And yet I hear this frequently: “Some entities in my home are evil, but I know this particular entity is benevolent because of how it acts and makes me feel.” Do you remember from last week how Laura Maxwell described how her “deceased sister” had gently brushed her hair on a nightly basis for years? But when she and her mom decided to leave Spiritualism, then the alleged sister, and other deceased family members, suddenly turned on them and revealed their true, demonic nature. Rebuke your benevolent paranormal friend in the name of Jesus (do it with conviction), and see what happens. This is where empirical verifiability is appropriate, and it WILL reveal realty. The bible is the most realistic book in existence because, when we read it, we are seeing phenomena through God’s eyes….the Creator and sustainer of all phenomena. (Col.1:16-17)

Meanwhile, back on DF, the mentally handicapped daughter is said to be in process of being possessed. While walking the grounds at night, Amy encounters what she considers is the primary culprit…for possessing the daughter. She asserts that she does not know what it is because it looks and feels different from anything she has encountered thus far in her life. However, she describes the entity as being a large black dog, which quickly begins to shape-shift into a large, dark humanoid shape, which is leaning against a tree. Amy says that it is extremely territorial and that she is afraid of it. During the reveal, she says it is that horrible entity that has been entering the handicapped girl’s room.   

As is often the case, even when a possible demonic entity like this has been identified, there are other beings she sees which are innocent. In this case, she sees a young boy and girl—which perfectly matches the research Steve had done regarding untimely deaths on the property. Previously, the mom had told Steve that she was being awakened at night and seeing impressions being made on her bed, and this frightened her. Well, that was the little kids playing on the bed, says Amy… nothing to be frightened about.

She says the girl may need an exorcism, but since that is traumatic, she recommends first using black salt and some powder blessed by Wiccans (there was a third ritual but I cannot remember). This girls life is in danger, and the reveal is the most somber I have ever witnessed on TV. It is obvious, to me anyway; that both Amy and Steve are deeply touched by this young lady’s plight…they seem very sincere.

However, it is possible to be sincere, but sincerely wrong. First, you CANNOT get rid of demons by using occult rituals—like the burning of sage, black powder, Wiccan powder and so on. If this young woman survives, it is only because the demonic are humoring their attempts—in order to further validate the deception. If you are a disciple of Jesus, then you must get rid of occult paraphernalia…not use it to exorcise someone or some place. 

Second, this is clear illustration of my thesis: phenomenology vs biblical realism. The former is incredibly naïve and foolish. What madness has come over us that makes us think that, how we function in the science lab, is transferable to the supernatural realm? Are we submitting to the Lordship of Christ or not? Making distinctions between benevolent and malevolent entities based on our perception is foolish. Using our five senses, as well as our intuition, is not a wise way to discern supernatural evil. Why? Because demons can project thoughts and sensations that will pleasantly (and deceptively) overwhelm all of these. GOD’S WORD is the only reliable source of information regarding the identity of these entities. I have said before that observation can yield some data, but it cannot reveal the identity of paranormal phenomena. IT CANNOT….IT IS UNABLE TO.

Please see that this is an immensely practical issue that millions of Americans are dealing with. It breaks my heart when folks tell me they are certain that the apparition in their bedroom is benevolent. All that glitters is not gold in the paranormal realm. Remember, the spirit realm is the God ordained temporary home for Satan and millions of demons (maybe billions). All genuine paranormal activity is linked to the spirit realm. I can assure you that no family member is standing guard in your bedroom at night. They are either in heaven or hell, and cannot come here.

Perception is often your worst enemy when it comes to the paranormal because it is teeming with master deceivers. Perception or reality (as defined by God)…which will we choose? Recently, an apparent demonic attempt on the life of my girlfriend occurred. This attempted murder has only further emboldened me to wrench back from the enemy that which belongs to God. To do that, we must walk humbly before our Lord…praying continually and relying on His all-sufficient word.      

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.