Monday, May 12, 2014

Dalai Lama Speaks on Physical & Mental Comfort

By Yeshe Choesang, The Tibet Post International

Riga, Latvia: - 'The material development provides relatively short-lived physical comfort, but not mental peace,' the spiritual leader of Tibet His Holiness the Dalai Lama said during first day of his two days of teachings in Latvia.

Many thousands of audiences gathered at the Kipsala International Exhibition Centre in Riga, the capital of Latvia, on 5 May to hear the teachings of Heart Sutra by His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

The Nobel Peace Prize laureate emphasized why religion or spirituality is relevant in today's world and answered it by explaining that spirituality is related to inner values and so to inner peace. "If material and technological development brought complete peace and happiness, people in advanced, developed countries should be really happy, and yet many are not. Material development provides physical comfort, but not mental peace," His Holiness said.

"We may feel pain and pleasure on a sensory, physical level, or on a mental level. Pleasure on a sensory level, like that derived from watching sport or listening to beautiful music is relatively short-lived, whereas satisfaction on a mental level, for example, love and faith, which do not depend on our senses, is more durable," His Holiness responded and said.

The Buddhist spiritual leader. said that 'while physical pain can be subdued by mental satisfaction, mental unease is not allayed by physical comfort. If we are worried, stressed or frightened, having a beautiful house or listening to delightful music brings little relief. A disturbed mind is not calmed by mere physical satisfaction.'

Questioning about his practice, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate said he had been meditating on love. He noted a sparkle in his eyes that indicated his tremendous satisfaction. "On the other hand I've met billionaires who have all they need and more who are very unhappy. Scientists have findings that show that a calm mind is good for our physical well-being. They also have evidence that mental training can change our attitudes, enabling us to be happier. Our human intelligence can be a source of happiness, but if misused it can also be a source of stress and worry."

The Buddhist leader said that 'only human beings develop religious faith. Such faith may have begun with worship of the sun, but in time the idea of God the creator emerged and with it the idea that since he created everything, there is a spark of God in everyone. All religions convey a message of love and compassion and because hatred is an obstacle to that, they teach tolerance and patience. And because greed is also an obstacle they teach simplicity and contentment. Non-theistic traditions like the Samkhyas, Jains and Buddhists instead of turning to a creator, teach the law of causality, the principle of cause and effect, which resembles a scientific view.'

Going through the 'Heart Sutra', His Holiness explained that things exist in dependence on other factors, so they do not exist independently. Emptiness does not make things empty; phenomena themselves are empty, because they do not have independent existence. He alluded to the interdependence between cause and effect, that something is a cause only because there is an effect.

The 'Heart Sutra' shows that independent existence is an illusion by saying "Form is empty, emptiness is form." Emptiness is a property of the form, and form is the basis of the property of emptiness. When you look for form, you find emptiness. This is what undermines clinging to intrinsic existence. He remarked that consciousness too is empty and mentioned that meditation on emptiness is effective in undermining our negative emotions; it is not just an intellectual exercise. Negative emotions are not of the nature of the mind; they do not taint its luminosity.

original link: http://www.thetibetpost.com/news/international/4014-his-holiness-the-dalai-lama-speaks-on-physical-and-mental-comfort

Paranormal Ambush Smackdown, Part 2

By Kirby Robinson

Continued from: 


 Dispelling the deceptions of George Lopez, Chip Coffey, and Andrea Perron.

This Monday we'll finish the preliminaries, so that we can start breaking the show down in detail next week. The reader can learn what was really going on. First, some issues and questions I must raise.

1 ~ Was Bishop James Long set up? Yes, that appears to be the case.

Why was Bishop Long brought into this mess? In the past, I'd been on his show as a guest host of a weekly segment. I had no reason to question the Bishop's conduct, motives, or character. One of the former Eye on the Paranormal bloggers mentioned his name in a harsh manner. When it was pointed out, the reference was removed, and the blogger is no longer with us.

After a phone conversation with Bishop Long, I learned what happened. On the Monday night of the ambush interview, Bishop was spending a peaceful night at home reading Thomas Aquinas. He was contacted by someone who told him that I said that Andrew Calder was never an ordained minister.

I challenge anyone to listen to the ambush interview and find where I made such a statement. They said that I claimed that Andrew Calder was never ordained by the CEEC, which is false as he was [more on that later]. Bishop Long knew Andrew Calder and that made him a little upset--which it should have. However, I didn't say that Andrew Calder wasn’t ordained.

Why was this done? It seems very clear to me, and I'm going blind, that there was an ulterior motive on someone's part to get Bishop Long to call in so it turned into a three on one attack.

Who was behind this? George Lopez? Chip Coffey? Andrea Perron? Or someone on Lopez's staff? We're unsure, but we can say shame on the person/persons who did that. Bishop Long is a very kind person who carries the weight of his church and his calling to deal with the demonic. Bishop Long shouldn't have been put into this situation.

Since we're addressing the Andrew Calder situation let me summarize it.

Andrew Calder was a man of God who was an ordained minister just not with the Episcopal Church of America. They are based in New York City. Here is a link:  http://www.episcopalchurch.org/

He had been ordained by the CEEC, which stands for the Communion of Evangelical Episcopal Churches.

This organization is part of The Convergence Movement. Their views are: "Standing within the Celtic and Anglican traditions, the Communion of Evangelical Episcopal Churches was created by a convergence of the great historical expressions of faith and practice: the Evangelical, Charismatic, liturgical, and sacramental traditions. The fundamental principles defining inclusion in the Communion are detailed in the Chicago-Lambeth Quadrilateral of 1886." Read more about it here: http://www.theceec.org

Father Calder chose to appear on the fake reality show Paranormal State on an early segment called "The Devil in Syracuse" where he was given the title Episcopal Priest. The CEEC has told their clergy not to use the title.

The CEEC contacted Go Go Luckey Productions, Paranormal State's production company, and ask them to remove the credit. The credit remained. The CEEC contacted Calder and advised him not to do the show anymore.

In July, 2008, he got involved in the infamous "I Am Six" case. The same credit was misused, and that resulted in some problems. If you want to learn the whole story, it's in the book Never Mock God: An UnauthorizedInvestigation into Paranormal State's 'I Am Six' Case.

Calder was ordained again by a different organization. That is a far different story than that of me stating that Calder was never ordained.


2 ~ The Norma Sutcliffe video. Watch it yourself and make an informed decision. Yes, it's just over an hour long, and you will need some time to read the articles and documents that are presented. If you have any investigational skills, this video should be something you want to see. 

Why not let the public decide for themselves? 

3 ~ Has Andrea Perron admitted her book might not be true?

I was surprised to see a message from a literature professor who offered some advice on this situation. They suggested that I go to Amazon and note the categories that Perron has her books listed in.

Biography is defined as the story of a person's life written by another person. A memoir can be defined as a story about an event or series of events that the author has personal knowledge about.

A biography should be 100% true. A memoir may or may not be. Here are some very famous fake memoirs: http://listverse.com/2010/03/06/top-10-infamous-fake-memoirs/

Memoirs are pulled from the author's memories and tend to be influenced over time by many outside factors.


So we ask is the book emotionally true vs. factually true? We'll ask this question again as the many parts of the blog unfold.


In next week's Paranormal Ambush Smackdown,  we'll break down the interview and explain how the radio show host and his guests lied, twisted the facts,  and made false claims.



Keep current and follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/eyeonparanormal

EARN EXTRA MONEY! If you have a website, forum or blog you can set up an Amazon Associates Affiliate Program link and sell the Kindle version of our books. "Is the Long Island Medium the Real Deal?" [Now in Paperback!], "Never Mock God: An Unauthorized Investigation into Paranormal State's 'I Am Six' Case" [also in paperback!], "Investigating Paranormal State," "Paranormal State Exposed" and "Paranormal Teachings: The Best of Shedding Some Light" and earn money. You can also sell other books and products that Amazon offers. Here's the linkhttps://affiliate-program.amazon.com/