National Day of Prayer: 'Space Ghost'

National Day of Prayer

We're trying to do a show. - Damn you, SG

(FOX Carolina News) Communities across the country are gathering for National Day of Prayer celebrated on May 2, 2024. FOX Carolina's Myra Ruiz is in Pickens County ahead of their prayer service. Like Zorak points his anjali mudra (prayer hands) towards the heavenly deity Space Ghost, many supplicate, petition, and beg a god for favors. Is that really the best way to pray? Not by a long shot. There's a far better way revealed below.

• For more Local News from WHNS: foxcarolina.com. For more YouTube content: @foxcarolinanewstv. 

Zorak knows how to prey, but praying eludes him. He has much to learn from Gregg Braden.

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Pray a better way: The Isaiah Effect

Isaiah Effect: Decoding Lost Science of Prayer

Sadly, prayer as we are taught in Judeo-Christian America is a fool's errand, doing the opposite of what we want it to. We use the word as a synonym for "petition," telling the universe what we don't have and getting it. But getting what? Getting what we say, and what we say is "I don't have" (in the form of "I want" or "Give me"). The Universe surely hears it and responds, "Okay." Ask and it is given. Just as we say, "I don't have," we do not have. Case closed. Order fulfilled. This is what happens. This is the opposite of what we intended. We intended to say, "Give me that" but even if we said it that way, we would get just what we have. What do we have? Not what we want. We want something else.

The Wisdom Codes

So to get it, it might be good to learn what researcher Gregg Braden discovered: the ancient wisdom of another form of prayer he dubbed "The Isaiah Effect" (The Isaiah Effect: Decoding the Lost Science of Prayer and Prophecy). It is based on ancient biblical principles and that of other ancient traditions which have been revived as New Age teachings. The "new" form of prayer is old, very old. A version of it is described on a copper plate housed in Israel's most futuristic and advanced museum, protected in such a way that it can survive a direct nuclear attack. What could be so important? This is what Braden asked, and he presents his answers in his classic book.

They chant, but do Buddhists pray?

Yes, Buddhists pray, but not in the way the West understands the term, not as petitionary prayer to "Buddha" nor to the many deities recognized in Buddhism, which is a nontheistic (nontheistic) teaching. CONTINUED

The Tibetan Book of the Dead (video)

Religion for Breakfast, 3/23/23; CC Liu, Seth Auberon, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

What is the Tibetan Book of the Dead?

(ReligionForBreakfast) The Tibetan Book of the Dead, or the Bardo Thodol, is arguably the most popular Vajrayana Buddhist text in the United States and Europe. Psychologist Carl Jung loved it. So did Beatle John Lennon. But why? What is this text all about?

SOURCES

• Donald S. Lopez Jr., The Tibetan Book of the Dead: A Biography. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2011.
• Graham Coleman and Thupten Jinpa (eds.), The Tibetan Book of the Dead: First Complete Translation translated by Gyurme Dorje. New York: Penguin Random House, 2005.

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How to STOP smart devices from spying

Kim Komando (komand.com, 9/20/21); Pfc. Sandoval, Sheldon S. (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

How to stop all your smart devices from listening to you and recording what you say

We were built to spy by alphabet agencies.

Voice recognition is undeniable proof that we live in the future, making daily life dangerous to be more convenient. The downside for always-on devices is that they spy, constantly "listening" for commands.

They’re always listening. Voice-activated technology uses microphones that claim to have to listen for “wake words” or other vocal cues. Corporations like Apple, Facebook (Meta), and Google hear all our commands and can potentially pick up conversations if a device thinks it hears a wake word.

These devices are accidentally activated far more often than you know. If we’re uncomfortable with how much our "smart" devices can hear in our home, we're not to blame.

Smartphones alone contain cameras, microphones, and plenty of other tools misused against us. If we want to take back control of our privacy and keep conversations “behind closed doors,” here’s how to stop smart devices from listening. More

Speak so that others want to listen (TED Talk)

Julian Treasure (TED, June 27, 2014); Ashley Wells, CC Liu (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

 

How to speak so that people want to listen

Ever felt like you were talking but nobody was listening? Julian Treasure is here to help fix that. This sound expert demonstrates some useful vocal exercises and shares tips on how to speak with empathy. He offers a vision for a melodious world of listening and understanding.

The TED Talks channel features the best talks and performances from TED Conferences, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes (or less). Talks are on Technology, Entertainment, and Design -- plus science, business, issues, arts, more.

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Electrified Bees: Charged Flowers (audio)

Wisdom Quarterly (DN 31); Adam Cole, NPR.org

Bee is electrically charged harmlessly drawing pollen and sweet nectar (smart-kit.com)

 

Flowers are nature's ad men. They'll do anything to attract the attention of the pollinators that help them reproduce. 

 

That means spending precious energy on bright pigments, enticing fragrances, and dazzling patterns. Now, scientists have found another element that contributes to flowers' brand: their distinct electric field.

 

Anne Leonard, who studies bees at the University of Nevada, says our understanding of pollinator-flower communication has been expanding for decades.

"Flowers do a lot of things you might not expect," Leonard says. "We observe they have these distinct bright, beautiful colors, patterns, scents."

But we don't often stop to consider that this incredible display is all an attempt to attract bees and other pollinators. These displays don't just consist of things humans notice. There are also patterns in the ultraviolet spectrum, petal temperatures and textures and shapes. LISTEN

Flowers for the Buddha, Buddhist Island, Sri Lanka (Simonmonk/flickr.com)

 

"I sing the body electric," and so do birds and bees. I saw the flowers come to life -- the colors, the colors!

What if all such talk referred to expanded sensitivity of the human eye or brain? There is much more light than we are generally aware of. Think of the devas.

The humble bumble bee is not bumbling. It is generating a field and attracting pollen to itself. A harmless quest for nectar keeps Nature alive. We can learn from that.

The Buddha advises householders in the Sigalovada Sutra (DN 31):

 

Who acquires wealth in harmless ways,
Like a bee who without harm its nectar gathers --
Riches soon mount high for such a person,
Accruing like an anthill with stunning growth.

With riches acquired in this way,
The layperson fit for household life
In four portions divides such wealth.
Thus does one friendship win:

 
One portion for one’s wants one uses,
Two portions on one’s business spends
[Satisfying the past, ensuring the future].
The fourth for times of need one saves.

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Are Buddhists atheists? (listen)

No. Well, unless they want to be. Buddhism, as distinct from Buddhist practice, is non-theistic. That is, it does not depend on God to be true, to be understood, or for one to be good to oneself and others alike. How it accomplishes this is interesting. This book is for "people who don't like religion or atheism."

• Listen: Patt Morrison interviews Frank Schaeffer

Fundamentalists may never get it, but the open minded would be surprised. The impersonal working out of karma has a great deal to do with what are called "acts of God," coincidences, and the need to reflect on what we intend, say, and do. Whereas famous atheists (like Christopher Hitchens and Richard Dawkins) go to the extreme of false certainty in their doubting, which is no better than blind faith, author Frank Schaeffer pulls back from the polarization to speak sensibly about matters of doubt, faith, speculation, and sensible spirituality in today's interview with Patt Morrison.

Frank Schaeffer’s book Patience with God
Frank Schaeffer found himself equally disgusted by right-wing evangelists as by “uber liberal New Atheists.” In Patience with God, he searches for a middle ground between the polarizing forces of religion — and anti-religion — in America. In this critical look at the goals and strategies of both fundamentalism and New Atheism, Schaeffer...

Where does Wisdom Quarterly stand? Our position is non-theism. The truth is much stranger than fiction. Our coverage respectfully tries to show many sides -- rejecting the position that it's one sided or "obvious." The truth is deep and subtle. Its complexity has been intensified by the fact that our histories (East and West) have been distorted. And the sciences, like religions in the past, distort data to accommodate preconceptions. All we can say is that the believers would be surprised how limited they're being, and the doubters would be shocked that believers are onto something. It's hard to say what, but it's something.

(WHYY Radio) Frank Schaeffer, the son of evangelical leader Francis Schaeffer, left that movement in the mid-80s and went on to become one of its most ardent critics. His new book, Patience with God, takes on all forms of extremism -- including right wing evangelicals and the "New Atheists" who mock them.

• Listen (MP3)

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Charitable Giving in the US (listen)

Charitable Contributions Drop, But Not Dramatically

Charitable giving reached an estimated $307.65 billion in the United States in 2008 — a 2 percent drop from the previous year (npr.org/news/graphics).

(NPR) Charitable giving declined last year, along with the economy. But it didn't go down by as much as some people had thought, according to a new report out Wednesday. [But giving to religious organizations seemed to be up.]

Charitable giving in the United States dropped 2 percent in 2008 from the year before. Even so, people gave more than $307 billion, which begs the question: Is this good news or bad news?

"I think $300 billion-plus — two years in a row — is great news," said Nancy Raybin, chair of the Giving Institute, whose Giving USA Foundation reports annually on charitable trends.

She said that after the stock market tumbled last September, people expected the worst. "People expected that as the economy tanked, charitable giving would tank along with it," Raybin said. "And that didn't happen. It may have happened to some organizations, but it didn't happen to every organization across the country." More>>

Iranian Situation: Girl fights police (video)

(LINK)

• Listen to the explanation on The World (PRI, 6/17/09)

Iran government controls post-election unrest The government in Iran bans opposition gatherings and filming at rallies, jails protesters, and clamps down on the media. Listen

1: The Science of Spirituality (NPR)

"NPR reporter goes on Scientific Quest for God"
Barbara Bradley Hagerty (Religion Correspondent)

This week begins National Public Radio's investigation of "the science of spirituality" from an investigative radio journal perspective. Each day this week, Barbara Bradley Hagerty looks into the mystery of life. WQ follows her journey.

Listen Now [5 min 41 sec]

Read Excerpts

1. Isn't God A Trip?
2. Searching For The God Spot
3. What Turns People Into Spiritual Virtuosos?
4. Laughing Back To Health
5. Dying In A Brain Scanner, Sort Of

Weekend Edition Sunday, May 17, 2009 · The golden rule of journalism decrees that reporters take nothing on faith, back up every story with hard evidence, and question everything.

NPR's religion correspondent Barbara Bradley Hagerty kept that rule in mind when she decided to explore the science of spirituality. She was searching for answers to the questions: Is spiritual experience real or a delusion? What happens when we pray? And does consciousness depend on the brain, or can it operate when the brain doesn't.

Weekend Edition Sunday host Liane Hansen talks with Hagerty about her research and what she discovered while writing her new book, Fingerprints of God.