Fri, September 16, 2011
Supersize Chi: The Spiritual Cost of Overconsumption
By
Kelley Harrell
In a culture in which more is better and excess is revered, the
ramifications of consumerist decadence on spiritual wellbeing are
pervasive. The urge to overconsume is everywhere. Try finding a unit
price of a single item that is cheaper than buying in bulk. Economic
considerations aside, the commercial appeal to the baser hunter-gatherer
mentality always pushes, "Why have one when you can have three?!"
Value meals, bulk household supplies, combo insurance premiums, BOGO
clothing ... You name it, we bloat it, then encourage all our friends to
join in. We over eat, we over consume, we overspend, frequently all at
once.
...
Individuals who overeat, over-consume and hoard may be poorly
balanced spiritually. The etheric field is comprised of the body, the
chakra system, the body's meridians, and the subtly perceivable
electrical and ethereal space around the whole works. What we call life
force (chi, ki or prana, depending on your cultural influence) moves
smoothly throughout the etheric field when we're healthy, connecting us
with the etheric fields of others, of the planet, etc. When we're not
well, the flow of life force gets out of balance; thus, we don't connect
so well with our environment.
Looking specifically at the chakra system -- seven or more primary
energy bridges roughly visualized along the spine -- we can see and
measure our stages of development in the formed world. Roughly
speaking, our upper spiritual chakras allow us to connect into the soul
realm; thus, they connect us with our spiritual purpose. The lower
earth chakras root us into the nature realm, giving us the tools to
manifest our purpose. When chakra imbalance manifests in overactive
Earth chakras and under-active spiritual chakras this state indicates
more energy is devoted to material "stuff" than to tapping into the
soul's needs. The imbalance can also occur the other way. An
overactive crown and under-active root indicates too much emphasis on
escapist dreaming of spiritual plans, leaving us without the motivation
to actually enact them. When we fall out of etheric balance, we
generally don't feel well emotionally, physically or both, and our lives
stagnate.
...
Another spiritual factor influencing the drive to overconsume is
commonly called soul loss, or what I think of as "soul shelving." When
we suffer a trauma from which we feel we aren't moving on, the shamanic
narrative interprets that state as a facet of the soul having become
inaccessible. Everyone experiences soul loss at some point, as it is a
natural state of healing and growth. When we need access to that soul
aspect and can't reconnect with it problems arise, such as chronic
patterns of depression, distress in relationships and in fulfilling
personal obligations. If soul "loss" isn't recognized for the spiritual
lack that it is, we attempt to fill ourselves with anything that will
temporarily make us feel alive.
...
Disregard for the self reflects disregard for the environment. In his
book, "Green Psychology: Transforming Our Relationship to the Earth,"
Ralph Metzner describes that interconnectedness as resulting in
ecocide.
Modernized humans, by virtue of how we live, are at war with Nature.
The trash from living lavishly has to be discarded in some ocean, some
forest. The resources to supply our demand have to be extracted from
some precious naturescape. By harming the planet we're harming
ourselves, and vice versa. On a level closer to home, we look again at
the etheric field, through which every thing is connected. What we
don't heal in ourselves we pass on to others. It shows up in our
relationships, our children, our work performance. It affects how we
live in the space around us, how we treat ourselves and others. Our
obligation to heal our spiritual wounds lies not only with ourselves but
to every thing.
******************
Please see HERE for the entire article...
And, speaking of chakras and the etheric body, as it connects with the teachings of The Urantia Book, please see this study which connects the chakras with the adjutant mind spirits and the five (so far) epochal revelations of God to man.
Also, it might be helpful to read about the soul and its importance - how to grow it, and how to keep it healthy throughout your life. Finally, a quote from The Urantia Book about materialism:
195:6.7
The mechanistic naturalism of some supposedly educated men and the
thoughtless secularism of the man in the street are both exclusively
concerned with things;
they are barren of all real values, sanctions, and satisfactions of a
spiritual nature, as well as being devoid of faith, hope, and eternal
assurances. One of the great troubles with modern life is that man
thinks he is too busy to find time for spiritual meditation and
religious devotion.
Materialism reduces man to a soulless automaton and constitutes him
merely an arithmetical symbol finding a helpless place in the
mathematical formula of an unromantic and mechanistic universe.
But whence comes all this vast universe of mathematics without a Master
Mathematician? Science
may expatiate on the conservation of matter, but religion
validates the conservation of men’s souls—it
concerns their experience with spiritual realities and eternal values.
The materialistic sociologist of today surveys a community, makes a
report thereon, and leaves the people as he found them. Nineteen
hundred years ago, unlearned Galileans surveyed Jesus giving his life
as a spiritual contribution to man’s inner experience and
then went out and turned the whole Roman Empire upside down.
Labels:
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Fri, July 29, 2011
Why Atheism Replaces Religion In Developed Countries
By
Nigel Barber
Atheists are heavily concentrated in economically developed
countries, particularly the social democracies of Europe. In
underdeveloped countries, there are virtually no atheists. Atheism is a
peculiarly modern phenomenon. Why do modern conditions produce atheism?
In a new study, I provide compelling evidence that atheism increases along with the quality of life (1).
First, as to the distribution of atheism in the world, a clear
pattern can be discerned. In sub-Saharan Africa there is almost no
atheism (2). Belief in God declines in more developed countries and
atheism is concentrated in Europe in countries such as Sweden (64
percent nonbelievers), Denmark (48 percent), France (44 percent) and
Germany (42 percent). In contrast, the incidence of atheism in most
sub-Saharan countries is below 1 percent.
The question of why economically developed countries turn to atheism
has been batted around by anthropologists for about 80 years.
Anthropologist James Fraser proposed that scientific prediction and
control of nature supplants religion as a means of controlling
uncertainty in our lives. This hunch is supported by data showing that
the more educated countries have higher levels of non belief and there
are strong correlations between atheism and intelligence.
Atheists are more likely to be college-educated people who live in
cities, and they are highly concentrated in the social democracies of
Europe. Atheism thus blossoms amid affluence where most people feel
economically secure. But why?
It seems that people turn to religion as a salve for the difficulties
and uncertainties of their lives. In social democracies, there is less
fear and uncertainty about the future because social welfare programs
provide a safety net and better health care means that fewer people can
expect to die young. People who are less vulnerable to the hostile
forces of nature feel more in control of their lives and less in need of
religion. Hence my finding of belief in God being higher in countries
with a heavy load of infectious diseases.
In my new study of 137 countries, I also found that atheism increases
for countries with a well-developed welfare state (as indexed by high
taxation rates). Moreover, countries with a more equal distribution of
income had more atheists. My study improved on earlier research by
taking account of whether a country is mostly Muslim (where atheism is
criminalized) or formerly Communist (where religion was suppressed) and
accounted for three-quarters of country differences in atheism.
***************
This is a somewhat disturbing article, but well-worth a look, as it points out clearly the dangers of materialism and secularism. Please click HERE to read the rest of the article.
Some teachings from The Urantia Book about materialism and secularism can be found HERE, HERE, and HERE
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