The New Paradigm
vol. I, Number Three

Dear Friends,

We have two submissions from subscribers today, and the following comment from Alec Kennett:

"I have a suggestion, that a notation be included on each newsletter stating something like 'There is to be strictly NO additions, deletions or amendments'. I believe this is important as disruptive forces could have a field day, by adding amendments, destructive to our cause, and forwarding these out to the populace, under the guise of Fortuna II.....potentially very destructive."

I wrote back to Alec as follows:

"...thank you for your well considered comment. I'm probably pretty naive, and hadn't thought of that. But I still don't see how an explicit prohibition against altering the content of the newsletter could be enforced. Have you any suggestions? Maybe instead we should have a statement to the effect that opinions expressed in The New Paradigm are just that: the opinions of the authors, and do not reflect upon Fortuna Alliance® II in any way? That way if somebody tampers with the content it will only reflect upon us and not Fortuna Alliance® II."

Alec's point also raises another issue I am grappling with at the moment, and upon which I invite your input. The issue is editorial oversight. I want subscribers to feel at ease in making contributions to this forum, which may be unique inasmuch as we are undertaking to delve publicly into realms of deep personal sensitivity. This is a place in which I hope people will feel the trust and confidence to "bear our souls" to one another, and to the world at large. In the "old paradigm" world, which is ruled by what I have elsewhere called the "Law of the Jungle paradigm," such a forum would be unthinkable. But I believe we are united in the common perception that the "old paradigm" doesn't work, and the time has come for a "new paradigm." And I think we will discover, as we lower our guard and lay down our weapons, a quiet Power residing within each of us we may never before have suspected was there; or suspecting, never exercised; or exercised, never to Its full potential, which is infinite.

Our forum, by itself, will not be adequate to reawaken that Power within us; but if we feel at liberty to express ourselves freely, our words and combined intent may be constructive to that end. Accordingly, I regard each submission from a subscriber as a precious gift, and a holy offering to be laid upon the alter of our forum with reverence and gratitude. It is not easy to "bear one's soul" in public, and in the "old paradigm" world it is an act of extraordinary and noble courage.

I therefore feel a profound responsibility as editor of The New Paradigm; and I am faced with the same dilemma I suppose every editor must deal with one way or another. In our case, the contributors to the discussion are not expected to be professional writers. We are calling forth and attempting to translate into words that which resides deep within us, often in a spontaneous, stream-of-consciousness outpouring. Looked at in one way, to alter a single comma would be to profane a holy utterance of Spirit, and as Alec suggested, "There [ought] to be strictly NO additions, deletions or amendments". On the other hand, the purpose of a forum is to communicate and stimulate thought in the minds of the readers. Communication, in my view, is a psychic phenomenon that takes place when an idea arising in one mind finds lodgment, by whatever means, in another. We often use language, written, spoken and other, as a tool to facilitate communication between minds; but language is not itself communication. Words, in particular, are "packages" in which ideas are wrapped for delivery between minds; but there is no thoroughly reliable means of insuring that the contents of the package is the same when it arrives as it was when it was sent. Most of the words we use have agreed-upon Dictionary definitions; yet much of the meaning of prose, poetry and inspired writing transcends the Dictionary definitions of the words actually employed, and reading becomes as much a creative act as writing.

This puts the editor in a rather ticklish position. One way to deal with it would be to accept Alec's dictum and deliver all submissions verbatim, exactly as received from the author. That would be the simplest solution; but in the case of the following submissions I have chosen instead to exercise some minimal editorial oversight in the interest of improving readability and clarifying meaning. This is common editorial practice, but it means that the message is being filtered through an intermediary mind between its source and its destination; and therefore requires a general trust by readers and writers alike that the editor is "in tune" with the intent of the author and is able to enhance rather than obscure the intended meaning of the message. I do not presume, but I hope I have such trust. If not, I can suggest that authors so desiring might stipulate that their submission may be published in this forum only on the condition that it not be altered in any way. In such case my editorial oversight would consist of the binary decision of whether or not to publish the piece.

Fortunately, the meaning of this forum does not critically depend upon any one submission, or issue, but will become increasingly clear over the course of time. There is a Zen story about a great teacher who used to deliver inspired sermons on the meaning of Zen; but he never wrote anything down. As he was getting on in years, some of his disciples (if that is the word I want) undertook to transcribe their Master's sermons and preserve them in a book. When the Master heard about the project, he said, "You may preserve my sermons in a book if you wish, but for me their purpose is the same as that of a fragment of brick I might pick up to rap upon your door. Once you open your door I toss the stone aside, for it has served its purpose." That is how I feel about what I have to say, and about this forum in general, notwithstanding I consider it a holy undertaking and a sacred trust.

We know that a paradigm is a model or the currently held and accepted belief. Why then would we wish to search for new frontiers if 'life' was comfortable with such a model? I believe it is because the creativity within man knows no boundaries. We are an ever changing, growing body of energy, searching for ever higher understanding and greater levels of comfort. There is only one sure thing in this world and that is that there will be change.

Following lifetimes of experience, the awakening is taking the form of finally coming home to the 'self;' meaning the paradigm shift that is occurring takes place inside of us. The shift then is from the world 'out there' we react to and survive in, becoming a place in which we can create: moving the C in reaCtive back 3 to become Creative.

If we are to give those 3 steps names they might be:

1. Taking responsibility for the self - right now.

2. Willingness to clear old reactive patterns and conditioning, through various therapies, coming to terms with the 'ego', to truly know thyself.

3. Discovering the joys of connection, finding belief in the self, knowing with true alignment thoughts as 'things' manifest in perfect timing.

With this understanding, lo and behold, there is no benevolent, condescending, judgmental, or punishing God looking down on us after all. Instead all is in the light of God I Am!

Now many folk would say that is blasphemy, yet to me "Get thee behind me Satan" is the perfect response to a thought that does not serve ourselves or another. Should we all then spend 40 days in the desert to purify our minds? If this is true then there is nothing surer than the fact that we create our own 'hell' on earth. It is the only existence of such a place and is purely a creation of our powerful minds.

The soul speaks to us through our feelings, so to 'follow ones excitement' and be true to the present moment is a gift to the soul. In discussing the 'oneness' that allows our understanding of no separation to emerge, then the first step has to be coming home to the unison within the self. Another way to express this is to connect with the 'higher' or 'wise part' within, and to honor our feelings as being the truth, rather than the fantasies of the mind. We are currently in the optimum school ground for the education of the soul, and honoring those very feelings we so desperately try to avoid and squash down at times, is indeed the way home.

The soul speaks through feelings and the soul is the TRUTH. Since all experience then is portrayed through our sensations, isn't it interesting to realize that when we 'fall in love' then the other is merely 'reminding' us of the love within ourselves. WE are feeling the feelings.

So when I state "He makes me feel so......" it is in fact me feeling the feelings and he is acting as a mirror, so depending on the degree of potential growth, expectation and learning a relationship can offer determines the degree of feeling. What I 'love' in him is often what I am striving for in my own life, and what I judge harshly is likely to be my own failing I am actively hiding, denying or avoiding, if I am really honest with myself.

Perhaps alcohol, drugs, obsessive sex and extreme sports are but a temporary 'high', a false sense of connection and blissful escape from the loneliness and pain derived from within. The new paradigm shift becomes in essence not, "I experience myself in the world,"  but "I experience the world in myself."

Love & blessings  Sue

Sue Fowler - PO Box 26 Wakefield, Nelson, NZ.

Yes, I have had long time thoughts of perhaps we are all one. Perhaps it is in the fact that everything comes back. It all makes full circle. What goes around comes around: left-right, in-out, good-bad, up-down, hot-cold, love-hate, rough-smooth, birth-death, and it goes on and on. It all springs from nature. Is not the universe, and as far as it extends not nature? If we would leave the earth in some sort of craft and travel eternally, would we not end up on earth? After all, everything else seems to come full circle. This way, there is no end, so there is no beginning. Isn't this what some people say about God?

Thing is, we don't know about all this. So the opposite of not knowing is knowing. Perhaps death is where the knowing part comes in. Perhaps we become part of God, in which case this entity known as God keeps getting bigger and stronger. If this were in fact the truth and earthlings knew this now here on earth then perhaps people would all come together now to work in harmony with each other. Isn't this what the new paradigm shift is all about? To be as one by working together? Perhaps consciousness raising is in fact the very beginning of where it all starts. I think no one has the answer. Could, though, the very answer be in the act of all of us working together and just doing it?

I can only guess, but one thing I do know is that Fortuna is the single best and biggest thing I've ever seen. I think that if the FTC fires a bullet and we duck and the bullet bounces off of something and it hits them, and does damage to them, then this is ok according to the laws of nature. Kind of like the skunk or the bee. Perhaps the new paradigm is bee/newsletter, skunk/newspaper. You are absolutely correct. We should not fight them. We should just seat ourselves where we can get a good view of them destroying themselves as we continue to read, along with all the world, about what THEY ARE doing in our newspaper.

Well Harmon, I could go on but where do I stop? Be looking for your posts.

Later,
William Boehmer.

Until next time,

Love & Light,

-- Harmon
J. Harmon Grahn