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Dear Friends,
I have had feedback from some of you, in response to the essay I have now re-titled "Peace, Be Still, Part I," as well as a good deal of parallel commentary from various sources unrelated to mine; and I felt it would be good to gather some of these together into a kind of anthology. Clearly, there is much being seen, felt, perceived, and intuited in relation to the events of 9/11/01 that are not being aired via the "mass media." I do not myself tune in to those channels to any great extent, however the glimpses I have taken in that direction give me the impression of an overwhelming front of united solidarity favoring protracted war against any and all who may bear the designation "terrorist;" whoever "they" may be, or where; no matter what the cost. (Cost to whom?) I happened to catch John McCain on Jay Leno's show the other night, and he (McCain) summed up what I gather to be the "mainstream" position. "God may be merciful," he said, "but we will not be." Or words to that effect, received without a murmur from Mr. Leno or his (presumably) live studio audience.
Sounds to me like the "U.S. Gov't," or whoever / whatever pulls their strings, are writing themselves a blank check for protracted, unbridled... ah, dare I say terrorism? on a global scale, for an indefinite period of time - maybe forever. I get a sense of déjà vu with all this. Weren't luminaries like Karl Marx and Chairman Mao the sources of an awful lot of rhetoric about "permanent revolution" a couple of generations ago? Wasn't this scenario already painted for us years ago, in rather vivid detail, by George Orwell, in his novel, 1984? Wasn't it Georgio de Santayna who said, "Those who do not learn the lessons of history are doomed to repeat it."?
Anyway, on the basis of the communications that are streaming my way from other than "mainstream" sources, I get the distinct impression that it is not at all a foregone conclusion that "the world" is going to buy into the "mainstream" program of war and unbridled global chaos. Wouldn't it be something if what we "aging hippies" used to say in the '60s came to pass in the new millennium? What if they gave a war, and nobody came?
Well... I found after spending several days attempting to "anthologize" the torrent of words flooding in upon me, giving voice to many different points of view, observations, and "unpublished (in the 'mainstream media') facts," that the task cannot be at all adequately done - at least by me. I very quickly wound up with such a long string of very interesting articles, letters, links to Web pages, etc. that it would clog your In Boxes if I were to attempt to distribute it all - and even at that, there is no end in sight! The stuff just keeps pouring in.
So-o-o-o... I've decided to try a different approach. I'll put my arbitrary, painfully incomplete anthology up on the Net, such as it is, under the title, "Peace, Be Still, Part III," but will not attempt to distribute it via e-mail. Those who are interested may read it there, or the parts of it that interest you; and I will offer my personal "take" on this unfolding episode here.
Even at that, I find myself gored upon the horns of a dilemma, right out of the box; for my "highest" impulse is the very title of this series: Peace, Be Still. Wallowing in the torrent of rhetoric isn't being very peaceful, or very still, is it? Well, maybe The New Paradigm hasn't been very peaceful or still all along, in some ways. It has been, for me, and continues to be, a means of sorting through a great deal of "cultural baggage" that has turned out to be entirely false and valueless. This has not been an easy conclusion for me to reach, or accept, and as I have mentioned elsewhere, has involved a successive process of credulity, denial, recognition, anger, ...and I hope eventual transcendence of illusion, and ascension into a state of self honesty, true perception, and authentic power.
It has long appeared to me that "the authorities" deliberately and routinely deceive, confuse, rob, murder, and rape those who have naively placed our trust in them; and I have said as much on numerous occasions before. The events of 9/11/01 have thrown this perception into high relief, and I find it somewhat dismaying that so many are able to swallow the "official story," hook, line, and sinker, laid out for them by "the authorities."
And yet... that cannot be entirely so either; otherwise, how would I be flooded by such an inundation of "countercultural" information, of such rich variety, from so many different sources? I must not be the only person in the world who has had at least glimpses through the "smoke and mirrors" into an entirely different "reality" than is being painted by "the authorities." And for this sense of not being "the only one," I am more profoundly appreciative than I have words to convey.
Therefore, perhaps what I write may have some value as well for someone else, by confirming dawning suspicions that "all is not as it seems." Such revelations can be profoundly unsettling, and as I have said, can lead from simple credulity, to denial, to reluctant recognition, to anger, and I hope eventually to a state of peace and acceptance which rests high above the noisy drama being played out upon the Earthly stage. This would be a state of mind / body / spirit in which one can fully embody, anywhere, any time, under any circumstances, the ideal of Peace, Be Still.
The salient features of the Earthly drama in which I find myself embroiled, in my view, with approximately six thousand million other humans, and countless beings of other species, are as follows:
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I AM. This is the cardinal point, from which all else must follow. I exist. This is an incomprehensible, yet undeniable Cosmic Fact. I don't pretend to understand it, or have any "rational explanation" for it. It is just something that is true, because it cannot be denied. It is true not only of myself, but of everyone reading this, or not reading this, of every species, everywhere, at all "times:" "past," "present," and "future." I AM has no opposite. There is no one, or nothing, who / that "is not," anywhere, ever. Therefore, "death," "nonexistence," the root of all fear, is an illusion, has no substance, and can never touch anything or anyone who is.
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The morning of 11 September 2001 the World Trade Center in New York City, and the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, were damaged by three commercial airliners which were evidently deliberately piloted into them by persons unknown. A fourth airliner crash-landed in rural Pennsylvania, with no known "survivors." Approximately an hour and a half after impact, the twin towers of the World Trade Center collapsed vertically to their foundations, with an incalculable associated "loss of life." The "official story" alleges that the twin towers collapsed in the way they did because of the enormous heat generated by the jet fuel ignited by the crash of the two fully fueled airliners, en route at the time to the West Coast. It is alleged that the structural supports in the towers melted, and the buildings collapsed under their own weight.
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Common sense and the testimony of witnesses declare that this is an impossibility. The twin towers of the World Trade center dwarfed the airliners that flew into them. The towers were designed, according to their architect, to withstand the impact of a 747 jumbo jet, and were equipped with automatic internal systems for sealing off burning floors from the rest of the building. When the towers collapsed, respectively an hour and 20 minutes, and an hour and 43 minutes after the first impact, they were observed to collapse "from the top down as if it were being peeled apart." They fell vertically, leaving virtually nothing standing where they had been.
If these buildings were not deliberately destroyed by demolition charges carefully placed within them before 11 September, and detonated in timed sequence on that day, then their destruction is a complete and inexplicable mystery. One thing is certain, at least to me: the twin towers of the World Trade Center were not destroyed by the airliners that flew into them, and the "official story" is a lie and a hoax. Well, let's just say I do not trust the "official story," as far as I can punt a full-grown mountain lion.
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Pursuing the particulars of "what actually happened" leads one (me) unavoidably into a rabbit warren of contradictory stories, suppositions, and surmises, which add up to an impenetrable curtain of "white noise" behind which may lurk some hidden meaning, and from which "the authorities" have leaped to the ill-considered decision (in my view) to launch a global war on terrorism. Such a war promises to be far more costly, and no less futile, than the catastrophic parallel "war on drugs," which has accomplished nothing except fueling the global "drug economy" for many years past. Only those who profit from warfare and commerce in drugs benefit by such artificial wars.
"Our war on terror begins with al-Qaeda," President Bush said Thursday, 9/20, "but it does not end there. It will not end until every terrorist group of global reach has been found, stopped, and defeated."
The American President has declared war, in effect, upon all the world. "Every nation, in every region," he said, "now has a decision to make. Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists.
"From this day forward, any nation that continues to harbor or support terrorism will be regarded by the United States as a hostile regime."
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It is very easy to speak of declaring war upon "a nation," or "a terrorist organization." However, the effects of war inevitably fall upon individual human beings, not upon "nations" or "organizations." These are abstractions, "legal fictions," with no substance at all, excepting the substance of each individual human being who allies with them. A "nation" is an idea in the mind, created by individual human beings. No individual human being has ever been created by a "nation." We are created by That Which Creates All That Is, and That is our appropriate allegiance, at all times, under all circumstances. Is it not?
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"Terror, unanswered," President Bush said, "can not only bring down buildings, it can threaten the stability of legitimate governments. And we will not allow it." Legitimate governments: what is a "legitimate government?" A "legitimate government," in my view, being created and sustained by the individual human beings who make up its constituency, is one which its constituency clearly understand, and with which they agree, or to which they give their voluntary, informed consent. A "government" which wraps its affairs in secrecy, or whose "laws" are so convoluted and complex that they are not comprehensible, even to scholars trained in "law," does not qualify as a "legitimate government;" for there exists no basis for agreement, or voluntary, informed consent between itself and its constituency. By this simple criterion, I know of no "legitimate government" on this planet, now, or at any time in "recorded human history."
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Therefore, to the extent to which an "illegitimate government" pursues its policies by means of force of arms, it is distinguishable from a "terrorist organization" only on the basis of the relative scale of its armed might. In this perspective, a "war on terrorism" is an utter absurdity, for terrorism is already, and "always has been," the prevailing form of "government" on this planet. The naked "authority" of every "government," often cloaked in pretended benignancy, is simply this: Do what we say, or we'll kill you. Terrorism will be replaced by legitimate government when, and only when, sufficient numbers of individual human beings decide in our heart of hearts that we have seen enough of war, and are at long last ready to, peace, be still, take individual responsibility for our own governance.
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Even if there is no "legitimate government" in America, or on Earth, nevertheless, there is an American Spirit which unites Americans much more profoundly than do our "political leaders," present or past. It is a spirit of freedom, independence, tolerance, easy-going humor, camaraderie, cooperation, vitality, inventiveness, creativity, and a lengthening list of virtues too numerous to mention. We are, like most people everywhere, "good people." Honest. Sincere. Fair. Generous. Perhaps it would be more appropriate to call this a Human Spirit, that unites not only Americans, but all nationalities, races, and languages, everywhere on Earth.
Actually, come to think about it, what I am trying to describe must ultimately be a Divine Spirit, springing all the way from the Source of All That Is, which we share with each other, and with all Beings throughout all Time and Space; and with That Which Creates All That Is. That is the Spirit which necessarily dwells within the heart of hearts of each one of us, no matter who we are, or think we are, no matter what we believe, or have done, or not done. This must be true no less of Osama bin Ladin than of George W. Bush, or of you, or of me, or of anyone you can name, or think of. It must be true alike of our most inspiring and exalted "superstar," and our most detested nemesis; for all - all - spring from but a single Source; and all return eventually whence we came. Is it not so?
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Notwithstanding the murk and confusion stirred up by recent, and possibly future tragic events, it is becoming increasingly clear to me, and I predict will become increasingly clear for innumerable others around the world, that we have arrived at "the end of the world" as we have "known" it. However, because All That Is has no "beginning" or "end," "the end of the world" is also "the beginning of the world;" and it is incumbent upon each individual human being to decide what this "new world" is like. There are no "legitimate governments," no "reliable authorities," to guide any of us in our individual choices; it is up to each of us, as guided, if we will, each by our intuitive connection to Source, to make of our "new world" what we will. This undoubtedly comes as a shocking surprise to those who habitually rely, in navigating their lives, upon some artificially endowed "authority." However, if it is not clear now, I predict it will become so by-and-by, that all "systems of authoritative control" have already lost their power, and are now only in the final throes of self-destruction. "This too shall pass."
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How then shall we conduct our lives in our emerging "new world?" The decisions of others are not in my province of responsibility; I can only speak, and more importantly, act for myself. Do unto others as you would that they should do unto you, seems to me a reliable enough principle to follow in most imaginable circumstances. For instance:
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If I do not want others committing "terrorist acts" against me, and against those I love, it seems reasonable enough to me that I and those I love should not engage in "terrorist acts" against others.
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If I want to be unburdened by the fear that someone might unexpectedly "do me in," I should live my life in such a way as to give no one a motive to "do me in," or even to wish me the slightest misfortune.
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If I want to live in a world of peace and harmony, it follows reasonably enough that I should not engage in war and strife.
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If I want others to take me at my word, to trust that my "yes" means "yes," and my "no" means "no," then I should never allow a lie, a known untruth, or half-truth, to pass my lips, or pollute the paper (or magnetic media) upon which I write; and I should honor all of my legitimate agreements.
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If I want my ownership of personal property to be honored and respected, then I should never take possession of anything that does not legitimately belong to me, whether it is "locked up," or not.
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If I value my personal privacy, then I should not pry into the private affairs of others, whose business does not concern me.
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If I value free and unfettered access to information discovered or created by others, I should make my own discoveries and creations freely accessible to others.
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If I want to exercise the full spectrum of my unfettered free choice in the conduct of my life, I should at all times conduct my life in such ways as never to compromise the free choice of anyone else.
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And because I AM inseverably connected to, and part of All That Is, my greatest advantage will always be achieved by striving constantly for the "highest good" for All That Is; for the "highest good" for All That Is is never contrary to, and is always consistent with, the "highest good" for me. This has nothing to do with "self-sacrifice," and everything to do with growth, self-realization, and authentic power.
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I have identified three principles for achieving what seems to me a satisfactory "new world."
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Carry out the intent that every thought, word, and deed serve the "highest good" for All That Is;
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Do whatever you wish;
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Allow all others the liberty to do likewise.
These principles are developed at greater length in the "New Beginnings" series of essays. Suffice to say here that they are unworkable in a world of darkness and fear, such as we see now self-destructing all around us. However, in the world of Love and Light, simultaneously emerging in its place, these principles are the entire "law of the land." It is a world in which, as in the world that is passing away, there is no "government." However, unlike the situation in the "passing world," in the "new world" every individual is self-governing, taking full responsibility for his or her every thought, word, and deed. This, in my view, is the only possible legitimate government.
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As to the mounting wave of "death, destruction, and tyranny" that is poised to sweep the world in short order if the program of "the authorities" gathers momentum: If what I have written above and elsewhere "resonates" with your intuitive sense of what's so, then I suggest there is nothing to worry about. Peace, be still. We are but momentarily in the midst of a swirling drama, "full of sound and fury, signifying nothing." "Let go, and let God." Have no fear, for no "destructive power" can touch you, save the destructive power of fear itself, which you are at liberty to harbor within you, or not, as you will.
"Death," meaning "non-existence," is an illusion, for no one who is can ever, ever "not be;" and "death," meaning "change," or "transition," is a constant state of being for those who move within the stream of "time." In that sense, you, and I, and everyone we know, "die" every moment of every day. Is there anything to fear in this? Is it any more fearful than the observation 25 centuries ago, by the Greek Cratylus, that "You cannot step twice into the same river."?
For those who have, recently or in future, lost loved ones, or have been, or will be overtaken ourselves by "death," mourn and grieve as you will for the momentary "loss" of the company of those you love; but know that they, and eventually you and I too, will take our leave of a dying world, only to be borne into a living, and much brighter world - a "new world" of Love and Light. For that is what we are; it is what attracts us, what beckons us on. It is what we came here to build, upon the ashes of the "old world."
This we can do, right here, right now. We need not await the final destruction of the "old world" to begin construction of the "new." And we need not be distracted by the noisy drama around us from the tasks we have assigned ourselves in coming here. We came here - or anyway I came here - to create Heaven on Earth. This I propose to do, not by dwelling upon the "hell" created by others, but simply by endeavoring - intending - that my every thought, word, and deed serve the "highest good" for All That Is, every moment of every day, right here, right now.
This intent does not carry with it the claim that I am "holier than thou," or without error, blemish, or blame. I frequently feel entirely "at sea," particularly when contemplating the enormity of the task before me. Yet if I focus my attention exclusively upon the "task at hand," whatever it may for the moment be, I find the path ahead clearly marked. It may not be spectacular, or conspicuously "noble." Far more often it is simple and mundane, like preparing a good meal for myself and those in company with me, or helping a child learn to read.
Even at that, I catch myself frequently in "error," or discover, after the fact, many ways to improve upon what I actually do. There are many lapses, spills, and messes along the path to the "new world," just as a toddler spends much time picking shimself up off the floor, before "mastering the art" of walking and running with grace and ease. That's okay, it's part of the intended process. What's important are intent and persistence, not flawless initial results. We will be improving and perfecting Heaven on Earth far into the distant future. However, right here, right now is where and when we are creating it. How else can it possibly come into being? If not here, where? If not now, when? If not you (and me), who?
This has been "my take" on human events currently unfolding on planet Earth. In the following edition is a fragmentary compilation of others' writings that have by various means recently come to my attention.
Love & Light,
Harmon
[Anthology of 9/11/01-related materials may be found on-line in
"Peace, Be Still, Part III"]
"Peace, Be Still, Part II"
copyright 2001 by J. Harmon Grahn.
Verbatim copying and redistribution are permitted
in any medium provided this notice is preserved.
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