[Mb-hair] Swami Beyondananda

[IHHS at aol.com]

Swami Beyondananda's 2006 State of the  Universe
Address

By Swami Beyondananda

For years now, we've  been hearing "shift happens," and
wondering when, where and how. Now finally,  it looks
as if the shift is about to hit the fan. This is good
news for  all those shift fans who've been wondering if
the new age will arrive before  old age does. Of
course, if you're looking for signs in the news,  you
won't find them. At least, not yet. The news might as
well be called  the "olds," because the world still
seems stuck in greedlock, ruled by  fossilized fools
fueled by fossil fuels. But I have been  receiving
encouraging intelligence reports that say indeed,
humans are  becoming more intelligent. Yes, people
everywhere are wising up. And that's  great, because we
could sure use an up-wising!

The evolution has  begun. But before we see changes in
the old needy-greedy, we humans must  change our
consciousness -- and the first step is becoming
conscious of  how unconscious we've been. As the saying
goes, the truth shall upset you  free, and last year
saw lots of disillusionment. But what better to  free
us from the far more dangerous condition of
illusionment? If we want  to stop the abuse of power,
the first step is to disabuse ourselves. So,  here's
some good news: Despite a massive media impropaganda
machine that  feeds the public "babblum" (strained
bullshit made digestible for a simple  child's mind),
more and more Americans are reading between the lyins'
and  peering behind the Irony Curtain.

In 2005, Americans had to face the sad  realization
that the Bush Administration's "pro-life" stance
appears to be  limited to the unborn and the
brain-dead. Despite being panned by  critics
everywhere, the Iraqi Horror Picture Show continued
its run, as  thousands and thousands of born fetuses -
ours and theirs -- lost their right  to life. While we
may or may not have saved face by staying there, we
have  most definitely lost ass. And we've been assured
we'll be stuck in that  morass until -- well, until
there's no more ass to lose. Meanwhile, more and  more
Americans reached another sad conclusion: We're not in
Iraq to keep  the peace, we're there to keep the
pieces.

The signs of up-wising are  everywhere. Even the most
unpleasant stories are beginning to break through  the
soundless barrier and defy the President's "don't ask,
don't tell"  policy: "You promise not to ask us what
we're doing, and we promise not to  tell you." Although
we've been inundated with "fear-gnomes" and  ominously
warned we have to protect ourselves in this
dogma-eat-dogma  world, a majority of Americans are no
longer comfortable with the notion that  the only way
to defeat the "evil-doers" in the world is to out
evil-do  them. Although our President has assured us
that "we don't torture," it is  now common knowledge
that we simply send detainees to countries that  do
torture when we want them to "testify under oaf."

As for those  progressives who've been whining that
the President "never listens" to them,  well it turns
out he's been listening all along. And thanks to  the
so-called Patriot Act (which, I understand, is about
to be renamed the  Eternal Insecurity Act), it looks
like he'll be able to listen in even more  -- all in
the name of making us safe. But now even some
Republicans are  beginning to see that there's a
difference between protection and the  "protection
racket." And with the recent revelations about Tom
DeLay, Jack  Abramoff and other gold collar criminals,
some of the more devout  conservatives have come to
realize that the "family values" they voted for  bear
an uncanny resemblance to Soprano Family values. 

If there was  any warm feeling in 2005, chalk it up to
climate change. Katrina hit, and in  the government's
response we saw a future when at last all Americans
will  be equal -- where everyone regardless of race or
creed will be treated like  Black folks. 

Alarming Policies Have Awakened  Millions!

Fortunately this is the State of the Universe Address,
and  from a universal perspective, things are humming
along quite nicely. It turns  out that the Earth is the
talk of the Universe these days. In fact,  the
odds-makers at the Intergalactic Enquirer say the odds
are actually in  our favor: "We're betting on the human
race to reach critical mass before  they get to
critical massacre." And we could beat the odds, if we
finally  gave up our addiction to getting even and got
odd instead. It stands to  reason. If each of us used
our unique oddness to improve the odds for  everyone,
there would be no need for getting even. 

Yes, the up-wising  has begun, and intergalactic
observers are saying that we have none other  than
George W. Bush to thank. How is that, you may ask?
Well, I am  reminded of a story my guru Harry Cohen
Baba used to tell. A well-known  minister died and
arrived at the Pearly Gates at the same time as  a
cab-driver from New York. The cabbie was ushered in,
but the clergyman  was left waiting outside. After
waiting and waiting and waiting, he finally  called
over the attending angel. "Excuse me, but I'm a
renowned minister.  How come you let that cab-driver
in, and I'm left waiting out  here?"
"Well," the angel said, "when you preached, everyone
slept. But  when he drove, everyone prayed."

For millennia, spiritual teachers have  been calling
on us to go for the highest common denominator, but
we've  always seemed to end up with the lowest common
dominator instead. And now,  George W. Bush has done
what preachers, teachers and other  far-sighted
visionaries have failed to do up until now: His
policies have  been so alarming, that he has awakened a
slumbering body politic that slept  through all
previous alarms. Where others have failed, he has
people all  across the world praying, "God help us!"
And instead of waiting for an  intervention from above
-- after all, we cannot expect to be fed  intervenously
forever -- people are beginning to help themselves,
and even  more importantly, help each other.

Sure, there are still plenty of  Not-Sees out there
who insist on not seeing that we humans are all in  the
same boat. The good news is, more and more Americans
are getting that  sinking feeling that there's only one
Earthship, and ignoring a leak because  it's "on the
other side of the boat," is a mistake of  titanic
proportions.

We Are the Leaders We've Been Waiting  For

America, the world's only super-power, doesn't need a
revolution.  We've already had one, thank you. What is
needed now -- and what has already  begun -- is the
American Evolution where enough of us wake up and see
that  those two political parties have been partying on
our dime, and we the people  haven't been invited. Time
to go beyond choosing the lesser of two weasels.  If we
want to evolve the dream of our Founding Fathers --
instead of  devolve into the nightmare of Big Brother
-- we must become the leaders we've  been waiting for.
I've said it before. The only force more powerful than
a  super-power is a Super-Duper Power -- the power of
the people plus the power  of love. And anyone who
doesn't believe we are a Super-Duper Power, well  they
have been super-duped!

It's true, many people still feel that the  affairs of
the world should be left to the bolder and badder
among us. But  look what that leaves us with: Are you
satisfied choosing between Saddam  Hussein and George
Who's-Not-Sane? Now I know those "God, guns and  guts"
Old Testament Christians might have forgotten, but
Jesus did say  that the meek shall inherit the earth.
In all undue immodesty, maybe it's  time for us meek
folks to boldly step forth and accept our  inheritance.

For just as 2000 years ago Jesus stood up to a class
that  placed the rule of gold above the Golden Rule,
today we face the modern  version of the Pharisees --
the Phallusees, I think they are called.  They
cynically cloak themselves in religious robes, but the
only power  they trust is the power of the stick. Well,
there's another old saying: It  doesn't matter how big
your stick is, if you stick your stick where  it
doesn't belong, you're stuck. 

Another sign of the up-wising and  coming evolution is
that people are growing dissatisfied with  the
positionality of "my side vs. your side," and are
seeing the whole  issue of sides from a new angle: 
Maybe we're all on the same side. For  example, this
argument between creationism and evolution is just
another  way for dueling dualities to steal our energy.
I believe in both. I believe  the Creator created us to
evolve, otherwise Jesus would have said, "Now don't  do
a thing till I return." I have it on good authority
that the Creator is  pulling for us: "Come on, you
children of God. Time to grow up and become  adults of
God instead."

Time to Overgrow the System From the  Grassroots Up

The time for revolution and overthrowing has past.  Now
we need an evolution where we "overgrow" the current
dysfunctional  system from the grassroots up. You are
probably familiar with the story of  the Native
American grandfather who tells his grandson that there
are two  wolves fighting inside all of us: The wolf of
fear and anger, and the wolf of  love and peace.
"Which wolf will win?" asks the young boy.
"Whichever one  we feed," replies the grandfather.

And so when people ask me to predict  what will
happen, I tell them the only thing I can predict with
certainty  is the uncertainty of any prediction. The
future's just too unpredictable  these days. This is a
Universe of infinite possibilities, so it all  depends
on which futures we invest in. 

There is something far more  empowerful than
predictions, and that is Tell-A-Vision. If you're fed
up  with the current programming, my advice is turn off
your TV and tell a vision  instead. That way, we will
have healing and functional visions to step into  --
and that beats what we've been stepping into. So I
will tell my vision  for 2006: This is the year of the
American Evolution, where all those who  prefer the
Golden Rule to the rule of gold get past left and
right, and  come front and center. 

I see Americans of all political stripes, plaids  and
polka dots (not to mention solids), choosing to face
the music and  dance together. Sure, we'll have to
learn some new steps, but it's time for a  new dance -
A-Bun-Dance. That is where we get up off our assets,
move our  buns, and dance together in rhythm and flow.
And what better way to turn the  funk into function,
and leave the junk at the junction? 

I see us in a  new reality show -- Extreme Planetary
Makeover -- where everyone can play and  everyone can
win. Just think. Something more compelling than
reality TV  ... it's called reality!

I know, I know. Only a crazy person would dare  to
propose anything that sane. But maybe it's time to
declare the current  institutionalized insanity
illegally insane, and set about building a sane  asylum
big enough for all six and a half billion of us. As my
guru Harry  Cohen Baba has said, "Life is like a good
deli. Even if something isn't on  the menu, if enough
people order it they have to make it." So what kind  of
new world order are we ordering up? Do we feed the
wolf of fear and buy  into the "it's every man for
himself" story? Or do we nourish the wolf of  love and
evolve into the "we're all in it together" story? 

If we're  going to be a Super-Duper Power, we have to
be super-duper powerful in  activating the power of
love, and cultivating the power of joy. So laugh  more.
Why not? We all know there's something funny going on.
The wall of  lies cannot withstand the vibration of
laughter. All seriousness aside, only  a farce field
that combines truth and laughter can bring down the
Irony  Curtain once and for all.

Release the old story -- been there, done that  -- and
speak the new story into the world. Dare to imagine
what we could  be doing if we weren't spending so much
of our livelihood on weapons of  deadlihood. Think
about it ... think tanks where they think  about
something other than tanks. Young people living for
their country  instead of dying for it. Health and
education fully funded, and the Air Force  having to
run a bake sale so they can buy a new bomber.

Can we change  the course of history? Can we shift our
karma into surpassing gear? I cannot  say for sure, but
if we choose to give up that old Dodge and trade it  in
for an Evolvo, that's a good first step. So ... let
the Evolution  begin. We don't have to wait until the
first Big Shot is fired. If we create  a powerful
enough field, the Big Shots will end up  firing
themselves.

May the FARCE -- as always -- be with  us.
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