"The Occultists, however, know that the traditions of Esoteric Philosophy must be the right ones, simply because they are the most logical, and reconcile every difficulty." — Helena Blavatsky
Things are moving right along, my lung lobectomy is tomorrow. If it is successful, I take two steps forward, if not, I try something else. All signs are pointing good. On my last update I told you about birds, a favorite sign of mine. And it took awhile, but yesterday a few returned. After I cut back the tropical forest, and then changed out the feed, a few returned. Not the cluster that use to feed, but enough to know that that part of my life is back in balance with the universe. Like I said, Birds stop coming, I get cancer, they return... you do the math.
Before I go any further, I've seen comments about my reading signs in everything, like it's not practical, or it's superstitious. I disagree, for one, according to ancient sanskrit text, during his six years of austerity, the Buddha had reached a point where he thought he might turn around and stop seeking enlightenment, and so he placed a golden alms bow in a river and said to the universe, "...if I am to go on and reach enlightenment, let this bowl go upstream, against the current, if not, let it simple float downstream." Of course the the bowl goes upstream, against the current, and Siddhartha Gautama becomes enlightened, or as we Nirhiren Buddhist know, became enlightened again for the up-tenth time as he had done numerous times before -- according to the Lotus Sutra, that is, the most important sutra of them all in my humble opinion -wink, wink. But that's a conversation for another time.
All religions have signs given by their god/gods, in Matthew 2:2 God places a star in the the sky as a sign to the wise men looking for the birth of a savior -- of course, the wise men are actually the Magi which represent the essential stages of our inner transformation on the spiritual path, none-the-less, they were given a sign, and had not they followed it....
Emperor Constantine the Great saw a luminous cross of light in the sky while marching his troops, and took it as a sign from the Christian War God to go kick ass and take names for his new found faith.
Simply stated: signs are there for us if we choose to see them. So as they say in Vegas, deal with it... or is it deal the cards(?) All the same.
So the sign I yesterday was a kingfisher bird. The first one I've ever seen in my life. Actually, I thought it was a deformed bluejay that might have escaped from Chernobyl - for you young ones out there that's a reference to the Russian nuclear reactor meltdown in 1986 which evacuate a whole city with parts still inhabitable today. But this was no nuclear mutant bird, this was the kingfisher bird with its long beak, and he/she/or its nonbinary self was staring right at me. I mean given me the look like, "what took you so long with the food?" It wasn't moving, and so I went to get a camera, but it was gone. If you remember with my last post and the Avian Oracles, the kingfisher was a sign of peace and prosperity. So I'll take that as a positive sign.
Yes, tomorrow is the same surgery I had five-years ago when I first had lung cancer. I know the routine, it's difficult, excruciating pain to inhale, but they make you. Excruciating pain to walk, but they make you. But it's worth it, and I've never been happier to endure the suffering. For I am committed to being here for my family, friends, and you, both of you - hi mom.
That's it for today, here's the shower kit I have titled "Ready to Prep," for my surgery. And I learned last time to read the instructions. For this stuff is bad on your head and private parts down there, I mean, wow, especially down there. Not again, not me.
Please stay tuned, I'll post again as soon after the surgery as I can.
Today, I wish to talk with you about birds. Yes, those creatures in the skies we pay little attention to; however, if we did, our lives would have more meaning.
Before I was an Esoterist/Nichiren Buddhist/Nice Guy After Coffee, I worked as a banking software guy. On one of our install trips we hit a bird with our car while driving to the client. The driver thought it was funny, and said something like, "That 'ill teach it." For me it wasn't so funny, I knew it meant something, and it did, the trip was a disaster and we all ended up losing our jobs. I'm not saying it was a bad thing, but it was the warning that change was coming, in my book.
In the Navy, many moons ago, in San Diego one of those crazy Cuckoo Birds who are crying all the time, took a flying dump on my white uniform as I was headed for a Friday morning inspection. Because of the yellow crap on my hat, shoulder, and sleeve -- this must of been a sick bird --I failed inspection and got two-weeks detention which kept me from leaving the base. During that time, a few buddies I most likely would have been out drinking with, got into a terrible car accident. So that Cuckoo Bird with its undiagnosed bladder ailment, was really a stroke of good fortune from the heavens.
When my mom was dying in the hospital, of lung cancer, I slept in a chair beside her bed next to a window. It was a cold, dark, rainy day outside that window where I noticed a pidgin and her kids, cubs, chics, whatever a birds offspring is, shivering close together on a ledge. I knew it meant something; something like a message from the heavens reminding me that I needed to be thankful for the time I had with my mom, who protected me from the winds and rains with no help from a man, during a time they still called boys like me a "bastard child." A few minutes after seeing those birds, mom woke from her morphine-induced bliss, and spoke as clearly as ever, as she said, "Terry, I didn't give you much, but I did give you love."
Those were her last coherent words to me as she morphed into a living skeleton before finally giving up the ghost and dying. Seeing those birds was a sign to enjoy that last encounter with my wakeful mother.
I could go on and on about birds in my life, how a bird flew into our garage door and was suffering, and my wife took garden cutters to cut its head off and end its suffering. I buried that headless bird in the backyard, soon after that we divorced.
I have always been sensitive to birds, so sensitive in fact, that I've actually been feeding them from a bird feeder outside my bedroom window. And over the years they have even pecked at my window when their feeder was empty. However, something changed a few months ago, they stopped feeding, and my luck changed. I haven't won a a cent in daily-fantasy sports, something I do for fun, just a few dollars a day. Nothing big. Then there is my cancer, which I'll talk more about later, right now I was to talk birds.
In esoteric traditions, birds serve as living metaphors for our souls, some consider them psychopomps: a spirit, or deity whose job it is to guide our souls from Earth to the afterlife.
In Persian mysticism and Sufi tradition, the Simurgh is a giant bird that represents divine wisdom, unity, and the realization that ultimate truth is found within oneself.
To the alchemists, the firebird, or Phoenix, represented the rebirth of one's soul, rising from the ashes of failure.
The Native Americans honored the Thunderbird as a celestial being whose wings generate cosmic rumblings to alert us of trouble.
Then there are the Avian Oracles, tarot type cards of birds and the meanings of their chance encounters.
For a better understanding of bird symbolism you can go to Journeytreehealing.com, and be prepared to have your mind blown away. In their Bird Symbolism section you'll find that the kingfisher bird represents peace and prosperity; and that the crow, which is often linked to“darkness,” is actually a symbol of change and transformation. i.e., it was a crow we killed that day my software career unraveled.
The Humming Bird symbolizes the nectar of life and teaches us to draw on life’s sweet essence to sustain ourselves through challenging times.
Seeing a sparrow is a sign to recognize your inner strength and use it to bring about the change you need in your life. i.e, dump the guy.
Birds are always around us. And everyday we should take a moment to stop, look, and listen to them, for they really are messengers to help guide the way.
Now, let's turn to today's post, titled, My Birds, My Cancer(?)
I've been feeding the birds around my condo for ten years now. Actually, they've been fed here since my neighbor, Goga, was feeding them before she died around the time I started feeding them.
I call them my pets because they are always chirping outside my window, and sometimes they look at me from my window ledge to remind their feeder is empty. They've even tapped on the glass a few times.
The problem now is that they've stopped chirping and eating. There are a couple reasons to consider why this has happened:
One. I changed feeders when the bottom fell out of the old one they had been feeding out of for ten years.
Two. The store ran out of the cheap stuff and so I used the more expensive seed.
Three. Global Warming - yes, I'm old enough to call it what it is.
Okay, "Climate Change," that word we are not allowed to say in Texas anymore without being looked down on as a radical... Who cares, what I want to tell you is that there is this tropical plant that grows next to the bird feeder, and it has been there since the place was built. Every year it starts out as nothing but little plants and by the end summer, it is a nice shade bush just above the feeder that the birds sometimes land on to keep the rain off them. Every winter, it dies, and starts over again the next year. It has been that way since 2007, the year I moved into this condo.
Last year, for the first time since I've been here, the tropical bush didn't die, it just kept growing because of the mild winter. And so it was already full grown when this summer started, and within a few weeks It had grown over the bird feeder with a cave of tropical leafs.
I kept telling myself I would trim back the leafs so the birds would use the feeder again. But I didn't. Too busy. That was about three months ago. Since then, I have had no luck with sports gambling, as I said, and, most notable of all lung cancer.
Are the two connected? Who knows, but what I do know is the cancer in my lung is now the size of a dime, and I am scheduled to have that section of my lungs removed, just as I did five years ago. I'm confident I'll survive this, that is, if my birds return.
Here, I've added a great documentary of the young Matthew Manning beginning his psychic career. For his current stuff, visit his website (MatthewManning.net), he's still going strong, bending spoons, healings, etc. I'm not recommending him over your own powers to heal by chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, but I am recommending him as one very cool guy living the psychic dream.
The history of Matthew is that he became a thing in the 1960's as the focus of sustained poltergeist activity. These allegations were investigated (in the below video) by the Cambridge mathematician and psychical researcher, A. R. G. Owen. From 1971, long scripts appeared on Manning's bedroom walls, apparently penned by signatories from the seventeenth century onward. Manning realised that he could quell this poltergeist activity through the practice of automatic drawing and writings. It was noted at the time that Manning had been researching history as part of his school work. According to Joe Nickell who made an in-depth study of Manning's writings, they contain internal inconsistencies and the "signatures" are completely inaccurate for historical individuals. Nickell concluded that Manning has "traits associated with a fantasy-prone personality" and there is no evidence he possesses genuine paranormal powers.
Regarding his automatic drawings, he claimed to draw in the styles of many famous artists including Pablo Picasso. Manning told The San Francisco Examiner that an art expert at Sotheby's in London had thought one of his Picasso copies so good it might be mistaken for an original. The sceptic James Randi investigated this claim by writing to the gallery. A Sotheby's official replied that the claim was "absolutely not true" as they were forgeries of existing works. Manning told the London Daily Mirror his drawing of a monkey had caused "great excitement" because it was strikingly similar to an original by Jan Savery that the Rijksmuseum kept locked away from public display in a vault. This was also investigated by Randi who wrote a letter to the museum and it was discovered the claim was false as the original was on display to the public, not locked up in a vault.
Manning was also tested for psychokinetic abilities by parapsychologist William G. Braud of the Mind Science Foundation in the late 1970s, with results that, according to Braud and coauthors in a psychical research paper published in 1979, were better than chance. Additionally during this time, it was reported that he could "bend metal paranormally, affect electrical equipment, move compass needles, and make medical diagnoses." The magician John Booth has written Manning's metal bending is a magic trick performed while lightly stroking the object. The physicists John Taylor and Eduardo Balanovski tested Manning in distance viewing and the results proved "completely unsuccessful".
So that's the poop, Truth is this guy is still around, and just as they called Madame Blavatsky and scam artist, they do the same to Matthew, however, those of us with eyes to see see beyond the pragmatics who suffocate anything they don't understand.
My personal experience is psychic powers are hard to control. I've only started understanding mine after 60 years of life. For this guy to find his so young is a thing to be honorned, here on EsotericDaily.com
What day is it? It is Obon Festival Day. Yes, every year, Buddhists in Japan celebrate the custom of the Obon (or Bon) festival as a way to honor the spirits of beloved family members who have died. This Buddhist custom has influences from Confucianism as well. And how do we practice Obon Festival Day? That's up to you. This morning I placed some rice on my alter and chanted for an hour. I chanted for the souls of my deceased relatives. The otherday I had the breakthrough that I am the head of the family for all those who have past over, for I still can pray for them on this side of the realm.
The Japanese Buddhists honor the spirits of their beloved ancestors by cleaning their graves, they also know that the ancestors will visit their home alters, so I'll burn scented candles for them tonight. I see them walking around the house now, mom is very happy to see I'm no longer a slob and my sister is happy I'm out of her way in the kitchen, complaining about her undercooked hamburgers or sugar in our ice tea.
This Japanese festival dates back to when the official calendar for Japan switched from the lunar calendar to the Gregorian calendar. Eastern Japan, including Tokyo, celebrates “Shichigatsu Bon,” which means Obon is celebrated on July 15th. The most common time to celebrate Obon is on August 15th and is called “Hachigatsu Bon.” Lastly, people living in the northern part of Japan celebrate Obon as “Kyu Bon,” where the date is based on the lunar calendar and varies each year. Japan does not recognize Obon as a public holiday. It is standard, however, for people who celebrate to get approved time off from work obligations.
The meaning of Obon comes from the Sanskrit word of “Ullambana,” which means “hanging upside down”—supposedly symbolizing great suffering. Therefore, the festival serves as a form of release for grief as well as the suffering and anguish that many believe the spirits of their ancestors are experiencing. Similar to how people in New Orleans celebrate those who have died with a funeral filled with jazz music and dancing, the Japanese who participate in the Obon Festival celebrate the return of their beloved ancestors with their own dance called Bon Odori. The origin of this dance stems from the story of how one of Buddha’s disciples, upon seeing his dead mother suffering after having fallen into the Realm of Hungry Ghosts, asked Buddha what could be done to remedy the situation. After making offerings to Buddhist monks, as Buddha told him to, the disciple’s mother was released and he danced out of pure joy and gratitude, hence the tradition of dancing was born. The type of dancing used to be strictly folk dancing that would celebrate the arrival of the spirits of the beloved ancestors. Nowadays, every region has a dance unique to them and the music varies in everything from specific songs about the spiritual meanings of Obon to local folk songs.
So honor your ancestors today, if nothing else, look up and give them a nod. They'll thank you I'm certain.
This is my disclaimer, for I won't be able to join in a labyrinth walk today, but will be there in spirit.
World Labyrinth Day (WLD) is an annual international event held on the first Saturday of May to promote peace, mindfulness, and celebration of labyrinths. Founded by The Labyrinth Society in 2009, thousands participate by walking a labyrinth at 1:00 p.m. local time to create a "rolling wave of peaceful energy" across the globe.
According to the WorldLabyrinthDay.org, every year on the first Saturday in May thousands of people around the globe participate in World Labyrinth Day as a moving meditation for world peace and celebration of the labyrinth experience. Many “Walk as One at 1” local time to create a rolling wave of peaceful energy passing from one time zone to the next, and there are additional ways to participate.
So why the "Labyrinth?"
A labyrinth combines the imagery of a circle and a spiral to form an irregular, meandering path toward a central location. The design has been appearing in caves, on coins and pottery, and as turf or stone structures from as early as the Stone or Bronze Ages.
Traditional labyrinths have the entrance/exit at the bottom, while a separate, radial style show the entrance/exit at the top. Prehistoric or ancient labyrinths may have been used in sacred dance and ritual. Roman labyrinths appear at the entrance of buildings which could have had a function of protection or been meant to symbolize a sacred path to deity.
Medieval Christian labyrinths appeared both in church entrances and on the sanctuary floors. Although their purpose is unclear, they could have been used in Easter rituals with penitents following the labyrinth on their knees or been designed as protection from demons. In India, there is a belief that labyrinths are the refuge of a trickster spirit and that the demon Ravana rules over labyrinths.
The first labyrinths, is found in myth of Minotaur, where Minos refuses to sacrifice a bull to Poseidon out of greed. The angry Poseidon punished the king by making his wife fall in love with a bull. The fruit of this union was the monster Minotaur, half-bull, half-man. Full of shame, Minos imprisoned the monster in a labyrinth – a word which comes from the Greek “labrys” and refers to the double axe – the symbol of the supremacy of the Cretan Mother Goddess. The deeper meaning of the labyrinth is associated with the feminine life giving force, the earth-bound instinctual nature of our bodies. The centre of the labyrinth is the goddess’s womb.
The power of nature and instincts, the Greek zoe, the sheer life force – this is how the ancients perceived the bull. Only a woman – Ariadne – knew the way around the labyrinth into its centre. It seems that this first labyrinth was designed to guard the darkest heart of nature and to keep its secrets from the solar, upper-world consciousness. Alternatively, it symbolized the fear of Minos, that is the ego consciousness, of the bestial instincts, which he tried to repress.
Interestingly, also in Christianity the labyrinths were constructed to worship Mother Goddess. The most famous example is the stone Labyrinth from the cathedral in Chartres. It is believed that originally it had the image of Minotaur in its centre, but it was later removed. Now the centre of the Labyrinth features the Mystic Rose, emblem of Mary on the one hand and the ultimate symbol of the Self and the union of the opposites on the other.
Some researchers make a point of differentiating between the maze and the labyrinth. Karen Ralls explains:
“A labyrinth eventually takes one to a Center. A maze does not, but has many twists and turns in its path, even the occasional “dead end.”
Those who walk the labyrinth do so to find inner peace, to meditate and find a way through silence to inner truth. Cirlot adds that at the centre of the labyrinth conjunction occurs between the conscious and the unconscious. Perhaps the seeming duality of the confusing maze and the orderly labyrinth can be reconciled by invoking human and divine perspective:
“From within, the view is extremely restricted and confusing, while from above one discovers a supreme artistry and order.
According to symbolreader.net:
"The maze, thus, seems to symbolize our human limited perspective, our entanglement in the world of the senses and desires, our getting lost, taking the “wrong” path, occasionally feeling lost and desperate."
So brothers, sisters, and non-binary siblings, however you navigate through your labyrinth of life today, do so with a kind spirit, for we are all in this together regardless if we walk or not,
