Quantum Shift
Into
Greatness
Arthur James Tassinello
Quantum Shift Into Greatness
Copyright © 2009 Arthur James Tassinello
Published 2009 by Arthur James Tassinello
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any form or manner whatsoever without the written permission of the author.
Cover design and artwork by Alan Tomasetti of Blue Cat Media Group
Acknowledgments
Without the love, support, efforts and kindness of so many people throughout my life this book would not have come into existence. Through these wonderful people, my education and experiences I have garnered valuable information and knowledge to improve my life and form greater, better relationships, find happiness and success.
To my mom and dad who raised me with love and kindness, and who are always with me in spirit, thank you for your lessons. I love and miss so very much.
To my son Anthony and my daughter Ali, who decided to enter this world in my care. Thank you for the rewarding and beautiful experience of being a parent. The love we share is unparalleled from any other relationship and I thank you for your love and support.
To my beautiful, loving sister Michele, thank you for your love, support and encouragement and for our weekly, almost daily talks.
To Anne, thank you for helping raise our beautiful daughter and whose relationship allowed me to see the world from a new perspective and for your encouragement and belief in me.
To Cecilia, thank you for caring so well for our son when I wasn’t a fulltime father and for being my friend.
To my cousin, Alan Tomasetti, thank you for giving so selflessly of your time, energy, advice and support in producing videos, and being instrumental with marketing and promotional tools and ideas.
To my aunt Virginia, thank you for taking me to Palisades Amusement Park almost daily in my formative years and for loving and caring for me as my mother did.
To Sharon Upp, Tina Terrezza, and Betsy Warren, thank you all for your support, encouragement and contributions in editing the manuscript.
A heartfelt thanks to the following friends, Edward and Leslie Lerner, Larry North and Marilyn Witt, and Michael and Sharon Upp, for their advice, encouragement and support, and for sharing their love, laughter, good times, excellent food and great drinks. You are all a blessing in my life.
About the Author
Arthur James Tassinello, life and business coach, seminar speaker and award-winning salesperson knows the value of a challenge. He knows because he has first hand experience struggling to find his own way. Arthur studied at McKendree and Rutgers Universities, has worked in corporate America, and owned and operated several businesses. These important aspects of life—the ability to earn a living and to be of value to others—are but only a jumping off point.
Living in a culture that prizes materialism above all else, he accomplish what we all want, financial success. However, he was not completely satisfied. Something else was calling him and his heart knew there was more. Letting his spirit speak he began another journey. That journey of self-assessment leading him to study philosophies of the ages - scientific and spiritual - tried and true systems - that provided a more fulfilling way to experience life. It is this happiness, satisfaction and appreciation for the gift of life that the universe provides is what Arthur wants you to experience.
Today, life seems to becoming more strained and difficult. We see that many hard-working individuals are looking for work. Our financial systems are in a state of flux and so many individuals and corporations are finally realizing that they need to transform the way they act. This is a time to “Shift our consciousness,” and as Martin Luther King once said, “The truth will set you free.”
Arthur wants you to join him on his personal journey into self-discovery and transformation because, through struggle and experience he has discovered ways to enrich life, experience true happiness and transform relationships.
The universe is calling us and challenging us to be the change needed at this time in our history, more than ever. As Gandhi said, “You must be the change you want to see in the world,” because that is the only way change will happen.
I have witnessed the transition in Arthur and can attest to his growth and transformation into living a joyous life. Listen to him he has a valuable message.
Sharon Upp - Author, Ordained Minister, Astrologer and Editor
Preface
Writing “Quantum Shift into Greatness,” was a challenge trying to meld scientific with spiritual information for an understanding of how they are in agreement, more so now than at anytime before. While I have taken the path of the universe being created by design, as opposed to by chance, it is up to you to discover and decide for yourself.
The root, or basis of this book is Kabbalah, and The Zohar. What I am sharing with you is a synthesis of these teachings and information from dozens of scientific and spiritual sources as well as from such luminaries as Wayne Dyer, Stuart Wilde, James Arthur Ray, Marianne Williamson and many others.
One thing I can tell you through my experience is that the “Universal Laws,” I speak of, have enormous power in your achieving a better life for yourself and for others. By my applying these teachings of the universal laws I was able to manifest this book and a better life. A life that I was meant to have from birth but didn’t recognize, and didn’t know how to achieve, until now.
I recorded the processes that brought results—the results that can only come by practice, belief and life experience. I noticed how I began to transform into someone more compassionate, more loving and more giving than I had ever been. Not until I realized that I was living proof could I sit down and write about this information and the tools for experiencing such a shift.
While I have proved this to myself, I don’t expect you to believe me. I only ask that you use these tools for yourself and discover their power to create a positive shift in your life. Prove it to yourself.
We all have the potential within us to manifest a life that is beautiful, joyful, loving, compassionate, successful and exciting by doing what we are passionate about, for what we do with passion; we do well and in the process, bring joy to others.
Additionally this book is not just for you, it is for everyone. It is for everyone because this is not just about how you can have “Stuff,” it’s about change for yourself and the world. I call it stuff because most of us want the material “Stuff.” I know that you want things, but the truth is, things have a very short shelf life. You get something new and shiny and you’re happy for a day, a week, maybe a month? What I want you to have is life-long happiness. What I want for you and you should want for yourself is true happiness, harmony and success with everything and everyone.
Partly, this book is a promotion for world peace. Now you can go, “what?” That’s right you and I have that much power, but it doesn’t happen overnight and sometimes it only happens one person at a time. However, even one person at a time can be one each day, which means 365 new peacemakers a year just from you. Here’s how it works exponentially. On day one, one person makes one new friend. On day two, both you and your new friend make a new friend, this now becomes four. On day three, the four of you each add a friend and that becomes eight and so on, doubling that number each day assuming that each person adds one more friend each day. At the end of 21 days, there will be over one million people who are friends. The actual number is 1,048,576. Do you think it’s possible to have peace in one year? Yes I realize that you may think it’s not possible and so I say, “What you think you will manifest.” If you intend it, it will happen. By the way at the end of 1 month that number is over a billion, 1,073,741,824 to be exact. Anything is possible.
In closing this information will change your life if you do the work and want all the great things the universe has to offer whether you believe in a higher power or not. Have the courage to step out of your box and be passionate about your life. Allow the inherent joy within you to erupt.
See yourself as a success.
Begin now.
Make the Shift! I am with you.
Chapter One - Kabbalah
Ancient Wisdom and Mysticism
Kabbalah it is the doorway into the ultimate true reality, which reveals the deepest, most hidden secrets of the universe. The wisdom of Kabbalah is the most ancient of all wisdoms. It goes back 3,800 years to the time of Abraham the Patriarch, in the 18th century BC. You’ll find that modern physicists continue to validate its writings.
As with most ancient texts there are many speculations as to where it came from, when it came into being and who authored it. Suffice to say that it is a scientific, time-tested, empirical method of achieving spirituality while living here in this world.
Although many Kabbalists and scholars will disagree on the date of its origins, scholars tend to identify Kabbalah with specific ideas that emerged in 12th century Provence, France in the school of R. Isaac the Blind or also known as Rabbi Yitzhak Saggi Nehor, who has been called “the father of Kabbalah.”
One thing that is abundantly clear, from the earliest times, is that there is a continuous thread of Jewish mysticism within its teachings. These strands of mysticism are so intertwined with Kabbalah that it is difficult to know where one ends and another begins. For example, the highly influential text, the Sepher Yetzirah (Book of Creation) was the subject of widespread commentary by medieval Kabbalists, with that text supposedly written as early as the 1st. century. Additionally, ideas from Jewish Gnosticism from the 2nd and 3rd centuries have also become deeply embedded in Kabbalah.
The earliest documents associated with Kabbalah are from the period of approximately 100 to 1000 A.D. These writings describe the attempts of “Merkabah” mystics to penetrate the seven halls (Hekaloth) of creation to reach the Merkabah (the four-wheeled chariot driven by four “chayot” each of which has four wings and four faces, a man, a lion, an ox, and an eagle) of God. These mystics appear to have used what would now be recognized as familiar methods of shamanism (fasting, repetitious chanting, prayer, posture) to induce a trance state. In the trance state, these mystics literally fought their way past terrible guards and seemingly impenetrable seals to reach an ecstatic state in which they “saw God.”
By the early Middle Ages, more theosophical developments had taken place, chiefly the development of an esoteric view of creation as a process in which God manifests in a series of emanations, or sephiroth. The doctrine of the sephiroth can be found in an elementary form in the “Sepher Yetzirah.” However, by the time of the publication of the book “Bahir” or “Book of the Brightness” (an anonymous mystical work) in the 12th century it had reached a form not too different from the form it takes today.
Kabbalah is the spiritual heritage of all humankind. It is here to help you on your path to growth, understanding and transformation. Kabbalah transcends and predates any religious identification, ethnicity, nation or country, though the central text of Kabbalah is The Zohar.
No More or Less Radical than Science
Kabbalah is a book of spiritual wisdom and teachings, it is not religious and it is not about your being obedient to certain laws or commandments. Unlike other customs or societies that use inspirational approaches to divine wisdom, Kabbalah is a tool to be used in, and a logical analysis of, spiritual matters. Much like quantum physics, which tell us that electrons can exist in two places at one time or that time may not exist at all, Kabbalah may seem contradictory or even ironic and asks us to accept nothing more radical or less radical than that which we understand from physics.
Many teachings, ancient and modern, derive their knowledge from Kabbalah and The Zohar. Laws that we will discuss later, to further your well-being, come from these works as well. Think of the Kabbalah as a tool, a guide or an application and a conduit to remove doubt and fear and enhance your life. Rather than it being some kind of religious dogma. The Zohar and Kabbalah belong to everyone and are to be used everyday for those who truly desire to grow, learn and transform themselves and their surroundings.
Studying Kabbalah changes your perspective on the world and opens up areas within you that you never knew existed. Kabbalah is a journey of discovery that affects you on all levels, including what you do and how you do it. It influences your relationships with your family, friends, and co-workers. It affects your health, your mind, your spirit, and your wealth. Kabbalah very simply states that when you know how to directly connect to the Creator, without any go-betweens, you will find your inner compass. Kabbalah will help you make, and sustain, direct contact with the Creator. By so doing so, you will need no further guidance.
As most of us know or have experienced it is difficult to form new habits and even more difficult to let go of old habits or preconceived notions. Why does it seem so much easier to endure the pain of living in disharmony, or in angst, or in a troubled relationship as we do, than to struggle in transforming ourselves and changing the world.
The Age of Aquarius
Many believe that when the creator put us here it was Her intention to have us experience pain and suffering. However, it is man that beset himself with the troubles we experience, as the creator only wants us to experience love, peace and happiness. Although we are living, and have lived, in some very trying times be assured that this - the Age of Aquarius - is the time in which many of us will see and experience the true love of who we are and share in the beauty of the everlasting Light.
Many people who are not Jewish and have no religious affiliation whatsoever are experiencing Kabbalah today. The true purpose of Kabbalah and why it is being revealed now, as in no other time in history, is to help us understand who we are and what we can do to restore Creation to its originally intended state so we may re-enter the Eden from where we were expelled. While many of these very spiritual and powerful tools we will use are identified with Judaism they are meant for all people of the world.
The Kabbalah explains why we are here, what the future holds, and how we can avoid pain and suffering so we can feel tranquil and safe. It has answers for everything we have questions about. The truth is that we are all motivated by wanting to receive love, delight and pleasure. It is this desire, which motivates all of our actions, thoughts, and feelings, and Kabbalah shows us how we can fulfill our desires and our wishes.
Although the wisdom of Kabbalah often tends to sound technical or obscure, it is important to remember that this is a very sensible science. The people who mastered it and wrote about it were just like you and me. They were seeking solutions to the same questions we all want answered, many of which are found in Kabbalah but more so in ourselves as we read and experience life.
So, Is Kabbalah Jewish?
It is quite understandable that Kabbalah is confused with Judaism. Throughout history, many scholars of Kabbalah have been Jewish; however, there have also been many non-Jewish scholars of this wisdom, such as Christian Knorr-von-Rosenroth, Pico Della Plato, Leone Ebreo, Leonardo da vinci and Sir Isaac Newton, to name a few.
The startling truth is that Kabbalah was never meant for a specific sect, it was intended for use by all humanity to unify the world. Today, millions of people of all faiths have discovered this wisdom and have experienced the powerful effects of studying Kabbalah.
There are two primary reasons why so many people are now interested in Kabbalah. First, it’s that Kabbalah works. When you apply the wisdom and tools of Kabbalah you experience positive results. The second reason why so many people of different faiths have become connected to Kabbalah is that its tools can enhance your life whether you practice a religion or not.
What are the basic teachings of Kabbalah?
Kabbalah helps us recognize the sources of negativity in our own minds and hearts, and teaches how to use the tools for creating positive changes in everything we do, so we can claim the gifts we were created to receive. We earn these gifts by undertaking our spiritual work — the process of fundamentally transforming ourselves.
Kabbalah let’s us see that every human being is a work in progress. Any pain, disappointment, or chaos that exists in our lives is not because this is how life was meant to be, but because we have not yet finished the work that brought us here. That work, quite simply, is the process of freeing ourselves from the domination of the ego and creating an affinity with the sharing essence of God.
In practical terms, this transformation means letting go of anger, jealousy, and other reactive behaviors in favor of patience, empathy, and compassion. It does not mean giving up all desire and going to live on a mountaintop. On the contrary, it means desiring more of the fulfillment that humanity was meant to have.
By way of an example, there is the story of the monk who lived for years on a mountaintop. He was so peaceful and spoke with God daily. One day after 13 years of seclusion he descends from the mountaintop and enters the town. In town he meets many people who go to him for answers about how to live their lives and how to have peace and tranquility. As he completes his rounds he enters a store and asks to use the bathroom. The owner replies that if he is not a customer he cannot. The monk who is in great pain at this point turns to the shop owner and knocks him down and proceeds to the bathroom. It is relatively easy to be at peace and loving within yourself when you are alone, but the real test of living is with others. Can you find yourself loving while being in the living?
Nature and Man’s Well-Being
As most of us realize, nature works perfectly without the intervention of man because each part of life has its designated function. There is not one part of creation that does not affect the well-being of the other; each part depends on the well-being of all other parts. All creatures of nature are independent and connected with one another, which means that no creature should overpower another creature because to destroy another creature would be the same as destroying itself. We are no exception to this rule, but many do not appreciate this idea or principle; they hurt others and, in doing so, they hurt themselves as well.
As a prime example take those companies that manufacture, sell, and distribute products that they know are not safe so they may make a profit. Is it the company who makes these decisions or is it the people running the company who make the decisions? How is it that these same people believe that they will not be affected by these harmful products? How can they believe that they are outside of this consumptive circle and that these harmful products will not affect their families, friends and co-workers? What you do is one thing; how you do it is another. What you are doing is making a product, of which the profits will support, the people who work there. How you make the product and how it affects others is the crux of a good company. We will all agree that profits are necessary, however greed should not override the obligation of producing a product that will not be harmful to people’s lives and health.
Why do we think we can manipulate and shape the world to our liking without some dire consequences? All around us, with just a quick view of the news you see the results. What are we achieving? We are bringing unhappiness upon others and ourselves. We use profits and greed as an excuse to manipulate people and resources, which threaten our environment wreaking havoc and destruction.
Kabbalah is it a Passing Fad?
Kabbalah has been around for a long, long time and is only now taking its place in the general public awareness. It has been waiting in hiding until the questions it answers could arise. Kabbalah has been incorrectly associated with many flavors of spiritual teachings and religions. Well it is not a passing fad, but a time-tested, practical method to understanding human nature and the nature of the Creator. Those who embrace it as the latest fad will perhaps move on to something else; however, those who dig deeply into its principles are likely to find enough to keep them going for a lifetime.
Kabbalah is a system or sequence of methods that help us understand some of life’s deepest questions. Kabbalistic wisdom is also a source of intelligence that helps us choose a better way of thinking and acting, which in turn, assists us in creating a better future, because our reality is created from our thoughts.
Finally, here’s what Kabbalah is not as is quoted from “A Guide to the Hidden Wisdom of Kabbalah” by Michael Laitman. Kabbalah is not, and has nothing to do with religion, magic, mysticism, divination, cults, holistic medicine, meditation, philosophy, theosophy, psychology or parapsychology, ESP, telepathy, dream interpretation, tarot cards, yoga, red strings, holy water, blessings, past-life regressions, numerology, reiki, channeling, astrology, astral travels or projection, communicating with the dead, out-of-body experiences, voodoo, freemasonry, reflexology, UFO ’s, creationism, Sufism or any -ism.”
Now, I do not expect you to accept everything I tell you as true although I have experienced true harmony and success from these teachings myself. You should always question everything and believe nothing. Only your results should be the way to measure something to be true or false. By purchasing this book you have invested a tiny sum for an experience of a lifetime. Here you can use this information and do the work to prove to yourself that you can be anything and everything you believe is true for you. Your only additional investment is in knowing that the universe is always on your side.
If this book and this information intrigue you and help you I am honored to have been instrumental in your success. If you are interested in a receiving a much deeper understanding of this science, read all 23 volumes of The Zohar, which I begin to explain in the next chapter.
Chapter Two - The Zohar
A Fountain Head of Spiritual Wisdom
The Zohar is a great book of wisdom and mystical power universally acknowledged as the authoritative work on the Kabbalah. The Zohar is a commentary on the Bible and is a fountainhead of spiritual energy, and a source of metaphysical power that provides explanations for how to bring blessings, protection and well-being into your life. Zohar in Hebrew means “splendor” or “scintillation,” and is literally an unlimited resource of brilliant spiritual Light.
The Zohar is not meant to convince you to be or act a certain way, it only asks that you have a trusting heart, an open and receptive mind and a willingness to participate. Like many great spiritual texts of other practices, The Zohar is written in metaphors, parables, and cryptic language - a kind of code, which at first conceals but ultimately reveals the spiritual and scientific forces of the universe.
Physically it is structured as if you are having conversations with a group of friends, or scholars, or spiritual masters. But the far-reaching reality and power of The Zohar transcends the limits of the physical world. As the Kabbalists explain, simply possessing The Zohar brings power, protection, and fulfillment into our lives.
Whether we study The Zohar from reading it in the original Aramaic language or in its English translation, a deep connection to the Creator’s Light comes into being. As we gain intimacy and understanding of The Zohar, our consciousness deepens and expands and we grow and evolve spiritually. We become the person we need to be to gain the joy and fulfillment that God intends for us.
There are some who depict The Zohar as simply another “spiritual” text, or an object for academic study and find The Zohar difficult and even forbidding, but what they find was already determined by their own expectations. In contrast to this, the greatest minds in history have found wisdom and enlightenment in The Zohar’s pages.
From Pythagoras in ancient Greece, to Sir Isaac Newton in the 17th century, to the architects of physics and biology in the modern era, students have discovered startling information and insights.
The Zohar not only reveals spiritual principles that can assist us in our everyday lives, but it also gives us the power to put those principles into action in every area of our lives, including our relationships, our spiritual work, and to become more healthy even in our businesses and careers.
The Language of The Zohar
As mentioned above The Zohar is written in the ancient language of Aramaic, a sister language to Hebrew that employs Hebrew letters. While Hebrew was the language of the upper classes, Aramaic was the language of the common people. The Zohar’s revelation is that all people, regardless of their spiritual level or status, can use this tool of Light.
Above and beyond the importance of the Aramaic language, the individual letters of The Zohar themselves have special significance. In our everyday lives, we’re used to thinking of the letters of the English alphabet in purely functional terms. The letters are units that we put together to create words, just as bricks are the units we use to create a wall. We think of both the letters and the bricks in practical rather than spiritual terms, they’re small, inert objects that we use to create larger objects.
The difference with these Aramaic letters is that they work in an entirely different way. They are not just functional components to form words, each Aramaic letter is also a channel to a unique form of spiritual energy, which is true whether or not we know how the letter sounds or how it fits into a given word.
The Aramaic alphabet just like The Zohar is a gift for all humanity, not just the few who know the ancient Aramaic languages. It is said that just by scanning the letters, even if you cannot read or understand them, opens an unlimited channel to the Light. The letters alone have the power to bring spiritual wisdom and positive energy into every area of our lives.
Think of the Aramaic text like it is an electrical current. Like an electrical current running through the conducting wires it cannot be seen, yet it does reveal itself as the light in a bulb or as a heat source. Like electricity, the spiritual Light of the Creator is wrapped, not in cables or wires, but in metaphor and imagery throughout the Aramaic text.
A Wellspring of Spiritual Energy
The Zohar not only reveals and explains spiritual truths; it literally brings blessings, protection, and well-being into the lives of all who come into its presence. Nothing is required, just worthy desire, the certainty of a trusting heart, and an open and receptive mind. The Zohar’s ultimate purpose is to bring understanding of life and show us how we can have complete fulfillment. It is an opportunity for us to transform our natures, which is why all the teachings of Kabbalah exist.
Let me be very clear about the purpose of The Zohar as a valuable tool and bridge between everyday consciousness and our inner transformative powers. We live a shallow life where the trappings of the ego invite us to only experience the earthly pleasures. Through The Zohar we can draw in the Light of the creator in revealing the Light in all of us. As we connect to the upper dimensions we eliminate darkness and chaos and experience the knowing of our journey. When studying the English translation of The Zohar, we get information. When scanning the Aramaic text, we also acquire wisdom and a certain inner peace. Scanning the text will summon, from above, spiritual power and Light.
The Zohar is a very powerful tool for cleansing the soul and as a tool for successfully navigating the spiritual road. It helps us in removing darkness and ultimately attaining the transformation that is the true purpose of our lives and enlightenment, bringing blessings and wealth to all. It’s a tool to be used everyday not just once a week, by going to some religious institution, only to forget why we go there within minutes after leaving. It is unimportant whether you read a few words; a passage or several pages of The Zohar each day, for just reading it will remind you of your purpose in this life.
Putting Together Pieces of the Puzzle
There are key pieces of awareness from The Zohar to help us in our growth and to gain a better understanding and perspective to know what to do to protect us from the evil that exists in this world. For example there are three distinct energy forces permeating all of existence. Using the language of metaphor, The Zohar identifies these three factors as Right, Left and Central columns.
The Right column is the male influence and the physical expression of water. This right column correlates to the positive (+) force, which manifests itself as the proton of and atom. The left column is the female influence and the physical expression of fire. The left column correlates to the negative (-) force, which manifests itself as the electron of an atom. Wind is the personification of the Central column, or neutral energy, which corresponds to the neutron of an atom - the force that bridges the positive and negative poles. Just as an atom unites these three forces into the building blocks of our physical universe, we, through our actions can unite them as the building blocks of our spiritual universe.
Even scientists agree that atoms make up everything in the universe, from houses, to cars, to trees, to plants, to animals, the sea, air and land. Because everything is made up of atoms, we are all physically connected. Our left side corresponds to the negative pole and to our desire to receive; the right side corresponds to the positive pole or the will to share that, which resides in our soul.
Free Will
Through our free will we can choose to practice self-judgment, as opposed to judging others, and to share, or we can choose to receive from the physical material reality. We can choose to resist the desire to receive and instead to nurture the desire to share. Each of us has the opportunity to fully evolve the good nature within our souls and we must be responsible for our own elevation and growth. We may use our free will for whatever we please, just try and use it for the benefit of all and not just for self-serving interests. Similar to the movie “Pay it Forward” you have an opportunity to always be benevolent, for as you sow, so shall you reap.
Unfortunately, there are people whose sole purpose is to prevent the dissemination of spiritual wisdom because they do not believe in a higher power. Others may believe but they build schools of religious study that hide the truth that we are all capable of practicing good deeds and sharing on our own without being told to do so. While believing differently from someone else does not make you a bad person; however it does make it more difficult for us to see that each of us must do our part individually, as well as collectively. Each of us has the knowledge to differentiate that, which is good from that, which is evil and we know when we are receiving selfishly or giving and sharing for the betterment of humankind. We cannot leave it up to those who believe they are closer to God, or the Light or to whomever you call a higher power, to do our work in this world. Each of us must be our own master and practice living in harmony with each other every day.
The Messiah and Idolatry
There are many who tell us that the Messiah is coming, someone who will heal the world and bring us universal peace. But no one knows when or if, so while you are waiting why not do something. The reality is that we cannot and should not sit on the sidelines waiting for anything. It is within us, and our own spiritual actions, that we will accelerate the arrival of universal peace and immortality by being pro-active now.
There is a passage in the bible that tells us that we should not worship any idols. An idol is defined as any material possession or external situation that controls our emotions, our behavior and our motivation. Idolatry does not just pertain to man-made statues and icons; an idol can be any material item such as a car or house or any such circumstance, which determines or influences our experience of life. If we practice idol worship, then we have surrendered control and severed our connection to the Light - the true source of fulfillment. It is our own negative tendencies that lead us to become worshippers of wealth or disciples of our own ego. You can like money and cars and houses, but don’t make them all that you are living for, as it will only bring you sadness in the end.
Bloodshed isn’t Just Murder
Most of us would consider murder as one of the most horrendous and outrageous crimes; however, cold-blooded killing does not just refer to bloodshed. Bloodshed occurs when we publicly or privately disgrace or humiliate others, causing blood to rush to their face in embarrassment. While killing someone brings death, it is humiliation and disgrace, which brings a lifetime of hurt to the living. Instead of re-acting to a situation that will cause embarrassment to you or another take a moment to think about what was said and the right way to act. Just as a bell reacts by ringing when the button is pushed, how many times have you done something unkind as a reaction to someone pushing your button? When we react by saying things that disgrace or humiliate another we start wars, we put ourselves at odds with each other and cause a lifetime of injury. Remove your bell and throw away the button. It serves no purpose.
Although it is easy to say, “Well I’m not perfect,” as an excuse to act badly, can’t we take a moment to try and be better? We all have our boundaries, which includes our own personal physical space. That space where we feel intruded upon when someone gets to close. Though we must consider and respect the boundaries of all people, we still need to exchange ideas and debate with others, provided it is for the sake of peace and goodwill and not for ego gratification. When dialogue takes place with sharing and mutual respect, it adheres to the adage, “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.”
Reincarnation and Existence
Do you believe in reincarnation? Well if you do, you know that each of us chose to be here at this time to perfect ourselves. Many of the crises that confront us in life are from spiritual baggage, the misdeeds in previous incarnations. Incomplete spiritual corrections not achieved in one life are carried over to the next. We can connect to our previous incarnations and make spiritual corrections simply by meditating with the intention to do so. Many people in your life today have been with you in previous lives and each are here to assist us in correcting past issues. If you see it this way it may make it easier for you to see the message and make those corrections.
So let’s say you don’t believe in reincarnation, it’s okay. Just know this that there is a message for you in every situation, and with every one you meet, especially with those with whom you have the most difficult time. Do not miss out on those opportunities to decipher those messages and to use them to reach a higher plain of understanding by recognizing your part and your lessons.
To begin to understand “Universal Laws” you must first understand why the universe exists. While the universe has existed for millions of years, as we know it, mankind has only been around for thousands of years. While science and physicists don’t agree on when the beginning came about or how it all began, most agree on the “Big Bang” theory. For those who are spiritual the belief is that, in the beginning the Light or the Source was all that there was and nothing else existed. The substance of the universe only consisted of energy and the Light; there was no opposition. In other words there was no duality, such as black and white, left and right, up and down or good and bad.
From a spiritual perspective, the Light knew itself to be all powerful and infinite living in a realm of absolute. The Light needed something to compare itself with or against for an experience to occur. Thus it divided itself into an infinite number of life forms, hence the “Big Bang.”
Let’s compare this to a living vessel, which keeps receiving, but never returns what it is receiving. The vessel is complete and perfect. The vessel has only to “be” and enjoy what it receives. However, the vessel wanted to experience giving. So the vessel shatters itself into millions of pieces, or life forms, so each piece of itself could experience giving to itself. In essence our creation was born out of a desire to know itself. So when we say God or the Light is everywhere it literally means God is everywhere, for there is nowhere where God is not.
Chapter Three - What defines us?
The word, define means to give definition for the meaning of a word, to determine the essential quality of, to determine the nature of. What I’m really talking about here is not just how you define yourself but when you meet someone how do you define them?
For many of us we typically define someone, or ourselves, by the way he or she looks. He/she has blue eyes, dark hair, slender and short, etc. If we can get beyond someone’s physicality, or looks, then we can use some other quantifiable means of defining and further describing them. However, in describing someone we usually add judgments about him or her, judgments that make comparisons to ourselves. If someone doesn’t fit our idea of what’s acceptable we further judge their value by what they do or by what they have accomplished and in many cases by the material things they have. So many times we equate having material things with success and we typically see a successful person as someone to be admired and respected. It is interesting that we begin defining someone by their outward appearance and rarely by their actions - how they show up, how they do things, what they do for others, or how they treat other people.
Human history is often defined as the struggle of one group to establish some dominance over another group. Although we can often define ourselves by our differences, such as how we dress, where we live, and our possessions, the real distinction does not lie in these differences, but in the way we treat our fellow humans. It is the degree of humanity in our relationship to others that decides how far we have traveled to make an ideal world of civilized beings that truly have learned and know the art of peaceful coexistence.
Perhaps it’s time to reassess how you think of others when you meet them. Will you finally take time get to know someone or will you continue to make those snap judgments and perhaps miss out on making a real connection and learning something. Try to look beyond physical appearances and see the person inside. You might like what you see.
Who Are You Really?
In getting back to the word “define” as to determine the nature and quality of something or someone, I asked if you could define yourself? Do you know how to define yourself? Do you look at all of your material possessions, how well known you are or by what you do? Or will you define yourself as a father or a mother, a husband or a wife, an engineer or a salesman, or as handsome or ugly, or short or tall, or slender or heavy or, or, or anything but who you really are.
The reality is this; you are not how others see you, but who you are. Look at your relationships - how you treat others, if you are there for others, how you act toward others, or your attitude and compassion for others. Can you tell me who you are then? Don’t look in the mirror to tell me who you are. Look at how you act and how you do things in the world.
As I heard James Arthur Ray say, “It is not what you do but how you do it.” The “How” is the qualifier. While there are many who do “What” you do, it is the “How” that makes the difference. That is why so few people are successful. It is because they do things without making the distinction between what and how. Ho well will you do things from now on?
Have you have ever seen the reality show where they ask several chefs to make a dish from a few ingredients they are given? Have you noticed what makes the difference in the meal they are preparing? Since they all receive the same ingredients, it can only come down to how they used the ingredients, how they displayed the foods and the presentation? While it seems that they all do the same thing, it is the “How” they do it that sets them apart. One more thing, it also comes down to how passionate they are about what they do.
All in all it is our actions, not our words or beliefs that define us. It is our lack of compassion, care and love that blinds us in denying others of their basic rights. To this point the philosopher Karl Popper was asked in an interview if he believed in evil. “No,” he answered, “but I believe in stupidity.” Often in Buddhist teachings, the wise are associated with righteousness, and the foolish or ignorant with evil doing. Of course smart or stupid, foolish or ignorance have little to do with acting out of kindness.
Understanding Who You Are
To understand and to know who you are, you must be aware of your actions. You cannot simply say this is who I am if you don’t observe yourself. Observe your actions, really look at how you act, think about what people say about you and finally dig deep and admit to those truths about yourself. You may have heard this saying “Do what I say, not what I do.” How foolish that you would act one way and ask someone else to act differently. How often do you do this with your children? Unfortunately we all have a tendency to do this in the early stages of life. Isn’t it time to act, as you would have others act?
As an example, a few decades ago I got passed over for a promotion and a raise, not because I didn’t accomplish the tasks of the job but because of how I accomplished it. I didn’t recognize that I was not being a team player. Sure I got the job done but at what cost. The real cost was not respecting others opinions and in turn not earning the respect I thought I should have received for getting the job done. This was far more costly to me than the bottom line of sales and profits and getting the job done. It was a valuable lesson.
The Universal Laws that I will introduce to you in the next section are intended to help you in creating a harmonious life, not just for creating monetary wealth. The messages are here for you to find your passion and true path. They are here for you to develop a greater awareness, intelligence and conscience so you live within the laws of morality, integrity and benevolence.
Chapter Four - Quantum Physics and Theory
What’s It All About?
Quantum physics is a branch of science that deals with discrete, indivisible units of energy called quanta as described by the Quantum Theory. There are five main ideas represented in Quantum Theory:
1. Energy is not continuous, but comes in small but discrete units.
2. The elementary particles behave both like particles and like waves.
3. The movement of these particles is inherently random.
4. It is physically impossible to know both the position and the momentum of a particle at the same time. The more precisely one is known, the less precise the measurement of the other is.
5. The atomic world is nothing like the world we live in.
6. What you observe is ever changing, so what you observe is never what you think it is except at the moment of observation.
While this may seem like just another strange theory, quantum physics contains many clues as to the fundamental nature of the universe and is more important then even relativity in the grand scheme of things. Furthermore, it describes the nature of the universe as being much different then the world we see.
We find ourselves living in a very strange and bewildering world, a place where we so desperately want to make sense of everything. We want to know the root of our existence and we want unequivocal proof. Even those who profess to have faith and a belief in a higher power usually want proof as well. We want to know who we are and what our place is in the world. Well, I’m not sure we will ever be able to answer all the questions man has posed, let alone have unequivocal proof, but this is a beginning into this realm as seen through the eyes of scientists and physicists.
Theories – Glue or Tortoises
Scientists, philosophers, mystics, sages, theorists, philosophers and more all have theories of the beginnings and the workings of the universe. We speculate about mans purpose and possibilities. Throughout time there have been all sorts of conjectures about the universe from a tower of tortoises supporting a flat earth and that superstrings exist, yet no one has seen either. Of course we know that tortoises don’t uphold the earth, but we also lack observational evidence of superstrings.
This book includes a great deal of material - perhaps more than you want need or care about; however, my quest is to provide information that is more meaningful and comprehensive to tie all of the bits and pieces together as elegantly as possible.
Ideas, speculation, conjecture, assumptions, supposition and outright guessing using math and tests to try and get the answers we all want. Proof that there exists a supreme power. While this section speaks a lot about the science of the universe to give credence to what we believe is true it will come close but there still is no scientific proof of the existence or lack of existence of a higher power.
Why do we have such great difficulty to believe or put faith in anything that cannot be proven scientifically? In the scientific world theories will always come and go, but I nonetheless believe, you will find direct connections between what quantum physicists; chaos theorists, biologists and ancient sages and teachers have been telling us for centuries. And I know that many of you already feel this connection in your core. It is that we exist whether theoretically or physically and that it is important to recognize that, even while there is little tangible evidence, science and spirituality are getting closer to an agreement on there being something greater than man.
Whether we all believe the same thing or not one thing is abundantly clear and that is we must learn to live together to, as Spock on Star Trek would say, “Live long and prosper.” As Richard Feynman said “In this book I present perspectives from several teachers and scientists on how nature behaves. If you will simply admit that maybe she does behave like this, you will find her a delightful, entrancing thing. Do not keep saying to yourself but how can it be like that? Because you will get . . . into a blind alley from which nobody has yet escaped. Nobody knows how it can be like that.”
Expanding Science and Philosophy
First and foremost science tells us that the universe is infinite and that it is expanding. That should give you pause for thought for it totally changed the discussion on the origin of the universe. You may wish to explore other profound theories that are currently influencing the worlds of science and philosophy. For example I present to you how Thomas Knierim explains science and philosophy as I quote directly from his website at www.thebigview.com.
Natural science has always had a great influence on philosophy and on the way we see the world. Until the age of the Renaissance there was no clear distinction between philosophy and science. Speculations about physics and astronomy were among the favorite topics of the natural philosophers of antiquity and continued to flourish until the time of Copernicus. The desire to explore the starry heavens and to reveal its secrets is probably as old as mankind itself. However, notable advances in this discipline were made only fairly recently, after the invention of the telescope in the 17th century. This section deals with the accomplishments of 20th century physics in the world of the largest structures, such as galaxies and stars, and that of the smallest structures, such as atoms and particles. This chapter takes a closer look at Relativity and Quantum Physics in particular, both of which have given us amazing new insights into what we call creation.
Newton: The Three Laws of Motion
According to physics, the world used to be a predictable place. Aristotle and Ptolemy laid the foundation for the scientific understanding of the universe, which remained authoritative for one-and-a-half thousand years. Until the time of Galileo, the Greeks were undisputed in natural science and astronomy. Galileo, Copernicus, and Newton changed this. Isaac Newton (1642-1727) revolutionized physics with his proposition that the three laws of motion govern all bodies. The first law of motion states that a body continues in a state of rest or continues to be moving uniformly in a straight line unless a force is applied to the object. The second law states that the force applied to an object is proportional to its mass multiplied by acceleration (F=ma). The third law states that for every action there is an equal opposite reaction.
With these three simple laws, Newton created a whole new model of the universe, superseding Ptolemy’s model of epicycles. Eighty years before, Galileo (1564-1642) had pointed out that the Earth rotates around the Sun. The mechanics developed by Newton and Galileo provided the basis for 17th to 19th century cosmology. In this view, planets revolved in well-defined orbits around stars, where the gravitational force balances the rotational force. According to the universal law of gravitation, bodies attract each other with a force F=m1*m2/r², which means that the force increases with mass and decreases (squared) with distance.
Laplace: The Mechanistic Universe
Given these natural laws, mankind derived a picture of the universe that accounts neatly for mass, position, and the motion of the celestial bodies. Further, these celestial bodies are seen as dynamic elements of a celestial apparatus, not unlike that of a mechanical apparatus; thus it is called a mechanistic worldview. The mechanistic worldview was illustrated in its purest form by Marquis de Laplace (1749-1827) in his writing Mécanique Céleste. The mechanistic view sees the universe as an arrangement in which stars and planets interact with each other like springs and cogs in a clockwork, while God is watching from above. If the initial positions and states of all objects in a mechanically determined universe are known, all events can be predicted until the end of time, simply by applying the laws of mechanics. It was further thought that this kind of knowledge is available only to an omniscient God.
The mechanistic view does not make any statements about the creation of the universe, because according to this view creation was pre-established by God. From a mechanistic standpoint, solar systems like our own are in a delicate balance, because only a slight increase or decrease in mass or velocity of the planets would let the planets either spiral into the Sun or wander into outer space. There had to be a construction plan. Thus the necessity for a creator God arose to also explain the universe was initially balanced. Needless to say that the church was comfortable with this theory, despite the earlier quarrels with Galileo, and in spite of the fact that it generally viewed scientific progress with great suspicion.
One of the most enthralling aspects of Relativity is its revolutionary understanding of time. The term “time dilation” might evoke images of Salvadore Dali's timepieces hanging on twigs; however, time dilation is all but surrealistic. The Theory of Relativity states that if the speed of light is constant, time cannot be constant. In fact, it doesn’t make sense to speak of time as being constant or absolute, when we think of it as one dimension of space-time. Special Relativity states, that time is measured according to the relative velocity of the reference frame in which it is measured. Despite of the simplicity of this statement, the relativistic connection between time and space are hard to fathom.
The Four Dimensions of Space-Time
In the Relativity Theory the world has four dimensions: three space dimensions and one dimension that is not exactly time but related to time. In fact, it is time multiplied by the square root of -1. Imagine you are moving from point A to point B through one space dimension. When you move to another space coordinate, you automatically cause your position on the time coordinate to change, even if you don’t notice, which causes time to elapse. Of course, you are always traveling through time, but when you travel through space you travel through time more slowly than you expect. The well-known following example of the “twin paradox” demonstrates the time dilation phenomenon.
Time Dilation; the Twin Paradox
Consider the case of these twin brothers. On their thirtieth birthday, one of the brothers goes on a space journey in a super fast rocket that travels at 99% of the speed of light. The space traveler stays on his journey for precisely one year, whereupon he returns to Earth on his 31st birthday. Because time is stretched by a factor of 7 at approximately 99% of the speed of light, in the space one year is equivalent to seven years on earth. Therefore seven years have actually elapsed, so his twin, the space travelers’ brother is 37 years old at the time of his return. Yet, time appears to have passed normally to both brothers, i.e. both still need five minutes to shave each morning in their respective reference frame.