Sensing the motives and feelings of others is a natural talent for humans. But how do we do it? Here, Rebecca Saxe shares fascinating lab work that uncovers how the brain thinks about other peoples’ thoughts — and judges their actions.

While still a graduate student, Rebecca Saxe made a breakthrough discovery: There’s a specific region in our brain that becomes active when we contemplate the workings of other minds. Now, at MIT’s Saxelab, she and her team have been further exploring her grad-school finding, exploring how it may help us understand conditions such as autism.

As Saxe delves into the complexities of social cognition, this young scientist is working toward revealing the enigma of human minds interacting.

An impromptu film made in Tokyo by Dennis Wheatley and Stefan McClean. They were sitting in this sushi bar downtown Tokyo pondering how best to set up a camera to film things as they happen without causing a scene. They decided in order to capture people “in the moment” they would put a camera on the revolving conveyor belt to capture people just being themselves.

I love this video, it really does capture the moment and is accompanied by a wonderful piece of music. The music is “lost in a moment” by: “Shrift” from the album of the same name.

What is the red donut? When I first heard of this concept I asked myself the same question. As it turns out this seemingly comical concept of a red donut is actually very intuitive and enlightening once explained.

In the previous video I posted “Intro to Non-Dualism” Philip illustrated for us our higher self or god-self by using words such as peaceful, loving, joyful, truth and omnipotent. Those words represent who we truly are outside of our ego.

Our ego a.k.a. the red donut is represented by words like desire, anxiety, loneliness and regret. Philip then goes on to explain that the words highlighted in red are illusions and they all have to do with the past or the future. These illusions like shame, addiction and suffering are created by our minds via the supporting structure of the ego.

The truth of the matter is there is no such thing as pity, hurt, control or envy. All of these emotions are of the past or future, they have nothing to do with the present moment. In-all-reality… our true self resides in the present moment. In order for us to feel regret for example we have to reference the past, we have to actually choose to remember what happened in the past in order to feel the emotion of regret or jealousy.

Imagine if we could keep our minds in the moment and not think about or reference the past. If we stayed in the moment none of these illusory emotions or feelings would arise.

Our true self is unmovable, eternal and complete, we are unconditional love. Sometime you touch this god-self when you’re in extreme states of joy, a baby being born or falling in love for example. Think about the last time you felt true joy, there wasn’t any worry about the past or future, when you’re in joy (enjoy) or “with spirit” you are completely in the moment.

The red donut is all of those false illusory emotions that surround us and block us from our true god-self (love, happiness, joy). Again if you were always in the moment you wouldn’t feel regret, panic or the need to control.

The good news however is that the LOVE doesn’t go anywhere, it’s who we are and will always be. We might not always feel like it but that’s only because we’re disconnected (or so it seems). Sometimes it seem terribly real whatever it is we’re going through in life but look at it closely and examine it thoroughly.

Who do you think you are at your core?

You and I can’t possibly be any of those things like anxiety, envy, unease, guilt or apprehension… we are so much more than that. If at some point you’re feeling those emotions just remember it’s because your NOT IN THE MOMENT you’re thinking about the past or about the future.

If we want to realize our true nature (LOVE) then we must remember to not referece our past experiences because the past has NOTHING to do with our true self.

Our true self isn’t of the past or in the future we are eternally right now and always have been! I think Richard Alpert a.k.a. Ram Dass said it best with his book titled… “Be Here Now“.

Watch the video at the beginning of the post, enjoy and I’d love to hear your feedback.

I’d like to share with you a video I ran across by A Course in Miracles. This particular video is “Intro to Non-Dualism”.

I’ve heard about the Course in Miracles for a few years but have never took the time to read the book or seek more info on the course. Most of my family has read the book and they all have nothing but good things to say… so it’s about time I pick it up and see what all the fuss is about.

I watched this video last night for the first time and I have to admit the course has definitely got my attention now. This short video only 10 minutes in length covers a broad scope of topics quickly and everything makes perfect sense! It’s almost as if I’m being reminded of what I already know as opposed to learning something new.

The video admittedly is a little “vanilla” for lack of a better word but if you can get past the person talking and hear the message, I think it will peak your interest as it has mine.

Without giving away too much. One of my favorite parts of the video is when he points out that feeling defensive or shame for instance requires that you access the past… past memories. He then goes on to explain if you can remain present and not think about the past then it would be impossible to feel guilt or become defensive. In order to feel the guilt or get defensive you have to remember what happened in the past… so be in the present moment!

I’ll definitely be posting more from A Course in Miracles, I’m ecstatic to have found something else to broaden my spiritual horizons!

If anyone is currently studying A Course in Miracles please let me know what your experience has been. Also any other recommendations for books or videos are welcome.

For more information on A Course in Miracles please visit their website.

Peace and Love.

Kymatica as a film if I had to describe it in one word I would say “Amen”! I am extremely thrilled to see more films like this being created and shared in an ever growing community of conscious human beings.

The film does share similar themes as the popular award winning docu-film “The Zeitgeist Addendum” but can stand on it’s own with original and thought provoking subject matter.

One of my favorite parts begins at about 19:45 mins into the film the beginning of the “LOGOS” chapter. The narrator begins to explain how everything in existence is a relationship between vibrations and matter. He then goes on to explain further that in nature the phenomenon of “VIBRATIONS” is the masculine creative force and its opposite “MATTER” is the feminine receptive force and from these two forces begins the basic principles of duality.

This is the duality we see in every day life from hot and cold, good and bad… even god and the devil. It’s briefly explained how over time the idea of duality has been perverted and distorted by ancient religions, myths, text and dogma giving the impression that one of the polarities is absolute good and the other evil.

The two forces… vibrations and matter fundamentally are what give rise to all that we know in the known universe. These two phenomenon should not be looked at as opposites, rather two forces that are one in the same and would not exist without the other.

Vibrations and matter are what come together to create everything we know, this is KYMATICA.

This part of the film really hit home with me and I watched this segment over and over again. It’s apparent that we as a species have lost our way and are disconnected. It’s obvious isn’t it? Would there be wars, fighting and children dying from not having enough food to eat if we all were truly connected?

When we live in a world that has an abundance of resources that if utilized properly could feed and supply energy to everyone on the planet… BUT WE DON’T because of greed, money and profit… the answer is clear. We are disconnected! We live our lives each monotonous day in fear and are clamoring to make sense of it all.

We disguise this fear by subscribing to one of the many soothing and promising religions but as we can see by evidence of our history… religions offer no true peace of mind. Millions of people around the globe as individuals ALL subscribing to their individual religious beliefs. We all think WE KNOW THE TRUTH and we tell our neighbors, lovers and family members who are of different faiths we love them but this is the farthest thing from the truth. We don’t love… we tolerate.

A truly religious person doesn’t subscribe or memorize scripture from books, a truly religious person doesn’t need to. Religion is so not what it should be, it’s packaged, polished and presented to the masses with cunning and masterful advocates who are slowly and insidiously programming you to not think for yourself.

Today’s religions and non-religions (Athiest) are broken “ideas” the equivalent of a toy given to a crying child. The horrifying fact is however these “ideas” or toys for the mind are only temporary and eventually we all have to embrace LIFE as it is, not someone else’s ideas about it.

We have thousands upon thousands of people in the world from Africa to China who live on less than a dollar a day, are riddled with disease and no hope in sight. What are we going to do?

For god sake… let us stop pretending that we know all the answers!

All the Athiest and Theist set aside your beliefs, your books, your gospel, your dogmas, your sin, your promises, your devil, your bigotry and WAKE UP!

You’ve been programmed and conditioned and you don’t even know it. I hate come off sounding like I know it all… I’ll be the first to admit I don’t but I can see clearly WHAT IS NOT WORKING.

This beautiful planet that we are so fortunate and blessed to live on is dying and each one of us is responsible.

Are we all that stupid?

Do we all really think as a Muslim we’re going to get 40 virgins and live in everlasting peace in paradise? Do we all really think as a Christian that when we die and go to heaven it will be “heaven”? How could it be knowing that all the other humans you loved and knew, the Muslim, the Jew, the Athiest, your brother or sister who wasn’t Christian is in hell?

If that is what heaven is like… I don’t want to be there!

How about we stop hypothesizing about what is to come and deal with what has been presented to us… LIFE! This life, better… this consciousness that you’ve been blessed with has all the power of the universe. WE ARE TRULY GODS.

Each one of us has the power to create and destroy this world. Each one of us needs to take responsibility, like Ghandi said “be the change we want to see in the world”. The problems aren’t out there somewhere and the answers aren’t in some book or church.

ALL OF US need to do some serious soul searching and find out what it is to be a HUMAN BEING, not a HUMAN FOLLOWER.

It’s time to kick yourself in the butt, it’s time to raise heaven on earth. There cannot be peace on earth with a thousand different religions, countries, states and governments.

There can only be peace once we see all of the above as divisive and separative “ideas” that have been passed down from generation to generation yielding heartache, suffering, war, fear and all the rest of it… it’s time to wake up and it’s time to live up to our true potential as human beings.

Watch this film, let me know what you thought. Also I’m interested in learning more about you and what you’re doing to improve yourself and in turn the world.

I truly believe we can save our planet and species from catastrophe but my beliefs don’t have anything to do with manifesting this reality… my actions do! With love and sincerity in my heart I ask that you like myself seek out the truth. Let the search for truth be fueled by intentions grounded in love and let that search be renewed with new energy each day.

The first time I ever heard Terence McKenna speak it was probably about 2 months ago, it was a video on youtube of Terence explaining what a DMT trip is like. His vivid explanation and animated voice immediately had my attention but after watching the video I must have gotten distracted because it wasn’t until now I decided to try to find more of his work.

Having experimented with several hallucinogens in the past myself I was very keen on hearing more of what Terence had to say. So in my research one of the first videos I came across was the one I’d like to share with you today, the video is called “seeking the stone”.

This video features Terence talking to a group of people at what I’m guessing is a Hilton hotel conference hall. He opens up the talks with his funny and light demeanor quickly setting the audience at ease. Its funny because Terence actually jokes a couple of times during the first part of the video that this group was full of all sorts of people but they’re so open minded there are people here who probably actually think they are from another planet.

The topic of Terences talk has to do with the wold of hallucinogens in particular psilocybin mushrooms. Terence goes on to explains his views and even takes us back several thousands of years to give a detailed description of how he thinks man evolved from the trees, to who we are today. Basically Terence sticks with the ideas of evolution but he adds that our early relatives regularly ate psilocybin mushrooms as part of their diets because of the climate and as a result the social structure was vastly different than we see today.

One of the most notable differences that got my attention was the idea that societies back then were not monogamous but rather a society where orgies were a regular thing. He also goes on to point out that in the societies of our ancestors when children were born the entire community took care of the children. Back in the day there weren’t any possessions for example ownership of a spouse or lover… everything was community and there were no boundaries.

I know what you’re thinking… these concepts to you are very alien and quite odd I’m sure but that reaction isn’t surprising. Our minds don’t know anything else but what we’ve been conditioned to think, I on the other hand am rather fascinated and interested in what a society would of actually been like if the climate and conditions that Terence explains actually existed. It doesn’t seem to far fetched to me that yes we civilized humans thousands of years ago had no boundaries and the idea of husband, wife, job, etc., were non existent.

Later in the video Terence delves deeper and brings us back to the present moment and his concern for the state of mankind as it is in the world today. It is his contingency that the entire existence of humanity is in great danger and its obvious that if we continue on the current path living the way we do, killing the earth, killing one another, etc., we are doomed.

I wish it weren’t the case but I happen to agree with Terence. I don’t know about things coming to a climax in the year 2012 but we are definitely accelerating toward the inevitable. How can we wake up the whole of humanity so that we can save ourselves from ourselves? I don’t know that psychedelics are the answer to this but I’m certainly open to the idea that psychedelics can be used to help bring some of us out of our slumber.

In any case I’ll leave you to the video and give you the opportunity to chime in with your own thoughts. Please feel free to comment after you’ve watched and had a chance to absorb what Terence has said.

Peace and Unity.

In the beginning of the video -K- recaps on the previous days discussion touching on the topic of thinking together. He emphasizes how important it is to put ones own history, dogmas and beliefs behind so that the group can think together.

He then asks us to examine the very nature of thought. If we look closely we can see that thought itself has been conditioned. The very nature of thought as we know it is an evolutionary process our thoughts are always trying to do something or be something.

-K-, then asks us to ask ourselves, psychologically is there a tomorrow? If we find that there isn’t a tomorrow psychologically what then is the relationship between 2 humans?

It seems that over time we as humans have accepted the idea that gradually with time things will get better. It is also apparent that measurement has become extremely important to societies around the world. This becomes notably clear when you see the individuals mentality within a society is… what one was, what one is and what one will be. This is all measured in time.

If you can see this then one must ask is there psychologically time at all or has thought invented time psychologically?

Is it possible that thought has invented time because it is trifling and lazy? Thought doesn’t want to deal with what is happening right now, thought puts a plan together to fix whatever the problem is in the future, down the road somewhere. If you examine this closely you will see that this is how we’ve been taught to think, this is a reflection of our conditioning. It goes the same for us here in America as it does in Africa, Europe or wherever else, the root of this is the conditioned mind.

-K-, then briefly looks at the history of mankind and how we’ve tried to create perfect and peaceful societies. He compares the systems that were put in place by the ancient Greeks and Hindus. Both of these systems were independent of one another and for a time succeeded but as any system or idea that is implemented into society both of them eventually failed.

Now here we are today in present society, can we together create a good society?

If we are to bring about a peaceful and good society will it come about from some set of ideas or a system or is it something that has to happen immediately with us thinking together?

If we are thinking together is time involved in bringing about this new society or is that something our minds have been conditioned to think?

Please do watch this video and ad your comments. Tell me what you like or didn’t like about it, let talk and investigate together.

Peace.

The beginning of this video starts off like most Krishnamurti videos, he asks the audience to think and investigate together. I must say however that this particular introduction is the best one I’ve seen to date. The attention that -K- demands is amazing.

In order to think together -K- points out that one must let go of all oppositions, accepting or denying. In order to think together there cannot be your thinking and my thinking, separate… it is together thinking. He goes on to explain either you understand it as a intellectual concept which then becomes your concept and the others concept drawing from all your previous experiences and the other drawing from their previous experiences and you both intellectually reach separate conclusions. That is not thinking together.

To think together there cannot be any barrier between your thinking and the others thinking… you have to do it together. If you can think in this way where there is nothing personal then you can move forward to investigate questions together. This movement is a totally different quality of insight into a problem and you can see things for how they really are.

Is it possible for you and another or for any 2 people or group of people to actually do this? Can you put aside all of your previous experience and judgments so that your mind and the others can come together?

Peace.

“The Nature of the Mind”. Joining Krishnamurti for this discussion is David Bohm, Rupert Sheldrake and John Hidley. The video starts of with Krishnamurti asking the question, is disorder the very nature of the self? From there the gentlemen look together at the very nature of suffering and disorder in the individual.

One interesting question that comes up in the dialog is, is there a difference between physical pain and phycological pain? They also look into the pain and suffering of animals in comparison to mankind. For instance when a Lion or Tiger kills its prey is that condidered pain? We as human beings go on killing each other on a daily basis in wars, fighting, etc., how is that different from the animals in the wild? In other words, perhaps it is in our nature to be violent and cause suffering?

This dialog is full of very interesting and profound questions and are examined with great care by all four men. This is just the first video in the series, stay tuned for the other videos to be posted this week.

As always you are encouraged to comment on the video and ask any question that may arise.

Peace.

This is the second of a 6 part series of videos originally shot in 1982 at the Oak Grove in Ojai, California. This video is just over an hour long shot in full color with great audio.

This video is entitled “A Crisis In Ourselves”, it would seem that Krishnamurti addressed an issue back in 1982 that we are all still dealing with today. Actually are we dealing with the crisis in ourselves at all? Do we even see the crisis within or are we too stupefied to notice what is actually happening?

Krishnamurti makes it clear that there is something wrong with the state of affairs in the world only we are not dealing with the problem in the right way. We can all see that for thousands of years mankind has lived in terrible suffering and pain.

Century after century we continue to fight, create war, conflict and kill one another. Looking back we can see that we’ve tried several different means to bring peace. We’ve formed nations and armies to protect and give us a sense of security but to no avail, only a false sense of security. We’ve created governments to bring order to our societies and yet to this very day there hasn’t been a successful government to bring peace and cessation of fear.

In this video Krishnamurti ask us to look at this fact deeply. If we are at all serious, are we willing to bring about a complete change in the physiological mind that created all the past wars and wars of today?

If we are truly serious about this we must recognize that nothing we’ve done in the past has worked so obviously we need to make a complete and total change. We must first take care as to how we approach the problems of the world because if we try to FIX the problems coming from our conditioned minds and our approach comes from fear then our solution will be based on fear.

If we take great care to approach this very serious issue that the entire lot of mankind faces then perhaps we might make progress and see where to begin. If one does approach these issues very carefully one will find that the problems of the world today are not out there somewhere but rather within us all.

Please do feel free to post your comments about the video, I’d like to know what you think. You participation is encouraged, lets talk it up!

Namaste.