November-December 2002 NGWS Newsletter Page 2

PAGE 2 Approaching Spirit

Educate yourself...

A book review...

Book Review from IONS online magazine

by Hank Wesselman, PhD
(Hay House, 2001)

Reviewed by Jane Hughes Gignoux

In chapter seven of Visionseeker, Hank Wesselman, describing his “shamanic journeywork,” writes, “There comes a point when things begin to happen that I am not creating with my intentionality, and it is then that I understand quite clearly that I have shifted into a level of reality and experience that has its own existence separate from myself. This is what it means to vision.” Readers of Visionseeker will need to integrate this statement if they are to fully appreciate the many levels at which this extraordinary narrative invites our conscious and unconscious assumptions to slide off the comfortable couch of “I know” and dance naked (but not alone) in the shimmering glare of “what if?” For “explorers” committed to venturing into the myriad uncharted realms of the mind, this is indeed rich territory.

Visionseeker is paleoanthropologist Wesselman’s third book describing his altered-states-of-consciousness experiences that began spontaneously and unexpectedly in the early 1980s. ... As he makes clear, “Nothing in my academic training as an anthropologist had prepared me for these experiences, and I responded to them with an intense curiosity. I was not one of those worthies who had spent decades at the knees of the wisdom masters, practicing meditation and yoga, hoping for visions and transcendent experiences, nor was I a member of the psychedelic explorers club. In those days, I worshiped solely at the altar of science.” Wesselman has spent much of his life among traditional people in the Great Rift Valley of Eastern Africa working with several scientific research expeditions in search of answers to the mystery of human origins.

In Visionseeker, Wesselman finds himself inside another man’s body with full access to this person’s thoughts, feelings, and memories. This is not unheard-of among those who have advanced intuitive powers. When I was studying with a clairvoyant healer in the early 1980s, she reported waking up inside another person. I recall that she didn’t welcome these incidents but knew of no way to stop them.

What is significant about Wesselman’s experience is that Nainoa, the man he shares consciousness with, is living 5000 years in the future. At first Wesselman thought he might be dreaming, or possibly losing his mind. Being the consummate scientist that he is, however, he took copious notes and began studying the world of shamanic altered states of consciousness through intense research and apprenticeship. Aside from the riveting story line, there is one compelling aspect of Wesselman’s observations in this future time that place this trilogy, and particularly this new volume, at the center of noetic inquiry.

In Nainoa’s world, everything of today’s civilization is gone. Given what we know of past civilizations, this is not surprising. What these people do have, however, is a clear understanding of the complexities of perennial spiritual laws. This I take as very good news!

While Nainoa is continually receiving spiritual teachings, he and Wesselman find a way to meet and share what they are learning on their parallel journeys. “They were shown that living beings of varying degrees of complexity exist everywhere in the Universe. . . . The creation of life is what the Universe is designed to do, and it is through the medium of living beings that the Universe is creating its own mind-spirit, a process that is going on everywhere.”

And what of science is in all this? In chapter 13, Wesselman reveals how he was contacted by Norman Don, PhD, codirector of the Brain Function Laboratory and a member of the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Don had read Spiritwalker and wanted to run tests on Wesselman's brain waves. The resulting series of EEG recordings demonstrated that Wesselman can now induce the altered state in which his visionary experiences occur at will. In each of a dozen trials, his brain waves achieved radical hyperarousal states, sometimes referred to as the gamma rhythm. Previously, it had been recorded only in an Indian yogi and in a handful of Brazilians who have had the alien-abduction experience. Clearly, Visionseeker lies right at the center of noetic inquiry, bringing together science and spirituality.

Both Wesselman and Nainoa are concerned with what all spiritual traditions have proclaimed: Consciousness is causal and nonlocal. In Visionseeker we encounter this great mystery in ways that challenge the intellect, stimulate the imagination, and feed the soul.

Jane Hughes Gignoux is the author of Some Folk Say: Stories of Life, Death, and Beyond, past president of FIONS in New York, and an IONS Board and Stewardship Council member

Courtesy of the Institute of Noetic Sciences website
http://www.noetic.org/ions//publications/r58books.htm

Turning Point

Book Review from IONS online magazine

Exploring the Horizon of Consciousness

by Tobin Hart, Peter Nelson, & Kaisa Puhakka, eds.
(SUNY Press, 2000)

Reviewed by Danielle Van Deventer

What is transpersonal knowing? The answer is subject to much interpretation, but in this anthology, respected thinkers in the field of transpersonal psychology respond to the question with insight and fervor. According to coeditor Kaisa Puhakka, transpersonal knowing is different from possessing knowledge. Possessing knowledge is the ability to state information on the basis of common knowledge or knowledge supported by theory. Transpersonal knowing, on the other hand, can be defined as a brief moment of clarity and awareness that occurs when the knower comes into contact with the known.

Though the contributors to this anthology have differing ideas about what constitutes attainment of transpersonal knowing, the authors all agree that knowing is not reserved for a guru or an “extraordinary” transcended being, but may be accessed by any person. As Tobin Hart proposes, “spiritual and transcendent insight happens within the mundane.” The contributors seem to agree that such knowing cannot be defined through words, but can be fully understood only through experience, and the fruit of transpersonal knowing is the transformation of one’s self and mind.

The first portion of the book discusses the essential mystical qualities of transpersonal knowing. The central chapters examine epistemology and how one’s knowing actually develops. The book concludes with a discussion of alternative means of knowing, such as transformative sexuality (by Jenny Wade), and transpersonal cognition (by Michael Washburn).

Two chapters stand out: Jorge Ferrer’s “Transpersonal Knowledge: a Participatory Approach to Transpersonal Phenomena” and Arthur Deikman’s “Service as a Way of Knowing.” Both address the perils and pitfalls of the spiritual path.

Ferrer discusses the idea that transpersonalism may lead to so much introspection that one may fall prey to “spiritual narcissism,” which is “the misuse of spiritual practices, energies, or experiences to bolster self-centered ways of being.” He believes that by minimizing self-introspection and maximizing personal and community-oriented transcendent experiences, we can become truly aware of our connection to ourselves and our world in a transcendent way.

Deikman suggests that service can be a form of knowing, for it can help us to connect deeply with a “reality much larger than ourselves.” He addresses the argument that service merely meets the giver’s need for receiving accolades for serving. According to Deikman, survival needs are selfish per se. To move beyond such selfishness and obtain true knowing, one needs a perception of contribution and connectedness with someone or something outside of one’s self.

The innovative thinking and challenging perspectives on transpersonal knowing make this book worthy of ongoing contemplation. Transpersonal Knowing suggests that we are capable of experiencing a higher, “knowing,” power within ourselves. If this is the case, then what we humans are up against is not ultimately answering to a distant, unknown power or deity, but answering to ourselves, a task that requires the great responsibility of self-knowledge.

Danielle Van Deventer, MA is a therapist working with adolescents in a therapeutic community treatment facility in Redwood City, California. She is presently completing her doctoral work at the of Institute of Transpersonal Psychology.

Courtesy of the Institute of Noetic Sciences website
http://www.noetic.org/ions//publications/r58books.htm

From the YES! Magazine website
Winter issue "Can Love Save the World"

by Rik Langendoen and Pam Chang

ORGANIZATIONS

American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), an organization founded by Quakers, works on issues of economic justice, peace building, social justice, and youth in the US, Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East. AFSC works in prisons, on environmental justice, on building healing relationships between races, on issues confronting sexual minorities, youth, Native Americans, and impoverished peoples. AFSC was founded in 1917 to provide conscientious objectors with an opportunity to aid civilian victims during World War I.

1501 Cherry Street
Philadelphia, PA 19102
215/241-7000
www.afsc.org

Bread for the Journey is a national network of local nonprofit charities serving the poor and underprivileged. The organization supports local people in bringing health, education and community-based projects to their communities. The organization is also responsible for the Institute for Engaged Spirituality, which examines how spiritual practices take fruit as loving kindness, sympathetic joy, and compassion.

1219 Luisa Street, Suite 7
Santa Fe, NM 87505
505/438-4696
www.breadforthejourney.org

Buddhist Peace Fellowship (BPF) addresses issues of human rights, systemic violence, economic justice, and environmental sustainability through serving the homeless, teaching meditation in jails, working in community gardens with at-risk youth, and sitting in meditation at vigils for peace and justice. Think Sangha, a socially engaged Buddhist think tank affiliated with the fellowship, works on critiques of social structures and alternative social models. Turning Wheel is the BPF quarterly.

PO Box 4650
Berkeley, CA 94704
510/655-6169, www.bpf.org

Center for the Advancement of Nonviolence is sponsor of the Season for Nonviolence in LA, an international commemoration of M. K. Gandhi and M. L. King that demonstrates how nonviolence can heal, transform, and empower our lives and communities.

1223 Wilshire Blvd. #472
Santa Monica, CA 90403
www.nonviolenceworks.com

Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors since 1948 has helped people resist being inducted into the military and those already in the military who want to get out.

630 20th Street, Suite 302
Oakland, CA 94702
888/231-2226, www.objector.org

The Fellowship of Reconciliation, the largest and oldest interfaith peace organization in the US, holds a vision of a “beloved community” in which differences are respected, conflicts are addressed nonviolently, oppressive structures are dismantled, and people live in harmony with the Earth. FOR offers a resource packet for responding to 9/11, hate crimes, and the US military campaign. Ongoing projects include a campaign against the Iraqi sanctions, for the abolition of nuclear weapons, for a death penalty moratorium. FOR also sends delegations to Israel/Palestine, works for economic justice, and honors those working for social change through nonviolent means with the Pfeffer Peace Prize and the MLK Award.

PO Box 271, Nyack, NY 10960
845/358-4601, www.forusa.org

The Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR) is an association of 275 Protestant, Roman Catholic and Jewish institutional investors—including national denominations, religious communities, pension funds, and endowments—which press companies to be socially and environmentally responsible. Each year ICCR members sponsor over 100 shareholder resolutions on major social and environmental issues. They also meet with management, screen their investments, divest stock, conduct public hearings and investigations, publish special reports, and sponsor prayer vigils, letter writing campaigns, and consumer boycotts. ICCR-member community development investments surpass $900 million.

475 Riverside Drive, Room 550
New York, NY 10115
212/870-2293
www.iccr.org

Jubilee USA Network is continuing the work of the Jubilee 2000 to get Third World debt canceled.

222 East Capitol Street
Washington DC 20003
202/783-3566
www.j2000usa.org

Philosopher in Meditation ~Rembrandt, 1632
Metta Center for Nonviolent Education provides links to writings relevant to the September 11th attack and a documentary collection of incidences where nonviolence has proven successful. Michael Nagler (see “Is there No Other Way,” below) is president.

2398 Bancroft Way
Berkeley, CA 94704
510/549-3096
www.mettacenter.org

Naropa University’s Center For Engaged Spirituality is a vehicle for the practical application of spirituality in local communities and across the planet. Housed at the Naropa University, the Center extends the frontiers of engaged spirituality in prison settings, AIDS work, elder communities, medical settings, legal and ethical arenas.

2130 Arapahoe Ave.
Boulder, CO 80302
303/444-0202, www.naropa.edu

Nevada Desert Experience believes that nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction are immoral as well as physically, emotionally, and spiritually devastating to all of creation. They mobilize people of faith to work toward nuclear abolition with particular focus on ending nuclear testing in the Nevada desert.

PO Box 46645
Las Vegas, NV 89111
702/646-4814
www.nevadadesertexperience.org

Pace e Bene Franciscan Nonviolence Center, an agency of Franciscan Friars of California, aims to counteract society’s epidemic violence by practicing active nonviolence as a way of life and as a methodology for cultural transformation. The center does training in nonviolence, trains trainers, and spreads information on the success of active nonviolence.
1420 West Bartlett Ave.

Las Vegas, NV 89106
702/648-2281
www.paceebene.org

Prison Dharma Network is a Buddhist support network for prisoners, prison volunteers, and correctional workers founded in 1989 by Fleet Maull, then a federal prisoner. PDN is an affiliate of the Buddhist Peace Fellowship. The organization supports prisoners in the practice of contemplative disciplines through their publications, email listserv, correspondence and trainings.

PO Box 4623
Boulder CO 80306
303-544-5923
www.prisondharmanetwork.org

Season for Non-Violence
A Season for Nonviolence, January 30 - April 4, is a national 64-day educational, media, and grassroots campaign dedicated to demonstrating that nonviolence is a powerful way to heal, transform, and empower our lives and our communities. Inspired by the 50th and 30th memorial anniversaries of Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., this international event honors their vision for an empowered, nonviolent world. The Association for Global New Thought is the convening organization.

Association for Global New Thought
1514 Main St. #2 Evanston, IL 60202-6502
tel 847-866-9525 fax 847-866-9545
www.agnt.org/snv02.htm

United Religions Initiative supports people of diverse faiths in exploring how interfaith cooperation can make a positive difference in their local communities. Local efforts, ranging from ending religious violence in conflict zones to creating new models of religious education for children, gain strength by being part of a global community.

PO Box 29242
San Francisco, CA 94129
415/561-2300, www.uri.org

by Rik Langendoen and Pam Chang

The Rhythm of Compassion: Caring for Self, Connecting with Society, by Gail Straub (Charles E Tuttle Co, 2001). Using the primal rhythm of breath-in and breath-out, renowned author and teacher Gail Straub shows readers how they can serve the spirit and the planet simultaneously and offers numerous activities and exercises to make this remarkable book even more tangible.

The Wheel of Engaged Buddhism: A New Map of the Path, by Kenneth Kraft (Weatherhill, 1999). This short introduction to engaged Buddhism highlights the activities and challenges of socially conscious Buddhism. A defender of rainforests, imprisoned Burmese president Aung San Suu Kyi, poet and environmentalist Gary Snyder, and a woman who led an effort to comfort victims of the Bosnian war are some of those cited.

Thomas Merton and Thich Nhat Hanh: Engaged Spirituality in an Age of Globalization, by Robert King (Continuum Publication Group, October 2001). Thomas Merton and Thich Nhat Hanh met briefly at the Gethsemani Trappist monastery in Kentucky in 1966, and though they admired each other, they had no further significant contact. This book explores the convergence of their viewpoints and their impact on current thinking regarding spirituality and social action.

Bearing Witness: A Zen Master’s Lessons in Making Peace, by Bernard Glassman (Random House, July 1999). Zen practitioner and nonprofit community developer Bernie Glassman offers teaching stories that illustrate ways of making peace one moment at a time. Each chapter focuses on an event or person and demonstrates how a particular peacemaker vow is put into practice.

Loved By Love: The Memoirs of Vinoba Bhave, edited by Kalindi (Chelsea Green Publishing, March 1996). Inspired by his teacher, Gandhi, Vinoba spent 20 years walking from village to village throughout India, persuading wealthy landowners to give literally millions of acres to the landless poor. These memoirs reveal both the inner and outer life of this great man who had an unwavering commitment to the practice of nonviolence, to an engaged spirituality, and to the power of love.

Soul of a Citizen: Living With Conviction in a Cynical Time, by Paul Rogat Loeb (St. Martin’s Press, 1999). Paul Loeb presents an alternative vision of hope and courage in this book based on 30 years studying the psychology of social involvement. Loeb describes how ordinary citizens can make their voices heard and their actions count. The book explores what leads some to get involved in larger community issues while others feel overwhelmed or uncertain. He also looks at how to maintain commitment and how involvement can give us a sense of connection and purpose rare in purely personal life.
www.soulofacitizen.org

Take This Job and Love It: How to Find Fulfillment in Any Job You Do, by Matthew Gilbert (St. Martin’s Press, 1998). How to turn any job into an opportunity for spiritual growth and understanding. This book is an invitation to anyone who has ever found work unfulfilling to discover that in even the simplest and humblest acts there is potential for blessings.

Is There No Other Way? The Search for a Nonviolent Future, by Michael Nagler (Berkeley Hills Books, 2000). Beginning with the achievements of Gandhi and the legacy of nonviolence in the struggles against Nazism in Europe, racism in America, oppression in China and Latin America, and ethnic conflicts in Africa and Bosnia, the author proposes that nonviolence has proven its power against arms and social injustice wherever it has been correctly understood and applied. (See the author’s
article on this in YES! #7.)

Healing the Soul of America, Reclaiming Our Voices as Spiritual Citizens, by Marianne Williamson (Simon and Schuster, 2000). Spirituality is not just self-awareness; it involves transforming spiritual principles into social activism, says the author. Williamson defines politics as “caring for the public good” and—citing the Constitution, Pennsylvania Quakers, Lincoln, King, and others—notes how people’s hearts have inspired them to repudiate injustice. She suggests that, rather than trying to fight what is wrong, we love what might be and make the commitment to bring it forth.

From the Yes! magazine website
http://futurenet.org/20spirituality/resourcesspirituality.html

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