A Meditation On Richness, Value, and Tipping.

I'm tired of people who tell me "nature is a whore". I'm speaking out.

August 23, 2023

The Nature Boys - 1940s Hippie Predecessors, Without The Drugs

July 14, 2022

Long before the more obvious cultural explosion of the 1960s, a group of Californians were cultivating an alternative lifestyle that would come to influence later movements and culture at large. They called themselves the Nature Boys.

From the early 1900s on, they wore their hair long, skin tanned from reverence of nature and the sun. Jack Kerouac mentions them in “On The Road”, telling us that while traveling through Los Angeles in 1947 he’d see“an occasional Nature Boy saint in beard and sandals”.

The Nature Boys were proponents of a vegetarian lifestyle, living primarily off of fruits and vegetables. In fact, a popular Nature Boy hangout was a health food store in Los Angeles’ Laurel Canyon founded by German immigrants. The Eutropheon, Greek for “good nourishment”, was a bustling community center where lectures about raw foods and natural living took place.

The group included Eden Ahbez, a musician and songwriter who often performed at the Eutropheon, playing piano, and flutes he made himself. He eventually wrote a hit for Nat King Cole, it’s title “Nature Boy” an obvious homage.

A frenzy ensued after the song hit number one for eight weeks straight, eventually to be performed by Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, and Peggy Lee.

Despite the attention Ahbez brought the Nature Boys, they themselves often lived the lives of hermits, wandering the hills, taking up dwelling in trees and caves. Eden himself sometimes slept under the first L of the Hollywood sign.

*A prominent group of Nature Boys, including Eden Ahbez, lower left.*

The term Nature Boy was a loose translation of naturmenschen. Most of the practicing youth were either German immigrants or followers of German immigrants who taught what was called Lebensreform, or life-reform.

One early Lebensreform influencer and Nature Boy mentor was Bill Pester. He fled Germany at the age of 19 to avoid military service in 1906.

His philosophy of nature worship, passion for literature and writing, musicianship, nudism, and raw foods diet set the standard for the lifestyle.

He came to settle in Palm Springs where he often walked barefoot through the desert and played his guitar. Pester lived in a self-made cabin and was well liked by the local Native Americans. For some reason the Native American census at the timeeven included his name.

At the outset of the 1960s, aging Nature Boys could be found at music festivals of the dawning era. They served as gurus and role models for the rebellious youth that would become known as Hippies. But the Nature Boys were not proponents of all aspects of Hippie culture.

The philosophy of Lebensreform, and its strict adherence to natural lifestyles, diet, and yoga would have discouraged drug abuse.

*Bill Pester at this palm log cabin in Palm Canyon, California, 1917.*

Gordon Kennedy is the author of “Children of the Sun” a book that pins the origins of the Hippie Movement to 19th century Germany. The book is hard to find, available only for very high prices—around 1,000 dollars new. I found a relevant forum discussing the book and his 2003 article on the same subjects.

Kennedy says, “The California Nature Boys didn’t seem to have any interest at all in drugs, even though the Beat thing was dawning during the late 40’s, the beats were largely urban and into black jazz and urban nightlife, reefers etc. Nature Boys avoided urban scenes and smoke in any form.”

It seems the Beats, as well as Timothy Leary and his Harvard LSD researchers, brought the party favors. The Nature Boys provided a life model that worked once the party was over.

The American counterculture has deeper roots than we know, beyond the Hippies, and beyond even the Beats.

Distinguishing these movements from that of the Nature Boys and Lebensreform teachers might change our minds about the Sixties, and even the modern consciousness movement taking hold worldwide right now.

The simple tale of middle class dropout youth is only the hippy tip of the iceberg. A deeper story extends into the 1940s with the Nature Boys, then into Lebensreform and health movements imported by German immigrants.

Question:

Were drugs the defining characteristic of 1960’s subculture? Can you think of other movements during or before this era that practiced a similar lifestyle (with or without the mind-altering substances)?

This article was originally published on REALITY SANDWICH MAGAZINE

References:

Gordon Kennedy, Author "Children Of The Sun"

The Wild Card Element - Unbelievable Facts In Alternative Historical Tapestries

March 31, 2020

The various proclaimed “insiders” we’ve interacted with (online, in person, and at conferences) often have at least one Unbelievable Element in the mythos of the group they represent.

We don’t comment on whether or not these puzzle pieces are fact or fiction but we hope to point out the common Wild Card theme we’ve encountered in semi-secret organizations.

The point is all of these groups seem to gather up the threads of what we’ll call Alternative History (and Conspiracy Theories, verified and unverified) weaving a tapestry around their own story or agenda.

The Wild Card Element seems to be an essential piece of the puzzle for many faces of alternative movements.

Hypotheses - Wild Card Elements may serve as:

Disinformation puzzle pieces meant to create confusion.
Disinformation puzzle pieces meant to push some people away from the information [Disqualifier]. Then mainstreamers disregard the operation so that it can grow with less interference.
Puzzle pieces designed to bait and enroll people in with certain nonconformative belief systems.
Storylines fed to infowarrior figureheads by their superiors in a departmentalized manner. The figureheads believe these stories themselves—whether or not the narrative elements are true. This could be in order to ensure figurehead/agent belief in his or her own mission, solidifying response to a chain of command for a personality type that might otherwise go rogue.
Or Wild Card Elements could be true. Various alleged secret gov. program insiders have come out talking about time travel, for instance.

All Art Is Religious

March 16, 2020

All art is religious. There. I said it.

Art is a ritual whereby the artist connects to his innermost being, diving deep, mining for gold, or some other precious mineral, eventually to be brought forth to the world.

What is "it" that lies in these inner reaches of man?

The artist seeks to find out. There is no real definition for the stuff that MAKES UP the mind, imagination, and what traditions of old were inclined to call spirit.

But the lack of definition does not degrade the quality of what might be discovered.

Why "Religous"?

re·li·gion - Origin:

Middle English (originally in the sense ‘life under monastic vows’): from Old French, or from Latin religio(n-) ‘obligation, bond, reverence,’ perhaps based on Latin religare ‘to bind.’

The artist must regularly enact the ritual, or practice, to enable the outpouring and refinement of what we call art.

When a something becomes an art, it becomes a practice—a craft. One that must be enacted with constant care. An artist without a "practice" is not an artist at all.

religion (n.):

According to Cicero derived from relegere "go through again" (in reading or in thought), from re- "again" + legere "read" (see lecture).

So in this sense, we see that the artist does indeed "go through again". He goes through experiences, perceptions, thoughts, and feelings to make sense of them. Or at least to understand and express those intangibles in some tangible way, however irrational or abstract the end result.

religion (n.) (From Etymology Online):

In that case, the re- would be intensive. Another possible origin is religiens "careful," opposite of negligens.

The artist is careful. He cares for his art and his practice. He nurtures it until he is ready to give birth.

Elevated Living. In Treehouses!

March 16, 2020

Treehouses are finally getting the respect they deserve.

Traditionally relegated to the hobbit-hole status, arboreal domiciles have been shrugged off as fantasy forts for children and tree-hugging elves. But no longer.

The list of treehouse stakeholders includes the likes of Sting, Ellen Degeneres, and Heath Ledger. Modern treehouse design varies from raw to elaborate, the more obnoxious condos including cheap looking Tolkien bling with Crate and Barrel flair.

More elemental designs include those of Roderick Romero who builds livable nests with broken branches adorning exteriors.

The leader of the movement has to be Pete Nelson who designs and builds elaborate tree houses in Seattle and runs numerous treehouse inns in the Northwest. These aren’t forts. They’re houses in trees. Nelson is also the author of New Treehouses of the World, documenting the global movement in elevated living.

Some say Treehouses bring us back to the days of our childhood, when climbing trees sparked our imagination and awe for nature. That may be true, but perhaps the desire to live the high life goes deeper, back to the time when our primate ancestors lived in trees—dining on fruit, safe from predators, overlooking the vast expanse of Savannah ripe with opportunity, danger, adventure, and potential evolution.

Kentucky+Frank+Lloyd+Wright+treehouse.jpg

Former Minister of Canada Discloses UFO Evidence

March 16, 2020

Former Minister of Canada Discloses UFO Evidence

The former Minister of Canada, The Honorable Paul Hellyer, discloses evidence of the UFO conspiracy being upheld by the United States government, despite numerous countries coming clean with their own previously top-secret case files.

Since the 1940’s cases have been kept secret, increasingly in the hands of the military industrial complex President Eisenhower warned about in his famous 1961 farewell address.

Minister Hellyer has interviewed multiple high-level officials on the subject and is calling for the US government to open up all secret files. In addition, he recognizes the forces that may be blocking disclosure— those benefiting financially, perhaps from the cover up of advanced technology gleaned from our documented interactions with crashed vehicles and actual visitors. Such technology includes “exotic fuels” that would curb humanity’s dependence on oil, and it’s effect, global warming.

Hellyer refers to a small group of financial elite that have stakes in secrecy. He calls them “the cabal”.

A parrallel issue Hellyer deems utterly important is the restructuring of the global economic system so that banks cannot loan out the same money 20 times, as they currently do under the fractional reserve system.

His final advice to the youth, as to what one might do in the face of such secrecy and control. He says it all starts with the individual. When one person thinks and acts in a manner they deem good, and treat others with equivalent respect, the entire spectrum is more likely to shift.

10 Amazing Facts About the American Government's Psychic Program

March 13, 2020

1. The American government used psychics in operations and experiments for over 20 years, with total funding of $20 million—eventually known as Project Stargate.

2. Starting in the 1970s, psychics were researched and trained at Stanford Research Institute (SRI).

3. Psychics produced detailed renderings of secret Soviet bases, the whereabouts of Red Brigade terrorism hostages in Italy, and the location of victims in the Israeli/Iran hostage crisis.

4. A media frenzy ensued when the Project Stargate was declassified in 1995 (Ted Koppel's Nightline, ABC, The Washington Post, The New York Times, etc.)

5. On ABC's Nightline, one of the operatives, Joe McMoneagle was put to the test by ABC anchor Ted Koppel. He proved the authenticity of remote viewing in front of millions.

6. In 1984 SRI psychic researchers organized successful 10,000-mile remote viewing experiments between Moscow and San Francisco with a famous Russian healer Djuna Davitashvili. Djuna successfully described where a colleague would be hiding in San Francisco, the experiment closely guarded by the USSR Academy of Sciences.

Drawing's (right) accurately illustrating a crane inside a Russian underground base from remote viewing psychics.

7. The project began in 1974 when psychics accurately described a secret Soviet weapons laboratory in the far reaches of Siberia. The trial was so accurate that a formal Congressional investigation was launched to determine if there had been a breach in National Security. There hadn't been.

8. Data from formal scientific Stanford Research Institute investigations over the course of 20 years were highly statistically significant—thousands of times greater than chance. The results were published in prestigious scientific journals—Nature, The Proceedings of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, and The Proceedings of the American Academy of Sciences.

9. In 2009 the Hollywood Film Men Who Stare at Goats—starringGeorge Clooney,Ewan McGregor, Jeff Bridges and Kevin Spacey—satirized the Stargate Project. Unfortunately the movie’s farcical nature served only to make a joke out of the program's research legacy spanning two decades.

10. In 1995 the Stargate Project was terminated, not because the psychic phenomenon didn’t exist—it was statistically verifiable. But the techniques were varied and results often vague. In the words of the final report “Though a statistically significant effect has been observed in the laboratory…we conclude that continued use of remote viewing in intelligence gathering operations is not warranted.” With drones who needs psychics?

For more information, see this Reality Sandwich article on Project Stargate, from which these points were based.

Bad Futurism - Materialist Geeks Want To Dominate Your Future

May 11, 2019

When we delve the depths of contemporary futurism, a dangerous dualism becomes apparent.

One group of futurists wants to manipulate your DNA, upload your brain to a computer, and live forever. The other group believes in harmony with nature and the preeminence of the human spirit (over domains such as technology). These two groups may someday engage in battle, intellectual or actual, for the future of humanity.

Futurism is a loose term. Many self-proclaim the title. The vague umbrella includes forward thinking scientists, engineers, science-fiction writers, mystic receivers of futuristic revelation, artists, filmmakers, and entrepreneurs.

Ironically, those "futurists" who claim to be the most rational, skeptic, and scientific may be the most dangerous.

In this article I'll explore—in a totally biased semi-fictional narrative—the dichotomous futuristic visions presented by materialist techno-optimists vs. the pioneers of spiritual science that are destined to win the battle.

How did we get here?

In the last century, science began to understand the true foundations of matter. Humans mined the quantum realm, presenting scientific theories that stirred the mystic's age-old fantasy of becoming one with everything. Our power to manipulate the physical world to our own ends reached its pinnacle. We've successfully engineered ecosystems (not always for the better), towering cities, global transportation and international commerce. We also create, on a different scale, with microchips and the processing power they make available. Indeed, when we conceive of technology now, we often think of software, the internet and its world of information.

The various data—personal, social, and commercial—accrues at a furious rate as processing power improves exponentially. Singularity is near.

Meanwhile, despite this exciting realm of pure information, the environment plunges deeper into crisis as our inoculated environmentalism falls deeper into one of those too-long naps it shouldn't have taken late mid-afternoon.

Our dual futurists have different visions of where this is all going.

Even our techno-optimist seeks an escape from the mountain of exterior knowledge he downloads daily, juggles, and regurgitates. However, he seeks his rapture not away from, but through, technology. He fantasizes about merging with the machine, uploading his mind onto a computer. He believes technology can and will solve everything.

This brand of futurist sees the quantum realm, but through Google goggles. Though he's read up on all the quantum physics discoveries of the last century, the information just doesn't quite settle in. The quantum fields smudge on his screen, becoming particles. He sees the world as physical chunks, not waves. It's easier that way.

Now that our pragmatist has found his particle, he can get back to what he really cares about—what he might build with it. Computers, microscopic video cameras, fast cars, speedboats, rocket ships; virtual reality video games, prescription methamphetamine for the modern businessman. Reality is starting to look like his techno-fantastic dreams.

As technology advances further, however, "reality" just isn't good enough anymore.

The everyday world is stale compared to the vastness of the imagination, stale even in comparison to the 3D gesture-sensing entertainment future-minded individuals prefer to consume.

Exploring ways to continually fix reality, active participation in one's own evolution becomes necessary. Possible solutions include DNA manipulation and cyborg add-ons.

But alas, this fellow has been polluting that which he sought to fix for quite a while now. Thus, we have no other choice but to label him the Bad Futurist.

His building block understanding of the world may be the only thing that needs fixing.

What if the building blocks are made of consciousness?

To this point, some dare not venture. Though quantum physics discoveries and a growing list of scientific experiments offer ample evidence of non-local consciousness—a non-material field from which human awareness finds its source—whole communities of supposedly forward-thinking individuals turn a blind eye to the facts. Our Bad Futurist is one of them.

But there is a utopian visionary with the bravery to embrace the implications of the quantum realm—the Good Futurist.

She's a cultural engineer, a visionary seeker who embraces technology, but also history, and our greatest heritage: Planet Earth. She sees nature as something technology should mimic, not fix. Furthermore, she questions the idea of progress, while recognizing those culturally and technologically advanced cultures of the past. Frankly, she finds our modern culture, economics, and politics to be savage in many ways.

This Good Futurist sees consciousness as the supreme technology.

She knows that an internet-like system has been available for aeons to those who venture to meditate and to learn the mechanics of consciousness-based healing. The human body, human mind, and human spirit make up the most advanced mobile device the world has ever seen. Current technologies, like b-day reminding iPhones and wifi, merely imitate the inherent technologies of the mind-body-spirit. Yes, I'm talking about psi phenomenon—telepathy, remote viewing, and the vastly altered states offered up by meditation, yoga, and dream practice.

The Bad Futurist seeks transcendental experiences too.

He seeks ever higher states of consciousness brought on by intellectual stimulation, entertainment, adventure, power, and maybe even drugs. He seeks virtual realities that will free him from the mundane body and stressful physical world. He attains weightlessness during trips to outer space that cost him $250,000.

Like his counterpart, he also sees his body and brain as technology—albeit hardware, not spiritual software. Accordingly, he seeks an upgrade.

The Bad Futurist soon finds himself chasing the ultimate prize, coveted by alchemist and bored billionaire alike. Immortality.

The spiritualist has an interest in immortality as well, but it's different. Evidence of reincarnation suggests immortality is already ours. Meditation makes the eternal realm more tangible in the here and now. In addition, the Good Futurist may live a perversely long and vigorous life due to a moderate diet and emotional well-being.

The alternate life-extension method is DNA manipulation and cyborg add-ons to the human body. As we look a little deeper, it becomes clear that extreme techno-optimists seek a prize more illusive than the modern health-conscious alchemist's—physical immortality.

If vampiric plans for physical immortality fail, there's plan B—uploading the human mind into the body of a robot avatar. Alternatively, we might hook ourselves up to a computer and mentally travel into a sphere of purely digital existence, like Tron or The Matrix. And let's not forget manipulation of the cellular atomic core to attain a state of pure electro-magnetic frequency. If we can manipulate the nuclear core of matter, we can, by all means, manipulate our body's matter to reach a higher state. (I once heard a futurist and professional media figure actually propose this.)

Meanwhile, the Good Futurist says, "I'm already there." And she got there without DNA manipulation, prescription drugs, or cyborg add-ons.

Whose Utopia?

To the Good Futurist, humanity's next step is a world of creativity, spiritual exploration, expanded consciousness, communal living, healthy ecosystems, fair and just economics, real-time democracy, and long life through natural means. With a dash of automation, rapid worldwide transportation, and tasteful gadgetry.

The alternate future entails continual domination of the biosphere, manipulation of natural systems and the human genome, science for profit (not the advancement of mankind), and manic states brought on by pharmaceutical drugs without bothering to recognize the tried and true power of consciousness. Oh, and vampire-like immortality, cyborg add-ons, and robot avatars. Sexy.

Whose future sounds more crazy?

Naturally, Buddha

May 22, 2017

*This article was inspired by David Grubin’s film The Buddha: The Story of Siddhartha. Available on Netflix.

AS A WESTERN GUY interested in global spiritual practices, the story of the buddha stands out as the archetypal quest for enlightenment, a flight from the world we all call ordinary.

But after hearing the story many times I’ve come to believe its not about escaping reality, it’s about re-entering the reality of nature, as opposed to that of our distracted modern mind.

The story of the buddha is not one of escaping the world, but escaping the manmade world—and mind—of modern civilization.

You may be thinking that the story of the buddha dates back to about 600 B.C.—how is that modern? Well, at that point the structure of modern agricultural civilization was fully erected, accompanied by a stratified society of haves and have-nots. The kings, warriors, and priests at the top; merchants, famers, and the untouchables—conquered peoples of foreign cultures who were effectively slaves—at the bottom. Siddhartha was, within in this structure, pretty well-off.

So here’s how the story goes…

Siddhartha is a prince, walled-off in his palace, enjoying all the pleasures of food, sex, and princely pampering.

However, he grows up and eventually sees the outside world and all its suffering. He sees old age, poverty, sickness. Viewing the life of the peasant is just too much for him. This triggers his desire to change.

It must be noted that this outside world of sickness is actually the shadow side of a system of hierarchy that Siddhartha enjoyed from the inside. As I mentioned, the caste system of India was intense in its day—with priests and warriors at the top of the pecking order. The rest were second class citizens. So in effect, Siddhartha is shocked by the world that his class has created in its subjugation of others.

Siddhartha then sets out on the very male path asceticism. He tries way too hard to escape the world he grew up in. That world is evil. The body is evil. Nature is evil. This path is emphasized by his renunciation of his wife and children, a renunciation of the feminine—a male march out the family to engage in spiritual battle. But he doesn’t win the battle. For years he tries and fails.

Emaciated and almost dead, Siddhartha is nourished by a passing maiden who gives him milk and rice. This symbolizes a return to the world and the feminine. Not a transcendence, or an escape.

It’s only then that Siddhartha finds enlightenment, sitting beneath the Bodhi tree. The symbolism couldn’t be any stronger. Like the Semitic Tree of Life or the aboriginal World Tree, the Bodhi tree shows us that enlightenment comes from a return to nature, seeing the connections of all things to one another like branches.

When final enlightenment comes, the Buddha points to the Earth. The earth itself is the one who will testify that he is worthy of the title “He Who Has Awakened”. The story ends here in the real world, on earth, in a recognition of the patterns of nature.

But again, twisted through the lens of traditional spirit and body dualism of both East and West, we tend to look at the story of enlightenment and nirvana as an escape from the world. It is not.

Perhaps Samsara—the Wheel of Return—is the endless return to the mind of violent civilization, and our resultant heightened sense of ego. Nirvana might have been here all along, waiting for us in the fields, gardens, and forests.

On the Set of Daniel Pinchbeck’s Gaia TV Show “Mind Shift”

May 22, 2017

Daniel Pinchbeck hosts a new show highlighting the cutting edge of the consciousness movement.

Guests include the likes of visionary artist Alex Grey, science and economics author Howard Bloom, and modern Jewish Buddhism expert Jay Michaelson, to name a few.

Conversations ensue about psychedelic influence on modern religion, creative subcultures infiltrating media, and alternative economics.

Artist Alex Grey talked about the return of what he calls Sacramental Religion, religion that dispenses divine experience through sacraments—namely, sacred psychedelic substances.

He says history’s greatest religions engaged in initiatory rites and most used psychedelics of some sort. Semitics ingested Syrian Rue, Egyptians evoked the eternal with Blue Lotus Flower, the Vedic Hindus sipped Soma.

Grey calls the return of sacramental religion the real “Second Coming”. He points to the sprouting of Ayahuasca churches whose psychedelic use is legally protected under American religious freedom laws. One such organization, the Santo Daime church, mixes psychedelics, native Brazilian beliefs, and Catholicism.

Grey says a vein runs through all visionary religion. Creativity. He even goes so far as to say art is the religion of the future, the exchange of cultural knowledge and media fostering communication and spiritual innovation.

What happens when a traditional religion like Islam meets psychedelics?

Michael Muhammed Knight, author of Tripping with Allah, answers the question. He details a lurid psychedelic visitation with the naked Fatimah, daughter of Muhammed. Knight sought the feminine within what is generally a male-dominant religion and got what he wished for when he took Ayuasca. Fatimah’s apparition told Knight, “The Koran is for the boys,” and insisted that her body was the door to the mosque. He proceeded to enter.

Knight describes walking into a traditional mosque the day after the experience, doing the all the usual things, but with a new expanded understanding of his religion. Author Jay Michaelson emphasizes that more people are meditating today in America than in any other time or place in history.

1 million new people try meditation each year. Michaelson is enthusiastic about the implications. He says healthcare will be hugely affected, the results “econometric” as healthcare costs decrease by billions.

Michaelson who has studied Jewish mysticism, history, and Buddhism looks at the practice of meditation as technology. But he admits such technology can be used for good or for bad, using the example of the meditating warrior whose extreme skills of focus are used to kill. He also points out that Goldman Sachs hires Meditation Consultants, potentially using the eastern philosophy of non-attachment to engage in immoral activity while maintaining a calm state of mind.

Michaelson defines a new generation of meditators who tend to hold down regular jobs, have a sense of social responsibility and lack the self-centered spirituality of their predecessors. Narcissistic spiritual practice is a Baby Boomer thing, he says.

Unfortunately, we had to roll out before Howard Bloom spoke; he was the PR guy for Michael Jackson and Prince back in the day.

Now Bloom writes prolific books that explore the bridge between science, the human spirit, and economics like The Genius of the Beast and his latest work, The God Problem. Can’t wait to see that episode.

The series still airs on Gaia TV with guests like Russel Brand.

CULTIVATING THE ARTIST’S VISION

May 22, 2017

Meditation is a great tool for artists.

Altered states have been central to the experience and creation of art since we started painting in caves thousands of years ago. You might say that it’s the artist’s task to document heightened perceptions and share them with the world—perhaps, in turn, altering the audiences worldview. Various substances have been used to attain such states, but they aren’t necessary.

Here’s one small step towards a shift in consciousness that may inspire your own artistic practice.

Practice Open Eye Meditation.

Start by staring at an object in the room or a single point on a wall. Focus inside the lines of the object, or intensely at one point.

Now keep your eyes on the object but be aware of the space around it. Don’t move your eyes, but look at the whole room.

Then go back to only being aware of the object. Then the room. Object. Room. Object. Room.

Eventually you’ll develop a heightened form of vision that uses more of your peripheral vision, a relaxed focus, and an awareness of the interconnectedness of all elements in your environment. Including you.

Don’t close your eyes, or a weird old guy could creep up on you.“Meditation #2 " by  Geoffrey Chandler — Don’t close your eyes, or a weird old guy could creep up on you.
“Meditation #2 " by Geoffrey Chandler

Smells Like Hipster Spirit

May 22, 2017

IS THE NEW HIPSTER SPIRITUAL?

Yes. Here’s why. The many subcultures the latest incarnation of hipster emulates and imitates—only aesthetically—have deep roots in various forms of radical spirituality.

In order to prove the point, let’s define what a hipster is. And more importantly, what spirituality is.

“Hipster” as a term that may be on its way out. It describes the indie aesthetic and taste preference. Eventually, underground cultures and aesthetics make their way into the mainstream. This may have already happened for all things hipster.

Let me break down the hipster into two subsets. One is materialistic, dressing the part and partaking in the general aesthetic—the lame wanna be. The other type is actually the real influencer.

Oh yeah, spirituality… just read this wikipedia definition if you don’t know what it is.

THE ARTSTER

An artster is a creator. They set the trends that others end up emulating, often years down the line. A fundamental assumption is that Artsters influence hipsters as a whole. Then generic hipsters influence what has become a visible component of mainstream media and culture.

As creators, the Artsters take at least some of their inspiration from intellectual, art, and cultural movements of the past.

Pyramid in Space. by Nick Nelson

MODERN HIPSTER LINEAGE

Hipster (Original)

Also known as a Hepcat, this particular 1940’s subculture member was an aficionado of Jazz and Bebop. Many etymologists believe that the terms hip, hep and hepcat derive from the west African Wolof language word hepicat, which means “one who has his eyes open”.

Their style of dress was that of the jazz musician. They enjoyed the use of recreational drugs and cannabis while emphasizing self-imposed poverty. Open sexuality, relaxed attitudes, and sarcastic humor prevailed. This culture was experienced and documented by Jack Kerouac and Alan Ginsberg. This movement can be characterized as spiritual in that its participants sought personal and moral freedom and the experience of transcendence through music.

The Beats

The Beat culture was a post-World War II generation of poets, artists, and experimenters. They rejected materialism, expressed interest in Eastern religion, and dabbled in alternate lifestyles fueled by drugs and free sexuality. These were the forerunners of the later hippies.

The cultural effects of this single movement, along with the hippies, can be traced in civil rights, anti-censorship, anti-war, new spirituality, freer attitudes toward drugs, rock and roll, and ecological consciousness.

The Hippies

The name itself is derived from Hipster, a term that was also used to describe the Beats. Hippies took the beat ethic of experimentation and intellectual rebellion even further by creating a whole breakaway culture. They lived communally and fully embodied the ideals of the beats.They were instrumental in civil rights, protesting the Vietnam war, and psychedelic rock that hit the mainstream. Eastern spiritual influence, Western pagan revival, and a shared perception of a spiritual renaissance were evident.

Surfers (& Skaters)

I’ll group these two together, since the first skaters were surfers, entertaining themselves when the waves were crap. The surfers were influential even before the 60’s cultural revolution. They guided the West Coast evolution of the hippies. To be a surfer was to skip work whenever the surf was up, live like a nomad, and get high on sea, sky, and sun.

Punks

This was birthed by, and also a response to, the hippie movement and the later commercialization of it. As what was hippie became mainstream, the punks revolted with a retro-trash aesthetic and simple raw style of music that despised musical virtuosity. Though not overtly spiritual, the spirit of rebellion, tribalism, and nihilism exhibited by the punks remains inspirational to cultural rebels today.

Grunge

Another obvious suburban youth movement evolved after punk became a cliche. As a counterpart to primarily urban punk rock, it evokes a back to nature, or at least back to the suburbs sentiment, and stands as our definitive 90’s dropout archetype. Spiritual? Ask Kurt.

Indie Kids

The parent of the modern hipster, the indie kid with the ironic T-shirt and trucker hat, and a lame piercing or two was aware that mainstream society was kinda lame. She or he probably studied liberal arts before the economic downturn of 2008. They were thus afforded a sense of classlessness through knowledge and lifestyle choice, “but able to use college-taught skills of classification, collection and appreciation to generate a superior body of cultural "cool.” Not innately spiritual, but creatively inclined and well educated, which is a good start.

What’s next? The Spiritual Hipster.

The hipster is the evolution of the above movements. It mimics all that was Beat, Hippie, Punk, Indie, and Grunge, but dabbles in mainstream culture and pop cheesiness. It also appropriates the aesthetic of “every unmelted ethnicity”, pointing to an unconscious affinity for lineages of art and patterns from our collective indigenous past.

Haters have said that the hipster discards the philosophies of the subcultures they mimic. But do they? Maybe mashup styles combined with education and artistic curiosity eventually blossom into real culture.

This hypothesized cultural archetype, Spiritual Hipster, seems to be manifesting in a new generation of shamanic cool kids. They believe in astrology, love crystals, talk to plants. They’ve gone to a psychic before, do yoga, and meditate regularly. They may have participated in an illegal Ayahuasca ceremony. They’re obsessed with health and are most likely vegetarian, perhaps indulging a grass-fed steak once in a while.

Overall, it's clear that the classic hipster makes the historical counterculture ideals and lifestyle digestible to the mainstream. Some claim that only the surface elements, and not the essence, of the imitated movements are transmitted by such popular poseurs. We hope the Spiritual Hipster will prove otherwise.

Since a version of the hipster aesthetic has already gone globally mainstream, it seems likely the spiritual hipster, what some are calling the Silverlake Shaman, may be priming us for a global renaissance of a less material kind.

Note - This Article Predicted The Movement Described Later In Articles Like This.

Cultivate Permanence- The Relatively Unknown Benefits of Permaculture

May 8, 2017

Artist: Robert Johnson - Signs Of Autumn

Permaculture is the practice of cultivating multiple crops in a given area with care and attention paid to the natural ecosystem, crop rotation, and the maximum longevity of the land.

Permaculture’s Core Tenants are: Care of the Land- No healthy land, no healthy humans; Care of the People- All people get access to the resources of the community; Return of Surplus- Reinvesting the derived goods into land and people while recycling all waste products in an intact sustainable system.

What it’s not: Monoculture

Monoculture is the opposite of permaculture. A single cash crop is grown on vast amounts of land. Through expensive water infrastructure, pesticides, and other technologies, cost is cut to a minimum.

But the efficiency of monoculture is not due to higher yields, but cuts in labor costs.

Monoculture doesn’t produce higher yields than permaculture. In fact, yields have been shown to be lower.

Charles Eisenstein, author of Sacred Economics, says in the article linked above, “Conventional agriculture doesn’t seek to maximize yield per acre; it seeks to maximize yield per unit of labor.”

Eisenstein cites the work of David Blume who achieved organic yields eight times what the Department of Agriculture said was possible.

In a time when unemployment is a global issue should we be encouraging technologies that are inefficient, detrimental to ecosystems, and also kill jobs?

Here in America, a shift to permaculture would mean a significant “Back to the Land” movement, as only 10% of the population is actively growing food. But in other countries people are just now being forced out of traditionally agricultural lifestyles

Part of the global unemployment crisis is related to global trade, exportation of cash-crops, and the influence of new agricultural technologies. Large corporations buy up land and push out smaller farmers who use traditional methods. People are forced into cities where they compete with each other for limited jobs. The result are large slums we see surrounding all “developing” global cities, the home of those who can’t compete and adjust to city life.

The Downside is an Upside

The fact that permaculture necessitates more labor is actually a positive in a time when millions of people are out of work. Permaculture work programs would invigorate the economy and strengthen communities.

Follow-up studies of Chinese areas that have implemented permaculture tactics to reinvigorate decimated land, confirm that incomes increase three fold as a result.

Imagine new rural developments, with housing surrounding farms that feed both local and nearby urban populations.

The communities might be so environmentally and socially efficient that they actually encourage migration out of overcrowded cities.

But a few industries are bound to be disrupted.

One can assume these industries have a stake in keeping permaculture from catching on. Energy companies, the oil industry in particular, the makers of pesticides and herbicides, and of course big agriculture companies all benefit from the “efficient” labor-free systems now in place.

Profits are up, but so is unemployment, while growth is down. We need to put two and two together, then make the shift to a system with higher yields and positive economic and social impact.

If we want to lasting place on this planet, permaculture offers a solution.

Permaculture’s Benefits

Restoration of ecosystems, effectively reversing the causes of global warming.
Increased yields.
Soil longevity.
Independence from chemical fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides.
Averting the dangers of genetically modified organisms (GMO’s) both for human health and compromising of heirloom genetic strains.

White Indians of the Canary Islands, the Last Stone-Age Europeans

May 8, 2017

Prior to its conquest by the Spanish in 1402, the Canary Islands were home to a post-Neolithic culture living in a manner similar to Native Americans.

The only other late European culture living indigenous-style is the Sami—the reindeer herding, fishing, and hunting hut-dwellers of what is now northern Sweden, Norway, and Finland.

Known as the “Guanches”, the Canary Island natives lived a proper Stone-Age life, having migrated to the islands around 1000 BC. They wore animal skins, using spears and chiseled stone tools in their daily work. They worshiped nature deities, practicing their religion under what they considered sacred trees.

The Guanches were considered “Indians” by Christopher Columbus and the Spanish, as it was thought that the Canaries were the East Indies and the Caribbean Islands the West Indies.

The Guanches also developed a whistling language to communicate over long distances and mountains that Canary Islanders still know and use today. It’s considered a phonetic language, unintelligible to most, but containing rhythms and tone complexes that represent actual words.

It turns out the Canary Islanders may have a genetic link to the Berbers, light-skinned inhabitants of northern and Mediterranean Africa. Full circle— the Sami of Scandinavia have Berber blood too. Recent DNA analysis shows a link originating around 9,000 years ago.

But with their lack of technology and pre-conquest life style during the Middle Ages, the Guanches qualify as the last Stone-Age white culture on earth.

For more information on the Guanches:

Check out Gordon Kennedy’s book The White Indians of Nivara, The Untold Story of the Last Stone-Age Indo Europeans Tribes at his site WhiteIndians.com

The Biological Roots of Demonization

May 8, 2017

When hatred rears its ugly head, anyone can be demonized.

Of course, we’re all guilty of demonizing others in one way or another. Some blame the over-copulating poor, as I’ve heard an otherwise well-intentioned person do at a recent cocktail party—ironically, they came from a historically persecuted culture themselves. Others point the finger at the elite. Islam, socialism, and capitalism are other common objects of demonization.

Is hatred instinctual?

Studies show that it may be, but that it can be transcended by the more recently evolved centers of the brain. The illusion of separation is rooted in the more primitive parts of the brain, or the reptilian brain. I’m not talking about the reptilian overlords, I’m talking about the limbic brain. It decides when we should fight or flee. The more recently evolved brain components, namely the neocortex, have the ability to bypass the primal instincts of fear that lead to hatred.

One basic, but very effective, illustration is provided by experiments in which black people were shown images of white people, and vice versa.

Without exception participants initially reacted in fear and tension as reflected in polygraph measurements. But if both white and black people were shown images of a situation that went against expectations, the frontal cortex bypassed the fearful response of the reptilian (limbic) brain with feelings of trust. One such image was that of a black doctor treating a white patient.

In turn, we need to re-envision our relationship to the other if we are to create a better world. But that takes effort, openness and the willingness to think differently.

The problem of demonization has roots in our biological history.

Back in the day, humans organized in tribal units that functioned much as a pack of wolves might, viewing the tribe as self and any outsiders as other. This is reflected in the fact that almost any culture’s translation of their tribal name means “The People”. Other tribes were often viewed as non-human. Our tendency to fear cultures different than ours is rooted in ancient times when different species and cultures did indeed represent a threat that warranted a fight-or-flight response.

We can do better.

Using the more highly evolved centers of the brain can bypass these primitive instincts, or at least manage them. Logic and even compassion are qualities associated with the neocortex, and indeed, brain scans of meditators reveal active frontal lobes with mediating connections to the primitive limbic brain. However, when the limbic brain is activated by a flight or flight response, most often experienced by modern folks as stress, anger, or nervous paralysis, it is cut off from the neocortex.

When you fear, hate, and demonize others you become isolated from logic and compassion. Likewise, when you meditate, use logic, and make an effort to think differently you activate the “new brain” and mediate your instincts and, most likely, make things a little more enjoyable.

Tech Spotlight: The Future Looks Like the Sixties in this Vogue Shoot Featuring Google Glass

May 8, 2017

Google Glass is heralded as one of the hottest technologies to come out of Google for a while. Basically its a pair of glasses that also acts as a viewing screen displaying information normally available on a mobile device.

Google Glass will most likely offer up information about the user’s direct environment, stores with products the user might like and wikipedia information about specific landmarks and locations.

There are a few reasons why I think Google Glass will fail, especially for males.

Nobody is a good multitasker. Men in particular have a problem lending attention to multiple tasks and sources of information input. Google Glass will lead to a massive amount car accidents if used while driving. (That is of course, unless they are in a self-driving Google Car, but that’s another story.)

Can you imagine talking to someone at a party wearing Google Glass? They’d nod, “Uh-huh, yeah…” all the while they’re checking their Fantasy Football scores online.

Now let’s get to the way they look. Wearing Google Glass is like wearing one of those wireless earsets—you know, the Star Trek style that were popular for a while. It doesn’t look cool.

The only way to pull it off is to totally futurize your entire outfit. The result might be something like this Vogue shoot.

Which brings us to an even deeper issue— why does the future look like the 60’s?

Maybe our visions of futurism and technological utopia haven’t really advanced much since then.

Scientists Discover The Tree of Life is REAL!

May 8, 2017

**Nature. Nature is you. Get in touch with yourself. Send you a postcard. Better yet, get some real face-time.**

When we reconnect with our biological ecosystem—our environment—we also reconnect with our spirit. It may seem that nature is merely the physical world around us, the world ruled by physical law and materiality. However, nature is everything—from the wave to the particle, from the subtle energy of the universe to we what we know as the “real” material world.

When I think of the word “nature”, what often comes to mind are the science and nature TV shows I grew up with as a child. So it’s through this filter that I often conflate nature and the world of biological science. This must a be common experience. But when I am out in nature myself, I feel I’m connected to a being greater than myself, a far cry from acting as an objective observer. When I look at the ocean, I feel the ocean is alive. When I look at the stars, I feel the particular celestial collective I’m gazing upon is gazing back, communicating to me through light. When I’m in a forest I feel the trees, the rocks, and the earth are all supporting me and embracing me.

They say that John Muir was often found a walking through the great Yosemite park talking to trees, and furthermore, listening to them.

That offers up a great point… to communicate to nature, you don’t need to talk to it—although, you can do that if you’re alone, or simply don’t give a sh-t. Listening to nature is probably the best way to communicate to nature.

Now, the biological structure of nature is beautiful.

The vast array of chemical interactions, microscopic compounds orchestrating themselves into broader hierarchies of mineral, plant, animal, and finally ecosystem, is nothing short of a miracle. But there is another aspect of nature that includes all of that, but also includes the more subtle realities—those that ancient cultures named spirit, but that modern physics also validates.

There is a pattern in nature, and also in the mind, and in the body, and in the spirit.

That pattern might be called the “nature of reality”. That pattern can be seen by those spiritual adepts who have trained in meditation, attaining what might be called clairvoyance. For others the pattern can be felt, perceived when you feel at one with nature, and also literally seen in the twisting surface of the natural world. The organic-feeling, yet subtle and energetic, pattern has been called many things. It has been called the Tao, the Merkaba, the World Tree, and also the Tree of Life. The references many world religions and myths make to a sort of cosmic tree, which is entangled in the material world, but also has its roots in the spiritual realms, illustrate the kind of awareness I’m talking about—a sort of unifying, organic-feeling, spiritual awareness.

An organic pattern of light is often perceived by meditators, and entheogenic participants.

In fact, there is a scientific term for the light perceived when none enters the eye—phosphene. The easiest way to induce phosphenes is by rubbing the eyes, but the resulting perception is crude. Meditators may experience a more stabilized, or crystalized, perception of what might be a phosphene field, a source of perceivable energy beyond physical light. The award winning scholar and professor of Cognitive Archaeology, Dr. David Lewis-Williams believes phosphene perception—perhaps enhanced by psychoactive plants—influenced the cave art of Paleolithic peoples. His books include The Mind in the Cave: Consciousness and the Origins of Art.

Perhaps this type of awareness is what modern physics concepts such as String Theory are hinting at as well.

Maybe we can think of these strings—which represent multiple dimensions crisscrossing the realms of both matter and immaterial energy—rather, as branches. We can think of these strings as leaves, roots, or even cosmic neurons. Overall, what we see is that nature is a unified whole. We also see that nature is has its roots in an immaterial world of energy—this is what modern physics tells us is true.

So it isn’t, as the more shallow new age philosophers try to tell us, that this world is an illusion.

It is the divisions we create, with our judgment and perception of the world, that are the illusion. There is a greater whole, there is a larger pattern, and in perceiving it, we realize that we are utterly connected, indeed one, with nature and everything that exists. When I reconnect with nature, when I’m out in nature—near the ocean, or in a park, or hiking in the hills—I can feel that. I can also see it. Therefore I believe it, connecting to nature is one of the best ways to connect to your spiritual nature.

Futurism, Material or Spiritual? Jason Silva and Daniel Pinchbeck Approach Singularity

May 8, 2017

WHAT IS SINGULARITY?

Futurists theorize that rapidly accelerating advances in human technology, merging with the powers of human consciousness, will send us into an unimaginable world of super-intelligence. That’s singularity.

But two camps are watching the evolutionary convergence with different core assumptions. At a recent Evolver event at Tammany Hall in New York City Daniel Pinchbeck and Jason Silva engaged in a lively conversation about singularity. They agreed that we humans are in for some amazing leaps in technology and consciousness, but they inevitably highlighted how different their visons actually are.

Daniel Pinchbeck is the author of Breaking Open the Head and Quetzalquatl 2012. Pinchbeck has a spiritual perspective and a futurist’s vision guided by philosophy and traditional spiritual practices like shamanism. He’s one of the founders of web magazine Reality Sandwich, and its complementary social network Evolver.

Jason Silva, formerly at Al Gore’s Current TV, now hosts National Geographic show Brain Games. He’s a new media artist who creates inspirational, and very viral, videos that highlight the convergence of human evolution and rapidly advancing technology. I first saw one of his inspirational video performances as part of a TED talk. Silva’s brand of futurism is positive about where humans are headed, giving occasional shout-outs to genetic engineering, and maintaining the faith that technology can solve technology.

I’ll come right out and say I align more with Pinchbeck’s spiritual perspective, yet I appreciate the exploratory spunk of the more mainstream—and apparently materialist—Silva. Pinchbeck has studied spiritual practices of global cultures and visited with traditional shamans and healers worldwide. He has occult interests but is pragmatic, mainly looking for systems that can really work for people today.

Silva shared one of his major influences, Ernest Becker’s The Denial of Death, a book that appears in Woody Allen’s film Annie Hall, when the death-obsessed character Alvy Singer gives it to his girlfriend as a gift. Becker’s book postulates that most human endeavors, and civilization itself, are attempts to create systems that transcend death, fueled by the concept of heroism. Such attempts are called immortality projects, religions a perfect example.

According to Becker, many of the world’s problems and conflicts derive from competing immortality projects—competing philosophies, religions, world views, or national pursuits of conquest. Problematically, in the Age of Reason, traditional religion is no longer satisfactory immortality project. We don’t buy it anymore. Silva portrayed The Denial of Death as an affirmation of the materialist perspective, which I’m not sure it is.

Ironically, Silva’s own theories of convergence appear as a sort of exterior hero-system where technology and evolution save humanity, while Pinchbeck’s “immortality project” is much more internal.

Pinchbeck discussed reincarnation and the cosmology of the 19th-century spiritualist Rudolph Steiner. While he got into the most occult aspects of Steiner’s admittedly strange philosophy, a young guy passed out behind me, distracting the crowd with his own—probably alcohol induced—out of body experience.

In response to Silva’s inference that technology may one day facilitate a sort of physical immortality, Pinchbeck expressed disturbance at the desire for carnal extension so many imaginative materialists display.

Pinchbeck asked the crowd, “How many people want to be (physically) immortal.” About ten raised their hands.

“How many people think they’re already (spiritually) immortal?” he asked. About the same amount raised their hands.

“I wish I could believe I was immortal,” Jason Silva said, blushing a bit in recognition that there were two different camps—materialist and spiritually inclined—in the room.

The discussion culminated when Jason Silva proposed a future reality as weird as any religious mythology. In response to an audience member’s question about raising consciousness with technology, Silva described a world where technology controls atoms, altering their state from particle to wave phase. Applying the technology to our own atoms, we would disconnected from our current version of reality, our minds melding with technology as we “enter the matrix”. Silva’s visionary climax portrayed the materialist’s version of enlightenment. He described total technological manipulation of physical matter leading the to an almost-spiritual reality.

As wild as Silva’s postulated world of techno-enlightenment was, Pinchbeck assured us it wasn’t that out there. “Sounds like some of my Ayuasca experiences,” he said.

In affirmation, an audience member opined that we have had the ability to experience such “virtual realities” for centuries—within Hindu, Buddhist, and traditional shamanic practices.

Silva’s vision of reality is beautiful. He sees the grand orchestra of stars and planets. He sees humans as instruments of an amazing process of evolution. Unfortunately, as magical as the world looks to him, it has no soul.

Jason Silva’s enthusiasm was a great balance to Daniel Pinchbeck’s curmudgeonly presence, symptomatic of a misunderstood mystic. Silva’s youthful rapture is charming and contagious. However his vision is decidedly exterior, all yang and no yin. No matter how small the particle, how micro the understanding, how exponential the processing power, how accelerated the human evolution— it’s all exterior.

But it seems the two sides of this (perhaps unintended) debate are headed straight towards each other. Indeed, enthusiastic materialists and matter of fact spiritualists might have something to learn from each other…as they battle for control of the future universe!

http://www.surfingforlife.com/history.html

Origins of The Soul Surfer

May 8, 2017

What is the Soul Surfer?

First coined in the 1960s, it denotes a surfer with an apparent ability to merge with the wave. They surf for sheer joy, revering the ocean and living a simple life.

All who look upon the Soul Surfer’s sweet style are healed. He or she may not be the most radical shredder, but all are moved and influenced by their somatic expressions.

The concept can be applied to various other arts where the practitioner is recognized for having that “something special”. Even a marathon runner can be a Soul Runner if form and spirit are emphasized.

But surfing is special. It has overtly spiritual roots.

All surfers would be Soul Surfers had the original Hawaiian tradition been passed on intact. Alas, the X-treme! sportsman flaunts a grotesque mutation of the founding spirit.

The kahuna’s of Hawaii used surfing as a religious tool, paddling out to honor the god Lono and others, expressing gratitude, and demonstrating spiritual power through extraordinary feats.

The kahunas were shamans, wizards, and experts of art and healing. They chanted spells to christen new surfboards, beckon swells, and invoke courage.

Ancient Hawaii was ruled by a code, kapu—denoting sacred, holy, marked-off or forbidden. Kapu regulated eating, cultivation of food crops, weather prediction, surfboard building, surf conditions prediction, and even surf condition manipulation through calling on the gods. If there were no waves, you made them—with a little divine assistance.

Indeed surfing was called The Sport of Kings, as chiefs were the ones riding the biggest waves. There were certain reefs and breaks “marked-off” for royalty, while others were for the people. If by chance your were surfing near those of royal blood, it was the gravest of offenses to drop in on them. (For non-surfers that means catching a wave that someone else is already riding, a real no-no to this day.)

Commoners had boards that were about 12 feet long, while those of chiefs and royalty were often up to 24 feet. (Size mattered, as did the motion in the ocean.)

Colonization brought a gradual end the kapu system. By the 1800's Calvinist missionaries were insisting that the Hawaiians wear restrictive clothing, go to western schools, and get serious. Surfing was discouraged, although missionaries claimed that native Hawaiians simply lost interest in it after living modest Christian lives. Bullshit!

James D. Houston and Ben Finney writes in Surfing: A History of the Ancient Hawaiian Sport:

“For surfing, the abolition of the traditional religion signaled the end of surfing’s sacred aspects. With surf chants, board construction rites, sports gods and other sacred elements removed, the once ornate sport of surfing was stripped of much of its cultural plumage.”

But the Soul Surfer carries the almost extinguished torch towards the horizon, reminding us what all surfers could be, or already are—wave-riding wizards, killer kahunas, gnarly nobles, and shredding shamans.

Resources:

From Polynesia With Love
The History of Surfing From Captain Cook to the Present
By Ben Marcus