online spirituality

More and more we are connecting with each other online; in my case through Facebook and Twitter. While text may seem like a limiting medium to some and “being online” an unnatural use of time and energy; those of us who have immersed ourselves in our online connectivity and use it to grow our face-to-face relationships as well as new ones born on the net so to speak, can attest to the depth and heights, even the transcendence of these interactions.

On my path, I simply walk with people who will walk with me. We end up sharing a few things in common – among them being somehow different from mainstream people, with a strong sense of vision or purpose that empowers us. In the next little while I will post some of these conversations, not only as witness of the spiritual possibilities of online communication, but also as an invitation to join in with us on our paths of transformation, lurking on the fringes of our discussion, or even joining in.

So here’s a long excerpt from a conversation P (other side of the world) and I (in Ottawa) had a week or so ago: I have not edited out the normal “grunge” of online chat so that you may savour the authentic flavour of this repast. Do note that there is perhaps a 30 second delay between sending and receiving, and so sometimes you see us responding to statements after a few comments of our own.

enjoy!:

in 20 or 30 years, when you're sitting in your rocking chair and perhaps playing golf regularly you will remember these times with great pleasure, having lots of stories to tell your grand children

this is the time of your life to really make things happen

8:24amP

yes...true! I am experiencing them now with great pleasure too!

yes..

I agree!

totally!

to me the best years I have had..so far.

8:24amDaniel

:)

8:25amP

the first bit was just preparation.

but for what?

8:25amDaniel

that's right

8:25amP

well I know now!

or at least better.

8:25amDaniel

you're already in the middle of it P

8:25amP

just had to keep my path going and inthe right direction

yes...

8:25amDaniel

and it's not the plan or the horizon that matters but the way you walk and handle things day to day - that's where it all happens

yup

8:26amP

glad I had the courage and encouragement to do it.

yes..makes sense...

being present, aware.

8:26amDaniel

those of in that magical mix, around and through whom things happen - that's how it is

8:26amP

yes...magical is a word for sure!

And the coincidences just keep on happening...

8:26amDaniel

so is presence and awareness!! :o))

8:26amP

yes!

8:27amDaniel

start calling them synchronicities or even better - God-incidences! :o))

8:27amP

now the coincidences are more influenced by my wishes..

as long as they are genuine and not self focussed.

can't spell that word.

8:27amDaniel

GOT IT

8:27amP

the C word I can.

8:28amDaniel

you can spell God-incidences or at least "meaningful coincidences"

8:28amPeter

ok or coincidences for short...

lol

8:28amDaniel

when you say God - you know that doesn't mean you're buying all the religious stuff that comes with the word

LoL

8:28amP

Did I say God?

8:28amDaniel

what else do we call "the one in whom we live and move and have our being"

8:28amP

I thought that was you!

8:29amDaniel

yes - I'm encouraging you to use the word my friend! :o))

not that it matters at all

8:29amP

hmmm...I believe in a sense in a God, but not a being though.

no, I am just teasing.

I do use it..

8:29amDaniel

LoL

8:29amP

or my preferred word...Allah.

8:29amDaniel

yes Allah is great!! in many ways

8:30amP

I think my way of viwing thhe world is more pagan like

8:30amDaniel

over a beer sometime I'll have the Jesus/Abba discussion with you

8:30amP

not that i understand it that well..just rings truer to me.

8:30amDaniel

did you know that Jesus did not come to start a religion?

8:30amP

Abba...yeah they are great!

8:30amDaniel

LoL

what he taught is potentially transformative within any religion

8:31amP

He was setting up a store or somethign right?

8:31amDaniel

anyhow - nuff of htat

8:31amP

carpenter?

can\t remember..

8:31amDaniel

I like your sense of humour

8:31amP

why did he first come? interested.

8:31amDaniel

He was a guy like us

8:31amP

thx

not everyone does!

especially the brits over here.

8:32amDaniel

someone who knew he was "special" and something was planned for him

8:32amP

hmmmm...this feels familiar!

8:32amDaniel

was so close to "the one in whom we live and move and have our being" that he told his followers to call God "Abba" which in Aramaic means "Dadda"

he walked around like an infant holding the creator's hand

absolute trust, total enjoyment

8:33amP

did he have curly brown hair and a beard?

8:33amDaniel

but as one called he "got up the noses" of the religious establishment

ha ha ha

looked more like your Arab buddies wise guy!!

should I continue?

8:33amP

yes.

keep going..the humour are memory jogs for the future for me..sorry!

8:34amDaniel

you see us humans don't deal very well with people who have direct experience of "the divine"

don't apologize! :o))

8:34amP

ok...take it back.

8:35amDaniel

so we create religion - rules, rituals, ways of reassuring ourself that we are clsoe to God - but without necessarily providing the direct experience

ironically we are immersed in God but oblivious to that fact

trained to understand a world without the spiritual dimension

8:35amP

this makes sense to me

8:36amDaniel

bascially improverished, hungry - as Augustine said - we have a God-sized hole in our heart

8:36amP

yes, a focus on what our senses show us...the forms shapes and sounds, the physical world.

8:36amDaniel

anyhow - realization or enlightenment for Eastern Masters is much the same experience as waking up and realiizing we are chidlren of God - specially called - full of charisms and grace if only we knew it

but most people don't

so they trudge along worrying about what other people think and trying to satisfy themselves with possessions, etc.

only a few people, people like you and I, get it, or may get it

the rest don't

so . . . what are you thinking?

8:38amP

hmmmm...why do you say I get it?

8:38amDaniel

it's about direct experience of who you actually are as one connected to that which is more than you are

8:38amP

I am thinking actually, that this all makes sense...I am also thinking about

8:38amDaniel

when you start acting like that, making decision like that - then you're one of the special ones

8:39amP

ego, individuality and the pursuit of both...

how this denial of innerconnectivity takes over our actions and conscious thoughts...

8:39amDaniel

uh-huh

8:40amP

when we are "born" it seems to me we have to work very hard to figure out who we are and capable of just to survive,

8:40amDaniel

yes

working with the tools at hand

8:40am

this naturally means we need space froom the others around us to do this.

problem is this becomes our goals...

we get stuck there.

always thinking of self...how we differ from others.

8:41amDaniel

if you were to study human perception - you see that we "see" selectively

8:41amP

and how the material world successes enables us to display those differeinces.

our clothes, etc.

yes..makes sense...

8:41amDaniel

right - in a false image, a false construct

so selective seeing means that we ignore aspects of our experience that would connect us deeply within - or to the One

8:41amP

just as the "coincidences" or those other words, I believe we may selectively notice.

8:42amDaniel

and instead stay trapped like rats running on a wheel

God is always inviting us to the greater reality

8:42amP

yes....there is a lot of fear!

8:42amDaniel

something inside is always yearning for it

8:42amP

lot of ego to protect us from our fears.

8:42amDaniel

absolutely fear keeps us trapped!!

8:42amP

yes...I understand.

the world is moving so fast, hard to find a place for many to slow down to see this.

8:43amDaniel

your "self" has been expanding for some time now

8:43amP

also, easier to do surronded by nature.

8:44amDaniel

the constructed world is built to distract, entertain and comfort so that we never get to what really matters

8:44amP

I am very conscious of ego, labels, and things.

8:44amDaniel

uh-huh

8:44amP

yes, it has become more than just for survival...

the material things, a total preoccupation, how our shopping malls are the new religioin.

but how unsatisfying it is...

8:45amDaniel

and sports stadiums, movie theatres

8:45amP

we have to go back and back to fill tha yearning

8:45amDaniel

absolutely - we are being anethsetized

8:45amP

yes...but the difference for me of sports stadiums is the collective energy one feels

it can be incredible.

8:45amDaniel

have to risk, have to surrender

8:45amP

whenn we speak and feel as one.

yes...how to do this is the challenge!

and at the root of all ths must be love.

8:46amDaniel

true - it does open our potential to us - but in a way that ultimately misses what matters

8:46amP

without it..ain't gonna work.

not lust, not the crazy hand wringing love...

not the sleepless type

but true love.

8:46amDaniel

yes in greek the word is agape - which means unconditional love

as opposed to eros or filia

8:47amP

okay..

yes, unconditional very important concept!

Yes...okay..

8:47amDaniel

when you simply want the best for the other person, for other people, without the What's in it for me factor (WIFM) - that is unconditional love

8:48amP

joy is another key state

yes...

8:48amDaniel

ecstacy even!!

8:48amP

yes..I agree with you!

Okay....so starting to see why you said you and I...

have or are awakening.

8:48amDaniel

at the core of our being, when we are in flow, ecstacy, unconditional love, contentment or peace are our natural feelings

8:49amP

hmmm..makes sense...

have felt that state a lot since coming here to Oman.

8:49amDaniel

yes, I know

8:49amP

I never feel lonely, even though no family here.

8:49amDaniel

I'm very happy for you . . .

it was like that for me in Ghana as well

8:49amP

I live alone, and spend many days that way....still not lonely.

its great.

8:49amDaniel

but I'm also learning to be like that wherever I am

8:49amP

Thanks!

yes....it is wonderful isn't it?

yes....this is true...

8:50amDaniel

absolutley!

8:50amP

good poiint.

8:50amDaniel

lovely connecting with you at this level P

8:50amP

It is much easier to be like that when one has gotten some strength and experience with it.

8:50amDaniel

heart-warming in fact

8:50amP

yeah this is great!

this conversation is just flowing;

8:50amDaniel

yes, the spiritual path is mostly about the work after the awakening

8:51amP

like streams of conjoined consciousness.

8:51amDaniel

to unlearn the first decades of habits, assumptions, thinking patterns, beliefs, etc.

8:51amP

so...an interestign other side of the coin is..

8:51amDaniel

yup yup yup

I'm listening

8:51amP

okay I will hold my thought (on empathy)

oh..okay..

as this awakenking has been happening I feel i am more in tune with the others around me.

i can feel them more..

sense the core issues they are facing.

even almost sense their thoughts, often

8:52amDaniel

right

8:52amP

unexpressed or articulated..

8:52amDaniel

welcome to who we really are P

8:52amP

but I can express those thoughts for them.

happens all the time at meetings.

8:53amDaniel

other cutures that have not done the materialistic thing have had this intution, wisdom for a long time

very cool!

8:53amP

i used to think these were my ideas, but in truth.

8:53amDaniel

makes you very effective!

8:53amP

not..I just sensed them, expressed them.

hmmm...

wow..this is interesting.

8:53amDaniel

there is a concept - a word for this

8:53amP

however, when one is like that, and is not feeling strong, the empathy can make it difficult to keep going.

you are so susceptible to those feelings.

what is the word?

8:54amDaniel

they call it reading the "field" that we all in fact are not only physical beings but carry a field (auora) - and sensitive people pick up the fields of others

I know what you mean about finding it hard to keep moving

8:54amP

okay...yes, I understand totally.

8:55amDaniel

sometimes I've been doubled over in pain and in tears because of the wall of pain I hit

8:55amP

this field is partially what connects us.

8:55amDaniel

other's pain

yes that's right

8:55amP

wow...I am not that empathic yet.

8:56amDaniel

it's a rare exprience for me - but on the other hand I don't regularly experience what you're talking about - our gifts are different

8:56amP

yes..I suppose our filters or "sensers" are different.

Hmmmm...this is interesting.

8:56amDaniel

we are of course each unique - and I really edmire what you can do with meetings

8:56amP

I had a conversation with someone the other day who

Thanks!

8:57amDaniel

people who are sensitive like you sometimes use rituals to "cleanse" themselves of other people's issues and affects

8:57amP

oh yes?

Over here it seems to be one of hitting the bottle.

really!

but does not work for me. interested.

what do you suggest?

8:58amDaniel

the New Agers will use candles, incense, even wash their face or take a shower as an outward symbol of cleansing themselves (in a sense staying separate from) what they've taken in from someone else

8:58amP

interesting...

8:58amDaniel

I use alcohol as well

8:58amP

incense is very popular here.

From the Frankincense tree.

Yeah me too!

but even more so...

8:59amDaniel

but we both know that regularly using alcohol is not a solution but just a temporary fix with its own complications

8:59amP

I have been very conscious of washing my face for the past severl months...funny you mention that one.

I love to do it..use a lavendar based soap.

huh...funny that!

9:00amDaniel

well symbolically again - our face is our sense of who we are

washing ourselves means separating stuff from us that we don't own or want

so when your boundaries are too fluid - and you actually feel the impact of someone else's mood - or worse feel them draining your energy - it's important that you can "separate" yourself from that experience

9:01amP

yes....

9:01amDaniel

a ritual P is something you do meaningfully - you will find your own

go ahead

9:02amP

welll when I wash my face, it actuallly feels ritualistic, now that I think of it..

it did feel like i was dong more than just getting rid of grime and dead cells from the surface.

It seems to make more sense now.

9:02amDaniel

so the more consciously you "participate" in the ritual - and the more you pull into it your greater sense of self/God, etc. the more powerfully it will assist you

9:03amP

the refreshing nature of the washing was always more than skin deep.

9:03amDaniel

uh-huh

9:03amP

Okay i will try this....see what happens.

I think I understand how to do this, what it means.

9:03amDaniel

you know how holy people are often portrayed as having light around their faces

9:03amP

important too to verbalize I believe.

9:04amDaniel

agreed

9:04amP

yes.

facebook a little messed up here.

9:04amDaniel

are you aware that you are radiant?

9:04amP

who? you mean all of us..

9:04amDaniel

you personally

9:04amP

me?

hmmmm...

9:05amDaniel

I've seen this for a while now

9:05amP

what do you mean?

9:05amDaniel

spiritually sensitive people can see this

those who read auras see brighter, whiter light around those whose selves are more expanded

Jesus told his disciples "you are the light of the world"

you've had a shining personality for sometime now P

9:06amP

huh! gee...shucks.

9:07amDaniel

so your ace washing, is in one sense, a dropping of conditioned, limiting identifications - that pull you down and drain your energy (almost like dirt or tar) and free you to shine as you really are

9:07amP

trying to tame mr ego right now!

9:07amDaniel

ah -- I can only say this stuff to you now because you are working on your ego - because earlier you certainly were getting a swelled head - no doubt about it

9:07amP

huh...interesting.

what!? me? swelled head?

9:08amDaniel

when we're free to BE without needing to be well respected - then we truly are free

heh heh

9:09amP

I believe that respect will come anyway, if our path is true and our means honest...

9:09amDaniel

of course

9:09amP

Of course what you said about jesus before is a point where the respect may not be given.

but that is due to vested interests or the fear thing.

9:10amDaniel

??

missed something

9:10amP

When you mentioned that Jesus upset the Religious leaders of the day.

9:10amDaniel

its okay - I remember

yup

it's just that in the conditioned world we need this stuff . . . as you are freed into who you really are, you are more a channel of grace - like Jesus was

9:11amP

hmmm...yes.

9:11amDaniel

you can face total opposition from everyone that "matters" and still be true

9:11amP

hmmm..yes.

makes sense.

opposition in a way, passes right through you.

without touching you..

another one of those ironies, of which there are many!

9:12amDaniel

yup!! good insights!! but we do need affirmation - it's just that when you're connected to ultimate reality - people's opinions don't matter as much

what makes this stuff difficult to talk about is not our shared experience, but all the religious baggage associated with jesus or God language

9:13amP

yes...I must agree.I am afraid I am not well versed at all in the Christian faith, or any other one..

for some reason, just did not, or does not resonate with me.

9:14amDaniel

but when you hit the simpler faith of good people - something attracts you - thus Allah feels interesting

9:15amP

yes...it does, you are right.

so does paganism, the native rituals..

more grounded, more real..more turned in the direction

9:15amDaniel

absolutely and so does walks out in nature

9:15amP

that intuivietly makes sense to me.

yes.

9:16amDaniel

i can soar in ecstacy simply at the sight of a wonderful cloudscape or the stars at night

9:16amP

Yes, acctually me too.

or the smell of a pine or cedar forest.

or the waves washiing on the shore.

9:17amDaniel

:)

anytime your senses are filled with the beauty of creation

"you fill up my senses" comes to mind

9:17amP

As we mess with nature, with the beauty of reation as you put it, then we are really messing with ourselves.

9:18amDaniel

that's for sure!!!

and we are really messed up now

9:18amP

not only with the phsyical/biological world, but how all the energy is moved amongst us.

9:18amDaniel

look at all the auto-immune diseases

9:18amP

and the quality and richeness of that energy.

yes...and these are physical manisfestations.

of something much deeper.

9:19amDaniel

and the deadness of our souls that comes from constructed numbing out built on the carcasses of so many living beings, treated with disrespect, inhumanity ./ . .

9:19amP

yes....a downward spiral...

hmmm..seems like some sort of cleansing will be needed soon!

9:19amDaniel

with evermore neon lights to keep us entranced

9:20amP

or a dramatic change in how we behave.

yes...

9:20amDaniel

now you know where apocalyptic imagery comes from (end of the world type stuff)

9:20amP

yes.

I have to head to the washroom...nothign to do with apocalypse or anything..

brb

9:21amDaniel

k

my former teacher (guru) once said, "God loves diversity"

well we are killing off God's beloved diversity - whether you consider bio-diversity or the diversity of human cultures - we are homogenizing everything into something increasingly lifeless and tasteless

9:23amP

yes...

to me a fear based process, a need to reduce nature to a simplicity that we can understand.

to take nature from God's image to man's

9:24amDaniel

fear and control go hand in hand

9:23amP

if you will.

However, this is the strenght of tourism.

why people want to travel, to experience other cultures and places.

9:24amDaniel

wow - that's a quotable quote!!!

9:24amP

because of a desire and need for this diversity.

but not for everyone.

those that go for the beaches and sun..no.

lol

9:25amDaniel

agreed

(taking nature from God's image to man's)

I will definitely use that if that's okay

9:25amP

yeah...thanks

no problem..it was our conversation that precipated it.

so it is as much yours as mine!

9:26amDaniel

thanks!

anyhow - it would be something like a nugget from our online conversation - an example of God's work in our virtual world or some such thing! :)

might show up in my blog

9:27amP

When you get here, you will see the splenders of the ancient sculptures that nature has created.

9:27amDaniel

uh-huh :)

9:27amP

interesting to think about when i was in the Louvre..which i did.

yes..to the above parts..

sorry...phone ringing..other room.

9:28amDaniel

much as I love art - I'll take creation's beauty anytime

c ya

Social Media Polluters! Greed and Self-Aggrandizement on Twitter

On Twitter, @nickcharney Retweeted @mitchjoel: The dirty little secret of the Twitter Elite

http://www.twistimage.com/blog/archives/the-dirty-little-secret-of-the-twitter-elite.

This is an excellent article tracing the history of the takeover of what began as a social media space with a minimalist communitarian ethic (I’ll follow you if you’ll follow me) into what is now a technology driven “get your message out” space in which it’s “all about me” rather than listening to and learning from each other.

My response to this article was only one of a number of thoughtful and provocative comments:

You just touched on one of the most important points about Twitter, but dropped it, just as a previous author I respect touched on affiliate marketing but then allowed that it was respectable. Is anyone going to stand up and say that being in it for yourself, that duping others to spend money chasing impossible dreams is immoral and a cancer in the soul of America? Is anyone going to say that treating everyone one you relate to as a means to your personal aggrandizement instead of an end in themselves, is anyone else going to say that this makes a mockery of "In God we Trust"?

Twitter started with some attempt at community, and there are still people who actually like to talk to each other, network with each other, discover new things and new people from each other. Instead of rolling over and ceding yet another piece of social real estate to the selfish, the immoral and the blind, perhaps we can learn to block out those who are only clanging cymbals or pounding drums in their own names, and promote those we know who truly value and contribute to community. Just a thought . . .

Despite retweeting Mitch’s article myself, I thought there was still more to say on the topic.

Currently I spend time in Facebook, where I often utilize chat to talk to people I’ve met on Twitter and other friends around the world as well as Friendstock which is a co-operative game where one gets to meet people in a low risk, low investment setting. It is interesting that in friendstock those who value a communitarian, looking out for each other approach to the game group together and tell the predators (only in it for themselves) to get lost. So far in Twitter, I’m the only person I know who routinely publicly blocks spammers, those who demonstrate their Twitter know-how to clog up our screens with their achievements of multiple consecutive posts. I’m still just barely tolerating those who are only on Twitter for self-promotion purposes and who seemingly couldn’t give a flying f@*& for anyone else on Twitter except as a potential buyer of whatever it is they’re trying to sell. I’m so tired of watching the scammers scam the desperate wannabe scammers – all of them thinking that somehow this is acceptable social behaviour!! Can you imagine being in a neighbourhood where everyone was like this, and every first-time conversation inevitably ended up with what you had for sale, and then ignoring people afterwards if they weren’t interested.

So people, instead of the mindless, lemming-like rush to “get rich” why don’t the real people start banding together, blocking anyone who’s cluttering the tweetways with their pathetic approaches to “look at me so I can try to sell you something” so that we can get back to real human intercourse in this cool social media space we share? Or is it too late, and in fact, like some cheesey sci-fi horror movie, most tweets are already “one of them” with glassed over eyes, tweeting the same words and phrases to each other hearing in the distance an illusory “bling bling.”