Britain’s Got Rabies


woolwichI don’t normally write posts such as this; and indeed I have been putting it off for nearly two weeks for a couple of reasons. Firstly, it means entering into the murky world of politics, and secondly, I’m not 100% certain that I can write this article from the standpoint of an observer as opposed to one who is passing judgement. But, I feel that it is the right thing to do so here goes.

At the time of writing it is now two weeks to the day since a young soldier was hacked to death in broad daylight in close proximity to the army barracks in Woolwich, South East London; the same barracks where I did my basic training as a Royal Artillery soldier in 1976/77. This appalling atrocity was perpetrated by two fanatical extremists who had been apparently radicalized by what the British press likes to refer to as “preachers of hate”. I will not refer to anybody involved in such a despicable act as a Muslim because it is an insult to Muslims the world over to be compared with such people. However, the two perpetrators claimed to have carried out this act in the name of Islam. The unfortunate thing in these situations is that it gives vile organisations such as The English Defence League (EDL) and Muslim haters in general a reason to crawl out of their cesspits and spew their own brand of bile. The last time I looked there had been over 160 reported reprisal attacks on Muslims and mosques; this includes at least two attempts at burning mosques down.

The likes of the EDL do not have any place in society. The motives for their actions are so blatantly racial and their members appear not to share but one brain cell between them. Correct me if I’m wrong, but when the IRA carried out a sustained campaign of terror over several decades, during which hundreds of people were killed and maimed, nobody went around torching Catholic churches did they? After all, the IRA were apparently representing the Catholic community of Northern Ireland, and when they started blowing up mainland Britain, surely that would have given justification to the torching of the odd Catholic church here and there. Wouldn’t it?

woolwich 2I am actually writing this article as someone who is quite disturbed. Disturbed by the fact that in 2013 a young man can be hacked to death on the streets of the country in which I live, after the perpetrators first of all mounted the pavement in their car and ran him down. Disturbed by the fact that in 2013, organisations such as the EDL are able to operate quite legally in the country in which I live. Within hours of the incident the EDL were on the streets of Woolwich stirring up their own brand of hate.

From a spiritual perspective these incidents always remind me of the Law Of Reflection, or “As Within, So Without”. It gives us a chance to see first hand exactly what is still going on within the collective heart of mankind. Heaven help us!

It’s Just Like Waiting For A Bus!


544965_242122179232987_1867947155_nThis is not the post I was intending to write today; in fact, the post I was going to write was not the one I originally intended either. However, events have dictated that I am now writing about what was a most unexpected and extremely pleasant experience I had this morning. What was it I was saying recently about expecting the unexpected? (See link below).

https://richardfholmes.org/2013/05/06/always-expect-the-unexpected/

So, out-of-body experiences… Just like waiting for a bus really; you wait for ages, seemingly in vain, and then two come along at once. And so it was; I seemed to go for an eternity without having an astral adventure of note, and just when I thought I would never have another one, I have two in the space of a few weeks. This particular one, although not spectacular, was in fact quite significant. I awoke at about 05:50 relishing the fact that I did not need to be up early, and duly turned over and went back to sleep. I don’t know how long I was asleep, but in what seemed like a short space of time, I felt myself being lifted from my body and then the familiar feeling of travelling through the darkness. As usual, I sent out my thoughts of gratitude to whomever my companion was.

After a short journey we landed in a place that I took to be of this earth; for some reason I had a feeling of a town or city in Northern England. I’m not saying that this is so, but that was the feeling I had. We seemed to have landed in some sort of cafe, although we were not actually in the cafe, more like a covered yard to the right of it. I also noticed that my companion was a young man who looked rather like the young soul from my previous adventure.

Although not very communicative he was an enthusiastic participant in whatever it was we were supposed to be doing. There was several people milling around in very close proximity to us but it was obvious that they could not see us. It seemed that the young soul was trying to show me something about his life; it was as though he took me to this place because it was somewhere that he’d visited regularly or even where he’d been an employee. Now the significance of this journey was that from the moment we landed I felt that I was in complete control. I’d never experienced being in control whilst out of my body to this extent before, and I got the impression that even though the young man had brought me there, he was looking to me for guidance. The next bit is not 100% clear but I seem to remember being inside the cafe and it was the kind of place where the waitresses would have worn some sort of traditional dress; rather like a tea rooms. Anyway, just as I was starting to enjoy myself the inevitable happened.

I felt a backward pull and in no time at all I had returned to my body; slightly disappointed that I didn’t get to see more. Yes, it was just like waiting for a bus, but one of these days I hope to do the complete mystery tour; watch this space!

Back On The Scene


Dear friends, am back from my trip! Watch this space for a new post soon…

Always Expect The Unexpected


616828_3084981623035_2102591458_oA ridiculous statement really; how can you expect something that is unexpected? But, the unexpected did happen to me during the early hours of this morning. I call it the unexpected because it was something that I came to expect, as it was a semi-frequent occurrence, but then ended up wondering if it was ever going to happen to me again. Anyway… I’m aware that I’m rambling; I am, of course, talking about an out-of-body experience. Yes, apart from two very short excursions into the astral realms in the past nine months or so, I have been pretty redundant in that department. I chose not to write about the two aforementioned experiences because, aside from being quite short, they were also quite strange and I had a job getting my head around things. So, I took the decision to confine them to the archives of imaginary time.

My experience of this morning was also a little bit of an anti-climax but I am still going to share it with the world. Hey, can you believe that? I went on an astral journey and I’m describing it as an anti-climax. My, how times have changed. I remember how it was when I first started to experience this phenomenon; and now it would appear that I am turning my nose up if I am not suitably stimulated during the proceedings. How ungrateful can a man get? In truth, I have experienced so much over the years that I am fully aware that I have a much different reality to most people. Anyway, on with the story.

As is the case 99% of the time it started with a dream; then all of a sudden I realised I was out of my body, wide awake and on the move. For the first time ever I found myself being carried from the front. I sent out thoughts of gratitude to my companion and waited with bated breath to see what was going to occur. I was aware of entering a very old building and could just about make out some really old brick-work as we entered. I was still very much in the dark at this stage but I got a short but very clear glimpse of a building that would not have been out-of-place in an old black and white horror film. I should add here that this is simply my way of describing it and at no time did I feel that I was going to meet my doom, and I never felt threatened in any way. As we emerged from the darkness my companion set me down in a kind of narrow corridor. It was then that I got a good look at my young friend. In earthly terms I would describe him as being in his late teens to early twenties, he was wearing a yellow top and was quite fresh-faced.

We made our way down the corridor and my friend allowed me to lead the way. To the right I noticed a small room without a door and there was a very strange-looking character in there crouching down as though he was doing some kinds of exercises. I also noticed a rather flat looking dog laying on the floor of the corridor as we continued down. There was another room with no door a little further down on the right where I glimpsed two more strange-looking characters. My first thought was to think that these souls really needed help. But when I pondered this later on I came to the conclusion that I only thought this because in my human-ness I have great difficulty thinking outside the box, and it is a common human failing to believe that something or somebody may not be as it should be simply because it or they do not fit our idea of what is supposedly normal or right.

I continued down and paused to glance back just in time to see my companion disappear down through a bolt hole on the left hand side. This is quite normal; I’m assuming that my astral helpers are only permitted to accompany me so far for “reasons of the soul”. I did however manage to thank him again and say goodbye before he disappeared.

The next bit is quite difficult to describe but I shall do my best. I carried on and soon came to a point where the corridor veered off at a slight angle to the right, and in front of me, up above there was a gap between the wall and ceiling which was covered by a flap that looked like a piece of basic white sheet. I could see through the gap between the wall and sheet and it looked like an old fashioned barrack room on the other side. I now had to make a decision; do I carry on down the corridor or do I float up through the flap and see what’s beyond. Strangely, without making a conscious decision, I simply floated up and through the white sheet. On the other side, immediately on the right, was a couple of old-style army-type bunk beds. I should also add at this point that the whole complex of corridor and barrack room seemed as though it was underground.

I just floated on past the bunk beds and realised that the whole place was open plan and quite huge. There was a lot of souls wearing military-style uniforms, but they did not bat an eyelid as I floated past above their heads. I realised too that the area where the bunk beds were sited was actually quite small; probably a rest area, and as I made my way out into the open space it seemed more like a huge workshop, or even an aircraft hanger. Even though it looked decidedly military I was not surprised to note that there was not a single gun in sight; astral weapons simply don’t exist. Of course, my assuming that this was some kind of military area could also have something to do with not being able to think outside the box; this is simply how it looked to me.

Just as I was really looking forward to exploring I got that all too familiar feeling, and within what seemed like a micro-second, I was back in my body. So, as far as astral adventures goes it wasn’t that eventful. Did I really just say that? You must think I’m REALLY spoiled… well I am… AND extremely lucky.

Nothing Has Changed


If you take a close look at the statement “Nothing Has Changed” you will see that it is not simply declaring that “nothing has changed”; it actually contains a much deeper and profound message. If you now read the same statement as “nothing HAS changed” you will be well on the way to understanding the hidden meaning.

In the early 1970’s rock guitarist, Pete Townshend penned a song called Let’s See Action.  Within that song is the line nothing is everythingeverything is nothing isPete is a life-long devotee of the guru, Meher Baba and many of his songs over the years have had spiritual overtones; and for me, that lyric in Let’s See Action is one of the most significant lines ever written. You see, everything REALLY is nothing is. The world of form (everything) emerged from the formless (nothing), and will one day merge back, thus completing the cycle. Because all form is ultimately an illusion, all that really exists is nothing (or particles of nothing), hence everything is nothing. Which brings me back to where I started…

Because creation, as particles of nothing, is constantly in motion, its very nature is change. So we can safely say that nothing most certainly HAS changed. In fact, nothing is in a constant state of flux.

Life has a way of being so completely and utterly mind-boggling; but in such a truly wondrous way.

The coast at Mandria, Cyprus

The coast at Mandria, Cyprus

Aum A Bit Confused


Aum
The Vedic sound of Om, also known as Aum and Pranava, is considered to be the most powerful and significant of all mantras. It is The Sound Of The Universe, The Holy Spirit of vibration holding the entire creation together. It is pronounced in the same way as the “om” in “from”. Even though it is a single syllable, it has what I can only describe as three sub-syllables; A – U – M. It is for this reason that Om is sometimes incorrectly chanted as “orm” or “awm”. The letters A – U – M are, in fact, highly sacred and symbolic in that they represent the three “states” of being for humans encased in flesh, having a physical experience; namely waking state, dream state and deep-sleep state.

“A” represents waking state; because it is considered in the Vedas to be the first state of consciousness. “U” represents dream state because the “U” is next to the “A” in the order of sounds and dream state is considered to be the second state of consciousness; lying in between being “awake” and “asleep”. “M” represents deep-sleep state because it is the closing sound of the Om and deep-sleep is said to represent the final stage of the mind in rest. When chanting the Om there will inevitably be a slight pause between each single chant, and it is this brief period of silence, known as the “turiya”, that completes the cycle and does itself have a highly sacred and symbolic meaning.

Om represents the “Self”; encompassing the Self as a whole. The A, U and M represent the realm of the relative, the world of form or the illusion, whilst the turiya represents the formless, The Universal Absolute or God. Because all is God anyway, the Om as a whole represents the totality, the Oneness and the simple truth that “All and Everything is God”. Sound only exists because of silence, so the Om emerges from the silence, moves through the sub-syllables to the M where it reaches its peak. It then subsides into the silence; the state of perfect bliss; thus symbolising the world of form merging once again with the formless.

Since ancient times the Om has been used as an aid to meditation and medium with which to connect the spiritual aspirant to God. It is also called ‘Pranava’, meaning, that it is something that pervades life, or runs through prana or breath. There is a passage in the Vedas that states “In the beginning was the word and the word was Om (Aum)”, thousands of years later this ended up in the Christian Bible as “In the beginning was the word and the word was with God”. Om (Aum) is also the origin of the Christian “Amen”.

Life After Life


SUNRISE - MAHA SHIVARATRI 2013 We can never understand life unless we understand death, and we will never understand death until we see it for what it really is. Death is an illusion; only existing within the mind. Like all illusions it will only hang around for as long as we give it credence. The dissolving away of the illusion of death will represent, not a door closing, but a door opening; revealing a previously forgotten truth. The truth that there is indeed no such thing as the afterlife; there is only life itself. Life in all its glory; experienced in one single and equally glorious eternal moment.

Don’t Kill Yourself; It Will Be The Death Of You!


Think about this…

It is considered wrong to commit suicide, say by hanging yourself or taking an overdose, and it is illegal to assist someone in taking their own life. However, the society in which we live seemingly thinks it’s OK to kill ourselves as long as we use a slow method. What I mean is, humans knowingly poison their bodies by smoking cigarettes, taking drugs, drinking alcohol and consuming food that has been contaminated with chemicals.

In truth we cannot die because there is no death. I just find it mildly amusing that sanctimonious, self-righteous society deems it OK to subject ourselves to a slow and often painful demise by abusing our bodies, but, dare to get a gun and blow your own brains out, and boy, are you in trouble!

544965_242122179232987_1867947155_n

PS Before I get accused of saying that society says it’s OK to take drugs…

I was actually referring specifically to the act of taking one’s own life. If you think about it logically; quick or slow, it’s all suicide.

Little Devil


little devilOrganised religion has got such a lot to answer for, and for so many reasons, but one of the biggest confidence tricks ever pulled by religious leaders in the entire history of the human race, is that somehow, they have managed to convince the great unwashed that the mythological character we affectionately know as “The Devil”, actually exists. It is truly incredible how many millions of people over the centuries have succumbed to this ridiculous notion. The word devil comes from the Spanish “diablo” which means “little devil”. Over time, many other names have been coined for this mythical character, such as Lucifer, Beelzebub and Satan; to name but a few. In truth, the word “Satan” is actually a symbolic term used to describe anything that causes us to stray from our spiritual pathway, such as the ego, the mind and the senses. Many centuries ago, religious leaders brainwashed people into believing that there really was a character called The Devil who would lead them to eternal damnation in the flames of hell if they were not careful. The character was eventually written into the Bible as a means of controlling the ignorant by their own fear.

In truth, heaven and hell are not places that we go to; they are places that we create for ourselves, and our heaven or hell will be anywhere we want it to be at any time we want. It would be accurate to say that “hell” is what we experience in the mind whenever we believe that we are separate from God. This feeling of separateness occurs when we are experiencing something that is not in line with who we really are. By the same token, “heaven” is exactly the opposite. It is the inner bliss we experience when we are One with God. If we examine the whole concept of hell, what it actually states is that if we do not behave in a certain way we will be separated from God for eternity. This is actually impossible. If we are individualised particles of the whole that we call “God”, how can we ever be separate? Why would God banish a part of himself to eternal damnation? It simply does not make sense and can never happen.

The ultimate reality is “All That There Is”, which in its natural state is empty space, or particles of emptiness that stretch to infinity and beyond. The astral and physical worlds are simply “All That There Is” manifested as form. So in reality there is nothing; nothing is all there is. But as individualised souls we have the power to create, and this is why we have a habit of creating sub-realities, like hell for instance, for ourselves whilst we are experiencing the physical world.

Yes, hell may not exist but it sure can be a little devil at times.