Dogen, Japanese Zen Master

"In Buddhism we study the self. To study the self is to forget the self.To forget the self is to be enlightened by all things."

Buddha offers this advice

Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations. Do not believe in anything because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything simply because is is found written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason, and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it.

Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind

When we practice zazen our mind always follows our breathing. When we inhale, the air comes into the inner world. When we exhale, the air goes out to the outer world. The inner world is limitless, and the outer world is also limitless. We say 'inner world' or'outer world' but actually there is just one world. In this limitless world, our throat is like a swinging door. The air comes in and goes out like someone passing through a swinging door. If you think, "I breathe," the "I" is extra. There is no you to say "I." What we call "I" is just a swinging door which moves when we inhale and when we exhale. It just moves; that is all. When you mind is pure and calm enough to follow this movement, there is nothing: no "I", no world, no mind nor body, just a swinging door.

The Teachings of Don Juan, Carlos Castenada

In "teachings" Carlos reminds us that for a man, or woman, of knowledge real learning engenders fear because it is a departure from the known. Overcoming this fear becomes the challenge...Learning is never what he expects. Every step of learning is a new task, and the fear the man is experiencing begins to mount...His purpose has become a battlefield...
As quoted in "Chop Wood, Carry Water"

[There was] a man who died and found himself in a beautiful place, surrounded byu every conceivable comfort. A white jacketed man came to him and said, "You may have anything you choose - any food-- any pleasure - any kind of entertainment." The man was delighted, and for days he sampled all the delicacies of which he had dreamed on earth. But one day he grew bored with all of it, calling on his attendant, he said, "I'm tired of all this. I need something to do..."The attendant sadley said, "There is no work here for you." To which the man answered, "That's a fine thing, I might as well be in hell." The attendant said softly, "Where do you think you are"?
Margaret M. Stevens "Prosperity is God's Idea"

K A S T E L E N

K A S T E L E N
Ook zijn er kastelen geweest. De oudste in Wekerom heette Bouwhuis.Deze stond in Eschoten. De familie die er woonde heetten Eyschoten (in het jaar 1370) Dit Kasteel is in 1740 vervallen. Kasteel "Het Laar" was er mischien toen ook al, maar dat weten we niet precies. Kasteel "Het Laar" is in 1812 afgebroken. Op de plek van de kasteelkeuken staat nu het nieuwe "Het Laar" aan de Edeseweg.Aan de Hoge Valkseweg stond vroeger ook nog een kasteel nl. Huize Ham.

W E K E R O M

W E K E R O M
Voor het eerst werd Wekerom in 814 genoemd: Wicherumloo.Wicher was de naam van een man. Um betekent heem -> huis. En loobetekent bos. Wicherumloo wil dus zeggen: het bos en huis van Wicher.Otterlo werd in 838 genoemd, en van de naam Ede horen we in 866. Dus kunnen we zeggen dat Wekerom de oudste plaats in onze streek is. Daarna lezen we niets meer van Wekerom. Pas omstreeks 1300 lezen we bekende namen: Steven van Mossel, Steven van Ginkel, Gode van Delen, Arnout van Willinckhuizen, Wouter van Wekenen (Wekenen = Wekerom) Henric van Eschoten, Johan van Roekel en Bart van Westerhuis. Dit zijn nu plaatsnamen bij ons.

De geschiedenis van Wekerom

De geschiedenis van Wekerom
De Veluwe was reeds eeuwen voor Christus geboorte bewoond.De Saksische boeren, die hier kwamen, bouwden hun hoeven ineen kring. Die boeren waren vrije Germanen. Er was bos engrond genoeg. Zij woonden aan de rand van het bos. Een mooivoorbeeld hiervan zijn de keltische velden op het Wekeromse Zand.Daar hebben onze eerste mensen gewoond. Een heel oud padis de Schapendrift, waar de herders met de schapen liepenvanaf hun hoeven naar de heide en weer terug. De Hessenweg isook zeer oud. Daar gingen de Hessen met hun ossenkarrenvanuit Italië, Duitsland, langs ons dorp, Wekerom, naar Nijkerk. Anderewegen waren vroeger kerkpaden en molenpaden (deze wegen gingen dan naar dekerk of molen). De mensen woonden in plaggenhutten, hadden magere akkertjes en lieten grafvelden na. In Wekerom, op Hondslog en in de Pishegge, liggen de grafheuvels. Soms waren er enkele tientallen doden naast elkaar begraven.In die grafheuvels zijn ook klokbekers gevonden met vuurstenen gereedschapzoals mesjes, priempjes, pijlpunten, bijlen enz.

Isaiah

Isaiah identifies God's creation as an ongoing phenomenon, not a onetime event. All who ascend are re-created, experiencing rebirth on successive levels of the ladder. This has been going on long before Adam and Eve and continues indefinitely. In order to qualifie for Paradise--as those on higher levels inherit Paradise--Adam and Eve themselves must at some point have ascended to a higher level. Otherwise God would not be the same yesterday, today, and forever, but would be a respector of persons, favoring some above others without regard for universal law. Rather, as pictures of deep space reveal, God's creation is a continuum, in which innumerable worlds(and thus also their creatures) are works in progress.

World War III

 World War III: Four Years and Counting By Steven Stalinsky The Arab press — not only what they are saying to the West, but what they are whispering to each other. We believe you will be sickened. But you will certainly better understand the war on terror and what we are up against http://www.jewishworldreview.com | The war against the West which was brought to the U.S. on September 11, 2001 has continued throughout the world in places such as Spain and London — which has been referred to by leading Arab writers as "a chapter in World War III". The attacks have included slitting throats, beheadings, blowing up planes, trains, and buses and are purposely brutal to instill terror. One notable example includes the suicide car bombing of a crowd of children receiving candy from U.S. soldiers in Iraq, killing 24 of them on July 14, 2005. As the fourth anniversary of 9/11 approaches it is worth reviewing what President Bush said to the American people on September 15, 2001: "This is a conflict without battlefields … a conflict with opponents who believe they are invisible… Victory against terrorism will not take place in a single battle, but in a series of decisive actions … You will be asked for your patience; for, the conflict will not be short… You will be asked for your strength, because the course to victory may be long…" It is also important not to forget 9/11 took a long time to plan and implement as Al-Qaeda has promised more attacks are on the way. As a reminder, last month we heard from Osama bin Laden's deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri twice including August 4th on Al-Jazzera: "Oh Americans, what you have seen in New York and Washington… are nothing but the casualties of the initial clashes…" Other Al-Qaeda leaders have warned of future attacks. Islamists websites in June 2002 quoted the group's spokesman at the time, Suleiman Abu Gheith, promising Al-Qaeda will be "continuing our blows against the U.S." and that "America must prepare itself… Allah willing the blow will come from where they least expect it." He warned: "We have the right to kill 4 million Americans — 2 million of them children — and to exile twice as many and wound and cripple hundreds of thousands …" Islamist websites also carried an interview with Abu Salma Al-Hijazi, a close associate of bin Laden in November 2003 promising a "huge and very courageous strike" by Al-Qaeda. He predicted the number of "infidels" killed will exceed 100,000 warning: "We are patient," and that "our patience will only end with the collapse of America and its agents."
Mahfouz Walad Al-Walid, otherwise known as Abu Hafs "the Mauritanian" was interviewed on November 30, 2001 on Al-Jazeera explaining Al-Qaeda's philosophy: "One of the acts of grace of this generation was to kill the Americans, to incite to this killing, to fight in the Jihad against them with full force. I and my brothers in the Al-Qaeda organization… swore an oath to carry out the mission…" Abu Hafs made an ominous warning that the U.S. will be destroyed: "In our opinion, America has entered the phase of the beginning of the end." Al-Qaeda's stance on the destruction of the U.S. is shared by many prominent Islamic scholars who frequently appear in the Arab media. One example is Saudi professor Nasser Bin Suleiman Al-Omar, speaking on the Saudi owned Al-Majd TV on June 13, 2004: "Today, America is defeated. I have no doubt, not even for a minute that America is on its way to destruction. But as Ibn Khaldoun said, just as it takes decades for nations to rise, it takes them decades to collapse. They don't collapse overnight… It will be destroyed gradually. America will be destroyed. But we must be patient." The amount of talk on Arab TV calling for the destruction of the U.S. as well as ongoing celebrations of 9/11 cannot be understated. One such example is Sheikh Mahmoud Al-Masri who appeared on Al-Majd TV on March 2, 2005. He explained what is was like being in New York on 9/11 to an Arab audience who laughed with him when he described "how beautiful" it was as the World Trade Center fell and the reaction of the "wretched" American people who quickly embraced Islam. As the war on terror continues many actions should be taken by Western governments. Supporting true Arab and Muslim reformists both here and abroad is crucial. To date MEMRI's work has introduced many reformists to the West, as well as led to shutting
down Islamists websites hosted in North America; exposed extremist clerics who say one thing in English and another in Arabic; and led the way in banning Arab and Iranian TV channels such as Iran's Sahar TV and Hezbollah's Al-Manar throughout the West. There is much unfinished work to complete as the war on terror continues. Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in Washington and in the media consider "must reading." Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here. Steven Stalinsky is Executive Director of The Middle East Media Research Institute (www.memri.org ). Click here to comment on this column.

Native American prophecy

Native American prophecy foretold of a time when the White Buffalo would be born and therewould be peace among all peoples following great upheaval and chaos upon Mother Earth.
That time is now. The White Buffalo have come.

From a traditional Native American Prayer

From a traditional Native American Prayer.

O Wakan-Tanka (Grandfather God)
     I need power
          not to be greater than my relations
          but to conquer the enemy in myself.
     Make me ready to come to You always
          with a pure heart
          and with clear eyes,
     So when the time comes for my life to fade away,
          as the sunset fades,
     So may my spirit come to You
          with honor and without shame.

Kabir Poem

I don’t know what sort of God we have been talking about.

The caller calls in a loud voice to the Holy One at dusk.
Why? Surely he is not deaf.

He hears the delicate anklets that ring on the feet of an insect as it walks.

Go over and over your beads, paint weird designs on your forehead,
Wear your hair matted, long, and ostentatious,
But when deep inside you there is a loaded gun,
How can you have God?

Kabir 15th century Indian Poet (Moslem)

Quote from Brigham Young

Quote from Brother Brigham. J.D. 9:149  'mormonism' embraces all truth...No matter how many deny their God and their religion, God is the same...and all truth is the same. There is no possible way in which we can get rid of 'Mormonism,' only by taking the downward road which leads to hell, until spiritually and temporally the whole organized being is dissolved and the particles thereof have returned again to native element... the second death is, as I have stated, the dissolution of the organized particles which compose the spirit, and their return to their native element."