In Search of Simplicity is a startlingly poignant and inspiring real-life endorsement of the power of thought, belief and synchronicity in one’s life. It has been compared with James Redfield’s The Celestine Prophecy and Dan Millman’s Way of the Peaceful Warrior. It is a page-turning adventure story and it’s TRUE.

In Search of Simplicity offers a gateway into a world in which your deepest dreams and wishes are fulfilled, even before you are aware of them, a gateway into that place of simplicity where you stop struggling and trying to make it happen and simply allow it to happen.
 
When you’re in the right place, doing just what you want to do, and genuinely enjoying it, the Universe bends over backwards to ensure your success.

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BUY THE BOOK

 

‘This book has important keys to living well. Far from predictable, it is an exciting read; showing us that living with simplicity can lead to stimulating adventures, fresh insights and a deeper understanding of life.’
 
Suzanne Stewart, Wellington

 

 

 

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In Search of Simplicity 3 Minute Audio Trailer

Here’s a fun, five minute interview that Eileen Kapa of DBFR makes with the author as he speaks about In Search of Simplicity and some of the bigger questions of life the book endeavours to answer. This was made as a small part of a Far North book launch and book signing tour in March, 2009.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In Search of Simplicity

is now available in e-format for only $11.99.

Here’s the link.

 

 

From the Author:

My search for simplicity carried me all over the world. You could call it a search for a simpler way of living, a more natural way of being.
 
The external journey culminated in living for periods of time with two sets of agrarian people, one Islamic, the other Christian—the Hunzas in their Shangri La stronghold at the roof top of the world and the Trobriand Islanders at their doorstep perched on coral islets in the western Pacific. Each of these societies lives with grace and in balanced harmony with nature.
 
The internal journey took place while staying in Dharmsala, home of the displaced Tibetans and their leader, the Dalai Lama, in northern India. That journey carried me home to the place we’re all seeking, to the source of sustenance spoken of by every mystic, to the Heart of Life itself.
 
It is a story of import to every human being because it is the journey we are all on, a search for the meaning of life.
 
The story is filled with coincidences to the point of disbelief. The journey brought me in contact with inspiring people who dared to be different, who have dared to be themselves.
 
It is an epic adventure. It is a story of love. It has helped me to live my life with a simpler perspective and more meaning. I trust it does the same for you.
  
Years after the events described in In Search of Simplicity took place, I read The Celestine Prophecy for the first time. It feels like my personal journey is like that of the reluctant fictional hero created by James Redfield. I continue to be swept along on a great adventure (of my own making) to discover and to share the magic and the mystery of life. It’s waiting for us all behind every smile and with every breath of the wind.


Blessings,
John

 

 

 

IN SEARCH OF SIMPLICITY by John P Haines …a truly amazing true story travel/adventure book by a loving and thoughtful man.

Amanda McBroom said this February 25, 2009 on www.amcbroom.com

Amanda is an outstanding actress, singer/songwriter and is the composer of the 1979 worldwide hit, The Rose.

  
 

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Lee Brogan has been publishing the New Zealand edition of Nexus Magazine since the mid 90s. In this inspiring Voices from the North interview Lee speaks on her multifaceted life and the inception of the magazine while she and her partner and young child were living on a sailboat they’d been decking out for seven years. She needed the extra income in order to purchase a mast for the boat.

Lee is passionate about what Nexus stands for and gave examples of stories that influenced her personally (the link between cot deaths and vaccines, for example) and that have led many to make healthy choices and take responsibility for their lives. Nexus has a mission (in the words of editor Duncan Roads from the magazine’s website) ‘to present hard-to-get, ignored and suppressed information on the subjects of health, science, the unexplained, world events and history.  Our goal is the day when all people of all races and colours can live together in total trust and respect, on a planet that is clean, abundant and healthy.’ This is certainly an admirable goal for a magazine. Many of the stories end up in the mainstream media two or three years after they are first published in Nexus. Just two of the topics Lee and I discuss pertaining to health are MMS and Rife technology.

NEXUS Magazine is not affiliated with any political, religious or spiritual groups or organisations whatsoever, and has been published since 1987. The magazine is on sale in shops across Australia, New Zealand, USA, Canada, UK, France, Italy, Holland, Greece, Poland, Croatia, Japan, Romania, Serbia and Russia.

Lee Brogan is also a glass artist specialising in original sculpture in cast glass, pate de verre glass, ceramics and mixed media. She utilises lead crystal casting glass, and makes mold-melted or kiln cast glass using the lost-wax method and the ancient Egyptian technique of pate de verre (glass paste) and a range of techniques for hand built ceramic sculpture including raku firing, pit or barrel firing, and unglazed oxidation firing.

Her art is environmentally and politically inspired and she works from her studio at her rural country home in the far north of the North Island of New Zealand on a lifestyle block she shares with her family, partner Paul and their two children. Originally a graphic designer, magazine publisher and commercial artist, she started working in ceramic sculpture and then went on to casting glass, completing a BA in Applied Art in 2007 specialising in sculpture. For more on Lee’s art visit www.leebrogan.com

Click below to listen to the complete interview:

http://www.odeo.com/episodes/25488230-Lee-Brogan-and-Nexus-Magazine

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John Haines is the author of In Search of Simplicity: A True Story that Changes Lives, a startlingly poignant and inspiring real-life endorsement of the power of thought, belief and synchronicity in one’s life.

BRIEFING DEVELOPED BY
STEVEN M. GREER MD
DIRECTOR
THE DISCLOSURE PROJECT
WWW.DISCLOSUREPROJECT.ORG

“Few men are willing to brave the disapproval of their fellows, the censure of their colleagues, the wrath of their society. Moral courage is a rarer commodity than bravery in battle or great intelligence. Yet it is the one essential, vital quality for those who seek to change a world which yields most painfully to change.”

Robert F. Kennedy 1966 Speech

“No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it.”

Albert Einstein

 


 

Center for the Study of Extraterrestrial Intelligence

The Disclosure Project

Steven M. Greer, MD, Director and Founder

www.DisclosureProject.org        www.CSETI.org

Copyright 2009 Steven M. Greer, M.D.

January 23, 2009

Dear President Obama,

Since the mid-1950s, classified projects connected to extraterrestrial matters have operated outside of constitutionally required oversight and control by the President and Congress. This constitutes a grave and ongoing threat to US national security and global security and peace.

The implications of this subject are such that no aspect of life on Earth will be unaffected by its Disclosure. We are acutely aware that this subject is highly controversial and suffers from great social opprobrium within certain elite circles and within the mainstream media.

Indeed, secrecy on the subject has, in part, been maintained by a carefully orchestrated psychological nexus of ridicule, fear, intimidation and disinformation that makes it difficult for any public figure to openly address the matter.

Moreover, the ‘bubble’ of security and access restrictions that surround the Office of the President makes it very difficult for POTUS to receive accurate information and advice on the subject. The consequences of this secrecy, combined with the psychological aspects mentioned above, have ensured that none of your predecessors have been able to effectively manage this problem. This has led to an unacknowledged crisis that will be the greatest of your Presidency.

Because of this misguided secrecy, the wondrous new sciences related to advanced energy generation, propulsion and transportation have been withheld from the people. These advances include the generation of limitless clean energy from the so-called zero point energy field and quantum vacuum flux field from the space around us, and propulsion that has been termed (incorrectly) anti-gravity. The field of electromagnetic energy that is teeming all around us and which is embedded within the fabric of space/time can easily run all of the energy needs of the Earth – without pollution, oil, gas, coal, centralized utilities or nuclear power.

The disclosure of these sciences and their wise application during your first term as President is the most pressing matter before you. These sciences will create a true new energy economy allowing mankind to solve our most pressing problems of global warming, poverty and resource depletion.

The constellation of problems that include global warming, biosphere degradation, air pollution, energy security, Mid-East policy, a collapsing geo-economic order, growing disparity between the poor and rich of the world, over-population and human sustainability on Earth, to name but a few, are all interconnected and directly affected by the secrecy surrounding this subject. The solutions lie not in old thinking and technologies but in a new consciousness applying new sciences. These sciences were born in the late 19th and 20th centuries but were abandoned and suppressed due to the lust for power, greed and out of fear of unsettling the status quo.

It is time for a new Emancipation Declaration – one that frees all of humanity from the shackles of economic slavery that results from secret centralized power, corruption and global economic hegemony. The world will not find justice and peace so long as half of the world’s population lives in poverty while the other half cannibalizes the Earth to maintain its standard of living. This dire situation can and must be transformed into a world of abundance, clean and plentiful energy and genuine sustainability. On this foundation, with these new sciences, technologies and a new consciousness, we can move forward as a people, united and in peace. Then and only then will we be welcome amongst the other civilizations of the cosmos.

That we are not alone in the universe is now a scientific given. That we have been visited already by advanced civilizations – whose interests here are likely ancient – is controversial. However, in my discussions with European, Vatican, Canadian and other leaders around the world, a growing consensus exists that we have been visited and the time for disclosing this information is long past due. More importantly, an appropriate diplomatic initiative is needed to communicate with these extraterrestrial visitors within a framework of universal peace, free from the past dominance of militarism and paranoia.

Insofar as upwards of 80% of the American people think that ‘UFOs’ are real, and that some aspect of the government is lying to them about it, continued secrecy redounds only to the benefit of the precious few who profit from such secrecy. This secrecy undermines the credibility of the US and other governments, and allows the cancer of unchecked covert power – forewarned by President Eisenhower in his last address to the nation – to metastasize throughout the world. It now threatens the very life of Earth.

Moreover, there exists a secret, ‘unacknowledged’ operation that has used very advanced electromagnetic weapon systems to track, target, and on occasion, but with increasing accuracy, down extraterrestrial vehicles. This reckless behavior constitutes an existential threat to all of mankind and must be reined in immediately.

The so-called MJ-12 or Majestic group that controls this subject operates without the consent of the people, or the oversight of the President and Congress. It functions as a transnational government unto itself, answerable to no one. All checks and balances have been obliterated. While as a governing entity it stands outside of the rule of law, its influence reaches into many governments, corporations, agencies, media and financial interests. Its corrupting influence is profound and, indeed, it has operated as a very powerful and embedded global RICO whose power to date remains unchecked.

Upwards of $100 billion of USG funds go annually into this operation, also known as the ‘black budget’ of the United States – enough to provide universal health care to every man, woman and child in America.

When I first briefed Director of Central Intelligence James Woolsey on this matter in December of 1993, only a third of this governing group was in favor of what we were recommending: Disclosure of the fact that we are not alone in the universe and the careful release of advanced energy generation systems that would replace oil, gas, coal and nuclear power. Sources now inform me that upwards of two-thirds of this group now support such an initiative.

Interests in Europe, the Vatican and Asia, especially France and China, are urging Disclosure. If the United States does not move forward, these other interests will, and America will be left behind and become increasingly irrelevant in the world. This cannot be allowed to happen.

The European and Asian arenas will move with or without US involvement at some point in the very near future, as well they should. Six decades of secrecy is enough.

We are also morally obliged to warn you of an existing highly secretive plan to use advanced technologies to hoax an ‘alien attack’ on Earth. There exists within the direct control of this Majestic group assets capable of launching such a false flag operation and virtually every person on Earth, as well as most leaders, would be deceived by it. Components of this operation have been tested on the public over the past 50 years and include, but are not limited to:

  • Alien Reproduction Vehicles (ARVs) – these are advanced anti-gravity aircraft that have been fully operational since at least the late 1950s to early 1960s. Many so-called UFO reports by civilians and military personnel are of such ARVs. They constitute an unacknowledged or ‘black’ Air Force and these ARVs are capable of extraordinary speed, maneuverability and lift/hover. By 2009, these technologies had gone through many generations of refinement and, if deployed, could easily hoax or simulate an Extraterrestrial Vehicle (ETV). (Note that a UFO is a nonspecific term and could be either an ARV or an ETV.)
  • Programmed Life Forms (PLFs) – these are well-crafted alien-appearing creatures that, while completely manmade, often deceive unknowing people as ‘aliens’. The stagecraft, genetics and other sciences associated with these creatures are beyond the scope of this brief, but are very well developed. I have personally been briefed by multiple independent corroborating sources regarding the development and deployment of PLFs. These creatures, used in conjunction with ARVs, have convincingly launched the pop culture fervor over ‘alien abductions’. Victims of such paramilitary human-controlled abductions genuinely believe that they have been abducted by ‘aliens’ and often have physical stigmata and ‘implants’ to prove it. These implants are also manmade and we have information about the laboratory and corporation making these items. (See attached documents)
  • Chemical, optical and electromagnetic systems to assist with creating an alteration in awareness are components of the ’stagecraft’ used to hoax an ‘alien’ event.

The vast majority of information in the public domain on the UFO subject is, therefore, carefully orchestrated disinformation designed to prepare the populace, as well as our leaders, for a non-existent ‘alien threat’. The psychological warfare implications of this were described in the 1950s in CIA documents and are further elucidated by other documents and testimony. No less a figure than Wernher Von Braun warned of this cosmic deception.

The objective of such a false flag operation is the creation of an enemy in space that would unite the world behind a global military power against such an ‘alien threat’. President Reagan and other leaders have been targeted with such disinformation, which is designed to secure their silence or cooperation with the agenda of secrecy and space weaponization. The President needs to be careful to avoid being similarly deceived.

After very careful review of all data and documents and after interviewing hundreds of top secret witnesses, we have concluded that the actual extraterrestrial presence is distinctly non-hostile. In light of the reckless and aggressive nature of many of our covert military actions and the extraordinarily advanced technologies that permit interstellar travel by these extraterrestrial civilizations, if they were hostile, human civilization would have been dealt with decisively at the dawn of the nuclear era.

These visitors, however, appear to be very concerned with unchecked human hostility, war-making and weapons of mass destruction, combined with our early potential for space travel. The tendency for people to engage in anthropocentric projection leads many to assume a threat where none exists. It is more likely that humanity may be seen as a threat to the cosmic order, insofar as we have failed to restrain the expansion of weapons of mass destruction while attempting to push farther and farther into space. Moreover, we have failed to initiate an enlightened and peaceful diplomatic mission to these extraterrestrial visitors. This needs to change immediately.

Disclosure of this subject must be very carefully planned and positioned as a hopeful and elevating moment in human history. A poorly positioned Disclosure that demonizes these visitors or frightens the public may prove more harmful than secrecy.

As you may know, my uncle was the senior project engineer who worked on the Lunar Module that took Neil Armstrong to the moon. The reason we were not welcome in space then is because the passport to traverse the universe is a stable peaceful world civilization that will go into space united and in peace.

In this regard, world peace and universal peace are two sides of the same coin. Once we vow to live peacefully on Earth and go into space only in peace, we will be welcome with open arms. Until then, a type of cosmic quarantine exists – rightly – around the Earth.

Unfortunately, the media and movie industry are highly penetrated by interests loyal to the Majestic group, which has used the media to, in turns, ridicule the subject and present terrifying images of ‘alien invasion’. In short, the populace is almost thoroughly brainwashed on the matter, and this presents a further hurdle that must be carefully taken into account when planning Disclosure.

Nevertheless, the status quo can no longer hold and fundamental change is urgently needed. To this end, we urge the President to undertake a number of initiatives as soon as possible. We recommend that the President:

  • Appoint a Special Presidential Task Force to investigate this matter, identify covert facilities and assets (see attached summary) and reassert Executive control over these projects;
  • Identify and immediately stand-down operations that are covertly targeting Extraterrestrial Vehicles, weaponizing space and engaging in rogue disinformation projects;
  • Develop response plans to minimize the risks related to potential false flag operations that intend to hoax a hostile ‘alien’ presence, including preparations with military, intelligence and international institutions;
  • Form The Council on Interplanetary Relations to coordinate a peaceful, forward looking and non-militarized response to the extraterrestrial presence. The Center for the Study of Extraterrestrial Intelligence (see www.CSETI.org) has an 18 year ongoing project to establish such contact and can assist with this process. CSETI, working with other governments and world figures, will form such a Council if the US government decides not to do so within the next 12 months;
  • Immediately fund the study, development and careful release of those new energy technologies that can quickly replace fossil fuels and nuclear power. (See www.TheOrionProject.org). Note that these technologies, since they acquire energy from the zero point energy field of space/time, will allow for the retirement of the electric energy grid. We are in possession of documents and information regarding key facilities and assets connected to these technologies (see attached documents). We recommend that the propulsion and transportation aspects of these technologies (electro-magneto-gravitic systems) be released at a later time when the world security situation has improved;
  • Establish high-ranking liaisons with Congress, the UN and other governments to coordinate these projects and the release of the new energy technologies;
  • The National Security Council needs to form a section specifically addressing the international, interplanetary and macroeconomic implications of this disclosure and urgently prepare for the release of these technologies;

The Orion Project (www.TheOrionProject.org) has identified key scientists to assist with the development of these new energy technologies. They have agreed to work with us, but are being prevented from doing so, one by a compartmented operation (TS SCI) to which he is assigned. We request an action by the Office of the President to specifically permit them to work with us with the full support and protection of the President. We cannot over-emphasize how important it is that these people be assigned to this critical task: In less than 1 year, we would have new energy generators developed to run America free from oil, gas, coal or nuclear power.

President Obama, we stand ready to assist you and your Administration with these and other tasks, and pledge to you our full support. I will personally fulfill any request from your office with the utmost integrity, discretion and confidentiality.

Please be assured of my heartfelt prayers on your behalf for your guidance, protection and success as you begin your historic role as President of the United States.

Respectfully,

Steven M. Greer, MD
Director
The Disclosure Project

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John Haines is the author of In Search of Simplicity: A True Story that Changes Lives, a startlingly poignant and inspiring real-life endorsement of the power of thought, belief and synchronicity in one’s life.

Crab Apple Blossoms

During an early walk in the mist this morning I ran into a friend; not literally, visibility was better than that! He lives in Auckland and owns a little seaside house here. He only visits from time to time. I hadn’t seen him for months. He said, “I heard you have to leave the house you’re in.”

“Yes,” I said. “The owners are returning from the Middle East in August next year.”

“That must be sad,” he commiserated.

“I’m grateful. This is already the longest we’ve ever been in one place, including the houses we’ve owned. There is only a twinge of regret because of all the trees I’ve planted and all the work I’ve done to improve the garden. But that’s what I do everywhere we live. I planted a thousand bulbs at our last rental house in Holland. We only lived there for a year and a half.”

Oak Sapling

“That reminds me of the story of the elderly Taoist who was planting a little oak tree. A neighbour saw him as she passed and said, ‘Old man, do you know you won’t have a chance to see that tree grow?’

‘Yes,’ he replied with a contented smile. ‘I know.’”

Did you plant the crab apple tree that blooms every spring at the end of your lane? Does it matter who planted it? We each get to enjoy the beauty others create. Breathing in. Breathing out. Giving and receiving. It’s all a continuum.

Enjoy this creation.
John

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I am currently completing the sequel to In Search of Simplicity which will be called Beyond the Search. It is the story of Lucia’s and my return to nature and our continuing intention to lead ‘good and natural lives’. Before our initial embarkation on this journey I read two books by Helen and Scott Nearing that greatly inspired me. These books, Living the Good Life and Continuing the Good Life, described the Nearing’s homesteading experiences in Vermont and Maine over many decades beginning at the depths of the Great Depression in 1932. Years later I read another book by Helen Nearing titled Loving and Leaving the Good Life. It was a touching memoir of her life with Scott. Her description of how he lived and, especially how he chose to die, deeply moved me. I share below words of Helen Nearing that describe vividly these final days and months of Scott Nearing’s life. These words were found here: http://www.context.org/ICLIB/IC26/Nearing.htm

You may be interested in my earlier post on my mother’s touching and dignified death called We Are Always Connected.
Enjoy,

John

At The End Of A

Good Life

Scott Nearing’s dignified death, like his life,
sets an inspiring example for all of us
by Helen Nearing
One of the articles in What Is Enough? (IC#26)
Summer 1990, Page 20
Copyright (c)1990, 1997 by Context Institute | To order this issue …

Perhaps the most profound reason for our intensely consumptive lifestyle is, at bottom, our fear of death. “You can’t take it with you,” as they say – though you can try to numb the terror with the things that money can buy. But in his purposeful death by fasting at the age of 100, Scott Nearing demonstrated that there are better, simpler choices.

Throughout their lives, Helen & Scott Nearing were a living example of the possibility of such choices. Their experience, memorialized in Living the Good Life and a string of other books, has been an inspiration to thousands of people looking for an alternative to modern industrialism. On their homesteads first in Vermont and later Penobscott Bay, Maine, the Nearings built, made, grew and collected nearly everything they needed. Yet they still found plenty of time for nourishing their inner lives and giving to others – through music, education, writing and speaking.

Here Helen Nearing, who still lives at the Maine homestead, recounts the story of Scott’s purposeful passing. For more information about the Nearings’ rich-yet-simple lives and their many books, write to Social Science Institute, Harborside, ME 04642.

Doctors practice medicine. Scott and I intended to write a book together, We Practice Health, which never eventuated, though we wrote much on the subject in various chapters of our homesteading books Living the Good Life and Continuing the Good Life. We rarely if ever used doctors, pills, or hospitals. Yet Scott lived to a hale and hearty 100 and died when he decided to – by fasting for a month and a half at the very end.

He had always been physically active, in the woods, in the garden, in building construction. He was also active mentally, having written 40 or more books from his 20’s to his 90’s, including an autobiography, The Making of a Radical.

“Work,” said Scott, “helps prevent one from getting old. My work is my life. I cannot think of one without the other. The man who works and is never bored, is never old. A person is not old until regrets take the place of hopes and plans. Work and interest in worthwhile things are the best remedy for aging.” Still, he was facing the end and knew it.

Interviewed in 1981 he said “I look forward to the possibility of living until I’m 99.” His blue eyes twinkled. “It is a precarious outlook, I assure you. With age, your facility of expression and perception diminishes. I have almost nothing left but time. But if I can be of service, I would like to go on living.” Walt Whitman, at a far earlier age (70) said, “The old ship is not in a state to make many voyages, but the flag is still on the mast and I am still at the wheel.”

Most people begin to get old in their 60’s. Scott only began to be old in his 90’s. Up to then if anyone called him old I was outraged, because he neither looked nor felt old. Sure, he had plenty of wrinkles. They came in his 50’s from a lot of hard work in the sun. But failing and getting feeble? No.

He did more than his share of mental and physical work up to his last years. At 98 he said “Well, at least I can still split and carry in the wood.” And when he was close to the end, lying in our living room, his one regret at leaving this Earth plane was on watching me lug in the wood for our kitchen stove. “I wish I could help with that,” he said. He was a help unto the end.

A month or two before he died he was sitting at table with us at a meal. Watching us eat he said, “I think I won’t eat anymore.” “Alright,” said I. “I understand. I think I would do that too. Animals know when to stop. They go off in a corner and leave off food.”

So I put Scott on juices: carrot juice, apple juice, banana juice, pineapple, grape – any kind. I kept him full of liquids as often as he was thirsty. He got weaker, of course, and he was as gaunt and thin as Gandhi.

Came a day he said, “I think I’ll go on water. Nothing more.” From then on, for about ten days, he only had water. He was bed-ridden and had little strength but spoke with me daily. In the morning of August 24, 1983, two weeks after his 100th birthday, when it seemed he was slipping away, I sat beside him on his bed.

We were quiet together; no interruptions, no doctors or hospitals. I said “It’s alright, Scott. Go right along. You’ve lived a good life and are finished with things here. Go on and up – up into the light. We love you and let you go. It’s alright.”

In a soft voice, with no quiver or pain or disturbance he said “All…right,” and breathed slower and slower and slower till there was no movement anymore and he was gone out of his body as easily as a leaf drops from the tree in autumn, slowly twisting and falling to the ground.

So he returned to his Maker after a long life, well-lived and devoted to the general welfare. He was principled and dedicated all through. He lived at peace with himself and the world because he was in tune: he practiced what he preached. He lived his beliefs. He could die with a good conscience.

As to myself and my old age: I try to follow in his footsteps. It is not so easy homesteading alone, but I carry on. A few more years and I also will experience the great Transition. May I live halfway as good a life and die as good a death.

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My agent in Frankfurt, the world’s largest book fair, indicated interest was way down this year due to the fragile worldwide economic situation and a rapidly changing publishing world. Still, I am delighted that publishers from The Netherlands, Spain and Korea are interested in publishing and translating In Search of Simplicity. It’s a start to reaching further with the story.

Bryan Flournoy

In Search of Simplicity is continuing to garner praise from readers and reviewers and I’m beginning to gain access to radio shows with more reach. I was interviewed yesterday by Bryan Flournoy who has put together a visionary series which includes such notable authors and visionaries as Dr. Bruce Lipton, Neile Donald Walshe, Joan Borysenko, Dr. Candace Pert, Byron Katie and many others. I feel privileged to be included in such illustrious and established company.

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This video gives a scientific approach to explaining the power of thought. We have all heard it before, “Your thoughts create your reality.” New quantum physics studies support this idea. Learn of recent research on how the mind can influence the behavior of subatomic particles and physical matter.

Our observation of reality changes reality. Emoto’s work with water crystals is mentioned as well.

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Lynette and Colin Wilson in their Orchard

First Drop Olive Oil

In this travelogue on Voices from the North, Lynette Wilson chronicles a recent journey to the traditional olive groves of Sicily. Lynette and her husband, Colin, are the proprietors of Hihi Olive Estate. They press their own oil and regularly win awards for their oil which is produced for the domestic New Zealand market and for export under the First Drop label.

The interview can be heard here: 

 

Related post: http://insearchofsimplicity.com/2009/11/20/living-the-dream-pablo-neruda-and-ode-to-olive-oil/

 
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Here’s an inspiring post recently sent to me by a friend. Enjoy and continue to BE THE CHANGE YOU WANT TO SEE IN THE WORLD. BE PEACE. BE LOVE.

Blessings,

John

By Earth Changes Media
Nov 5, 2009 – 10:48:12 PM

Carlos Barrios, Mayan elder and Ajq’ij (a ceremonial priest and spiritual guide) of the Eagle Clan. Carlos initiated an investigation into the different Mayan calendars circulating. Carlos along with his brother Gerardo studied with many teachers and interviewed nearly 600 traditional Mayan elders to widen their scope of knowledge.

Don Carlos Barrios

Carlos found out quickly there were several conflicting interpretations of Mayan hieroglyphs, petroglyphs, Sacred Books of ‘Chilam Balam’ and various ancient text. Carlos had some strong words for those who may have contributed to the confusion —

Carlos Barrios: “Anthropologists visit the temple sites and read the inscriptions and make up stories about the Maya, but they do not read the signs correctly. It’s just their imagination. Other people write about prophecy in the name of the Maya. They say that the world will end in December 2012. The Mayan elders are angry with this. The world will not end. It will be transformed.”

“We are no longer in the World of the Fourth Sun, but we are not yet in the World of the Fifth Sun. This is the time in-between, the time of transition. As we pass through transition there is a colossal, global convergence of environmental destruction, social chaos, war, and ongoing Earth Changes.”

He continues: “Humanity will continue, but in a different way. Material structures will change. From this we will have the opportunity to be more human. We are living in the most important era of the Mayan calendars and prophecies. All the prophecies of the world, all the traditions are converging now. There is no time for games. The spiritual ideal of this era is action.”

Carlos tells us: “The indigenous have the calendars and know how to accurately interpret it — not others. The Mayan Calendars comprehension of time, seasons, and cycles has proven itself to be vast and sophisticated. The Maya understand 17 different calendars such as the Tzolk’in or Cholq’ij, some of them charting time accurately over a span of more than ten million years.

“All was predicted by the mathematical cycles of the Mayan calendars. — It will change –everything will change. Mayan Daykeepers view the Dec. 21, 2012 date as a rebirth, the start of the World of the Fifth Sun. It will be the start of a new era resulting from and signified by the solar meridian crossing the galactic equator and the Earth aligning itself with the center of the galaxy.”

At sunrise on December 21, 2012 for the first time in 26,000 years the Sun rises to conjunct the intersection of the Milky Way and the plane of the ecliptic. This cosmic cross is considered to be an embodiment of the Sacred Tree, The Tree of Life, a tree remembered in all the world’s spiritual traditions.

Some observers say this alignment with the heart of the galaxy in 2012 will open a channel for cosmic energy to flow through the Earth, cleansing it and all that dwells upon it, raising all to a higher level of vibration.

Carlos reminds us: “This process has already begun. Change is accelerating now and it will continue to accelerate. If the people of the Earth can get to this 2012 date in good shape without having destroyed too much of the Earth, we will rise to a new, higher level. But to get there we must transform enormously powerful forces that seek to block the way.”

The date specified in the calendar Winter Solstice in the year 2012 does not mark the end of the world

Many outside people writing about the Mayan calendar sensationalize this date, but they do not know. The ones who know are the indigenous elders who are entrusted with keeping the tradition.

Carlos tells us: “The economy now is a fiction. The first five-year stretch of transition from August 1987 to August 1992 was the beginning of the destruction of the material world. We have progressed ten years deeper into the transition phase by now, and many of the so-called sources of financial stability are in fact hollow. The banks are weak. This is a delicate moment for them. They could crash globally if we don’t pay attention. If the banks crash — then we will be forced to rely on the land and our skills. The monetary systems will be in chaos, and we must then rely on our direct relationship with the Earth for our food and shelter.”

The North and South Poles are both breaking up. The level of the water in the oceans is going to rise. But at the same time land in the ocean, especially near Cuba, is also going to rise.

Carlos tells a story about the most recent Mayan New Year ceremonies in Guatemala. He said that one respected Mam elder, who lives all year in a solitary mountain cave, journeyed to Chichicastenango to speak with the people at the ceremony. The elder delivered a simple, direct message. He called for human beings to come together in support of life and light.

“Right now each person and group is going his or her own way. The elder of the mountains said there is hope if the people of the light can come together and unite in some way. We live in a world of polarity — day and night, man and woman, positive and negative. Light and darkness need each other. They are a balance.”

“Just now the dark side is very strong, and very clear about what they want. They have their vision and their priorities clearly held, and also their hierarchy. They are working in many ways so that we will be unable to connect with the spiral Fifth World in 2012.”

“On the light side everyone thinks they are the most important, that their own understandings, or their group’s understandings, are the key. There’s a diversity of cultures and opinions, so there is competition, diffusion, and no single focus.”

Carlos believes the dark side works to block unity through denial and materialism. It also works to destroy those who are working with the light to get the Earth to a higher level. They like the energy of the old, declining Fourth World, the materialism. They do not want it to change. They do not want unity. They want to stay at this level, and are afraid of the next level.

The dark power of the declining Fourth World cannot be destroyed or overpowered. It’s too strong and clear for that, and that is the wrong strategy. The dark can only be transformed when confronted with simplicity and open-heartedness. This is what leads to unity, a key concept for the World of the Fifth Sun.

Carlos said the emerging era of the Fifth Sun will call attention to a much-overlooked element. Whereas the four traditional elements of Earth, Air, Fire and Water have dominated various epochs in the past, there will be a fifth element to reckon with in the time of the Fifth Sun — that element is ‘ETHER’.

The dictionary defines Ether as a “hypothetical substance supposed to occupy all space, postulated to account for the propagation of electromagnetic radiation through space.” Perhaps it could be defined as the “space between space”. I would suggest it could be manifest as the alignment of charged particles from our solar system (Sun), and our galaxy (Milky Way) surge.

“The element of the Fifth Sun is celestial. Within the context of Ether there can be a joining of the polarities. No more darkness or light in the people, but an uplifted unity. But right now the realm of darkness is not interested in this. They are organized to block it. They seek to unbalance the Earth and its environment so we will be unready for the alignment in 2012.”

“We need to work together for peace, and balance with the other side. We need to take care of the Earth that feeds and shelters us. We need to put our entire mind and heart into pursuing unity and unity now, to confront the other side and preserve life.”

“We are disturbed — we can’t play anymore. Our planet can be renewed or ravaged. Now is the time to awaken and take action. Everyone is needed. You are not here for no reason. Everyone who is here now has an important purpose. This is a hard but a special time. We have the opportunity for growth, but we must be ready for this moment in history.”

Carlos says: “The prophesied changes are going to happen, but our attitude and actions determine how harsh or mild they are. We need to act, to make changes, and to elect people to represent us who understand and who will take political action to respect the Earth.”

“Meditation and spiritual practice are good, but also action. It’s very important to be clear about who you are, and also about your relation to the Earth. Develop yourself according to your own tradition and the call of your heart. But remember to respect differences, and strive for unity. Eat wisely — a lot of food is corrupt in either subtle or gross ways. Pay attention to what you are taking into your body. Learn to preserve food, and to conserve energy. Learn some good breathing techniques, so you have mastery of your breath. Be clear. Follow a tradition with great roots. It is not important what tradition, your heart will tell you, but it must have great roots.”

“We live in a world of energy. An important task at this time is to learn to sense or see the energy of everyone and everything — people, plants, animals. This becomes increasingly important as we draw close to the World of the Fifth Sun, for it is associated with the element ‘ether’ — the realm where energy lives and weaves. Go to the sacred places of the Earth to pray for peace, and have respect for the Earth which gives us our food, clothing, and shelter. We need to reactivate the energy of these sacred places. That is our work.”

“One simple but effective prayer technique is to light white or baby-blue colored candles. Think of a moment in peace. Speak your intention to the flame and send the light of it on to the leaders who have the power to make war or peace.”

Carlos reminds us this is a crucially important moment for humanity and for Earth. Each person is important. He said the elders have opened the doors so that other races can come to the Mayan world to receive the tradition. “The Maya have long appreciated and respected that there are other colors, other races, and other spiritual systems. They know that the destiny of the Mayan world is related to the destiny of the whole world.”

“The greatest wisdom is in simplicity. Love, respect, tolerance, sharing, gratitude, forgiveness. It’s not complex or elaborate. The real knowledge is free. It’s encoded in your DNA. All you need is within you. Great teachers have said that from the beginning. Find your heart, and you will find your way.”

 http://www.earthchangesmedia.com/

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John Haines is the author of In Search of Simplicity: A True Story that Changes Lives, a startlingly poignant and inspiring real-life endorsement of the power of thought, belief and synchronicity in one’s life. 

Pablo Neruda (July 12, 1904 – September 23, 1973) was the pen name and, later, legal name of the Chilean writer and politician, Neftalí Ricardo Reyes Basoalto. Neruda assumed his pen name as a teenager, partly because it was in vogue, partly to hide his poetry from his father, a rigid man who wanted his son to have a ‘practical’ occupation—to get a real job.

In 1971 Neruda won the Nobel Prize for Literature. Colombian novelist Gabriel García Márquez once called him ‘the greatest poet of the 20th century in any language.’ Without a doubt, Pablo Neruda is considered one of the greatest and most influential poets of the 20th century. His work has been translated into many languages.

Imagine if Pablo had listened to his father rather than to the strong, insistent voice of his inner knowing. Can you say the same? Are you doing what you came here to do? Or have you surrendered your calling to get a real job? The knowing inner voice continues to call whether you choose to listen or not. But true satisfaction in life comes when you listen to your knowing, to your conscience. The world will be richer for it; just as it is richer for the poetry of Pablo Neruda.

I came across this great poet while searching for a poem about olives for the interview I did on Wednesday on Voices from the North with Lynette Wilson of Hihi Olive Estate. Enjoy Ode to Olive Oil by Pablo Neruda. It has been translated from its original Spanish by Jodey Bateman.

Ode to Olive Oil / Oda al aceite
Near the murmuring
In the grain fields, of the waves
Of wind in the oat-stalks
The olive tree
With its silver-covered mass
Severe in its lines
In its twisted
Heart in the earth:
The graceful
Olives
Polished
By the hands
Which made
The dove
And the oceanic
Snail:
Green,
Inumerable,
Immaculate
Nipples
Of nature
And there
In
The dry
Olive Groves
Where
Alone
The blue sky with cicadas
And the hard earth
Exist
There
The prodigy
The perfect
Capsules
Of the olives
Filling
With their constellations, the foliage
Then later,
The bowls,
The miracle,
The olive oil.
I love
The homelands of olive oil
The olive groves
Of Chacabuco, in Chile
In the morning
Feathers of platinum
Forests of them
Against the wrinkled
Mountain ranges.
In Anacapri, up above,
Over the light of the Italian sea
Is the despair of olive trees
And on the map of Europe
Spain
A black basketfull of olives
Dusted off by orange blossoms
As if by a sea breeze
Olive oil,
The internal supreme
Condition for the cooking pot
Pedestal for game birds
Heavenly key to mayonaise
Smoothe and tasty
Over the lettuce
And supernatural in the hell
Of the king mackerals like archbishops
Our chorus
With
Intimate
Powerful smoothness
You sing:
You are the Spanish
Language
There are syllables of olive oil
There are words
Useful and rich-smelling
Like your fragrant material
It’s not only wine that sings
Olive oil sings too
It lives in us with its ripe light
And among the good things of the earth
I set apart
Olive oil,
Your ever-flowing peace, your green essence
Your heaped-up treasure which descends
In streams from the olive tree.

Pablo Neruda (1971) Translated by Jodey Bateman

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Today is a good friend’s birthday. She came over to receive a gift from Lucia: a foot massage. This friend returned last week from a silent retreat in the Blue Mountains outside Sydney in New South Wales, Australia. It was her second such retreat in two years and she loved it.

Cell Phones: Who’s in Charge?

Her only complaint was the cell phones. Even though it was made clear at the beginning of the retreat that cell phones were to be turned off in the meditation hall, as soon as people left the hall their mobile phones came on and they checked for messages and started texting. This strikes me as being addictive behaviour. Our friend’s roommate for the retreat was making calls throughout their so-called time of silence.

What Has Happened to Us?

This was much worse than it had been the year before. Is this a worldwide trend? Are we more plugged in than ever before? Do we need to be? Is there a delusional feeling of self importance in being available at all times? Do we need to be?

Do We Really Need Mobile Phones?

I don’t own a mobile phone. I never have. I don’t see the point. This same friend of ours has people ask, “Did you receive my text?” She hasn’t responded and there is an expectation that you must respond (soon)? Must you?

Emails are Similar and Come With Expectations

There is so much spam today that many are becoming disillusioned with even the thought of opening their inbox. A friend sent an email yesterday asking me to be part of a group exchanging recipes. I don’t cook, thriving on raw food. I don’t need any more recipes. I ignored the email. The intention behind it was good. The medium leaves something to be desired.

Is There Quality of Relationship in Our Cyber-Communication?

Do we need to be instantly available for others? I thoroughly enjoy computer-free Sundays. I’m considering extending them to computer-free weekends once my current Saturday work in the library finishes. You could call these cyber-free days since I don’t use technology on these days save for the occasional phone call. I write by hand, work in the garden, enjoy long walks with Lucia and play games (of the old sort like backgammon) with our daughter. Perhaps you too should consider cyber-free days. You might just rediscover something beautiful about the way we used to live. I’m not suggesting we move backwards. I am suggesting we re-examine our behaviour and ask a simple question, “Who’s in charge, us or technology?” the next time we reach for the mobile phone.

You may wish to read my earlier post: How Many Cell Phones is a Gorilla Worth?

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John Haines is the author of In Search of Simplicity: A True Story that Changes Lives, a startlingly poignant and inspiring real-life endorsement of the power of thought, belief and synchronicity in one’s life.

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