Brought to you by
Spiritual Awakenings with Dawn Silver
May
2,
2006
Happy Birthday to the Taureans and hello,
The eclipses are laying off of us for now and life is getting back to normal (define normal?). Chicago has had the most amazing weather and I hope it has been nice wherever you live.
Before going to our guest author and leader, I have a few announcements to make. First, there are two retreats I will be teaching on: the first is on the Sea Angels Psychic Cruise at the end of October. This will be my fourth time teaching on this cruise which will hit ports in Jamaica, Haiti, Cozumel and Grand Cayman. It is a perfect opportunity to get certified in a number of disciplines (I teach astrology and Jewels of the Lotus Crystal Healing) and have a fun time with like-minded beings for an amazing 8 days. Just go to Sea Angels Psychic Cruise for all the info (and please tell them I sent you).
The next retreat will be 12 days in Peru with Shamans, Healers and professional guides as we expound upon the insights from the Celestine Prophecy. I will be leading crystal healing on Machu Picchu. Vera Lopez has been leading tours to Peru for 15 years, focusing on spiritual questing. To get an idea of the itinerary go to www.spiritsoftheearth.com. Our trip is planned to start the last week of April 2007. It will be incredible.
Today I am pleased to have our guest lecturer Andrew Cohen dong an article for Spiritual Awakening. Andrew Cohen is an American spiritual teacher and visionary thinker widely recognized for his original contribution to the emerging field of evolutionary spirituality. Through his talks, retreats, publications, and ongoing dialogues with the leading philosophers, mystics, and activists of our time, he is becoming a defining voice in an international alliance of individuals and organizations who are committed to the transformation of human consciousness and culture.
As an author, Cohen has expressed his teachings in a number of books, including My Master Is My Self (1989), Enlightenment Is a Secret (1991), and Embracing Heaven & Earth (2000). His most recent publication, Living Enlightenment: A Call for Evolution Beyond Ego (2002), was praised by cosmologist Brian Swimme for its "simple, searing wisdom connecting religious ideas about enlightenment with the scientific understanding of an evolutionary cosmos." Cohen is currently writing a new book on Evolutionary Enlightenment to be released in 2006. If you live in Chicago please pick it up at Transitions BookPlace at 1000 W. North Ave. My friends there would welcome your business and are feeling the crunch of the times we live in. You can also order from them online.
Continue
Below...
Spiritual
Awakenings
Video Clip of the Week
 When
Was Jesus Actually Born?
It has been debated for many years
whether or not Jesus was actually born on December 25th like
so many believe. Now with modern science astronomers and
theologians attempt to pinpoint the exact date of Jesus'
birth.
Click Here to Watch
Below are specifics of the
events in May with Andrew. There is a number to call to
register (24hours, 7days) and if people mention "Save
Healing Earth", Andrew will donate $25 per day-intensive and
$5 per evening talk registration to the Save Healing Earth
Campaign. I would like to say thank you to him for his
generosity in supporting Chicago's spiritual community.
Andrew Cohen speaks on
Evolutionary Enlightenment:
Embracing Life’s Greater Purpose
Evening Talk--Friday, May 5, 8pm Cost $20
One-Day Intensive--Saturday, May 6, 10:30am to 6pm
Cost $125, $110 pre-registration
Fender Ballroom, Second Floor
Hard Rock Hotel Chicago
230 North Michigan Avenue
Pre-register by phone:
847-680-2755 (24hours, 7days)
"For me Amma is the ideal. She
is the yardstick. She is the measurement to which all of us
[must hold ourselves], whether we are beginners on the
spiritual path or matured seekers. She always shows that you
can give more love, show more compassion. Amma is the
greatest living saint on this planet. I met many Masters,
but in Amma I see a combination of unconditional love and
ferocious determination and an indomitable spirit. Her
example is peerless." - Andrew Cohen
And here is some more wisdom
from Andrew:
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Unleash
The Power & Magic of Angels in YOUR Life...
This amazing and quick-read book is wonderful not only
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"My Angel ABCs" will take you on a spiritual journey
through the alphabet in the company of Angels... all
the while instilling and reinforcing ethics, spiritual
values and gentle life lessons.
Learn about all the angels surrounding you, from the
Angel of Art to the Angel of Zzzz's. From the Angel of
Goodness and Patience to the Angel of Understanding, it's
it is filled with messages of love and goodness.
This makes a cherished and heart-felt gift for anyone you
love. To get more info or to order (for $17.95), visit:
My Angel ABC's Book
In the premodern era, especially in the
east, it was believed that history moved in continuously recurring
cycles. This idea is similar to what it would be like to be on a
merry-go-round that turned round and round, eternally repeating the same
process. For one who “awakened” in that context, the definition of
salvation was obvious: to get off the merry-go-round of an endlessly
repeating process in order to rest in the blissful peace and eternal
freedom of nirvana—the formless unmanifest realm beyond time and space.
A bodhisattva is an enlightened being who
compassionately refrains from entering nirvana until every other
sentient being has been released from the endlessly repeating cycle of
time. Traditionally, the bodhisattva declares, “I vow to liberate all
sentient beings before myself. I refuse to enter into nirvana until all
other sentient beings have entered before me.” The bodhisattva is a
heroic figure because, for everyone else's sake, he or she is willing to
remain in the world of time and space, in the manifest realm, for
eternity.
At the beginning of the twenty-first
century, however, we know that history does not move in cycles but is a
linear developmental process that began fourteen billion years ago with
a burst of heat, light, and energy that, over time, gave rise to matter,
then to life, and finally to our unique human capacity for
self-reflective consciousness. And it is only in our highly developed
capacity for consciousness that the very impulse that created us
miraculously gains the means to know itself. Indeed, the process that
began with a bang so long ago has just begun to awaken to itself through
us. This is why the universe needs us to be here! In that light, the
very definition of the bodhisattva vow needs to be updated so that it is
in alignment with this emerging cosmic perspective. The universe needs
enlightened souls more than ever because the future literally depends
upon those sentient beings who are awakening to the evolutionary process
as themselves.
Continue Below...
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Even the idea or concept of
enlightenment—or nonduality—should be redefined.
Spiritually, it just no longer makes sense that the
ultimate goal of enlightenment is merely a release from
the world process. Nor does it even make sense that
enlightenment, as more evolved definitions tell us,
means becoming one with the world and one with that
formless unmanifest dimension that lies beyond it. Why?
Because a new definition of enlightenment must express
the dawning revelation that our conscious participation
in the creation of the future has become essential to
the unfolding of the cosmos—the shocking recognition
that from now on, it really is up to us.
In the postmodern era, the
mythical God has fallen out of the sky. And the yearning
for heaven, nirvana, or final release is being replaced
by a call from the Self to the awakening human for an
unconditional willingness to be here, to help shepherd
the universe into a glorious future. Enlightenment has
always pointed toward a state of consciousness beyond
ego. And true postmodern bodhisattvas are those
shepherd-warriors who courageously die to themselves so
that they will be able to bear the enormous burden of
facing directly into the infinite future for us all. Who
would dare to embrace a future without end for the sake
of the universe itself? Who has the courage to imagine
what it would be like to vow to live forever? Not my
will, but thy will be done. I vow to live forever, to
return again and again and again.
Thanks,
Andrew. See
you Friday.
"Til next time, all my
heartfelt love and devotion,
Dawn Silver
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