Working for the liberation of all beings everywhere. Bringing higher consciousness to the planet, one eternal moment at a time.
May 2020 Bardo Buzz (02-05)
Each issue of The Bardo Buzz comes with an installment
The Joy of Sacrifice:
Secrets of the Sufi Way by E.J. Gold
THE ETHICS OF DISCOURSE
The purpose of discourse is to guide the questioner to the space in which he is alone.
In order to attain to the right to receive an answer to any question he
asks, a candidate must prove willingness to answer any question,
regardless of his state at the moment.
The novice should only ask those questions which reflect present necessity.
Knowledge may only be transmitted in Sanctuary.
Wisdom of the Sanctuary is not for the dream.
One should always try to speak in front of the wise, for the ignorant will not correct ignorance.
It is always permitted to teach to any who ask.
There is knowledge from God, knowledge about God, and knowledge which is God.
He who listens with his ears will tell what he has heard; he who listens
with his heart will preach; but only he who listens with all his being
is able to guide.
The teacher depends upon a questioner to bring with him his own discernment and his own common sense.
While in Sanctuary, the guest should not inquire about worldly matters, but only those things pertaining to work of Sanctuary.
He who takes no care for stylish appearance and who has no care for one
food or drink over another is welcomed as a brother in Sanctuary.
To be continued...
A TIME OF BLESSING
This is a scary, unbelievable, anxiety-producing time. But, it is also a time of blessing because we have the time and opportunity to connect with our brothers and sisters -- our comrades on the path.
We here at IDHHB have been making ourselves and the programs we provide available online with great results. People are very excited about the ability to get online with E.J. and each other.
Our Easter Workshop, April 11th and 12th was conducted on Zoom. We had sixty-six active participants. E.J. took questions and gave many art and music demonstrations laced with humor.
Each morning, Monday -- Friday at 6:30 a.m., pdt E.J. hosts a Zoom meeting. He introduces the group to the Prosperity Virtual Ashram building possibilities, discusses the various activities available to the group in Second Life, plays music, instructs on spiritual matters, fills our life with laughter with the jokes he tells, encourages us to participate -- help our fellow travelers. If you want to come to the morning meeting, check in between 6 and 6:30 a.m. pdt, any morning on Gorebaggtv on Livestream. Click the Live event and you'll arrive at the Livestream broadcast window where there is a chat screen. There you will find the code and password for that morning's meeting.
Claude and Paula host the Bardo Clan meeting in Zoom, Claude conducts his Thursdays with Xxaxx meeting on Zoom, David Franco has his Wednesday evening meeting on Zoom. On Saturday Claude's building class in the PVA (Prosperity Virtual Ashram) was also broadcast in Zoom. Check your email inbox for your weekly Zoom meeting schedule.
We are delighted to have so many friends joining us each day on Zoom, Facebook and in the Prosperity Virtual Ashram. Many of you are with us from India.There are also folks from Portugal, Spain, Argentina, Norway. We are truly an international group and we come together to learn, to help and support each other on our path.
Check in at Prosperity Path Forum, Gorebaggtv or email us to find out about the many different Zoom meetings, activities in the Ashram and the broadcasts on Livestream.
Oh, and don't forget, we'll be having our Memorial Day Weekend Workshop, Comedy Punchline on Saturday, May 23rd through Monday, May 25th. Sign-up for a weekend of shared laughter.
Barbara Haynes
VIEW FROM BEHIND THE CAMERA
YOU ONLY KNOW WHAT YOU KNOW WHEN YOU PASS IT ON
"You only know what you know when you pass it on." Every morning this plays out in action at Gorby's Place on Zoom.
The Pack of Green (POG) -- the Institute's work circle community -- has
graduated from Livestream/gorebaggtv to a new level of assembling via
Zoom. And everyone is invited.
Gorby, aka E.J. Gold, is there in person offering areas to be explored
and developed as a tool for your spiritual work. The upscale becomes
apparent when Gorby reveals a nugget of truth or wisdom or an idea
encapsulating keys to the Work. Then he opens the floor for people "to
pick that up" as he stands aside to listen to the group unveil the
"diamond in the rough".
This morning was particularly poignant when the first key dropped was
the concept of the Pack of Green. Participants began to contribute
through their experiences of how they came to "grokking" this idea -- its
value, its path to a source of peace and for some, the sacrifice it
required.
As the penetration continued, Rocky recognized in a comment made, the
condition of experiencing in one's life the dissolving radiations. He
proffered, "Whenever I feel resistant, I try to stay there as long as I
can."
Gorby returned and moved the group to focusing on masks. He is designing
masks now which are in the process of being approved to sell on Zazzle
as well as masks to appear in the Second Life Marketplace. He indicated
how wearing masks will have an effect on our global culture, on how we
communicate with others and on possible futures. He said before taking a
break, "You don't really know what's going on behind the mask."
The discussion evolved into the explanation of the Tonglen practice (for instructions, see the Gorebaggtv Livestream
archives for Gorby's Place with the date 20200427). It's an alternative
to taking a posture of resisting what's happening in your life. It's a
practice not originating with E.J., but it also embodies the wisdom from
the American Book of the Dead about letting all of it come in with no resistance and thus pass through you.
The conversation went further into exemplifying the idea of making the
transition from thinking to feeling as a mode of traversing the
labyrinth. And then E.J. returned.
Recently, Gorby is inviting people to learn how to build in Second Life
and offer their creations on the Second Life Marketplace for sale. He is
encouraging people to express themselves, not their personality, but
their work, their love, their affection for their fellow beings. One's
concern for all Beings everywhere can be expressed, channeled, funneled,
directed and used to make a nourishing kind of energy. It's nothing to
do with the form or about what you're doing. It's why you're doing it.
He's just dropped another key to navigating the labyrinth -- our life we
see before us.
Gorby took a break to allow for translation of what had been said into, I think, two Indian languages, Hindi being one of them.
When he returned, Gorby referred to another truth -- "All phenomena is
illusion." However, in addition, he added the key -- "But do it anyway."
He expanded on the truth of the first statement and the value of
following the practice of "Do it anyway." This was translated for the
many Indian participants in this morning's Zoom meeting.
It's apparent from behind the video camera that Gorby is setting the
stage once again, this time in Zoom, for learning how to co-operate as a
group in a constructive way, a way that's useful and beneficial to
everyone.
Meeting with Gorby in Zoom is officially at 6:30 a.m. PDT. He may arrive
before this time. "Gorby's On Zoom" every morning is a venue that has
opened new opportunities for those present to ask questions, help each
other, and to hear "up close and personal" new understandings, and to
digest in a real way the practical nature of E.J.'s work. He sets forth
the necessity for those present to upscale and share the fruits of their
work and the efforts they've made on their paths navigating the Bardos /
Life and their using of numerous work tools and spiritual ideas, many
of which E.J. has laid out within a flow of creative abundance as pearls
to be picked up and cultivated to maturity. Get into this flow. It's
simple to stay connected on Zoom and "check in" with the school every
day.
Marvette Kort
"Ivy Does, What Ivy Does"
Several years ago, my friend, Della, and I were working in the Zen garden attempting to contain the English Ivy. The ivy had penetrated and attached itself to the bark of trees and was growing up their sides to the very top, in some cases. As I looked around the garden, it seemed to be everywhere. The immensity of the job grew for me as time went on and I become more and more agitated and frustrated. It was going too slowly, we'd never finish, this is too much - all these thoughts were racing through my mind.
Della, on the other hand, was enjoying her time in the outdoors. Occasionally, I would hear her gently talking to the plants as she trimmed and weeded. At one point she noticed my frustration. She moved toward me and quietly said, "Jewel, ivy does what ivy does -- that's all" . . . .
People and things, animate and non-animate objects, have their own essential nature. One must consider, respect, and most of all, accept this.
"Since everything is but an apparition, perfect in being what it is, having nothing to do with good or bad, acceptance or rejection, one may well burst out in laughter." (from The Natural Freedom of Mind by Long Chen Pa)..
Enjoy! Jewel McInroy
SOMETIMES THE BODY JUST KNOWS
Sometimes your body just knows. This is not the first time I have been
caught in a technical snafu. My mind is racing to handle the
time-sensitive situation.
E.J. has started his regular morning Zoom meeting. We got the numbers a
little later than usual, but I have the Livestream Producer set up to
open quickly, as well as the Zoom window set up ready for the numbers.
Opening that Zoom meeting for broadcast sends the audio to feed the
video camera in E.J.'s office for recording as well as passing the Zoom
audio to recording in Pro Tools on the recording studio computer.
It should go as usual to open Gorby's Place in Livestream and enter the
meeting number and password into the chat where lots of people pick it
up to then open their Zoom to populate Gorby's Zoom meeting. Sometimes I
post it first in the Gorby's Place chat, sometimes Yanesh is able to
enter it first, and then at times, we're typing it in at the same time.
We both work quickly to get the info communicated to as many people as
possible.
However, today the "should" didn't go as usual. Livestream Producer
wouldn't open; the message was camera error. But I'm not even using the
camera; the last usage of Producer had the settings set for broadcasting
the screen. After quickly trying a few workarounds, I call Claude.
Thank goodness Claude answers his phone at 6:29 a.m. After explaining
the situation with just a few words, an accomplishment in itself for me,
he says to do what I always do when this happens, change the camera.
Yes! I say that I'll call him back.
The clock is ticking. Gorby is proceeding with the meeting. I need to
work fast. I go to look for the camera and remember that the second
identical webcam we used to use to swap out and trick the computer is
what Gorby is using now on his computer to broadcast Zoom. I'm up
against a brick wall.
During this mad dash process, I'm trying on my phone to message the Zoom
meeting numbers to some folks, who typically notice my messaging.
Sidenote: I am a novice smart phone user, texting challenged. I hear
Gorby playing music from his office, see the recording computer in
record/pause mode, know the video camera is not recording and feel the
stress of people not having access to the Zoom meeting numbers on
Livestream, the place everyone is told to go for accessing the meeting.
My circuits are racing faster than I can keep up. Without thinking, my
hand pulls out the USB chord to the current webcam on the broadcast
computer and goes to open Livestream Producer again anyway, after
failing numerous times before. This is not the procedure we talked
about. But it opens without the camera option and it's showing the
screen. Gorby's Place is broadcasting on Livestream, and now I can enter
into the chat the Zoom numbers. I start hitting all the record buttons,
go to a different computer to post the Zoom numbers in the chat and
quickly go to Gorby's office to start the video camera.
This mind is still stunned by the overload when I enter Gorby's office. I
can barely understand the lyrics of his improvised song, but I
recognize that they are very engaging and am glad to be recording them.
After the Zoom meeting, the lament rushes in -- why does it have to be so
stressful to get to that place of taking right action without thought? I
wonder, is it like that for everyone? And I wonder if I can learn the
process of getting there smoothly on a regular basis without all this
hubbub.
Marvette Kort
GOOD TO KNOW:
There are times it becomes obvious that some intelligent benevolent force is at work in the grand scheme of things. Our job is it to become sensitive and willing enough to be able to cooperate.
Heads up: a Pencil Magic course in Zoom is in the works. If all goes well, should run for about 3 months starting at the end of May or beginning of June.
And oh, I made a short video about what you need to know for an in-house chick brooder, since, thanks to the covid-19 pandemic, chicken-keeping is experiencing a resurgence of interest. Here is the link: https://youtu.be/d9gA_Efh-nw
Christiane Wolters
TELEPATHY by E.J. Gold
"I wanted to talk to you about telepathy this morning. I watched a program, it was wonderful, about telepathy, about shamanic use of telepathy. I think it's a very good explanation of how telepathy works as a language. Because it is, it's a language.
"So, telepathy is one of those steps, the 9th step, a step where humanity is not going to get there. Telepathy is where the entire planet decides they flip over into honesty. You have to be honest to be telepathic, you can't cheat an honest man. You have to be totally, brutally honest. Like a stand-up comedian you know? Say it like it is.
"Telepathy comes easily, it's bread in, and gets bread in when it's welcome. When it's not welcome, when it's unwelcome, it gets bread out. That's natural selection. No this is not natural selection, it's special selection, it's a conscious kind of selection. What happens is that the entire global population says yes, we are ready to go telepathic; let's open up to one another and do this. And when that happens, human beings will realize their full potential, but not until then.
"Telepathy is something you can develop personally, even though those around you refute it, refuse it, disallow it, don't want it, are ignorant of it, etc. There are ways to practice it, there are ways to open yourself up to telepathy and to accept the fact that you are indeed telepathic, always have been, always will be. You are not non-telepathic, that's nonsense, to believe that you aren't. But you come to believe it because it's denied you all your life. And you don't know how to check it out; you have these impulses, thoughts, concepts, something comes in and you go, nah nah nah. And later you come to hear that actually is true. "Why didn't I say something at that time?" Because you didn't trust yourself. Why? Because telepathy is denied you.
"Why is it denied you? Because it is uncomfortable to those who are dishonest, who are deceptive, who are deceiving, who are hiding something. And you think, well, who? Everyone has something to hide. That may be true of most folks, but not everyone does. So telepathy is important."
edited by T. Jones
excerpt from Gorby's Place
November 11, 2015
TIME TO WAKE UP
"If we take our own daily lives as an
example, we can see that we are caught up in small pleasures; we develop
hang-ups and grasping about things of such little value. Isn't it funny
that the key to happiness is letting go of all the things that we think
will make us happy? It's because our perception doesn't allow us to see
reality. We need to let go of our attachments. Our attachments to our
worldly pursuits will not bring us lasting happiness, as all these are
not permanent, can end or be taken away from us.
"The only life which you have bought for yourself is that life
which you have in the waking state. Everything else didn't happen.
You're here to convert substance from what doesn't exist to what does
exist, through the use of the waking state. You are a processor, a
machine, a realizer. The French have the word realization: realized by.
To make something real. To concretize it, make it concrete. To bring it
into being, into existence...
"To ensure right action, you must have what the Buddhists call
Buddha-consciousness, which is what we call the waking state. "Knowing
how primates abuse everything, I will risk stating the following idea
anyway: You cannot take a wrong action in the waking state. Violence,
stupidity, ignorance, cruelty, and a number of other things are
obviously absent in, and not native to, the waking state. Because of the
absence of those negative things in the waking state, you can only
take appropriate action, and only action which is responsive..
"Now, people might tell you to initiate action, or make the action
voluntary or conscious, or do something which comes from you, but the
greatest form of such action is response. Appropriate response, in exact
measure. I can't explain it to you, but I can tell you about it.
Appropriate response in exact measure, no more, no less. Adding nothing
and taking nothing away is the most perfect action one can take. To
offer no resistance in the world of action is to take perfect
action."
E.J. Gold Talk of the Month #120 The Chronic and the Waking State
E.J. Gold Talk of the Month #135 Accessing The Waking State
Michele Marie
CRAFTY MIND
The gist of Popcorn exercise in simple terms: Observation
of the moving activities of the machine with ordinary attention. This
should be refined to the smallest detail. Like watching your hands when
you talk, how it fidgets and observing the machine when it smiles,
lifting the spoon, etc. If seriously performed for a long time, the
attention on movements of body can become complex and the brain is
finally forced to automatize attention on the movements. This stops
the "associative-thinking" process of the
thinking center and allows it to function for Mentation (prolonged
attention on any subject or process through will) which is its true
function and eventually in the due process, all centers return to their
normal functioning. Currently, we are upside down. This exercise
(done sincerely for a prolonged duration) pops us like a popcorn into
normal functioning!
Associative-Thinking Process: Once upon a time
. . . the machine came back from the kitchen. And started watching a
Netflix TV Series. The lead actor shows-off inner resilience. Wondering
if that's possible in real life. Real life differs from fiction. Fiction
sounds good in books. Machine needs to read the new fiction book. But
the actor seemed arrogant in real life, too. Whatever it is, he is
earning a lot. Money! Money knows no boundaries. Oh! The poor people.
Poverty is a disease. Lot of new diseases these days. Wondering how
humans are living their life. 21st century rotten lifestyle. Need to
update machine's own lifestyle. Oh! The episode ends now. Need to watch
another one. Before that, the machine needs some fuel. Kitchen! Here we
come"¦
Nishit Gajjar
DIABLO Part 2
This second
part has been somewhat difficult to write. A difficulty in
assessing the actual corresponding carryover of actual changes in habits
created by D2 play to the life of the HBM. Right from the get go,
my activity and experience in the safaris taught me that participating
in the D2 bardo safaris was going to be a demanding process. That it was
a form of training, and I reckon the name "Bardo Safari" gives the clue
to the utility space of said training. There was definitely some sort
of corresponding-ship-hoodness between the safaris and what I
needed to assimilate to better adhere to the Path, capital P.
Demanding of focus, attention, teamwork, selflessness, sharing, empathy,
acceptance of repetition, vigilance, patience, caring...
Pretty much all the stuff I was receiving failing grades in as a human
primate. So it became a process of slow abrasion; I was that geologic
formation on a beach suffering the effects of wind, sand and
water. After many safari participations, it dawned upon me that
one of the monsters, a most powerful Act Boss that needed taming, was
inside me.
The qualities of being a good team player, well, they were not exactly
innate in me. But immersed in the game play of the D2 universe, they
became obligatory. I wouldn't say it ran 100% against my nature (or
that I am 100% cured), but there were things that needed to be filed
down. Things I hadn't had to manifest in my life very frequently, if at
all. It felt good to be part of a team. If there was a synergistic
relationship between the different game characters of a POG, for me, one
of the principal elements of game play was the synergy between their
handlers at their keyboards in disparate physical locations on the
planet.
The takeaway was that if I were doing it in game, I'd create the habit
which would carry me through in the between-lives-state. A bit like
learning to drive a car: First few times you drive with your mental
center, after a time you begin to drive with something else. In game,
learning the right reaction habits that keep you together with the team
and alive, learning to stay with the POG, to look out for one another"¦
these habits eventually translate into life habits and beyond. Game
Habits transfer to earthly life and perhaps deeper.
Who hasn't heard the words "presence" and "attention"? In game I learnt
that I had to remain aware of many things at the same time: my life
globe, my mana globe, the life of my mercenary, the life of my team
members and their positions, where I was, what I was doing, what type of
monster I was facing, which weapons and powers to choose from at a
given moment and in a given situation. Lose the thread in game, and I
die; my char dies or I cause team members to die. Is that a valid alarm
clock or what?
Another aspect of the game is the development of a certain type of, I
don't know what to call it, "psychic sensing"? Where you just sense
which way to go, which road through the dungeon maze will lead to a
waypoint or to the next space.
At the beginning, there were those reactions of fear leading to panic
movements. Then slowly but surely, over time, I learnt to deal with
those moments. Inner tendencies. Through handling my character in
reactions to game situations, I could see this being translated into
life situations. Caring.
Teamwork, sacrifice and communication. No one left behind. Did I mention caring?
Seeing and feeling the corresponding between the Bardo Safaris and what I
needed to learn for the Path. Perseverance furthers. Repetition.
Did I mention repetition?
At the moment I participate in two Bardo Safaris per week and I feel
blessed because I am thus able to maintain contact with my brothers and
sisters on the Path as well as continue the abrasion process. One of the
safaris is termed a "Noob Safari". This safari is an opportunity for
novices to receive on-line hands-on training in the nuances of this
amazing video game training and reap the benefits of being involved in
something bigger than one's own self playing it out in some sort of
gaming alternate universe.
If you are reading this, it is likely that you find yourself on Earth in
the Spring of 2020 C.E. And if that is the case, then It is possible
that you find yourself in some sort of lockdown quarantine situation.
What better way to spend some of that in-house time than to play Diablo
II and join a noob safari. Here's a link to purchase the game https://us.shop.battle.net/en-us/family/diablo-ii
GoodGaming (GG, as we say in the guild)
Eric Feingold