Monday, June 22, 2009

The Eight Gates

Another birthday has passed for me. And I have now reached the point of reflection on my life which will become the foundation for my journey into the future. I have come to the understanding that to prepare for tomorrow I must focus on bringing balance to my life today. I also know that the success of any future venture will depend on my ability to bring success to as many people as possible. By success I mean helping to bring balance to the lives of as many people as possible - starting with myself. After coming to this understanding I realized that to accomplish my goals it will be necessary to dedicate the rest of my life to mastering the mysteries of the Eight Gates.

I often write about the I Ching and it’s influence on past, present and future human development. The eight trigrams that serve as the foundation of the sixty four hexagrams which comprise the I Ching (better known as the Book of Change), corresponds with the 64 combinations found within the genetic code. It is said that the I Ching’s influence helped James Watson and Francis Crick discover the genetic code, unlocking the very mystery of life itself. If you Google “I Ching Hexagram” you can see a picture of the eight trigrams of the I Ching, also known as the Eight Gates. The foundation of the eight gates is the broken Yin line __ __ and the straight Yang line ____ which represents the negative and positive dualism existing within all things - from the protons and electrons of the atom to the conscious and subconscious of the human psyche.

Taijiquan (Tai Chi) Grand Master Abdul Musawwir introduced me to the circular movement of the Eight Gates, which can be used for health and defense. In Jou Tsung Hwa’s classic book, “The Dao of Taijiquan: Way to Rejuvenation”, the movement of the Eight Gates are described as North, North East, East, South East, South, South West, West and North West. While studying Ki Energy treatment and training in the mountains of Korea, I was taught the energy relationship of the Eight Gates with North (Heaven) representing the Electromagnetic Field and South (Earth) representing the Bio-Psychic Field. If you Google the South Korean National flag you will see it has four of the Eight Gates: Heaven, Earth, Fire and Water. I plan to conduct an I Ching workshop in the Fall at the City College of New York , because the best way to master a subject is to teach it.

I will write more about how the Eight Gates can be used as a foundation to improve the quality of life. I invite you to join me on this journey. I will keep you updated on events and programs that can help anyone interested. You can also send me an email at u.ology@yahoo.com for more information or questions on how the Eight Gates can improve your quality of life.

Monday, June 15, 2009

A Day for Fathers

June 21st is Father’s Day, and I wanted to write something in tribute to all the fathers in the world. I was not sure about the history of this day of celebration for fathers. I consulted Wikipedia, a very helpful online encyclopedia (http://www.wikipedia.org/), to learn about the history of Father’s Day in America. Many countries celebrate a day for fathers throughout the year. According to Wikipedia, the first Father’s Day was celebrated on June 19, 1910, in Spokane WA. Sonora Smart Dodd was a driving force behind the inauguration of the first Father’s Day in honor of her father, a single parent who raised six children.

It took a few years to make the holiday official. A bill was introduced to Congress in 1913, President Calvin Coolidge supported the idea in 1924, but it was not until the Associated Men’s Wear Retailers formed a National Father’s Day Committee in New York City in the 1930’s did the legitimizing and commercialization of the celebration become a national movement. In 1966 President Lyndon Johnson issued a proclamation making the third Sunday in June an official federal holiday to celebrate fathers.

History tells us that if it were not for the political/economic focus that commercialized father’s day, the celebration might not have been what we understand it to be today. Like all things in our world, this also has a yin and a yang component to it. While it is wonderful to have a dad to reflect on for Father’s Day, the commercialization sometimes can overshadow the relationship between father and child. There are many different relationships we have with our fathers, but we all have one thing in common: if it were not for our father and mother we would not be here.

The gift of life is, in my view, why we celebrate Mother’s Day and Father’s Day. I did not fully understand my father until I became a father. There are many who have no father to celebrate with next Sunday for one reason or another. Father’s Day will also have different meanings for different people. But if you’re reading this article, I recommend you focus on the concepts of gratitude and love for life this coming Father’s Day, whether you are with your father or not. Love is a healing frequency. It is being in the here and now, and being thankful for the opportunity to be. Don’t forget to reach out to your father if you can.

Happy Father’s Day.

Friday, June 5, 2009

Water on Mars

On June 20th 2008 one day after my birthday, at 8:03 p.m. ET, Space.com reported that NASA had found evidence of water on Mars. I thought that was a big thing. If water is on Mars there’s a strong possibility that very soon NASA will discover life on Mars. According to a scientist friend at NASA, the possibility of finding life on Mars is why this remarkable discovery was kept somewhat low key. My friend then said she hoped that after January 20th the religious right in government might have less of a controlling influence on government funding for scientific projects that might raise questions about what some religions believe to be true concerning human development on earth.

The politics of religion has a foundation in control and the “I am right and you are wrong” belief. Eckhart Tolle addressed this in his book A New Earth when he states that: “Beyond the realm of simple and verifiable facts, the certainty that ‘I am right and you are wrong’ is a dangerous thing in personal relationships as well as relationships between nations, tribes and religions.” I think it was Nelly who said “More people have been killed in the name of the Lord then in any natural disaster, disease or war” in his song N Dey Say. Four hundred years ago if you talked about technology that today we take for granted you might have been burned alive in certain communities due to the politics of religion.

Water on Mars may open the door to a new spiritual consciousness for mankind and perhaps new interpretations of the concept of God. Some of the major conflicts that the world is faced with today is due to the religious beliefs by many that “I am right and you are wrong”, and “My God is better then yours”. Where does that argument stand when we start to deal with life forms from other worlds? Tolle is correct when he states that “If you believe only your religion is the truth, you are using it in the service of the ego. Used in such a way religion becomes ideology and creates an illusory sense of superiority as well as division and conflict between people.”

I often write about my concept of God, which is simple. Let’s take gravity. God is gravity, and no matter who you are, male or female, rich or poor, Christian, Muslim or Jew, if you jump off a roof you’ll fall. There is no discrimination in gravity and there is no discrimination in God.

Water on Mars may signal the beginning of an evolution of the collective conscience of humans on earth. There’s a new movie coming out that’s a remake of an old Sci-Fi classic, “The Day the Earth Stood Still”. Who knows, perhaps the day will come when the human race may be forced to accept that there is only one race on earth - the human race - when faced with the reality of life on other worlds.

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Africans in Asia
By
Tony Rogers

Tieguai - One of the nine Immortals of Taoism

As we move into the world of transparency our history, or as some say – his/story – is being viewed by many as an ever-changing story. The discovery of the genetic code, by James Watson and Francis Crick in 1953, provided scientific proof that modern humanity originated in Africa. Runoko Rashidi and Ivan Van Sertima in their outstanding collaborative work, The African Presence in Early Asia, provide evidence that Diminutive Blacks travelled and sojourned from one corner of Asia to the other over 90,000 years ago.
Runoko Rashidi, who is considered by many to be the world’s foremost authority on the African presence in Asia, states that there is abundant evidence to show that Black people, within documented historical periods, created or influenced some of ancient Asia’s most important and enduring high-cultures. I often write about Tieguai, who was an African martial artist known as the Iron-Staff Immortal, one of the nine immortals (Fathers) of Taoism. The hand painted thirteenth century picture of Tieguai leaves no doubt that Africans had an influence in China’s Golden Age.
It has been widely acknowledged that, between 1630 and 1830, the Atlantic slave trade, and the rise of modern European imperialism, created the need to rewrite history concerning the African contribution to the civilized world, as a way to justify slavery. The best two research books, that provide excellent data, on this issue is Martin Bernal’s Black Athena: The Fabrication of Ancient Greece and Egypt Revisited, edited by Ivan Van Sertima.
You might ask yourself why all this information is so important in 2009. I believe it is important because it is impossible to understand and have love for others if one does not have an understanding of, and love for, self. It is important for our young to know the truth. I often write about the ongoing evolution of the Human Race, and the optimistic future of science and spirituality coming closer together, with the tremendous potential of our future resting on past African and Asian cultures.
The discovery of the 64 binary triplet figures called DNA, by Watson and Crick, contain the key to unlocking the very mystery of life itself. These 64 binary triplets correspond directly to the 64 binary triplet hexagrams of the 2000 year old Chinese literary classic, I Ching, known also as the Book of Changes. There is now evidence that the I Ching could have been influenced by the 3000 year old Ifa oracle of West Africa, which is also based on the binary principle.
As the saying goes, understanding the past can help one prepare for the future.