The Road, Less Travelled

My first ride

My first ride was on a Vespa. That was all my dad could afford at that time in Pakistan. So we would all fit somehow, Dad, Mom, and sometimes all three brothers on it. (We were somewhat little then :)

But this is just a hook to discuss, the road we must all travel. We are on a journey, and yes that journey may seem very difficult at this point in time. I can only help give each person the tools to decide what direction to take.

I sent this out to my Global list in 2004. I hope it was well taken, and want to see how it applies today.

The Road Travelled

Many people have asked for help in determining what their purpose in life was. Was it based on what one did, or strengths and accomplishments, the places one had been to and the people met? Are we meant to follow certain rules, and obtain rewards in this and the afterlife, and those who broke the rules would be punished by whatever means, Hell or Karma, and the consequences would be unpleasant? Must we search in blindness, and do the best we can, and hope for the best?

In the past I have said there is a particular place within ourselves, the part or chakra of dharma, where our path can be determined. But knowing our path is not the important thing, it is how we get to that realisation, the road travelled, that is all-important.

This is a time for reflection, and so I would like to share with you The Road Travelled.

I have had great loves and sorrows, accomplishments, remembered my past lives, saved the lives of others and seen the future. My purpose is to help, but is that all there is? No.

I see men and women who aren't at peace, unhappy in love or their jobs or family situation, looking at their lives and saying is that all there is? Then there are those who find their passion and go for it, but are they truly content, or is there always, some unreachable goal they will pursue to the end of their days?

I see people who are so unhappy they can only live by obtaining substitutes for happiness, and that becomes their purpose. Is life meant to be suffered?

There is one answer, and one only. We must find God, however we may expect that being to be, and whatever form, and if that gives you peace and balance, hold to it. If you do not have peace and balance, search for it. What you do in life or how you do it may be a means to an end, but remember, the chakras I tell you about are just doorways into other dimensions. You must still find the thing you were meant to do. It may even be that all you have to do is love someone, or give in some way, or create something wonderful. You may be the greatest or the lowest of beings, but in the end, it will be how you lived your life, the road travelled, that will bring to you great happiness and joy.

Love,
Naseer Ahmad

7 years have passed and I hope you have found what it is you are looking for. But if not, then what is the direction you must take?

There's an exercise I teach, where if you have always followed a certain route, then take another. If your road comes to a fork and you think you should go left, then, turn right. You may take longer to get to where you want to go, but who knows what or whom you might meet along the way?

If you have always done the same thing, be it in politics, or religion, or any other area of action, then, look at new ways, and look for change. The old ways do not work any more, and I am changing all the rules. Look at your belief systems and reactions, and then, take the road less travelled.

It may be harder; I know mine has been very much so. So many times when I knew I could take the easy road, which is where I would meet everyone else :)

Yet I knew it was the wrong way for me, so I took the road that did not make any sense, until much later. Always.

Now we come to the end of an age. There is no safety anywhere, be it through material wealth or New Age spirituality. Only faith in yourself and the future can help, if you are ready to change, and seek help.

May you take the road, less travelled.

A Psycho-Astrological Perspective on the Relationship of Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito

Knox/Sollecito. Are they soul mates? No. Kercher/Knox

I'm grateful to the person who asked this question a while ago: "I'd love to have a psychologist give an opinion of this Amanda/Raffaele relationship. They don't know each other. Media is making it out to be some great story of lovers torn apart. They had sex for a few days" (Referring to media speculation that the two would meet in Seattle over Christmas, much seen as an attempt to rehabilitate their image)

My reply:"Sigh, here I go, being dragged back into this case again. Thanks! Coming up, "A Psycho-Astrological Perspective on the Relationship of Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito" But to let you know, it never was a soul mate relationship, more of a karmic one, clearly leading to imprisonment and legal difficulties. They'd do best to stay two oceans away from now on"

Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito have been found innocent in the first of two appeals trials that will determine whether they are truly guilty or innocent of the crime of the murder of British student Meredith Kercher in Perugia, Italy.

While we wait for the outcome of this process I would like to say that indeed, Astrology can answer such questions about the nature and outcome of a relationship. Whether Psychology can ever get back to its astrological roots is another debate, for another time, of course :)

Astrology, like Psychology, is the study of humanity in the context of time, location, space and waves, or, cycles, of energy. It can draw maps of the relationships of each with the other..

You can have one horoscope for the place where you were born, another for the place you go to, and an innumerable number for all the relationships you have, with people, places, and nations.

And then there are more, pertaining to time and the cycles of energy, which like the tides, ebb and flow.

I have already written about the astrological background, with spiritual insight of course, of the night of the murder in my article "What Might Have Been" http://manfromatlan.blogspot.com/2011/06/what-might-have-been.html

Further background insights may be obtained from "The Criminal Mind" http://manfromatlan.blogspot.com/2011/09/criminal-mind.html and there are two amazing books I recommend as well, "An Astrology Guide to your Sex Life" by Vivian E. Robson, and "Signs of Mental Illness" by Mitchell E. Gibson, M.D. Dr. Gibson was the chief resident in Psychiatry in a Philadelphia medical center and now has a successful private practice in Arizona. He is also an astrologer, with a new technique that identifies the planetary markers of mental illness; and Vivian E. Robson, has written a classic, almost out of print primer on sexual and marital compatibility (and dysfunction)

Their books have informed my own opinion, but the following interpretations are broadly speaking, my own, even if they are solidly grounded in accepted astrological teaching.

I am also grateful to the good people of http://www.astro.com/ for the use of their software to draw up the composite charts shown here. Please support them by ordering their horoscopes, which make great gifts!

There is an astrological technique called synastry where the charts of two individuals are blended into one. The composite chart of Raffaele Sollecito and Amanda Knox show fascinating insights into the nature of their relationship, and, eventual outcome...

Moon Conjunct Neptune: With the conjunction of Moon and Neptune, both individuals should be very careful to understand the true nature of their relationship. They can see themselves as soul mates, but there is a great deal of self deception involved..

Venus in the Second House: Indicates being in love with the idea of love. This being the house of emotional resources, they will always have what they need, and may even be financially successful together.

Jupiter Trine Pluto: Luck, and fate, combine here. How that works out depends on the choices made, but Jupiter in the 12th house of restriction and imprisonment and Pluto the planet of inexorable fate in the 8th house of death shows the pitfalls ahead in this relationship..

Venus Opposition Pluto: This is a warning of danger. The relationship brings up deeply buried emotions that can be overwhelming.. It can either help you to grow, or cause self-destruction.

Sun Conjunct Mercury: You have the ability to understand each other's thinking. You meet through travel. You are alike on a mental level.

Sun Opposition Saturn:
The development of the self (Sun) is constantly thwarted by the fated or karmic circumstances of Saturn. This relationship cannot last.

Saturn in the Ninth House: The karma (Saturn) of the relationship is expressed through the 9th house. The ninth house rules higher learning, the legal system, and publishing.

Jupiter Conjunct Ascendant: The relationship will always have an element of 'luck' and 'friends in high places' that can help in the worst crisis. The relationship can create feelings of exuberance and optimism as long as the chart does not show other stressors.

Jupiter in the Twelfth House: This is the house of imprisonment and restriction. Combined with other indicators, shows a time spent in prison.

Uranus in the Tenth House: Uranus (upheaval and change) in the house of how the outer world sees you indicates you can seem er, 'different'. You try to challenge people's perceptions, but it is your choice whether to bring change in a positive or negative manner. Destructive activities can lead to a fall from grace.

Uranus Square Ascendant: This amplifies the destructiveness mentioned earlier. You can goad each other, and feelings of rebelliousness will be exaggerated in this unstable relationship. This is why I strongly feel the relationship cannot last.

Moon Square Mars: This is a difficult aspect for a relationship. The emotional energies show conflict through bad associations.

Mars in the Seventh House: You have the choice of channelling your energies together for a common purpose, or you can end up being each other's greatest enemy. The seventh is the house of partners and enemies.

Mars Square Neptune: This negative aspect can indicate ego and controlling games with each other. There can be confusion, deceit, and delusion in the relationship, which is often accompanied by drugs. The two can often act against each other's interests.

Jupiter Square Saturn: You have to find a balance between optimism on the one hand, and feelings of restriction. Extremes of mood and behavior can lead to difficulty.

Ascendant in Pisces: You can project an outward, dreamlike quality, and others can perceive yours as an ideal relationship. However, there may be self-destructive elements of your relationship. As long as you find a common idealism, it should work well. Drugs and alcohol on the other hand weakens the relationship. Friends and family find it hard to understand you; there are many levels of deception.

Neptune in the Tenth House: A lack of clarity is what you project to the outside world. People find it hard to understand what makes you tick. Or you can develop your creative, spiritual side to counteract that. (Note: I have this aspect in my own chart :)

Pluto in Scorpio in the Eighth House: Pluto (and Scorpio) rules death and transformation. So does the eighth house. It makes the relationship deep and intense, but can also bring out psychological conflict. There is a deep sexual connection that if utilised properly can lead to spiritual oneness. Or, it can lead to death and destruction. (Funny, but I have this aspect too :) and the spirit's journey after we pass on and the sacred aspects of sexuality is part of my teaching)

Venus Opposition Pluto: This can bring up deep powerful emotions in your relationship, so you have to be careful, otherwise you will not be able to deal with the consequences. (I have this aspect too, and yes I have powerful emotions, but direct it towards healing)

To summarise then:
The relationship chart of Raffaele Sollecito and Amanda Knox shows that in spite of the fact they only knew each other a week, they did have a relationship based on their inner psychological needs. This sort of 'fatedness' but also imbalance, can project outwards and explain why so many people are attracted to and support them, and others, not. And so we project back on to them what is inside ourselves, good or bad, and it is important we step back and examine our own attraction to this case.

And here, so clearly in the chart, we see, motivation, outcome, political interference, and reaction.

The next technique I use is called Astro-Cartography. Moving away from our place of birth shifts the placement of the planets of our chart to different angles that bring out deep rooted conflicts or, where we can be more in harmony with ourselves and others.

Knox in Perugia: Chiron/MC Line: This line runs through Germany as well, where Knox had a job through her aunt which she lost. This affected her perception of herself and goals for her trip. The crisis of confidence that arose from her loss of professional and social standing affected her deeply. Here, one becomes aware of the influence of parents on one's growth, but also brings up feelings of rebelliousness.

Sollecito in Perugia: Crossing Sun/Uranus: This line shows how the quest for personal freedom and independence from a restrictive situation can make one seem even more eccentric and unpredictable. You seek new challenges and experiences. The unusual and the unexpected can happen along this line..

Knox in Seattle: Pluto/DC Line: Not a good place for Knox. Here there are secret power plays and conflicts, and uncontrolled behaviour. Life can run roughly, and one seeks to escape through extremes of behaviour, and then actually, seek to leave this place.. Unfortunately, one takes conflicts along where ever one goes..

Sollecito in Seattle: Crossing Venus/Jupiter: Funny, but he'd actually do very well if he moved to Seattle: Here, he'd find luck, prosperity and happiness; but not, it would seem, with Knox. Fame and notoriety may help, but it also would be an escape from the pressures of home..

But what about Meredith?

I thought this would be it for my article but found myself coming back to the victim, Meredith Kercher. What was it in Knox and Kercher that brought them together? They clearly had a deeper connection, to my mind, than Knox/Sollecito.

This is where the rationalists and I part ways. To them, it must have been a random coincidence, just bad luck, that brought them together that fateful night in Perugia. To me, there was a clear attraction that came from what is often referred to as a karmic relationship. And the map of that lies in their relationship chart, seen above.

I am drawn to the six planets all narrowly concentrated in the 6th house of service and health. Also, the house of mental and physical conflicts arising from the externalization of the ego http://www.astrologyweekly.com/dictionary/sixth-house.php It is clear from accounts that Knox and Kercher had many conflicts in the short time they were together. Published reports only show the petty irritations that might arise from two young women of different background and temperament having to live together. The relationship chart, however shows what in hindsight was clearly a deadly combination.

Note: blue lines show areas of compatibility; red lines, stresses and conflict. The eye is drawn immediately to a red triangle in the upper part of the chart (a conflict that is in the public eye) and connecting the 6th house of inner conflict with 8th house Uranus (jealousy, sudden death) and 12th house Jupiter (imprisonment, release)

Here are some interpretations of their chart:
Knox/Kercher:

Jupiter Square Uranus 8th/12th: It means you must give each other lots of room, and not try to restrict or change the other.

Mars Square Uranus 6th/8th: Personal expectations of each other cannot be met, a great deal of reaction to each other. Can escalate into violence leading to injury or death.

Mercury Square Uranus 6th /8th: Automatic disagreement with the other; psychologically conditioned reactions. This relationship would have broken up very quickly, and one or the other would have moved out. Sadly, this did not happen.

Venus in the Sixth House: The relationship is on the surface, a utilitarian one (a shared apartment) but has underlying nervous reactions that can lower self-esteem.

Venus Square Neptune 6th/9th: Here, I see that Knox was attracted to Kercher, and I do not mean in a sexual way. The 6th house is the house of healing. Knox had deep mental and psychological issues that had never been addressed. Kercher was a bright, focused high achieving student with passion and drive. There was something special about her that attracted everyone. It is my opinion that Knox wanted very much to not only be Meredith's friend, but also, to control her. (There are domination issues in Knox's chart) There can also be an idealized fixation, and from all accounts of their respective personalities, it appears the attraction was on Knox's part. Kercher would have found her the very opposite of her driven to achieve Capricorn character. This aspect leads to great disappointment in the relationship, and yes, I consider jealousy and feelings of rejection to be one of the motives.

Mars Square Saturn 6th/9th: This provokes negative feelings that simmer below the surface.

Uranus in the Eighth House: Sudden and unpredictable reactions

Mercury Conjunct Mars 6th: Speech patterns that can aggravate the other. Constant irritations can lead to physical confrontations.

One of the problems faced by the prosecution and defense has been in trying to determine or eliminate the motivation for this crime. The actual mechanics and physical evidence have been argued and disputed for a long time now but motive, on the other hand, with various scenarios being presented, are all conjectural. We may never know for sure.

But a study of the psychology of the individual, as seen through astrology, can be quite insightful.

Here: The placement of the Moon in the chart explains hidden feeling and emotion so very clearly.

Moon in the Sixth House: This indicates a coming together for the specific purpose of healing. However, this cannot work as there are too many imbalances in the chart, which prevent understanding.

Moon Conjunct Venus: They could have had a great friendship, but they were too opposite, and the squares to Uranus and Neptune indicate that repulsion set in very quickly.

Sun Conjunct Moon: This indicates a great attraction, even if there are too many difficulties indicated elsewhere.

Moon Square Neptune: This relationship has aspects of delusional thinking. It appears that one or the other can project all sorts of longing on to the other, but, when that turns out to have been misjudged, lead to great disappointment. Alcohol and drugs can exacerbate the situation.

Summary: The Moon represents the relationship with the mother. Amanda Knox's father left the family when she was a toddler, and her mother remarried with a much younger man. Meredith Kercher, on the other hand, had a strong, loving relationship with her mother. It appears that Meredith reflected back Amanda's issues with her own mother, whose high expectations (she's a teacher) and Amanda's self destructive patterns and rebelliousness led to a violent outcome.

That the Moon falls in the 6th house indicates to me that her actions can lead to Amanda Knox's eventual healing. It is very clear she had mental issues before she left for Italy, and they are much worse now. I told some people that she would be in a prison of one kind or the other until she was 41 years of age. Karma is a healer; more so than any physical prison.

And in the end, we will always remember Meredith Kercher. I prefer to see her, not as a victim, but the luminous figure (it really was her) who appeared in Kristian Leontiou's haunting music video, "Some Say" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-q15O-rRdQM

RIP Meredith Kercher

Buried Treasure

This is a real treasure map, mateys!

I meet the most interesting people, and it's always, always, for a reason. They always have a good story to tell. They may be a connection from the past, or, a message pertaining to the future. (Note: don't ask me if I have a message for them :) Even if I did, I'd still wait and see what unfolds) They may know people that are famous (though I always find their story more compelling than that of the politician/celebrity they're connected with) And yes, there is buried treasure waiting to be found.

There are many people, with buried memories of past lives. Helping them untangle and move forward is one thing I do. There are those who almost died and came back with a purpose, or still are searching. You look at a person, and you see the gifts they have. You look around, and there are unquiet spirits... yes, they are interesting.

So, Nelson Mandela is a hero to many people because of his heroic resistance to oppression. But in the end he had to make a deal not to nationalize South Africa's mines before he was allowed to become president. And then, even then, people still tried to assassinate him. I met the special forces man who was supposed to plant a bomb in his office. He'd been tortured in prison, and I helped heal his broken body so he was free of pain for a while. As I said, it was his story that was interesting.

The Dalai Lama is another celebrity we get to project our emotional and spiritual longing on to. I know too much of his story of compromise to care any more. It was the Rinpoche in Toronto with the gleaming eyes and shared sense of humour I liked.

Then there are people who quite literally search for buried treasure.

There was an Iranian businessman who wanted much but was afraid to give. He had all sorts of spiritual and financial karma. So I made him pay me up front :) and as it turned out, good thing I did :))) He won a big lawsuit, regained property stolen from him, sold a factory, made millions. Then, in the nature of rich people everywhere, he wanted his money's worth. Which, he got. There's a friend of his in London whose son had a stroke. In a coma for a while, could I help? Yes, and he got better. His brother was a coke addict. I healed from a distance, and he quit. Left his family too, but, I break eggs. Then he got me in touch with some exiles who needed to get a hold of 'buried treasure'. Sure I could help, but pay me first. Nope, and we parted ways.

But the real person in all of this was his wife. She had some tremendous abilities and would have become a very powerful spiritual teacher. But they both were victims of spiritual possession and in the end, I could only wish them the best, with no regrets.

There are the 'spiritual advisers' to politicians. Like Djuna Davishavili, the woman who some say had enormous influence both with Russian leaders Leonid Brezhnev and Boris Yeltsin. I met her in Spain, and was invited to Moscow. Funny how my sense of self preservation kept me from going there just before the second Russian revolution and attack on the Russian White House in 1993. Around 2000 people were killed.

Yet I would also go to Iran in 2007, and believe me, that was more dangerous. Many of the ayatollahs and businessmen do believe in sorcery. But I was there to teach spirituality and prevent a disaster, and again, whatever could have happened, didn't (See "Happy Nawrooz To The People Of Iran").

When the Japanese armies invaded China in the late 30's huge amounts of gold and jewels were looted and sent back to Japan, and later, hidden in caves in the Philippines. The late Philippines dictator Ferdinand Marcos had a spiritual advisor he trusted implicitly. She had a disciple who came to Canada and became my student for a while. She told me about the caves which still had tons of looted gold and jewels. The CIA was after that, and she'd already been cheated of $30 million which had been entrusted to her by Marcos. Could I help her with that? Perhaps I could. But again, my spidey sense said it would come to nothing. Yet, funnily, coincidentally, my cousin was South Asian head of operations for a European bank based in Manila, and then when he might have been able to help the Iranians in 2007, he was heading operations in Amsterdam. But there was no way I'd endanger him.

Ever since I read RL Stevenson's Treasure Island I'd been fascinated by the idea of hidden treasure. Sure, there's Nazi looted gold in European lakes, and Mayan treasure vaults buried deep in the Andes, and Captain Kidd's pirate treasure somewhere off the Carolina coast.

But note this. The occult means 'the hidden', and alchemy is not the transmutation of lead to gold, but the transformation of humanity to a higher spiritual level.

There are people with a divine gift who wish to make a difference but don't know how.

If you want to know how to get there I say: give it up and follow me.

The greatest treasure of all is knowledge.

The Rape of Europa

It's so sad to see this

Europe has given so much to us in the way of civilization. From the Greek philosophers to the Roman foundations of empire and stability, to the Enlightenment and the Age of Revolution, the intellectual, cultural, scientific and artistic gifts given to future generations can only be looked at with wonder.

In my youth and going up to University I read all 11 volumes and 10,000 pages of Will and Ariel Durant's The Story of Civilization http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Story_of_Civilization (mostly Western Civilization, alas, but Vol. 1, Our Oriental Heritage, is magnificent)

But it is this elegy on Will Durant by his wife Ariel Durant that best describes Europe: "that sentimental, idealizing blend of love, philosophy, Christianity, and socialism which dominated (its) spiritual chemistry"

Yes, Europeans can be insular, xenophobic, nationalistic and a little too rationalistic. Nothing an occasional invasion by Eastern hordes can't resolve :)

Yes, it has a dark karma that involves far too many colonial occupations and wholesale slaughter of native peoples. Yes, that karma is catching up to Europe.

But, I do love Europeans and their culture and social norms. My children are a happy blend of both worlds, and I respect the Western Mind as equal, if different than the Eastern Mind; the joy's in the mix.

And, as we go through these momentous changes, here's a word from Will Durant on the decline and rebuilding of civilizations: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Will_Durant#On_the_decline_and_rebuilding_of_civilizations

"Much like Oswald Spengler, Will Durant saw the decline of a civilization as a culmination of strife between religion and secular intellectualism, thus toppling the precarious institutions of convention and morality:

"Hence a certain tension between religion and society marks the higher stages of every civilization. Religion begins by offering magical aid to harassed and bewildered men; it culminates by giving to a people that unity of morals and belief which seems so favorable to statesmanship and art; it ends by fighting suicidally in the lost cause of the past."

"For as knowledge grows or alters continually, it clashes with mythology and theology, which change with geological leisureliness. Priestly control of arts and letters is then felt as a galling shackle or hateful barrier, and intellectual history takes on the character of a "conflict between science and religion"

"Institutions which were at first in the hands of the clergy, like law and punishment, education and morals, marriage and divorce, tend to escape from ecclesiastical control, and become secular, perhaps profane. The intellectual classes abandon the ancient theology and—after some hesitation—the moral code allied with it; literature and philosophy become anticlerical"

"The movement of liberation rises to an exuberant worship of reason, and falls to a paralyzing disillusionment with every dogma and every idea. Conduct, deprived of its religious supports, deteriorates into epicurean chaos; and life itself, shorn of consoling faith, becomes a burden alike to conscious poverty and to weary wealth. In the end a society and its religion tend to fall together, like body and soul, in a harmonious death. Meanwhile among the oppressed another myth arises, gives new form to human hope, new courage to human effort, and after centuries of chaos builds another civilization"

Europe is indeed, going through its period of chaos, and hopefully will one day build another civilization. And bless Will Durant's hopeful optimism, he's right. Europe needs to embrace an idea.

Of course, since he died in 1981, he wasn't able to see the culmination of decades of decline in morality - fiscal, political, and ethical, but the results are upon us now. His quote: "A great civilization is not conquered from without until it has destroyed itself from within" was in the title credits of Mel Gibson's 2006 film "Apocalypto".

I liked the Durants because of the clarity of their writing and sheer love for their subject. If there was a writer who best might describe the socio-economic upheaval we are going through, it would be Karl Marx, but most people find him unreadable. Still, he sees the process of change as a continuous struggle between the capitalists and the masses. And, as riots take place in the streets of Europe and more sedate Americans occupy Wall Street, who can deny that struggle is ongoing?

Whither Europe? After decades of neo-liberal economic policies we are now being subjected to fears of the collapse of European economies and the Eurozone. Here's a Counterpunch magazine article that describes the problem very well: http://www.counterpunch.org/2011/06/24/bankers-gear-up-for-the-rape-of-greece-as-social-democrats-vote-for-national-suicide/

"The fight for Europe’s future is being waged in Athens and other Greek cities to resist financial demands that are the 21st century’s version of an outright military attack. The threat of bank overlordsh­ip is not the kind of economy-ki­lling policy that affords opportunit­ies for heroism in armed battle, to be sure. Destructive­ financial policies are more like an exercise in the banality of evil; in this case, the pro-credit­or assumption­s of the European Central Bank (ECB), EU and IMF (egged on by the U.S. Treasury).

As Vladimir Putin pointed out some years ago, the neoliberal reforms put in Boris Yeltsin’s hands by the Harvard Boys in the 1990s caused Russia to suffer lower birth rates, shortening life spans and emigration; the greatest loss in population growth since World War II.

Capital flight is another consequence­ of financial austerity. The ECB’s proposed “solution” to Greece’s debt problem is thus self-defea­ting. It only buys time for the ECB to take on yet more Greek government debt, leaving all EU taxpayers to get the bill. It is to avoid this shift of bank losses onto taxpayers that Angela Merkel in Germany has insisted that private bondholder­s must absorb some of the loss resulting from their bad investment­s”

The bankers are trying to get a windfall by using the debt hammer to achieve what warfare did in times past. They are demanding privatization of public assets (on credit, with tax deductibility for interest so as to leave more cash flow to pay the bankers). This transfer of land, public utilities and interest as financial booty and tribute to creditor economies is what makes financial austerity like war in its effect.

Socrates said that ignorance must be the root of all evil, because no one deliberately sets out to be bad. But the economic “medicine” of driving debtors into poverty and forcing the selloff of their public domain has become socially accepted wisdom taught in today’s business schools. One would think that after fifty years of austerity programs and privatization selloffs to pay bad debts, the world has learned enough about causes and consequences"

The article goes on to advocate a cancellation of public debt, and tax on economic rentiers, for social movements to take back governments that advocate for financial interests instead of the people. I agree, and wish people all the best in that.

But as those that follow me know, none of those changes can take place, given the forces against them, until people themselves change.

And I have been saying this for some time now, that until humanity makes a quantum change in spirituality nothing will change, except what you are forced to do. Let go of fear and cynicism, and accept the spiritual message.

I travelled around the world in the 50's, 70's and 90's. Each time, observing humanity's search for peace and spiritual understanding. Each time, to America, Asia, and Europe (not been to the Southern Hemisphere yet, alas) Each time, seeing the changes yet to come. All people want is food, shelter, and to raise their children in peace. But the forces that prevent that are evil.

Socrates was wrong in that. People choose to do evil. And it is up to us, to peacefully, and non-violently, resist. It is up to us to say we won't buy, or believe, their shit. It is up to us to not believe the lie, that there is nothing we can do.

I went to America in the 90's. I gave without asking anything in return, and helped thousands of people with workshops, healing and meditations. Many of the ideas I taught have entered the New Age mainstream. The same in Asia. The same, in Europe.

It seemed I was drawn to places that needed healing. In Sri Lanka, I saw the tsunami and brutal culmination of civil war. In America, the so called war on terror that gave some the opportunity to loot the economy. I tried so hard to go back to Japan before the tsunami and nuclear disaster. The Japanese people need to change course, if their corrupt institutions will let them. So, too, do the American people. Until then, what must be, will be.

This is about Europe though. Immediately after I left the US I went on an extended trip around Europe with my family. For four months in 1996 we travelled to ten different countries; 16,000 kms in our car and everywhere we went, I did healing and talked to people. My favourite moment was in a remote village in Eastern Hungary: one day, having an (outdoor:) shower and seeing over a hundred people walking down the hills to meet the healer who had come there. Later that day, another hundred people from a youth camp for orphans. I did healing work with them too. Their instructor suffered from progressive blindness; he says I cured his eyesight. I like to look at the spiritual implications of that.

The fact still remains that Europe then went on to invade Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya, and allow the brutal occupation of the Palestinian people. If you look at many conflicts in Africa, it's European powers that are arming combatants and encouraging tribal conflicts to better divide up nations and control other people's natural resources. Yet they complain when Americans conduct financial warfare against them.

I love the European people, their culture and historical institutions. It may well be they cannot tolerate more economic refugees ending up on their shores; I believe they are for the most part still tolerant and compassionate enough to withstand the xenophobia and race hatred being promoted by the very land thieves who purport to lead them. I believe they are capable of creating a new civilization.

But first, they must resolve this conflict between 'reason' and 'religion'. The real conflict is between materialism and spirituality, and that must be healed.

I am drawn to America and Europe. It is vital that I go there, because the needed change must come from there. There has to be spiritual change in both places. The consequences otherwise will be terrible. But for the first time in my life, I will not be using my own resources to do that. I have to remain in Canada and look after my own family. I have to raise a certain amount of money to publish all my books. I have to look after myself now.

This isn't a crass request for donations. The universe operates on the basis of exchange, and what you give is what you receive. I have always given back more than I received (see my next article, "Buried Treasure" and previous ones for examples) Those who have known and followed me for the last twenty years know I always help anyone that asks. You can come to Toronto or you can write. I can heal, even from a distance.

But if you want to change the world, then I say to you: spiritual power is the greatest force known. It must be harnessed. People have to learn how to do it, and teach others. Whether you come to see me, or I you, will be immaterial. Whether you are American, or European, or from anywhere else, doesn't matter. I need a lot of people, around 100,000, and from all around the world. Together, I can show you miracles...

So if you are drawn to help, or follow me, then I can be reached here: naseer@manfromatlan.com