Allan – Portrait of a Friend 18" x 24" Pastel on paper
This is a drawing I did in 2007 of a friend of mine. The swirling colors are representative of self expression and artistic vision.
Most of my art is esoteric. I hadn’t drawn a realistic portrait since college. Kept saying I could. Right! My friends would nod their heads and smile. One day Allan challenged me to stop saying and do. So I drew a portrait of him… this is the result.
Gas just keeps going up and up. It’s crazy! What can we do? Grin and bear it? Eat less food to fill the tank? Not bloody likely. Won’t go hungry to feed that monster. Go to town less. Cut trips to once a month. Do everythin’ at once. A Band-Aid is all. Sure it’ll cut costs some. And cut pollution a little. But it’s short term. My little car already gets about 40mpg. Gotta find a better way to this Gas Guzzling Gaffe!
All of it got me thinkin’. I’ve heard folks say, ‘That’s a scary thought… she’s been thinkin’ again, ah oh!’ Well, pppffffttt and raspberries to ya. Anyway we got a crisis as I see it. Ya’d think the great minds of the world who can split atoms, create starwars, go to the moon and back… for cripes sakes… could come up with an efficient, clean runnin’ engin’. That doesn’t use fossil fuels in any part of the process.
Just read ’bout hydrogen fuel cells. Sure sounds good. Till ya find out that fossil fuels are used to make hydrogen, mostly. So we use fossil fuels (which we’re trying to moving away from) to make another potentially skyhigh fuel which runs clean. Got pollution in the makin’ and maybe a higher cost to boot. Don’t see a fix there. But fuel cells can run on any fuel even methane. There’s an idea! Refine and bottle cattle phoots. Recycle and reduce pollution too. Imagine the commercials for a new phootmobile. MG’s new FART – Fast Affordable Reliable Transportation. Runs on Phoots, the clean burning, recycled phoouel of the phoouture.
Sure it’s funny but most methane is obtained from fossil fuel not cattle. So don’t think that’s a solution. Sigh! If there’s pollutin’ anywhere in the process it won’t work. Can’t use it to power anythin’. Or if there’s a limited amount and it’s not renewable or adds pollution. Can’t use it. Like oil, coal, natural gas. What if it takes land to produce that could grow food to help feed the hungry around the world. Is that a solution? It’s a quandary. We gotta think of all consequences…. long term.
But what about right now? Been doin’ some surfing on transport. Found some interesting stuff. Short term… better fuel economy is a start. Small gasoline or hybrids for better gas mileage. But GAWD why isn’t the mpg higher. Here’s the top two fuel savers…
smart, a member of Mercedes-Benz Cars is produced in France. smart ForTwo, 3-cylinder, 1-liter gasoline powered engine is currently rated as the highest mileage car in the US. It is classified as an Ultra-Low Emission Vehicle (ULEV). Ratings: top speed 90mph, 33-40 mpg city, 41-45 mpg highway. Base Price: $12,235. A 100% electric smart is currently being tested in the UK.
Toyota Motors
Hybrid
Toyota Prius (hybrid-electric) is currently rated as the highest mileage gasoline/electric hybrid. It is classified as an Advanced Technology Partial Zero Emission Vehicle (ATPZEV). Ratings: 48 mpg highway, 45 mpg city. Base Price: $21,500.
Just heard that Toyota is having trouble keeping up with demand for their hybrid. Well that good, but it still pollutes and uses fossil fuel so how about a more eco-friendly solution?
Maybe electric? There are some in the works. Here are two…
Tesla Motors Electric car
Now in production in USA at Tesla motors a 100% electric sports car. Fast 0-60 in 3.9 seconds, Zero emissions, 220 miles per charge, 2-3.5 hour charge. Base price: $109,000. There is a waiting list for this car.
Just read in the July 21 issue of Newsweek that Elon Musk cofounder of Tesla Motors said “Our second product is a sedan that is about half the price and will be produced in late 2010. We think we could either directly or in partnership with a major auto company actually get to a car that is under $30,000 in four years.”
Th!nk Global
Electric Car – a green machine
Now in production in Norway and coming to the US. The Th!nk City is a 100% electric vehicle, designed for city driving. Zero emissions, 95% recyclable, made of recycled materials. It can travel up to 110 miles in city driving, top speed 65mph. Th!nk City will be sold in Europe in late 2008 and in US 2009. US price expected to be sub $25,000.
If we go all electric it’s good. But how is that electricity produced at the plant? Does it burn fossil fuel or coal? Even atomic power plants have serious long term pollution issues. If all transportation is plug in (electric) it means higher electric demand. Many power plants can’t keep up with demand now. With brown or black outs happenin’ on real hot or cold days… all over. What happens if we add transportation to the mix? Seems this mode of electric power transportation is only a short term solution at best… with lots of limitations.
Unless perhaps the electricity to power the vehicle is self generated somehow. Through solar or water or something other. Here is a water powered concept car with interesting potential…
Genepax Co, Ltd. Water Energy System (WES) concept vehicle.
Genpax a Japanese firm has developed a system that extracts electricity from water, Zero emissions. The H2O Power concept car (WES in Reva, shown) runs on water. Genepax hopes to partner with an automaker to produce WES powered vehicles. If interested here is a website on how it works.
Pie in the sky or the next motorized carriage???
How about a magnetic motor? Two Australian Inventors have developed a generator which they claim will run for years on it’s own power and make 5 times the energy it uses. Can even power a car they say with zero pollution. The video is amazing and interesting. Such potential.
There are a lot of ideas for free energy or zero point energy machines on the Living Web. Are they true? Don’t know, but sure are interesting and have great potential.
The sky’s the limit… it’s only limited now by what we can imagine. Let’s do great things, ask lots of questions and make this happen for the betterment of ourselves, our children and the planet!!!
~Bonnee Klein Gilligan
This week I’ve had a series of thoughts and concepts present for a revisit. A friend mentioned Tolle’s book ‘A New Earth’ and said I might want to watch the review at Oprah.com. While there I surfed around a bit and came upon Dr. Wayne Dyer on Oprah’s Soul Series. Then one day on Twitter Paulo Coelho tweeted the quote below so I visited his blog. All week I’ve been pondering the concepts of ego, personality, pain body and now. And working with present moment. It has been an interesting week. Thought I’d share with you some of my outer and inner workings.
So I begin… When asked who are you? We often reply with a series of socially acceptable identifiers like, "I am ‘name’, I work for ’employer’, I live in ‘town’, I am ‘relationship status’." Are we that? A name? A job? A town? A relationship?
No of course not. These are identifiers…. name, job, location, relationship. They are current points in time which can change. We get married/divorced, move, change our name and jobs all the time these days. But if we aren’t these… what are we?
We also say, ‘I am a ‘man or woman’, ‘I’m ‘age’,’I’m ‘sexual preference’ . We look in the mirror and see ourselves. We think, "That’s me." But we can alter our body too. Change hair color, lose or gain weight, have plastic surgery and not look the same at all. We can even change our sex. If we make any or all of these changes are we still the same? We look different. No one may recognize us. But are we still the same?
We describe ourselves as, "I’m ‘outgoing or introverted or other’. I’m a ‘habit (smoker, drinker, etc.)’. I’m ‘emotional state (happy, sad, thankful, etc.)’. " And other descriptive phases which talk about our emotional state or ego/personality. Are we how we feel or even what we think?
Dr. Wayne Dyer gives this collection of ideas about ego…
I am what I do
I am what I have
I am what others think of me
I am separate from you
I am separate from what is missing in my life
I am separate from God
"We are not our ego. When we see ourselves and the world from these ideas we are ‘Edging God Out’ (EGO). We are already connected to all… have all, we just need to align and surrender. Become empty."
"Oh Krishna, The stillness of divine union which you describe is beyond my comprehension. How can the mind, which is so restless, attain lasting peace? " ~Bhagavad Gita
If not egoic thought, who are we? What is at the core? How can we know who we are? Where do we begin?
"Not as I will, but as thou wilt." ~2 Corinthians 3:4,5
"We need to forget what we think we are, so that we can really become what we are." ~ Paulo Coelho
So ‘I will’ is akin to ego. Forget or surrender ‘I will’ or ‘what we think we are’. Give up beliefs about self which come from ego or personality. The concept is clear enough but how?
"Be still, and know that I am God." ~Psalms 46:10
"True self essence comes out of stillness. Your innermost sense of self, of who you are, is inseparable from stillness. This is the I Am that is deeper than name and form.
To meet everything and everyone through stillness instead of mental noise is the greatest gift you can offer to the universe. I call it stillness, but it is a jewel with many facets: that stillness is also joy, and it is love."~Eckhart Tolle
‘Be still’. In the stillness we begin to understand ‘what we are’. But we have a life to live, things to accomplish. How can we become still or empty and have a life?
"Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment." ~Buddha
"Realize deeply that the present moment is all you ever have. Make the Now the primary focus of your life." ~Eckhart Tolle
Life can only be experienced Now. Not in past or future. Aligning self with the present moment aligns self with Life (God). But then how do we know our purpose? What we are to do?
"At the center of your being you have the answer; you know who you are and you know what you want." ~Lao Tzu
Being is focusing self on something other then brain grinding or mindless doing. It is Life. Breathe. Follow the breath. Still self inward by following stillness into through and around a flower, tree, plant. Becoming that stillness, quiet, peace. It enlivens. Follow it into the body, feel the buzz, hum or vibration of Life within you. Feel the Peace. Stillness. Joy. Bliss. Then you are fully present… NOW. The fullness of Life can truly only be experienced now… end.
The photo above of the glorious rose was taken by my beloved friend Light who made his transition. Now he works in Spirit.
Hope you enjoyed my pondering.
~Bonnee Klein Gilligan
For more on Eckhart Tolle see eckharttolle.com or oprah.com to watch ‘A New Earth’ book review with he and Oprah.
For more on Paulo Coelho see paulocoelho.com.br or read his blog.
For more on Dr. Wayne Dyer see drwaynedyer.com
Cattle cutting cheese? What’s up with that? Most living creatures phoot. Why is that newsworthy? Just heard that cattle phooting is the second largest contributor to global warming. Higher then transportation. It’s inconceivable!
Massive numbers of ’em stockpiled. Force fed corn or soy. Hard to digest. Stomachs made for grass, so there’s massive upset. Creating voluminous gas. Now this isn’t just any phoot. It’s methane. It’s flammable. More toxic then CO2. And being released in incredible quantities. Ever driven by a stockyard? It’s a smelly mess for miles.
The average American eats half a pound of meat a day. Twice as much as USDA recommends. So meat producers pack ’em in even more. 10,000,000,000 animals a year to feed our need. Which means more and more stinkin’ phoots pollutin’ the air. It’s a Cattle Cutting Cheese Catastrophe.
But there’s more…
Mark Bittman a food critic, discusses the current state of our food. Too much meat, too few plants and too much fast food is putting our lives and the planet at risk. Watch this entertaining and enlightening video to find out how. It’s funny, fascinating and firey.
Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
TED: Ideas worth spreading: http://www.ted.com/
July 2, 2008 – BBC reports that higher amounts of fruits, vegetables, cereals and less red meat, plus more olive oil are a healthier diet. More…
~Bonnee Klein Gilligan
I wrote this in response to a question I received asking about soul and co-creation. The photo is a pink water lily in my pond.
Thought you might enjoy them.
Soul is fully conscious (aware) and non-conditional (absolute, without imperfection). Co-creation happens through Soul (as Thought) utilizing a polarity of sorts. Thought… not as in the physical brain mental functioning: but rather Thought through Mind (Buddhist: ‘diamantine mind’ or ‘clear-light mind’) and beyond. Mind in this reference is also Higher Mind (an ethereal energy field that brings knowledge and information of a higher source). Soul works through ‘Mind’. There is a doing by Soul during creation that resembles thought (intention or perfect intention) and is never unconscious (without awareness).
We become true co-creators when we are fully conscious. What that means is have the complete awareness of ‘Who We Truly Are’… as Soul, with full knowing of ‘All That Is’… ‘Being in this world but not of it’ also called ‘Enlightenment’ (knowledge of Universal Truths and the ability to live them; realization of the ‘I AM’ within, resulting in perfect harmonious function). Enlightenment is not way beyond our reach it is opening to the awareness of ‘All That Is’ (including inner and outer worlds) and as a result becoming peaceful, harmonious and unconditionally loving.
There truly is no time… all is NOW. So co-creatorship occurs in the Now.‘Linear time’ is a construct of our collective consciousness, is what we chose to experience during our earthly incarnations… but it is changing to ‘Now’ as we ALL begin to become aware… conscious… enlightened.
In co-creation, there is an understanding of polarity (possessing of negative (yin) and positive (yang) poles), which is utilized. Polarity is not the same as duality. The polarity utilized by Soul is the harmony and interpenetration of Light (vibration, matter, yang) and Darklight (void, dark matter (makes up 90% of the Universe), yin). One cannot exist without the other.
When one is unconsciousness (without awareness), there is a duality (being twofold, usually contradictory; in disagreement) of thought functioning. The brain not knowing or believing itself a Soul and unlimited… believes it is limited and proves that to itself by trying on various societal constructs. It believes itself to be limited by the beliefs of the group it aligns itself with… and so creates limitation for itself. A limitless Soul in a vehicle that believes itself limited… this is duality… a twofold contradiction; in disagreement. As long as there is this disagreement there cannot be Higher-level creation while in a physical body.
So the duality of Soul in an unconscious (walking dead, without awareness) vehicle creates unconsciously. And brings to itself all manor of things, relationships and experiences which trigger emotions, thoughts and wonderings to help itself remember. And as it begins to remember the experiences, relationships and things change to show it that it is a creator. But it still limits itself saying, “I AM this but not that”… this is separation. Until brain comes to the realization of Oneness of ‘All That Is’, which is the integration of Soul (knowing) within body… and brain no longer limits itself in any way… there cannot be true co-creation.
In italic I have defined words from various dictionaries (including Oxford American Dictionary, The Donning International Encyclopedic Psychic Dictionary and http://dictionary.reference.com/) for the sake of clarity.
~Bonnee Klein Gilligan
