DEEP FUTURES:
Possible, preferred and alternative visions of tomorrow. Now.
It's the future, Jim, but not as we know it... There's more to tomorrow than robots, flying cars, and a faster internet. 22C+ is all about Deep Futures, futures that matter. Welcome to futures fantastic, unexpected, profound, but most of all deeply meaningful...
In a few minutes I'll be heading to the airport and flying to the frozen north of China. I'll be joining my wife and her family and relatives in the city of Chaoyang, about 6 hours drive north-west of Beijing. Apparently it is warmer than the last time I was there about a month ago, when it was down around minus twenty (Celsius) at night, and often well below freezing during the day. The things we do for family!
So I probably won't be able to post anything directly on 22Cplus during this time, due to the wonderful Great Firewall of China - blogspot is blocked. I may be able to make one or two postings via friends outside of China, however. Of course I will be able to read all comments left here, as they go straight to my Yahoo account, and you can email me there: mindfutures@yahoo.com.
Finally, for anyone in Hong Kong who is interested in coming along to my series of workshops entitled The Power of Intuition, here is a neat video introduction. I must say i am really looking forward to this event, as it finally gives me the chance to share knowledge and wisdom I have been fortunate enough to gather over a twenty year period, and working with people I believe to be some of the most amazing people on the planet.
Human beings get a pretty bad wrap. At another level we are nothing less than awesome. Here's a short video that requires no introduction, the images speak for themselves. It's a trailer for the BBC series Human Planet. It almost makes you feel proud to be human, and not feel too guilty about it! We bash our species so much. Maybe we should stop once in a while to feel good about ourselves as a species.
You can't help but thinking the planet looks pretty damn good in the video too. Let's hope we can keep it that way.
Place: Room PQ002, Hong Kong Polytechnic University (confirmed). This is very large room with great facilities!
Times: 2-5pm, on four consecutive Saturday afternoons, Feb 26, March 5, 12, 19.
Cost: HK$1500 (US$190). OR HK$375 per workshop. Concessionary rates are available.
About The Power of Intuition workshops
Is it possible to develop intuition to such a degree that it can be reliably used to make decisions instantly and with great success? The answer is yes.
The Power of Intuition workshops will teach you the skills, and provide you with the skills to develop your natural intuitive intelligence. These can be immediately put to use in creating ideal careers, business opportunities, relationships and to simply help you create your ideal life.
The Power of Intuition is a practice-based series of workshops designed to activate your Integrated Intelligence. There are four workshops of three hours each, with two week breaks in between so that you can apply the teachings directly in your own life. The intuitive mind can tap into seemingly extraordinary abilities, and connect us with other people, places and times. It transcends the brain, extending the mind through space and time. Marcus T. Anthony calls this natural human ability Integrated Intelligence, and in The Power of Intuition workshops you will learn to develop this capacity. The focus of this workshop is to provide you with practical but powerful tools which you can begin using right away as you make important decisions in your life. You were born to live a life of excitement and passion. You have simply forgotten how. The Power of Intuition workshops will help you remember who you really are.
These workshops are for people ready to shift the way they live, work and love. They are designed for people ready to move to another level of living and being. You should come prepared to move out of your comfort zone. The process is transformational and exciting, but requires a genuine commitment. Participants will be required to follow a carefully tailored programme, personally designed for each individual by Marcus. This will include activities to be completed in between the workshops. These activities will not take much time (generally no more than 15 minutes on any given day), but are transformational.
During The Power of Intuition workshops you will:
Learn about the simple and practical Integrated Intelligence Tools which will enable you to begin using your intuition immediately in both life, love and business.
Learn the essence of your life purpose.
Develop a concrete action plan to actualise specific, measurable goals; and begin to take actions towards those goals.
Learn to read the thoughts and feelings of others, regardless of where they are!
Understand the Wisdom Cycle, a practical process which will help you to keep to your life purpose once you know what it is.
Learn to distinguish amongst your many inner voices, and identify the true voice of intuitive guidance.
Connect with a like-minded, highly motivated group of people, and develop networks which will help move you forward in your life.
The Power of Intuition: Workshops Outline
February 26: Discovering Intuition
In the first week you will be given the tools and understandings which will enable you to immediately begin using to empower yourself via your inner wisdom.
-Connecting with your inner Sage: the wisdom within.
-How to balance intuition and rational thinking.
-How to read minds (this is serious!).
-How to make great decisions using intuition.
-How to know the difference between genuine intuition and other “feelings”, voices or thoughts.
March 5: Integrated Intelligence and Your Calling
This module focuses upon connecting with your excitement – the part of your mind calling you forward towards your ideal future. The process is designed to get you to take action towards making your true calling a reality. Marcus will intuitively assist you in coming to an understanding of the following things:
-How to make a great decision instantly without any information or research!
-How to discover your strengths, and use them wisely in your work.
-Discover your soul issues, your soul aptitudes, and your karma.
-How to follow your excitement, and live your “Bliss” (calling).
-Setting goals and making an action plan to make your calling a reality.
March 12: Integrated Intelligence and Relationships
In this section of the programme you will learn how to use your intuition to find love, and/or to improve relationships with lovers, family, friends and work colleagues.
-How to stand in your power as a man or woman (and avoid being controlled by others).
-Intuitively reading the intentions of others.
-How to know when people are being genuine, and when they are being deceptive.
-How to tell if a relationship or friendship is right before you get into it (can save much time and pain!).
-How to pull out of the dramas and conflicts that plague so many personal and working relationships.
-How to love deeply in the present moment.
March 19. Integrated Intelligence, Power and the Future of the World
This exciting module is for those who genuinely want to be part of a greater world shift in consciousness and power. This is where the true world transformation begins!
-Reading the true intentions of leaders (corporate, government, spiritual leaders etc.)
-Understanding the difference between true power and abusive power.
-How to disconnect from the brainwashing of media and society and connect with information which is truly important and empowering.
-How to connect with the cosmic intelligence which can help us create futures that are happy, peaceful and prosperous.
-How to make a real difference in the world, by being true to yourself and your purpose.
For Whom is The Intuitive Shift Suitable?
·For people who sense that they have a ‘higher’ calling, but who have been unable to identify what it is, or to live that calling.
·For those who want to know the right paths forward in life, love and business.
·For those who wish to join the small but growing group of human beings operating at a higher, intuitive level of mind, and who are making a real difference in the world.
·For those who want to use their lives as a medium through which to serve the greater good of the human species, and the planet.
Video: Overview of Workshops
About Dr. Marcus T. Anthony
Beginning from the mid-1990s, Dr. Anthony began to explore visionary worlds through contemplation, deep meditation, and emotional healing. He traveled to many parts of the world, seeking the wisdom and guidance of gifted spiritual teachers. While living in New Zealand from 1996-1999, he engaged in an intensive programme of spiritual exploration with a group of committed spiritual seekers. By the time he had left New Zealand, he had developed an ability to perceive and understand human consciousness at an extraordinary level. This included the capacity to sense the thoughts and emotional energies of others, and to communicate with spiritual realms.
Subsequently, he set about formally studying the frontiers of human intelligence, enrolling in a doctoral programme at the University of the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, Australia. During his doctoral candidature, he applied his natural intuitive gifts to develop a unique method of study, Integrated Inquiry (described in The Professor’s Other Brain, Benjamin Franklin Press, late 2011). Integrated inquiry combines traditional research tools with intuitive ways of knowing to locate, analyse and communicate knowledge.
In recent years Dr. Anthony has become a prolific writer. He has published Integrated Intelligence, Sage of Synchronicity (soon to be published as Discover Your Soul Template, Inner Traditions, 2011), Extraordinary Mind, scores of academic articles, and numerous internet features. Dr. Anthony is the Director of MindFutures,which is dedicated to deepening the understanding of the future. He is also an elected member of the World Futures Studies Federation, and the Darwin Project Council - a think-tank comprising many leading futurists, academics, philosophers and scientists, including triune brain theorist Paul Maclean, psychologist Mihalyi Czikszentmihalyi, systems theorist Ervin Laszlo, and feminist Rianne Eisler.
Recently there have been quite a few stories circulating about UFOs. Personally, I have a very open mind about the phenomenon of UFOs, and in large part this is based upon my own experience in witnessing unidentified flying objects in Australia about 17 years ago.(you can read it on page 46 of my book Extraordinary Mind: the first 50 pages can be downloaded here – click on the “download file at page centre, to the right of my photo).
However something sent to me by 22C+ member Karl Jacobs (http://www.karljacobs.com) yesterday caught my attention. This coming weekend tmore han 100 of the world's leaders in business, politics, education, sports, entertainment, the environment and technology will be meeting in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The subject matter: unusual ways to spark innovation, and subjects discussed will include UFOs and life in outer space.
Nuclear physicist and UFO researcher Stanton Friedman expressed his thoughts about the conference.
"I think because they recognize that if you want to look for innovation, look for somebody who's way ahead of you… Even if UFOs and aliens weren't real, just thinking about it is a big thing, enlarging the scope of our thinking to include a larger part of the galactic neighborhood instead of the planet."
The conference is being organised by the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority, whose goal is to bring together business leaders, politicians and intellectuals with a common interest in how competitiveness can be used to find solutions to global challenges.
Stanton Friedman added that he's:
"..convinced, after my work for major corporations as a nuclear physicist, that technological progress comes from doing things differently in an unpredictable way. The future is not an extrapolation of the past."
Astrophysicist/computer scientist Jacques Vallee will also be a key member attending the conference. He is interested in discussing how UFO patterns can add to our knowledge of physics. He says: "Reviewing the UFO evidence requires us to examine our assumptions about how things work."
Personally, I believe that questioning our assumptions is the key to understanding things at a deeper level. It is the presuppositions which lie behind our thinking, including the assumptions within the models that we use to construct our thought processes, which hold us back from seeing things anew. I have long argued that the reason why consciousnesses is so poorly understood in modern science is because there is an implicit assumption that consciousness is a product of the brain, and is limited by the local infrastructure of the brain. My experience leads me to conclude that consciousness is merely mediated by the brain, and not limited by it.
Notable is the following statement by astrophysicist/computer scientist Jacques Vallee, who will be a key panel member:
"I'm convinced there's a phenomenon there, that there is a technology… And I'm not kidding myself that we're going to discover a new form of propulsion tomorrow, just by looking at UFO patterns….These things are real and they do something we don't understand, but if we're clever in watching and understanding the patterns, maybe we can learn something about physics that we didn't know before."
Vellee is correct. We do not need the hardware of alien technology to expand our thinking. As Einstein once famously noted, once a mind is expanded by a new idea, it never returns to its original size.
For many years Vallee has attempted to get UFO research taken seriously. He has faced a lot of resistance, but he believes that things have changed greatly. He now believes that UFOlogy “is a respectable subject."
"Certainly, internationally, what I've found is that people who are informed and are aware of the phenomenon are much more willing to support people doing serious research on it."
In my opinion, this is a central issue in the retention of an unbalanced mechanistic paradigm in mainstream science, especially biology. Many people are uninformed of domains of knowledge which lie beyond their worldviews, and are thus resistant to conceptions which lie beyond their maps of reality.
Regardless of whatever personal beliefs we have about UFOs or other domains of knowledge which might be considered anomalous in western cultures, one very useful way to put such domains to good use is to use them as a “provocation”. This is precisely what lateral thinking guru Edward de Bono recommends . He correctly points out that the mind is a self-organising system. The mind tends to slot ideas into pre-existing categories, and in doing so often fails to acknowledge anomalous data or identify patterns that do in fact exist.
In an upcoming volume of the Open Information Science Journal, I have used de Bono’s idea of provocation to encourage academics to explore my idea of Integrated Inquiry, which is a way of employing Integrated Intelligence during research. Using seemingly outlandish ideas as a provocation takes some of the heat out of their use, and those exploring such ideas do not have to necessarily profess a “belief” in them. Thiis takes a the pressure off the academic ego.
Still, the existence of strange ideas does not guarantee innovative thinking, and one reason for this is that the ways of knowing employed often remain unchanged. As a perfect example, take one of the contributors in the comments section on the web page where the conference is outlined. The comment highlights a tremendous irony. On a web page devoted to innovative thinking, one poster “callendoudna” dismisses the possibility of the existence of interplanetary travel in the following way.
Hit a light pole at 5 miles an hour and you need to replace the fender. Hit it at 50 mph and you need to replace the car. You're the Captain of the SSSS Titanic (Solar System Star Ship Titanic) on Humanity's maiden voyage to the nearest star. You are cruising at 10% of the speed of light when the SSSSTitanic strikes a pebble the size of a pea and having a mass of 13 grams (half an ounce). Assuming only 10% of this 13 grams is converted to distructive energy the resulting blast would equal the atomic bomb that wiped out Hiroshima. So we're not going to travel to other stars anytime soon and they're not going to be in a big hurry to get here. Realistically you need to consider things like O'Neil Cylinders and Space Arks that travel no more than 1% of the speed of light and will take centuries to make the trip.
The comment points to the limitations of analysis as a way of knowing. Analysis tends to be rather uncreative, and certainly unimaginative. Analysis can be so focused upon breaking down arguments and facts that it misses the big picture - including questioning the background assumptions. Callendoudna’s logical argument reminds me of the sentiment’s expressed by a certain physicist (whose name escapes me) just before the turn of the twentieth century. He dismissed the possibility that a person could ever travel round the world in 24 hours or less. His reasoning? According to the laws of physics, no boat could ever cut through water at the speed required. Just a few years later the Wright brothers made the first airborne flight, and the rest is history.
What unexamined assumptions have we made about space travel, UFOs and alien life?
Realism and spirituality are sometimes thought of as opposite ends of the spectrum. This is particularly true with those who are more skeptically inclined.
·“Spiritual? Get real!”
·“You are delusional!”
·“I’m an empiricist. If you can’t see it or touch it, it ain’t real.”
·
Those with a spiritual bent are sometimes equally dismissive of action in the world. Many believe that introspection and being ‘as one’ via some non-ordinary state is what matters most.
·“Money and business are not spiritual. They are evil.”
·“The world is an illusion. Only spirit is real!”
·“I am a spiritual being having a human experience. I don’t need this stuff!”
·“Sexuality is best avoided.”
Most developed societies today are dominated by cultures and education systems which focus upon the physical world of money, markets and technology at the expense of the spiritual. This imbalance needs to be corrected.
Here I am going to state the case for spiritual realism.
Spiritual realism acknowledges the reality of the spiritual dimensions of mind and experience, but also finds value in actions and experience in the physical world.
Spiritual realism begins with the currently non-testable (although personally verifiable) assumption that human beings have both a physical body, and a spiritual consciousness. That spiritual component exists in conjunction with the physical body, but also transcends it. Put another way, the spirit survives the physical death of the body.
This does not mean that the physical body is not important. Spirit is expressed through the body and brain, including all its biological and evolutionary drives.
Spiritual realism finds business and capitalism to be neutral in themselves. In terms of positives, they present endless opportunities for individuals to take action and learn about their soul purposes, and their soul issues. The human collective can also learn from the market place. Capitalism is often driven by egotism, greed and lack of compassion and respect for human dignity. It tends to bring out some of the negative aspects of the human species – the shadow. Yet it is in seeing this dark side that these collective issues can be acknowledged and transcended. The market place is also a medium through which the reverse side of the coin can be seen: compassion, generosity, respect for fellow human beings. Actions taken in alignment with spirit trends to be respectful of the highest good of all.
Any action taken in the world is driven by inner processes. These can be biological and egocentric: the selfish gene in action. Such actions are essentially driven by the alienated mind – consciousness which lies in ignorance of its inner spiritual aspects. Alternatively, an individual can relax and enter a state of receptivity. In receptivity, actions can be driven by the wisdom of spirit.
Spiritual realism involves a deep commitment to the truth. My reading is that the current average level of commitment to truth is around 3%. In alternative spiritual movements it is around 5%. In mainstream western science it is around 7%. Both mainstream science and alternative spiritual movements remain largely at the whim of the ego, which is a trickster. Each has its common delusions, although they tend to occur at opposite ends of the philosophical spectrum.
I arrived at these percentage readings from doing a quick check, which is an intuitive tool taught to me in years gone by my spiritual teachers.
Those of a spiritual predilection might feel a little offended by my reading which suggests that mainstream science rates more highly than alternative spirituality in its commitment to truth. I was a little surprised by the reading myself. The reason is that there are just a whole lot of people of spiritual persuasion who are basically part-timers. They play around with the nicer parts of mystical/spiritual practice, but are not really committed to a genuine inner process. This drags the average consciousness level and commitment to truth down.
Having said this, a genuine commitment to truth in either science or spirituality can take a person well beyond the typical level of commitment to truth. In fact there is no need to separate these two domains.
A genuine science permits a full range of questions, a full range data to be acknowledged, and a full range of theory to be developed. Of course in practice, this is far from the case, as mainstream western science is still dominated by the mechanistic paradigm and western materialism in general. This has held western science back for the past century.
A fully embracing spirituality is also “empirical”, in the sense that it permits a full range of experience and data to be acknowledged and processed by the mind. In practice, however, the ego tends to dominate much spiritual and religious practice. A common result is that there is a large level of delusion in many spiritual practitioners. In fact, spiritual realism acknowledges this tendency towards self-deception, and is comfortable with being “wrong”. It asserts that the mind tends to create concepts and beliefs and attach to them, because they create a sense of certainty, of safety. In this sense the ideal attitude is one of relaxed observation of the mind and its games, witnessing the delusions as they surface.
The human ego is part of the deal in being a human being. In fact the human ego is a protective mechanism which emerges from our biology, to maximise the chances of survival of the physical body. You are not going to be getting rid of your ego anytime soon. The key then is to witness its machinations and develop the right relationship with it.
One of the best things about spiritual realism is that it permits a full expression of fun and playfulness. What’s the point of having a spiritual philosophy if you can’t have a good time with it? That’s not an excuse to become hedonistic. It’s an invitation to lighten up and enjoy having a body – dance, sing, eat, drink and express sexuality in moderation! (the expression of these will vary from person to person, and change throughout the lifespan).
Finally, in order to enact spiritual realism, the individual needs to be able to bring about a state of presence at will. For it is in presence, in living in the moment, that the mind becomes silent and still, and that the intuitive voices from within can be heard. Presence seeds receptivity.
The truth is that it is not easy to enact spiritual realism. It’s challenging. That’s what makes it so rewarding. It can be stressful if approached the wrong way, but it can be uplifting and a whole lot of fun if done the right way. What would be the point if it was all too easy!? The key is to relax with it. Throw away the spiritual robes and allow yourself to be authentically human!
How good at you at interpreting the symbols which occur in your dreams? Here’s a little quiz which will test your assurance with the psyche! I have chosen images and situations which are typical. Of course, all dream symbolism has to be taken within the context of the dream, so you may disagree with my answers (let me know if you do). This is a fun way to see how well you understand your dreams. Let me know how you went.
Your tooth is loose, and as you pull it, it plops out of your mouth. You are mortified.
a)You have a rotten tooth.
b)You have a fear of death.
c)You are scared of growing old.
d)Both b and c.
You look out the window and see the river is rising fast, threatening to wash the house away.
a)You have been careless with your safety.
b)You need to drink more water.
c)You are repressing your emotions, which feel overwhelming.
d)You are afraid of drowning.
There is a man aiming a gun at you, trying to kill you. You feel very scared.
a)There is someone who wants to hurt or kill you.
b)You are not dealing with your fear of death.
c)You have repressed homosexual desires
d)Both a and b.
King Kong is on the loose, running amok and out of control.
a)Your testosterone levels are too high.
b)You are frightened of your masculine side.
c)You have unresolved father issues.
d)You are afraid that society is going to collapse.
There is an old witch leaning over your bed, leering at you, with a terrifying, lustful gaze.
a)Your grandmother had sexual feelings for you as a child.
b)You are terrified of women.
c)You are a misogynist.
d)You are repressing your feminine side.
You are playing sport, and performing exceptional, perhaps impossible athletic feats. The feeling is of being incredibly free and unlimited.
a)You have a huge ego, which you are not acknowledging.
b)You have unacknowledged athletic abilities.
c)Your mind is permitting new possibilities to be embraced.
d)You have not received the attention you crave.
You are making love to someone other than your partner, a person you find attractive. It feels good.
a)Your sexual needs are not being met.
b)You are having a “psychic” affair with that person.
c)Wish fulfillment.
d)All of the above.
You walk over to a coffin and find yourself in it. You awaken, terrified.
a)You are going to die.
b)You are afraid of death.
c)You are about to enter a new phase of life.
d)All of the above.
You look into the sky, and there are UFOs everywhere, and you feel excited.
a)You are becoming deluded, and need to keep your feet on the ground.
b)You have a subconscious desire to escape your life and its responsibilities.
c)You want to be saved by someone or something.
d)There are spiritual energies that are opening up to you.
There is a fire raging out of control in the house. You want to put it out, but you only have a small cup to scoop water into.
a)You are repressing anger.
b)There is danger you will be unable to pay your mortgage.
c)You are afraid of fire.
d)Your love life is just too hot.
See below for answers
Both b and c. Dreams which involved the decay of body parts typically represent a fear of getting old, and well, decaying. Of course this also means that like most people, you are afraid of dying.
c. Water usually represents emotions, so floods usually refer to emotions that are very powerful and threatening to spill over.
a. (probably). People project energy at each other all the time, and sometimes they attack each other, and even want to kill each other. This may show up in dreams as someone wanting to kill you. Take a look at the person in the dream. Do they remind you of someone?
b or c. King Kong often represents my father in my dreams, but primates may also represent primitive biological urges.
a. Actually this is an archetypal dream, known as “the old hag”, one that has puzzled psychologists for year. Though I have yet to see any analyst who really understands it, it actually represents sexual energy that elderly women unconsciously project, especially at baby boys (past or present).
c. The excitement indicates that it is about the opening of new, unexplored potentials (but if the essence of the dream is “showing off” to an audience, then “a”, or even “d” could be correct.
d. It could be any of these (of course, you could just have a dirty mind!).
b and c. Rarely are death dreams literal (although they may be, as with Abraham Lincoln’s famous premonition of his death). They usually indicate that a part of yourself is changing, being left behind, or maybe even growing. This may pave the way for a new beginning (as does the literal death of the body). Of course, the dream may also represent your fear of death.
d. Aliens often represent the new and unknown, as well as the heavenly and spiritual. (and yes, there can also be literal alien energies/influences).
a. Fire often represents anger – although it also commonly represents cleansing and rebirth.
How did you go?
0-3. You are more psychoanalytical fraud than Freud.
4-6. A few problems there. You better sleep on it.
7-8. Jung might have hired you as his research assistant.
