Men who believe absurdities will commit atrocities.
~ Voltaire

Our government has kept us in a perpetual state of fear, kept us in a
continuous stampede of patriotic fervor, with the cry of grave national
emergency. Always there has been some terrible evil at home or some
monstrous foreign power that was going to gobble us up if we did not blindly
rally behind it.
~ General Douglas MacArthur

I have had a flood of web site info on the situation in Gaza.
From both sides. Thank you to all who have sent.
If you want more info just type Israel/Gaza into Google and you will be
flooded with 'facts' from both sides.

One sender says:
>Paul, you asked for articles explaining the Israeli point of view and I am
>happy to send them to you.
>The condemnation of Israel has been unfair and misguided.
Thank you for sending. And, are you sure -- do you really know?

Back in the sixties we spent time in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Israel,
Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, Egypt, Aden and Iran -- and spent time with Arabs
and Muslims in many other parts of the world as well. We hitched-hiked
wherever/whenever it was at all possible. We enjoyed great hospitality and
got to know many people. We were in the Middle East when Jerusalem was
divided and we worked on a Kibbutz for a short time.
Then, I listened carefully to both sides of the story, and since then I have
read and watched hours of info. And I still don't know. So few neutral
reports.

And I have got to the point of not really knowing who is telling the truth
-- about anything -- presuming somebody is. Most of the conspiracy theories
are very convincing, and the official explanations very unconvincing.
Pearl Harbour; USS Liberty; Kennedys; Martin Luther King; various embassies;
9/11; the latest batch of people who 'died' who were going to testify about
the 2000 and 2004 election manipulations. And so on, and so on and so on....
Although I have forgotten the details, I remember giving sessions to a
person who was a in a high government position. What they told me was almost
beyond belief. And I have no doubt what they said was true. The press and
the public certainly did not even get an inkling of what was happening.

It is so easy to feel support for one side or the other -- just watch how
that mind works. Yet both 'sides' are lost, and need our love and support.
Not for their uncaring and cruel actions, but for who they really are.
Please consider -- innocence is very, very rare.

So I suggest to be even more alert, and whenever you feel a contraction, of
any sort -- body, mind or emotions, be, unconditionally, in that very moment
and open up to both sides -- because, in fact, there are not two sides --
there is only one. The rest is illusion.

From the East: "When the seer and the seen are seen as one..."

"If you let me take your heart I will prove to you,
We will never be apart if I'm part of you.
Open up your eyes now, tell me what you see.
It is no surprise now, what you see is me."
...Beatles

Let's go into the seeming abstract a bit.
On one level, there is only you. The rest is illusion.

If you contract, over anything or anyone, you are experiencing that part of
you you are not accepting. You could say that what has triggered you out
there has activated a similar part in you, but it is much more intimate than
that. We are all just a projection of each other. We are only here for each
other -- to see our actions and words projected -- so we can see ourselves
more clearly. It is so.

My experiences, messages, feelings have lead me to: death is not death.
What we call death is just an awakening -- into another level of
consciousness. The level into which we awaken depends on how we have spent
our time here in this dimension. It really is all up to us.

Never have been able to understand people being afraid of death.
Either we go into a new level to explore, or oblivion.
Either way, no worries.

What I have noticed about death though is that most people do not die
joyfully. The pain is usually regret: "If only I had..."

If you are reading this it is not too late -- you could start living now.
I mean REALLY living. Your truth.

A few days ago a beloved friend wrote to say they feel as though they should
be on the front line helping people who are in need. I forwarded their email
to the list. Today they wrote to say they have just been offered a position
in Pakistan starting Feb 9. So they said an instant yes. Leaving job,
partner, offspring's, grandchildren, wonderful house. Response. Fulfilment.

As usual... nothing to take seriously