In 1974, Robert Fripp—leader of the progressive rock group King Crimson—had a spiritual experienc... more In 1974, Robert Fripp—leader of the progressive rock group King Crimson—had a spiritual experience in which " the top of [his] head blew off. " He became a student of J. G. Bennett, himself a former student of G. I. Gurdjieff, at Sherborne House in Gloucestershire, and remains a member of the Bennett Foundation to this day. When Fripp returned to the music industry, it was with an approach that favored disciplined and geometric compositions over the jagged improvisation of the earlier period. This article explores the influence of Gurdjieff and Bennett's teaching upon Fripp and his work, and his apparent attempts to realize the former's idea of " objective art " through his music. I pay particular attention to the development of Guitar Craft, in which Fripp applies Gurdjieff's techniques through the teaching of the guitar. I argue that Fripp's teaching is a little examined scion of the Gurdjieff lineage, and a case study of discrete cultural production.
Moving from Barnesmoore's (2016) theorization of humans as beings with the potential for consciou... more Moving from Barnesmoore's (2016) theorization of humans as beings with the potential for conscious (epis-temological) evolution, this article argues that a revolution in the ideas by which ('world view' in which) we conceive of potential practice must necessarily precede a revolution of academic and social practice (that theory necessarily precedes practice). Revolution must be rooted in revolutionary ideas and cannot be facilitated by practices that rise from (are rationalized within) the hegemonic essence (ideas, axioms and logics) of the regime against which revolution is being waged.
PURPOSE Medicine is traditionally considered a healing profession, but it has neither an operatio... more PURPOSE Medicine is traditionally considered a healing profession, but it has neither an operational defi nition of healing nor an explanation of its mechanisms beyond the physiological processes related to curing. The objective of this study was to determine a defi nition of healing that operationalizes its mechanisms and thereby identifi es those repeatable actions that reliably assist physicians to promote holistic healing. METHODS This study was a qualitative inquiry consisting of in-depth, open-ended, semistructured interviews with Drs. Their perceptions regarding the defi nition and mechanisms of healing were subjected to grounded theory content analysis. RESULTS Healing was associated with themes of wholeness, narrative, and spiritu-ality. Healing is an intensely personal, subjective experience involving a reconciliation of the meaning an individual ascribes to distressing events with his or her perception of wholeness as a person. CONCLUSIONS Healing may be operationally defi ned as the personal experience of the transcendence of suffering. Physicians can enhance their abilities as healers by recognizing, diagnosing, minimizing, and relieving suffering, as well as helping patients transcend suffering.
HYPOTHESIS Russell Targ is a physicist and cofounder of the Stanford Research Institute's investi... more HYPOTHESIS Russell Targ is a physicist and cofounder of the Stanford Research Institute's investigation into psychic abilities. A prolific author, he pursues extrasensory perception research in Palo Alto, Calif, and publishes special editions of classic books in consciousness research. Jane Katra holds a doctorate in health education and works as a spiritual healer and " immune system coach, " writing and taking part in consciousness research. She has taught nutrition and health classes at the University of Oregon and therapeutic touch at Lane Community College in Eugene, Ore. Since ancient times, spiritual teachers have described paths and practices that a person could follow to achieve health, happiness, and peace of mind. Considerable recent research has indicated that any sort of spiritual practice is likely to improve one's prognosis for recovering from a serious illness. Many of these approaches to spirituality involve learning to quiet the mind rather than adhering to a prescribed religious belief. These meditative paths include the mystic branches of Buddhism, Hinduism, and Christianity; Kabalistic Judaism; Sufism; and many others. What is hinted at in the subtext of these teachings is that as one learns to quiet his or her mind, one is likely to encounter psychic-seeming experiences or perceptions. For example, in The Sutras of Patanjali, the Hindu master tells us that on the way to transcendence we may experience all sorts of amazing visions, such as the ability to see into the distance, or into the future, and to diagnose illnesses and to cure them. However, we are told not to get attached to these psychic abilities—they are mere phenomena standing as stumbling blocks on the path to enlightenment. In this article, we describe the laboratory evidence for some of these remarkable phenomena and their implications for science, mental health, and peace of mind. (Altern Ther Health Med. 2001;7(3):143-149) W hat do the spiritual healer, the mystic, and the scientist all have in common? The answer is that they are all in touch with their interconnected and nonlocal mind. In my (R. T.'s) work with remote viewing research at Stanford Research Institute, we observed the inflow of information that is the hallmark of psychic perception. We also saw an outflow of intention that plays a part in facilitating distant healing. Our purpose here is to show that the inflow and the outflow reside on either side of the quiet mind, and that self-awareness can arise between these 2 flows. We have also noticed that narrowly focusing on phenomena, and the seeming omni-science available from extrasensory perception (ESP), may be just a trap that prevents us from discovering who we really are and what we should be doing. However, as my coauthor Jane Katra and I describe in The Heart of the Mind, 1 we are confident that whenever any one person demonstrates an ability beyond the ordinary, it can be seen as an inspiration to the rest of us, as an indication of an immense and still largely undeveloped human potential. The scientific and spiritual implications of psychic abilities illuminate our observation that we live in a profoundly interconnected world. The most exciting research in quantum physics today is the investigation of what physicist David Bohm calls " quantum-interconnectedness, " or nonlocal correlations. 2 It has been demonstrated repeatedly in laboratories around the world that quanta of light that are sent off in opposite directions at light speed maintain their connection to one another, and that each little photon is affected by what happens to its twin, many kilometers away. 3-5 This surprising coherence between distant entities is called nonlocality. In writing on the philosophical implications of nonlocality, physicist Henry Stapp of the University of California, Berkeley, says that these quantum connections could be the " most profound discovery in all of science. " 6 Psychic abilities and remote viewing are demonstrations of our personal experience with such nonlocal connection in consciousness. Mind-to-mind connections that transcend our ordinary understanding of space and time give us expanded awareness, which is entirely consistent with life in a nonlocal world. This connection is what physicists mean by nonlocality. To the healer, it gives rise to what Larry Dossey 7 refers to in his book Reinventing Medicine as Era III healing of a distant patient through the inten-tionality of the healer. Our knowledge of these remarkable abilities allows us to awaken each morning in wonder at the fact that our expanded awareness is not limited by either time or space. And it should have become clear to us by now that although we reside in bodies, there is more to us than skin and bones. Our quiet moments of self-inquiry can reveal what that " more " is.
A year ago, after taking part in a photographic competition organised by the Lejla Mgarrija Commi... more A year ago, after taking part in a photographic competition organised by the Lejla Mgarrija Commitee, my brother asked me, 'What about sunrise at Ta' Hagrat Temples?' Well, that should be an interesting subject for a photo, I thought. A simple measurement of the orientation of the axis of the larger temple with a compass showed that it faced almost southeast or about azimuth 130 o. Contacting the Astronomical Society for the furthest point south that the sun rises in winter, I was informed that between December 17 and 27 the sun rises at approximately azimuth 119 o. This upset me a little bit because it meant that the orientation of the temple was somewhat more southerly than that of winter solstice sunrise. But as December approached I decided to take a closer look into the matter. On December 22 the sky at dawn was clear and cloudless providing me with an excellent opportunity to photograph sunrise. Armed with a camera, I arrived at the Ta' Hagrat well before sunrise. At 7.22 a.m. the sun's rim rose over the hill on the horizon and the first beam of light reached the temple. On taking some photographs, I realised that there was a connection between sunrise and the shape of the temple. At that moment, I decided to investigate the matter further. I soon found that some years ago George Agius and Frank Ventura had written a paper on their investigation of the possible astronomical alignments of our megalithic temples. Figure 3 of that paper presented the distribution of the orientations of the temples. It showed the larger temple at Ta' Hagrat amongst a cluster of eight temples directed approximately towards the south east 1. For my investigation I decided to study the best preserved temples in this cluster, namely, the main temples at Ta' Hagrat and Skorba in Mgarr, the two temples at Ggantija in Gozo, the two larger temples at Mnajdra, and the complex temple at Hagar Qim in Qrendi. In my work, I concentrated on the following aspects which showed clearly the relationship between the temples: the site of building; the development of the temples; their planning and orientation; the construction of stone screens for the side chambers, and the construction of the facades. The Temple Sites In building their temples our prehistoric ancestors had large spaces of land to choose from but they always preferred a southeast facing slope as the site of their temples and, with the exception of Hagar Qim, they never chose a hilltop. The site was always near a spring of water and not far from caves, maybe the same ones they lived in. Because of the water springs, the area around the temple must have been fertile and very suitable for farming and rearing animals. Thus we find that Ta' Hagrat temple is situated on a gentle slope facing southeast to south that rises from 88 metres above sea-level at the temple site to 122 metres further north. To the south of the temple, the valley runs at a level of 80 metres, and due east one can find a spring of water. In fact this area is now called 'Ta' l-Ghajn' – The Spring. Nowadays, however, there is only a small stream, but up to 30 years ago there was enough water to irrigate some fields throughout the year. To the west of the temple, the old people of the village can still remember a number of caves, which are now buried under the present church and other buildings in the vicinity.
In 1974, Robert Fripp—leader of the progressive rock group King Crimson—had a spiritual experienc... more In 1974, Robert Fripp—leader of the progressive rock group King Crimson—had a spiritual experience in which " the top of [his] head blew off. " He became a student of J. G. Bennett, himself a former student of G. I. Gurdjieff, at Sherborne House in Gloucestershire, and remains a member of the Bennett Foundation to this day. When Fripp returned to the music industry, it was with an approach that favored disciplined and geometric compositions over the jagged improvisation of the earlier period. This article explores the influence of Gurdjieff and Bennett's teaching upon Fripp and his work, and his apparent attempts to realize the former's idea of " objective art " through his music. I pay particular attention to the development of Guitar Craft, in which Fripp applies Gurdjieff's techniques through the teaching of the guitar. I argue that Fripp's teaching is a little examined scion of the Gurdjieff lineage, and a case study of discrete cultural production.
Moving from Barnesmoore's (2016) theorization of humans as beings with the potential for consciou... more Moving from Barnesmoore's (2016) theorization of humans as beings with the potential for conscious (epis-temological) evolution, this article argues that a revolution in the ideas by which ('world view' in which) we conceive of potential practice must necessarily precede a revolution of academic and social practice (that theory necessarily precedes practice). Revolution must be rooted in revolutionary ideas and cannot be facilitated by practices that rise from (are rationalized within) the hegemonic essence (ideas, axioms and logics) of the regime against which revolution is being waged.
PURPOSE Medicine is traditionally considered a healing profession, but it has neither an operatio... more PURPOSE Medicine is traditionally considered a healing profession, but it has neither an operational defi nition of healing nor an explanation of its mechanisms beyond the physiological processes related to curing. The objective of this study was to determine a defi nition of healing that operationalizes its mechanisms and thereby identifi es those repeatable actions that reliably assist physicians to promote holistic healing. METHODS This study was a qualitative inquiry consisting of in-depth, open-ended, semistructured interviews with Drs. Their perceptions regarding the defi nition and mechanisms of healing were subjected to grounded theory content analysis. RESULTS Healing was associated with themes of wholeness, narrative, and spiritu-ality. Healing is an intensely personal, subjective experience involving a reconciliation of the meaning an individual ascribes to distressing events with his or her perception of wholeness as a person. CONCLUSIONS Healing may be operationally defi ned as the personal experience of the transcendence of suffering. Physicians can enhance their abilities as healers by recognizing, diagnosing, minimizing, and relieving suffering, as well as helping patients transcend suffering.
HYPOTHESIS Russell Targ is a physicist and cofounder of the Stanford Research Institute's investi... more HYPOTHESIS Russell Targ is a physicist and cofounder of the Stanford Research Institute's investigation into psychic abilities. A prolific author, he pursues extrasensory perception research in Palo Alto, Calif, and publishes special editions of classic books in consciousness research. Jane Katra holds a doctorate in health education and works as a spiritual healer and " immune system coach, " writing and taking part in consciousness research. She has taught nutrition and health classes at the University of Oregon and therapeutic touch at Lane Community College in Eugene, Ore. Since ancient times, spiritual teachers have described paths and practices that a person could follow to achieve health, happiness, and peace of mind. Considerable recent research has indicated that any sort of spiritual practice is likely to improve one's prognosis for recovering from a serious illness. Many of these approaches to spirituality involve learning to quiet the mind rather than adhering to a prescribed religious belief. These meditative paths include the mystic branches of Buddhism, Hinduism, and Christianity; Kabalistic Judaism; Sufism; and many others. What is hinted at in the subtext of these teachings is that as one learns to quiet his or her mind, one is likely to encounter psychic-seeming experiences or perceptions. For example, in The Sutras of Patanjali, the Hindu master tells us that on the way to transcendence we may experience all sorts of amazing visions, such as the ability to see into the distance, or into the future, and to diagnose illnesses and to cure them. However, we are told not to get attached to these psychic abilities—they are mere phenomena standing as stumbling blocks on the path to enlightenment. In this article, we describe the laboratory evidence for some of these remarkable phenomena and their implications for science, mental health, and peace of mind. (Altern Ther Health Med. 2001;7(3):143-149) W hat do the spiritual healer, the mystic, and the scientist all have in common? The answer is that they are all in touch with their interconnected and nonlocal mind. In my (R. T.'s) work with remote viewing research at Stanford Research Institute, we observed the inflow of information that is the hallmark of psychic perception. We also saw an outflow of intention that plays a part in facilitating distant healing. Our purpose here is to show that the inflow and the outflow reside on either side of the quiet mind, and that self-awareness can arise between these 2 flows. We have also noticed that narrowly focusing on phenomena, and the seeming omni-science available from extrasensory perception (ESP), may be just a trap that prevents us from discovering who we really are and what we should be doing. However, as my coauthor Jane Katra and I describe in The Heart of the Mind, 1 we are confident that whenever any one person demonstrates an ability beyond the ordinary, it can be seen as an inspiration to the rest of us, as an indication of an immense and still largely undeveloped human potential. The scientific and spiritual implications of psychic abilities illuminate our observation that we live in a profoundly interconnected world. The most exciting research in quantum physics today is the investigation of what physicist David Bohm calls " quantum-interconnectedness, " or nonlocal correlations. 2 It has been demonstrated repeatedly in laboratories around the world that quanta of light that are sent off in opposite directions at light speed maintain their connection to one another, and that each little photon is affected by what happens to its twin, many kilometers away. 3-5 This surprising coherence between distant entities is called nonlocality. In writing on the philosophical implications of nonlocality, physicist Henry Stapp of the University of California, Berkeley, says that these quantum connections could be the " most profound discovery in all of science. " 6 Psychic abilities and remote viewing are demonstrations of our personal experience with such nonlocal connection in consciousness. Mind-to-mind connections that transcend our ordinary understanding of space and time give us expanded awareness, which is entirely consistent with life in a nonlocal world. This connection is what physicists mean by nonlocality. To the healer, it gives rise to what Larry Dossey 7 refers to in his book Reinventing Medicine as Era III healing of a distant patient through the inten-tionality of the healer. Our knowledge of these remarkable abilities allows us to awaken each morning in wonder at the fact that our expanded awareness is not limited by either time or space. And it should have become clear to us by now that although we reside in bodies, there is more to us than skin and bones. Our quiet moments of self-inquiry can reveal what that " more " is.
A year ago, after taking part in a photographic competition organised by the Lejla Mgarrija Commi... more A year ago, after taking part in a photographic competition organised by the Lejla Mgarrija Commitee, my brother asked me, 'What about sunrise at Ta' Hagrat Temples?' Well, that should be an interesting subject for a photo, I thought. A simple measurement of the orientation of the axis of the larger temple with a compass showed that it faced almost southeast or about azimuth 130 o. Contacting the Astronomical Society for the furthest point south that the sun rises in winter, I was informed that between December 17 and 27 the sun rises at approximately azimuth 119 o. This upset me a little bit because it meant that the orientation of the temple was somewhat more southerly than that of winter solstice sunrise. But as December approached I decided to take a closer look into the matter. On December 22 the sky at dawn was clear and cloudless providing me with an excellent opportunity to photograph sunrise. Armed with a camera, I arrived at the Ta' Hagrat well before sunrise. At 7.22 a.m. the sun's rim rose over the hill on the horizon and the first beam of light reached the temple. On taking some photographs, I realised that there was a connection between sunrise and the shape of the temple. At that moment, I decided to investigate the matter further. I soon found that some years ago George Agius and Frank Ventura had written a paper on their investigation of the possible astronomical alignments of our megalithic temples. Figure 3 of that paper presented the distribution of the orientations of the temples. It showed the larger temple at Ta' Hagrat amongst a cluster of eight temples directed approximately towards the south east 1. For my investigation I decided to study the best preserved temples in this cluster, namely, the main temples at Ta' Hagrat and Skorba in Mgarr, the two temples at Ggantija in Gozo, the two larger temples at Mnajdra, and the complex temple at Hagar Qim in Qrendi. In my work, I concentrated on the following aspects which showed clearly the relationship between the temples: the site of building; the development of the temples; their planning and orientation; the construction of stone screens for the side chambers, and the construction of the facades. The Temple Sites In building their temples our prehistoric ancestors had large spaces of land to choose from but they always preferred a southeast facing slope as the site of their temples and, with the exception of Hagar Qim, they never chose a hilltop. The site was always near a spring of water and not far from caves, maybe the same ones they lived in. Because of the water springs, the area around the temple must have been fertile and very suitable for farming and rearing animals. Thus we find that Ta' Hagrat temple is situated on a gentle slope facing southeast to south that rises from 88 metres above sea-level at the temple site to 122 metres further north. To the south of the temple, the valley runs at a level of 80 metres, and due east one can find a spring of water. In fact this area is now called 'Ta' l-Ghajn' – The Spring. Nowadays, however, there is only a small stream, but up to 30 years ago there was enough water to irrigate some fields throughout the year. To the west of the temple, the old people of the village can still remember a number of caves, which are now buried under the present church and other buildings in the vicinity.
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