The Ordinary Mystic

It’s night time, and your young child is in bed, asleep. Suddenly you hear crying, or maybe even a scream. You rush to the room to see your child sitting up in bed crying as if she awoke from a frightening dream. You ask what’s wrong, but she doesn’t seem to be aware of your presence and continues crying despite your efforts to console her.

She is having a night terror.

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Once again, California shows itself to be among the progressive states as the Supreme Court takes a stand for social change.
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News about the “new drug threat” continues to increase as politicians and the media waste no time pursuing a misguided agenda to demonize salvia divinorum.

Without really understanding much about the plant, both are making ridiculously false statements. And recently, overzealous law enforcement officials in Kansas have targeted an innocent grocery store in the drive to rid the area of this new drug threat.
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The Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, founder of the Transcendental Meditation technique, died on Tuesday, February 5, 2008. His teachings on meditation influenced the Beatles, Deepok Chopra, and millions of others. Universities have been established throughout the world, all built upon a foundation of TM teachings. What is the reason for how widely his teachings spread? Is it that transcendental meditation is truly a unique and effective method for pursuing personal development?
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Salvia divinorum has been banned in a few countries as well as some states in the U.S.. I am against an outright ban against the plant, and I wrote a post on my position on the war on salvia. However, while I see more harm than good in the federal government or any state making it a Schedule I substance, I do support the idea of restricting its use in the same way that alcohol and cigarettes are restricted. This is not a party drug, and using it for entertainment purposes is wasteful at best and potentially dangerous at worst. Young minds that are still developing do not need to be exposed to substances that alter how the mind works.

So I was pleasantly surprised when I read last week that the Assembly Committee on Public Safety passed California Assemblyman Anthony Adams’ bill A.B. 259. The bill would make it a misdemeanor to sell or distribute Salvia divinorum to persons under the age of 18.

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You really know that people or ideas have reached a meaningful level of familiarity when they make an appearance in pop culture. But when jokes fly, what does that mean?

I caught a commercial the other day for that TV series 30 Rock. One of the characters is trying to start a secret Santa gift exchange at the office and right away the objections came.

Whoaaaaahhh! Yeah, Jenna is portrayed as the stereotypical dumb blonde, a self-centered and flighty actress. Jenna, simplistic follower of the Kabbalah, possibly involved with Scientology, is of course the one on the show who would embrace something as ridiculous as the ideas presented in the The Secret, right?

Is that how pop media views The Secret?

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We all experience them - those strange coincidences or synchronicities that make us take note and think “wow, now what are the odds of that happening!” Sometimes they mark a significant change in the direction of our lives, but others times there doesn’t seem to be any meaning or point to them at all.

What do you make of those moments?

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Ever thought you’d like to contribute something to others in developing nations, but weren’t sure you trusted how the money would be handled, or how much of it would actually reach those in need? Maybe you aren’t sure that just giving someone money to feed them for a day is the best way to help.

Well, there is another option - and it’s based on the same idea that helped win Muhammad Yuman and the Grameen Bank the Nobel Peace prize in 2006.

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