Chrysalis Angel

Chrysalis Angel
Becoming an Angel is the work of humans.

CHRYSALIS WELCOMES EVERYONE

Chrysalis' year begins the first Sunday after Labor Day in September. Services are held each Sunday at 10AM to 12 Noon. There will be no services held during August 2014. First meeting in the fall will be September 7, 2014.

Sunday Services from 10 am to 11:30 am each week
805 Mercer's Fernery Road
DeLand, FL (the white 2 story farm house)
Pastor - Skuli Thorhallsson

For more information or counseling phone (386) 478-9201

Email questions or requests to chrysalisgarden@gmail.com

Chrysalis Spiritual Center is a Swedenborg based congregation that studies non-deno
minational topics based on the value of certain writings and speech to society as a whole. Services are frequently presented by guest speakers. No denomination is excluded from meeting with us. We welcome all religions, ages, genders and beliefs.

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

A UNIVERSE OF PARALLELS

Affirmation

I bravely accept difficult situations in my life. I realize moving through these situations will ultimately open something new and wonderful for me. I am a better person for my life experiences. And so it is.

 

One is a neuron. The other is the structure of the universe.

link shared by Dharmachakra




Originally printed in the New York Times, here's the text printed over and under these images:


One is only micrometers wide. The other is billions of light-years across. One shows neurons in a mouse brain. The other is a simulated image of the universe. Together they suggest the surprisingly similar patterns found in vastly different natural phenomena.

Mark Miller, a doctoral student at Brandeis University, is researching how particular types of neurons in the brain are connected to one another. The image [on the left] shows three neuron cells on the left (two red and one yellow) and their connections.


An international group of astrophysicists used a computer simulation last year to recreate how the universe grew and evolved. The simulation image [on the right]  is a snapshot of the present universes that features a large cluster of galaxies (bright yellow) surrounded by thousands of stars, galaxies and dark matter (web).
What struck me about this is not the similarity between neuron and universe, though it's striking — rather it's the continuity of parallels one finds whenever one looks into the structures of nature.

From Hermetics to the Tao of Physics — A Universe of Parallels

"As above, so below," goes the Hermetic belief — "That which is Below corresponds to that which is Above, and that which is Above, corresponds to that which is Below, to accomplish the miracles of the One Thing". In Eastern thought, this idea is often paraphrased as "As is the microcosm, so is the microcosm."

I first came across these concepts in my reading of The Tao of Physics. Fritjof Capra's classic opened the eyes of many in the west — and helped spawn the New Age movement — by detailing the close, often uncanny parallels between Eastern, metaphysical cosmology and the furthest reaches of western, theoretical physics.

Capra was derided by some scientists as superficial and misleading, yet he had his allies among the luminaries of physics. Interviewed by Renee Weber in the book The Holographic Paradigm, Capra describes his discussions with Werner Heisenberg:

I had several discussions with Heisenberg. I lived in England then [circa 1972], and I visited him several times in Munich and showed him the whole manuscript [of The Tao of Physics] chapter by chapter. He was very interested and very open, and he told me something that I think is not known publicly because he never published it. He said that he was well aware of these parallels. While he was working on quantum theory he went to India to lecture and was a guest of [poet Rabindrinath] Tagore. He talked a lot with Tagore about Indian philosophy. Heisenberg told me that these talks had helped him a lot with his work in physics, because they showed him that all these new ideas in quantum physics were in fact not all that crazy. He realized there was, in fact, a whole culture that subscribed to very similar ideas. Heisenberg said that this was a great help for him. Niels Bohr had a similar experience when he went to China.
Subjective and Objective, Physiology and Veda
My own explorations on the subject have come not from the objectivist tradition of western science, but rather from many years practicing meditation and studying the Upanishads and other Vedic literature — exploring a consciousness-centered paradigm, you might say. I have also seen some very interesting conversations between Maharishi Mahesh Yogi (founder of the Transcendental Meditation movement) and leading scientists such as Ilya Prigogene, the "human thermodynamics" pioneer.

Over the course of his career, Maharishi pushed to validate the subjectively derived insights of meditation through western science. He would button any Nobel laureate within reach, attempting to ground the discoveries and theories of physics, chemistry and biology in Vedic structures of reality. Maharishi eventually commissioned MIT research physician Tony Nader to locate the entire structure of Vedic literature in the brain physiology and central nervous system. Nader published his insights as Human Physiology: Expression of the Veda and Vedic Literature.



In one of the more fanciful sections of the book, Nader even finds a close resemblance between the shape of the hippocampus — responsible for memory forming, organizing, and storing — and images of the elephant-headed god Ganesh, the deva of intellect and wisdom.



In the Chinese tradition (to pick almost at random from the analogs found in the mythos of ancient civilization) physical and mathematical structures like chaos also seem clearly laid out:

Chaos is the supreme ideal of Taoism. Chaos is wholeness, oneness and Nature. Chaos represents the natural state of the world. Digging holes on the head of Chaos means destroying the natural state of the cosmos. Therefore, to the ancient Chinese people chaos not only has the meaning of disorder but also presents a respectable aesthetic state. This idea of chaos may be very different from its western counterpart.

(From "A Brief History of the Concept of Chaos" — Huajie Liu, Department of Philosophy, Peking University)

Given all of which, it should hardly be surprising that a neuron (microcosm) should resemble the universe (macrocosm). While modern science has been a little slow to concede the chain of parallels, one can almost see the ancient rishis rolling their eyes and saying, "Duh!"

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“Be not afraid of growing slowly, be afraid only of standing still” Chinese Proverb

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Psychological (“personality”) Types

According to Jung’s theory of Psychological Types we are all different in fundamental ways. One’s ability to process different information is limited by their particular type. These types are sixteen.

People can be either Extroverts or Introverts, depending on the direction of their activity; Thinking, Feeling, Sensing, Intuitive, according to their own information pathways; Judging or Perceiving, depending on the method in which they process received information.

Extroverts vs. Introverts

Extroverts are directed towards the objective world whereas Introverts are directed towards the subjective world. The most common differences between Extroverts and Introverts are shown below:

Extroverts

    are interested in what is happening around them
    are open and often talkative
    compare their own opinions with the opinions of others
    like action and initiative
    easily make new friends or adapt to a new group
    say what they think
    are interested in new people
    easily break unwanted relations

    Introverts

    are interested in their own thoughts and feelings
    need to have own territory
    often appear reserved, quiet and thoughtful
    usually do not have many friends
    have difficulties in making new contacts
    like concentration and quiet
    do not like unexpected visits and therefore do not make them
    work well alone


Sensing vs. Intuition

Sensing is an ability to deal with information on the basis of its physical qualities and its affection by other information. Intuition is an ability to deal with the information on the basis of its hidden potential and its possible existence. The most common differences between Sensing and Intuitive types are shown below:

Sensing types

    see everyone and sense everything
    live in the here and now
    quickly adapt to any situation
    like pleasures based on physical sensation
    are practical and active
    are realistic and self-confident

    Intuitive types

    are mostly in the past or in the future
    worry about the future more than the present
    are interested in everything new and unusual
    do not like routine
    are attracted more to the theory than the practice
    often have doubts


Thinking vs. Feeling

Thinking is an ability to deal with information on the basis of its structure and its function. Feeling is an ability to deal with information on the basis of its initial energetic condition and its interactions. The most common differences between Thinking and Feeling type are shown below:

Thinking types

    are interested in systems, structures, patterns
    expose everything to logical analysis
    are relatively cold and unemotional
    evaluate things by intellect and right or wrong
    have difficulties talking about feelings
    do not like to clear up arguments or quarrels

Feeling types

    are interested in people and their feelings
    easily pass their own moods to others
    pay great attention to love and passion
    evaluate things by ethics and good or bad
    can be touchy or use emotional manipulation
    often give compliments to please people


Perceiving vs. Judging

Perceiving types are motivated into activity by the changes in a situation. Judging types are motivated into activity by their decisions resulting from the changes in a situation. The most common differences between Perceiving and Judging types are shown below:

Perceiving types

    act impulsively following the situation
    can start many things at once without finishing them properly
    prefer to have freedom from obligations
    are curious and like a fresh look at things
    work productivity depends on their mood
    often act without any preparation

    Judging types

    do not like to leave unanswered questions
    plan work ahead and tend to finish it
    do not like to change their decisions
    have relatively stable workability
    easily follow rules and discipline


These four opposite pairs of preferences define eight different ways of dealing with information, which in turn result in sixteen Psychological Types:

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 Book Report
from Parabola newsletter

Rumi and the Whirling Dervishes


This book, beautifully illustrated with rare photographs of dervishes, tells the tale of the Sufi order and its founder, poet and mystic Mevlana Jalalu’ddin Rumi. After Rumi’s death in 1273, the whirling dance or sema was established as part of the Mevlevi’s prayer ritual, and it has been performed by them ever since. The sema survives to this day, a statement of a timeless and passionate yearning toward God. With a special section devoted to Mevlevi music, and introductions by Annemarie Schimmel and Seyyed Hossein Nasr, Rumi and the Whirling Dervishes offers an unparalleled glimpse into the Mevlevi’s ecstatic practices. A beautiful companion for Friedlander’s film Rumi: The Wings of Love Paperback; 165 pp.; 90 duotone photographs. $15.95 $7.98


“Giving, receiving,
Transmitting, transforming,
Man’s body mediates
Energies on every level.”

—William Segal
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Prayer of Invocation

From the point of Light within the Mind of God
Let light stream forth into the minds of men.
Let Light descend on Earth.

From the point of Love within the Heart of God
Let love stream forth into the hearts of men.
May Christ return to Earth.

From the centre where the Will of God is known
Let purpose guide the little wills of men --
The purpose which the Masters know and serve.

From the centre which we call the race of men
Let the Plan of Love and Light work out.
And may it seal the door where evil dwells.

Let Light and Love and Power
restore the Plan on Earth.
the great invocation

-- maitreya
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The end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time. 

                                               T. S. Eliot