Spirituality: A quote:

     It has been very hot and humid here in Wisconsin. So I thought I would try to cool you readers off courtesy of Antarctica. I wanted some photos that would look spiritual and I know cruising these waters was somewhat spiritual. Perhaps it was just knowing where we were on this globe of ours.

From the magazine: Light of Consciousness: Journal of Spiritual Awakening Vol 20, No 4  Winter, 2008
Article: The Spiritual Journey to Healing  by Dharma Singh Khalsa MD.

Excerpts:

     "There is a big argument going on right now among evolutionary biologists, medical doctors, spiritual teachers, theologians and ministers. It is based on a recent study that was featured on the cover of Time magazine. There is a gene that has been discovered called the "God gene." Just as you inherit the ability to be musical or to have green eyes, you also inherit a gene that determines spirituality. Everyone has this gene, so everyone can be spiritual. Interestingly enough, this gene is the same gene that determines the chemistry in your brain, such as the secretion of seratonin, dopamine and norepinephrine, which make you happy.

     "The ultimate mystery is why this gene is in your body. Is it just an accident or is it put there for a reason, so that we can have the experience of relating to our higher power? Just as it is natural for dogs to respond to a possible intruder with barkiing and growling, just as the birds fly south in the winter, just as the leaves change color, it is natural for you to explore and to "polish" this gene. It is a natural part of us. We have it in us, but it is not just a matter of having the gene; it is the environment to which you expose the gene. You have to polish the gene. You have to put pressure on a piece of coal to turn it into a diamond.

.......

     We are not human beings searching for spirit; we are spiritual beings who happen to be having a human experience."

     Dharma Singh Khalsa MD, or Dr. Dharma as he is usually called is an ordained minister and yogi. He is also a pioneer in brain longevity and mind/body research studies in medicine. He works through the non profit Alzheimer's Research and Prevention Foundation. He is author of seven books for the general public, CDs and DVDs. Visit http://www.drdharma.com/ and http://www.alzheimersprevention.org/

     So this brief post has I hope helped cool your body, but heat up your enthusiasm for spiritual exploration. When we expand our consciousness and broaden our view to the whole world, from our backyard to Antarctica, and include our own area in our own brain to that of all people, and then all consciousness, we become the beings that we were intended to me. So I say, Nemaste, as they say in India. This non contact greeting usually used in the Indian subcontinent, is usually accompanied by pressing the hands together in front of the chest and bowing forward slightly. The higher the pressed hands are held the more respect is given.  It means "The bit of spirit and holiness in me bows in respect to the bit of spirit and holiness in you."

Nemaste.

The national heat wave.

     My cousin forwarded to me some photos sent to him by a friend taken on a trip to Antarctica. I thought that was a good idea though it may not suffice to make one feel cooler. Maybe if one really concentrated on the photos with mindfulness and turned on creative imagination full dial to the right, you might feel better. If not at least you'll see some of these gorgeous photos.

Various views of glaciers, snow, ice on the Antarctic peninsula and surrounding islands.

Above are 25 pictures that are designed to cool you down.

Here are some details about the photos. This trip occurred in Feb 2008. We flew to Santiago, Chile, and visited Valparaiso and Venue del Mar, then flew to Punta Arenas where we boarded the Hurtigruten Norwegian Cruise boat, Nord Norge. Then we cruised the Chilean Fjords, and saw Torres del Peine which is an amazing place. We were able to mount Cape Horn before we crossed the Drake Passage which that day was like the Drake Lake. We had a total of 12 landings because our weather in Antarctica was so good. The only bad weather was one morning when the deck as you see above was coated with slippery snow and also when we tried to cross the Antarctic Peninsula into the Weddell Sea. There was too much pack ice there and we had to turn around. We landed at the Chilean Research Station twice, in the midst of several penquin colonies, on Deception Island which is actually a flooded volcanic caldera, and at Port Lockroy. In the pictures you see gentoo penquins, adelaide penquins, and chinstrap penquins. In the middle of one gentoo colony there is a single kind penquin lying down which had gotten lost there. See if you can find him. We saw all sorts of birds, whales breeching and waving at us, many seal species and dolphins. It was an absolutely phenomenal trip and well worth the rough return across the Drake. Though it was hard to walk on ship for that crossing, with the scopalamine patches behind our ears, neither of us got at all nauseous and were able to eat dinner, though the crew had difficulty trying to carry in the baked Alaska which was served for dessert that night. We returned to Ushusaia, Argentina and then flew to Buenos Aires, and later Iguasu Falls, then home. If anyone has any questions about this trip, please enter your questions in the comments and I will answer them or email me at renraeretire@gmail.com.