No Storm Lasts Forever Transforming Suffering Into Insight by Dr. Terry Gordon

As a cardiologist,Dr. Terry Gordon dealt with life-and-death circumstances on a daily basis. He learned that life is precious and tenuous; it can change in an instant. Such a dramatic shift occurred when his son, Tyler, was involved in a car accident, sustaining a severe spinal-cord injury that left him paralyzed. Leading his family through the experience, Terry’s journey resulted in a spiritual awakening to a clearer understanding of life and the truths it has to offer.

Terry has learned that our experiences become calamities only if we make the conscious decision to make tragedies out of them. Rather than lamenting the so-called adversities, we can choose to be grateful for them, embracing them as gifts from the Divine. These gifts provide fertile soil for growth and enlightenment, offering us the opportunity to transform turmoil, disappointment, and suffering into understanding, insight, and resolve . . . and such gifts are presented to you in No Storm Lasts Forever.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dr. Terry Gordon, a Cleveland Clinic–trained cardiologist, practiced within mainstream medicine for over two decades. Named the American Heart Association’s National Physician of the Year in 2002, Terry is nationally recognized in matters of the heart. As a motivational speaker, he has shared the stage with Dr. Wayne Dyer; as a musician, he is the co-host of Docs Who Rock, a United Way event. He is currently spearheading a national campaign called The Josh Miller HEARTS Act, which will place Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) in every school in the country, protecting from sudden cardiac arrest our most precious resource: our children. Website http://www.drterrygordon.com

No storm lasts forever – Dr Terry Gordon

In his soon to be published book by Hay House No Storm Lasts Forever, Terry shares with us from personal experience how a so-called tragedy in one’s life can actually be a blessing in disguise.

“When adversity comes our way, it is how we respond to that difficulty that determines who we are. Our life experiences become calamities only if we make the conscious decision to make tragedies out of them. We might just as easily choose to view them as opportunities for personal growth.”

“The difficult days we experience can become the driving force of change. Rather than lamenting adversity, we can choose to be grateful for it. We can embrace and accept it as a gift from the Divine. Within these gifts are the lessons that can promote our development and maturation. By being grateful for adversity, we can see it as an opportunity to transform turmoil, disappointment, or suffering into understanding, insight, or resolve.” – http://www.drterrygordon.com/

The Nature Principle: Human Restoration and the End of Nature-Deficit Disorder ~ Richard Louv

“The future will belong to the nature-smart—those individuals, families, businesses, and political leaders who develop a deeper understanding of the transformative power of the natural world and who balance the virtual with the real. The more high-tech we become, the more nature we need.”
—Richard Louv

In his bestselling book Last Child in the Woods, Richard Louv sparked a national debate that spawned an international movement to reconnect kids and nature. He coined the term nature-deficit disorder; influenced national policy; and helped inspire campaigns in over eighty cities, states, and provinces throughout North America. In The Nature Principle, Louv delivers another powerful call to action—this time for adults.

Supported by groundbreaking research, anecdotal evidence, and compelling personal stories, Louv identifies seven basic concepts that can help us reshape our lives. By tapping into the restorative powers of nature, we can boost mental acuity and creativity; promote health and wellness; build smarter and more sustainable businesses, communities, and economies; and ultimately strengthen human bonds.

Louv makes a convincing case that we are entering the most creative period in history, that in fact the twenty-first century will be the era of human restoration in the natural world. This encouraging and influential work offers renewed optimism while challenging us to rethink the way we live.

Richard Louv’s The Nature Principle

The immediacy of Richard Louv’s message in Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder galvanized an international movement to reconnect children with nature. Now, in The Nature Principle, Louv reaches even further with a powerful call to action for the rest of us.

Our society, says Louv, has developed such an outsized faith in technology that we have yet to fully realize or even adequately study how human capacities are enhanced through the power of nature. Supported by groundbreaking research, anecdotal evidence, and compelling personal stories, Louv shows us how tapping into the restorative powers of the natural world can boost mental acuity and creativity; promote health and wellness; build smarter and more sustainable businesses, communities, and economies; and ultimately strengthen human bonds. As he says in his introduction, The Nature Principle is “about the power of living in nature—not with it, but in it. We are entering the most creative period in history. The twenty-first century will be the century of human restoration in the natural world.”

Richard Louv makes a convincing case that through a nature-balanced existence—driven by sound economic, social, and environmental solutions—the human race can and will thrive. This timely, inspiring, and important work will give readers renewed hope while challenging them to rethink the way we live

A conservation with Richard Louv

Brooke Langston, Richardson Bay Audubon Center Director, talks with Audubon Medal recipient Richard Louv about a topic they are mutually passionate about nature.

The Timeless Origins of the Tarot Cards

The word Tarot does not have a specific translation, as it is derived form an uncertain etymology. We can find variations that go from tarock, tarok, tarocco, tarocchi. It is believed that the word stemmed from the Arab turuq, which means the “Four Pathways”.

A lot has been said about the origins of the Tarot, aside for the history told about their “re-appearance” in Europe in the mid-15th century, It seems, in fact, that the tarot has it beginnings in old temples of initiation of ancient times.

One of the many legends surrounding the Cards or Tablets comes from the period that preceded the decline of the Ancient Egypt culture and spiritual system. It is said that the High Priests, foreseeing the decadence of Human-kind and the beginning of an Era of Darkness, held a council to decide on how to preserve the ancient knowledge and Ageless Wisdom for the future generations. Many indicated that the best way to keep the sacred secrets guarded was through the hands of those that were virtuous and honorable individuals.

But others argued that, in truth during the dark ages, many would fall into the traps of self and would not be able to pass through the generations the archetypical knowledge of the Tablets. After much debate, they decided that the only reliable way to immortalize these Tablets of Knowledge was in trusting in vices instead of the virtues. In doing this, they trusted that the Wisdom of the Ages would manifest by the actions and influence of the Higher Self of the person that received the archetypical templates.

In order to continue the preservation of the ancient wisdom, the Priests developed the tablets with the pictorial representation of the archetypes and invented different types of games to be taught to the common people so they would be able to spread the influence of these powerful energies around, hoping they will reach the right hands.

As Egypt was the main strategic point of the ancient world where all the commerce, culture, knowledge and political control abounded and was disseminated to the neighboring regions. It was not a difficult task to spread the card games to sailors and merchants who gladly spread them to the diverse regions of the ancient world.

Traditionally, the common card readings are associated with the prototype of the Gypsies, generally nomadic tribes that traveled the world selling goods and doing readings to those interested in knowing their future. Perhaps the name “gypsies” came originally from the word “Egypt”, and the gypsies were the ones that inherited the Tarot Cards and knowledge from the original Egyptians

The Astrology of July 2012 ~ Carl Boudreau

July’s chart is a comparatively faint reflection, a mirror image of June’s. Some might experience mild aftershocks. But for most it will be a time to reflect, recuperate, reconsider and regroup. Issues as well as possibilities – both – will increase in complexity. July is a month to dig deeper and prepare more fully.

EVOLUTIONARIES: Unlocking the Spiritual and Cultural Potential of Science’s Greatest Idea by Carter Phipps

When it comes to evolution, we’ve all heard about fossils and fruit flies, Darwin and Dawkins. But evolution embraces much more. Today, a movement of visionary scientists, philosophers, and spiritual thinkers are forging a new understanding of evolution that honors science, reframes culture, and radically updates spirituality. Carter Phipps calls them “Evolutionaries.” His groundbreaking book provides the first popular guide to these exciting minds who are illuminating the secrets of our past and expanding the vistas of our future.

Evolutionaries — Unlocking the Spiritual and Cultural Potential of Science’s Greatest Idea

Carter Phipps speaks with Big Think’s Jason Gots about what he calls ‘evolutionaries’ – individuals whose evolutionary perspective on personal and social development enables them to radically improve their own lives and drive human culture forward.

Carter Phipps is an author, journalist, and leading voice in the emerging field of Evolutionary Spirituality. For the past decade, as executive editor of EnlightenNext magazine, he has been at the forefront of contemporary spiritual, philosophical, and cultural discourse, and his writings have played a key role in making important new thinking accessible to a wider audience. His first book, EVOLUTIONARIES: Unlocking the Spiritual and Cultural Potential of Science’s Greatest Idea, will be published by Harper Perennial in May 2012.

Near-Death Experiences: The Rest of The Story ~ P.M.H. Atwater

PMH Atwater’s most controversial book to date that dares to reveal “the rest of the story” about near-death experiences. Uncovering what really happens to children and adults who undergo this phenomenon, Near-Death Experiences: The Rest of The Story combines extensive, objective research with first-person “survivor” accounts, as well as well as an exploration of “brain shift/spirit shift.”

An international authority on near-death states, Dr. Atwater uses the culmination of her research to establish that the near-death phenomenon is not some kind of anomaly, but is rather part of the larger genre of transformations of consciousness. She combines her 33 years of near-death research with what she was doing in the 60s and 70s, experiencing, experimenting with, and researching altered states of consciousness, mysticism, psychic phenomena, and the transformational process, to reveal what transformations of consciousness really are, why we have them, and where they lead us. This lifetime endeavor covers over 43 years of work, involving nearly 7,000 people. Her meticulous and unique protocol gives validity to what she has discovered and verified, and to the link that can be made between what is happening in the Middle East and the percentage worldwide of people who have undergone near-death experiences. A tipping point has been reached, a shared reality has emerged. . . for a leaderless, global, revolution in consciousness!

Dr. P.M.H. Atwater

Her groundbreaking contributions continue with Near-Death Experiences: The Rest of The Story, examining the phenomena of:

Group experiences
“Heaven” and “Hell”
“Light” encounters
Aftereffects including unusual or amplified sensitivities
Spiritual transformations and societal implications

Basing her findings on extensive first person interviews as well as scientific studies of the deeper structures of the brain, Near-Death Experiences: The Rest of The Story is a rational examination of an experience that defies ordinary reason – the first book to tackle this difficult and controversial subject from both the scientific and spiritual perspectives.

Dr. P.M.H. Atwater on A Fireside Chat – Near-Death Experiences – June 16th, 2012

My Guest is PMH ATWATER, Ph.D. PMH returns after 4 years too long, to share ground breaking new research. We focus on the culmination of 44 years of consciousness and NDE research, as well as personal experience gained from no less than 3 of her own NDEs.

In this, her 10th book, written in her 70′s, I was astonished to discover such a vast compendium of interconnected new insights. Her book is titled, “NEAR DEATH EXPERIENCES the rest of the story”. In it, she finally shares personal thoughts, held back from the previous 9 brilliant books. I was spellbound by both halves with her masterful and humorous writing. The first half contains personal stories from some of the most fascinating and researched of the 4,000 adults and 266 children interviewed over 33 years.

The second half includes ground-breaking new scientific research that empowers us as a collective to expand our consciousness and shift into higher “gears”. We discuss the power of the “stress-chaos theory” effect, the amazing power of the body-brain as it relates to death, the significance of the pending Mayan Calendar shift in the “2012-13 window”, DMT, consciousness expansion and finally she explains many “whys”.

Of special significance to me were the discoveries on colloidal suspension, synchronicity, brain waves, entanglements, higher consciousness, 2012, life “after death”, and much more. This book is a “must read” as a spiritual eye opener, as we barely scratched the surface in this show. One interview not to be missed, but even more important: her book is vital in comprehending the larger cosmic panorama; what happens and why – before and after we cross over. PMH Atwater is a pioneer way ahead of her time; yet, “just in time” to be of service through these times which she sheds a beautiful bright golden light upon. Enjoy the show!

Present! – P.M.H. Atwater and the Near Death Experience

P.M.H. Atwater talks about her near death experience and about her research into the N.D.E..

ROADSIGNS: On the Spiritual Path — Living at the Heart of Paradox ~ Philip Goldberg

An indispensable book for anyone on a spiritual path, whether within a mainstream tradition or a journey of one’s own. The book recognizes that everyone’s path is unique, and that while the road is filled with glory and bliss, it also contains ambiguous turns and contradictory directions as well as roadblocks, dead-ends and potholes. Based upon 3 decades of personal experience and years of research, this book provides the road signs every soul searcher needs. It leads to the best kind of guidance you can have: your own answers based on your own reflection and your own unique needs.

Philip Goldberg – Buddha at the Gas Pump Interview

Philip Goldberg has been studying India’s spiritual traditions for more than forty years, as both a practitioner and an author. After teaching Transcendental Meditation in early 1970s, he became a professional writer and has written or co-written 19 books, including The Intuitive Edge, Making Peace With God, Roadsigns on the Spiritual Path and his most recent work, American Veda: From Emerson and the Beatles to Yoga and Meditation, How Indian Spirituality Changed the West. The book was greeted by enthusiastic reviews from journalists and experts in the field.

He is also published novelist and a member of both the Writers Guild of America and the Authors Guild. His blogs appear regularly on the Huffington Post, Elephant Journal and other sites.

An ordained interfaith minister and spiritual counselor as well, Phil was the founding director of the Forge Guild of Spiritual Leaders and recently created Spiritual Wellness and Healing Associates (SWAHA) in Los Angeles, with his wife, acupuncturist Lori Deutsch.

Man Seeks God: My Flirtations with the Divine by Eric Weiner

When a health scare puts him in the hospital, Eric Weiner-an agnostic by default-finds himself tangling with an unexpected question, posed to him by a well-meaning nurse. “Have you found your God yet?” The thought of it nags him, and prods him-and ultimately launches him on a far-flung journey to do just that.

Weiner, a longtime “spiritual voyeur” and inveterate traveler, realizes that while he has been privy to a wide range of religious practices, he’s never seriously considered these concepts in his own life. Face to face with his own mortality, and spurred on by the question of what spiritual principles to impart to his young daughter, he decides to correct this omission, undertaking a worldwide exploration of religions and hoping to come, if he can, to a personal understanding of the divine.

The journey that results is rich in insight, humor, and heart. Willing to do anything to better understand faith, and to find the god or gods that speak to him, he travels to Nepal, where he meditates with Tibetan lamas and a guy named Wayne. He sojourns to Turkey, where he whirls (not so well, as it turns out) with Sufi dervishes. He heads to China, where he attempts to unblock his chi; to Israel, where he studies Kabbalah, sans Madonna; and to Las Vegas, where he has a close encounter with Raelians (followers of the world’s largest UFO-based religion).

At each stop along the way, Weiner tackles our most pressing spiritual questions:

> Where do we come from?
> What happens when we die?
> How should we live our lives?
> Where do all the missing socks go?

With his trademark wit and warmth, he leaves no stone unturned. At a time when more Americans than ever are choosing a new faith, and when spiritual questions loom large in the modern age, MAN SEEKS GOD presents a perspective on religion that is sure to delight, inspire, and entertain.

FOR as long as he can remember Eric Weiner wanted to be a foreign correspondent. So he could hardly believe his good fortune when, one day in 1993, NPR dispatched him to India as the network’s first full-time correspondent in that country. Weiner spent two of the best years of his life based in New Delhi, covering everything from an outbreak of bubonic plague to India’s economic reforms, before moving on to other postings in Jerusalem and Tokyo.

Over the past decade, he’s reported from more than 30 countries, most of them profoundly unhappy. He traveled to Iraq several times during the reign of Saddam Hussein. He was in Afghanistan in 2001, when the Taliban regime fell.

He’s also served as a correspondent for NPR in New York, Miami and Washin..

Eric Weiner, author of Man Seeks God, talks about his “Flirtations with the Divine”


Eric Weiner, author of the New York Times Bestselling book THE GEOGRAPHY OF BLISS, discusses the genesis of his latest work, MAN SEEKS GOD.

Dalai Lama Taps Nicholas Vreeland, American Buddhist, To Bridge East And West At Rato Monastery In Southern India

The Dalai Lama has given Nicholas Vreeland (pictured here), director of The Tibet Center in New York, a daunting new assignment. On July 6, Vreeland will be enthroned as the new abbot of Rato Monastery in southern India, one of the most important monasteries in Tibetan Buddhism. He will be the first Westerner to hold such a position. RNS photo courtesy Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly

NEW YORK (RNS) The Dalai Lama has given Nicholas Vreeland, director of The Tibet Center in New York, a daunting new assignment. On July 6, Vreeland will be enthroned as the new abbot of Rato Monastery in southern India, one of the most important monasteries in Tibetan Buddhism. He will be the first Westerner to hold such a position.

In making the appointment, the Dalai Lama told Vreeland, “Your special duty (is) to bridge Tibetan tradition and (the) Western world.”

“His Holiness wishes to bring Western ideas into the Tibetan Buddhist monastic system, and that comes from his recognition that it is essential … that there be new air brought into these institutions,” Vreeland told the PBS program “Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly.”

For many observers, the choice of an American for the role may be a surprising one, and perhaps even more surprising given the background of this particular American.

Vreeland had a privileged upbringing — the son of a U.S. diplomat and the grandson of Diana Vreeland, the legendary editor of Vogue magazine during the 1960s. When he first encountered Tibetan Buddhism in his 20s, he was working as a photographer in some of the industry’s top studios.

“What is it about Tibetan Buddhism that interested me? I think that it’s this very linear, very carefully organized, path to enlightenment that I liked,” Vreeland said.

Vreeland sees a linear progression in his own path into Buddhism. He was born in Switzerland and also lived in Germany and Morocco before his family returned to New York. They were Episcopalians and sent 13-year-old Nicky to a boys’ boarding school in Massachusetts. He was miserable there, until he discovered photography.

“I don’t know what it was about it that caught me. I really don’t know, but it caught me,” he said.

Vreeland had a good relationship with his famous grandmother. “I went to NYU to study film, and at that time initially lived with her and became very close. She was a wonderful, enthusiastic friend,” he said.

She opened the door for him to work with prominent photographers Irving Penn and Richard Avedon. In 1977, Avedon’s son John introduced Vreeland to Khyongla Rato Rinpoche, founder of The Tibet Center. Under Rinpoche’s supervision, Vreeland began learning about Tibetan Buddhism.

In 1979, he went to work on a photography assignment in India. Because of his growing interest in Tibetan Buddhism, he included a stop in Dharamsala, the headquarters-in-exile of the Dalai Lama. Vreeland received permission to photograph the Tibetan leader, and the two men chatted as Vreeland packed up his equipment.

“I had been so moved by the way in which the Tibetan people had helped me … during my time in Dharamsala, and I asked His Holiness what I could do in return. And he said, “Study,” Vreeland recalled.

Vreeland took that advice to heart, and with the help of his teacher, explored the Tibetan Buddhist concept that logic can lead to developing compassion and attaining enlightenment.

In 1985, Vreeland decided to become a Buddhist monk. His grandmother was not happy about it.

“She was not a big proponent of following a spiritual life,” he said, adding that she eventually came to accept his decision.

Vreeland pursued his monastic studies at Rato monastery, the monastery he will now lead. Rato was established in Tibet in the late 14th century to preserve Buddhist teachings on logic and debate. After the Dalai Lama fled China in 1959, Rato was re-established in India.

When Vreeland arrived in 1985, there were 27 monks. Today, there are about 100 between the ages of 6 and 90. The monastery undertook a massive construction project, which was largely funded through the sale of Vreeland’s photographs. He raised $400,000 with a special series of photos documenting life in and around the monastery.

As abbot of Rato, Vreeland will have administrative and spiritual responsibility for the monastery and its monks. He’ll also interact with abbots of the other Tibetan monasteries — and that’s where the Dalai Lama has instructed him to help incorporate more Western ideas.

“These institutions, if they aren’t contemporary, won’t have any relevance. Now, of course one has to be very careful. If you go too far, you dilute what they do possess and you’ve lost everything,” Vreeland said.

Vreeland will divide his time between India and New York, where he’ll continue as director of The Tibet Center, which helps promote Tibetan Buddhism in the West.

He admits he is not yet sure how he will be that bridge between East and West: “I am a human being, I’m a Buddhist monk, I am a Westerner, and how I will bring what I believe in? I think it’s by just living my life.”

(A version of this story was first broadcast on the PBS program “Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly.”)

Watch Here Buddhist Abbot Nicholas Vreeland

Bewusst.Tv – Interview with David Icke

o Conrad interviews David Icke about the manipulation of humankind, reptilian influence and the awakening of human conciousness….

Eine deutsche Version wird bei Gelegenheit folgen.