Saturday, December 13, 2008

Leap! The Movie

{This is a link to purchase the DVD: http://www.leapmovie.com/affiliates/jrox.php?id=10113. It is an affiliate link so a portion of the purchase price (which is the same as if you ordered it without using the affiliate link) will be paid to me, which I'll use to pay for some of the drinks and snacks at the meetings.}

If you enjoy watching movies like "What the Bleep Do We Know?," "The Moses Code," and "The Secret," then there is a new movie out that you might be interested in. It's called "Leap!," and it's posits the idea that the world is an illusion. Is the world literally an Illusion or is it just your perception that is the illusion? If the world is an illusion what then?

The movie features interviews with contemporary visionaries, scientists and authors and takes you on a journey that offers you a powerful way to perceive yourself and the world.

To me, the topic and trailer look very interesting. The production looks to be a little less slick than The Secret and The Moses Code, and frankly I kind of like that. While the messages of the other two are good messages, I almost feel that I'm being sold something by them. The slickness and cleverness also make things seem a little to basic, too simple, and it seems to degrade the value of the overall message. So I like to see that this is a little more documentary and a little less flash. (Oddly, I did like the packaging of What the Bleep except for maybe the narrative starring Marlee Matlin. I thought the acting was fine but I would have preferred to have foregone with the narrative, especially when watching the 5 hour version!)

The premise of the movie is that the world is an illusion, a cornerstone of the A Course In Miracles material. Gary Renard, author of The Disappearance of the Universe and other ACIM related material is featured prominently in the trailer. From the hawking of his wares on the website, it seems that he might be involved in the production, which wouldn't surprise me. I chuckled as I saw Michael Brown being interviewed in there (the guy with the South African accent) as my name is Michael Sean Brown and bought his book, The Presence Process, largely in part due to the novelty of us having the same name. (It would be neat if his material turns out having good merit.)

Below is a list of those interviewed, some of them part of the Usual Suspects appearing in the three movies mentioned above.

Dan Millman (Way of the Peaceful Warrior)
Gary Renard (The Disappearance of the Universe)
Robert Scheinfeld
Fred Alan Wolf (What the Bleep)
Nicole Casanova
Joe Vitale (The Secret)
Will Arntz
Peter Russel
Amber Terrell
Gary Crowley
Amir Zoghi
James Twyman (The Moses Code)


Here's what you find on the "About" page on the website:

Leap! is a film that compels you to consider this ageless theory that “The world is an illusion“. You may find it confronting to consider your reality is simply a grand illusion.

This idea may challenge your current beliefs and ideals. To think of yourself, your family, friends and everything you know and love is part of an elaborate illusion sounds insane….. but then again Einstein did say “Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one.”

Leap! explores ancient and modern philosophies and philosophers who support the illusion theory. To Leap! beyond the illusion is to let go and live from inspiration…. To Leap! beyond the constraints of your current perceived reality and what you think you know….

To consider The Truth of who you really are:
- You are an infinite being…. a participant in the illusion
- We are all infinite beings… most of us have simply forgotten
- Infinite power and abundance is your natural state

The purpose of Leap! is to invite each of us to live beyond the illusion by knowing what is really going on here.

This philosophy is not about denying our physical experience. Ultimately it is about Leaping beyond limitations and restrictions which this illusion appears to impose.

What would your life look like if you chose to live from a context of:
- You are an infinite being
- Your world is an illusion being constructed for your enjoyment
- There is nothing “to do” except what you are inspired to do
- You can’t make a mistake

Perhaps the following would be possible from a foundation of you are an infinite being:
- True Happiness, Peace, Fun, Love and Joy would be present
- You could live life with no limits or restrictions
- In every moment anything is possible
- Everything is perfect right here, right now
- Everything that happens to you is simply an opportunity for you to embrace these truths.

This philosophy is not about visualization, manifestation, or creating with intention. This philosophy is a complete paradigm shift in how you can live your life from a deep knowing of who you really are.

Even though we believe it’s all an illusion…. This life is still a great adventure…..

Monday, December 8, 2008

Ruth Schwartz: Music for Guitar & Stone

While I was at the retreat one of the other attendees, Ruth Schwartz, read a poem on our final day. She had considered reading another poem about a dog, as Carl-Johan had touched us all with an incredible experience he had with a dog a few days before. But Ruth decided to read the poem below as it related to something that many of us, expecially me that day, had to come to terms with: failure and acceptance thereof.

I very much appreciated Ruth reading that poem and she was kind enough to send it to me in an email. Ruth is a poet, and the poem "Music for Guitar & Stone" comes from her latest book "Dear Good Naked Morning." Ruth's books can be found at www.RuthSchwartz.com.

Thank you, Ruth.


Music for Guitar and Stone

In music I can love the small failures,
the ones which show how difficult it is:
the young guitarist's fingers slipping,
for an instant, from their climb of chords.
He sits alone on the stage, bright light,
one leg wedged up on a step, his raised knee
round and tender, and the notes like birds
from a vanishing flock, each one more exquisite and lonely;
the fingers part of the hand, yet separate from the hand,
each living muscle married to the whole.
In life the failures feel like they'll kill me,
or you will, or we'll kill each other;
it's so hard to feel the music
moving through us, the larger patterns
of river and mountain, where damage is not separate
from creation, transformation;
where every mistake we make can wash
smooth and clean as stones in water,
then land on shore, then be thrown in again.
I want to sleep, like a stone, for a thousand years.
I want to wake with creatures traced smooth on my skin.
I want to forget I loved you and failed you
as you failed and loved me too, in the lengthy, painful
evolution of our kind; I want to sleep
for a thousand years, then wake up in some other world
where failure is part of the music, and seen
to make it more beautiful; where the fingers
forgive each other; where we can sit naked again
at the window, watch the notes fly by like birds
who have finally found their way home.

Thursday, December 4, 2008

Catching Up: Whew!

I've been wrestling with complications from gout (it's a chronic thing for me that pops into my life once or twice year) but it has allowed me a great amount of time to focus on my passion for awareness and spirituality. I spent some time with an incredible group organized by Richard Moss, and it has truly initiated a great transformation in my life. While not at a loss for words (could that really be possible?), it took a full week for me to be able to process what has happened so that I could discuss it fully with others. Frankly, I still don't have a complete understanding of it and I know (and accept) that I never will. But there are many beautiful things that I have experienced and learned and I would like to pass them on to my friends. I hope that I'm infectuous and others might want to have similar experiences, and if you do, let me know and I'll point you to Richard and Annalisa for more information.

I was very fortunate in discovering groups in early September, and the energy that has been built and cultivated in those groups has allowed me to grow incredibly fast. I love my groups! They have provided a great avenue to share my new found energy with and have made the come-down from the Richard Moss experience easy (because I didn't have to go cold turkey) and more memorable (in allowing me to share and reprocess many important lessons). Thank you, everyone, who has been to the meetings!

I can't tell you how much I miss the Richard Moss group. I know they are out there and we still maintain contact via email, but it is sublime to bask in their blended energy. Yes, I'm allowing my weight to shift out of the Now and into the Past, but I don't let it detract me from keeping aligned with my path and THE Path. One of the lessons I'm in the process of assimilating is learning how to keep weighted in the Now while allowing myself to feel nostalgia. I then try to recognize when my attention falls to heavily into the past so that I can get right back into the Now. It's a great exercise as it allows me to flex that Presence muscle while enjoying some wonderful memories (I just can't let it become a crutch or allow my ego to fool me into thinking I'm more weighted in the Now than I really am, but then that, too, is part of the lesson! Beautiful!)

Over eight pages written and I'm still documenting the events of the last night of the event. For me it was nothing less than a mystical experience and I am eager to share it with you.

Until my next post,

Namaste