Rainbow Journey Books

During my teen years, I chose to follow the faith of the Protestant church, and as a young adult I chose Catholicism. These churches were meaningful to me along my spiritual path, as I learned about the fundamentals of Christianity.

One of the mainstays of the religion is the expectation of the End of Times, as is graphically depicted in the Book of Revelations. For half of my life I believed that a ferocious battle between good and evil would take place. And, as I was reminded on most Sundays, it would happen at an unexpected time, so it was imperative that I be ready because it would only be the good Christians who would ascend, while the rest of humanity suffered through plagues then death then an eternity in Hell.

Now, as a middle-aged woman, who has seriously studied religion and spirituality, I have come to believe that God is LOVE and as such he would neither judge his children to be unworthy of returning home nor inflict the slaughtering of his creation. Nevertheless, I respect that Armageddon is a belief held dear by many Christians. The only reason that I bring it up is that with the current state of world affairs—wars, cruel dictatorships, oppression, racism, inequality, famine, poverty, homelessness, financial collapse and the corruption that has infected our governments and institutions, I hear more and more discussion about how the End of Times is near. Coincidentally, this talk is blending with the buzz about the year 2012.

So, what’s the buzz about? Just enter the digits 2-0-1-2 into a computer search engine, and you will find no shortage of websites that postulate about the predictions and prophecies of that mysterious year, which is based on the Mayan calendar. On this calendar, time seems to end precisely on December 21, 2012. But what does that mean exactly—an apocalypse, a catastrophic Earth change, or an atomic war? Perhaps, the pre-eminent expert on the Mayan, Dr. Jose Arguelles, can shed some light on the question.

It was Arguelles, who launched the 2012 movement with the success of his book, The Mayan Factor: Path Beyond Technology, which coincided with the Harmonic Convergence in August, 1987. According to Arguelles, this convergence marked the Earth’s initiation into a 25-year period of significant evolutionary change, which would climax in the year 2012.

But, who were the Mayans? What was their message for a civilization that would inhabit Earth 2,000 years in the future? Why did their calendar end on an exact date, and why do we care?

Well, the mysteries of the Mayan are vast and varied, but what is known for sure is that on their calendar they not only tracked local time and seasons, but they also tracked celestial alignment within our solar system. And, it is a rare alignment of the Earth with the center of our galaxy (which happens only once every 26,000 years) that heralds the dramatic evolutionary change.

It was while Arguelles was studying the mathematics of the calendar that it became clear by the quality of harmonic numbers that the calendar was measuring some type of harmonic wave—a beam, in other words, of which the Earth is passing through. Arguelles conjectures that this beam is 5,125 years wide and that it is being generated from the core of our galaxy.

From this beam, different types of radio waves (information) are being emanated. The question is what kind of information are we receiving? Well, we get a clue from Mayan science, which is based on the principles of resonance, which assumes that key factors in universal operations are in essence vibratory waves. (It is these waves that eventually become matter, such as atoms and subatomic particles, which then exist in harmony with each other.)

An interesting example of this is that the activity of the brain is measurable in different wave cycles and frequencies, and the alpha frequency of the brain has been determined to be 7.5 hertz megacycles, which, amazingly, is the same exact frequency of the Earth. Through matching our own resonance and frequencies with environmental resonance and frequencies, we harmonically draw energy from the environment through the medium of our bodies and vice versa. But, what happens when our resonances and frequencies are out of balance with our environment?

Well, it brings us to where we are today—living on a dying planet in a civilization that doesn’t reflect harmony at all. This is because for eons we have defined ourselves as being separate from everything—God, nature, animals and each other. And, in the process, we have sunk into a collective consciousness based on this belief in separation, which has left us feeling disempowered as individuals and only able to function in society by transferring authority to governments and institutions. Unfortunately, we are learning that these authority figureheads are abusing their power and no longer rule in the best interest of humanity or the planet. Arguelles believes that we have come to accept as a collective consciousness that living in the dark (familiar ignorance) is better than the light (truth), and inexplicably we fight to stay where we are. This leaves humanity in a complacent, hypnotic state thriving on negative energy as a norm, which serves as a comforting constant, but creates a terrible resonance imbalance.

So, where do we go from here? How do we get out of this mess we’ve created?

Well, according to futurist, Barbara Marx Hubbard, the imbalance reflected in our current environmental and social system breakdowns is a good sign because it will serve as an evolutionary driver that can lead to transformation. That is, if we let it inspire us to create new systems that will better serve ALL humanity.

Hubbard even believes that it’s possible that we can evolve into a new human species—the universal human (homo universalis), a theory of which doesn’t take a great leap to contemplate. After all, we gone from pre-life to life and from animal life to human life, so why should evolution stop with homo sapiens sapiens? Hubbard asks, “Is it possible that a new species has been gestating in the womb of self-consciousness through the great avatars, mystics and visionaries for thousands of years and that, now, due to the current global crisis, this new human is being born in millions of us?”

If so, what would life as a universal human be like?

Well, in the midst of watching many of our institutional systems break down, we can also see (if we look very closely) that innovations and creative solutions are also emerging. This mirrors the belief of Ilya Prigogine, the Nobel prize-winning chemist, who said that when systems become more dysfunctional, they tend to use even more energy to sustain themselves. But, that is precisely the point when social innovations will emerge because nature has a tendency to converge upon that which is creative in order to manifest whole, new systems that operate at a higher degree of order.

Exciting innovations that are believed to be on the horizon include quantum computing, nanotechnology materials engineering, artificial intelligence and genetic engineering. Advances are also being made in the energy arena. Scientists have already discovered that 96 percent of the universe is made up of an unknown dark energy and a mysterious dark matter. According to astrophysicists, if and when this infinite supply of energy (also called zero-point energy domain) can be accessed, we will never again have to depend on fossil fuels, radioactive nuclear energy or other polluting technologies. With new forms of atomic lattice nanotechnology engineering, we will be able to create novel materials from this supply of energy. The materials generated from this process will be hundreds of times in excess of the energy required to produce it, which will result in an endless supply of clean energy that will affect every aspect of modern life. But, energy is not the only field where breakthroughs will be revealed.

Light technologies will also advance, which will revolutionize human health. Modulated coherent light and lighted crystals have already been found to have a healing effect on cells and organs. Healing techniques of the future will utilize this light to affect cells, tissues and organs, as well as modulate the body’s subtle energetic field. Ultimately, it will be recognized that human thinking and emotions can affect disease manifestation. And, as this knowledge becomes accepted in the mainstream, new educational systems will arise to teach people how to monitor their thoughts and emotions and, therefore, control their health.

Changes in the human mind will naturally follow. There is already strong evidence that the holographic universe acts as an interconnected mind to which each human has access. This interconnected thought field will lead to mainstream remote viewing, telepathy, and clairvoyant vision, which will change the way in which we communicate, engage in relationships, do business and conduct global interactions, especially since this new sight will allow for complete transparency of our thoughts, intentions and actions. Also, by becoming aware of the interconnected thought field, we will recognize that we create our reality with our thoughts, feelings, emotions, words and deeds. No longer will we feel disempowered or held victim, when we realize that to change our experience/reality we need merely to change our thoughts, feelings, emotions, words and actions. It’s as simple as that, and many enlightened ones are doing this right now.

So, with this wisdom and knowledge slowly filtering into our reality, movements for social responsibility and spirituality are dramatically increasing. As a matter of fact, Business for Social Responsibility, a non-profit organization founded in the 1990s, has grown to encompass 400 organizations, including half of the Fortune 500 companies. These organizations commit to honor ethical values and respect people, communities and the natural environment. And, it’s paying off! Lifestyles of Health & Sustainability reports that there is now a $228.9 billion US marketplace for goods and services focused on holistic health, the environment, social justice, personal development and sustainable living.

This shift in conscientious business and its emphasis on work/life balance will continue to ripple out into humanity and will grow into a higher order of existence for all of us. But, it will take all of us to create and sustain the new reality. We can do that by following the model that Kevin Laslo lays out in the book, The Mystery of 2012: Predictions, Prophecies & Possibilities:

1. Live in ways that enable all other people to live as well, satisfying your needs without detracting from the chances of other people to satisfy theirs.

2. Live in ways that respect the right to life and to economic and cultural development of all people, wherever they live and whatever their ethnic origin, sex, citizenship, station in life, and belief system.

3. Live in ways that safeguard the intrinsic right to life and to an environment supportive of life for all things that live and grow on Earth.

4. Pursue happiness, freedom, and personal fulfillment in harmony with the integrity of nature and with consideration for the similar pursuits of others in society.

5. Require that your government relate to other nations and peoples peacefully and in a spirit of cooperation, recognizing the legitimate aspirations for a better life and a healthy environment of all the people in the human family.

6. Require business enterprises to accept responsibility for all their stakeholders, as well as for the sustainability of their environment, demanding that they produce goods and offer services that satisfy legitimate demand without impairing nature and reducing the opportunities of smaller and less-privileged entrants to compete in the marketplace.

7. Require public media to provide a constant stream of reliable information on basic trends and crucial processes to enable you and other citizens and consumers to reach informed decisions on issues that affect your and their life and well-being.

8. Make room in your life to help those less privileged than you to live a life of dignity, free from the struggles and humiliations of abject poverty.

9. Encourage young people and open-minded people of all ages to evolve the spirit that could empower them to make ethical decisions of their own on issues that decide their future and the future of their children.

10. Work with like-minded people to preserve or restore the essential balances of the environment, with attention to your neighborhood, your country or region, and the whole of the biosphere.

With these guidelines in mind, we can actively co-create a higher collective consciousness, and from that higher consciousness, we can begin to disseminate the information being sent to us from the harmonic galactic beam, which requires a higher consciousness to understand.

Clearly, we have much work to do between now and 2012. James O’Dea says so eloquently in his essay, You Were Born For Such A Time As This:

I see evidence of vanishing forests, shrinking water tables, melting ice caps, disappearing species, growing deserts, degraded oceans, toxic pollution, and signs of climate imbalance. I see belief systems in their death throes, distracted masses, delusional leaders and incensed and humiliated peoples glorifying war and slaughter. I see the face of greed with its ever-expanding range of seductions, and I see the face of poverty with its multiple aspects of needless suffering and neglect.

I see all this without judgment—or without being judgmental, to be more precise. I see that I am a part of all this; it is my world. I am a part of the problem, and I am a part of the solution. It is because I choose not to live in denial, because I choose to be a witness to these times, with all their peril and promise, that I can see the implications of the swirling eddies of time itself as we move closer to 2012.

So, in closing, the question was, “Will 2012 herald a doomsday or an Age of Awakening?” Well, I believe the Mayan are right—it will be the end of life as we know it, but not the end of life on our beautiful blue planet. I believe that 2012 will mark a critical shift in the consciousness of our planet and humanity for which we cannot fathom in our current state of consciousness. I know this because I know lightworkers who have been laying the groundwork for this shift for many years, which is helping to raise humanity’s frequency to a tipping point that will make it possible for everyone to experience the positive effects of the shift. I feel an excitement in my soul fully knowing that something wonderfully out-of-this-world is going to happen, and I can hardly wait!

We live in the most profound time in human history, when we will experience a quantum leap in evolution and will be able create a world that, so far, we have only been able to pray for and imagine in our wildest dreams. I don’t think that anyone on this planet is here by accident. I believe we all decided to incarnate at this monumental time in order to fulfill our soul’s desire—to create heaven on earth.

Well, these are my thoughts about 2012. Tell me. . .what do you think?

(Some of the information contained in this article is attributed to The Mystery of 2012: Predictions, Prophecies and Possibilities, which a collection of essays from the world’s most renown and respected spiritualists, futurists, scientists, economists and ecologists.)

After my mother died, my father and I had many conversations about heaven. It’s the place that I believed my mother had gone after her death—a paradise befitting her courageous life—and a place that my father desperately wanted to believe existed for the sole purpose of being reunited with the love of his life.

In our dialogue about the afterlife, we often laughed at the depiction of heaven in the movie Defending Your Life, where the recently deceased would watch film footage of their lives at the Past Life Pavilion, moments that highlighted the hilarious and incredulous. Then, as if watching eons of one’s missteps and mistakes wasn’t torture enough, a bus would transport each soul to Judgment City, where he or she would learn whether or not they would progress to higher levels of existence. If a person had lived a fearless life, they could move to the next level of the heavenly realm. However, if a person had cautiously gone through life carefully guarding their heart, they would be sent back to Earth to learn the lesson of loving and living without fear. Such was the case for the movie’s main character, Daniel, who was struggling to understand what was happening to him in the afterlife.

While trying to figure out his fate, Daniel falls in love-at-first-sight with Julia. Julia had lived an earthly life full of grace and generosity and was destined for the next level of heaven, but Daniel wasn’t able to transcend fear during his lifetime and was, therefore, slated for reincarnation. It isn’t until the final moments of the movie, when Julia and Daniel are leaving on buses headed to different destinations, that Daniel finds his courage. He risks his life by jumping onto the outside of Julia’s bus, which convinces the celestial judges that he has finally learned the lesson of living fearlessly. They allow him inside the bus, where he and Julia are reunited and can be together forever. What a happy ending!

But, is that what heaven is like, or is it more like the biblical description with pearly gates, rivers of milk and honey, angels playing harps, and a white-bearded God granting eternal paradise only for those whose names appear in the Book of Life?

I wondered about this ever since I was a child, especially after being indoctrinated into the belief that God is a punishing God. I desperately wanted to understand how to live a good life, so I would be granted access to heaven after my death. I lived in constant fear that I would unknowingly do something that would irrevocably cast me into the depths of Hell.

Heaven and hell became an obsession, and I read dozens of books on the subject to find the answers to my questions. It was when I read the accounts of children who had near death experiences that I began to reformulate my belief about God and heaven. These innocent little children spoke of being wrapped in loving light and having illumined beings gently guide them back to their earthly lives, which had not yet been completed. I trusted what these children reported, and that is the vision of heaven that I kept in my mind for decades—one of a loving God that did not possess the human qualities of anger and revenge. Then, I had a dream that altered my belief.

It was after my children’s father died. My daughters desperately needed to know that their Dad was alive and well in heaven. I told them what I believed, and I saw them struggling to accept this with their critical-thinking minds. That is when their father came to me in a dream.

The dream began with me walking down a street lined with shops, which was reminiscent of a village out of a Dickens’ novel. The setting seemed like it was in Asia, which I find strange, since I’ve never been to that part of the world. Everything—the people, the sky, the buildings—was in sepia tones, and the energy was depressive and heavy. I walked into an herb shop, and no other customers were there. An old man was standing hunched over at the counter with his back to me, where he was mixing a concoction of herbs with a mortar and pestal. He seemed grumpy and didn’t even acknowledge my presence, so I began to look around the shop at all the herbs, imagining what medicinal powers they possessed.

I was lost in thought when the old man called out to me. “Come here. This is what you want,” he said gruffly. I walked over to the counter, and he pulled open a drape that concealed a tiny door in the wall. I opened it and was blinded by the brightest light I had ever seen. It was radiant, bright white light that had specks of blue sparkles in it. It’s beauty and the blissful feeling that I experienced in the light defies description in human language.

I managed to walk through the door without being able to see where I was going. Then, my eyes adjusted, and I realized that I was in the most splendid place imaginable. The color of everything was pulsating with prism-like radiance—every blade of grass, every ripple in the ocean and every cell in the bodies of people walking past me. And, the colors made the most exquisite sound. Yes, the colors of everything had a tone, like music. Even the boardwalk on which I was standing had a sing-song quality to it. Blended together it sounded like a celestial orchestra. The sound permeated by body, and I became one with it and one with every drop of water in the vast sparkling ocean, the air breezing past me, every leaf on every tree and even the rocks and other inanimate things that I had never considered to be living. I stood on the boardwalk allowing myself to swirl in the living colored light and be consumed with the love that was contained in it. Then, I saw my husband.

He was standing on a pier near the boardwalk. I ran over to him with joy, asking, “Where are we?” He said, “This is where I live.” We started walking and were soon on a street with beautiful mansions, each one unique in its structure. I saw a stunning glass house surrounded by the most alluring gardens. Again, try to imagine that the glass in the house had a soothing tone, and each flower in each garden sang out in love.

I knew it was my house, although I was aware that I wasn’t living there yet. My husband said to me, “Can I live here with you?” I said, “Well, I’ve just remarried, so that wouldn’t be appropriate. But, you are welcome to build your house next to mine. The children would love that, and so would I.” He seemed sad about my decision, and I felt his sadness as if it was my own. I also felt compassion and knew that what I had decided was what was best for everyone. He returned to a serene mood, and I could see in the future that he would build a lovely home next to mine. Feeling at peace with our interaction, I told him that I needed to go back, that the children would be wondering where I was. He said, “Tell them that I am with them always.” Then, the dream was over.

My eyes opened, but I was still in a dream-like state, like I was floating between the spirit world and the earthly realm. I wanted to stay in that loving space, but knew that I had to fully return to my three-dimensional existence. As my body awoke, I “knew” that I had visited heaven. I shed tears of gratitude to have glimpsed such love and beauty. I kept the dream to myself for a while, not wanting anyone to question its sacredness. Then, I shared it with my children, who were just as grateful to receive a loving message from their father.

This became my perspective of heaven, and it fit perfectly with my evolving belief of an unconditionally loving God. That is, until I read about the near death experience of Mellen-Thomas Benedict.

Benedict had been an information junkie in the 1970s, but became forlorn as he learned more and more about what the human race was doing to itself and the planet. He came to believe that humans were a cancerous organism and saw no way out of all the problems that resulted from our callous carelessness.

Then, out of the blue in 1982, Benedict was diagnosed with inoperable, untreatable cancer and was given six to eight months to live. While he was waiting to die, he came to an insightful conclusion. It wasn’t the cancer that was killing him, it was his view of the world that was taking his life.  He thought humans were cancerous organisms. He was a human. Therefore, his body manifested his own belief.

Sadly, this aha moment didn’t change his prognosis. So, as he approached death’s door, he began to read everything he could about life after death, as he didn’t want any surprises on the other side. Then, there came a day when Benedict knew it would be his last. He called a few friends to say good-bye and, before he knew it, his soul was standing outside of his body. He had the typical near death experience with the bright light beckoning him. He said it was magnificent, like running into your ideal mother’s or father’s arms.

As he was moving through the light he asked, “Please wait a minute. . .I want to think about this. . .I want to talk to you before I go.” At that point the experience grinded to an immediate halt, and he surprisingly realized that we have control over our afterlife experience. “What’s going on here? Please, Light, clarify yourself for me. . .” In a sort of telepathy, he understood that the light that he was seeing was the light of his higher self—that part of his existence that is directly connected to the Source, a connection that all human beings possess.

The light then continued to explain that there is a grid around the planet where all the higher selves are connected. Benedict saw this grid as a mandala of human souls, and in this elegant, exotic mandala he saw how perfect we all are in our essence. He said, “Oh, God, I did not know how beautiful we are.” Seeing that humankind was never as ugly as he had conjectured, he asked the light, “Does this mean that Mankind will be saved?”

The light responded like a trumpet blasting saying, “. . .you save, redeem and heal yourself. You always have. You always will. You were created with the power to do so from before the beginning of time.” Benedict realized that humankind was designed to self-correct, that this is what is meant by “the second coming”—it is re-membering that we are perfect, whole and complete and that we always have been and always will be directly connected to the love of our Creator. There is no separation. That is just a dream from which we were meant to awaken. The truth is that we are all connected—everything in the universe—we are one. Benedict was overcome with gratitude to understand this.

Then, the light said, “You have a desire.” Being an information seeker, Benedict acknowledged that he wanted to see the rest of the universe. Immediately upon his thought, he was carried through the light at the end of the tunnel, past the planets and past the center of the galaxy all the while gathering knowledge about the universe. Benedict said he saw many worlds abundant with a variety of life and that the good news is we are not alone.

The stream of consciousness on which he was riding was expanding in fractal waves of energy. Super clusters of galaxies with all their ancient wisdom flew by, while his own consciousness expanded to understand it all. Finally, he found himself in profound silence. He had arrived at the Void—pre-creation, before the Big Bang, and before the first word, first vibration of the Creator. He immediately understood that the biblical I AM is really a question—I AM—What am I? With his expanded consciousness, Benedict realized that creation is God experiencing God through an infinite exploration, including through each human being, which answers the question, “Why are we here?”

With that quintessential human question answered, Benedict asked to return to the life cycle. It didn’t occur to him to ask if he would be reincarnated into a baby’s body or return to his own. But, as he was traveling back, he asked the light to never let him forget the knowledge he had gained from the other side. The light answered with a yes, which felt like a kiss to Benedict’s soul. When he opened his eyes, he was back in his body.

The hospice caretaker who had tried for an hour and a half to revive his dead body was shocked at his sudden return to life. Benedict tried to get out of bed, but still being in a dream-like state, he fell right onto the floor. At first, the memory of his spiritual quest wasn’t there, and he seemed to slip back and forth from the earthly plane to the spirit realm. Within three days, though, he was feeling normal, and he remembered everything.

The greatest lesson he learned was that “For each and every one of us to be the human part of this experience is magnificent. . .Each and every one of us, no matter where we are, screwed up or not, is a blessing to the planet. . .” Benedict said that before his near death experience he was a judgmental person, believing that everyone was messed up except him. But, after the experience, he can only see human beings as the manifestation of God’s love and divinity.

After three months, Benedict told a friend about the experience, who encouraged him to see if the NDE had affected his cancer. Benedict felt fabulous, and even if the doctor said that the prognosis was the same, Benedict wouldn’t have been negatively affected. He watched the doctor repeatedly look at the before and after scans before finally announcing that the cancer was gone. Benedict said, “It must be a miracle,” to which the doctor answered, “No, these things happen; they are called spontaneous remissions.” The doctor acted very unimpressed, but Benedict knew that a miracle had, indeed, occurred. With his expanded consciousness and newfound joy at the realization that humanity is a beautiful creation of God, his previous belief that humans are cancerous organisms could not be maintained. Therefore, his dis-ease could not be maintained.

Since then, Benedict has experienced the light through meditation, and has learned much. Where he once feared toxic waste, nuclear missiles and destruction of the rain forest, he now understands that these things are part of the holiest mandala we have created to date, as it has brought us together as a humanity with a common cause—to save ourselves and our planet. This, more than any religion or philosophy, has been a driver for a shift in human consciousness. This shift, which is nearing a tipping point, will change life as we know it, and problems that we fret over now—corrupt government, inadequate health care, energy crisis, war, poverty, homelessness and hunger—will be resolved in ways that our current consciousness can’t even fathom.

There is so much more to heaven than I imagined. I simplified it in my mind to mean life, death, reincarnation and, finally, nirvana. But, it’s really about infinite life and infinite possibilities of one whole—human beings having individual experiences within the whole that is God. It’s hard to wrap my mind around this, yet I recognize it as truth. I don’t quite understand it in my 3-D brain, but I accept it at a superconscious level.

Tell me. . .what do you think heaven is like?

(Reference:  http://www.mellen-thomas.com/stories.htm)