There’s an old saying, "Those who can, do–those who can’t, teach." As an ex-teacher, I’ve always resented this statement, but after coming from a recent conference where Whitley and I were the only non-academics, I’m beginning to see the truth in it. This conference was held at one of the world’s most wonderful places: Esalen in Big Sur, a place by which its very nature (or BECAUSE of the beauty of nature surrounding it on every side), invites contemplation and as much wisdom as one can muster up. There’s gold to be found there–sometimes shining through the grass like a gold coin, just waiting to be noticed and picked up.
One example was a conversation I had with a stranger while I was there. We happened to be sitting across from each other during a meal and we began to talk. He introduced himself as a massage therapist (Esalen offers some of the best messages in the world) and I assumed, from his perfect pronunciation of Hebrew words, that he was an Israeli. We got into a discussion about Jesus–one of the most famous Jews–and it turned out to be one of the deepest theological discussions about Christianity that I’ve ever had.
Whitley and I have always been kind of distressed that academia has rebuffed us to the extent that it has, because we feel we have so much information to offer that scientists of all stripes–from neuroscientists to quantum physicists to psychologists to sociologists–could base their research on. With all the mysterious adventures that Whitley has had, and all the experiences that I’ve read about and been told about by "contactees," WE have real gold–just lying around, waiting to be snatched up. I would love to see someone do something more with it than I can.
The conference started off with people taking turns talking about their research. Since I was still recuperating from recent kidney stone surgery, I was there just listen and comment (something I’m always eager to do!) I have a Master’s Degree in Education, but lately I’ve been contemplating getting something more practical–a degree I could USE. I loved teaching kids, but it takes every ounce of energy you’ve got, and working with Whitley on his books, producing our Dreamland shows and posting stories on the website means that I don’t have that kind of time and energy to spare anymore. Then I began to hear the academics speak and I said to myself, "I can do this! I won’t get another Master’s degree, I’ll get a PhD and go into academia!"
But I became disillusioned very quickly. A young woman gave a presentation on "suttee" in India, which is the practice of widows throwing themselves on the funeral pyres of their husbands. She said that this practice started because of a small typographical error in a religious manuscript, where a syllable was changed so that a word which had once read that widows could APPROACH, or stand near, their husbands’ funeral pyres now read that they could go ONTO the pyre. I commented that this reminded me of the verse "Thou shall not suffer (allow) a witch to live" in Exodus 22:18 which was (intentionally?) mistranslated when the King James bible was being compiled (the word translated as "witch" is actually the word for "poisoner"). This verse has given Wiccans great grief over the years and may have even justified the witch burnings in New England in Salem, Massachusetts in the late 17th century.
This woman had written her PhD thesis on the practice of suttee in India and had gone there, learned the dialects these people spoke, and interviewed some of the women who had somehow survived burning themselves alive. She discovered that by choosing, then surviving suttee, a woman who was normally completely powerless in that society could become considered to be a sort of goddess–kind of like the Vestal Virgins in ancient Rome–who was then consulted for her wisdom. I found this morally appalling–a classic example of someone who has no chance to gain any sort of autonomy except by risking a painful suicide. Driving to Esalen, we heard the usual news story on the radio about a suicide bomber in a Middle Eastern country killing hundreds of people by blowing himself up, and I now reflected that this was an example of the same sort of thing–a young kid brainwashed into the decision that his only choice in life was to become a human sacrifice. In doing so, he became a human "weapon" for one side to use against another.
The woman who was brainwashed into committing suttee, instead of surviving widowhood as an autonomous human being, became a human "tool" to reinforce the secondary position of women in that society. Both are old-fashioned tragedies of exploitation that are still going on today. But as much as I ranted, I couldn’t get the young woman to see the horrible moral dilemma of these women–for her it was just an interesting topic of study.
The conference was run by someone I respect very much, because he’s a great disseminator of information, but aside from the chilling "suttee" presentation, most of the invitees didn’t seem to have any NEW information, they just "renamed" old information. It made me reflect that the way to control people is to NAME things, whether the names are appropriate or not. For instance, if you’re a North Korean who is told that your dictator, Kim Jong Il, is the "dear leader," perhaps you won’t realize that, thanks to his policies, you’re starving to death. We may not be burning witches anywhere in the world today, but a starving nation of millions of people has been brainwashed into thinking its leader really cares about them. And we’re still brainwashing society’s "disposable" people into killing themselves in a way that is convenient for the people in power.
After each of these presentations, I tried to point out that we DO have new information–REAL "gold"–in the form of what "contactees" are telling us about their experiences, and that I would love to see academia tackle these stories and maybe figure out what’s going on. But I couldn’t raise any interest from anyone. No one saw the gold coin that was lying right under their feet, waiting to be taken up and examined. For instance, I mentioned my near-death experience and visit to the World of the Dead to another conference member, who billed himself as studying reincarnation, but he seemed supremely uninterested in hearing my story.
The conference reminded me of a great story in the collected "Nine Stories," published in 1966 by the late J.D. Salinger. In it, a young art student becomes an instructor in a mail-order art school. He is given the usual group of mediocre students, including "a twenty-three-year-old Toronto housewife who said her professional name was Bambi Kramer" who sent the school a drawing in which "the tallest boy appeared to have rickets in one leg and elephantiasis in the other–used to show that the boy was standing with his feet slightly apart." The story ends with him leaving the school and saying, "The last I heard, she’d branched over into designing her own Christmas cards. They’ll be something to see, if she hasn’t lost her touch."
At the end of her presentation, the "suttee" woman said that she was moving onto a study of the Holocaust next–that the motivations of the people committing this atrocity were not as awful as everyone thought. That will be "something to see, if she hasn’t lost her touch."
Subscribers, to watch the subscriber version of the video, first log in then click on Dreamland Subscriber-Only Video Podcast link.
Ann, what’s interesting is
Ann, what’s interesting is that you should compare this entry to your Feb 14th one on meeting a minister. You have found out that academics are just as much part of a dogmatic religion as many Christians. They have an established world view and anything that challenges that is heresy. A good example is the proof from geologists that the Sphinx’s weathering was caused by water and the only flooding happened 12000 years ago, hence the Sphinx is at least 12000 years old. When faced with this proof, Egyptologists rejected it because it did not fit into their dogmatic world view.
The sad truth is they don’t WANT to see or hear your evidence. Their minds are made up, don’t bother them with the evidence.
I’ve always, really hated
I’ve always, really hated school. It wasn’t until graduate school, that I was able to get really much of anything out of it.
In grade school, I spent my time, doodling, air battles, rocket ships or trying to find a window to look out of. Still, I’ve always been able to pass tests with high marks by guessing the answers. Even though I never turned in any homework in High School, I was accepted into a major university. I Spent my time there doing my own private research, into subjects I found more worthy.
Over time I have realized, that experiental learning, is the only way to really know anything well. This is the direct opposite view of the majority of Academia, and one of the major reasons why they aren’t interested in anything outside of a book. I agree that traditional learning has it’s place, but without direct experience it will always be borrowed knowledge.
They never look up, because they are always looking down. It’s just that simple.
I really enjoy the comments
I really enjoy the comments from members of this site because all of us have chosen to think for ourselves in this lifetime. Gerald, well said. David Wilcock once said, (and I paraphrase all of this), that most of us can be compared to sheep, because we choose to be unconciously led. This is obviously not a new idea, but what he said next was what interested me. He said he realized that the sheep ignore the wolf because they unconciously think that if they keep their eyes down and don’t look at the wolf, then they won’t be noticed and won’t get eaten. So, of course, we are, most of us, still afraid to wake up.
Anne, you are a joy to read. Thank you to everyone here for being AWAKE. That takes courage, for many reasons. Awake Ones can see into the futures, feel more of the world’s pain more acutely, and often despair the fact that most of us are still asleep. But I do believe that the massive influx of energies bombarding all of us, (including our beautiful mentor, Gaia), at this juncture of space and time are making intricate and magical adjustments to everything and everyone. I think we WILL wake up, smell the roses, see the energy, and remember our Universal Family. Blessings, Love and Light to my lovely and aware friends here.
It is pretty amazing that at
It is pretty amazing that at a conference at a place I would think people who be at least somewhat open minded – the Esalen Institute – that you would find such closed minds. Contactees are a gold mine of information and areas of reality we know very little about for study.
There’s something to be said
There’s something to be said for a level of detachment when studying things, but it seems to be kind of scary stuff when study becomes too cold and too detached. There is also the phenomenon of the “pet idea”, which, when combined with the ego, closes minds. (One sees that not only in academia but in corporate and government bureaucracy as well.)
What I have found about the
What I have found about the scientific way of studying something is to come up with a theory and make the evidence fit the theory instead of the other way around. So things that don’t fit are ignored outright or discarded!!! For instance the Clovis theory of the peopling of the Americas was that the migration was about 11,000 to 12,000 years ago. When it was obvious that some areas had been occupied far longer maybe even as long as 40,000 years ago these fascinating facts were discarded. And so it goes with UFO’s, aliens and so on – they don’t fit academic thought or study so no person with the “credentials” will touch it!!! The possible knowledge of the universe is waiting to be discovered right in front of our faces and the subject is poo pooed in the press almost daily if it’s mentioned at all!!! What a relief it will be one day when one brave person of power steps up to a microphone and declares yes there are aliens and craft visiting our planet. My response will be “I knew it”!!!
Ann,
I always enjoy your
Ann,
I always enjoy your articles but I think there is an error of fact in this one. To the best of my knowledge, the witches in New England were hanged, not burnt to death. There was one case of execution by crushing which was particularly brutal but no burnings at the stake. Perhaps that method was so identified with the Church of Rome that it was considered unacceptable by the good Puritans of New England…
I personally think your doing
I personally think your doing more good here, talking to us, who are always happy to here from you; your post just reaffirms for me how utterly bankrupt conventional academia has become.
BTW, Siobhan is technically right in that the Executions in Salem were hangings, and no one hanged at Salem would have been Wiccan per se, even if some were genuine adherents of the true ‘Old Religion’ That said from my point of view as a Pagan for more than 30 years; I would still count them as victim’s of ‘The Burning’ not all victim’s of that great tragedy were literally burned after all. Blessing, BB.
“… a young kid brainwashed
“… a young kid brainwashed into the decision that his only choice in life was to become a human sacrifice”. That’s Jesus right? All religion is all about taking the pain in this life to go to a better place after death (cowards choise).
As a commenter mentions there are today still many tabu/censored issues regarding f.ex. human origin and past achievements like stone monuments (see M. Cremo).
Moving things forward through the narrow minded scientists, religious sidetrackers, conspiracy nuts, aura women etc. requires scientific proof: postulate a theory and proove it. Words in a book doesn’t cut it. I’ll read them but they are not a step forward unfortunately. For every honest extraordinary story (like Whitleys) out there there are 10 people claiming to communicate with Venus people. And there is no objective way to tell which is which.
Frek, just wanted to point
Frek, just wanted to point out that there’s a lot of closed mindedness in you own comments too. 😉
Please explain. Like Whitley
Please explain. Like Whitley say in the latest interview the status of the UFO phenomenon has not moved in 50 years.
If You had the most amazing encounter with aliens and wrote the most brilliant book it wouldn’t change a thing.
So clearly a new approach is needed. Put up some infrared cameras, build a UFO hunting missile with a camera etc.
UFO books/debates is very similar to throwing scientific videos about the universe at religious people. It has no effect.
Ann talks about moving forward. Yet everyone is working the old techniques that don’t work.
(and since all modern economies only work with growth (and growth is unsustainable!) it’s the same problem there because the economists also use the old tools. Chris Martenson talks about the next 20 years will be completely different than the last 20 years. If humans are to survive the next 500 years we need to think out of the box and move forward like Ann says. We might need alien technology but the scientist are failing us. Thousends of people saw the big giant black boomerang shaped UFO but not one picked up a video camera. The only progress in 50 years is the 3 Jerusalem UFO Youtube videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQ-bNOy_CKQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQw8c7XFHQw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RF87eEUXmM
like Ann says we need progress, not more of the same (though it is interesting and entertaining).
Whitley seems intensely focused on finding out the truth. That’s why I subscribe.
Not knowing is unbearable.
I have noted that in the U.S.
I have noted that in the U.S. teachers are more concerned with teaching kids WHAT to think, rather than HOW to think. Rather like when an interviewer speaks more than the one interviewed. It seems, that the educational system in the U.S. is to intellectualism, as FOX is to news. Schools would rather give kids a fish, and not fishing poles. I think Andrew Carnegie might might agree.
Frek. Please understand that
Frek. Please understand that you showed disrespect for almost everyone across the board and you either didn’t notice you did it or you think you are justified in that point of view. Either way, it’s closed-mindedness.
I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to
I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to disrespect anyone.
My impatience comes from the slipping away of time.
edit:
Those who can,
edit:
Those who can, do.
Those who care, teach.
Pass it on…