Once again, it appears Infinity is denying that I ever knew Robert outside of attending to his talks, one hour per week for a short while. These is a long email to this effect sent to Mark Mandell yesterday, which I may post.


To head off trouble, I constructed this page of evidence. The link below is to the first book ever published by or about Robert Adams. It is a photocopy made today of the actual physical book in my possession, so that anyone can see it is an actual book, can see the pages and the publication date.


The Introduction and Robert's biography were written by "Ed Muzika," and the talk itself is copyrighted 1991.  This is one of the first transcripts Kerima and I transcribed.


This should prove that the "body-mind" known as Ed Muzika was associated with Robert in 1991. If you look at the last page, it shows a poem written by Robert during November, 1994. Therefore, I was around at least in November of 1994. The booklet probably came out sometime during early 1995.


http://picasaweb.google.com/edwardmuzika/ThereIsNoSufferingThereIsNoDeath?authkey=Gv1sRgCJGjg4vg1_PE3gE#


A scan of the first edition of Silence of the Heart, vol 2 dated copyrighted in 1992 with transcripts from 1991 is posted at the link below. The Introduction was written by Ed Muzika. There are also acknowledgements of people who either transcribed Robert's talks or helped put the book together. Ed Muzika is mentioned there. Therefore there is documented proof of Ed Muzika's existence at Satsang and putting together the original Silence of the Heart in 1992.


In addition, the book acknowledges people who were attending Satsang at that time. Notice that NICOLE ADAMS is not mentioned in any way as contributing to Satsang or the book. None of Robert's alleged "Thirty year students," such as Mr. Blake Warner, or Robert's daughter are mentioned either. Why do you suppose that is? It because they were never present at Satsang or putting the original Silence of the Heart together, at least from 1989 to 1995. Nicole started coming to Satsang in LA, only during the last few months before they moved to Sedona in 1995.


http://itisnotreal.com/silenceoftheheart.html1.html


The link below is to a phone message left on my answering machine from Nicole, telling me how I had captured Robert perfectly, and I ought to write about him. I don't remember what year this was, but perhaps 1993-94. Nicole and I talked frequently by phone, although she may deny it now. This clip proves she called me at least once.


http://itisnotreal.com/subpage26.html


An article written by Edward Muzika about Robert appearing in the January/February Yoga Journal in 1998. Nicole called the editor and tried to get him to not publish it after the contract was signed. He decided to publish it after radically editing it, and leaving out the photo of Robert I sent him. He told me she threatened to sue Yoga Journal.


http://books.google.com/books?id=JOoDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA86&lpg=PA86&dq=ramana+and+robert&source=bl&ots=Xa1vyQerKQ&sig=E-96-_elVfvv4yxzvVlJLfoMmJ0&hl=en&ei=NSTSSsfhAo_-tQOWkLXwCw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=9&ved=0CCkQ6AEwCA#v=onepage&q=ramana%20and%20robert&f=false


Photos of Robert with my wife in 1993, and of me with him in Satsang, maybe 1993-94.


http://www.itisnotreal.com/photos.html


Ed Muzika reading the Ashtavakra Gita to Satsang attendees, year unknown:


http://itisnotreal.com/Reading-Ashtavakra-web.jpg 


Robert asking Satsang to sing me Happy Birthday, March 10, 1991 or 1992.


http://itisnotreal.com/Birthday.mp3


I do not understand why Nicole and Infinity decides to do this every few years. Apparently Matthew Brown's movie script wasn't to her liking, and when Marc Mandell wrote to Nicole, he received a long email back saying I didn't exist basically, along with most everyone who ever attended Satsang with Robert.


I am writing this evidence together all in one place so that when the inevitable threats come, I can refer people to this post and its documentation. More evidence will be added to this post as I find it.

Re: Establishing an on-line, International Satsang:> 
> Edji, his website on Robert Adams' teachings, and his blog have been a 
> blessing  to all of us.  It would be great if we can set up a web / 
> online Satsang with  Edji as well.  We've done some research and found 
> out a potential video  web-conferencing tool which could allow 
> participants from all over the world to  join in and view, listen and 
> interact with Edji.  
> 
> 
> We are trying to determine if that is possible with the technology and 
> resources  we have at hand.  We are currently performing some 
> preliminary tests and would  need some volunteers to do a couple of 
> stress tests with at least 5 -10 people  (the first one) and 15-20 
> people (the second one) hooked up to our conference  website.  For the 
> test to be thorough and complete we need testers from  different 
> locations like Europe, USA, Asia, etc.  Every user needs to have  access 
> to the internet, a camera and a microphone and preferably headphones 
> (but  not mandatory).  The initial test should not take longer than 
> 30min if started  promptly.  The approximate time of test would be: 
> 
> 
> 11:00 PM    India (GMT +5:30 hours) 
> 11:00 AM  California (GMT-08:00 hours) Pacific  Time (US & Canada) 
>  2:00 PM    NYC        (GMT-05:00 hours) Eastern Time (US & Canada) 
>  7:00 PM    Europe (GMT) London Time 
> 
> If interested please email your email address and preferable time within 
> the  time frame mentioned above to: mtflis@gmail.com  
> 
> Once we reach the desired number of participants we will email you 
> further  instructions and will let you know of the agreed upon time for 
> the test.  
> 
> 
> Thank you all for your interest, 
> Janet and Chris 
> 

This post has been up only hours, and there are already 240 readers of the manuscript. That is a measure of how electrofying it is.

Months ago I mentioned the Robert Adams movie project. A really incredible student of mine/Robert in Toronto, Matthew Brown, wrote this incredible screen play on Robert's life, entitled "The Life and Teachings of Robert Adams," based on long and careful reading of Robert's transcripts, and on numerous conversations I have had with Matthew over a year or so, both before and after he visited me in March of this year.

Read it. It is fantastic.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/36069702/Silence-The-Life-and-Teaching-of-Robert-Adams

I would note that Robert had a recurring dream for the last two decades of his life. In it, he, Ramana, Christ, Nisargadatta and many other gurus came together in the center of a mountain, and all suddenly disappeared in a burst of light.  Mathew's ending with Ramana gave a taste of this. I also note that when Robert was on his deathbed, he did see all those presences in the room, and asked people around him--mostly his family and Mary--whether they saw them. In his last hour he was in joyous communion with Ramana and others.

Mathew writes:

SILENCE – THE LIFE AND TEACHINGS OF ROBERT ADAMS Writer's Guild of America (West) Registration Number: 1432614 I was asked to write this screenplay by Edward Muzika, living teacher in the dual lineage of Nisargadatta Maharaj (by way of Jean Dunn, Nisargadatta's long-time student and transcriber) and Ramana Maharshi (by way of Robert Adams, enlightened teacher) when I visited him in Los Angeles in March, 2010.

I offer this screenplay to the world in the hopes that it may provide relief in the form of the wisdom non-duality teachings of advaita vedanta. I dedicate this screenplay to Robert Adams, a teacher whom I never met, but whose voice and presence resonate eternally within me as love. Om namah Shivaya, Om namah Arunachala, Om namah Sri Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi, Om namah Sri Nisargadatta Mahraj, Om namah Sri Robert. Om shanti, shanti, shanti, Om.

Peace. If anyone reading this screenplay wants to make it into a movie or excerpt parts of it for a dramatic stage production, please contact me. I would be very happy to facilitate this. Matthew Brown 370 College Street, Apt. 3, Toronto, Ont. M5T 1S6


Phone: (416) 824-5632


Email:teacherintheye @hot mail.co m

Jimmy and Meena are safe!!!


The owner of Shaz restaurant found his heart as a result of all the calls and emails you sent. He has relented and is allowing Jimmy to keep Meena and they will live together.


The owner even went out and bought Meena a new litter box, litter and cat food. 


The owner, Mohammed, heard that his restaurant and his actions were all over the Internet and asked that the publicity stop. 


Thank you each and every one who helped Jimmy and Meena. This is what Seung Sahn said helps the world: together action to save all beings from suffering and distress.


Sometimes you save beings with words, some times with actions, some times, doing nothing.


Thank you all!!


PS: Several people have expressed negative comments about my asking you to help Jimmy, saying I should have done nothing and let God take care of it. But I will not post these newer comments unless people are willing to sign their them and not leave them anonymously. 


I want you to all know that Robert often called this world we live in the lowest hell, especially because of how people treat each other and eat animals. Any actions to decrease killing and to save any sentient being from suffering and distress, was acceptable to him, whether it is real or not.


You need to always act as if it were real. Remember, in Robert's confession he states Jnana does not free you from the world completely, but takes away the sting.  

We will be picking up Jimmy at the end of the week to return him to Los Angeles. 


Jimmy is a saint. People should bow to his feet, and instead they want to thrown him in jail for living in a tent on an abandoned railroad bridge, feeding homeless cats.


Right now he is in a difficult situation in Sacramento. At least 10 people follow my blogs in Sacramento and possibly can help for a few days with his cat. 


We cannot talk to Jimmy now because the owner says he takes too much times on the phone and it is for business use. I have no idea whether Jimmy is living on the street now with his cat or what has happened to him.


This is a short term emergency. I have asked people who read this blog to call or email the owner. Five have said they have out of the hundreds that read this blog. Only five.

JIMMY BETRAYED IN SACRAMENTO

Jimmy Nasralla, the homeless cat caretaker, living in Northridge, moved to Sacramento last Saturday to take a job at an Indian/Pakistani restaurant run by a family of Pakistani Muslims. They accepted him as family and even took him to their mosque the second day he was in town. The owner had told Jimmy he could bring 3 cats. Jimmy brought one cat, Meena, a female, who had lived with Jimmy in his tent for two years in Northridge.

This is the man who I had been helping feed 40-50 homeless cats throughout Northridge for a year and a half. His story is told in LA Weekly at:

http://www.laweekly.com/2009-07-30/news/jimmy-on-the-edge-of-town/

Meena

Apparently either the owner, Mohammed changed his mind or had a different idea about the cats' living status. Jason, one of Jimmy's friends, talked to Mohammed on Thursday. Apparently Mohammed was fed up with Meena living in the same room as Jimmy, complaining the cat was incompatible with the restaurant, even though Jimmy's room is quite far from the restaurant. When Jimmy was away on an errand, the owner let Meena out of Jimmy's room where she had lived with Jimmy for only five days, and Meena immediately ran away.

Sign Jimmy made so the police would not disturb his cats at his tent

Jimmy, furious when he retrurned, told the owner he was moving back to LA. Jimmy spent the entire night looking for Meena with no success, but did find her the next evening after searching again for the entire day.

The owner refused to let Jimmy keep Meena in the room with him, and said she could stay as long as she was kept in a carrier outside Jimmy's door. Jimmy said it got freakishly cold at night and he brought her in anyway. Jimmy is trying to negotiate with the owner to let Meena stay in the room with him.

I just heard an hour ago that the owner said, "Just throw the cat away!"

This is intolerable. Jimmy was lied to and the cat is considered garbage by this Muslim restaurant owner. Apparently he does not know that in America we keep our cats indoors--or should. Hopefully Jimmy will come back and we can make other living arrangements when he returns.

THE RESTAURANT:

SHAZ RESTAURANT

4333 Airport Drive

Sacramento, CA 95821

PH: (916) 488-8840

http://www.shazrestaurant.com/
email: info@shazrestaurant.com

Call Mohammed. Say this isn't right.

An expanded version of Hunting the I is now posted at: http://itisnotreal.com/Hunting%20the%20I.htm. It now includes additional posts from this blog into a larger 23 page document.

Interesting Information:

About 400+ people visit this blog a day now according to the summary. This is the breakdown for the first 22 hours of Thursday, August 12 for the top ten countries. Visitors come from 20 different countries. Actually, when I add the numbers up, there are well over the 400 that are supposed to be visiting.

Num Perc. Country Name



260 47.00% United States


55 10.20% Brazil


41 6.80% Canada


37  6.20% New Zealand


29 4.80% United Kingdom


27 4.40% Costa Rica


25 3.80% India


17  2.80% Sweden


17 2.80% Switzerland


16 2.27% Italy

It is very strange, but very, very few come from the Los Angeles area, and those that do tend to be 50 miles from where I live. There does not appear to be enough students for a Satsang in this area.

HUNTING THE I AGAIN-AMENDED AT 8 P.M.


Many who are attracted to Advaita or Buddhism do so because of the rich intellectual traditions of both. But this is a trap. Your mind is not your friend as Robert used to say. You can't "figure your way out" of the conceptual prison that your mind has created. The mind cannot "see" outside the mind. Freedom can come only when you leave the entire conceptual framework behind.


U.G. Krishnamurti used to say something to that effect also. I think the quote goes, "Mind is not the instrument..." to find freedom.


Rinzai Zen was invented to confuse and perplex that mind so that "TRUTH" of No-Mind could peak through the conceptual map of mind. The koan was meant to bring all thinking to a dead halt, and encourage a no mind solution to the koan or any life problem.


Robert also used to say that you have no freedom whatsoever except to turn inwards. All is predetermined except for your ability to escape from the illusion by turning inward and begin to find the witness.


Everything in this blog and the not real website is aimed to turn you away from any kind of teachings, and towards advice on attaining freedom by turning inwards.  Then it is all so simple.


I usually avoid referring to the work of Michael Langdon because I believe his method of Awareness Watching Awareness is incomplete, it does not impact the personal level of I Am, and any emptiness and Samadhi states attained will not be permanent, but will be undermined by unhealed defects in the ego structure.


However, the first few chapters of his book are wonderful as he shows how 99.9% of all seekers avoid attaining freedom because the ego undermines all spiritual efforts by creating questions, doubts and speculations that destroy the effectiveness of any spiritual practice.


In fact, a defective ego does the same thing to the person in everyday life by undermining any effective focus and action with doubt, "what ifs," "should I's," and useless speculations.


He is entirely right that effective practice requires perseverance, focus, and lots of timely dedication.  It also requires a belief in yourself and in the method of introspection  and self-inquiry.  That comes with practice.


Look at it this way, how long does it take a person, even with great talent to become a professional tennis player or baseball player? A week, a month, a year?  No, it takes years of training.


Now the mind is even more subtle than the body, and the training can take even longer. So don't give up when you have failed to find an I Am that is stable after just a fews days or weeks or months of practice. If you are not finding it, try something else.


The belief in yourself will come when you begin to have results. But it takes time, patience, and intelligence.


Try something different. If you have been looking into yourself with your "visual" sense, looking into the blank void, stop it. Instead, probe inside yourself with your tactile or emotional sense. That is, "look" with your feelings for your sense of being, not with a visual sense concentrated on the clear void.


That is, be intelligent and increasingly subtle. Watch what you feel and see. Try effort, then try no effort. Try asking who am I, then ask "Where am I." Feel for your heart center. Feel in your abdomen. "Look" inside your head, feel for the background to fall back into. Be creative be intelligent.


You need to recognize that the way you have been proceeding now has failed due to doubts and too mch thinking, self-arguing, arguing with the teachings OR METHOD. There is a constant fightING BY THE EGO (WHICH ONLY APPEARS TO EXIST) to avoid effective practice that will kill the ego. So be subtle and creative.


Just look a many of the questions from seekers posted on this blog. Some oppose the teachings, find contradictions in them, question apparent contradictions between what Ramana said at one time and Nisargadatta said at another, or what I wrote three years ago to one student, versus what I write now to another student in an entirely different situation.


These are desperate acts of the ego to find a reason not to meditate or introspect. These doubts are all on the level of mind, and nothing deep or liberating will happen on this level.


Others complain they can't find the I Am sense and become desperate and ask what they should do. I always say, read the Nisargadatta Gita every morning, read chapters 7 and 8 of the Path of Sri Ramana, read Hunting the I, and continue to practice. You will not learn how to hit a .400 in a few weeks, and what you are trying to accomplish--finding total freedom--is far more rare than becoming a .400 hitter.


Really, it is all so easy: Just turn your attention around and find the I Am sense, or the I Thought, or the witness. Do this for five or ten years and watch what happens. If you are lucky you will reach freedom in three years as did Nisargadatta, or 27 years as it took me because I got distracted so many times, or when I was practicing, I had the wrong instructions. 


Or, maybe you will never go free, like 99.9% of seekers who get exhausted and who become discouraged after a few months or years. Yet just the correct practice of abiding in the I-sense brings great happiness.


Don't expect instant success.

An email sent to me:

Hello, Mr. Muzika.

First of all, thanks for your web. It´s been a great help. I appreciate that you are one of the few teachers who take inquiry to the final end, even before Consciousness, in the way Nisargadatta did. That´s not very usual these days, when most masters tend to use "Consciousness" as their key teaching, in order, I suppose, to not scare their pupils.

But there´s a doubt that has arisen in my mind regarding your explanations on this matter. I´d be very grateful if you coud help me erase it. The problem is this:

The fact that when we wake up in the morning we realize that this present "waking state consciousness" was not there one minute ago, is the undisputable  proof that something (a witness, Turiya) was there during deep sleep too. This witness is there during deep sleep, dream state and waking state, watching the coming and going of the different states. So far, so good...But this leads me to respectfully think that there´s something wrong about the your teaching on the unconsciousness of the Absolute. I will elaborate now:

 You (and Robert and Nisargadatta too) say that the Absolute  is not conscious. You teach that the Absolute is prior to consciousness, and consciousness is like an emanation from this Absolute. Correct? 

But when this "Consciousness" appears, it is conscious of not being there before the birth of the body, just as the "waking state consciousness" knows that it has not been there all the time. As I said before, the fact that while in the waking state consciousness we know without a doubt that it comes and goes in front of us is the proof of a witness who witnessed the appearence and disappearence of the three states.

And I think the same can be applied to the Absolute. I mean, when Consciousness appears as an emanation from the unconscious Absolute, this Consciousness knows it has not been there before. It knows it has been created from the nothingness of the Absolute. But isn´t this the perfect proof that there must be an Absolute Witness who has been there, watching the nothingness prior to Consciousness and the appearence of Consciousness.

When Turiya witness the appearence of deep sleep, we cannot say Turiya is unconscious. We say it is "conscious of the absence of objecs". So, when we say the Absolute is not conscious, shouldn´t we say that it is conscious indeed, but not conscious of a something, but "conscious of the absence of objects"?

I´d appreciate any word on this matter, Mr. Muzika.

MY RESPONSE

"Hello, Mr. Muzika.

First of all, thanks for your web. It´s been a great help. I appreciate that you are one of the few teachers who take inquiry to the final end, even before Consciousness, in the way Nisargadatta did. That´s not very usual these days, when most masters tend to use "Consciousness" as their key teaching, in order, I suppose, to not scare their pupils.

But there´s a doubt that has arisen in my mind regarding your explanations on this matter. I´d be very grateful if you coud help me erase it. The problem is this:

The fact that when we wake up in the morning we realize that this present "waking state consciousness" was not there one minute ago, is the undisputable  proof that something (a witness, Turiya) was there during deep sleep too.

ED: Not really. This would be an intellectual conclusion arising from the consciousness recognition that suddenly “I am awake.” It is certainly not absolute proof of a witness. The witness can have no proof. It is known differently than a mental conclusion or from observation of the coming and going of phenomena.

When awake, we have the ability to be conscious, and in meditation to sink under the level of consciousness through the area of experience Nisargadatta called the Causal body ignorance of no experience. In that state there is no experience nor do we know we exist. After arising, we seem to remember that we existed in that state, but even that is mental.

However, grasping that memory of existence without consciousness while we sit in meditation, allows us to experience while in deep meditation, that state of consciousness we “remember” we experienced in the not knowing state. That is, we directly apprehend that state not through the mind, or the waking or dream level of consciousness, but through a different way of knowing altogether, which I, and Ramesh call “apprehending through being.

To ME:

This witness is there during deep sleep, dream state and waking state, watching the coming and going of the different states. So far, so good...But this leads me to respectfully think that there´s something wrong about the your teaching on the unconsciousness of the Absolute. I will elaborate now:

 You (and Robert and Nisargadatta too) say that the Absolute  is not conscious. You teach that the Absolute is prior to consciousness, and consciousness is like an emanation from this Absolute. Correct? 

ED: Actually, consciousness appears to be an emanation from the Absolute only when we are awake. There is no such appearance during deep sleep, dream or during Samadhi. In fact, Consciousness has nothing to do with US as the absolute.

TO ME: But when this "Consciousness" appears, it is conscious of not being there before the birth of the body, just as the "waking state consciousness" knows that it has not been there all the time. As I said before, the fact that while in the waking state consciousness we know without a doubt that it comes and goes in front of us is the proof of a witness who witnessed the appearence and disappearence of the three states.

ED: Yes, consciousness is self-aware and aware of the coming and going of itself due to the presence of a mind with memory associated with a body. Without memory, a brain and a body, Consciousness would know nothing. You must take into account mind, cognition, thinking, reasoning and memory which operate within consciousness in only the case of humans.

TO ME: And I think the same can be applied to the Absolute. I mean, when Consciousness appears as an emanation from the unconscious Absolute, this Consciousness knows it has not been there before. It knows it has been created from the nothingness of the Absolute. But isn´t this the perfect proof that there must be an Absolute Witness who has been there, watching the nothingness prior to Consciousness and the appearence of Consciousness.

When Turiya witness the appearence of deep sleep, we cannot say Turiya is unconscious. We say it is "conscious of the absence of objects". So, when we say the Absolute is not conscious, shouldn´t we say that it is conscious indeed, but not conscious of a something, but "conscious of the absence of objects"?

ED: Like I said, the absolute is aware of consciousness and the absence of consciousness, but objects are only superficial objects within consciousness and not essential to consciousness itself. Also, consciousness without the presence of a human mind really can’t understand anything about objects or lack thereof.

The Absolute learns to know itself during this human life through this body by discarding mind and consciousness and knowing itself as pure beingness through a direct apprehension outside of the kind of consciousness that everyone identifies as consciousness. In essence, the Absolute, you, has nothing to do with it. It could totally disappear and the Absolute, the witness, would not be touched. The absolute does not care about consciousness or any understanding or phenomena of consciousness in any way. It is free of such things.

Now I will ask you a question.

Why are you interested in challenging the teachings of Robert, Raman and Nisargadatta? Is there an intent to show how all are faulty gurus, or is yours a real attempt to know yourself, become liberated and to help all beings find release and happiness?

Dear Edji,

I am so sorry to write to you again - I know you are very busy and although I hope for a response it will be OK if you don't respond.  I just wanted to tell you ...

I've been crying and crying ... I tried to locate the I-am sense and felt so at a loss.  I have not done much meditation in my life and feel at a such disadvantage.  I read the "Autobiography of a Jnani" and that showed me how difficult it would be to realize the Self for someone like me.  So I sat quietly in a corner and cried and asked for your guidance.  And you told me that you are sitting beside me, helping me.  And without my will I inhaled and exhaled strongly and my breath stopped for a minute maybe.  And then that repeated 2 times.  And then I was calm and quiet for awhile.  But then thoughts rushed through my mind again and I felt lost again.  

So I again asked for your help, I cried and cried and asked Robert for help, then Ramana, then Arunachala.  And then I saw myself to be in the core of Arunachala, enveloped by a golden globe.  And then I knew that Arunachala is my mother.  And my whole body started shaking or convulsing.  And a fear that I am crazy arose but I ignored it and assured myself that you are guiding me.  I told myself that I will never let go of you.  And my right arm started moving and I was just watching it move up and down.  I did not will it or not ... then it just dropped and I was quiet again and felt peace.  I need so much help, dear Edji.  I bow at your feet and ask for your guidance.  I have no other desire but to be free.  

In your blog you said: Another way to the I Am, is to wait until something happens in day to day activities, where an emotional reaction is elicited. Feel the emotional/movement in you. That is part of the I Am sense too."  

I seem to be crying all the time when I try to locate the I-am sense.  Perhaps I am expecting a special 'I am' but the crying itself is it.  I don't know why I feel such love and sadness at the same time.  I miss you, Robert, Ramana, Krishna, Jesus, I miss my Self so much ... I love you and miss you so much and don't know how to be ... it sounds all very crazy but I don't care ... I feel so intensely and I cry and cry because ... I don't know ... because of no reason.  Because I am lost.  Your words are all I want to follow ... you say "abide in the I am" and that's all I want to do.  How?  Help me.  I will do everything you say.  Thank you, thank you.
Lovingly,

X.

RESPONSE:

Think of your quest not as a sprint, but a marathon. Assume the finding of self will take 1,000 years and start with that premise.

Given you have a thousand year task, and need to walk 10,000 miles, what would your attitude be? One of emergency crisis, or one of steely preparation for a forever trip?

Given that, crying all day from sadness and joy means nothing. It is a blip on a thousand year journey. Know you are embraced by your own Self at all times. The fear and hopelessness you feel are also temporary. All this will pass and eventually you'll feel peace and happiness.

But you need to take yourself out of the mindset that this is a crash emergency. This is just the beginning.

Really, emotions that come to the surface are only superficial things as are thoughts, visions, dreams. All these have nothing to do with you, just a play to watch and not become too involved in. Just step back if you can and watch all these beautiful visions come and go to YOU, who is the Watcher and not a helpless subject of these phenomena.

Love, 

Ed

I have another confession. 


Most of you notice that from time to time I disappear from posting on this blog or responding to your emails. The reason is I am sometimes involved in animal emergencies in Los Angeles, such as recently finding a large colony of 10 adult and 15 kittens starving at a location in Grenada Hills, about 5 miles from my house. The colony had been maintained by one or more feeders who seem to have disappeared. Now we have to get a group together to spay/neuter and feed these cats. This is a sudden emergency.


Then, Jimmy, the homeless man I had been helping feeding about 45 cats just moved away to Sacramento. I had been giving him about $100 worth of cat food and medicine a month. Jimmy had to move out of his tent in Northridge by August 17, or go to jail. He has been to court a dozen times during the past 14 months.


Now I am feeding four of Jimmy's colonies of cats as well as the three I had been feeding. I am trying to find local help to take over some of the responsibility.


In addition, the City is looking to increase the number of cats and dogs allowed in residential areas from 3 to 5, a small increase, but one that would allow many people to legally own an extra cat or dog or two. However, even this small improvement has opponents who dislike dogs or cats and who are bombarding City Council with protests to this increase.


You may not know this but I have an animal blog that follows animal issues in Los Angeles and nationwide: http://laanimalwatch.blogspot.com. 


I have used the blog to notify people of animal emergencies such as above, and also to lobby for or against legislation. There is a lot that is happening now, including a movement to re-label homeless cats as "wildlife." This will have a large impact in terms of their legal status and protection in the future.


All of these things I talk about and lobby for and against on this blog.


This blog is quite controversial because I have used it both to defend people who have been attacked by radical groups who want to harm the animals, or to "attack" certain people or factions whose legislation of actions might harm animals. 


Therefore, this animal blog has a very different combative tone at times, because this is the nature of animal issue communications in Los Angeles.


For example, recently a woman named Phyllis Daugherty, who spends most of her day schmoozing with city officials, and thus whose opinion is well regarded by those politicians, has attacked the proposed increase in animals that can be kept in the home. The more animals that can be kept, the higher the possible adoptions of homeless animals from the shelters, decreasing the kill rate. I take it upon myself to show how her arguments are both illogical but also fear mongering to get her ends.


For many months several years ago, because of my support for one animal official, I was bombarded with negative press from a reporter from an Internet newspaper, and also received a number of physical threats. In Los Angeles, the struggle to save the lives of animals has become a war, with groups like the Audubon Society and Urban Wildlands Group opposing the city's long efforts to implement trap/neuter/and re-release of homeless cats as opposed to trapping and killing them. These two entities sued the city and now prevents them from helping rescuers spay and neuter these homeless cats, and keep them alive in their colonies rather than killing them.


These groups do not play nice and use pseudo science to convince judges and Councilmembers that homeless cats are a huge danger and health risk, and should be eradicated.


So, if I disappear for a while, know it is because I am fighting for the animals, and sometimes that fighting can be loud.