Yoga - Deals & Coupons | Groupon

Two 60-Minute Vinyasa Yoga Classes from Invincible Ark Fitness (33% Off)

From the merchant: Explore a new world of Yoga with Evan Sun, there is nothing else like it.

Two 60-Minute Vinyasa Yoga Classes from Invincible Ark Fitness (33% Off)

Nutley 5.1 mi

3 bought

$30 $20

Barre, Hot Yoga, and Hot Pilates Classes at Balance Yoga Barre (Up to 82% Off)

Barre classes combine exercises inspired by ballet, yoga, and Pilates to improve endurance and flexibility, and achieve mind-body balance

Midtown Manhattan 4.7 mi

Barre, Hot Yoga, and Hot Pilates Classes at Balance Yoga Barre (Up to 82% Off)

Midtown Manhattan 4.7 mi

Midtown Manhattan 4.7 mi

1,000+ bought

$110 $35

$15 for One Year of Unlimited Online Yoga from The Yoga Collective ($130 Value)

Yogis can log on any time for selection of classes ranging from challenging power yoga, breath-focused kundalini, and gentle flow sessions

$15 for One Year of Unlimited Online Yoga from The Yoga Collective ($130 Value)

Five- or Ten-Class Pass, or One Month of Unlimited Classes at Dharma Yoga Center (Up to 87% Off)

Yoga classes blend an emphasis on the physical and spiritual with a deep relaxation in a studio thats inspired students over 50 years

Dharma Yoga Center 5 mi

Five- or Ten-Class Pass, or One Month of Unlimited Classes at Dharma Yoga Center (Up to 87% Off)

Dharma Yoga Center 5 mi

Dharma Yoga Center 5 mi

1,000+ bought

$220 $29

Five Yoga Classes or Two-Week Unlimited Class Pass at Yoga Hell Brooklyn (Up to 83% Off)

Yoga classes meld relaxation and strength-building, allowing customers to clear the mind and improve their overall fitness

Southern Brooklyn 15.4 mi

Five Yoga Classes or Two-Week Unlimited Class Pass at Yoga Hell Brooklyn (Up to 83% Off)

Southern Brooklyn 15.4 mi

Southern Brooklyn 15.4 mi

200+ bought

$37 $17

One Month of Unlimited Yoga Classes for One or Two People at Studio 108 (Up to 79% Off)

Professional and dedicated yoga instructors offer classes aimed at strengthening and toning the body while achieving mind-opening relaxation

One Month of Unlimited Yoga Classes for One or Two People at Studio 108 (Up to 79% Off)

Delawanna 3.9 mi

30+ bought

$140 $29

$55 for One Month of Unlimited Hot-Yoga Classes at Fire Shaper ($180 Value)

Instructors lead students of all fitness levels through rigorous yoga poses in a heated studio

Multiple Locations 3.3 mi

$55 for One Month of Unlimited Hot-Yoga Classes at Fire Shaper ($180 Value)

Multiple Locations 3.3 mi

Multiple Locations 3.3 mi

5,000+ bought

$180 $55

Ten Classes or One Month of Unlimited Yoga Classes at Yoga in the Heights (Up to 67% Off)

Instructors teach yoga for all shapes, sizes & ages

Ten Classes or One Month of Unlimited Yoga Classes at Yoga in the Heights (Up to 67% Off)

The Heights 3.5 mi

620+ bought

$119 $39

10 Yoga Classes, or One Month of Unlimited Yoga Classes at BambooMoves (Up to 70% Off)

$51 for 10 yoga classes ($170 value)

10 Yoga Classes, or One Month of Unlimited Yoga Classes at BambooMoves (Up to 70% Off)

Englewood 7.9 mi

400+ bought

$170 $51

10 or 20 Drop-In Hot Yoga Classes at Yoga to The People-Brooklyn (Up to 66% Off)

Heated yoga classes will help flush toxins from your body through a variety of standing and sitting postures

10 or 20 Drop-In Hot Yoga Classes at Yoga to The People-Brooklyn (Up to 66% Off)

Williamsburg 7.6 mi

750+ bought

$200 $68

One Month of Unlimited Bikram Yoga Classes at Bikram Yoga Astoria Queens (71% Off)

$47 for one month of unlimited bikram yoga classes ($160 value)

Ditmars Steinway 7.9 mi

One Month of Unlimited Bikram Yoga Classes at Bikram Yoga Astoria Queens (71% Off)

Ditmars Steinway 7.9 mi

Ditmars Steinway 7.9 mi

1,000+ bought

$160 $47

$39 for One Month of Yoga Classes at Floating Lotus ($200 Value)

Yoga classes at a facility at a place that aims for complete mindfulness and harmony

$39 for One Month of Yoga Classes at Floating Lotus ($200 Value)

Midtown East 4.7 mi

400+ bought

$200 $39

10 Single or One-Month of Unlimited Yoga Classes at Sattva Yoga Jersey City (Up to 68% Off)

Yoga practitioners of all levels focus on increasing self-awareness and building stamina and flexibility

10 Single or One-Month of Unlimited Yoga Classes at Sattva Yoga Jersey City (Up to 68% Off)

The Heights 3.6 mi

5 bought

$140 $45

Four Weeks of Unlimited Yoga Classes at Ho-Ho-Kus Yoga (76% Off)

From the merchant: From beginners to advanced, Iyengar, restorative, gentle, candle light, and kids yoga

Four Weeks of Unlimited Yoga Classes at Ho-Ho-Kus Yoga (76% Off)

Ho-Ho-Kus 14.2 mi

800+ bought

$140 $34

1-Month of Unlimited Yoga Classes or 10-Class Pack at ISHTA Yoga (Up to 69% Off)

Numerous yoga classes held to cater all goals and skill levels

Downtown Manhattan 5.5 mi

1-Month of Unlimited Yoga Classes or 10-Class Pack at ISHTA Yoga (Up to 69% Off)

Downtown Manhattan 5.5 mi

Downtown Manhattan 5.5 mi

950+ bought

$245 $89

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Yoga - Deals & Coupons | Groupon

Many gyms, community centers, and YMCAs offer yoga classes. Your neighborhood may also have a specialized yoga studio. Some yoga instructors offer private or semi-private classes for students who want more personalized training.

Before taking a class, check whether the instructor is registered with the Yoga Alliance, a certification that requires at least 200 hours of training in yoga techniques and teaching. You may also want to sit in and observe the class that interests you.

You could also try using a yoga DVD. Websites, DVDs, and books can't compare to learning yoga poses from a teacher, but they can help you find out more. They can be especially helpful if you have already taken yoga classes and want to practice at home. And also can try one of the many yoga apps available for smartphones and other devices.

Dress comfortably for your first yoga session in clothing that allows you to move your body fully. Stretchy shorts or pants and a T-shirt or tank top are best. Yoga is practiced barefoot, so you don't have to worry about special shoes.

If you're doing your yoga workout on a carpeted floor, you probably don't need any equipment, although many people like to use a yoga mat or "sticky" mat. This special type of mat provides cushioning and grip while you do your poses. Yoga mats are soldin sporting goods stores, major retailers, and, possibly,at your yoga class location.

What can you expect at a yoga class or when you watch a yoga video? To begin the class, the instructor may lead you through a series of poses like Sun Salutationsto warm up your arms, legs, and spine. After that, you'll concentrate on specific poses that work different areas of your body. Most yoga sessions end with some type of relaxation exercise.

Before you begin any type of exercise program, it's a good idea to talk to your doctor, especially if you have a health problem. Be sure to let your instructor know about any orthopedic problems or special needs you may have before the class begins. A good instructor will be able to provide modified poses for students who are just beginning or who have special needs.

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Yoga - kidshealth.org

Welcome to the Sivananda Ashram Yoga Retreat Bahamas on Paradise Island. We invite you to come for a stay to nourish your body, soothe your mind, and uplift your spirit. We are a yoga education ashram with a mission to spread peace, health, and joy through yoga. People come here from all over the world to discover the benefits of a yogic lifestyle and enjoy an experience of integrated living next to one of the most beautiful beaches in the world.4 Ways to Visit

Live locally or visiting nearby? We welcome Day Guests. Please see Day Guest Information

Harmonize with your natural rhythms through our signature ashram experience. Enjoy time away for a full immersion that includes yoga classes, meditation, healthy meals, daily workshops, and inspiring talks and performances with plenty of time for the beach! You choose your dates: the Yoga Vacation Program is available 365 days a year.

Interested? Yoga Vacation Program

Engage in a monthlong teacher-training immersion in a classical yoga lineage. The world-renowned Sivananda training is designed for all yoga practitioners and focuses students on traditional knowledge and personal experience, developing skills for teaching and sharing yoga. Offered monthly November July.

Interested? Yoga Teacher Training Course

Learn and grow in an enriching educational environment that honors mind, body, and spirit. We offer hundreds of courses of year, including yoga and meditation basics, juice cleanses, healing arts trainings, yoga philosophy, and more.

Interested? Explore the Calendar of Courses or find out more about Experiential Courses

Explore the path of selfless service and become a part of the ashram community, working to make everything run smoothly. For the spiritually curious and the spiritually committed, youll experience the joys of coming together to serve a greater good, while enjoying the benefits of a yogic lifestyle. Available year-round for 1 to 3 months or longer.

Interested? Find out more to become a Karma Yogi with us.

If you are looking to come to the ashram in another capacity, please Contact Us.

Media? Please see Media Information.

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How To Visit the Ashram - Sivananda Yoga Retreat Bahamas

The neocortex, also called the neopallium and isocortex, is the part of the mammalian brain involved in higher-order brain functions such as sensory perception, cognition, generation of motor commands,[1] spatial reasoning and language.[2]

The neocortex is further subdivided into the true isocortex and the proisocortex.[3]

In the human brain, the neocortex is the largest part of the cerebral cortex which is the outer layer of the cerebrum, with the allocortex making up the rest. The neocortex is made up of six layers, labelled from the outermost inwards, I to VI. Of all the mammals studied to date (including humans), a species of oceanic dolphin known as the long-finned pilot whale has been found to have the most neocortical neurons.[4]

Neocortex is Latin for "new bark" or "new rind". Neopallium means "new mantle" and isocortex means "equal rind".

The neocortex is the most developed in its organisation and number of layers, of the cerebral tissues.[5] The neocortex consists of the grey matter, or neuronal cell bodies and unmyelinated fibers, surrounding the deeper white matter (myelinated axons) in the cerebrum. This is a very thin layer though, about 24mm thick.[6] There are two types of cortex in the neocortex, the proisocortex and the true isocortex. The pro-isocortex is a transitional area between the true isocortex, and the periallocortex (part of the allocortex). It is found in the cingulate cortex (part of the limbic system), in Brodmann's areas 24, 25, 30 and 32, the insula and the parahippocampal gyrus.

The neocortex is smooth in rodents and other small mammals, whereas in primates and other larger mammals it has deep grooves (sulci) and ridges (gyri). These folds allow the surface area of the neocortex to be greatly increased. All human brains have the same overall pattern of main gyri and sulci, although they differ in detail from one person to another.[clarification needed] The mechanism by which the gyri form during embryogenesis is not entirely clear, and there are several competing hypotheses that explain gyrification, such as axonal tension,[7] cortical buckling,[8] or differences in cellular proliferation rates in different areas of the cortex.[9]

The neocortex contains both excitatory (~80%) and inhibitory (~20%) neurons, named for their effect on other neurons.[10] The structure of the neocortex is relatively uniform (hence the alternative names "iso-" and "homotypic" cortex), consisting of six horizontal layers segregated principally by cell type and neuronal connections.[11] However, there are many exceptions to this uniformity; for example, layer IV is small or missing in primary motor cortex. There is some canonical circuitry within the cortex; for example, pyramidal neurons in the upper layers II and III project their axons to other areas of neocortex, while those in the deeper layers V and VI often project out of the cortex, e.g. to the thalamus, brainstem, and spinal cord. Neurons in layer IV receive the majority of the synaptic connections from outside the cortex (mostly from thalamus), and themselves make short-range, local connections to other cortical layers.[10] Thus, layer IV is the main recipient of incoming sensory information and distributes it to the other layers for further processing.

The neocortex is often described as being arranged in vertical structures called cortical columns, patches of neocortex with a diameter of roughly 0.5mm (and a depth of 2mm, i.e., spanning all six layers). These columns are often thought of as the basic repeating functional units of the neocortex, but their many definitions, in terms of anatomy, size, or function, are generally not consistent with each other, leading to a lack of consensus regarding their structure or function or even whether it makes sense to try to understand neocortex in terms of columns.[12]

The neocortex is derived embryonically from the dorsal telencephalon, which is the rostral part of the forebrain. The neocortex is divided, into regions demarcated by the cranial sutures in the skull above, into frontal, parietal, occipital, and temporal lobes, which perform different functions. For example, the occipital lobe contains the primary visual cortex, and the temporal lobe contains the primary auditory cortex. Further subdivisions or areas of neocortex are responsible for more specific cognitive processes. In humans, the frontal lobe contains areas devoted to abilities that are enhanced in or unique to our species, such as complex language processing localized to the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (Broca's area).[10] In humans and other primates, social and emotional processing is localized to the orbitofrontal cortex. (See Cerebral cortex and Cerebrum.)

The neocortex has also been shown to play an influential role in sleep, memory and learning processes. Semantic memories appear to be stored in the neocortex, specifically the anterolateral temporal lobe of the neocortex.[13] It is also involved in instrumental conditioning; responsible for transmitting sensory information and information about plans for movement to the basal ganglia.[13] The firing rate of neurons in the neocortex also has an effect on slow-wave sleep. When the neurons are at rest and are hyperpolarizing, a period of inhibition occurs during a slow oscillation, called the down state. When the neurons of the neocortex are in the excitatory depolarizing phase and are firing briefly at a high rate, a period of excitation occurs during a slow oscillation, called the up state.[13]

There is still much to learn about the roles the neocortex has in the neurological processes exemplified in human behavior. To further understand the vital role the neocortex plays in human cognition, IBMs computational model of the human brain was created that simulated the electrochemistry of the neocortex. The super computer, the Blue Brain Project, was created to improve understanding of the processes of perception, learning and memory and gain further knowledge about mental health disorders.[14]

Lesions that develop in neurodegenerative disorders, such as Alzheimer's disease, interrupt the transfer of information from the sensory neocortex to the prefrontal neocortex. This disruption of sensory information contributes to the progressive symptoms seen in neurodegenerative disorders such as changes in personality, decline in cognitive abilities, and dementia.[15] Damage to the neocortex of the anterolateral temporal lobe results in semantic dementia, which is the loss of memory of factual information (semantic memories). These symptoms can also be replicated by transcranial magnetic stimulation of this area. If damage is sustained to this area, patients do not develop anterograde amnesia and are able to recall episodic information.[16]

The neocortex is the newest part of the cerebral cortex to evolve (prefix neo meaning new); the other part of the cerebral cortex is the allocortex. The cellular organization of the allocortex is different from the six-layered neocortex. In humans, 90% of the cerebral cortex and 76% of the entire brain is neocortex.[10][17]

For a species to develop a larger neocortex, the brain must too evolve in size so that it is large enough to support the region. Body size, basal metabolic rate and life history are factors affecting brain evolution and the coevolution of neocortex size and group size.[18] The neocortex increased in size in response to pressures for greater cooperation and competition in early ancestors. With the size increase, there was greater voluntary inhibitory control of social behaviors resulting in increased social harmony.[19]

The six-layer cortex appears to be a distinguishing feature of mammals; it has been found in the brains of all mammals, but not in any other animals.[2] There is some debate,[20][21] however, as to the cross-species nomenclature for neocortex. In avians, for instance, there are clear examples of cognitive processes that are thought to be neocortical in nature, despite the lack of the distinctive six-layer neocortical structure.[22] In a similar manner, reptiles, such as turtles, have primary sensory cortices. A consistent, alternative name has yet to be agreed upon.

The neocortex ratio of a species is the ratio of the size of the neocortex to the rest of the brain. A high neocortex ratio is thought to correlate with a number of social variables such as group size and the complexity of social mating behaviors.[23] (See Dunbar's number) Humans have a large neocortex as a percentage of total brain matter when compared with other mammals. For example, there is only a 30:1 ratio of neocortical gray matter to the size of the medulla in the brainstem of chimpanzees, while the ratio is 60:1 in humans.[24]

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Neocortex - Wikipedia

Transhumanism is knocking at the door. Dubbed as Humanity+ or H+, the idea to radically revolutionize humanity has emerged in the last decades as a global intellectual movement. With a slogan of melding humans with the machine, it aims to radically alter human nature by means of technological advancement.

Transhumanists ask, 'If humans can interfere with the process of evolution, is it possible for us to create a human being with greater capacities than what we are now?'

Proponents of transhumanism envision a human that goes beyond its current biology and cognition. They are trying to move society into the next stage of human development where man achieves super-intelligence and emotional well-being. Transhumanists ask, If humans can interfere with the process of evolution, is it possible for us to create a human being with greater capacities than what we are now? Can we make a human species without weakness of disease and illness, anger and sadness, and ultimately overcome death itself?

Some see such technologically driven future as not just desirable, but a necessity. Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla Motors and SpaceX indicated an inevitability of humans to symbiotically bond with artificial intelligence, if the human species were to remain relevant. This call for humanitys radical makeover comes right at the midst of the digital age, where Homo sapiens, with the progress of science and technology is crossing the Rubicon, challenging physical boundaries and organic biological limitations.

The rapid expansion of technology in this new millennium radically transformed our social landscape. The modern life filled with information has placed everyone behind computer screens and cell phones. As society has become more abstract, it became virtual, fabricated with images that are dissociated from the facts and events of the world.

The beast of neoliberalism that has been devouring victims abroad is now finally coming home to roost. Now, ordinary Americans are suffering from unemployment, homelessness and lack of access to medical care.

In many ways, the recent hype of fake news reflects this counterfeit reality that we are all surrounded by. Waves of whistleblowers in recent years revealed that we live in a kind of simulation intervened by government and corporate media propaganda. The 2008 financial meltdown exposed the global economy, overdriven by the bubble of toxic assets and stocks that were propped up by central banks with their money made out of thin air. This Ponzi scam of financial engineering was further covered up by bank bailouts, creating a fake recovery.

Meanwhile, our democracy has been one big consumer fraud. We have been duped by psychopaths in power who pull the strings of puppet politicians. Civic power has been fragmented by a corporate duopoly, keeping the populace in false hope for change in the electoral arena. With tactics of divide and conquer, monetary elites behind the scenes trigger emotions, stirring conflicts among voters in a national tournament of identity politics. Once people are trapped by fear and hatred that are carefully manufactured, they easily lose sight of reality. Rather than finding commonality and building a coalition to solve problems, many engage in mutually assured self-destruction.

While the American working class is distracted by this political charade, the economy continues to stagnate, making the divide between the rich and poor ever wider. The beast of neoliberalism that has been devouring victims abroad is now finally coming home to roost. Now, ordinary Americans are suffering from unemployment, homelessness and lack of access to medical care. Young people are burdened with predatory student debt, where despite the promise of college recruiters, there are few viable jobs for them. Social services are defunded, throwing away elders, while a military budget gets fatter and fatter, with increased defense contracts for the never ending wars.

While political corruption is deepening the crisis of institutions and governments, Silicon Valley tech companies through lobbying have steadily gained influence in Washington. Now, technological innovation is pushed forward as a solution to the breakdown of social systems. From Apple and Google to Facebook, giant tech companies put a monopoly on AI, trying to control its development, so to dictate the course of our future. With the initiative of universal basic income (UBI), wealthy and elite technologists advocate for the creation of a robot economy where labor is replaced by automation.

This techno-utopia does not come for free. One has to pay a heavy price for the ticket to this supposed heaven on earth.

Here the radical vision of humanity 2.0 arises. The coming of a post-human era promises to alleviate suffering, make us stronger, more intelligent and godlike. Transhumanists try to bring eternal life through insemination of machine intelligence into the human body. By combining big data with AI software, the idea is already there for humanity to attain digital immortality, where one can develop mind clones of oneself that has its own life on the web. Dr. Michio Kaku, theoretical physicist and futurist shares his aspiration of uploading a digital memory, creating a new pill that slows down peoples perception of time and drugs that can eliminate painful memories.

The idea of fusion with technology as a next stage in human evolution can speak to our own narcissism induced by social media attention culture. The H+ agenda can be marketed by appealing to ones desire for recognition, to be boundless and to attain mastery of oneself. Through social engineering, it will corral the herd and achieve mass adoption. Yet this techno-utopia does not come for free. One has to pay a heavy price for the ticket to this supposed heaven on earth. In the exchange to transcend human limitations, we are asked to give up the essence of being human. What are we expected to sacrifice on this altar of transcendence.

Humans are endowed with subjectivity that places them in relationship with the world. With this self-awareness, we are given freedom to determine the course of our own actions. While machines can only do what they are programmed to do, humans with intention can choose their actions and alter the situation through insight and creativity. This freedom releases spontaneity and variation, making the environment not fixed and unpredictable. At the same time, out of this comes the potential for errors. Choices expose men to the propensity for mistakes and make them fallible.

The AI trend of technological intervention of humanity now threatens this ability to make choices.

The AI trend of technological intervention of humanity now threatens this ability to make choices. Automation narrows and eliminates the space for humans to make their own decisions, locking society into a deterministic future. Through scientific and mathematical precision, the force of mechanization tries to remove possibilities for errors and by doing so, it deprives something essential about human beings.

What make us different from these artificial beings is our free will and unique learning processes that are associated with it. Our connection to the world binds us deeply to the consequences of our own choices. In a moment we make a mistake, reality blows up in our face and we are forced to see the results of what we have created. The feeling of shame and guilt that overwhelm us can break the heart wide open. The unbearable pain awakens ones moral sensibility. With these burning sensations, we directly experience our own actions and the effect they have on others lives.

When we confront our own mistakes with honesty, we can transform this sense of humiliation into humility. We learn to become humble. This connects us to other human beings, allowing us to see reality from their perspectives. This empathy makes us strive to mend our actions. It is the foundation of conscience that makes humans acknowledge their errors and inspire one another to repent, undo wrongdoing and learn.

It is this morality rooted in our relationship to the environment that corporate culture has been trying hard to eradicate. Agendas behind transhumanist movements can be seen as the ultimate goal of transnational corporations. The rise of corporate power turned civilization against nature. Multinational agricultural biotechnology corporations like Monsanto have assaulted life by monopolizing seeds and poisoning food with GMOs.

Corporations as artificial entities bring the force that hardens the heart. They assert themselves in society through the legal fiction of corporate personhood. The theater of the American Dream managed by big business has turned citizens into consumers, who are directed to find happiness in consumption and material acquisition. Unbridled greed of capitalism bombards all with ads and commercials, 24 hours 7 days a week, making us chase after products that we dont need and to be always cheerful, while suppressing sadness and deep dissatisfaction of life with antidepressant drugs. Ensnared by glamorous Hollywood life and a culture that worships youth, many engage in a pathological pursuit for perfection, to be beautiful, thin, and ageless.

In this fictional world, we are not humans. Workers are exploited, being treated as disposable with no benefits, while mega corporations look for the next cheap labor to exploit and new markets to make a killing. The merciless cyborg with its callous skin controls world finance, turning all living beings into caricatures in their tyrannical fantasy. In this artificial natural selection pushed forward by the invisible hands of the market, the cold algorithm enacts financial terrorism, dictating who should survive and who should die.

Now, in Trumps America, the fiction of corporate personhood finds a new iteration to make its dream great again. As the nation consolidates power with the new administration, we all become contestants in The Apprentice. In this grandiose Reality Show, we are told to mimic corporate personhood, to be cunning and self-serving or we will be fired. The world of Wall Street entices all to a path of personal power, filled with ambition, vanity and pride. Plundering through exploitative business practices and addictive gambling of high frequency trading becomes a way of life. Corruption is rife with rampant greed and sexual conquest.

Inside 9-5 office hours of white collar jobs, relationships became impersonal and transactional, where people are forced to hide real emotions behind professional masks. In this supposed free market competition that bars entry to immigrants, people of color and transgenders, workers are trained to mind their own business by climbing up the ladder of success in a rat race of profit at any cost. Deep inside the labyrinth of organizational hierarchies, we are cut off from our own authentic feelings and lose the ground of consensual reality. We no longer are held accountable by feedback of others.

The goal is no longer just total control of the world to create an ever more perfect world, but to control human nature itself by reprogramming our biology to create a perfect self.

Now, with depletion of resources and environmental destruction, the life of the American dream is becoming unsustainable. As the fantasy of corporate personhood is losing its fuel, it seems to be carried into a vision of techno-utopianism. Through mass surveillance and authoritarian use of police force, the corporate state has been attacking privacy and autonomy of individuals. From face recognition technology and biometrics used at borders to AI augmented cyber-security and auto flying drones, it further mechanizes this world. The goal is no longer just total control of the world to create an ever more perfect world, but to control human nature itself by reprogramming our biology to create a perfect self.

As the disfranchised middle class is slowly waking up from their insulated reality and starting to face their broken life, transhumanism offers all a short cut to nirvana. From the magic of genetic modification to the creation of the mind file, through making humans directly interface with the net, technology is presented to rescue us, trying to numb throbbing aches in the arteries that carry the ebb and flow of our human experience.

Transhumanist thinkers with technological enlightenment ideas declare the liberation of humanity from a cog in the wheel of the corporate machine, only to once again ensnare all in their Sci Fi illusory future. From self-driving cars to androids, robots that are designed to look and act like a human, artificial intelligence is here in everyday life, promising to make our life more convenient, efficient and safe. With a gospel of machine supremacy preaching perfection, increased dominance of technology can annihilate our free will that is a prerequisite for developing conscience.

With artificial nerves that cant carry the warmth of blood, robots mimic life in their synthetic existence. They are the phantoms that claim immortality, when they never even had a chance to truly live. These ghosts in the machine make us sever our ties to the world, by turning the heart into a pump that pushes out the pain of our mother in her giving birth to a child.

Our remembering of her pain that brought all of life makes us remain connected to her world. We are living in a fake world; we are watching fake evening news. We are fighting a fake war. Our government is fake, said renowned Japanese writer Haruki Murakami. He continued:

But we find reality in this fake world. So our stories are the same; we are walking through the fake scenes, but ourselves, as we walk through these scenes, are real. The situation is real, in the sense that its a commitment, its a true relationship.

Our ability to feel is a testimony of being human, allowing us to be a real person in this fake world. To be human is to live among flesh, being audaciously flawed. Our striving to bear our own pain awakens compassion. We are able to forgive ourselves and others. We find strength to love one another in our authenticity found in each others imperfection. This total acceptance of human errors connects us to potent creative power within that resists rigidity, mechanization and all stagnation, keeping the world alive through our relationship with her.

Humanity is now at a crossroads. With the exponential growth of technology, we have the capability to bring a great turning or destroy the world.

Humanity is now at a crossroads. With the exponential growth of technology, we have the capability to bring a great turning or destroy the world. Branches of science; technology, engineering, chemistry and medicine helped mankind overcome natural disaster and disease and live more comfortably in this harsh physical environment. Renewable energy technologies can help us create a sustainable future. These are tools that can be used for the good. They can reduce poverty and enhance the quality of our lives. But they can be also used against us and our ability to make choices needs to be preserved to determine which path we will take.

Transhumanism is marching on into our society, showing its footsteps everywhere. With iPad and Android, talking gadgets are entering into the crib, hijacking childhood imagination. Day and night technology snatches youngsters attention, plugging them into Instagram and Snapchat. As the expansion of this machine world accelerates, our life gets faster and faster, making it harder for us to be present in our own bodies.

We need to stay awake and not sleepwalk through this time of decision. Reality may be painful, but if we lose our own sense of reality by giving up what feels at the center of our hearts, it will be the death of our own selves. Such is a tragic loss of what it means to be human and the life of all on this planet that we are meant to steward.

See the original post here:
Transhumanism: A Final Corporate Takeover of Humanity

Sajah Popham, founder of Organic Unity and The School of Evolutionary Herbalism, is a student of the universal truths found within both ancient and modern herbal traditions from around the world. The focus of his work is on integrating ancient teachings for a new paradigm of plant medicine, one that is truly holistic in its honoring of the spirit, energetics, and body of both people and plants. His unique synthesis bridges herbalism not only east and west, but north and south, above and below, into a universal philosophy that encompasses indigenous wisdom, Ayurveda, western Alchemy and Spagyrics, Astrology, clinical herbalism, and modern pharmacology.

Sajahs vitalist approach utilizes plants not only for physiological healing and rejuvenation, but for the evolution of consciousness, for a truly holistic practice of plant medicine. Sajahs teachings embody a heartfelt respect, honor and reverence for the vast intelligence of plants in a way that empowers us to look deeper into the nature of our medicines and ourselves. He lives in southern Oregon with his wife where he teaches at his school, makes spagyric medicines, and practices his art.

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Programs School of Evolutionary Herbalism

A Nine-Month Life Changing Journey ToUnburden Your Past And Connect You To Your True PurposeProgram starts April 8-10, 2016

The Power of Breath Institutes Empowerment Training is the core program of all of our offerings. Since 2001, the robust curriculum has continually evolved and improved to assure a true, life-transforming experience for every participant who attends. The program runs from April to December and focuses on empowering every individual utilizing mindfulness, conscious breathing and simple ceremony as the primary tools of self-realization. The program takes place in a rural setting, in Spofford, New Hampshire, which enables nature-based experiences as an integral part of the program.

What sets this program apart from other personal growth programs is its safe and comprehensive approach to healing body, mind, heart and spirit through processes and methods grounded in interpersonal neurobiology, somatic psychotherapy and wisdom traditions. We build a culture of safety and trust first, cultivate loving self-awareness, and then build personal skills and capacities that lead to deep healing and the ability to engage in a full and vibrant life.

On this solid foundation you can integrate your day-to-day experience more fully and easily, while being able to make the choices that fulfills your highest potential.

Designed from over 35 years of group work, the Empowerment process is a well-balanced blend of Somatic Breath Therapy, mindfulness, cognitive inquiry, group process, and ceremonies in the natural world to encourage the recovery of each participants true and loving nature. The nine-month period you spend with our staff will be skillful, intensive, interactive and experiential. It will challenge you into the fullest and highest expression of your Self, while fully supporting you throughout the process.

If you can relate to any of these questions, say YES to yourself and register now. Space is limited; we only accept 11 new participants each year.

Weekend I Welcome to the Power of Breath

Weekend II Awareness, Presence and Living from your Heart

Weekend III Body and Beliefs, Trauma and Integration

Weekend IV Remembering Your True Nature: Warm Water Breathing

Weekend V Going Beyond What You Think is Possible: Cold Water Breathing

Weekend VI Sacred Ceremony and Taking Refuge

Weekend VII Mindfulness and Choice, Forgiveness and Freedom

Weekend VIII Dancing the Long-Dark Breath (All-Night Breathe)

Weekend IX Walking the Talk: Integration and Re-entry

Total investment: $3495 includes tuition, materials, lunches and snacks per weekend/event. Read the programagreements here. Tuition must be paid in full by April 8, 2016; we take Master Card, Visa, personal checks and cash. A $350 early registration discount is available if the entire tuition ($3145) is paid by February 15, 2016. A non-refundable deposit of $395 along with a short letter of Intent will secure your space in the training. This training will fill quickly! Makeyour deposit early to reserve your space. Weekends run Friday 6-10 pm, Sat/Sun 9 am 6 pm; 3-day retreats run 9 am to 6 pm each day.

2016 ET Dates:

April 8-10 (Friday 6 pm Sunday 6 pm)

April 29- May 1

June 3-5

July 7-9 (3-days: Thursday 9 am Saturday 6 pm)

August 5-7 (Friday 9 am Sunday 6 pm note: Friday is a full day)

Sept 9-11 (Friday 9 am Sunday 6 pm note: Friday is a full day)

October 7-9 (Friday 6 pm Sunday 6 pm)

November 4-6 (Friday 6 pm Sunday morning 10 am)

December 2-4 (Friday 6 pm Sunday 6 pm)

Application Process:

Please complete the program agreement hereand include:

Location and Accommodations:

All trainings are held in Southwestern NH at the Broadwing Breath Center, 45 Stones Mill Rd., Spofford, NH 03462. Indoor/outdoor camping style (bring your own bedding, sleeping bag, towels, etc.) is available for $15/night paid each training weekend. For motel/B & B accommodations, see listing on our website under Training Accommodations. For more information contact: Jeremy Youst, 603.363.4331 Jeremy@powerofbreath.com

Click below to hold your spotwith a $395 deposit:

Click below to payusing the prepay discount ($3195). Payment must be made in full by February 1, 2016 to be eligible for the discount.

For more information contact:Jeremy Youst, 603.363.4331 Jeremy@powerofbreath.com

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I had learned enough about Breathwork and its transformative forces to know this work would be beneficial for me. What I didnt realize was just how powerful and transformative this year would be The combination of facilitated breathwork sessions, dynamic and inspired leadership from Jeremy, support and challenge from an amazing staff, my tribe of like-minded, like-hearted, equally committed brothers and sisters, and ongoing support from Jeremy and the important people in my life, have all led to a very different me living in the world today. I am truly living my intention of being more authentic, and being free of my fear and my story about my painRachael Walter, 2013 ET graduate

Every month mysteriously revealed new information and awareness that surprised and delighted me. I distinctly remember ending each month saying, There is no way this month can be topped, and quite magically it was, and that which entered in the following month was amazing! Each month unveiled more lessons and surprises. Now I find myself here, looking back in awe. Its amazing-I never knew I had such a capacity for love-love for myself and love for others. I also have discovered a new level of joy! I never thought I could ever feel this happy.Its wonderful and I am humbly grateful. Beth White

I have entered the Truth of Me that is beyond all doubt. T. N., teacher.

I think the most valuable thing (and I am taking from this training) is this deep sense of self-love and the capacity to love my brothers and sisters in our group I am taking with me the Knowing that I have been truly seen, heard, loved, that I am lovable, that I am accepted fully all parts of me, that I am honored for who I am I would especially recommend you, Jeremy, for your presence, your experience, your skills as a spiritual midwife, facilitator, presenter, ritual master, jokester, your love and joyful embracing of life. And I would also speak to the depth of connection that gets nurtured within the context of skillful learning for thats the juicy part Elizabeth A.

. . . I love this work. I mean, sometimes it SUCKS it STINKS, big time Because in this you totally dive into the places you have always avoided have always run from. But the richness, the fullness of life, when you go into it, for all it contains, is so amazing. How in the world did I EVER live any other way? Wow. And it continues to deepen and become more enriched this life with breath. I Love all of it. All of it. Thats the key Cyndy K.

Today, I feel that I am aware of my true Self and purpose. Over the last nine months I have come to accept the inclinations, abilities and guidance that I have long hidden away and I have let go of the addictions that I hid behind The empowerment of Self (is) a journey that connects you to the Source. (It) is a journey that will push and tug and pull your soul to examine the true purpose of walking on this planet and help you to serve others Whether or not you become a Breath Facilitator, you will find your purpose and begin serving others as a part of your path/karma, and learn to find love in every moment Peter H.

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Empowerment Training - Power of Breath Institute

The future belongs to those who can afford it. This may be virtually true in todays world, where surviving retirement can feel impossible, but its also the literal premise of Altered Carbon, Netflixs new prestige sci-fi series. Based on Richard K. Morgans novel of same name, the neo-noir is set several hundred years in the future, when human consciousness has been digitized into microchip-like stacks constantly being swapped into and out of various bodies, or sleeves.

This technology, along with innovations like human cloning and artificial intelligence, has given society a quantum leap, but its also sent socioeconomic stratification into overdrive, creating dire new realities for the poor and incarcerated while simultaneously producing an elite upper-class. Called Metsshort for Methuselahsthe members of Altered Carbons 0.001 percent have achieved virtual immortality thanks to vaults of their own cloned sleeves and cloud backups full of their stacks. Its either dystopia or utopia, depending on ones bank account.

Whatever your views on the shows plot, in which a former rebel supersoldier named Takeshi Kovacs (Joel Kinnaman), on ice in a stack prison, is revived and hired by a Met to solve the murder of his last sleeve, Altered Carbons best quality is its worldbuilding. In the 25th century, transhumanismthe belief that human beings are destined to transcend their mortal flesh through technologyhas reached its full potential, and some of its end results are not pretty, at all.

But Altered Carbon is only the latest bit of transhumanism to hit TV recently. From Black Mirrors cookies and Philip K. Dicks Electric Dreams mind-invading telepaths and alien bodysnatchers to Star Trek: Discoverys surgical espionage and Travelers time-jumping consciousness, the classic tropes of body-hopping, body-swapping, and otherwise commandeering has exploded in an era on the brink, one in which longevity technology is accelerating more rapidly than ever, all while most people still trying to survive regular threats to basic corporeal health and safety.

These tropes have enjoyed a healthy existence in sci-fi and horror for decades, but now more than ever transhumanism is ubiquitous in pop culture, asking us to consider the ethical, personal, political, and economic implications of an ideology with a goalimplementing technology in the human body to prolong and improve lifethat is already beginning to take shape.

A crucial fact to remember about transhumanism and the philosophies it inspired, including the ones modeled by Altered Carbons Mets, is that its conception was heavily rooted in eugenics. Though earlier thinkers had already produced work one could call transhumanist today, the term wasnt coined until 1951, by Julian Huxley, a noted evolutionary biologist (and brother to Brave New World author Aldous Huxley). Julian Huxley believed strongly in the fundamentally exclusionary theory that society would improve immensely if only its best members were allowed to procreate. In the speech in which he first used the word transhumanism, he claimed that in order for humans to transcend the tentative fumblings of our ancestors, society ought to enact a concerted policy to prevent the present flood of population-increase from wrecking all our hopes for a better world.

While he didnt necessarily believe the criteria for what constituted best should be drawn along racial or economic lines, the ideology Huxley promoted was inherently elitist. It also allowed for virtually as many interpretations as there are people, and plenty of those people, particularly those in powerespecially in Huxleys time, but also in the fictional future of Altered Carbondid and do believe best means white, straight, financially successful, and at least nominally Christian. As a result, the concept he named ended up being primarily conceptualized in its infancy by white men of privilege.

This, of course, didnt remain the main interpretation of transhumanism for long. In the years following Huxleys coinage, humans made profound leaps in technological innovation, first in computers and then in AI, which allowed more people to envision the possibilities of one day being able to transcend their organic limitations. The basic concept was easily repurposed by those whose oppression has always been tied to physical violencenotably people of color, LGBTQ people, and women.

By the early 1980s, scholars like Natasha Vita-More and Donna Haraway had revamped the concept with manifestos that argued transhumanism ought to be about diversity and multiplicity, about breaking down constructs like gender, race, and ability in favor of a more fluid, chimeric alternative in which each person can be many seemingly contradictory things at onceincluding human and machine. (As WIREDs Julie Muncy explains in her review of the first season, Altered Carbon touches upon but never really takes a stance on this dimension of a post-corporeal world.)

As Silicon Valley boomed, so did transhumanism. Millionaire investors have poured endless cash into anti-aging research, machine intelligence companies, and virtual reality; meanwhile, the possibility of extended or superhuman life has veered even further into becoming the exclusive purview of the extremely rich (and, more often than not, extremely white and extremely male). In 1993, mathematician and science-fiction writer Vernor Vinge pegged the arrival of the singularitythe moment at which technology, particularly AI, supersedes human intelligence and either eliminates humanity or fuses with it, allowing people to finally become post-humanat around 2030; by 2005 futurist Ray Kurzweil was agreeing with Vinge in his now-seminal book The Singularity is Near. (The Verge has a solid timeline of transhumanist thought here.)

Today, working organs are being 3D-printed. Nanites, while a few years off, are definitely on the horizon. And the technologies that fuel nightmare fodder like Black Mirror are becoming realities almost daily, which gives the overwhelming impression to laypeople that the Singularity, while perhaps still technically far off, is imminent.

Add privatized healthcare, police brutality, immigration, sexual assault, and plenty more extremely real threats to peoples physical bodiesnot to mention the exponential growth of the TV industry itselfand youve got the perfect cocktail for a flood of transhumanist sci-fi shows that give form to anxieties viewers have about both wanting to escape the physical confines of their blood-bag existences and being absolutely, justifiably terrified of what could go wrong when they actually do.

But however uncomfortable it may be, that dilemma is not accidental. It has become necessary to understanding and surviving our current techno-political moment. Whether enjoying the ecstasy of possibility in Altered Carbons disembodied immortality or writhing in the agony of imagining eternity as a digital copy of ones own consciousness, the roller coaster of emotions these shows elicit ought to be a major signal to audiences that now is the time to be thinking about the cost of pursuing technological immortality. If stacks and sleeves are indeed our inevitable future, the moral quandary wont lie in the body-swapping itselfitll be reckoning with who gets to do it and why.

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'Altered Carbon' and TV's New Wave of Transhumanism | WIRED

Gods Will Be Watching was de Paco's first attempt at infusing a video game with ethical and moral dilemmas, and it was a resounding success when it landed in 2014. Deconstructeam was thrust into a broader conversation about the power and creativity of indie games, and there was enough money in the bank to start working on the next thing. This time around, de Paco wanted to be more deliberate -- Gods Will Be Watching was unfiltered, and in the end, its message got away from him.

"With Gods Will Be Watching, I wasn't really aware of the power of video games as a storytelling medium or maybe as communicating a message, so I kind of just made the game and put a lot of my instinctive philosophy in there," de Paco said. "I realized that I accidentally made an anti-system game, in which you have to go against any form of authority, so this time I tried to actually be aware of what I am telling and what I'm doing with the game."

The result is a concise yet branching cyberpunk story about the awful power massive technology companies can assert over people's daily lives (and bodies and minds). Through this lens, de Paco asks players how far they would go to obtain or sustain happiness, and what it truly means to be human. When we lose our emotions, do we lose our humanity?

Although the game offers a range of answers in its dialogue trees, it doesn't actually wrap all of these questions up in a nice ethical bow. They're not meant to be answered; they're de Paco's grand social experiment, designed to provoke thought and conversation. And here, it seems The Red Strings Club has succeeded.

De Paco said the game itself takes about three or four hours to complete on a standard playthrough. However, many Twitch streamers end up playing for something like 10 hours because they spend most of the time talking through the game's direct questions with the live chat.

"It comes in really lengthy conversations about what if it's good or not to get rid of emotions, or how it might benefit society," de Paco said. "It's really great."

Some of the game's questions are far-fetched scenarios specific to this particular future, but others feel relevant to life today. Scientists may not have developed implants that can alter our character yet, but we enjoy a common stimulus in caffeine and a depressant in alcohol. We have pills that promise to calm, excite and otherwise change our moods. We play with our emotional states every day.

This is a harsh reality for de Paco: Two years ago, some close friends and family members started taking antidepressants, and the experience made him question the essence of humanity on a grand scale, sparking the theme of The Red Strings Club.

"It makes you wonder if they're still the same person or if they're happier or not," de Paco said. "For me, writing this kind of magic technology that is able to remove depression and everything was a way for myself to explore, to cope with the idea of people close to me being changed."

De Paco isn't on a mission to end the antidepressant industry. In fact, he wishes the effects of these drugs could be streamlined like in The Red Strings Club, allowing people to alter their moods like code. "I wouldn't mind to change that for an implant or maybe just changing a variable instead of having to go through the process of taking pills or being medicated," he said.

If he were given the option, de Paco wouldn't choose to remove any of his own negative emotions, arguing that would also eliminate a core part of his humanity. He's more into to the idea of digitizing his consciousness and ditching his body altogether.

"I would totally love to digitize myself," de Paco said. "I wouldn't mind not having this body, if I can feel pleasure, and, I don't know, take digital drugs or something like that. I would like to be digitized, but I wouldn't like to lose any of the aspects of my mind. I don't like being depressed, but usually being depressed is a way to know something is wrong and you have to do something about it. If I take those things from me, it's like I would lose my ability to discern what's good and bad."

Not that de Paco knows what's good and bad now -- he's still asking questions about the essence of humanity and observing his social experiments across Twitch, Steam and social media. He's still figuring it out. So is everyone else.

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'The Red Strings Club' explores the morality of transhumanism

The Shinar DirectivePart 2

Posted on December 7, 2014

Published: December 07, 2014

by Dr. Michael Lake

In chapter two of The Shinar Directive, we uncover a gold mine of information encoded into the stories presented in the Torah (especially in the book of Genesis). The sages of Israel understood these hidden mysteries and taught that it would take a faithful student of the Word a lifetime just to discover some of the secrets God presented to us in Genesis 13.

Over the years, several of my students have attempted to develop an exhaustive study of the book of Genesis for their doctoral dissertations. As they examined the original language of the Hebrew text and discovered such a treasure trove of information, they concluded that their dissertations could only cover a fraction of what is available in just the first chapter. Even then, many of their papers far surpassed the required standard length of a doctoral dissertation. What God can say in one sentence can become a lifetime of study for any serious student of the Word.

The perfect example of the power of one sentence from God is when Jesus made a seemingly simple statement in Matthew 24:37:

But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. (Matthew 24:37)

Jesus was speaking of the last days. In the verse that preceded this statement, we find:

But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only. (Matthew 24:36)

Since we have been so deprived of our Hebraic heritage, most students of the Bible miss the fact that Jesus had just used a Hebraic idiom that connected what He was sharing with the Feast of Trumpets. The language He continued to use in verses 4042 confirms this fact for those who use the tools of hermeneutical[i] research to understand the cultural setting in which Jesus taught. Although the purpose of this chapter is not to teach on the importance of cultural idioms[ii] and their proper use within our exegetical[iii] exercises to glean truth from the Word of God, I hope I have sparked your interest enough to promote expansion of your hermeneutical toolbox. We need to realize that Jesus did not minister in the streets of Detroit or the country hills of Kentucky. He spoke to a culture that had a deep and enriched heritage cultivated by the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and nourished by a study of Torah. Biblical scholar Dr. John Garr makes this observation regarding our habitual dismissal of the cultural setting in our interpretative processes:

The problem is that practically all societies and people groups have read their own concepts and cultures into the Bible rather than drawing out of the Holy Scriptures the truths that have always been there. The churchs approach to Holy Writ has been ignorant at best and disingenuous at worst. When interpreting the Bible, Christians have engaged in eisegesis rather than exegesis by injecting their preconceived notions into Scripture rather than extracting from the text what it clearly says.

Texts without context have become pretexts for proof texts! The grammar of the Scriptures (the Hebrew language of the first testament and the Hebrew thought underlying the Greek language of the second testament) has been largely minimized if not downright ignored. Likewise, the history and culture of the people through whom and to whom the sacred texts were committed have been virtually ignored. Entire theologies have been based upon a criterion of dissimilarity in which texts in the Apostolic Scriptures that have clear connections with the Hebrew Scriptures have been dismissed by some scholars as not being the authentic words of Jesus and the apostles but the work of subsequent redactors. It is as though Jesus had to have been born and lived in a vacuum and never influenced by his native language and culture. The very idea has given rise to a Christianity that has been wretched from its theological and historical moorings and set adrift in a maelstrom of nonbiblicalin far too many cases, anti-Biblicaltraditions, including postmodernism, consequentialism, secular humanism, and even demonic perversion.[iv]

If the cultural context within Scripture is so essential to the formation of the practics of our faith, is it not equally paramount in our understanding of Bible prophecy? Such casual dismissals caused prophecy teachers in the past century to declare anyone teaching that Israel would once again become a nation as a promoter of heresy. When Israel became a nation overnight in 1948, it shook the very foundations of many evangelical prophecy ministries worldwide. We need to learn from these mistakes and incorporate a Hebraic understanding into our hermeneutical process.

I said all of that to make a point: When Jesus spoke of the days of Noah, it served as a memory trigger to all of the hearers who could tap into over one thousand years of teaching regarding every aspect of the Noah narrative. In the times of Jesus, there were not chapters and verses to Scripture; these would not be added until the twelfth century by Stephen Langton with the introduction of the Latin Vulgate Bible. The sages of Israel would use a word or phrase to take the hearers to the portion of Scripture they were referring to. This is especially true with the Torah. Thus, as diligent students of Gods Word, we must labor to hear with Hebraic ears and dig deep into Noahs story to properly ascertain all that Jesus was referring to. Which was

1And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them,2That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose. 3And the Lord said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years. 4There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown. 5And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. 7And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them. 8But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. (Genesis 6:18)

So many things seem to jump off the page as I approach these verses. Before I fully dive into the story of Noah, I want to touch on a biblical conundrum for the Transhumanist Movement contained within these passages of Holy Writ. In verse 3, God declares that He is going to limit the lifespan of man to 120 years. As we examine the text, we find as a mission of grace to mankind, Noah spent 120 years preaching repentance and building the ark. It was only after the canopy over the earth was broken up by God that the Flood came, and with it the dynamic changing of earths environment, which reduced mans lifespan. Prior to the Flood, according to biblical record, men would not even begin to have children until they approached their eighties or older! Now God sets the time limit to a mans life based on the number of years that Noah preached of the coming destruction and the need for repentance. (This also serves as a prophetic warning that there is a limit to how long God will extend His grace toward men.) The more time sinful man had to live and learn, the deeper he would become entrenched with the knowledge of the Tree of Good and Evil. If given enough time, mans insatiable appetite for dark knowledge would transform earth into a literal hell that God could not tolerate. Today, transhumanists[v] are endeavoring to circumvent Gods restraints on our lifespan. From what I have read in their literature, this is one of their primary goals. Seventy, eighty, or even one hundred and twenty years are not enough for them. While they lament over global warming and the perils of overpopulation, they seek to provide only a chosen few the opportunity to live hundreds of years, if not obtain near immortality. With the exponential acceleration of knowledge in the last days and the possibility of extending the life span of the Luciferian Elite, they may well have the time needed to thwart Gods intervention in Genesis 6! You see, God shortening mans lifespan to 120 years (and then later to seventy to eighty) was not a judgment against humanity; it was an expression of His grace toward all mankind.

And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. (Genesis 6:5)

I want to examine verses 4 and 5 in a manner that is similar to a physicians diagnostic procedure: He would examine the presenting symptoms. Symptomology can be used in medicine and nutrition, and even in examining the health of a civilization. If certain symptoms are present in a patient, it will point toward the underlying disease that caused it. There is an intertwining aspect within the text of the corrupt Sons of God (Bene Elohim), the development of hybrid offspring, and the explosive evil within mens hearts. This wickedness that manifested within mankind was declared as great by God. In Hebrew, the word for great is rab (rab). This word means abounding, strong, exceedingly, and more numerous than.[vi] When evil has become so strong that it abounds throughout humanity and its perpetrators are more numerous than the righteous, it is a presenting sociological symptom of interference by the fallen Bene Elohim. (More on this later in both the new book The Shinar Directive as well as an upcoming online entry dedicated to the Communion with Darkness.)

That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose. (Genesis 6:2)

There is great speculation regarding the identity of the Sons of God in Genesis 6:2. I prefer the traditional Hebraic view that these were angels and not men. Some would argue today that the sons of God represented the descendants of Seth. Dr. Chuck Missler explains the origin of the Sethite theory:

The strange events recorded in Genesis 6 were understood by the ancient rabbinical sources, as well as the Septuagint translators, as referring to fallen angels procreating weird hybrid offspring with human women-known as the Nephilim. So it was also understood by the early church fathers. These bizarre events are also echoed in the legends and myths of every ancient culture upon the earth: the ancient Greeks, the Egyptians, the Hindus, the South Sea Islanders, the American Indians, and virtually all the others.

However, many students of the Bible have been taught that this passage in Genesis 6 actually refers to a failure to keep the faithful lines of Seth separate from the worldly line of Cain. The idea has been advanced that after Cain killed Abel, the line of Seth remained separate and faithful, but the line of Cain turned ungodly and rebellious. The Sons of God are deemed to refer to leadership in the line of Seth; the daughters of men is deemed restricted to the line of Cain. The resulting marriages ostensibly blurred an inferred separation between them. (Why the resulting offspring are called the Nephilim remains without any clear explanation.)

Since Jesus prophesied, As the days of Noah were, so shall the coming of the Son of Man be, it becomes essential to understand what these days included.

Origin of the Sethite View

It was in the 5th Century A.D. that the angel interpretation of Genesis 6 was increasingly viewed as an embarrassment when attacked by critics. (Furthermore, the worship of angels had begun within the church. Also, celibacy had also become an institution of the church. The angel view of Genesis 6 was feared as impacting these views.)

Celsus and Julian the Apostate used the traditional angel belief to attack Christianity. Julius Africanus resorted to the Sethite interpretation as a more comfortable ground. Cyril of Alexandria also repudiated the orthodox angel position with the line of Seth interpretation. Augustine also embraced the Sethite theory and thus it prevailed into the Middle Ages. It is still widely taught today among many churches who find the literal angel view a bit disturbing. There are many outstanding Bible teachers who still defend this view.[vii]

In my own personal research, I have concluded that Dr. Missler is correct. All of the sages of Israel and the early Church fathers concluded that the sons of God referred to some category of angel and not righteous men. It should also be noted that, in the rabbinical literature of today, these sons of God are still interpreted as fallen angels as well. The only deviation from this interpretation is within Catholic theology and the Protestant theology that was influenced by Rome.

George H. Pember, in his classic work written in late 1800s, Earths Earliest Ages, came to the same conclusion:

These words are often explained to signify nothing more than the intermarriage of the descendants of Cain and Seth: but a careful examination of the passage will elicit a far deeper meaning.

When men, we are told, began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, the sons of God saw the daughters of men. Now by men in each case the whole human race is evidently signified, the descendants of Cain and Seth alike. Hence the sons of God are plainly distinguished from the generation of Adam.

Again; the expression sons of God (Elohim) occurs four times in other parts of the Old Testament, and is in each of these cases indisputably used of angelic beings.[viii]

To me, the concept of producing giants by the marriage of godly men with corrupt women is far-fetched. If that were the case, we would have giants living among us today. It is obvious that something more was going onsomething supernatural.

What this has to do with The Shinar Directive is centrally important, and not just for ancient days but the near future as well, regardless how incredible that may seem.

CONTINUED IN NEXT ENTRY

[i] Hermeneutical or hermeneutics: the study of the methodological principles of interpretation (as of the Bible).

[ii] Idiom: a form of a language that is spoken in a particular area and that uses some of its own words, grammar, and pronunciations.

[iii] Exegetical or exegesis: an explanation or critical interpretation of a text.

[iv] John D. Garr, Family Worship: Making Your Home a House of God (Atlanta: Golden Key Press, 2013) 1213.

[v] Transhumanist (abbreviated as H+ or h+): an international cultural and intellectual movement with an eventual goal of fundamentally transforming the human condition by developing and making widely available technologies to greatly enhance human intellectual, physical, and psychological capacities.

[vi] Strongs, # H07227.

[vii] Chuck Missler, Mischievous Angels or Sethites? http://www.khouse.org/articles/1997/110/.

[viii] George H. Pember, Earths Earliest Ages (Crane, MO: Defender, 2012)175176.

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transhumanism Biblical Life Assembly