Social Media, Discussions, and Tranzitioning the Great Recession

For a little over a year now, I’ve been writing this blog about the Great Recession, and experimenting with many of the new social media vehicles that are now available.  And while services like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn are extremely valuable, I find that they are primarily a one-to-many communication vehicle.

I really miss the good old days, where mailing lists were prevalent.  With open mailing lists, you can easily have a many-to-many dialog, all carried out via email.  They are easy to subscribe to, they are easy to respond to, and best of all, the dialog is available in an online archive that can be accessible to everyone.

That’s not to say that the social media sites don’t offer similar services.  For example, I had an extensive online conversation through the Spirituality and Consciousness Group on LinkedIn about “The Five Dimensions of Consciousness.”  There I was able to get some feedback as I was writing my last two posts.  As valuable as this was, today I am unable to link to any of the messages in that dialog, and only members of LinkedIn who subscribe to that group will ever be able to see them.

For this reason and more, I’ve set up an open mailing list on Yahoo where people who are interested can comment on AND discuss any of the posts that appear in this blog.  Here are the details:

Tranzitioning Discussion List Info
To Post a message:  Send an email to
tranzitioning@yahoogroups.com
To Subscribe: Send an email to
tranzitioning-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
To Unsubscribe: Send an email to
tranzitioning-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
To See messages: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/tranzitioning/messages

To get an idea of what you’ve been missing, here is a representative post on the Fifth Dimension of Consciousness from the LinkedIn group (posted with permission):

“What is nirvana?”

I believe from our discussions that you understand it is ineffable. One cannot know it without experiencing it. It is like true, unconditional love. We can “think” we know it (intellectually) but this is not the same as actually feeling it, experiencing it with our hearts, uniting with it from our souls. When this happens, one cannot not know it. It reminds us who we really are.

There will be many who try to describe it – for different reasons. I believe this is with good intent. It is like trying to describe love or bliss. Perhaps it is with intent to show others the way, to help them on their paths.

The Buddha referred to it as liberation. Followers of Jesus often called it salvation. It is an experience where we “see with the vision of Christ (consciousness)”. We are truly free. We are in-Spirit. We are innocent and guilt-free. All is beautiful. There is no fear or doubt. Time seems to stand still – or not exist at all. We feel at one with God and life force. We are whole and complete. We have transcended the ego thought system – and, with it, karma.

It is a state of grace found only in heaven, which is also ineffable. Just remember what Jesus said, “The kingdom of heaven is within.”

Written by John Murphy,
Author of Beyond Doubt: Four Steps to Inner Peace
www.johnjmurphy.net

Soon, I will post several new topics for discussion in the new Tranzitioning Discussion List.  These will include an exchange with a social activist who is trying to change the world, and a Muslim student of Comparative World Religions.  I will also post some responses to thoughtful comments that have been made to my prior postings.

Now, more than ever, comments welcome.  Until next time …

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