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Forever Alive Issue 03
F O R E V E R A L I V E L i t e
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Issue Number 3 Nov 1995
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Forever Alive is the world's premier magazine on the subject
of physical immortality. We offer a new vision of humanity,
as completely whole, beyond the polarities of life and death,
spirit and body, mind and heart, male and female. This
pioneering magazine explores the transformative powers of
embracing a life without limits.
This file is best viewed in a monospaced font, such as
Courier.
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C O N T E N T S
* YOUR TEST RESULTS ARE BACK
by Herb Bowie
* THE CULT OF DEATH
by Bernadeane
* ANYONE
by Shereena Smith
* IN EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN
by Charles Paul Brown
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M A S T H E A D
Editor: Herb Bowie
Forever Alive Lite is the electronic equivalent to Forever
Alive magazine, a periodical printed on actual paper. The
paper version is published quarterly, while its electronic
"lite" counterpart is published monthly. Both are published
by People Forever International.
E-MAIL ADDRESS
herbbowie@aol.com
MAILING ADDRESS
PO Box 12305, Scottsdale, AZ 85267-2305
TELEPHONES
1 (602) 922-0300 Voice
1 (602) 922-0800 FAX
1 (800) 2B4-EVER Toll-Free
Forever Alive Lite is copyright (c) 1995 by People Forever
International. You may freely distribute this file
electronically on a non-commercial, nonprofit basis to
anyone, and print one copy for your personal use, but you may
not alter or excerpt this file in any way without direct
permission from People Forever International.
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YOUR TEST RESULTS ARE BACK
by Herb Bowie
Some time ago I read a newspaper article that made some
telling points about the consequences of the belief systems
we choose. To me, at least, it speaks volumes about the
massive contradictions our society contains when it
approaches the subjects of life and death.
Let me start by saying I've noticed two common reactions to
news of the possibility of physical immortality. One is
disbelief: a doomed resignation to the death sentence
seemingly imposed upon us. Another is bewilderment: a
confusion about what the prospect of eventual immortality
might have to do with the way we live our lives today. I
think that the story I'm about to tell shows the lie in both
reactions.
The tale begins with a woman worrying that she might have
been infected with AIDS by a blood transfusion received ten
years earlier. She decides to relieve her anxiety by having
herself tested. But when her results come back, the diagnosis
confirms her worst fears: she is HIV-positive.
Her life now takes a turn for the worst. Afraid of passing
the infection on, she no longer allows her three children to
hug her. Her dirty dishes are washed with bleach after every
meal, to prevent passing the contagion to the rest of her
family. She begins taking a medication that leaves her
feeling nauseous and weak. Sure that she has little time
left, she transfers legal custody for her children to her
mother. Finally, after two years of this living hell, she
returns to her home town, prepared to take her own life when
her illness becomes too much to bear.
So far, you might be thinking, this story is fairly
unremarkable, similar in general outline, if not in detail,
to thousands of others. But wait--a remarkable twist follows,
one worthy of a short story by O. Henry. Perhaps growing
suspicious after displaying a remarkable lack of symptoms
(the account I read is vague on this point), the woman
decides to have herself tested again. This test comes back
negative. It turns out that her original test results had
been misdiagnosed. She is not now, nor was she ever,
HIV-positive. Outraged over her needless suffering, she sues
everyone involved with the original test, and is eventually
awarded over half a million dollars by a jury.
So what does this story have to do with physical immortality?
Let me reduce the story to its bare bones. Supposedly
knowledgeable authorities tell a person that she is dying.
Believing them without question, her life is subsequently
ruined--not by the disease she supposedly has, but by her
unquestioning belief that she is doomed. Finally, it becomes
clear to everyone that the authorities were simply and
collectively wrong. The pain and suffering she has endured
are so real that a jury of her peers awards her a huge sum of
money in compensation.
What I find most remarkable about this story is that, when
reduced to its simplest elements, it could be told by almost
everyone. The authorities inform all of us that we are
suffering from a terminal illness: life. As a result, people
separate themselves from their loved ones, anticipating the
eventual separation of death. People make preparations for
their supposedly inevitable demise. As a result, they live
lives dominated more by death than by life.
And yet, even though most people will believe the story I
have told without question, they will still refuse to believe
that our common human diagnosis might be in error, and will
find it difficult to understand what a belief in their own
eventual demise could have to do with their life today.
Forever Alive magazine is your personal wake-up call. Your
new test results are back. We're here to tell you that you
have been misdiagnosed. Forget what the experts told you. We
have a new prognosis for you: endless life.
Welcome to the land of the living. You're in good company, as
you will find when you read the rest of this remarkable
issue. Enjoy!
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Originally published in Forever Alive magazine, Issue no. 22.
Copyright (c) 1994 by People Forever International.
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THE CULT OF DEATH
by Bernadeane
There are many cults on this planet, but the largest one is
the cult of death. It's composed of human beings who have
made an agreement to die. All down through history, this
agreement has been the strongest force at work on the planet.
Let me give you an example of how this cult works. I remember
a lady we met in Los Angeles a couple of years ago. She was
in her eighties, and she was saying that all her friends were
telling her to slow down, because it wasn't right for her to
be so alive at that age. You see, she was making her friends
very uncomfortable, because she had so much more energy than
they did. So they were telling her she needed to slow down
and get ready to die.
This lady needed to be around people who would encourage her
to really live! There is something wonderful about finding
people who really want to live. Find as many as you
can--create a world around you, and an atmosphere and
environment that is unto your living.
You see, most of the world today is in total opposition to
staying alive. So it's very easy to become intimidated if you
are not willing to break that agreement with death in your
own body.
This agreement has made it easy to die, and hard to live. I
want us to turn this around. I want such an agreement to live
that we make it hard to die, and easy to live.
I am here to cause people to question their belief in death.
I am here to bring about a feeling in human beings that will
make them uncomfortable with dying.
I can't understand why so many human beings want to remain in
an agreement to die. Death is so awful. There is nothing
beautiful about the body aging and dying. It is absolutely
horrible to see people get sick and experience pain and
disease. There is nothing wonderful about it.
Oh, let's raise up a standard within flesh to agree to live,
to really be healthy! This is my agreement--to see an earth
filled with people who are so alive, so healthy, so loving,
so giving unto one another that there will be no more wars,
no more taking of another's life.
I am so thankful I'm here! I'm so thankful I had a hunger in
my heart, even before I knew it would be possible for us to
outlive that agreement with death, before I knew there would
be an agreement to care for one another, to really be
together on this planet--an agreement stronger than death.
I feel such a fire burning in me. I want to find more people
who feel as I do. I want to wake people up, to let them know
that there is a new way of life here for all of us. And I
want this fire to spread, to cover the globe, until we have
created such an agreement to live that we have made it
impossible to die, and only possible to live.
- - -
Originally published in Forever Alive magazine, Issue no. 20.
Copyright (c) 1994 by People Forever International.
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ANYONE
by Shereena Smith
Anyone can hold the helm when the sea is calm --
Anyone can live a life of deceit and corruption.
Anyone can leave when the going gets too rough --
Anyone can fall into death's seduction.
Anyone can go the way man has always gone,
And anyone can sing those stupid love songs.
But who can stay with me when life looks like hell?
Who can break the codes of death
and sound that single bell
of life the way it's supposed to be...?
Wake me up so I can see
That you are here and will never leave me.
Don't let the images get in the way.
Don't let the programming of death
take over your life,
and make you part of the rest.
Fight inside yourself to move,
Even when you want to stop and fit into the groove.
I want to make this one and only declaration:
I will never understand separation.
Separation is a way out:
A place to hide when you don't want to change,
Somewhere to run when you can't stand the rain.
This is a call to my own:
Find me and you have found your home.
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Originally published in Forever Alive magazine, Issue no. 23.
Copyright (c) 1995 by People Forever International.
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IN EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN
by Charles Paul Brown
Making A Difference
Jim and Bernie and I were guests recently on a talk show
being broadcast out of Florida. The host was excellent, and
all three of us enjoyed our interaction with him. After we
had talked for a while, he became very intense in his
expression concerning the condition of the world. He wanted
to know why there isn't more of a desire to change those
conditions. Why are people not more open to really living,
and to extending their lives? Why are they not open to
changing their habits?
The answer seems clear to me. As long as humanity is
harboring deep in its soul the belief that we are merely
passing through, on our way to some better world, then we are
never going to create a real quality of life for ourselves
here on earth. You would think that people would want to
live. When they hear the possibility of a greater living, you
would think they would absolutely rush to make it so. I
believe that we have barely scratched the surface of what we
can create together. And yet, as long as everything about our
lives is seen as merely temporal, as just a stop along the
way, then people will not move to make a difference.
How did most of the human race come to believe in the
existence of this superior dimension on the other side? Some
people seem to think that this is a teaching of the Bible.
Incredible, isn't it, that people can get so confused? For
the Bible clearly says that, "The last enemy that shall be
destroyed is death." Just think about this for a moment: If
death is delivering us from this inferior world to some
better one, then why is death such an enemy, and why should
it be destroyed?
Let me give you another example from the Bible. The Lord's
Prayer is common everywhere in the Christian world. It starts
like this.
Our Father, which art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done
in earth as it is in heaven.
You see, this familiar prayer doesn't ask that we all die and
go to heaven. It implores, "Thy kingdom come." Come where? If
there is any question, it is made clear in the next line,
"Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven."
What has happened to this notion of creating heaven here on
earth? It doesn't seem very popular, does it? Most religious
people today seem well content with the idea of dying and
going to heaven.
Why is there often such a resistance when Bernie and Jim and
I speak about bringing a new quality of life on this planet?
We speak of a new togetherness, of a true oneness for people
to feel. We speak of our desire to end wars, to end death, to
end suffering, to end poverty, to end discrimination. You
would think the immediate response would be an absolute joy.
And yet people often react instead with anger. Why is this?
God's Plan
Even before I awakened to immortality, my religious studies
had prepared me for a time when there would be peace on
earth. Yet most people don't want to take any responsibility
for bringing this about--they prefer to wait for it to happen
all in God's time.
Years ago, I remember having a conversation with my mother's
minister. He seemed to be progressive, and I couldn't wait to
speak to him. I went into his home and I expressed to him
everything that I was feeling. After listening to me for
about an hour and a half, he finally said, "Charles, I'm so
thrilled with what's happening to you. But, son--I have to
tell you--you are a few dispensations ahead of God's plan."
People have so fallen asleep in their waiting for God to
someday move to make a difference. You see, when I woke up, I
accepted a responsibility to change. Most individuals don't
want this responsibility. They don't want to be responsible
to let their light shine on earth. But I believe that we're
not to wait for God to come, we're not to wait for a savior,
we're not to wait for a messiah. Instead, I believe it is our
light that's to shine to make a difference on this planet.
God and You
People have created such a deep split between themselves and
God. I think that's the problem. There's you, and then
there's God. And I'm not sure that this God you have imaged
really wants you to come into your full inheritance. So there
you remain in the you of smallness, the you of nothingness,
the mortal you that is subservient to the immortal gods.
If we are to have heaven on earth one day, then I want to
know what's standing in the way of us having it today. Is it
you, or is it your God? If God is so all powerful and knowing
and eternal, and you are so little and weak and mortal, then
perhaps God should swallow up the little mortal you and begin
to do something on this planet. If it's you that's in the
way, and God is all powerful, then God should be able to just
take you out of the way.
And if it's not you that's in the way, but it's your God,
then you'd better begin to look at your image of God. Perhaps
your God doesn't want you to be immortal. Perhaps he doesn't
want you to come into your rightful inheritance. Perhaps he
doesn't want you to get too close--he might just want to
remain in an eternal mystery.
People have aspired for so long to be more like God. To tell
the truth, I'm not so sure I want to reach Godhood. I'd
rather reach manhood. I don't want to attain God
consciousness. I'd rather become human conscious. I'd rather
become responsible for bringing about a change on this
planet. Let's quit trying to clean this planet up for future
generations--let's begin to clean it up for ourselves, and
then maybe the future generations will really have something.
Sex In Heaven?
Some people think that it's our sexuality that keeps us from
heaven. After all, heaven is supposed to be populated by
angels, and we all know that angels don't have any sexual
organs. So this is the image that people have. They think
there's something wrong with us because of our sexual
equipment.
So much of the Christian world seems to think that we're
conceived and shaped in iniquity. The feeling you get is that
there must be something wrong with the physical body. There's
something wrong, and it all relates to sexuality. Adam and
Eve and that damned serpent really screwed things up. This is
why there's such fear of sexuality being taught in our
schools. Here in the US, President Clinton recently accepted
the resignation of his Secretary of Education, because she
had become too controversial. She had suggested that
masturbation is a normal human activity, and that it might
not be a bad idea to say as much in our children's courses on
sex education.
It's astounding to me that we could live in such an
enlightened, civilized age, and yet there is still so much
fear and shame about normal functions of the human body. I
still remember one individual who felt that eventually our
sex organs were going to turn into wings. This individual was
so intelligent, yet she really believed that our genitals
were going to evolve into wings! Can you imagine what this
would look like? I still can't quite picture how it would
work--and I've been trying for years.
Have you noticed how popular angels have become lately?
People seem to find it so much easier to believe in angels
than in people. I remember hearing, when I was a child, about
a man who claimed to have an angel on his shoulder. He said
that when he spoke, he was just repeating the words of the
angel, who was whispering into his ear. Of course, the hall
was packed when he came to town. People would rather hear
something from an angel they can't even see, than from an
ordinary human being.
Come Down From The Clouds
That man knew what he was doing--he had a great gimmick. Jim
and Bernie and I don't have any gimmick, though. We are human
beings: flesh, bone and blood. When we speak, we're signing
our own names to what we say. We're not telling you that an
angel said it; we're not saying that God has sent us. We're
telling you that we have awakened to our own inspiration, and
that's the only thing we're speaking from.
Come down out of the clouds. Come out of the haze. Begin to
unveil the mysteries of our bodies. You're magnificent. Your
body is magnificent. You're not some entity inside your body.
You formed yourself. You designed yourself to be the way you
are. Your body is absolutely phenomenal.
It's astounding that the body can so regenerate itself. I
feel the day is coming that, if any organs are missing, we
will grow them back. We'll regenerate limbs that have been
lost. It's possible, because we formed ourselves from one
cell, and the total image of what we are is still in every
cell.
All that's missing is to get in touch with the original
program before we learned the consciousness of death and
dying, before we ate from the tree of knowledge of good and
evil, before we ate of that knowledge of death, before we
became God conscious, before we became conscious of
separation, before we became conscious that we were lesser or
that we were more.
God can no longer remain a mystery. The book of Revelation
says, "But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel,
when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be
finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets."
I don't know of any angel sounding. I don't feel like an
angel. I am who I am, but I am sounding the trumpet of my own
voice. And I'm saying that the mystery of God is finished,
because it is now clear that we are the ones who are
responsible for bringing about heaven on earth.
Let's create the world that we were taught would someday
come. Let us create together the world that we imaged even
when we were children. Get in touch with what you felt when
you were a child--that was very real. Get in touch with what
you questioned, before the program swallowed you up. Get in
touch with how you felt life and living should be on this
planet.
I know that I felt a cry for something different as I was
growing up. I'm so glad that my scream and my cry became
greater than the program! I'm so glad that my life became
more passionate than the system.
To the system of death on this planet, you may be no more
than a social security number stored in a computer somewhere.
You are more than that to me: You are a flesh, bone and blood
body. You are a living organ within a total organism. We need
one another to come together in one mind, one body, one
spirit, to create a life without end, right here on earth.
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Originally published in Forever Alive magazine, Issue no. 24.
Copyright (c) 1995 by People Forever International.
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FOREVER ALIVE MAGAZINE
Forever Alive magazine is the paper-based big brother to this
e-zine. It has been published quarterly since 1989.
R. Seth Friedman, in Factsheet Five, Issue No. 56, said about
Forever Alive:
"This publication breaks the mold of fringe immortality zines
with informative, rational (and very readable) essays in a
bright colorful package."
Carol Wright said about us, in the Spring 1994 edition of the
NAPRA Trade Journal:
"This quarterly publication is probably the only immortalist
(as opposed to longevity) magazine around. Forever Alive
offers recent information about longevity, bodywork,
nutrition and so forth. But their upbeat philosophical essays
separate them from other health magazines. They challenge
your most deeply seated beliefs about life and death."
The Alternative Press Review, in their Spring/Summer 1995
edition, said:
"Forever Alive is a nicely-produced, 42-page quarterly
magazine devoted to bodily health and human immortality...."
Forever Alive has now grown to 52 pages, with no outside
advertising, and featuring a full-color cover. The magazine
is available at better bookstores, including the Barnes &
Noble and Borders chains. The cost is $6 for a single issue
and $24 for an annual subscription (4 issues). Subscriptions
and single issues may be ordered directly from People
Forever.
Distributors for Forever Alive include Desert Moon, New Leaf,
Armadillo & Co. and Ingram Periodicals.
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