This morning I mused about the time it takes me to get to my station - typing at my computer to write my daily entry - now in retirement, versus when I still worked. Today I got up at 7-am and did my daily routine which includes about thirty minutes of light exercises. This is followed by breakfast, coffee and some heat treatment for my leg muscles at this time. All is closed off with the brushing of teeth and creaming my face and hands.

All this took about ninety minutes this morning. In that same time I would be in class ready to start work with the students at eight - usually - when I was still working. What a difference in the cadence of my life I mused, comparing these different morning routines. The half hour of exercise now, would be used for driving to work back then!

Last Saturday evening Michelle and I went to the ‘Banana Leaf’ at 32 and 32 NE for our ethnic dinner. They treated us to a good ethnic Malaysian serving, which reminded Michelle of her travels and food adventures there.

No reservation, so we went plenty early and even at that, the place was almost full at five twenty pm. We took our time and returned home at around eight pm. The next one is up to Michelle to locate! I’m looking forward to it.

On Sunday I met up with my friends at the Palliser, but our group was small being eight all told. Herman has hurt his leg, which may account for the short talk. He also excused himself from our regular bi-weekly lunch. I hope he is getting some treatment for it, because this has been bothering him for almost a month.

Late afternoon Sunday, Derrick in Victoria with me here, talked me through a Skype sign up. His instructions helped me to circumventing the sign-up to a Microsoft account that windows eight wants you to do. We did chat over skype with video and sound and I even re-discovered my fancy ’Headrush’ headset that I had bought for my tablet, but had forgotten about. It has a tiny inline microphone and earplugs all giving a good quality sound reproduction at both ends. Derrick was quite pleased that we now have this Skype connection established. So am I, with many thanks for his help and patience.

So am I, with many thanks for Derrick's help and patience.

Yesterday I also completed reading Hans Stolp’s book, but I’ll comment on that below under my writings for the day. Today I plan to get into my newly defined routine of entries in the morning for about three days, Monday, Wednesday and Friday, with the other mornings and all five afternoons devoted to sorting, emailing, webwork, housekeeping and visits, plus - not to forget - my regular snooze.

The evenings I plan to devote to study and reading as my next talk for the end of November is now on my horizon. And … I also have to start giving some thought to next year’s talk s topics. At this time I am considering a series on ‘overlooked’ religions such as those of the Mayan’s and African culture, together with the once prominent Manichaeism.

A few words on Stolp’s book titled ‘Where do you get it from’, which is my transliteration of the actual Dutch title: “Waar haal je het vandaan.” This author has written many books in which he addresses the problem of combining traditional Protestant religion - he is a pastor - with the teachings of the Theosophists, Gnostics, extra sensory perception and experiences.

In the mentioned book Stolp frequently relates and refers to his own life experiences and his personal journey to get to his current conviction. Though I do not subscribe to most of what the author claims, I do like his very friendly and open style of telling his story and his manner of presenting his views.

Stolp's main theme is his having discovered an esoteric - hidden - interpretation of Christianity. He hold the conviction that this hidden meaning now has to be presented to our present world, which is in need of this new vision and also ready for the required re-orientation.

The hidden knowledge view relies on the much older ideas of Blavatsky’s Theosophy, which Stolp combines with the in 1945 discovered Nag Hammadi Gnostic writings. He views this as old lost truths that now have to be given a new interpretation in our present world where the handed down tradition of the churches are crumbling and no longer adequate. Hence the need for this new way of looking at our society, which the author in part adapts from Steiner’s Anthroposophy.

I became familiar with the idea of esoteric Christianity at the time that I studied at the Utrecht polytechnic [HTS] for building science in 1957/8. I found the ideas too vague and though I explored them - Ouspensky in particular with his hidden schools - I never found much applicability for those types of concepts.

What Stolp projects onto the past, I see as the need for us ourselves to uncover - the ‘secret’ as unknown - in the future …

Over the years I have come to the conclusion that humans evolved from quite ‘primitive’ beginning acquiring and increasing conscious awareness over time and as we still do. This is where I find Stolp’s explorations of extrasensory perception and reincarnation is interesting.

However, the idea that old and lost wisdoms once were known to earlier cultures is anathema to me. I hold that humans evolved on their own account to where we are now, but I agree with Stolp’s notion that our journey of development is not complete and must continue on.

My view is that what Stolp holds as to be recovered unknown hidden knowledge from the past, I see that as process of projection. What Stolp projects onto the past, I see as the need for us ourselves to uncover - the ‘secret’ as unknown - in the future as a process of development of our human society as best as we are able to do.

We have to find the secrets in the future, but be informed by the past such as has been passed on to us based on our own human experience, which has been inspired at time by revelation, which is still continuing in religion and sciences alike today.
<10:18am~