Gaia Community: Terri's Blog

The Ultimate Expression of Self Mastery

Mon, 31 Mar 2008 15:26:56 -0000

In my work with spiritual teacher Andrew Cohen, I continue to find that the ultimate form of Self Mastery has to do with doing whatever it takes to align oneself with the creative principle itself, at the level of the soul. Not just for a particular endeavor, but as an integrated expression in everything one is doing in life. And it is a 24/7 commitment, and in my understanding, is what spiritual life is all about. I was thrilled to see this video that my friend Ros, also a student, made recently. Andrew transmits the essence of the goal of spiritual life--which is to become a wholehearted expression of the Authentic Self, and in that, become one with the creative principle that started this whole outrageous process, which is who we all are at the deepest level of our being. Could there be anything more bold or audacious then this? Please enjoy.

My role on the Gaia Team

Wed, 13 Feb 2008 20:04:10 -0000

Terri Hinton

Sponsorship Coordinator Catalyst

What's your role at Gaia Community? I get to sell our advertising… which I love to do. I talk with individuals in different companies who are interested in reaching out to the Gaia Community. I help them determine the most effective way to do this. We work out an advertising plan that can include creating their own profile, banner ads, stand alone emails to all of us about their great product or service, and anything else creative that might come up.

What do you most enjoy doing (or what are your greatest passions)? My greatest passion has been the pursuit of truth and wisdom. I also love the complexity of human relationships, the silence of meditation, the emptiness of freedom, and the commitment to change that demands more then I want to give. Simply put I love life, and take serious my own contribution to what matters.

What's your favorite thing about our community? This community is filled with individuals who recognize that it is important to live with purpose and commitment. This opens up all kinds of potentials.

What do you love about working here? The freedom and shared commitment to living our ideal, changing ourselves, developing ourselves, in order to better serve the life we are living. It is an incredible opportunity to be involved with people who are interested in development and growth, and respect and honor that in each other.

[Meet the rest of the Gaia Team]

Enlightened Communication

Fri, 18 Jan 2008 04:22:23 -0000

I am just heading into a "Revolution Retreat" with 92 other men and women. I look forward to sharing the results of this investigation in the coming weeks, months, and years. And check out this video , it is all about Enlightened Communication, and why this is important. We are living in a unique time. Let's figure out how to use this to change this world. I am convinced this is the next step in our evolutionary trajectory.

more soon!

A reason to believe that this platform is our future

Thu, 17 Jan 2008 01:58:15 -0000

I found it very serendipitous that a friend of mine sent me the link to an article by Kevin Kelly from Wired magazine. Why? Because in it he describes how convinced he was that Wikipedia would never work... and how much it has changed his thinking in the deepest sense that it actually does. Given that Zaadz is now Gaia, and there are all kinds of questions about whether or not this "will work" I found this article absolutely refreshing... a reminder of just how much is possible... After all, Zaadz and now Gaia are always proving that when enough individuals care enough... the result is always good. Check this particular quote out...

“Before we say, "Impossible!" I say, let's see. I know all the reasons why law can never be written by know-nothing amateurs. But having already changed my mind once on this, I am slow to jump to conclusions again. The Wikipedia is impossible, but here it is. It is one of those things impossible in theory, but possible in practice. Once you confront the fact that it works, you have to shift your expectation of what else that is impossible in theory might work in practice.”

read the rest… it’s fantastic.

1 Second Film and 1 Great Idea

Fri, 15 Jun 2007 19:06:09 -0000

My job puts me in a unique position. I get the pleasure of being intorduced to all kinds of great people, living with passionate purpose in doing what they love most. I wish i could blog everyday about the different people and organizations that are conntacting me because they love Zaadz, and Zaadzters, and want to connect with the higher puropose and love for life that is very much the currency we all share. That said... i thought i would take a moment to highlight one i came accross today. check it out... you can help produce this ! second Film!

Enjoy!

1 Second Film

and it's

5 Phase Plan

Web 2.0

Fri, 08 Jun 2007 17:14:31 -0000

Steve Nash, Basketball, and Heart

Thu, 03 May 2007 16:01:07 -0000

Ok… so I am in…. for years now my husband has been watching Basketball and encouraging me, nudging me, patiently waiting for me to “get it”. It is a bit of a surprise that I am not into it, given I have a background in playing college sports myself…But, I wasn’t. Well, that changed as of last night thanks to my friend Ellen, who encouraged me through her own newly converted passion for the sport to come over and watch the game. I am totally in. After watching Steve Nash going for it with his team mates… how could I not be.
In all honesty, it is things like this that I find deeply inspiring… The way this guy is so FOR his team and for the sport. It calls out the best in you when you see this level of skill matched with what appears to be a real camaraderie and commitment to the team… it proves something important to all of us. We only become great when we are living for something more then ourselves.

Enjoy…

Webby awards and WIE.org

Tue, 17 Apr 2007 23:10:09 -0000

A simple and painless request from all of the lovers of WIE magazine out there...

We need your VOTE! EnlightenNext, producers of What Is Enlightenment? online (WIE.org), has been nominated a second year in a row for the prestigious Webby Award and Webby People’s Voice Award in the Best Religion and Spirituality Web site category. More than 8,000 sites from all over the world were up for consideration for what Time magazine calls “the online Oscars.” Only five were nominated. Only one will win.

Voting ends April 27, so vote TODAY! Spread the evolutionary spirit—make WIE.org the Webby People’s Voice for Best Spiritual site on the Web!

Instructions are below.

Link to WIE.org Webby’s voting instructions page: http://www.wie.org/misc/webby-instructions.asp

Direct link to Webby’s: http://pv.webbyawards.com/

If you like What Is Enlightenment? magazine then do me a huge favor, and cast your vote for the online version wie.org. We really, really would love to win again!

Terri

Can you measure Enlightenment?

Thu, 15 Feb 2007 21:08:12 -0000

Hi Everyone,

I just spent quite a weekend together with 50 or so other men and women (close spiritual comrades) as we explored with our teacher Andrew Cohen an insight of Andrew's that is beginning to redefine our work together. It has everything to do with a view on Enlightenment that should indeed be measurable for those interested in beginning to try to define with objectivity and serious scrutiny what Enlightenment might look like through the lens of AQAL....

Andrew writes about it here.. so please do check it out...

looking forward to comments... and more later...

Terri

The Ego Cannot See God

Mon, 05 Feb 2007 20:10:29 -0000

The ego cannot see God. Why? Because God, or whatever name we want to use for the absolute principle, has no beginning and no end. The very nature of ego is limited—it represents a false boundary around the self-sense. And that illusory sense of limitation can never perceive that which is beginningless and endless. So that is why, in order to know God, we have to transcend the ego. We have to remove all boundaries from the self-sense, through the conscious cultivation of an infinite, unlimited perspective or context for our own human experience. Then we will be able to perceive God, because our own perspective will become one with the limitless nature of that absolute principle itself.

Andrew Cohen

Global Mind Shift

Wed, 24 Jan 2007 16:25:14 -0000

If you haven't checked out Global Mind Shift yet, what are you waiting for.... it is a perfect way to expand the context in which you are viewing all of your experience. Love to hear peoples thoughts...
And check out Brian Swimmes videos excerpts there. Amazing stuff. :-)
Terri

If you have a few minutes... read Andrew Cohen's new blog post

Thu, 18 Jan 2007 22:27:03 -0000

Hi Everyone,

if you are reading this blog and you have a few minutes.. then do take the time to check out Andrew Cohen's new blog post on the possiblity of Happy Endings Personal reflections on sex, romance, and evolutionary idealism . . . it is fantastic...

More soon... love to hear thoughts...

Terri

Love, Sex and Spiritual Evolution

Tue, 09 Jan 2007 16:38:57 -0000

Hi Everyone,

Now that I have your attention..... :-)

Seriously, there couldn't be a more heated and relevant topic to what it means to live a liberated and conscious life in the 21st century. When I was out in California with the Zaadz team in Oct. 2006, we had some incredible dialog about what exactly the role is, if any, of this particular aspect of the human experience when and if one is interested in the spiritual life, and especially evolution. One of the most compelling questions that came out was why get in a relationship? Yes, it seems, men and women are meant to be together – attraction, affection, convenience, physical bonding… and all the rest..it does seem completely natural and sweet, but it is also incredibly complex, so in light of trying to evolve.. why do it..

It was clear through a lot of our dialog that when one commits to a partner a lot of structures of selfishness etc. get revealed. All kinds of gender conditioning, power struggles... you name it. But as we spoke together I became very aware that what Andrew has been pointing to as a new possibility in this arena wasn't about doing it so that one could find out all of the egoic structures that seem to lay dormant, nor was it about finding meaning and purpose as a way to become whole.. So I kept asking myself.. so if it really isn't to find meaning and OR to help reveal the structures that need to be transcended so that the individuals can evolve, then what IS the point. (Mind you, I have been in an incredibly good relationship with my partner and husband Will for over three years now, and have, as a result, no doubt about the fact that there is something simple and sweet about having a partner who shares the same values and wants the same things in terms of life purpose.)

I was amazed at the level of confusion, interest and inquiry that we shared as we rolled through spontaneous discussions over those days. And in coming back home, where this has been a topic of interest by my teacher Andrew for many years, I realized myself that it is time to put more of my attention on this important inquiry.

And so, as is often the case, something was happening in consciousness, because over the past few months, this whole topic has opened up in a remarkable way here at EnlightenNext. As a result Andrew decided to give a talk on this on Dec. 31st. It was an incredible day, and a whole new level of inquiry has begun. check out the details on the days events as well as a video excerpt from the day. I can imagine that there will be much more discussion both on and offline as the investigation continues.

More later,

Terri

PS. I have started a private pod here on Zaadz where many of the students of Andrew are engaging in inquiry around the teachings of Evolutionary Enlightenment, and our experience of living them. If anyone is interested, please send me an email and I will invite you in.

One World on You Tube

Thu, 04 Jan 2007 20:54:40 -0000

Hi Everyone,

My Friend Calvin
just sent me this link...this is a beautiful idea and it would be really cool to think of a way that we could do something like this as Zaadzters... our message to the world...

check it out...the concept is incredibly simple, but as i watched it i realized how incredibly powerful the simplicity of it is. I had chills down my spine, because of the power of ithe action. It is refreshingly uncynical and innocent... much needed in our post modern mind set! There is a lot more in each of us then meets the eye. Very very cool.

enjoy,
Terri

Sorry, i tried inserting but could figure it out... so here is the link

One World

Five things people don't know about me

Tue, 02 Jan 2007 16:58:26 -0000

Hi Everyone,

I got tagged by my dear team member Jessica.... so here it goes...

1. I was on welfare when i was 22......
2. I wanted to have 13 kids when i was 18.....
3. I was a full time college student for 7 years and didn't end up with a degree.
4. I have only read about 20 books in my entire lifetime... (goals is to read 10 this year)
5. I didn't date or kiss Will before we commited to spending our lives together. (?????) this is an amazing fact... we never dated....

well, that is it for now...

here is who i am tagging to continue this..

Will
Hope
Laura
whitewave
Sam

have fun... :-)

Terri

Simple Truth

Fri, 29 Dec 2006 17:41:16 -0000

Hi Everyone,

Just got this link from a friend.... take a minute to watch the clip...it is incredibly inspiring.

212 Degrees

enjoy!

Terri

Zaadz team getâ€™s interviewed by What Is Enlightenment? magazine

Fri, 29 Dec 2006 16:40:54 -0000

Zaadz team get’s interviewed by What Is Enlightenment? magazine

Ok… so this was a dream come true…. I had the privilege of being on a phone interview with my teacher Andrew Cohen, and senior editor for WIE Carter Phipps, as they interviewed 5 of the team members here at Zaadz for the next issue of What Is Enlightenment? magazine. … Since I am on board with both… I had a total melt down… as the questions that Andrew and Carter asked the team drew out the essence of each person’s passion, clarity, broad vision, and practical expressions of the mission of Zaadz…

After the interview, I spent some time with Andrew and Carter talking about how impressive and utterly inspiring it is to hear such brilliance and passion expressed so exquisitely—uninhibited by cynicism. Being that most of the team at Zaadz is Gen Y, the expression of this kind of unadulterated passion and commitment to change the world, unfettered by the usual cynicisms of our younger generation, is a precious and extremely important transmission that needs to find it’s way into this world

So keep your eyes on the newsstands (better yet Subscribe) this April 2007… the Issue is tentatively being called Toward a New Utopia: The Evolution of Community. (now you see why Zaadz was chosen!)

Here is to our commitment to changing the world… whenever things get rough, remember, we are actually the luckiest people around.

Warm heart,

Terri

X-mas will NEVER be the same

Wed, 27 Dec 2006 17:51:30 -0000

I just had the most extraordinary couple of days here where I live. I spent my Holiday here at our World Center for EnlightenNext, where I live and work and share with over 60 others in a commitment to live the Teachings of Evolutionary Enlightenment. Over these past weeks, our teacher, Andrew Cohen, has been making an effort to create a new structure which embraces the many levels of commitment in all of us that live together. And on x-mas eve, I think we all got a taste of what happens when things line up... and individuals "start" to live in a field of transparency, commitment, and authenticity. Here is Andrew's blog about it.... It says it all...

And then last night, me and several of my closest women friends spent the night talking together about, well, just about everything and anything under the sun.... and the bliss and ecstasy that surfaced over the holiday continued to be the field that we were relating in. And more and more the question I find I am contemplating has more to do with the relationship and perspective that I am seeing all of this from, as opposed to the actual bliss and joy of the experience itself.... but.... IT IS BEAUTIFUL....

Three beautiful men... with a message

Tue, 12 Dec 2006 19:53:35 -0000

Hi Everyone,

Now these men represent something worthy of taking note of.... Beautiful.... check it out.

Cheers, Terri

Fifty-One Percent

Mon, 04 Dec 2006 17:05:28 -0000

Hi Everyone.... my new favortie quote from my teacher Andrew Cohen....

Fifty-One Percent

The authentic self or evolutionary impulse is the part of me and the part of you that has absolutely no doubt it wants to be free or enlightened. It’s the impulse towards consciousness, the unselfconscious, passionate compulsion to evolve, and it is completely free from the fears and desires of the ego. When you are spiritually inspired, that’s the part of you that wakes up and knows something miraculous is possible—the passionate idealism that you feel surging through your system.

For most of us who are interested in the spiritual life, the authentic self is awakened to some degree, but what matters is, how much? If you take the totality of a human being to be 100%, the authentic self may be only 5%, and the other 95% is still the fears and desires of the individual and collective ego. With an individual like that, you could have very passionate, inspired conversations, but you would find that, over time, he or she would not really change. And the reason for that, very simply, would be that the majority of the self was still identified with the fears and desires of the ego. The greater the degree to which the individual is identified with the Authentic Self—10, 20, 30%—the more impassioned and inspiring the individual will be, but as long as the ego has the greater percentage of power over the self, no real change will occur.

In the teaching of evolutionary enlightenment, meaningful, demonstrable, and consistent transformation only occurs when the individual crosses the threshold from 50% to 51% authentic self. When that line is crossed, the ego becomes the weaker part of the self, and that is what changes everything. So the goal in my teaching is for you to do whatever on God’s earth you need to do in order to cross that threshold. Once you do, you will start feeling a tremendous thrust or backdraft behind you, because in that place you find access to the very source of the creative impulse itself. You are not just running on your own will and intention; there’s a deeper and higher energy and intelligence that is catapulting you forward.

Andrew Cohen
Lenox, MA, October 22, 20