Forever Expanding Awareness In Liberation

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With heart,

Jonathan

Today I happened upon a forum on a site called www.RickRoss.com, and on there the Cult Education Forum. The message thread I was looking at was about Byron Katie and Eckhart Tolle (although it focused primarily on Katie). It was titled Byron Katie (the Work) and Eckhart Tolle Legit?? You can view it by clicking here. (warning, there are 96 pages of discussion!).

Byron Katie is the teacher of what she calls The Work. As far as I can ascertain this is essentially a process of self-enquiry that revolves around four questions and what she calls “a turn-around”. You can find out more on this at www.thework.org.

Eckhart Tolle is the author of numerous books, the first and most populate of which is called The Power Of Now. He is a spiritual teacher who is very popular and was made increasingly so when Oprah Winfrey took up his cause and promoted his teachings and online courses with him.

I have read through about 10 of the 96 pages of discussion on this topic. I read these because I found it very educational to gain insight into some of the ways in which people approach teachers like Katie and Tolle (and many others), and how certain people view the work and teachings of such teachers and authors. Please take the time to read through a few pages of the forum thread I am referring to in order to get an impression of what I am talking about.

What I discovered was what appears to be as a form of collective co-dependency. I see a collective of people playing out what is in psychological terms referred to as a co-dependant triangle. This is a model of how co-dependent relationships tend to involve three positions or rolls. These rolls are Victim, Aggressor/Victimiser, and Saviour. Co-dependant people will take up all and any of these rolls when relating to other people, events, situations, and the world in general.

On the forum at rickross.com I see people who take up the roll of saviour and who are projecting onto the world the roll of victim, and onto these teachers the roll of aggressor/victimiser. The basic assumption is that people who attend a Byron Katie workshop, or even buy one of her books, are falling pray to her abuse of their gullibility, or something to that effect. Similarly, people who get into Tolle’s teachings are falling pray to victimisation by him. That he is taking advantage of them. If people get more deeply involved in the activities of these teachers then they are getting caught up and victimised by a cult.

What I observe here are people who at some level are quite probably harbouring a deep pain-filled feeling of being a victim. A victim to what, I can not say. It is only an educated and intuitive guess that this is what’s going on for them at all, but I’d be surprised if it was not.

The basic madness involved here is the notion that people who decide to go to a Byron Katie workshop are not powerful enough to use their God given free will in a way that is ultimately in their own best interest. Even if Katie and Tolle are complete fraudsters who only wish to rip people off and make lots of money, it is completely irrelevant. Each person has the capacity to determine what is right for them in this moment. They may discover in the next moment that their awareness/consciousness has shifted and The Work or The Power of Now (or whatever) is no longer their cup of spiritual tea. They can then choose to move on. They can also discover why they choose to get into something that ripped them off (assuming that’s what they discover).

I have not met Byron Katie, but I am aware of her process and it is almost identical to one I developed myself  by the time I was 20 or so. This was a process or approach to reality I have effectively used to free myself from suffering. It is the most effective tool I have come across so far, and is included in one of my forthcoming books (Empowering Relationships). In fact, I first heard about Byron Katie a few years ago when I was explaining this particular healing approach to reality to a guy who then assumed I must have studied with Byron Katie. Since learning about her process I see we essentially came up with the same thing. So, to put it simply, I have no issue (in principle) with the crux of what she is teaching.

With regards to Eckart Tolle, I don’t concur with everything he has to say in his books, but in principle I find his approach to be very closely aligned with wholeness. I think ostracising the ego, as he does, is a mistake made all too often by way too many spiritual teachers and teachings, but perhaps this is what many people need to hear in order to grow and free themselves up, before they discover the ego is simply the seed of the Presence (or “I” of God) within them. That point aside, what little I’ve seen of Tolle’s work I feel is innately empowering for people and nothing to be afraid of. If not empowering, it is at least what I would describe as essentially harmless. Yet even if it was dark and abusive, no one is a victim to that. People make choices and then experience the consequence of those choices. If the consequences are painful they have an opportunity to wake up and be more conscious. This is life. This is a simple concept called self-responsibility. It’s not rocket science.

I am drawing your attention to this so-called cult bashing because I feel it highlights a number of very significant human dynamics that are playing out in this world, and which have been playing out for many thousands of years. Particularly:

• The global victim mentality
• Co-dependency and projection
• The fear of change
• The insanity of the collective mob trying to resist people breaking out into their own sovereignty.

My father asked me “how do we get through to people like this” (those who are found in this forum thread), with regards to assisting them to free themselves up from such madness. I said that I don’t think I need to. They are free beings, and they are free to get up in arms about whatever they like. It is only them who will reap the consequences, and grow accordingly and to their particular capacity in any given moment.

May we all remember to accept and honour each person’s approach to life and reality.

The following statements are the first 21 statements attributed to Jesus Christ according to the Gospel of Saint Thomas. During the excavation of ruins in Oxyrhynchus, Egypt, in 1897 and 1903, over 5,000 fragments of ancient Greek texts were recovered from an ancient library. Among them were partial sections of what was believed to be the Gospel of Thomas. The statements below are from the translation made by Thomas O. Lambdin.

1. And he said, “Whoever finds the interpretation of these sayings will not experience death.”
2. Jesus said, “Let him who seeks continue seeking until he finds. When he finds, he will become troubled. When he becomes troubled, he will be astonished, and he will rule over the all.”

   Greek version, which differs from the above Coptic version:
   [Jesus said,] “Let the one seek[ing] not stop [seeking until] he finds. And when he find[s he will marvel, and mar]veling he will reign, an[d reigning] he will [rest.]”

3. “If those who lead you say to you, ‘See, the kingdom is in the sky,’ then the birds of the sky will precede you. If they say to you, ‘It is in the sea,’ then the fish will precede you. Rather, the kingdom is inside of you, and it is outside of you. When you come to know yourselves, then you will become known, and you will realize that it is you who are the sons of the living father. But if you will not know yourselves, you dwell in poverty and it is you who are that poverty.”
4. “The man old in days will not hesitate to ask a small child seven days old about the place in life, and he will live. For many who are first will become last, and they will become one and the same.”
5. “Recognize what is in your sight, and that which is hidden from you will become plain to you. For there is nothing hidden which will not become manifest.”
6. His disciples questioned Him and said to Him, “Do you want us to fast? How shall we pray? Shall we give alms? What diet shall we observe?” Jesus said, “Do not tell lies, and do not do what you hate, for all things are plain in the sight of Heaven. For nothing hidden will not become manifest, and nothing covered will remain without being uncovered.”
7. Jesus said, “Blessed is the lion which becomes man when consumed by man, and cursed is the man whom the lion consumes, and the lion becomes man.”
8. And He said, “The man is like a wise fisherman who cast his net into the sea and drew it up from the sea full of small fish. Among them the wise fisherman found a fine large fish. He threw all the small fish back into the sea and chose the large fish without difficulty. Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear.”
9. “Now the sower went out, took a handful (of seeds), and scattered them. Some fell on the road; the birds came and gathered them up. Others fell on rock, did not take root in the soil, and did not produce ears. And others fell on thorns; they choked the seed(s) and worms ate them. And others fell on good soil and produced good fruit; it bore sixty per measure and a hundred and twenty per measure.”
10. “I have cast fire upon the world, and see, I am guarding it until it blazes.”
11. “This heaven will pass away, and the one above it will pass away. The dead are not alive, and the living will not die. In the days when you consumed what is dead, you made it what is alive. When you come to dwell in the light, what will you do? On the day when you were one you became two. But when you become two, what will you do?”
12. The disciples said to Jesus, “We know that you will depart from us. Who is to be our leader? Jesus said to them, “Wherever you are, you are to go to James the righteous, for whose sake heaven and earth came into being.”
13. Jesus said to His disciples, “Compare me to someone and tell Me whom I am like.” Simon Peter said to Him, “You are like a righteous angel.” Matthew said to Him, “You are like a wise philosopher.” Thomas said to Him, “Master, my mouth is wholly incapable of saying whom You are like.” Jesus said, “I am not your master. Because you have drunk, you have become intoxicated from the bubbling spring which I have measured out.” And He took him and withdrew and told him three things. When Thomas returned to his companions, they asked him, “What did Jesus say to you?” Thomas said to them, “If I tell you one of the things which He told me, you will pick up stones and throw them at me; a fire will come out of the stones and burn you up.”
14. Jesus said to them, “If you fast, you will give rise to sin for yourselves; and if you pray, you will be condemned; and if you give alms, you will do harm to your spirits. When you go into any land and walk about in the districts, if they receive you, eat what they will set before you, and heal the sick among them. For what goes into your mouth will not defile you, but that which issues from your mouth – it is that which will defile you.”
15. “When you see one who was not born of woman, prostrate yourselves on your faces and worship him. That one is your Father.”
16. “Men think, perhaps, that it is peace which I have come to cast upon the world. They do not know that it is dissension which I have come to cast upon the earth: fire, sword, and war. For there will be five in a house: three will be against two, and two against three, the father against the son, and the son against the father. And they will stand solitary.”
17. “I shall give you what no eye has seen and what no ear has heard and what no hand has touched and what has never occurred to the human mind.”
18. The disciples said to Jesus, “Tell us how our end will be.” Jesus said, “Have you discovered, then, the beginning, that you look for the end? For where the beginning is, there will the end be. Blessed is he who will take his place in the beginning; he will know the end and will not experience death.”
19. “Blessed is he who came into being before he came into being. If you become My disciples and listen to My words, these stones will minister to you. For there are five trees for you in Paradise which remain undisturbed summer and winter and whose leaves do not fall. Whoever becomes acquainted with them will not experience death.”
20. The disciples said to Jesus, “Tell us what the Kingdom of Heaven is like.” He said to them, “It is like a mustard seed, the smallest of all seeds. But when it falls on tilled soil, it produces a great plant and becomes a shelter for birds of the sky.”
21. Mary said to Jesus, “Whom are your disciples like?” He said, “They are like children who have settled in a field which is not theirs. When the owners of the field come they will say ‘Let us have back our field.’ They will strip themselves naked in their presence, in order to let them have their field and give it to them. Therefore I say unto you, if the master of the house knows that the thief is coming, he will begin his vigil before he comes and will not let him dig through into his house of his domain to carry away his goods. You then be on your guard against the world. Arm yourselves with great strength, lest the robbers find a way to come to you, for the difficulty which you expect will surely materialize. Let there be amongst you a man of understanding! When the grain ripened, he came quickly with his sickle in hand and he reaped. He who hath ears to hear let him hear.”

It is interesting to note that many people take up what is called an Avatar in the virtual realm we has available to us through the Internet. Avatar is a Sanskrit word that essentially refers to a Being who is in all effects and purposes God incarnate. A fully God-realised Being incarnated as a human. Some might say that the story of the Christos is the story of an Avatar.

So in this virtual Kingdom of the Internet we have the experience of incarnating there as an Avatar. From the perspective of the virtual Kingdom we (our human/non-virtual self) is in Heaven and is fully conscious of its nature as a human. The online Avatar is a mere projection of our full and true (human) self into a virtual world were we take on a role and interact with the Avatars (digital incarnations or indigiations [to coin a new word]) of other fully conscious human beings. The online Avatar is completely ignorant of its true nature as a projection of a human. It is “asleep” to this fact. Asleep to its origins.

What I see here is a metaphor for life on Earth. This human self we have is merely a projection of our true Divine Self. It is an Avatar. I know for a fact that most of the Avatars I meet out in the world are all asleep to their true nature and source. They are yet to wake up.

The human self is our id-entity. Id is Latin for “it”. So our human identity is nothing more than an “it”-entity. An entity that arises through our identification (id-entification / it-entitication… entering the “it”). We can remove the “d” and we end up with an I-Entity. Making a quasi mathematical formula we could perhaps say that:

Id – d = I
Whereby d = dimension or density, or more specifically 3D or the 3rd Dimension.
I = the Supreme “I” that is the “I” (or Eye) of God.

It is not my intention to say anything conclusive in this blog post, rather to simply provide some food for thought and further self-investigation.

It has been a many years since I listened to or read any discussion and information pertaining to the contemporary notion of Enlightenment. It is a topic I explored extensively as a teenager and a little in my early 20’s. After that, well what can I say, it just hasn’t interested me in the same way as it use to.

Yesterday I was reminded of one of the reasons why modern information pertaining to the topic of Enlightenment I not something I am attracted to. What I have found is that nearly every spiritual teacher I have come across, and particular those teachers who claim they are Enlightened, is that their teaching establishes a situation that is both impractical and impassable to a human being seeking freedom. The aspirant is told he or she must transcend his or her current experience of reality as if to step over it or around it. On the one hand the aspirant is told he is imperfect and unenlightened as he is and thus must strive toward his enlightenment, and on the other hand he is told that Enlightenment is the end of all striving. You must seek a state of non-seeking. You must search for a state of non-searching. How is the aspirant ever meant to reconcile this dichotomy?

What I also find is that time and time again enlightenment related teachings come across as being so anti-life. They consistently manage to dismiss the magnificence of life and the perfection of all that is. It is as if life here on Earth was one massive mistake that we must now figure out way out of. This again sets up the aspirant with an impossible situation. On the one hand she experiences her emotions, her challenges, her personality complexes and so forth, yet on the other hand she is instructed to go beyond these things. But who is it that is going beyond them? It’s as if to say, "Get over yourself."

I find this approach lofty and ungrounded. I don’t know what the word is to describe the opposite of pragmatic, but this approach is just that.

The Path of Freedom as I experience it is an approach to reality that fully embraces life. It fully embraces the aspirant’s experience in every regard. Nothing is brushed aside, nothing is ignore, and nothing is seen as anything less than the means to that person’s liberation and total empowerment right now. It uses the combination of the aspirants total experience and their total innate awareness to bring about a shift in perception. This shift in perception results in Inner Peace.

The book I am about to publish will explore this topic in full.

The following is from a dialogue with a friend… who wanted to rid of her ego. Nothing unusual about that… most of the people I meet on some kind of "spiritual path" make the same claim… "I want to be free of my ego" or something along those lines.

The ego, a much misunderstood aspect of the human being, is not in my experience something to be got rid of.

Ego is simply the "I" within us. The same "I" in you that wrote the message you sent me, and expressed and felt the things you wrote in that message.

Our challenge at this time in human history–humankind’s challenge–is in discovering/uncovering the true nature of that "I".

Most people live under an illusion of misidentification of "I" with the world. "I" am defined by the world I perceive around me. Such people are blind to the fact that world they perceive around them is in fact a projection, and apparition, in the mind of the "I" within them or perceiving through them. The true and essential "I" is not of this world… it is in fact the dreamer of this world.

This is what the Christus was presenting to the world when he said "I Am that I Am"… this is the "I" free of identification with the world… the "I" awakening to its own true nature THROUGH this world. Similarly "I AM the way the truth and the light… none shall pass through to God except through me"… this "I" was not referring to some person, an individual human being, to Jesus and so forth… it is referring to the I AM… within Jesus, within you, within me… that "I" is the "I" of that which some call "God". That "I" is directly accessible to each and every human being, right now.

I Am the fish in the sea… I am the wind in the trees… I am the ocean… I am the waves… and I am the one reading these words here on this computer right now!

In-joy…

It’s all a story. Even this which I am telling you now, it too is a story. Every-thing is a story told by a Great Mystery beyond the grasp of our human mind, for even our humanity is a story told by this Great Mystery.

2+2=4
3×3=9
These are stories also; mathematical stories. Yet even the concept of mathematics is again another story. I would about to say "The truth is we can’t get away from telling stories," yet that too is another story. Tricky, isn’t it?

Actually it’s not that complicated nor tricky. Once one realises the world of things is a story, a kind of a letting go can take place. It’s like we can sort of let go of the seriousness of it all, and approach Life from a perspective that is potentially much more at ease with things and especially much more at ease with the unknown, the realm of no-thing–which ordinarily has such a frightful presence in the world of Man.

Because everything is a story there is nothing to believe. There is nothing to disbelieve. We can simply choose what kind of story we wish to tell, and then experience the con-sequence of this story unfolding within our perception. I’ve noticed that the world of Man reflects many stories on many different dimensions. From one perspective it’s an awful story of war, hatred, fanaticism, religious dogmatism, and environmental and ecological destruction, where humankind somehow got it all wrong. There isn’t much fun to be had at that level of story telling–it’s mostly made up of pain and anguish, although human beings seem to do a pretty good job of hiding that fact from themselves. I know I’ve played my part in such stories, at one time or another.

From another perspective Life as made manifest here on/in Earth is an exquisitely beautiful affair, of unimaginable intelligence and perfection. There is such bliss to be experienced, such radiance to be lived, and such kindness to be shared, that all beings are simply overflowing with these qualities. Another angle on that story, however, is that despite this story being true most people seem to hide it from themselves. It’s awfully silly really, yet I know there’s a sound reason for this.

Whenever I am struggling with my circumstances I find it very helpful to pause and ask myself what story I am maintaining in this moment. I invariably find it is my story that is the cause of my pain and whatever suffering I may be experiencing in relationship to that pain. This leaves me with no one to blame, and no one to attack or defend (including myself). It simply leaves me with an opportunity to forgive and in that forgiveness–in that giving up of my story–the opportunity to tell my story anew.

In my story I trust you’ve enjoyed reading this story which I’ve now shared with you.

Self-discipline is an area many people struggle with. I know I have over the years an in some areas this continues to be a challenge I face. According to some research done by Roy Baumeister of Florida State University and his colleagues exercising self-regulation (as they put it) an any area of ones life may result in greater self-regulation in many other areas.

One implication I can see of this hypothesis is that it may mean that sitting every day to meditate, even if only for 10 or 15 minutes, or doing some other spiritual "practice" each day will enable a person to have greater self-discipline and self-regulation in other areas of their life.

Information on this study can be found »here«

For a simple, clear, and to the point look at the nature of forgiveness (from the author’s perspective – which appears to be a Christian one) take a look at this blog entry on joshing.org

Like myself, the author seems to have an interest in the origin and root meaning of words. He discovered this about forgiveness.

The Greek word translated as forgiveness in the New Testament is aphesis. It means dismissal, release, pardon, “to send away” (paid in full).

The Author also had the following to say about what forgiveness is and is not:

Forgiveness is not: approving, excusing, justifying, pardoning, reconciliation (takes two), denying, blindness, forgetting, not taking the wrong seriously, pretending we aren’t hurt.

Forgiveness is: being aware and still forgiving, keeping no records, refusing to punish, not telling others, being merciful, graciousness (what you don’t say), an inner condition (in the heart), absence of bitterness, forgiving God, forgiving ourselves.

 

Enjoy…

There is an ancient science known as Sun Gazing that may have rather profound implications for the health of he or she who practices this technique. The Sun is the central figurehead of most religions, including Christianity. I won’t go into that particular point just now except to say that the Son of God is in fact the Sun of God. Just about the entire content of the Bible has, to the best of my understanding, been borrowed from much earlier religions and cultures who actively worshipped the Sun. The main source of sun content is from ancient Egypt. The story of the Christ is also found almost word for word — and most certainly key fact for fact — in these earlier regions and cultures (such as the Egyptians). This story is a personified depiction of the astrological events pertaining to the Sun as it moves through the various houses of the horoscope, and related events that play out on the various equinoxes and solstices. That’s enough on that for now.

My point is this: The Sun has long been recognized as a substaintial source (the primary and original source) of our mana, Chi, Ki, or life-force and energy here in this world. It has long been recognized as a spiritualizing force in our world. It has long been recognized as something very beneficial to our health and well-being. Sadly, when our relationship to the Sun of God was hijacked by religion and replaced by a relationship to the Son of God, we ceased to spend time receiving Light and Illumination from this readily available source.

Sun Gazing is the method by which such illumination can be readily received. The exact results of this illumination will of course be specific to each individual. It is probable that sungazing is not a suitable practice for some people. Therefore I do not specifically recommend it to any person. Reserach, try it out, and see what happens.

There are many sources of information on this topic. There are various techniques taught and espoused. I recommend checking out the information written by Vinny Pinto on the Raw Paleo Diet site found at www.rawpaleodiet.org/sungazing/
www.rawpaleodiet.org/sungazing/

Enjoy the light.

Wednesday, March 25th, 1998
Some notes written during a Yoga Teacher Training Course at Aio Wera, Waitakere, New Zealand.

Fear, anger, hatred, blame, and the myriad of other states manifesting at this level of being, are mechanisms that arise in order to protect my false sense of separate self. They arise both to protect this and as a product of this sense of separation. My illusions are self-fulfilling and self-sustaining. I fight to maintain this false sense of separate self to feel that I exist as some independent entity that can then objectively experience Unity / God / Love.

Yet I already am Unity / God / Love, though totally unaware of this reality within the body-mind. Through believing in the illusion of separation I sense that I need this experience in order for it to be real.

If I throw off and deny the ego-personality and all its mad emotions and thoughts then I simultaneous deny God the experience of being Unity / God / Love and having AWARENESS of this reality through experience, through direct perception.

Through letting go of attachment to and identity with the ego-self yet not denying it I become more aware (experientially) of my True and Natural state of Being — Unity / God / Love.

Thusly, God experiences God.
God aware of God.

Just to be aware.
Awareness is the key.

Ultimately the individual — as a unit of Awareness — discovers their self as God.

This leads spontaneously to to discovering that All-Is-God, that all is one.

One can easily stop here and seemingly cease to exist. Evolution comes to a holt. One’s universe ceases to expand. For the Self, in its usual sense, has nothing left to do.

Yet ultimately the purpose of individualized selfhood is not just to experientially be aware of God as God ones for its own sake but rather to be the full expression of that in its totally, for only then is that awareness of God as God complete. Even this has no finality, for we are, of course, dealing with Infinity when we speak of God.

Self is literally transformed into an absolute expression and simultaneous experience of God, the totality, Infinity. At this point, only, does the ego-self illusion truly cease to maintain and experience itself as a reality unto itself. The Boddisatva returns not through some kind of altruistic volition to save and help all beings. That’s a very personal way of relating to it from the mind of those who thing they are being saved. Rather the Boddisatva is all beings, in one particular expression or aspect, moving in whichever way happens to be most conducive for the totality of all beings to sustain the evolution of awareness.

This is God being ABSOLUTELY AWARE of God as all that God is.

This is total illumination. This is the end of separation – and of self. Evolution at the level of self ceases to Be, and yet paradoxically Awareness continues to evolve in ways unfathomable to Man at this point in our development. Creation ceases. It just is. As it always was. Yet now eternally aware of That.

Today is the 7th day of the 7th month of 2007. Nice.

Today there are parties taking place (thousands of them) all over the world in connection with the Live Earth Concerts which are taking place on eight continents in eight major cities around the world. Check out if there is a party in your area and join the fun. Here’s some more info on the event, or do a Google search for “live earth concert” to find out more.

On another note…

Here’s 77 interesting bits of info pertaining to the number 7…

1 Seven is the optimum number of hours of sleep for humans, according to a US scientific study.

2 Seven is seen as a lucky number in many cultures. Japanese mythology talks of Shichifukujin (The Seven Gods of Fortune).

3 The seven deadly sins, or cardinal sins, were refined by Pope Gregory I in the 6th century. They are pride, avarice, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath, and sloth.

4 The seven virtues are humility, liberality, chastity, kindness, abstinence, patience, and diligence.

5 At a ceremony in Lisbon on 07/07/07, presumably at 7:07, the results of a global vote for the New Seven Wonders of the World will be announced. The 21 finalists include Stonehenge, the Kremlin and Timbuktu.

6 The superstitious believe that to break a mirror brings seven years of bad luck. The cure: to bury the pieces, or run them in a stream.

7 The average person’s digit span (the number of digits they can recall in sequence) is seven.

8 The common ladybird has seven spots.

9 In Vedic Hindu tradition, the human body features seven basic chakras, or “wheels of energy”.

10 Bushido or “way of the warrior” is a Japanese code of conduct comprising seven virtues.

11 The seventh son of a seventh son has magic powers, according to Irish folklore, but is a vampire in Romanian legend.

12 Seventh Son of a Seventh Son was the seventh studio album released by heavy metal band Iron Maiden in 1988.

13 According to many faiths, there are seven heavens, corresponding to the seven heavenly bodies (earth, the sun and the five “naked eye” planets). In Judaism, the seventh heaven is called Araboth and is home to the Throne of Glory, which is attended by the Seven Archangels.

14 Seven is the atomic number of nitrogen.

15 The city of Rome was built on seven hills. They were Palatine, Capitoline, Quirinal, Viminal, Esquiline, Caelian, and Aventine. Early Rome was ruled by a line of seven kings.

16 Seven days of blessings (Sheva Brachot) follow a traditional Jewish wedding.

17 The seventh and final book in JK Rowling’s Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (below) is set for release in 2007. The sixth instalment, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, sold seven million copies on the first day of its release in America.

18 Shakespeare’s “seven ages of man” soliloquy begins “All the world’s a stage…” and is delivered by Jacques in Act II, scene seven of As You Like It.

19 In both the Challenger and Columbia Nasa space shuttle disasters, seven astronauts were killed.

20 The seven of clubs in a deck of Tarot cards represents initiative, ambition, drive and desire.

21 According to Buddhist legend, after his birth the Buddha rose to his feet and took seven steps.

22 The first BMW, Nissan and Lotus cars were based on, or licensed reproductions of, the Austin 7.

23 In the vision of the apocalypse described in the Biblical book of Revelations there are seven churches of Asia, seven candlesticks, seven stars, seven trumpets, seven spirits before the throne of God, seven horns, seven vials, seven plagues, a seven-headed monster, and the lamb with seven eyes.

24 Seven is “neutral” on the pH scale. Pure water has a pH of seven.

25 Roy Sullivan, a park ranger from Virginia, US, is the only person known to have survived seven lightning strikes. He shot himself dead in 1983.

26 “Jumpy,” “Shifty” and “Snoopy” were among the names rejected for the seven dwarf characters in the 1937 Disney animation Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

27 The square root of seven (to four decimal places) is 2.6457.

28 Seven years after Charles Grigg created Bib-Label Lithiated Lemon-Lime Soda in 1929, he changed the drink’s name to 7Up, inspired, one theory suggests, by cattle he saw branded with “7″ and “u”.

29 In Greek mythology, the Pleiades, or Seven Sisters, were the seven daughters of the Titan Atlas and the sea nymph Pleione. They had affairs with several Olympian gods, including Zeus, Poseidon and Ares.

30 The Seven Sisters is a series of chalk cliffs on the East Sussex coast, a set of waterfalls in Norway, and a group of Stalinist skyscrapers in Moscow.

31 The phrase “seven-year itch” was first recorded in 1899. It characterises a man’s urge to roam after seven years of marriage, the theme of Marilyn Monroe’s 1955 film, The Seven Year Itch, right.

32 In Arabic and Urdu script, seven takes the shape of a large “V”. In Telugu, a descendant of the ancient Indian Brahmi script, it is written as a backwards “S” and in Gujarat it resembles a “9″ with an extended tail.

33 The 7-Eleven chain has more than 30,000 convenience stores in 18 countries. It was named after the opening hours of its first outlet when it opened in Dallas in 1927.

34 Ten films have won seven Academy Awards, including Lawrence of Arabia, Dances With Wolves, Schindler’s List and Shakespeare in Love.

35 All the building numbers in the opening scenes of the 1995 thriller Se7en, starring Brad Pitt as a detective investigating a series of murders inspired by the seven deadly sins, start with seven. The delivery of a box at the end of the film was scheduled for 7:07.

36 Brad Pitt also starred in the 1997 film Seven Years in Tibet, the true story of an Austrian mountaineer who befriended the Dalai Lama in the late 1940s.

37 Seven is the fourth prime number, after two, three and five.

38 Seven Dials in London’s Covent Garden stands at the intersection of seven roads. Now part of a shopping area, it was a notorious slum in the 19th century, and hosted seven pubs on each of its apexes.

39 John Sturges’ 1960 western The Magnificent Seven was a reworking of the 1954 Japanese classic, Seven Samurai, which was directed by Akira Kurosawa.

40 The 32-metre Burj Al Arab hotel in Dubai once marketed itself as the world’s first seven- star hotel.

41 Netball, handball and water polo are played with teams of seven players.

42 Ancient astronomers believed there were seven planets in the solar system – those celestial objects they could see with the naked eye (the sun, the moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, and Saturn). In most languages the seven days of the week take their names from these “planets”.

43 Seven is the minimum age at which a UK savings account holder can withdraw money.

44 The opposite faces of a dice add up to seven.

45 Seven is the largest number of sticks or any other cylindrical object that can be tied into a bundle such that the shape of the bundle remains fixed.

46 In 1849 the writer John Ruskin published The Seven Lamps of Architecture, which set out seven leading principles. They were sacrifice, truth, power, beauty, life memory and obedience.

47 The seventh amendment to the United States Constitution codifies the right to jury trial in certain civil trials.

48 Both Elizabeth Taylor and the late Lana Turner have had seven husbands (and eight marriages). American broadcaster Larry King has had seven marriages (but only six wives).

49 Seven is the international telephone dialling code for Russia and Kazakhstan.

50 The Seven Champions of Christendom are St George, the Apostle Andrew, St Patrick, St Denis, St James Boanerges, St Anthony the Lesser, and St David. They are patron saints of, respectively, England, Scotland, Ireland, France, Spain, Portugal, and Wales.

51 The McCaughey septuplets, born in Iowa in 1997, are the world’s first surviving septuplets.

52 Seven segments make up each digit on the simplest electronic clock or calculator displays.

53 Famous footballers to have worn the No 7 shirt include David Beckham, George Best and Eric Cantona.

54 Daniel Craig is the seventh actor to have played James Bond (with the controversial inclusion of Barry Nelson, who starred in a 1954 adaptation of Casino Royale). Sean Connery made his seventh and final outing as Bond in the unofficial Thunderball remake Never Say Never Again. In Ian Fleming’s novel You Only Live Twice 007 appears briefly as 7777.

55 A series of seven works of art is called a heptalogy. In the case of films, Harry Potter and The Chronicles of Narnia (both to be completed), are examples.

56 Enid Blyton published 15 books in her Secret Seven series between 1949 and 1963. The Secret Seven also appeared in seven short stories, which were collected after Blyton’s death and published in 1998.

57 In December 2006, Wisconsin hunter Rick Lisko ran over and killed a seven-legged hermaphroditic deer. “It’s a pretty weird deer,” he said before eating it, later adding: “It was tasty.”

58 Popular music groups with seven members have included Belle & Sebastian, S Club 7 and The Pipettes.

59 The Seven Years’ War (1756-63) involved all major world powers and was described by Winston Churchill as the real first world war.

60 The Advertising Standards Authority permits the advertising of condoms on Channel 4 after 7pm (but only after 9pm on other channels).

61 Seventh Day Adventists believe the second advent of Jesus Christ is imminent. Cornflake inventor John Harvey Kellogg was an Adventist. He also campaigned against masturbation and in 1888 published Treatment for Self-Abuse and its Effects.

62 Seven-league boots first featured in the French fairytale Le Petit Poucet by Charles Perrault. They enabled the wearer to reach seven leagues (about 24 miles) at a stride.

63 Luminaries who will turn 70 in 2007 include Shirley Bassey, Colin Powell, Jack Nicholson, Robert Redford, Bobby Charlton and Anthony Hopkins.

64 The Seven Summits is the name given to the highest mountains on each continent. The oldest man to have climbed them all is Ramon Blanco of Spain, who completed the feat at the age of 70.

65 In Dante’s 14th century work, The Divine Comedy, the seventh circle of hell is guarded by the Minotaur and receives, among others, the violent, blasphemers and Sodomites.

66 Launched in 1957, the Lotus Seven sports car – later called the Caterham 7 – was banned from competition in the US in the 1960s for being “too fast to race”.

67 Wool is the gift traditionally associated with a seventh wedding anniversary. American country singer Kitty Wells and her husband Johnny Wright expect to celebrate their platinum (70th) wedding anniversary in 2007.

68 The heptagram, or seven-pointed star is a traditional symbol for warding off evil. Most American sheriff’s badges are heptagrams.

69 When asked to think of a number between one and 10, most people pick seven.

70 Seventh Avenue in Manhattan, New York, is known as “Fashion Avenue” due to its concentration of fashion houses, including Ralph Lauren and Donna Karan. The designers have separately been dubbed the “King” and “Queen” of Seventh Avenue.

71 As a child, Jack White, one half of the rock duo The White Stripes, referred to his local Salvation Army charity shop as “the seven nation army” (the name he gave to the band’s 2003 hit single).

72 Events that took place on 7/7 include 17-year-old Boris Becker’s victory at Wimbledon in 1985, the 2001 Bradford race riots, and the 2005 London bombings. Ringo Starr, Bill Oddie and Michael Howard celebrate their birthdays on 7/7.

73 UK musical duo Zero 7 took their name from a nightclub called Zero Siete.

74 Fiji are holders of the International Rugby Board Sevens World Series.

75 Seven Mile Beach on Grand Cayman is in fact five-and- a-half miles long.

76 The House of Seven Gables, a mansion in Salem, Massachusetts, inspired the eponymous 1851 novel by the American writer, Nathaniel Hawthorne.

77 The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey has sold over 5 million copies in 38 languages since 1989. The seven habits are: be proactive; begin with the end; put first things first; think win-win; seek first to understand, then to be understood; synergise and; sharpen the saw