Swami Beyondananda's

State of the Universe Address 2000

Well, the New Millennium is here, and if you are reading this, I predict we have survived. The Y2K glitch has given us a great opportunity to consider the age-old question, "What are we human beings really like when the chips are down?" and face our fear that when the Big Ball dropped, we would drop the ball. With the Millennial Madness sale finally over, we can now turn our attention from the profits of doom towards that which profits everyone.

Discorporate Takeovers Continue Unabated

Speaking of profits of doom, as was predicted at the beginning of the year (see State of the Universe Address for 1999), the Monsanto Corporation has abandoned its terminator seed technology on orders from Above. As you may remember, the would-be know-it-alls from that corporate giant decided they wanted to own and manufacture all of the crop seeds worldwide. But a Discorporate Giant nixed the plan. Said a spokesman for the Creator, "Human beings have free will, so of course they are free to play God -- as long as God wins."

Like any spiritual transformation, Monsanto's was an inside job. An insider working with the Rockefeller Foundation began to suffer pangs of conscience, the first symptom of awakening compassion. He began to doubt the assertions that Monsanto scientists were wiser than Creation, and decided to air his concerns at a Monsanto board meeting. He secretly instructed the press to be there (before someone else could secretly instruct them not to), and he spilled the soybeans. By the time the spin doctors arrived on the scene, it was too late. The terminator technology had expired.

Personally, I see it as a result of all those mass prayers and meditations. The blisskrieg is beginning to pay off. Even the tobacco industry has suffered a bout of conscience, and if this persists it means that any institution is susceptible to awakened compassion. It is said that when a certain number in any group attain Buddha consciousness -- known as the Hundredth Monk theory -- the organization will transform, too. And our loving prayers help. The rising esteem from all that love makes the atmosphere more favorable for enlightening to strike.

The discorporate takeover is also being felt in our hospitals and HMOs. While the medical establishment insists that nothing works better than allopathic medicine, critics are agreeing that indeed nothing often does. Some recent studies indicate that placebos have higher success rates than certain established medical procedures! And why shouldn't they? Since the atom is 99.99% empty space, and we are comprised entirely of atoms, are we not more nothing than anything? Although medical authorities scoff at the notion ("Invisible medicine? I just can't see it"), just wait until the HMOs catch on. I predict we'll see more and more practitioners sending their patients off with a placebo and a prayer.

And if you still need proof of the power of prayer, you need only look as far as the baseball world. In Cleveland this past summer, a group of East Indians of the Buddhist persuasion -- the Cleveland Indian Indians they called themselves -- adopted popular outfielder Manny Ramirez, who ended up with more runs batted in than anyone in over sixty years, a feat attributable in part to Buddhist chanting. Each time Ramirez would come up with runners in scoring position, he would hear those devoted fans chanting "oh Manny bat me home, oh Manny bat me home, oh Manny bat me home" -- and more often than not, he did.

I would look for Spirit to materialize even more in 2000. The blisskrieg will continue unabated as more and more of us convert our karmas from internal combustion to esteem. This will drive the price of lie-ability insurance sky high. The more the underlying truth comes out through individual awakening, the more certain companies will have to pay to insure their ability to lie. (If you think legal advice is expensive, it's nothing compared to the cost of illegal advice.) As more of us decide to put outcome ahead of income, lie-ability will no longer be an asset.

Finally, the Discorporate Powers, working through our own prayers and actions, will transform the arms race. In 2000, look for the nations of the world to give up the foolish notion of disarmament, and focus instead on learning and teaching the appropriate use of arms. Yes, that's right. Ever since I was refused service at a fancy restaurant years ago for not wearing a sport jacket, I have been a staunch supporter of the right to bare arms. No one wants to be without arms. Look at Venus di Milo -- beautiful to look at, but she can't do a thing. The Creator gave us arms for a reason, and free will to choose what we do with them. So this year, I predict the first arms exchanges between formerly-warring parties will take place. On my tell-a-vision screen, I see rival armies proudly walking towards each other as their commanders issue the orders:

"At ease!"

"Present arms!"

"Hug!"

Who knows? We may be able to stop the some of the balkin' in the Balkans, cool the ire in Ireland, and relieve the pressure around other dangerous human fault lines.

Now in some areas, we will no doubt fall short in 2000. For example, I predict another Presidential election year will go by without us learning to harness the wind from all of the oratory and put it to some useful purpose. On the other hand, I see a great transformation in store for Bill Gates. As part of his settlement with the government, he will have to take one of those Radical Honesty workshops, and will end up renaming his company "Macrohard." The Artist Formerly Known as Prince will drop that name as well, and hereafter be known as The Artist Formerly Known As the Artist Formerly Known as Prince. And the discorporate takeover will hit the airwaves in the form of a new network featuring only disembodied commentators -- the Channel Channel.

There -- I've tossed out my predictions, and you probably will, too. Because this is indeed a Universe of unlimited possibilities, so why limit ourselves? We've survived to a new millennium, which is great. Now it's time to raise the bar a bit and go for "thrival" instead of mere survival. With every thought and deed we are buying futures. I say it's time we picked one we'd like to own.

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