Did Steve Fossett Find Shambala? (Redux)

One of the greatest adventurers of all time, a man who pushed himself to achieve physical feats that noone else on earth has ever achieved, has vanished from the face of the earth. He apparently removed his Breitling wristwatch with its Emergency Locator Transmitter, grabbed a bottle of water, jumped on a single-engine plane and disappeared.

Did he really crash into a remote Nevada cul-de-sac where even the best technology in the world can't find him? Or did this world class adventurer enter a place where he languishes in peace and from which he may still emerge? A man so interested in human limits as he was might not have ignored accounts of mystic transfigurations and superhuman accomplishments emanating from the Himalayas.He was a good-humored and down-to-earth businessman and family man, but certainly not a simple man. He could have read the most esoteric literature on earth for all we know. Few could know the heart or mind of a man like Steve Fossett. How many of us could inspire the likes of Richard Branson to engage with Google Earth to create a special set of all new high-resolution images so that computer-savvy people world-wide could conduct a search for his missing aircraft?

And yet, he's gone. Some conspiracy theorists say Fossett disappeared into Area 51 near Roswell. Some say maybe he had enough, was growing old, and went off to his own private island to live in obscurity with a newfound friend. Would a man of his caliber do that?

There are far more intriguing possibilities. For instance, ancient accounts tell of Shambala, a paradise that is not visible on this earth, to which entry is gained only by the achievement of certain levels of physical, mental and spiritual disciplines through yogic techniques. Why couldn't it be something like that? In Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand, the objectivist philosopher, wrote of a utopian society created by brilliant industrialist drop-outs who used illusion and mirrors to hide access to their mountain kingdom. How about that?

Listen to Shakespeare: "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy." And finally, remember the words of Christ: "In my father's house are many mansions. If it were not so I would have told you."

Let's hope that Mr. Fossett is somewhere in the universe reaching the new heights that he deserves to reach. I often take heart from this old Scottish proverb, and I hope Mr. Fossett would at least be able to say: "I am wounded but I am not slain. I shall lay me down and bleed awhile, then I shall rise and fight again."

A Ramshackle Thinker on Recent Stem Cell Revelations, Reincarnation and Eternal Life

The breaking news from stem cell researchers in Japan and Wisconsin is comparable to the coming of the Christ for me. It has nothing to do with the ethical debate George Bush pretended to monitor. It's not that now all the politicians can breathe a sigh of relief. It's simply that skin cells can be transformed into performers of embryonic stem cell functions. This morning's report on msnbc says that skin cells, when mixed with just a few genes, could theoretically be changed into sperm and egg cells."But nobody is planning on doing that."

Fair enough. Obviously the science here is beyond most of us, and I, a ramshackle thinker, have absolutely no idea how they come upon these things. But we can grasp it, through a glass darkly, with a dim understanding that can be thrilling. Think about it for a minute. The most far-reaching implication is that a few microscopic cells could be ultimately reconstituted into a human being, a clone of sorts, you again? Doesn't this also have implications for the support of theories of reincarnation and eternal life? Dust to dust, ashes to ashes. And then a few lingering cells in those ashes become.... you again!?

I've been blessed since childhood, brought up in the way I should go. I have seldom doubted that there is eternal life, that there is world upon world, "more things than are dreamt of in your philosophy, Horatio". I was always thrilled by the words "In my father's house are many mansions, if it were not so I would have told you." and "He who has ears to hear, let him hear." I've never been too concerned about clinging to my body or having it again in some earth-clone eternal kingdom. I do believe though in the communion of saints and the life everlasting. Mysteries abound.

I've been searching frantically this morning for a passage from Annie Dillard regarding Job and God's conversation about the foundations of the world. God asks Job "Where were you when I created the foundations of the earth?" Annie Dillard says Job should have said "I was there, God, I was there!" Because we are made from the very stuff of stars, we are part and parcel of the heavens, we are part of the thread of life that is made from bits and pieces of eternity. How could it be otherwise?

Didn't Einstein posit that energy can be neither created nor destroyed? So there's nowhere for us to go, except right here in the universe forever. Little bits of us are sloughed off every day as we go about our daily tasks. DNA can be retrieved from a hairbrush or a computer keyboard. We're leaving little bits everywhere. Everything is changing and moving and shifting and blowing. Who knows what wonders God hath wrought?

Did Steve Fossett Find Shambala?

One of the greatest adventurers of all time, a man who pushed himself to achieve physical feats that noone else on earth has ever achieved, has vanished from the face of the earth. He apparently removed his Breitling wristwatch with its Emergency Locator Transmitter, grabbed a bottle of water, jumped on a single-engine plane and disappeared.

Did he really crash into a remote Nevada cul-de-sac where even the best technology in the world can't find him? Or did this world class adventurer enter a place where he languishes in peace and from which he may still emerge? A man so interested in human limits as he was might not have ignored accounts of mystic transfigurations and superhuman accomplishments emanating from the Himalayas.He was a good-humored and down-to-earth businessman and family man, but certainly not a simple man. He could have read the most esoteric literature on earth for all we know. Few could know the heart or mind of a man like Steve Fossett. How many of us could inspire the likes of Richard Branson to engage with Google Earth to create a special set of all new high-resolution images so that computer-savvy people world-wide could conduct a search for his missing aircraft?

And yet, he's gone. Some conspiracy theorists say Fossett disappeared into Area 51 near Roswell. Some say maybe he had enough, was growing old, and went off to his own private island to live in obscurity with a newfound friend. Would a man of his caliber do that?

There are far more intriguing possibilities. For instance, ancient accounts tell of Shambala, a paradise that is not visible on this earth, to which entry is gained only by the achievement of certain levels of physical, mental and spiritual disciplines through yogic techniques. Why couldn't it be something like that? In Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand, the objectivist philosopher, wrote of a utopian society created by brilliant industrialist drop-outs who used illusion and mirrors to hide access to their mountain kingdom. How about that?

Listen to Shakespeare: "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy." And finally, remember the words of Christ: "In my father's house are many mansions. If it were not so I would have told you."

Let's hope that Mr. Fossett is somewhere in the universe reaching the new heights that he deserves to reach. I often take heart from this old Scottish proverb, and I hope Mr. Fossett would at least be able to say: "I am wounded but I am not slain. I shall lay me down and bleed awhile, then I shall rise and fight again."