Shahmai Network News

London College of Spirituality

2008-04-08T15:23:00.002Z

I am due to be giving a talk and seminar at the London College of Spirituality on June 20th and 22nd.

Lecture Details Here

Seminar Details Here

I hope to see you there...

Beyond The Third Eye - 1 Day Psychic Development Seminar - Sunday March 2nd 2008

2008-02-11T18:12:00.000Z

Sunday March 2nd 2008

Beyond The Third Eye - 1 Day Seminar (10:45 to 17:30)
with Graham E. Nicholls at Treadwell's, 34 Tavistock Street, Covent Garden, London WC2E 7PB.

The seminar begins by looking at personal, often life-changing experiences and what these experiences tell us about the nature of psychic functioning. It then looks at beliefs throughout history, through to the research being done by scientists in the field of parapsychology as well as other areas of science. It will then look at theories of how 'psi' works from Morphic fields to Quantum Entanglement. The next section will move into practical areas and show how the information that was covered earlier can be applied to enhance psychical abilities. The day is broken up into sections each with questions and interactive elements.

Click here for ticket details

New Facebook Group Launched

2008-02-10T11:55:00.000Z

For those who use facebook there is now a new Shahmai Network Group, which will list all the latest information on seminars and other events. It will also be a place for those who attend the seminars to leave feedback, suggestions and discuss what they've learnt. Click here to take a look.

Gandhi's Birthday and World Farm Animals Day

2007-10-02T17:51:00.001Z

Today is Mohandas Gandhi's Birthday. A man who based his life on the principles of non-violence and living compassionately. If Gandhi were alive today I'm sure that he would view the current plight of millions of animals imprisoned and then killed in industrialised farms as absolutely abhorrent. So the fact that on his birthday many also mark World Farm Animals Day would, I'm sure, have pleased him if he were here to see it. In Gandhi's own time there were few in the west who shared his views about the immoral abuse of other species, yet today the issues are in the mainstream and more and more people are taking a stand for compassion and respect for life and becoming vegan. However, there is also a worrying trend of welfarism, which argues that as long as the animal was treated well it is acceptable to take its life. This still fails to see other species as independent beings, we exploit the weakest on the planet rather than showing our moral standards and turning away from cruelty. As the saying goes might does not make right. If you are one of those people who stands on the fence please take the step towards a future that does not kill unnecessarily, take that step on to the road towards compassion and discover a healthier, more compassionate and less environmentally damaging future.

World Farm Animals Day 2007

Smoking in Public Places

2007-07-01T14:52:00.000Z

July 1st is an historic day; England has finally banned smoking in public places. This essentially amounts to being able to live a normal life without fear that others will be poisoning your lungs if you enter a club, bar or other place generally associated with smoke. This really is a positive statement for our own lives as well the lives of future generations.

Viva Show London 2007

2007-06-30T19:24:00.000Z

Today I went to the Viva show at the Royal Horticultural Halls in London. It was great to see the wide range of people and stalls at the event. It was especially heartening to hear the number of people promoting veganism and discussing the steps involved to go from vegetarian to vegan. Veganism is growing all the time, and I can really visualise a time now that veganism will be as common as vegetarianism has become. I hope that we will all collectively hold veganism as the moral basis of the animal rights movement and seek to show that any ethical vegetarian should take the step to vegan.

For more information see:

Viva

The Vegan Society

Graham Nicholls Magazine Interview

2007-06-17T20:33:00.000Z

Creative magazine Xfuns which is published across South East Asia has featured a four page interview with me for their latest issue (No. 30). The interview covers my early influences artistically right through to my spiritual understandings and the ideas that will be featured in my book. I will publish a pdf of the interview for UK and US readers at a later date.

Open Source Science

2007-05-16T13:46:00.000Z

Today Alex Tsakiris, the host of parapsychological podcast Skeptiko launched the website of Open Source Science, the creators of the new site say:

The website offers a variety of tools for managing scientific experiments and provides a place for visitors to discuss and participate in the research process. Besides promoting scientific collaboration, OpenSourceScience offers financial grants to researchers working within the areas featured on the website.

The site is built on wiki technology, and according to Alex Tsakiris, the open source model is well suited for this task: “The open source model has proven to be a powerful enabling technology because it promotes collaboration. When you look at some of the controversial areas of research, like whether our consciousness is separate from our brain, there has been very little collaboration between researchers and those with opposing views. Everyone seems to agree that collaboration is necessary, but until now, it just hasn’t happened.”

OpenSourceScience is suited for scientifically-minded skeptics as well as those interested in controversial subjects such as parapsychology and human consciousness. The site’s first experiment examines whether dogs can anticipate their owners coming home in a way that is currently unexplained by science. The first two researchers of this phenomena, Dr. Rupert Sheldrake and Dr. Richard Wiseman, have offered their support in this collaborative re-examination of their experiments, and are looking forward to the results.

You can visit the site and get involved at www.opensourcescience.net

Breakthrough (a Documentary about a raw Vegan Family)

2007-04-07T18:39:00.000Z

Today I came across a beautiful film exploring the positive life choices that underlie a raw Vegan lifestyle. Watching this family really reminds us what can be achieved in any life if we have the vision and the compassion to make it real.

You can watch the film Breakthrough online.

You can also buy the film from their website at www.breakthroughthedocumentary.com.

Skeptiko

2007-04-06T23:30:00.001Z

I would like to take this opportunity to recommend the excellent podcast 'Skeptiko' presented by Alex Tsakiris and dealing with areas of science such as psi research. The real importance of this particular podcast is that it is beginning to bridge the gap between the sceptical community and the proponents of psi. This podcast represents balanced intelligent and informed engagement with both sides of the issue, which in my view can only be a good thing. The interviews have included proponents of psi such as Dean Radin, Rupert Sheldrake and Charles Tart and sceptics such as Susan Blackmore, D. J. Grothe and Michael Shermer.

To listen to the latest episode go to the website at Skeptiko: Science at the tipping point or subcribe via iTunes.

Trident Nuclear Weapons: Blair fails his own party

2007-03-15T10:19:00.000Z

Firstly, I would like to start by showing my respect to those who have resigned as they are unwilling to support a government that wishes to perpetuate global instability, a trajectory of violence and not champion the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Jim Devine, Stephen Pound, Nigel Griffiths and Chris Ruane have all resigned over the government’s intension to spend £14 to £20 Billion on replacing Trident Nuclear Weapons.

Tony Blair was only able to win this vote with the support of the Conservative Party. Blair seems to have reached yet another low and continues to degrade himself and those who once supported him in his party. This also reveals that the supposedly new, more compassionate, Conservative Party is truly a marketing ploy and has no real substance. The truth is that David Cameron supports violence, in-fact he is known to engage in killing animals for pleasure, one so called 'sport' he engages in is 'deer stalking' and it is boasted that he can kill two deer before the first reacts. This is kept quiet by his party as they know the harm it could do to the claim that he is compassionate.

Party politics and this weak shadow we call democracy continues to draw as further and further from true and lasting peace. In an email yesterday Margaret Beckett and Des Browne claimed that we cannot disarm, that we need our deterrent, yet much of the world lives happily without fear with no Nuclear Weapons. Peace is attainable and is a process that many are actively undertaking on a social and personal level, we must keep reminding each other that fear of a fret must not dominate our thoughts or actions.

See the map below for information on other countries nuclear weapons policies.

Tabloid Tactics

2007-03-10T17:38:00.000Z

Like thousands of anti-war protestors I bought a copy of the satirical song entitled 'War! What is it good for?’ designed to mock as well as draw attention to the violent actions of the present British government under Tony Blair. Also like many I spoke to I felt a distaste for this tabloid approach to gaining publicity for an extremely important and valuable message. The single should have entered the charts at number 6 and made a big media impact, yet it was pushed out to number 21, according to The Stop the War Coalition "This was due to the outrageous decision by the chart compilers to invalidate thousands of sales because some people bought more than one copy by mobile phone text message, the first time this method had been used for sales." They went on "So the Blair spoof was just outside the top 20. How convenient that this avoided the widespread media coverage that would have followed a top 20 placement. That said, over the previous week it was a featured item on most of the main TV news channels, and the record still made chart history by being the highest entry ever by an act unsigned to a record label." Somehow this approach reminded me of the tactics of PETA within the animal rights movement who use celebrity media culture regularly within their campaigns. I feel torn by all this, on the one hand I know that the principles of peace and non-violence are rarely championed in our society, yet I cannot help but wonder if these methods really help establish a society that has any greater understanding than before. I feel more and more that we need to lift our standards and look to the intelligent and dignified example of say Martin Luther King, Jr., not the vacuous world of media entertainment for our approach.

Happy New Year

2007-01-01T23:28:00.000Z

Happy New Year from the ShahMai Network.

Trident Nuclear Weapons: Blair's Legacy

2006-12-05T15:10:00.000Z

Ten years ago many who hoped for a better Britain free of the harsh deeds of the conservative government, rejoiced when Tony Blair came to power. Those people believed that a left-wing government had won and that things might now change for the better. Social good would be valued above commerce and fundamental freedoms would be protected.

Ten years on Tony Blair's legacy is coming to an end, and instead of dignity and achievement he will be remembered for war crimes in Afghanistan and Iraq; he will be remembered for eroding basic freedoms; and he will be remembered for turning away from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and championing Trident.

Like Benjamin B. Ferencz, Chief Prosecutor for the United States Army at the Nuremberg Trials, I believe the Iraq war was a war crime and that George W. Bush and Tony Blair should stand trial for their actions.

Trident marks another step towards an intolerable future, a future that everyone with any sense of humanity must unite against to prevent becoming a reality.

Trident Nuclear Weapons

2006-11-15T22:01:00.000Z

Please sign the petition on the prime minister's website against renewing the nuclear weapons system 'Trident' and urge Tony Blair to end his support of Weapons of Mass Destruction. Blair must take this opportunity to champion the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and not replace Trident. Sign The Petition Here

The War in Iraq: The American people have taken a stand

2006-11-09T10:51:00.000Z

It seems that the American people have taken a stand against the failings of the present Republican administration. It is a tragedy that our elected representatives both here in the UK and in the US could not have seen the total folly of Iraq and prevented the huge loss of life that resulted. If they had excised foresight, intelligence and greater caution the republicans might not have the result they are now faced with. They would have also maintained a sense of peace and stability and sent a message that violence is not the answer. As it stands much of the world are against George W. Bush's crusade against a fictitious enemy, an enemy as genuine as the reasons given for war.

The democrats are by no means a perfect solution; anymore than the Labour party in this country are the left-wing party. I can only hope now that this shift in attitude will be reflective of a greater sense of care both in the hearts and minds of voters and those they elect.

The War in Iraq: A legacy of Inhumanity

2006-11-07T15:10:00.000Z

On February 15, 2003 I was one of the millions of people to take part in the largest anti-war protest of all time. It makes me proud that a generation often portrayed as apathetic could mobilise to make such a powerful statement of unity. However, a great sadness wells up inside me when I consider that such a statement was ultimately ignored. I had little doubt in 2003 that if the war in Iraq went ahead it would mean huge inhumanity and loss of life. I can only pity men like George W. Bush and try to understand the level of delusion he must have built around himself to be able to take such an action and to lie in its defence. We now live in a world with more violence, more terrorism and less freedom. I can only pray that we will all remember the magnitude of this crime. Anyone who is against murder must be unwilling to support any individual in a position of power who supported this war. On this day of America’s mid-term elections I hope that every American reading this will use their vote to tell George W. Bush and the present Republican party that murder and inhumanity cannot be a part of our future.

October 1st is World Vegetarian Day

2006-10-01T16:47:00.000Z

This a good day to contemplate the implications of eating and exploiting animals, here are 101 reasons to be vegan or vegetarian:

People
Land
Air
Water
Efficiency
Animals
Health

All life should be viewed with respect and compassion; that is the basis of a moral and just world

The website is two years old

2006-09-27T16:29:00.000Z

Today is the two year anniversary of the ShahMai Network website. It has been an interesting journey over the last two years; the site has gone from strength to strength and has helped make the ongoing meetings and activism a success.

I also plan to expand the site in the near future with articles and more information on the ideas of the network.

I would also like to thank all those who have got involved and supported the project so far. I hope the next two years will be even more prosperous and inspiring.

International Day of Peace

2006-09-21T21:13:00.000Z

Today is International Day of Peace, a reminder that conflict still rages across many parts of the world. At present this day is not widely observed, but I hope one day peace will become a truly respected value and that we will no longer accept 'security', the distorted shadow of peace as a substitute for a real and lasting peace at the heart of our societies.

To learn more about what today means please visit: Peace One Day

Lunar Standstill

2006-09-02T17:34:00.000Z

In June this year I had the privilege of witnessing the full moon lunar standstill from Avebury in Wiltshire. The lunar standstill is a rare event happening only every 18.5 years. It was believed to be sacred by many of the ancient peoples of the British Isles and possibly in other parts of the world as well.

In July I also travelled to Callanish on the Isle of Lewis, a site off the far north of Scotland that is believed to have been based around this rare event. You can see from the image on the right how large and low the moon appeared.

Now tonight the lowest visible minimum lunar standstill is happening at 20:50, while not a full moon, this will be a beautiful sight and a sacred moment dating back thousands of years.

Copyright © 2006 Graham E. Nicholls. All rights reserved.

Britain Goes Veggie Month 2006

2006-09-01T13:17:00.000Z

Viva! the international vegan and vegetarian charity are launching a month of campaigning to promote vegetarianism in the UK. The ShahMai Network is committed to the practice of veganism and vegetarianism for compassionate, health and environmental reasons and supports Viva's initiative. Although you don't have to be vegan or vegetarian to get involved with the ShahMai Network it is definitely something we would urge anyone with a spiritual outlook to consider. We as humans have the awareness and intelligence to view other species with compassion, not as objects, but as a unique beings. Take a look at Viva's website to learn more about how you can help.

I would also urge non-vegetarians to view the film Earthlings by Shaun Monson, this is a truly profound journey through the abuse and violence used against animals that is considered normal within our society. It portrays the deep-seated hypocrisy inherent within our society's view of other species on this planet. The film is narrated by Joaquin Phoenix with a score by Moby, it can be viewed online at Google Video, but I would urge you to buy a copy and support the director and those involved to continue their work.

Brighton ShahMai Group

2006-08-25T13:20:00.000Z

Thanks to everyone who has met with me over the last week or two to offer thoughts and experiences, it has been very interesting and has helped me to bring the Brighton group one step closer. I now hope to hold the first meeting in mid to late September with a talk entitled 'Healing from within' followed by a discussion and a chance for everyone to socialise and get to know each other a little better.

If anyone else in the Brighton area would like to get involved please contact me

New ShahMai Network Blog

2006-08-18T11:33:00.000Z

Welcome to our new blog, I will be posting information and news to do with events and the general philosophy of the network. I hope you enjoy reading it.

Best wishes

Graham E. Nicholls