Indiana Jones and the Lost Ark

In 1980, I was a computer programmer and manager in Los Angeles, taking screenwriting classes at night. One day I learned of the existence of 12 pyramids (two rows of six each) that an orbiting satellite had discovered in a remote area of the dense Amazon rain forest in Brazil, near Peru. I decided to use this information for my first screenplay.

 

I knew a physicist at Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena who explained all the technical details involved to me, including how a satellite could use spectroscopy to determine the physical properties of items on earth.

 

Thus, I decided to write a screenplay about a scientist examining satellite data who discovers a pattern of 12 pyramids with a smaller pyramid in the middle of the pattern encased in gold. The scientist destroys his findings, forms a small expedition and journeys to South America to seek a treasure (with bad guys on his trail, of course). The working title was THE MIDDLE PYRAMID – certain to be a blockbuster adventure movie, or so I fantasized.

 

I worked on the screenplay for about six months, mostly on weekends using a typewriter, and finished the first draft just about the same time a movie came out in 1981 titled RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK, about a scientist (archeologist) embarked on an expedition for treasure (the Ark of the Covenant) with bad guys on the same trail. Sadly, I realized that my screenplay would now look like a rip off of the same film, so I shelved it and begrudgingly started another one.

 

Although George Lucas and Phil Kaufman were credited for the story, and Lawrence Kasdan received screen credit for the screenplay of RAIDERS, a man named Randolph Fillmore purportedly wrote the first draft. In Hollywood, multiple writers often work on the same film but the Writer's Guild determines who gets final credit.

 

According to various sources, Randolph Fillmore was a volunteer who worked with an archeologist named Dr. Vendyl Jones in 1977. Dr. Jones agreed to help Fillmore with the script on two conditions. First, it couldn't be set in Israel and, secondly, that Fillmore wouldn't use his name. Thus, Fillmore set the story in Egypt and altered Dr. Jones' name. "Vendyl Jones" became "Endy Jones" which later became "Indiana Jones." 

 

Dr. Vendyl Jones is one of the leaders of the Noahide movement, comprised of non-Jews who observe the seven laws of Noah. As a teacher, he published a book in 1959 predicting the precise outbreak of the Six Day War and was the only non-Jewish American (Texan) who fought in combat in the Six Day War in 1967.

 

The Ark of the Covenant is considered to be the container of the Ten Commandments given to Moses at Mount Sinai. According to the Bible, the Ark measures 2.5 cubits by 1.5 cubits by 1.5 cubits (62.5 inches by 37.5 inches by 37.5 inches), which is precisely identical in size to the king's chamber in the Great Pyramid in Egypt.

 

Dr. Jones is currently waiting for permission from the Israeli government to probe for the Ark which he believes was hidden in a secret passage (placed there just before the destruction of the First Temple) under the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. He contends the passageway is a tunnel that extends 18 miles southward. The Ark was subsequently brought through the tunnel to its current resting place in the Judean Desert.

 

With the help of an ancient document found in Qumran, Dr. Jones is convinced he knows the location of the Ark. In the Copper Scroll of the Dead Sea Scrolls, the first five lines read: "In the desolation of the Valley of Achur, in the opening under the ascent, which is a mountain facing eastward, covered by forty placed boulders – here is a tabernacle and all the golden fixtures." Dr. Jones believes this is the key to finding the Ark.

 

Having walked over a group of boulders in that exact location many times, Dr. Jones suddenly came to realize the huge boulders didn't come off the mountain – they had to have been brought in from someplace else. He plans to drill a bore hole and drop a pin camera into the chamber below. All he needs now is permission.

 

"Israel is a lot like heaven," Dr. Jones proclaims, "it's a lot easier to get forgiveness than it is permission."

 

Time will tell -- if such an important religious artifact is to be found, it will probably happen when it's meant to happen.

 

May the Force be with you -- oops, that's a different movie.

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Quote for the Day -- "It's not the years -- it's the mileage." Indiana Jones

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Bret Burquest is the author of 12 books. He lives in the Ozark Mountains with a few dogs and where archeological discoveries consist mainly of old beer cans along dirt roads.

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Mind over Matter

In the 1990s, Professor William A. Tiller created an experiment whereby a small black box was fitted with a simple electrical circuit and plugged it into a wall socket.

 

Then four people who were highly experienced meditators gathered around a table where the black box was located in the center of the table. Professor Tiller mentally created a sacred space, then read a specific intention to the four meditators and to the black box whereupon the meditators mentally meditated Tiller's specific intention throughout the experiment.

 

The specific intention was that the contents within the black box should increase the pH balance of purified water by one full unit with no chemical additives.

 

It's possible to measure 1/1000th of a degree of change in pH, so one full unit is a very significant change.

 

The black box with the "intention" was then wrapped in aluminum and shipped to a laboratory some 2,000 miles away where it was placed near some purified water in a pH measurement vessel.

 

About a month later, the pH balance within the water began to increase its pH balance in the intended direction by exactly one full unit.

 

The experiment was then repeated, with an intention of decreasing the pH balance by one full unit. Once again, it succeeded to change the water to the intended decreased pH balance.

 

After the water reached the intended pH level, the water remained at that level for a month or so, at which point the device was removed from the room where the experiment had taken place and placed in a copper Faraday cage, thereby preventing any further electromagnetic energy from entering or exiting the black box.

 

The pH levels remained fixed at the level of the original intention, in some cases for as long as two years. But if the black box was removed while the pH level was slowly changing up or down, depending on the original intention, then the water would gradually return to its original state. Only when the pH balance reached its intended level of one full pH unit did the pH balance last for a significant length of time.

 

This same experiment was repeated multiple times by independent laboratories in Europe and America with the same results.

 

"For the last four hundred years, an unstated assumption of science is that human intention cannot affect what we call 'physical reality.' Our experimental research of the past decade shows that, for today's world and under the right conditions, this assumption is no longer correct. We humans are much more than we think we are and Psychoenergetic Science continues to expand the proof of it." William Tiller (professor emeritus of Materials Science and Engineering at Stanford University)

 

There have been scores of other studies and experiments where thoughts (intention) have been shown to affect the material matter of the focus of the intention.

 

Your thoughts are powerful -- they affect you and the world.

 

The human mind can alter physical matter. Thoughts are deeds. Therefore, positive prayers can potentially affect the health of the individual praying or another being elsewhere.

 

Your Higher Self compels you to seek inner peace and think positively.

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Quote for the Day – "Reality exists in the human mind, and nowhere else." George Orwell

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Bret Burquest is the author of 12 books. He lives in the Ozark Mountains with a few dogs and occasionally shares his thoughts with whatever may be listening.

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Repairing Body, Mind, Soul

In May of 2012, I had a personal health problem whereby I couldn't walk 10 feet without stopping to catch my breath. I reluctantly went to the local ER and was soon admitted (after a couple of tests) into the Fulton County Hospital with congestive heart failure and blood clots on my lungs. After about 10 days, I was released but still didn't feel very well. I was now on blood thinners and other medications.

 

After a few months of lethargic misery, unable to do much physically and in a state of anxiety, it became obvious that I had to do something on my own to get out of this rut.

 

Thus, I embarked on a self-made diet to get to a proper weight and slowly began to do physical exercises and chores to build my energy back up. In this process, I had managed to lose a significant number of pounds in about 12-13 months and had more stamina than before.

 

I'm still working on it and am now in a lifestyle pattern I intend to continue even after reaching my goals.

 

During the course of my self-imposed rehab process, I did a lot of research about foods and illnesses, including afflictions unrelated to my condition. It's almost impossible to research causes of illnesses without learning a great deal about cancer. It was not my intention to delve into this subject but I do have family and friends dealing with this problem.

 

Dr. Otto Warburg, one of the leading biochemists in the 20th century, devoted his life to the study of the causes of cancer.

 

His research made it clear that normal cells require oxygen, whereas cells deprived of oxygen may become cancerous.

 

He found that cancer cells cannot survive in the presence of high levels of oxygen. Thus, he determined that too much acidity in the body is the root cause of cancer.

 

In 1931, he won a Nobel Prize in Medicine for this important discovery.

 

"Cancerous tissues are acidic, whereas healthy tissues are alkaline… Deprive a cell 35% of its oxygen for 48 hours and it may become cancerous." Dr. Otto Warburg

 

A person's pH balance (potential hydrogen) measures the bodily level of acidity versus alkaline -- the lower the pH balance, the more an acidic state exists.

 

He concluded there was a direct correlation between pH and oxygen. According to Warburg, the proper pH balance (normal state) is 7.365.

 

Many other sources also concur with this assessment.

 

"There is clearly a strong correlation between body fluid pH and the level of health of disease of the individual… Acid states appear in people with acute and chronic inflammatory and pain syndromes, congestive disorders that include recurrent infections and allergies, and the degenerative diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular problems, and diabetes." Dr. Elson M. Haas, M.D. (founder and director of the Preventive Medical Center of Marin, California)

 

As with most medical remedies, there are a variety of opinions among seemingly credible sources, including considerable skepticism among health professionals concerning the pH balance approach to cancer (and other maladies).

 

Medical professionals often disagree about potential treatments. Plus, everyone has a different physiology -- what works for Person A may not work for Person B. Obviously, you must do your own research and consult a doctor you trust.

 

About 15 years ago, I was visiting friends in another state when I needed to see a physician about a minor matter, whereby my friends sent me to their local physician. During the course of the exam, I told the doctor that I had changed my dietary habits several months earlier, whereupon he said, "What does your diet have to do with your health?"

 

At first, I assumed he was making a joke. But when I learned he was serious, I figured I would be better off making a graceful exit and seeking a second opinion from a Voodoo Shaman with a bag of chicken feet and a vile of bat blood.

 

Since my recent hospital ordeal, I have acquired many books about health.

 

One of the books I use for reference is HEALING FOODS by James A. Duke, PhD, former director of the Cancer Screening Program (funded by the National Cancer Institute).

 

The following is a list of a dozen foods he refers to as "Duke's Dozen" -- his 12 greatest disease-fighting foods." The explanations are much more lengthy -- I summarized them below.

 

1) Beans

 

Low in fat, high in protein, an alternative to red meat. Loaded with soluble fiber, thus proficient at washing cholesterol out of the system through the intestines. Contain high levels of isoflavones, which may prevent some forms of cancer, improve prostate and bone health, ease symptoms of menopause, and other benefits.

 

2) Bulbs (garlic, onion)

 

Garlic contains sulfur compounds, such as diallyl disulfide, which prevents blood clotting. Also contains over a dozen immunity-boasting compounds to help ward off colds and infections. Onions also contain some of the same sulfur compounds. Plus, they have high amounts of flavonoids, particularly quercetin which has been shown to reduce platelet bunching and even prevent some forms of cancer.

 

3) Caffeinators (coffee, tea, chocolate)

 

The active compounds in coffee, tea, chocolate are polyphenols, such as theobromine and theophylline, which are excellent antioxidants that ward off free radicals, fighting heart disease and cancer. They also improve mood and alertness. Chocolate has unique polyphenols that increase levels of a brain chemical called dopamine, promoting pleasure.

 

4) Celery

 

Celery has an anti-inflammatory called apigenin, which helps lower cholesterol levels and blood pressure, and fights gout. It also contains acetylenics, phenolic acids, and coumarins which may be cancer fighters. According to the index of HEALTHY FOODS, celery is helpful with bad breath, bladder infections, bursitis, fungal infections, gout, hay fever, high blood pressure, indigestion, memory loss, menopausal symptoms and pneumonia.

 

BB NOTE: There are foods that have a negative calorie count whereby you burn more calories by eating them than the food contains, called "thermic" vegetables. Depending on your gender, weight and level of activity, the human body requires 150-250 calories to digest your food. If you eat an item that has a caloric content of 100 calories or less, you will actually burn more calories than you consume. Celery is a thermic vegetable, great for dieting. Other thermic vegetables include squash, asparagus, peppers, green beans, cucumber, cauliflower, broccoli, mushrooms, spinach.

 

5) Cinnamon

 

Cinnamon contains a flavonoid compound called methylhydroxy chalcone polymer (a.k.a. MHCP) which is an antioxidant that appears to activate insulin receptors inside the cells and may also aid in lowering cholesterol levels.

 

6) Citrus Fruits

 

There are some 200 anti-carcinogenic compounds in citrus fruits. They're loaded with vitamin C, a powerful antioxidant, and contain a soluble fiber called pectin which lowers cholesterol and subdues inflammation.

 

 

 

7) Ginger

 

Ginger is loaded with COX-2 inhibitors, strong anti-inflammatory compounds which inhibit a specific pain-causing enzyme in the body. It's also helpful in dealing with motion sickness or morning sickness.

 

8) Mints

 

There are over 70 varieties in this category, including peppermint, spearmint, rosemary, basil, thyme, oregano, sage, lavender, lemon balm. Many of them sooth the stomach (in tea form) and many of them stimulate the central nervous system. They're loaded with healthy-heart antioxidant compounds. Some are "uppers," such as peppermint and spearmint. Some have sedative effects, such as lavender and lemon balm.

 

9) Peppers

 

Chili peppers contain a compound called capsaicin, which increases endorphins (internal pain killers) and improves circulation -- they help with weight loss, stomach protection, cold treatment, arthritis pain. Sweet peppers are antioxidants that can ward off heart disease.

 

10) Pomegranates

 

Rich in antioxidants, they fight cholesterol and heart disease. They also contain phytoestrogens which help women with menopause symptoms.  They may also help in treating obesity and diabetes.

 

11) Turmeric (Curry)

 

Many people treat osteoarthritis with turmeric, which has a high concentration of a COX-2 inhibitor called curcumin. It also has compounds that prevent the breakdown of acetylcholine which may help to prevent mental deterioration.

 

12) Walnuts

 

They contain healthy monounsaturated fats, omega-3 fatty acids, fiber and protein, particularly arginine. They are a good source of a neurotransmitter called serotonin, which aids in brain function and also helps to curb the appetite.

 

 

* * *

 

When you lay in a hospital bed for many days, not knowing if you will ever walk back out the door, you tend to dwell on your life and beyond.

 

Human beings are a combination of body, mind and soul. Repairing the body is only one aspect of well-rounded existence.

 

The mind also needs occasional repair. In this crazy world, we must cope with fear, anxiety, doubt, depression, greed, lust, envy, gluttony and other forms of negativity. Getting your mind straight can often be a more daunting task than getting your body in proper working order. A fearless, positive attitude will help keep your head screwed on and your outlook will become peachy keen.

 

The grand struggle in this dimension may deal with the salvation of our soul (inner spirit). This involves seeking, discovering and aligning with a righteous path, a quest for internal peace and eternal bliss.

 

Stay strong, be cool -- life is good.

___________

 

Quote for the Day – "Beware of reading health books -- you may die of a misprint." Mark Twain

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Bret Burquest is the author of 12 books. He lives in the Ozark Mountains with a few dogs and an imaginary girlfriend named Medulla Oblongata.

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