Meru
Foundation eTORUS(tm) Newsletter
Number 3 - 18 April 2000
Copyright 2000 Meru Foundation
Written by Cynthia Tenen
NEWS
Since late February 2000, Stan and Cynthia Tenen have been visiting
the San Francisco Bay area. It's been an energizing and productive
stay, and we'd like to thank all of you who've made it possible.
In early May, we will be returning to Massachusetts via Tucson, Arizona,
where we have been invited to meet with Drs. Gary Schwartz and Linda Russek
of the University of Arizona at Tucson, who are prominent figures in the
field of consciousness research, and authors of the new book, "The Living
Energy Universe." We look forward to this opportunity to share findings
and ideas with Drs. Schwartz, Russek, and their colleagues.
STAN TENEN's INTERVIEW on ART BELL'S COAST TO COAST
On 28 February, 2000, Stan appeared on Art Bell's Coast to Coast late-night radio interview program, with guest-interviewer Rollie James.
As a result, the Meru Foundation website, <http://www.meru.org>,
registered nearly 10,000 additional hits within the following few weeks,
and traffic and orders both increased on our distribution website, <http://www.meetingtent.com>,
as well. Meru Foundation's future depends in part on people's growing
awareness of who we are, and what we have to say, and their willingness
to support us while they learn, by purchasing our videos, models, and other
materials. Increased public awareness is the reason we do popular
interviews such as Coast to Coast, and we're pleased that February's
interview was a success.
Stan's February 28, 2000 Coast to Coast interview is available
on audio cassette through the Art Bell website, <http://www.artbell.com>,
as are the two earlier interviews he had with Art in June and July 1997,
At the moment, the extensive online Real Audio archive of older Coast
to Coast interviews once available on the Art Bell website -- including
all three of these interviews -- has been taken offline by their webmasters.
Our understanding is that a new home will be found for these Art Bell interview
archives; those interested should monitor <http://www.artbell.com>
for updates.
INTRODUCTION to ASHLAND, OREGON
On April 11-12, 2000, Stan and Cynthia, along with Meru's President
Bill Haber, traveled to Ashland, Oregon to teach two introductory classes
in Meru Foundation research. This was our first visit to Ashland
-- friends have been trying for years to persuade us to stop on one of
our trips north from San Francisco to Washington State -- and now that
we have, we realize why. I want to welcome new friends from Ashland
to this Meru Foundation eTORUS(tm) Newsletter; I've taken the liberty
of adding your email addresses to our mailing list. In particular,
I want to thank Deborah Leff, and David Zaslow, Rabbi of Havurah Shir Hadash,
who were instrumental in arranging our trip and in making it so successful.
Turnout for our evening talk, sponsored by the Havurah, was twice what
we had expected; many people in the audience were already familiar with
our work, and the questions at the end of Stan's talk were intelligent,
knowledgeable, and interesting. Our Tuesday morning seminar was a
very enjoyable small-group round-table, where we were able to discuss particular
aspects of Meru research of interest to people who attended, in considerably
greater depth than we usually have the opportunity to do.
In short, Stan, Bill, and I had a wonderful experience in Ashland, and
want to thank all of you who came to hear us, and who helped to make this
visit a success. In fact, we would be very pleased to return some
time in the coming year if there's sufficient interest in the community;
if you have ideas or feedback, please contact Meru President Bill Haber
at <service@meru.org>.
NEW ANIMATIONS ON MERU WEBSITE
For the past several months we've been working with Robert Amick, an
animator in Bloomington Indiana, who has taken a strong interest in creating
visually compelling renditions of some of the models used in Meru Foundation
research. Those of you who regularly check our website know that
for a month or so, Robert's first completed animation, The 3,10 Torus
Knot in Rotation, has been posted to our website at <http://www.meru.org/compuimages/3-10knot.html>.
(This GIF animation is 960K.)
We now have a second animation from Robert: The Round Dance,
at
<http://www.meru.org/compuimages/3-10dance.html>.
(This GIF animation is 582K). It shows the 3,10 torus knot "growing"
cyclically, from the center outward and back towards the center; it's beautiful,
it's evocative, and I urge people to go and take a look. Needless
to say, we're more than delighted with this wonderful work, and want to
thank Robert for his time, his effort, and his care. --More animations
are on the way, though each takes some time to design and complete; watch
the announcements at the top of the Meru Foundation home page, <http://www.meru.org>,
for updates.
NEW FEATURES on MEETINGTENT.COM
Meru's President, Bill Haber, has also been expanding the Meru Foundation
distribution website at <http://www.meetingtent.com>.
Bill has designed and written a new, layperson's introduction to some of
the basic concepts used in discussing the Meru Foundation findings, which
he calls Meru Made Easy. If you -- or people you know -- are
curious about our work, want to understand more of what we're talking about,
but don't really know where to start, you might give Meru Made Easy a try. The first section, The First Verse, is available at
<http://www.meetingtent.com/mme.html>;
other sections will follow as they're ready. For more information,
or questions about Meru Made Easy, write to Bill Haber directly
at <service@meru.org>.
Also on our Meetingtent website, Bill Haber has started a "Meru Online
Feedback Board," where people can ask him basic questions about our videotapes
and other products, and about ideas they find in Meru Made Easy.
You can find a link to this feedback area by scrolling down the Meetingtent
home page, at <http://www.meetingtent.com>.
The Meetingtent website is always evolving; please let Bill know what you
think, and please suggest additional features you'd like to see.
PHILOSOPHICAL ESSAYS BY STAN TENEN
In this issue, we continue our practice of offering our readers a taste
Stan's most recent contributions to various online discussion lists, on
the topics of science and consciousness, or science and spirituality.
For this issue, I've chosen a piece which was originally written for an
academically-oriented list focused on religion and science. In this
piece, Stan argues that the Five Books of Moses should be analyzed using
different tools than those used to study other writings which are considered
to be Western sacred texts, because the nature, and structure, of those
Books differs in a profound and fundamental way. Here are Stan's
introductory paragraphs:
***************************************************
"I'm sure the scholars and historians here
will correct me and/or fill in the details, but it's my understanding that
just about everyone agrees that the Christian Bible was written down by
human beings, sometime shortly after the death of Jesus. So it's
appropriate to study these writings from the perspective of the documentary
hypothesis, which investigates various threads of authorship and editing
in the Bible. No one suggests that there's any sort of special coding
in the Christian Bible, either in the parts written in Aramaic, or the
parts written in Greek. So, it seems reasonable to analyze this text
using all the normal tools of wordsmith scholarship.
"But apparently the Torah is being treated
the same way, and the Torah comes with now-written-down oral traditions
that assert that it was created of whole cloth, in a revelatory experience
of Moses at Sinai. Rabbinic tradition asserts that the Torah is coded
at the letter level, at least up through the giving of the Torah in Exodus
at Mt. Sinai. A Rabbi Weismandel, earlier in the last century (the
early 1900s, I think) by hand, discovered and presented evidence of letter-level
coding that extended throughout the Five Books. No one paid any attention
to this.
"More recently, professional statisticians
have been arguing over the meaning of statistically demonstrated
letter-level coding that extends throughout the Five Books (most of the
investigation has focused on Genesis). While the meaning of
the coding that has been statistically confirmed is the subject of heated
debate, the fact of its existence has not been challenged...."
(Essay excerpt copyright 2000 Stan Tenen)
***********************************************************
Stan's complete essay is posted online on the Meru Foundation website
at <http://www.meru.org/Newsletter/documentary.html>.
I hope you enjoy this Meru Foundation eTORUS
Newsletter. We welcome your feedback; if you have questions,
or suggestions, please don't hesitate to write me at:
Cynthia Tenen <meru@meru.org>
Thank you for your interest in the work of the Meru Foundation.
********************************************************************
The Meru Foundation eTORUS(tm) Newsletter is copyright 1999, 2000,
2001 Meru Foundation.
Past issues of eTORUS(tm) are archived online on the Meru Foundation
website at
<http://www.meru.org/Newsletter/journalindex.html>.
You may duplicate and pass along this newsletter, in its entirety, as
long as you include this copyright notice and the contact information below.
Please send comments and questions to <meru@meru.org>.
Meru Foundation research offices:
Research Director: Stan Tenen Secretary-Treasurer:
Cynthia Tenen
PO Box 503
Sharon, MA 02067 USA
781-784-8902 Voice 781-784-2955 Fax
Email: <meru@meru.org>
Website: <http://www.meru.org>
How to order Meru Foundation Videos and Products:
Visit our secure-server website at <http://www.meetingtent.com>
OR
Fax your order to 1-509-696-8795 OR
Email: <meetingtent@yahoo.com>
To order by phone:
In the U.S., call toll-free: 1-888-422-MERU (Bill Haber, C.E.O.
Meru Foundation, in California)
Outside the U.S., call 1-925-674-8640
EUROPEAN AND PAL VIDEO ORDERS:
To order PAL versions of Meru Videotapes:
Email: Ron Engert in Germany at <info@syntropia.de>
German readers may now also visit Ron Engert's Meru website:
<www.meru-info.de>
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