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Meru Foundation eTORUS(tm) Newsletter: SPECIAL EDITION
Number 26 – 1 December 2004
Copyright 2004 Meru Foundation
Edited by Levanah Tenen


STAN TENEN RETURNING AS FEATURED GUEST ON COAST TO COAST AM WITH GEORGE NOORY
    Thursday Dec. 9 at 11 PM--2 AM PACIFIC Time
    Friday Dec. 10 at 2 AM--5 AM EASTERN Time

On Thursday/Friday Dec. 9/10, Stan Tenen will again be the featured guest on Coast To Coast AM with George Noory. This live overnight national radio interview program is broadcast throughout the US and Canada, and is available world-wide via XM Satellite Radio. As was the case in September, Stan's interview starts at 11 PM PACIFIC time, Thurs. Dec. 9, and runs for three hours. (For those of us on the East Coast, that's 2 AM to 5 AM on Friday Dec. 10.) Night owls can listen live; the show will also downloadable from the "Coast to Coast AM" website for a small fee through the first week in January. (See below.)

Coast to Coast AM is a call-in show, with a very large audience. Many of you called in to talk to Stan in September, and we'd like to thank you -- both those of you who made it through the queue to ask your question on the air, and those of you who didn't. Please call in again! As before, we want a good mix of questions, including people familiar with our research, as well as those hearing about it for the first time. The livelier the phone lines are, the more likely it is that Stan will continue to be invited back for future interviews. Thanks also to everyone who contacted the producers of "Coast to Coast AM" on our behalf following Stan's September guest appearance.

Please pass along this announcement to your own e-lists -- thank you!

As in September, there is one caveat -- since Coast to Coast AM is a live program, it's possible that some late-breaking world event could cause Stan's interview to be shortened or postponed. As before, if this happens, I'll send an update to you as soon as I know. But as of now, Stan's guest appearance on Coast to Coast AM is scheduled to begin at 2 AM on Friday December 10, Eastern Time (which is 11 PM Pacific time on Thursday December 9).

Here are the main US phone numbers to call in to "Coast to Coast AM":
  • Western US: 1-800-618-8255 (toll free)
  • Eastern US: 1-800-825-5033 (toll free)
  • First time caller: 1-818-501-4721
  • Wild Card line: 1-818-501-4109 (anyone can call)
These numbers, and international access phone numbers for those of you not in the US or Canada, are also listed on the "Coast to Coast AM" website at http://www.coasttocoastam.com/info/callin.html

You can find a list of radio stations in US and Canada that broadcast "Coast to Coast", and a link to XM Satellite Radio information on the show, at http://www.coasttocoastam.com/info/wheretolisten.html


Coast to Coast AM also offers streaming Internet audio, by subscription only (their fee is $6.95 for a month's membership). This same fee allows you to download mp3's of Stan's interview for thirty days following the program. (Streaming audio recordings are available online for ninety days.) For details, see http://www.coasttocoastam.com/streamlink/about.html
(NOTE -- Coast to Coast AM subscriptions renew automatically each month, unless you cancel them.)


In conjunction with Stan's interview on Coast to Coast AM, Meru is now offering several "Coast to Coast Specials" on http://www.meetingtent.com -- selections from Meru Foundation's videotape collection, plus your choice of one of three bonus products: one of our music-CD's, First Sound(tm): The Music of Genesis or Three Orchestral Works by Daniel Gil, OR the Zero Blaster -- a new product that lets you experiment for yourself with smoke-rings and toroidal flow-patterns. Watch more background information on the "Zero Blaster" in the next few days on http://www.meetingtent.com .

Thank you for your interest in Meru Foundation, and for passing along this announcement -- we hope to hear from you during the program!

--Levanah Tenen, Meru Foundation



NEW MERU FAQ:
Introduction and Frequently Asked Questions about Meru Foundation

I want to welcome those of you receiving Meru Foundation's eTORUS Newsletter for the first time because you contacted us after Stan's first guest appearance on Coast to Coast AM with George Noory this past September. Since so many readers are new to our work, this is an opportune time to release Meru's new FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions), which should fill in some "basics" about this research. The FAQ is not a complete introduction; we welcome additional questions, and also hope to continue this project with a more detailed "LFAQ" (Less Frequently Asked Questions) <smile>. --Levanah



WHERE DOES THE NAME MERU COME FROM?
Meru Foundation is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt educational foundation established in 1983 to support the ongoing research begun by Stan Tenen, Meru's research director. The root-word "Meru" refers to the name of the Hebrew alphabet, Meruba; "Mt. Meru", the cosmic mountain that supports the world in the eastern traditions; Merudanda, the spinal column; Moriah, the temple mount in Jerusalem; and Su-Meru, an ancient name for the Pascal triangle (which is of fundamental importance in mathematics).
WHAT IS THE BASIC FINDING OF MERU FOUNDATION RESEARCH?
We have re-discovered the use of geometric metaphor in the Bible traditions and a wide range of related teachings. Religious and academic scholars know that Bible stories, histories, and spiritual lessons are expressed in metaphor, but it is believed that this must be word-based, poetic and literary metaphor. The re-introduction of geometric metaphor enables us to clearly understand and appreciate many perplexing and controversial passages and teachings, and to see them in a more functional, modern perspective.
HOW WAS THIS GEOMETRIC METAPHOR DISCOVERED IN THE BIBLE?

We are working with the sequences of letters in the standard traditional Hebrew text of Genesis. This text has always been associated with claims of meaning at the letter level. It is well known that ancient texts did not include word divisions (nor vowel markings), and letter sequences in the original language cannot be incorporated into any translation. We found the elements of geometric metaphor in the letter patterns that have avoided the scrutiny of modern scholars.

HOW CAN GEOMETRIC SHAPES TELL A STORY?

An embryo develops from one simple shape, a sphere, to a cluster of many spheres, to a hollow ball, then indents and becomes much more complicated. That progression of shapes is the same for all embryos. If you wanted to communicate to someone who did not speak your language about how an embryo develops, you would draw a cartoon of those shapes rather than try to describe the process in words. That is one example of how geometric patterns can be called a universal language.

Meru Foundation findings suggest that the letter-text of Genesis specifies geometric patterns, illustrating a universal embryonic process. In fact, the letter-text of Genesis includes this geometric metaphor for creation, in the very place that the word-text talks about creation.

HOW IS AN APPRECIATION OF GEOMETRIC METAPHOR HELPFUL IN BUILDING A BETTER SOCIETY?

Geometry is used by architects to build structures in our world. Two-dimensional blueprints are used to construct a three-dimensional building. The identification of geometric metaphors as suggested by Meru research enables us to unify and transcend our many current cultural, political, and geographical limitations. Meru's models are snapshots of a natural ongoing process of embryonic growth. By applying these models at many levels, we can view the "big picture" of how our universe and our planet work as whole systems, where each element shares and interacts simultaneously, for the benefit of all.

The metaphors of geometry can provide concrete, logical, functional tools to statespersons, who can use them to accomplish what they now cannot envision using word-based metaphors alone. The re-discovery of geometric metaphor enables us first to learn how to take the higher view needed to reconcile what appears to be irreconcilable, and then to bring this higher view down to the earth we all inhabit. We can use this higher view to reconcile our cultural, personal, and political differences, by seeing the vital function of each unique political and social expression within the greater human whole.

WHAT DOES THIS GEOMETRY INDICATE?

The geometric forms woven into the letter sequences of the Hebrew text of Genesis enable us to gain a precise mathematical view and a deep experiential sense of the text that is complementary to, but not available from, a narrative translation.

Our findings also demonstrate that the sequence of letters in Genesis can define a mathematically meaningful model human hand. When a person wearing this model hand makes gestures, they and those watching them can see 2-dimensional outlines of all of the rabbinic Meruba Hebrew letters, with each letter-outline seen in a gesture that carries the same natural meaning as the name of the letter. (Greek and Arabic letters are formed by a closely related model.) These gestures are truly universal; for example, some gestures match those made by blind persons -- who have never seen anyone else gesture -- while they speak.

Although the story is roundly dismissed by modern scholars as no more than legend or myth, our research suggests that this universal gesture language, not phonetic speech, is the form of language referred to in the episode of the Tower of Babel.

HOW DOES THE RE-DISCOVERY OF GEOMETRIC METAPHOR AFFECT OUR UNDERSTANDING OF OUR RELIGIOUS TRADITIONS?

The model hand, which represents the geometric metaphor for choice and will, generates the Hebrew alphabet, and particular styles of Arabic and Greek letters as well. This is why the geometric metaphor(s) based on this common model can show the inter-relatedness of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. It is similar to the way the same DNA demonstrates the inter-relatedness of the very different-appearing organs in our own bodies. When we view our religious traditions in the light of geometric metaphor, we find both their necessary differences, and their essential commonality. Geometric metaphor does not replace or devalue the poetry and narrative of traditional Bible translations. It enhances all of these perspectives, and shows them in respectful relationship to each other.

DOES THIS RESEARCH HAVE TO DO WITH CODING IN THE BIBLE?

Yes and no. Meru research was conducted independently of the statistically discovered "codes in the Bible". Our findings suggest that prophetic claims made for these coded patterns are not valid, but that the letter-patterns themselves are real, and are better explained by the geometric models suggested by Meru research.

Our models show that what appears to be coding in the Bible is a natural result of the way the letter-text was originally woven. (See below.) This form of weaving is not mysterious, and is very similar to techniques that were known to have been used in the ancient world.

Instead of a "list of prophecies" as has been proposed by non-critical believers in the "Bible Codes," Meru Foundation research suggests that the sequence of letters in the original Hebrew text of Genesis, when taken as "gestures in the mind," could represent specific meditational exercises that enhance particular mental skills. Or, to use a Christian metaphor, we're suggesting that the Hebrew Bible is not a "fish" (one or two or just a list of prophecies), but rather a "fishing pole" (a means by which a qualified person could gain greater mental maturity).

HOW CAN BIBLICAL VERSE BE SEEN AS ANYTHING BUT THE STORIES WE ARE FAMILIAR WITH?

Uniquely, the Hebrew alphabet and language allow strings of letters to be divided into words that make meaningful sentences in a very wide range of possible ways. Traditional teachings suggest literally hundreds of acceptable narrative translations for the first verse of Genesis. This inherent flexibility in biblical Hebrew enables it to carry information at more than one level. The narrative stories are there, of course, but it is as if they are written on the threads of a woven lattice. Our findings suggest that this "textile" is the framework on which the stories are inscribed.

This is why we are looking at the arrangement of letters, and not at the words and phrases. We are proposing that the alphabets, and the texts that make use of these alphabets, are multi-layered and multi-dimensional. The Hebrew alphabet is used for many purposes -- for the Biblical text, as a modern language, and as a counting system. Our analysis of the letter-text of the Bible suggests that Hebrew is also a formal language, much like musical notation or computer languages. A wide range of references suggests this formal structure, but without the rediscovery of the particular geometric metaphor on which this structure is based, it has not previously been possible to provide any functional and testable example of how this could be so. Meru's findings bridge this gap by providing explicit, testable examples that can now be used to confirm the deep, precise, and functional meaning of many traditional teachings.

Use of the alphabet, understood as Meru research suggests, recovers the formal language and provides us with the ability to generate the geometry of Genesis, which brings greater relevance to the traditional stories, narratives, and Biblical teachings.

ARE THERE SCIENTIFIC APPLICATIONS FOR THIS RESEARCH?

Meru research has always insisted on precision, objective demonstration, falsifiability, elegance, and informational depth. Because our findings are based on the methods of science, they naturally have real consequences that can be demonstrated. For example, our findings have confirmed earlier work by mathematician Arthur M. Young, who presented a natural "geometry of meaning," and showed that information can be conveyed by pointing.* Meru's finding that hand-gestures -- basically, pointing our hand -- are the basis of the Western sacred alphabets, is thus surprisingly consistent with the use of the quantum state vector in physics, which is itself nothing more than a pointing direction.

Another example is the direct parallel between the sequence of geometric forms that make up the geometric metaphor, and the stages of embryology in biology, and self-organization in general. What we have found are natural models, from natural sources, that have natural and universal meaning and application.

     *Young's thesis is presented in two seminal books, The Reflexive Universe and The Geometry of Meaning.

DOES MERU RESEARCH SUGGEST THAT ALL RELIGIONS ARE OR SHOULD BE THE SAME?

No. Our work shows why both the similarities and the differences in our beliefs and traditions are necessary. We are suggesting an organic model. Just as we are each alive because our different bodily organs perform different vital functions, our "human body politic" also requires a suite of different spiritual and philosophical "organs" in order to express the full potential of humanity. Each and every faith and tradition is vital, and must maintain its distinctiveness in order to make its particular contribution to the whole. But at the core, we are all human.

Traditionally, geometric metaphor has been the preferred language for philosophers and sages of all traditions and all ages to express and demonstrate our commonality. The Greek philosophers insisted on it, stating that "Only those who know geometry can enter here." We propose that the Meru findings of an explicit geometric metaphor specified by the letter-text of Genesis can be a first, beginning step towards rediscovering the complete "genome" for the "organs" and families of the entire human body politic.

DO THE METHODS OF SCIENCE USED IN MERU RESEARCH CONFLICT WITH THE MANY TRADITIONS OF BELIEF IN THE TRANSCENDENT?

Not at all. One of the beauties of the methods of mathematics and science is that when properly used, they are truly neutral, and acceptable to all. Meru Foundation's work is based on definitions and axioms of unity, which are then explored in detail. Persons of faith and persons of no faith alike can appreciate logical deductions based on logical definitions. A definition of unity is in no way offensive to either a person of belief, or a person of no belief.

WHY IS THE GEOMETRIC PERSPECTIVE ON ANCIENT PHILOSOPHICAL AND SPIRITUAL TEXTS UNKNOWN IN MODERN SCHOLARLY STUDIES?

Primarily because in modern higher education, the people who are attracted to studying Biblical texts and other philosophically oriented works are not the same people as those who are attracted to studying mathematics and science. A scholar of ancient texts would need to be familiar with geometric relationships in order to recognize that an ancient author might use analogies from the world of nature (for example) to describe them.

WHAT ONE CONCEPT MOST EXEMPLIFIES THE BENEFITS OF MERU RESEARCH?

Reconciling the seemingly-irreconcilable. Spirituality and science, inner and outer, consciousness and physics -- the Meru research presents, and depends on, a perspective for discovering the unity that joins a wide range of seeming opposites, and the appropriate diversity that distinguishes them. By "thinking outside of the box," Meru research offers new conceptual tools, providing the additional conceptual space required to "reconcile the irreconcilable" and to effectively address problems which now appear to be intractable.

WHAT MATERIAL IS AVAILABLE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT MERU RESEARCH?

Meru Foundation offers a series of 7 live-lecture videotapes and documents, spanning 10 years of the Meru research. These videotapes, additional videos produced by Thinking Allowed Productions, and computer media and printed material are available for purchase on our secure-server website at http://www.meetingtent.com. We also offer two music-CD's, First Sound(tm): The Music of Genesis, and Three Orchestral Works by Daniel Gil, with compositions based directly on the Hebrew letter-text of Genesis and related Jewish sacred music. For more information, and a sample of this music, go to http://www.meetingtent.com/firstsounddetails.html.

Essays, articles, and graphic posters introducing this work are available at http://www.meru.org. Mr. Tenen is currently working on a book, to be published in 2005.



FEEDBACK

I hope you enjoy this Meru Foundation eTORUS(tm) Newsletter.

We welcome your comments and suggestions, and would like the opportunity to speak with you personally.

If you have comments or questions, please send an email to Levanah Tenen at meru@meru.org with your phone number and a good time to call -- or, please call us at 781-784-8902 (Boston area). I would like to brainstorm with you.

Thank you for your interest in the work of the Meru Foundation.


The Meru Foundation eTORUS(tm) Newsletter is copyright 2004 Meru Foundation. All rights reserved.
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: Levanah (Cynthia) Tenen
  PO Box 503
  Sharon, MA 02067 USA
  781-784-8902 Voice    253-663-9273 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 1-253-663-9273   OR
  Email: <service@meru.org> with a subject line of "Meru Product Order"

To order by phone:
  In the U.S., call toll-free: 1-888-422-MERU
  Outside the U.S., call 1-781-784-3462

EUROPEAN AND PAL VIDEO ORDERS:

To order PAL versions of Meru Videotapes:

  Email Ron Engert in Germany at <ron@tattva-viveka.de>
  German readers may also visit Ron Engert's Meru website:
           <www.meru-info.de>


Contents of this page are ©2004 Cynthia Tenen or ©2004 Stan Tenen, and licensed to Meru Foundation, POB 503, Sharon, MA 02067 USA.
Email inquiries to the Research Staff at: meru@meru.org
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For Customer Service, call 1-781-784-3462     or     email to service@meru.org
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