Tom's Funeral Dedication for Abba

My father, Bill Gallagher’s favorite authors (whom he would quote so often in his keynote speaking) were Henry David Thoreau, Helen Keller, George Bernard Shaw, Werner Erhard and Shakespeare.

Thoreau once described, "The mass of mankind" as leading "lives of quiet desperation." While this was true of my father’s life as well, he believed more in the words of Helen Keller who said, "Life is either a daring adventure or nothing. Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature." and that "All the world is full of suffering. It is also full of overcoming."

In the 80's he was very inspired by a man named Werner Erhard who got many great idea's from Zen Buddhism, Werner said, "If you experience it, it’s the truth. The same thing believed is a lie. In life, understanding is the booby prize."

My father would often quote Shakespeare about the human condition written hundreds of years ago, "To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow, creeps in this petty pace from day to day. To the last syllable of recorded time, and all our yesterdays have lighted fools. The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle! Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more: it is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing."

Of all these authors, my father most believed in and lived his life like the words of George Bernard Shaw, who said:

"This is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; the being a force of nature instead of a feverish, selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy. I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community, and as long as I live it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can. I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work the more I live. I rejoice in life for its own sake. Life is no "brief candle" for me. It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got hold of for the moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations."

Forgive all those you know. Love all those you meet, and make a difference in life while you’re here. Each moment is worth everything!

The only real truth is what we experience in the present moment, and dad taught me that always showing up and loving unconditionally was what it was all about.

Dear Family and Friends,

I'm sad to share with you that my father, William
(Bill) Gallagher died last Friday morning at his
home in Alameda. He was 68 years old.

A Memorial Service will be held this Friday April 11,
at 10:30 AM , at the Temple Israel Sanctuary, 3183
Mecartney Rd in Alameda. Casual dress is requested.
Directions are below.

There will also be a Shiva service on Sunday April 13, at 3 PM in ourhome 1519 Mountain Blvd, Oakland CA 94611

These are open to you all.

My dad was a passionate man and his last wish was that we all live the most amazing lives we can.

www.guerrillabusiness.com/image...re.mov


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Dear Family & Friends:

"I truly get that all I have and all that any of us have is the truth of our experience, then I step out of survival behavior and into a related process with others and the world. "

This is the greatest insight in life. Even with this understanding, we still fall back into the matrix; our assumptions continue to take control. We are bio monkey redundant robots that have to make meaning. That is what memory and thought is, its the half truth that we must run our lives by, although most of our assumption have very little to do with our present possible future. Still knowing this helps me to let my past go as often as possible, and limit my assumptions in the present moment.

I go to meditate now to let go of the suffering of life.

My father at the age of 68, after an amazing life, took his life. I know that his bi-polar condition ran his life to extremes; at age 65 he got a diagnosis and was attempting medication, but the drinking mixes bad with these medications. The depressions lows probably were too much for him. At last his suffering has come to an end, he is at peace, and with any hope, if the spirit goes on after death, he is in a better place. He will live on through his children, as we experience the truth of joy and suffering in each precious moment that life gives us.

Forgive all those you know, love all those you meet, and make a difference in life while your here, each moment is worth everything.

My father gave us the world growing up, later he would give each of us a globe to remind us of this great world that is ours to share and make the best of in our brief moment in time on the planet. Take care of each other and take care of this great planet with live on!

Amote,
Thomas Gallagher

KAF

The Crown: The Power to Actualize Potential

The two letters of the full spelling of the kaf, are the initial letters of the two Hebrew words: koach ("potential") and poel ("actual"). Thus, the kaf hints at the power latent within the spiritual realm of the potential to fully manifest itself in the physical realm of the actual. God must create the world continuously; otherwise Creation would instantaneously vanish. His potential is therefore actualized at each moment. This concept is referred to as "the power to actualize potential ever-present within the actualized." In Chassidut we are taught that this should be one's initial awareness upon awakening. Since the literal meaning of the letter kaf is "palm" - the place in the body where potential is actualized - this awareness is reflected in the custom of placing one palm on the other upon awakening, before reciting the Modeh Ani prayer: "I thank You, living and eternal King, for you have mercifully restored my soul within me; Your faithfulness is great."

Placing palm on palm is an act and sign of subjugation, similar to the act of bowing before a king. Whereas in bowing one totally nullifies one's consciousness in the presence of the King, in placing palm on palm one enters into a state of supplication and prayer to the King to reveal new will from His supernal crown (Will) to His subjects.

Kaf is also the root of the word kipah (etymologically, the root of the word "cap" in English), the yarmulke or skullcap. In reference to the creation of man it is said: "You have placed Your Palm [kaf] over me." Our Sages refer to Adam as, "the formation of the Palms [kaf] of the Holy One, Blessed be He." The awareness of the presence of the "Palms" of God over one's head, in His ongoing creation of him, becomes the cap (kipah) on his head. Even higher, the very power to actualize potential manifest in His Palms, as it were, derives ultimately from His crown (the power of will) above His head (i.e. "superrational" Will.)

As a verb, kaf means to "subdue" or "coerce." We are told in the Talmud that at the time of the giving of the Torah at Sinai, "He suspended the mountain over them as a barrel." In Chassidut it is explained that the Divine motivation manifest in this act was actually one of greatest love for Israel. So much love was revealed by all the tremendous revelations at Sinai that the people were "coerced," as it were, to respond in acceptance of the yoke of Heaven, in love. The mountain itself appeared to forcefully embrace the people. Here the secret of the kaf is the "much" revealed from the "little" point of the yud.


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FORM

Three connected lines with rounded corners; the crown on the head of a prostrating king.

Worlds:

The totality of space surrounding the earth.
The outermost sphere of the universe.
Souls:

Three connected properties of the crown: faith, sublime pleasure, and will.
The three meanings of keter: "wait," "crown," and "encircle."
Divinity:

Three stages of light before God created the world.
The ability of the soul to relate to the Essence of God.

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NAME

Palm; clouds; power to suppress.

Worlds:

The power to suppress the forces of nature.
The toil of labor.
The power to rule.
Physical clouds; expression of power.
Souls:

The power to suppress one's evil inclination.
The clouds surrounding Mt. Sinai - Jewish identity.
Faith despite "dark clouds."
Clean palms - observance of the commandments between man and man.
Divinity:

The vessel to receive Divine pleasure.
"I have engraved you upon My Palms."
The Clouds of Glory.

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NUMBER

Twenty

Worlds:

Twenty pieces of silver for which Joseph's brothers sold him.
Twenty cubits, the maximum height of a Sukkah.
Souls:

Twenty gerah, the full value of a shekel, symbolizing the union of two half-shekels.
The age to become a soldier and pursue a livelihood.
The twenty years Jacob worked for Laban.
Divinity:

The twenty sefirot of the two countenances of the crown.

I had a special opportunity to be with my grandfather the last year of his life. My grandfather passed away in his sleep on January 28, 2006 two years ago. He reached the old age of 93 years old. That last day, he wouldn’t wake up, I wanted to tell him that our third child would be a boy and I was naming him David Michael Gallagher after King David and Michael the Angel. I think his spirit heard me. I saw him in a dream in January this year, he was talking to someone in the dream, then all of a sudden he looked at me, smiled and waved at me. This dream was unlike any other I have had before because someone in the dream interacted with me in such a direct manner, it was very spooky. The message I got was that it was going to be ok, and we are watching.

Robert E Jones was a great man. He worked for the FBI during the Hoover administration; he was enlisted right after the great depression into the FBI having passed his law degree. He sold clothes traveling around the mid west with a family while finishing his law degree. At the end of the great depression he completed his studies. I can’t imagine how difficult those years must have been. Later he started a law practice in Las Vegas that was famous and became attorney general at a very young age. There is a story there about how the Mormons of Las Vegas fought the mob that is yet to be told. Grammpa was a member of the Mormon Church and he wanted me to be a member too. My father who was a convert left the Mormon Church during the 60’s, dad was a professor traveling on sabbatical with his family around Europe in a VW camper and many people were dropping out of everything back then.

Grammpa was a great writer, and he wrote a poem for me, which touched my heart. My mom framed the poem with a picture of me at age 11 that Grammpa took in Jerusalem in 1979.

I hope you like it, Grammpa was a wordsmith.


“Thomas,” the record says: “Your name is Thomas,” Thomas you became when your father held you, newborn, in his arms before the elders of the church; lifted you up to Christ, with a blessing gave you to him. “On the records of thy Church, and on the tongues of men, he shall be known as Thomas,” He said.

“Moki, your name is Moki,” said the pidgin-speaking native children beside the blue pacific waters. Your father agreed, said it meant “Moses” in Hawaiian.

To the barefoot, brown-skinned children of Oahu you were Moki. At Kahala and Hawaii-Kai, from the heights of Maunaloa to the shores of Waimea Bay you were Moki.

Then “Oleh” up from the Diaspora to the byways of Jerusalem to the children of Judah you became “Moshe.” Moshe, who lifted his people from the yoke of Egypitian bondage, for whom the Red Sea waters parted, Sinai yielded up her manna, in Jerusalem you were named for him. Moshe stood before the Burning Bush and talked with God. Through him God gifted mankind with Ten immutable decrees to light the way from Eden to the millennial day—Moshe in the Hebrew tongue—You were named for him; so said the children of Jerusalem.

Jerusalem! My camera found you there sitting on the fifth-story ledge, the rough hewn Jerusalem stone at your back; and over your shoulder the Herzl street, where Paul descended under guard to Cesarea, and was preserved to give the world the Christian way of love.

I found you there at home among the “chosen” race, with Hebrew accents on your tongue, and from your lips the words of language long thought dead, but now alive again in such as you, Oleh!

I read the query in your eyes: “Thomas, Moki, Moshe, who am I?” On your lips the unuttered cry of anguish, a thirst to know. Your face betrays the uncertainty within. Would you utter cry of pain or shout of joy? I cannot say. But the hurt is there; I see it behind the eyes, the pain of lost identity unidentified child of God!

Baby Thomas I would have cradled. Moki, child of South Pacific shores, I would have held you to my heart. Moshe, lad of Jerusalem streets, I would embrace you. I would whisper who you are-- Noblest work of God, spirit of deity clothed in mortal flesh, the flesh of which I am a part.

I care not how the public record reads, or what the native children say, or how pronounced your name in Hebrew is, you name is Son of God. That, you must come to know, feel it in your bones and heart. Let the knowledge lift your eyes, your shoulders square, the head alert, to bring you to your rightful height.

Thou Son of God!


Thank you for listening, I miss you grammpa

I am very involved with this new blog site:

passionategenius.blogspot.com/