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| FONTAINE BAKER 391865 WRC |
Intro story of Dr. Fontaine Baker
Dr. Fontaine Baker grew up in the gritty streets of Chicago, battling to stay alive against the violent current of his community. Encountering gangs, drugs and poverty, life seemed bleak. Dr. Baker channeled his growing pains through writing and performing music as a way to escape. Looking for a brighter future Milwaukee, Wisconsin became his second home. The streets' allure of a quick relief from poverty had Dr. Baker straddle the fences between being a musical recording star or the justice systems chase from hustling.
Eventually Dr. Baker would fall and land in the system. In 2000 he was convicted of a tragic accident that occurred while he was attempting to unload a jammed firearm a friend of a friend held. Dr. Baker fled the scene fearful. This would earn him to be sentenced to 40 years in the Wisconsin Department Of Corrections.
For his first five years bitterness remained as he felt jaded by the system and society and sent to languish in a prison cell until he was to be a senior citizen. Coming to a crossroad in his life in 2006, after discovering he suffered from untreated PTSD, the desire was born to be the best version of himself for himself and his family. Dr. Baker vowed to be a light in the darkest places imagined. He set out on a path of rehabilitation ,,despite being sentenced under Wisconsin's Truth in sentencing regime, which meant all his efforts could not earn him any good time or early release.
With this in toe he encapsulated himself in education and personal growth. Most notably he earned a Doctorate in Divine Metaphysics, A Bachelor's of Arts in Biblical studies with a minor in psychology through Trinity International University. He became an ordained minister and is a alumni of Restorative Justice. He is Certified in conflict resolution, pro literacy tutoring and communication. He Has taken Cognitive Intervention, Substance abuse and Men's trauma courses.
Dr. Bakers visions shifted to him being an asset to the community even from behind the walls. He became involved in various organization that focused on reentry, prison advocacy and criminal justice. He is a member of the NAACP acting as Coordinator for its social justice initiative, and cochair of its criminal justice division in Milwaukee. He works with Wisdom and EXPO to champion their voters rights initiatives and social justice reform.
He is a member of PAM(Prison Action Milwaukee ) which focuses on supporting the incarcerated and their family's. He is a published author penning articles for Prison Journalism Project and the Prison Foundation writing service.
He is the socially impacted coordinator for a writing program called "A line Meant", mentored by Wisconsin Poet Emeritus Dasha Kelly Hamilton. Dr. Baker has set out to become an advocate against gun violence and started initiatives aimed at preventing gun violence, as well as getting dangerous weapons off the street.
He cofounded an non profit called " The Lost Soul Community Outreach" which operates off the principals of 'feed the community, clothe the community and finding ways to curb violence in the community'. Now in his 24th year of incarceration He is currently Pursing a Masters In Counseling, and looking forward to freedom, where he plans to become A trauma informed care counselor.
AWAKENING YOURINER CONSCIOUSNESS
FONTAINE BAKER on 12/9/2023 8:37:34 PM wrote Church in the Wild Greetings family, I want you to awaken your inner consciousness and thrive. What is meant by inner consciousness? Inner consciousness means: consciousness of inner forces, consciousness of inner perceptions, consciousness of what is called soul energy, consciousness of the Divine in the soul. That is a consciousness of something distinct and separate from the sense impressions, from bodily conditions, from external gross objects, from external perceptions. Why should we try to awaken our inner consciousness? Is there any necessity for it? Is it absolutely necessary— is it indispensably necessary to enter that life? Yes, it is absolutely necessary for persons in all walks of life. Why? Because while living in the outer consciousness we are not really contented. We always complain, either openly or mentally. Something is always lacking in our life. Just ask yourself this question: Are we really happy? It is not that we have to give up our external life, our material life. It is not that we have to eliminate all these things completely from our life. No. But we have to know where we stand, and we have to understand the purpose and the meaning of our external life, or outer consciousness. We must know why we have to go through life’s duties. We must know why we have to perform so many activities. What is the purpose? What is the idea back of it? Why are those condemned who neglect their duties, who shirk their responsibilities, who do not try to perform their functions, their duties properly? The idea is this: First of all, we are ignorant of the meaning and purpose of life. We cannot explain definitely the reason for all these activities. We do not know why we live in the midst of sense perceptions. Why are we experiencing these things? We have certain desires, we have certain tendencies, certain emotions, certain passions. We are regulated by them; we are carried away by them against our will. We are, as it were, enslaved by certain things, and we go on, not knowing whence we have come or whither we are going, or what is the mission of our life. That is why the question was asked in ancient times by the Vedic sages: “What is that, knowing which, everything else will be known?” What is that fountainhead, knowing which, we shall understand the meaning and purpose of life—knowing which, everything would be explained? Everything appears to be detached, purposeless, meaningless. What is that, knowing which, everything would be illumined? That is the question. That is the desire, in reality, in every human heart. We may not be able to explain it; we may not know it properly at times; but it is there, and only the sages have put the question definitely. That is why we must try to get into that realm of pure consciousness,. There are different grades of inner consciousness. The deeper we search, the more we understand, the more will that pure consciousness be unfolded which alone holds the key. To illuminate, to unfold, to explain everything in our life, we must come to that. There is another reason why we must try to go beyond the outer and enter into the inner consciousness, and that is this: There is always reaction in our life—that is, when we live in the external consciousness, there is always reaction. Suffering is caused by reaction. Our miseries, our pains, our complaints, our doubts, our troubles, our disillusionments, our despair, have always been caused by the outer consciousness. For instance, when we live in the midst of sense perceptions we want to possess certain objects which we have perceived, impressions of which have been gathered through the senses. First of all, the senses come in touch with external things. It may be a little food, a little form; it may be a little object; but it is there. That impression gets hold of us, and what do we want to do? We want to get that object; we want to possess it; we want to own it. When we cannot own it, there is suffering, there is heart-burning. Suppose I love some object. I try my best to possess it. I cannot do it. Something stands in the way and takes it away from me—snatches it away. There is suffering. There is misery. In this way we are constantly becoming dependent on external things. These outer things, these external things, these objects of the senses get hold of us. They enter our lives and completely hold sway over us, and we are carried away by them. Then we are thrown back, as it were, into ourselves; because nature’s laws work relentlessly—and there are changes—there areseparationsMargaret Swan Page 1 of 3 12/10/2023 Margaret Swan pppjppwhich have been gathered through the senses. First of all, the senses come in touch with external things. It may be a little food, a little form; it may be a little object; but it is there. That impression gets hold of us, and what do we want to do? We want to get that object; we want to possess it; we want to own it. When we cannot own it, there is suffering, there is heart-burning. Suppose I love some object. I try my best to possess it. I cannot do it. Something stands in the way and takes it away from me—snatches it away. There is suffering. There is misery. In this way we are constantly becoming dependent on external things. These outer things, these external things, these objects of the senses get hold of us. They enter our lives and completely hold sway over us, and we are carried away by them. Then we are thrown back, as it were, into ourselves; because nature’s laws work relentlessly—and there are changes—there are separations. You may say such ideas bring gloominess, pessimism into our lives. What difference does it make if we become a little gloomy, or if we become pessimistic? What has your optimism given us? What do the passing joys bring us? They bring us nothing but reaction. So-called optimism does not land us anywhere. It rather leads us into complex situations and conditions. Rather we should hail with joy that sort of pessimism, true pessimism, which brings us face to face with the truth, which enables us to see things in their true color. Yes, we must face things boldly. It is not simply by patchwork that we gain in life, it is only by bold search and uncompromising investigation. It is by going to the root and the bottom of things that we gain—truly gain—and accomplish something which is worth achieving. So we must not be afraid of analysing things in a deeper way. You see around you nature’s changes and separations. You love a person. That person dies, or is taken away to other lands. You are miserable and prostrated with grief. Again, you have possessed certain things and you lose them—you lose a fortune in a few days, or in a few weeks, or in a few months. You are overcome with sorrow. That is life, and that is what is meant by outer consciousness. It is not that you must not have possessions; it is not that you must not have good homes; it is not that you must not love others. But do it knowingly; do it not as a slave, but as a master; not as a dependent worm, but as the witness you should approach these things. Many things there are which must be taken into our lives necessarily. Unhappily we delude ourselves; we forget ourselves; we lose our heads; we lose our judgment; and we are carried away by the currents of life, not knowing whither we are going. When we are caught up in the whirl of conditions, when we are lost in the labyrinthian maze of circumstances, then we wake up for a while. Again we forget. So that is the outer consciousness, which has separations everywhere. You cannot depend upon anything. As soon as you depend upon anything—lean on anything—it is taken away from you, and what is to be done? That is why we must try to search for something which is more internal, which is not so changeable, on whom, or on which you can depend to a greater extent, because everything is relative until we get to the Absolute. We must find something which is better, which is greater. And that is our search—that should be our search. So, while living a life of outer consciousness you will analyse and you will see how all your complex conditions regarding which you complain, all the entanglements which we notice in different lives, all the confusion and friction which we see at home or abroad, all the heartburnings, disillusionment and suffering which we notice amongst individuals—all these can be traced to that outer consciousness, that slavery, that dependence upon the material things of life. That is why we have to open up our inner consciousness. That is why we want to know if there is anything beyond the veil of the senses. That is why we must know whether there is anything back of this changeable condition of the senses and this changeable condition of the body. Outer consciousness means this: We are dependent on the senses and outward things. That is, when we try to think of inner things, we are held back by our dependence on things external. We are all the time living in these external impressions, and cannot enter into the inner realm of understanding. Babe the beginning steps to awakening the inner consciousness is by concentration.And what is meant by concentration? Concentration includes two things. One is gathering up scattered energies; another is focussing these scattered energies of mind. If you recall last night when I was telling you about replacing something in my life with other things, and you said like what, this is one of them. Concentration helps us to withdraw our scattered minds from different directions. The mind has been scattered. It wanders among various objects, which are impressions in our minds. The mind has been divided, and thus mental energy is dissipated. Very little energy is left for the accomplishment of the real ideals in life. But gradually we learn by concentration how to withdraw the scattered forces of the mind and how to focus them upon the chosen ideal. There are many details, but I am only mentioning the most important points. When, through proper training and daily practice, one is able to learn how to gather up the wandering mind, and withdraw these different powers of the mind from different sources and focus them on one thing, then so much energy has been combined, as it were, and we can accomplish something. Otherwise, so much of our energy has been dissipated. Regarding the difficulties and dangers of concentration, let me mention that there are difficulties in all paths, in all fields of knowledge. Nothing worth achieving has been accomplished without a little difficulty, without a little sacrifice, without a little sincere and earnest effort. You know, curiosity-seekers never reach anything in life. Those who are sincere and earnest searchers and seekers have gradually unfolded themselves and reached the higher realms of understanding. So there is no real danger in concentration. We must start with that idea, and not be hasty. Many of us try to take things like a pill. We take a pill, and it must accomplish its results. Concentration is not a pill—and we do not know what accumulated experiences and impressions are at our backs. Through different lives and through the present life we have been gathering up so many things. We are performing so many karmas, as we say, and we have to eliminate so many things in our lives. Through proper effort we shall removemanyobstacles,manydifficulties,andourtaskwillbecomeeasierandeasier.Page 2 of 3 12/10/2023 Margaret Swan gggpfields of knowledge. Nothing worth achieving has been accomplished without a little difficulty, without a little sacrifice, without a little sincere and earnest effort. You know, curiosity-seekers never reach anything in life. Those who are sincere and earnest searchers and seekers have gradually unfolded themselves and reached the higher realms of understanding. So there is no real danger in concentration. We must start with that idea, and not be hasty. Many of us try to take things like a pill. We take a pill, and it must accomplish its results. Concentration is not a pill—and we do not know what accumulated experiences and impressions are at our backs. Through different lives and through the present life we have been gathering up so many things. We are performing so many karmas, as we say, and we have to eliminate so many things in our lives. Through proper effort we shall remove many obstacles, many difficulties, and our task will become easier and easier. You will see—if you analyse your life—that there are a few things which are constantly holding your attention. The mind, as it were, is drawn into certain realms. Sense perceptions are in different forms and include many things— our eating, our drinking, all sorts of habits and many other things. Thus the best of our energies are swallowed up, as it were, by these things. The Yogis claim that the nerve centers—the lower nerve centers—have absorbed these energies and the energies are chained there, or enslaved there, and you have to release them. There are two sides, the physiological and mental. Physiologically, when we begin to practise concentration, this energy is gradually released from the lower centers. It is called the awakening of coiled-up energy—energy in latent form or enslaved form. Simultaneously our mind is released from its impressions and begins to work in a higher realm. Let' us enter this realm together. Take a second and breathe deep breathes three or four times. Breathe in and hold for a count of seven, breathe out for a count of seven, concentrate on your breathes and counting ,now smile, you'll feel energy rise from your core to your brain. (Share) Dr. Fontaine Baker
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