The devastation continues to have a profound effect upon our hearts. Further news that another powerful earthquake shook the area in the past few hours reminds us of the trauma born by so many in the area.
Our thoughts are with you – and our hearts weep with yours.
I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.
Nelson Mandela
and the poem that has been his inspiration
This post is in memory and tribute to a very special young Japanese woman – but is also a recognition that so many in Japan in recent weeks have given much of themselves for the benefit of others.
You may read Miki Endo's moving and life-saving story HERE
or you can also watch a YouTube short documentary that tells her heroic story HERE
Sometimes, being true to our inner self costs us everything and it is only in that moment that we have fully defined who we are in spirit.
It has been my life experience that the people who are, arguably, the most spiritual are the ones who do not think that they are. In fact, they hardly think about 'spirituality' at all.
They just do. They don't pontificate, think, study, –they just take action - and their hearts are rivers of kindness and compassion
gg
"A man can counterfeit love, he can counterfeit faith, he can counterfeit hope and all the other graces, but it is very difficult to counterfeit humility".-- D. L. Moody
"What we think, or what we know, or what we believe, is in the end, of little consequence. The only thing of consequence is what we do".. -- John Ruskin
"There are many in religion and/or philosophy who are experts with the words. They have minds that can encompass innumerable definitions provided by yet more such experts.. It is a great sadness when one comes across such as these whose minds have great knowledge yet whose hearts never practised the language of the Spirit, it's dialects of humility and truthfulness, it's rhythm of lovingness". gg
Around the world a surge of compassion, stronger than any tsunami, reaches out to the peoples of Japan.
There is hardly a human being anywhere who upon seeing these images does not shed a tear in their heart.
gg
for their devotion, practicality, friendship, dedication, emotional stamina, compassion, ingenuity, intelligence, creativity,inner beauty and, of course, their limitless love - A BIG THANK YOU to all the women whose lives have touched my life
"Suppose you took scrabble sets, or any word game sets, blocks with letters containing every language on Earth and you heap them together, and then you took a scoop and you scooped into that heap, and you flung it out on the lawn there and the letters fell into a line which contained the words, 'to be or not to be that is the question,' that is roughly the odds of an RNA molecule appearing on the Earth." (Dr. Robert Shapiro, Professor Emeritus and Senior Research Scientist in the Department of Chemistry at New York University)
"Our willingness to accept scientific claims that are against common sense is the key to understanding the real struggle between Science and the Supernatural. We take the side of science in spite of the patent absurdity of some of its constructs, in spite of its failure to fulfill many of its extravagant promises of health and life, in spite of the tolerance of the scientific community of unsubstantiated just-so stories, because we have a prior commitment, a commitment to naturalism ... for we cannot allow a Divine foot in the door." (Richard Lewontin, Geneticist)
blog entry inspired by "A reasonable argument for God's existence"
love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love
image courtesy of www.ragnhild-monsen.com
Consider this: since we are all individual then our perceptions, concepts, experiences are equally all individual. They are as individual as a snowflake in a blizzard of living.
This being so, how absurd it is of us to think we can 'understand' another person.
We may remember that as young children playing together we could empathise with another's joy, or another's pain. If we really understand ourself, then we treasure this blessing throughout life - our ability to empathise.
I am not required to understand you, nor you I. What love does require of us is that we so choreograph our empathy that we may accept the beauty of each other as we dance the melody of life. If we look through those childhood empathatic eyes, we will see the miracle of each other.
And in just the same way the snowstorm surrounds us with countless millions of individually beautiful miracles if we will look, so we are surrounded by the vast and staggeringly beautiful landscape of humanity.
gg
“Friendship is not something that you learn in school. But if you haven’t learned the meaning of friendship, then you really haven’t learned anything.”
“It is an immense journey from a culture of victimhood to one of self-empowerment, from a culture of conspiracy to one of construction. It is a long road from rage to responsibility, from humiliation to action”.
Roger Cohen
A human being is a part of a whole, called by us 'universe', a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest... a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.
Albert Einstein
"There was a time I used to reject those who were not of my faith. Now my heart has grown capable of taking on many forms: a pasture for gazelles, a convent for Christians, a temple for idols, a Kaaba* for the pilgrim, a table for the Torah, a book of the Koran. My religion is love - whichever the route love's caravan shall take, that path shall be the path of my faith."
*The most sacred Muslim shrine, to be found in Mecca Muhyiddin Ibn 'Arabi (1165-1240)
"….often contradiction is the clearest way to truth"
Patti Smith
"we are most clearly defined not by what we will do, but by what we will not do".
gg
"…for we do not really know who we are are until we meet the opposite of who we perceive ourselves to be. We are as candles who need the darkness in order that we may see our own shining.In this sense all trauma that visits our life has within it the potential to be a magnificently radiant triumph of the human spirit"
gg
Ok. So now it's almost Christmas, you know that time of the year when we are all pleasant and kind to each other.(even Scrooge learnt the lesson!)
SO NOW IT'S official, not simply a meaningful statement from some spiritual 'leader'. Being kind to each other is in our own best interests! What is more, 'kindness gives birth to kindness' as Sophocles said – so an act of kindness actually improves the health, physical health, of the doer – and of the receiver if that receiver also does likewise.
You are right to be sceptical. You are right to want something more than spiritual, loving theory.
So here you go – proven, verifiable, scientific FACT:
read the full scientific article here
"My religion is very simple. My religion is kindness". Dalai Lama
I hope, whatever your religion or non-religion, that your heart will be healthy during this Christmas period and throughout the coming years.
"….minds resort to conspiracy theory because it is the ultimate refuge of the powerless. If you cannot change your own life, it must be that some greater force controls the world."
Roger Cohen
picture via
It is well for us all to remember that the vast majority of Western-based Muslims are
as horrified by this development as we are. It would be good to know how many
innocent Muslims were actually in Drottninggatan at or around that time.
The fact that a so –called Jidadist website web-site claims the 'lone'(?) bomber was
acting on behalf of Al-Quaeda is simply that – a claim. It appears the man so far
identified was also of exceptionally high moral and religious character – married
with 2 children he nevertheless was to be found on the ' Muslima dating website'.
.
So, just to be sure we understand, the Q'ran expressly forbids the murder of innocents.
This was no more a religious act than climbing everest proves the world is flat.
The actions of an emotionally or psychologically disoriented individual do not
represent any recognisable tenets of a true religion – if those actions are without
love, they have nothing to do with God.
A true religion – and it's leaders – finds ways to heal wounds and and not create more pain.
Well, I've been around now for over 6 decades cascading through this amazing kaleidoscope of experiencing that we call 'life'.
Just occasionally, roughly about once a decade or so, there comes amongst us someone who so pushes the boundaries of our possibilities that we are staggered to see just what the human spirit is capable of doing with the energy factory we call the body.
So, check this decade-inspiring 8 year old out:
Now, if he can train his mind, body, reflexes, to do a thing like this…….and he's only 8 years old…..
what do you think we could create in this world with all our loving energy if we had his dedication?
a thousand thanks anjelolildemon.
I hope I have the joy of watching you over the coming years – you are an inspiration :)
.
now that the picture posting problem is resolved (with thanks for help to new Katney)
as I said earlier in this blog, it's amazing how helpful people can be – simply for the joy of helping and seeking no other recompense
"Question: Can your loneliness fill another's loneliness?
Question: Can an empty glass fill another empty glass?
Question: Can your sense of being unwanted fill another persons want?
Question: If you cannot love yourself, how can you expect that someone
else can love you? Is that not an unfair and unrealistic demand
upon another?
Question: If you do love yourself, if you really know who and what you are,
is not your primary motivation to give out 'the lovingness' rather
than to concern yourself with receiving from another? Is not this
the way of Christ, of the Bhudda, the Dalai Lama, Gandhi and others
we regard as 'spiritual greats' that have walked the earth?
Question: If you lack 'self respect' how can you expect others to respect you?
Question: If you make yourself less than you are, why be surprised when
others treat you as less?
Question: why do you seek from the outside an awareness that can only
be found on the inside?"
gg
I am waiting for answers from Google/Picasa about the missing pictures
I have been made aware that most of the pictures on this blog have suddenly disappeared…
the matter is being investigated
"For what is it to love if only discord be our course,
and to what city of contentment shall we journey
if the stars of forgiveness do not point our way".
excerpt from the poem "Hol Hermitage" , Geoffrey Groom
"
and they said to me 'write'
and I asked 'of what shall I write?'
They answered 'write words that inspire us, lift us to higher, nobler things.'
I asked 'do you want the words as a scripture, as a story, as a poem, or simply as a child speaking?'
Now there followed much discussion, much heated argument about respecting traditions or interpreting meanings or having regard to this or that sensibility or establishing the historicity of the words or the burden of responsibility in translating or………..
Meanwhile, with the cannon cacophony of their doubtless well intentioned but grossly heated disputes receding in my consciousness like the dying groans of thunder as the sun broke through, I began writing…….
love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love
In my life I have not yet finished writing……….
"
gg
"We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them".
Albert Einstein
What's true for seeing colour is also true for seeing form and shape. In fact it's true about everything we see. When you look at this image, you are aware of two very differently sized tables.
So why do they look so different? Because your brain takes the image on the retina and creates what it sees according to what the information would have meant in the brain's past experience of interacting with the world.
…………………………………………………………………………………..
Now, doesn't that make you think about what is taught to children?
No wonder it is written 'the sins of the father are visited upon the sons'
A pessimist sees only the dark side of the clouds, and mopes;
a philosopher sees both sides, and shrugs;
an optimist doesn't see the clouds at all - he's walking on them.
Joseph Olupot in Arua, Uganda, writes:
"It is thrilling to see the valuable lives of people being rescued after such a long time of hopelessness and desolation. I could not contain my happiness. I am delighted. I join the Chileans in celebrating." via
Dan Lundmark from Long Beach, US tweets:
"Awesome watching Chilean miners rescued and reunited with family, after months trapped 700m underground, on my birthday! What a gift." via
erhem! Maybe the world wide rejoicing at this incredible rescue where a nation has illuminated the importance of 1 human life…. may help others to come to a similar comprehension……
“So go about life condemning none, but looking kindly and with love upon all; hold no harsh thought even about a so-called enemy.
In truth, no man can really be your enemy, all are your teachers; and when you are tempted to feel injured or resentful because of some apparent injustice, look first within yourself and ask, "What has this to show me, what have I to learn from this?" In time truth will reveal itself, so that instead of thinking antagonistically you will be able to say, "Thank you, brother, for you have taught me much, and helped me".
The other person's motive is not your business”
White Eagle
"Love cannot endure indifference. It needs to be wanted. Like a lamp, it needs to be fed out of the oil of another's heart, or its flame burns low".
A secular court has now made a judgement about this disputed 'holy' site.
In essence the three protagonist parties will share the site.
Once again we see secular society teaching ethics and morality to 'old religions'.
If only these 'religious' participants could have embraced 'One-ness' and come to the decision to share the site themselves.
What difference would it have made?
2,000 lives difference!
There is nothing 'holy' about a 'religious' site that has claimed 2,000 lives upon the altar of hate!
Here is what was said on this blog on 5th March 2002……. read Afsana's story, a 15 year old. Read it and marvel, as I do, at such lovingness from a child.
It were better if all three of the protagonists 'religions' in this case agreed to utilise the disputed land to erect a memorial to all those who died – and spent the rest of their lives praying daily there for the souls of the murdered innocents.
Ayodhya is the Indian word for 'shame'….if it wasn't before, it is now!
"the way Sir Willoughby continues to speak through the answers of other characters, returning to notice their replies only when his own vein of thought is exhausted" is a "wonderful observation of human speech"
Angus Wilson commenting upon George Meredith's tragicomical novel, The Egoist.
It doesn't really matter what religion you are – or if you have no religious beliefs at all.
Whether we meditate or pray
But in these coming hours let us all set aside some moments to send out our loving and peaceful thoughts/prayers/meditations for a resolution of this desperate problem
It is time for LOVE and PEACE to begin to resolve this Middle East wound which has stubbornly refused to be healed for so very, very, very long.
We, the world, sincerely request and desire that all parties involved will find an honourable, respectful and peaceful method….
to save the children of the future.
"There are in all religions essentially only 3 types of persons:
1. Those who always look to others to tell them the words. Studying the words themselves
implies too much effort. For these any 'confrontation with a Godly presence is emotionally satisfying but is often regarded as a mere coincidence'.
2. Those who study and know the words. Intellectually. They are 'libraries of knowledge' able, at any moment, to recite an appropriate verse or text. For them such studies are emotionally rewarding and intellectually appealing, whilst hiding in the thoughts of others they have no need to deal with real spiritual life situations or with themselves. They are exceptionally skilled at steering group 1.
3. Those who have gone beyond the words, the metaphors, the traditions and whose hearts have welcomed the deepest meaning of the words. For these 'the word has become flesh' These are easily recognisable, for they speak little with words. Their loving eyes shout their awareness of one-ness. Their compassionate actions (without requiring 3rd party recognition or reward) manifest a living faith and a loving religion. Their example, once observed, does not seek to lead others, yet in the beauty of it's lovingness others awaken to their own beauty.
Yet all have their unique and precious place within the totality of one-ness. Each 'group' helps us to 'know and love ourselves and thus know and love all others'...and those 'steps of understanding' are the stairway to heaven".
gg
"In 1972 Pope Paul VI said, 'Satan's smoke has made its way into the temple of God...' Now, as we enter the third millennium, it is no longer 'smoke' but a raging fire. Catholicism is in the throes of the worst crisis in its entire history." - Fr. John Hardon, S.J., Introduction to The Marian Catechist
What crisis? Ah, you can get a glimpse if you Google Cardinal Sodano who, according to CatholicHerald.co.uk is " a catastrophe waiting to happen"
And all this time you were thinking I was anti-catholic, huh? Read again what Pope Paul VI says……
I am 'anti' any religion or persons in 'positions of religious authority' who seek to abuse the peoples of the world, the 'children of the One God', with lies, hypocrisy, manipulation, fraud, embezzlement, murder, rape, mutilation…or anything else that does not respect the individualism created by the One God or honour the sanctity of life..
To be 'anti' is not too hate, it is to love your brother/sister enough to help them see the log that is in your own eye, so that they may better find the speck that is in their eye.
In this apparently PR dominated world it is often difficult to really know what persons in powerful positions are actually saying…and meaning.
I remember from my youth a film " The shoes of the Fisherman" where a fictionalised powerful man actually DID mean what he said…..
Anthony Quinn played the lead role…along with many, many top-rate actors/actresses at the time. Of course, a 1968 film may seem a little lacking in CGI or even violence/sex……but if you have any interest in 'non-marginalised religious/ethical actions' it's worth watching……especially if you are interested in moral actions that create scandal because they are so moral – as opposed to the opposite margin.
Courtesy of IMDB you may be able to watch a trailer HERE
"….adherents of a given religion, like everyone else, focus on things that confirm their attitudes and ignore things that don’t. And they carry that tunnel vision into their own scripture; if there is hatred in their hearts, they’ll fasten onto the hateful parts of scripture, but if there’s not, they won’t. That’s why American Muslims of good will can describe Islam simply as a religion of love. They see the good parts of scripture, and either don’t see the bad or have ways of minimizing it.
So too with people who see in the Bible a loving and infinitely good God. They can maintain that view only by ignoring or downplaying parts of their scripture.
For example, there are those passages where God hands out the death sentence to infidels. In Deuteronomy, the Israelites are told to commit genocide — to destroy nearby peoples who worship the wrong Gods, and to make sure to kill all men, women and children."
Robert Wright (amongst other things has taught philosophy at Princeton and religion at the University of Pennsylvania).
"religious bodies - including institutions linked to the Catholic Church - need to be free to act in accordance with their own principles and specific convictions based upon the faith and the official teaching of the Church"
Pope Benedict XVI, speaking at Westminster Hall, London on 17 Sept 2010.
In an interesting, if somewhat intellectual, analysis of the roles between religion and State, the Pope bemoaned the 'marginalisation of religion" in modern societies. Within the speech were the above words.
Freedom of religion is a precious and deeply treasured aspect of most modern democracies – yet that freedom is moderated by the requirement to honour and uphold the moral and/or ethical standards within a society as manifest by laws that protect human rights.
'Marginalisation' is nothing more or less than the refusal of society, and the peoples that constitute society, to accept a lower standard of behaviour from religious organisations than is required, practised and manifest within secular society.
Freedom to act within a religion pre-supposes a basic fundamental of respect for others. This is integral in Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, etc.etc. Time after time in ancient writings of any and all of these religions the same message is found – behave towards others as you wish them to behave towards you.
As has been observed before on this blog, society is now teaching ethics and morality to the major religions. For as long as that continues – and the major religions continue to espouse outdated and immoral standards of human rights – for this long shall the major religions continue to be marginalised.
"She had a wonderful sense of humour. I learned from her that the highest forms of understanding we can achieve are laughter and human compassion."
Richard Feynman, Nobel Prizewinner 1965 in Physics (jointly with Julian Schwinger and Sin-Itiro Tomonaga) talking about his mother.
"Sincerity is the luxury allowed, like diadems and authority, only to the highest rank.
Every man alone is sincere.
At the entrance of a second person, hypocrisy begins"
It kind of reminds me that as children we all have an innocence of faith/belief…. and then we fill ourselves with other people's experiences/ideas/concepts….so that by the time we are 30 years old, we have become fairly expert at making all the conceptual permutations that are necessary to allow us to do whatever we want, say whatever we want,….always claiming to be part of the 'peer group'.
There is a general misunderstanding about 'old religious texts'. General simply because most people are busy getting on with their lives and have little time for in-depth study, Form Criticism or Higher Criticism researches occupy much time…so unless you are unemployed or long-term sick, you are unlikely to devote a lot of time to such researches.
For these reasons 'sound-byte religion' has become the norm at the end of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century.
So, check out this article which looks at some of the 'mirror settings' that can take a sacred text and severely alter or obscure it's intended meaning:
He said, "To do unto all men as you would wish to have done unto you, and to reject for others what you would reject for yourself."
Change the name of the religion, it doesn't really matter……some beautiful truths are universal.
Not everyone is trying to get headlines and attention by extreme actions – like terrorist activities or Burning Korans or complaining about new religious building a few blocks away from 'ground zero'..
CLICK HERE to have the full story about this inter-faith community in Memphis.
In these true events you can actually begin to understand the concept of 'the ONE GOD'
Ok. So we thought the Catholic Church had a pretty bad past on this subject. They are now paying the price in lost respect, revulsion and decline.
But as has been mentioned in this blog before, many 'religious organisations' are also revealed to be lacking in this morality. As has also been mentioned here, Islam – with it's seperate and warring clans and groups (Sunnis, Shia, Wahabbi, Alawites, Taleban, etc.etc.etc.) – is no stranger to Paedophilia. However, most of the time this is presented as isolated incidents in modern life, or in the past.
So, take a look at modern Syria – where the government has actually removed 1000 teachers who wore the niquab – and read about recent 'proposed revisions' to State Law:
"…as a concession to Islamists, …..…a proposed rewrite of Syria’s personal status law, which governs civil matters, leaked last year, retained provisions that made it legal for men to marry girls as young as 13 years old"
Oh Dear, Islam…..between the BACHA BAZI in Afghanistan and proposed laws like this in Syria……and your reliance upon ethical and moral standards of more than 1000 years ago……you set a poor example in this modern world
Time to modernise………?
