Hunger is my native place < Markings > 01/22 07:34:28
Hunger is my native place in the land of passions. Hunger for fellowship, hunger for righteousness--for a fellowship founded on righteousness, and a righteousness attained in fellowship.
Only life can satisfy the demands of life. And this hunger of mine can be satisfied for the simple reason that the nature of life is such that I can realize my individuality by becoming a bridge for others, a stone in the temple of righteousness.
Don't be afraid of yourself, live your individuality to the full--but for the good of others. Don't copy others in order to buy fellowship, or make convention your law instead of living the righteousness.
To become free and responsible. For this alone was man created, and he who fails to take the Way which could have been his shall be lost eternally.
Dag Hammarskjold
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Who Is Worthy of Honor?
There is a direct connection between the ego's insistent but unquenchable craving for honor and that critical mind state in which we stand ourselves in fierce judgment over others, even to the extent of the extent of shaming them. We judge and criticize other people in a mistaken expression of the desire we have for love and honor for ourselves. The wisdom of tradition tells us that when we act like this, we've got the whole thing backward. Ben Zoma ask: "Who is worthy of honor?" And he answers: "The one who treats others with honor." And elsewhere the rabbis caution: "those who endeavor to gain honor at the price of another person being degraded have no portion in the World-to-Come.
From Everyday Holiness: By Alan Morinis.
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
One Hundred Ways To Live A Better Life
This came from Dragos Roua – The Choice of a Personal Path
He put a lot of work into this list, I'm sure it will be of help to someone.
1. Accept Your Mistakes
You’re human. We, humans, are making mistakes. Accept what you did wrong and try to do better next time. No need to punish yourself forever. In fact, accepting your mistakes is the only way to make them disappear.
2. Accept Your Friends Mistakes
Maybe you got hurt by somebody. Happens. Just accept it and deal with it. People are making mistakes and if you can accept that for yourself, accept it for your friends too. In the end, all you need from them is their love.
3. Create A New Habit
We’re doing a lot of stuff on autopilot. Try to integrate in this category new things you want to attract into your life. Habits are powerful. Harness their energy for your own good. Start by creating a habit in 15 days.
4. Build Self Discipline
Don’t wait for other people to impose discipline on you. Start early. Create your own discipline. Although it sounds a little bit harsh, self discipline is a facilitator for many things in your life. It’s hard to get but great to have.
5. Make New Friends
Reach out. Don’t be afraid. Establish new contacts. The worst thing that may happen to you is to be rejected. Well, if that’s the case, move on. The reward of having true, long-lasting friendship is worth all the potential rejection.
6. Get A New Job
Shaking your comfort zone will often create a lot of value in your life. If you’re not satisfied with your job, just get a new one. The pitfall of not having money for a limited period of time is temporary, get over it.
7. Start A New Diet
You are, in a vast proportion, what you eat. Trying a new diet would often be the only needed change for a dramatic boost of your health and energy. Don’t necessarily have to be raw food, or even vegetarian, whatever works for you.
8. Keep A Journal
Write down you feelings, your ideas, your goals, your activity. Journaling is by far one of the most useful things I’ve done to change my life for the best. It works in such a silent, yet effective way. All you need is pen and paper.
9. Create And Keep A Morning Phrase
Whatever you say to yourself in the morning, it will most likely come true during the day. Why not taking advantage of it? Create a simple morning phrase and say it to yourself first thing in the morning. Is that simple.
10. Travel Far Away From Your Home
Traveling long distance is incredibly rewarding. It’s so exciting and full with unknown events. I only recently started to travel really far away from my home, but I do wonder how could I ever made it until now without this.
11. Learn To Take Risks
Your life may be so boring and fade because… err, you made it like this? When was the last time your tried something really difficult? When was the last time you challenged the odds doing something risky? Do it now.
12. Start Your Own Business
Be your own boss. Work your own hours. I know, it sounds so shallow, for you, who hate your job but still have to stay there because of that mortgage. Well, unless you make the first step, nothing is going to change. That’s for sure.
13. Change Your Work Space
Clean up your desk. Re-arrange furniture. Add some color to that space. Make the place where you work really enjoyable. So enjoyable that work there won’t be perceived as work anymore. It will be something you love to do.
14. Learn A New Language
Challenge your mind. Constantly. If you’re going to do number 10, you’re going to learn some new languages too. From my experience, learning a new language is a fantastic mind opener. Sometimes you don’t even have to travel there.
15. Find Reasons To Agree
Rather than disagree. We have this mindset of competition which makes constantly arguing over things. Well, stop that. You don’t have to force yourself into agreement, if it’s not the case, just trying to find some reasons will be enough.
16. Pay Yourself First
You can’t give something if you don’t have it. You can’t spread light onto others if you don’t have light from within. You can’t give wealth to others if you don’t have it for yourself first. Make yourself a service and pay yourself first.
17. Wake Up Early
This is not a habit, this is a lifestyle. Don’t just wake up early without a purpose. Be early. Be there before others. Look for opportunities and embrace them. Waking up early means keeping your eye open to every available opportunity.
18. Train Your Focus
Your focus is in fact your reality. Use it wisely. Train it constantly for it will enhance your reality in ways you never imagined. Keep your focus sharp as a razor blade and be prepared to experience life in fantastic shapes and colors.
19. Start A Blog
On whatever topic you want. Not only it will give you the opportunity to create something new and valuable but it will also bring new people into your life. Blogging is far more than a hype, is a personal development tool. A very good one.
20. Write An Ebook
You may think you don’t have a talent, but that’s completely wrong. And the easiest way to prove it wrong is to start writing an ebook. Any ebook. You pick the topic. It might be something you know or want to learn about. Write it. It’s fun.
21. Be Better, Not Perfect
Striving too much for perfection will ruin your life. It will wipe out all those little imperfections which are making you… human. Being better, on the other side, is rewarding. Look back at the yesterday you and just say: I’m better!
22. Stop Self Sabotage
You’ll be surprised by how much of a burden you can be to yourself. You are literally self sabotaging. Most of the time, unconsciously. If you have a long history of failure behind, that could mean you’ve become your worst enemy. Stop it.
23. Find Reasons To Love Your Life
Maybe life wasn’t fair with you. Yes, I know, I’ve been there: life is never fair. But it’s fantastic. It’s unique, unrepeatable, one of a kind, beautiful, simple, challenging, sweet, hard… Just take a step back and find reasons to love your life.
24. Try Something New
Maybe you’re sad because you’re bored. Have you ever thought about that? Just reach out and try something completely new. Go for a challenge, learn a new sport, pick a different restaurant or go for a comedy movie (if you’re the drama type). Just try it.
25. Avoid Fighting
Fighting is the biggest energy leak of your being. Trying to prove another guy wrong is so against your true nature. You’re here to acknowledge life’s wonders, not to prove anybody’s wrong. They’re not wrong, just have different opinions. And that’s part of life.
26. Stop Wasting Your Power
Are you doing something that you think you shouldn’t be doing right now? Well, that’s wasted power. That’s meaningless stuff promoted to the honor of being a part of your life. How long are you going to approve this? Why wasting power?
27. Learn To Ignore
I think they should be teaching this one in schools. We’re so focused on so many topics and think we have to do so many stuff, that our life is literally clogged with stuff. It’s good to do stuff, but learning to ignore stuff is much better.
28. Experiment Gratitude
When was the last time you said “thank you”? With all your heart? Everybody knows that an attitude of gratitude is the key to success, but almost nobody practices it. Well, start by experience gratitude first, and take it from there.
29. Recycle Your Aggression
Don’t throw it away, recycle it! Use it for something you really want! Call out those wild forces inside of you and put them to work. Aggression is part of your being, so don’t try to reject it, because it will only grow stronger. Recycle your aggression.
30. Release Your Guardians
Don’t touch that! Don’t eat that! Don’t go for that opportunity! Those are the sentences you hear when going for something you really want. Those are your guardians, your mental constructs made to protect you. Release them, you’ll be much better off.
31. Clean Up Your House
It’s fun. And it’s good for you. Make a habit out of cleaning up your house with joy and happiness. What’s outside is a mirror of what’s inside. If your house is a mess, probably your internal life is a disaster. Neat that stuff, it’s easy.
32. Write A Personal Mission Statement
You’re here with a reason. No matter how small you feel now, how insignificant others may made you feel, you have a purpose. Take the time to write your personal mission statement. It will bring light and direction into your life.
33. Dissolve Negative Opinions About Yourself
Whatever you think you may do, it’s half of what you can really do. And that’s because you have so many negative opinions about yourself. You can solve them. Just accept the fact that you have them and then start working on them.
34. Build Different Skills
Don’t stop learning. Don’t remain stuck in a single career, it’s boring and limiting. Learn different skills, possibly from completely unrelated fields. You never know when life will ask you to use them. Besides, it’s a lot of fun.
35. Manage Your Time As You Manage Your Money
Have you ever thought what would be if you would manage your time the same way you manage your money? Just give it a try. See where you spend most of your time, what the return of investment is and how rich are you in time.
36. Exercise
You don’t have to break the world record, or something. Just make sure you exercise constantly. It will make your body healthier and your mind clearer. It’s also one of the simplest and most affordable ways to improve your life.
37. Be A Parent
Having kids doesn’t necessarily means you’re a parent, and I know that very well. Being a parent will surely change your life forever: filling it with unconditional, life lasting love, care and warm feelings. You’ll live in love. And learn.
38. Throw Away One Object A Day From Your House
Maybe your life is breathing so hard just because it’s suffocated by objects. Learn to let them go. You may donate them, give to charity or simply throw them away, but don’t let the clutter stay in your way. You’re not the objects you have.
39. Read A Book Per Week
Or, alternatively, a fine selection of blogs. That will keep your mind alert and your focus steady. Reading is like good food for your brain, without it, it will go lazy, obese and unresponsive. But with the proper food it can become your best friend.
40. Start A Monthly Challenge
Being it physical, mental or social. Intend to acquire something new in your life in 30 days. Improve your health using new methods, or your relationships by starting new things together. Make it count. And count on it.
41. Call An Old Friend
It’s enlightening to meet somebody you haven’t talk to in the last years. Go right now and call an old friend, or a relative. It will bring up memories and it will create new opportunities. Don’t let the dust settle on your relationships.
42. Follow A Coincidence
Well, there aren’t any coincidences, I lied. Everything has a purpose. If you witness something which may seem like a coincidence, then you’re very lucky, you just got a sign. Follow it with trust, it will lead you well.
43. Play A Game
Any game. Just play. Like a child. Allow yourself to do something just for fun, without any goals, pressures or deadlines. Will make you understand that everything is a game. Sometimes a little bit harder, but still a game..
44. Forgive Somebody Out Of The Blue
Don’t hold that grudge for that past insult. Grudges are heavy and tend to make the take off for a new life a little bit difficult. The longer you hold that grudge, the more difficult the take off will be. Forgiveness will lift you off.
45. Stop Solving The Wrong Problems
You are not here to witness the bad things in your life. Nor the performance in itself. You are here to enjoy a journey. To become aware, To grow. So, stop solving the wrong problem and focus on what really matters.
46. Make Peace With An Old Enemy
That’s more than forgiveness, that’s the actual process of reversing a situation. Make peace with somebody. Turn it into your friend. I’m not saying this is easy, I know it first hand. But I also know it works. Enemies count down, friends count up.
47. Make A Promise To A Close Person And Keep It
It doesn’t have to be something big. It doesn’t have to be for someone special. It doesn’t have to be difficult also. But it has to be a commitment to somebody. Just reach out, make a promise, keep it and then enjoy the feeling after.
48. Break Up With A Person You Don’t Really Like
Maybe you’re friend with somebody just by habit, chemistry being dead for a long time now. Just break it up. Tell him. Ok, let’s unfriend us, this will not work. It will bring up something you thought you lost it long ago: courage.
49. Get A Thing You Wanted For A Long Time
But you didn’t had time or money to get it. Just go out and get it. Not only it will boost your self-respect, but it will also free your desire channel, which may be a little bit clogged by having one and only one desire for such a long time.
50. Stop Being Judgemental
With others AND with you. Excessive criticism will kill your enthusiasm. And if you think this post is something you shouldn’t read in the first place, then, my friend, you really are judgemental. Lighten up. Accept life as it is.
51. Change Your Wardrobe
You don’t know how much are you tied to what you wear. If you’re on the gray loving side, put some color in your clothes. If you’re on the black and white, try some gradients. Of course, your clothes are not you. Hence, they’re so easy to change, right?
52. Smile At Least 10 Times A Day
And I mean it, start to count that. Smiling is a sign of honesty and power. Everybody can cry over a disaster but only the most powerful can take bitterness with a smile. Exercise that power. And then try to go for 20 times a day.
53. Burn Some Old Memories
Maybe the notebook from your 7th grade? Maybe the teenage dumb poetry you wrote? Whatever it might be, break up. It might be difficult, but it might also be a sign that you’re so attached to the past that you can’t advance in your life anymore.
54. Plant A Tree
Or take care of a flower. Do it for at least several months. It will give you a sense of potential. Seeing that tree or that flower growing will make your self-confidence go up. If a flower can make it, why can’t I? Of course you can, now do it!
55. Move To Another Town Or Country
Maybe it’s time to change the environment? Take the plunge, move over. Pick another town or even another country. Like all the good stuff, it might be pretty difficult in the beginning, but you can bet it would shake everything really good!
56. Join A New Group
Go to a bikers meeting. Or, if you’re not a biker, to a toastmaster meeting. Join a group and see how you fit in. It will help if the group will be focused on some of your passions, of course. It will reveal a lot about your social skills.
57. Stop Watching TV
Television evolved a lot from the balanced news provider it was in the beginning up to the current manipulating tool. Just stop watching it for a week. And then for a month. Meanwhile, assess your psychological progress. You may be amazed.
58. Start A Totally Unexpected Hobby
Start making trains out of matches. Raise cobras. Put tiny vessels into tiny bottles. Do whatever it takes to move your mind from your problems for a while. And if you can create something nice in the process, why not doing it?
59. Randomly Hug A Stranger On The Street
Ok, this might be a little bit dangerous, but only if you think at it. If you’re doing it, chances are that you’re going to get your hug back. It will also help raising your adrenaline up to levels you never had for a very long time.
60. Set Up A Surprise Party
For your or for a friend. It’s always good for your mood, even if – or especially if – you’re down. Do a thematic one, invite friends and tell them to bring their friends. And then expect to meet new, wonderful persons. And of course, have fun.
61. Go Hiking
Do it for at least one week-end. Nature is more powerful than our human created environment. We don’t know how to channel the energy into our artificial habitats. If you want to recharge, go outside and stay in connection with the wilderness.
62. Get A Pet
Whatever works for you, a bird, a guinea pig, a dog or a cat. It will keep you alert and it will cheer you up when you’re down. Taking care of a pet is also easier if you’re overwhelmed with human interaction. Even from a pet, love is still love.
63. Write A Thank You Letter
You can send it or not, the real catch is to write it. Pick someone who helped you in the past. Start writing the letter and say everything you want to say to that person. It will make you understand what are you really grateful for in your life.
64. Meditate Daily
It’s the easiest thing you can do. True mediation acts like a mind emptier, leaving you open to the whole flow of the sensations and experiences you would otherwise ignore. You don’t even need a complicated technique, meditate as you see fit.
65. Say Something Nice To Somebody
Just like that. Out of the blue. Pick an unknown person and say something nice. After the initial surprise you’ll be amazed by the unmasked joy and gratitude they’re expressing. Admit it: you would like that too, isn’t it?
66. Say Something Nice To You
Ok, but if nobody is telling you nice things, why not start this yourself? Do it in whatever form you think it’s appropriate: send yourself emails, write in your calendar or leave yourself nice postits on the desk. With something nice just for you.
67. When I Doubt, Improvise
Being so scared for not knowing the answer, so nervouse that you may screw thins up… I know the feeling, I’ve been there too. Just go with the flow. Improvise. It will be so good for your unconscious mind. The real answer will be surprising.
68. Don’t Argue, Win Or Lose
This goes hand in hand with avoiding the fight, but it’s a little bit different. If you get caught in an argument, just accept that you can have only two outcomes from it: win or lose. Settle with one and just move on.
69. Stop Faking Your Life
It’s so easy to get caught in a flow of fakes. Society wants us to politely lie and you need to lie sometimes. Just stop it. Being authentic is the best thing you can do. No need to hide your sorrow, nor your joy. They’re both part of life.
70. Define Goals
Again, that goes hand in hand with writing a personal mission but it’s more than that. It’s the habit of clearly deciding – and, subsequently, describing – where you want to go. Do you have a goal? A passion, maybe? Go for it! And be verbose.
71. Help Others
Reach out and try to see if you can help others. You don’t have to be a Samaritan, just go out there and support somebody. The biggest trick of helping is really surprising: although it seems you’re giving, you’re in fact receiving a lot more.
72. Go Social
Mingle, interact, go out. Get used to meet new people. Make this a habit and you’ll soon get used to do new things too. The goal is not to be the best networker in the world, but to be connected to as many energy sources as you can get.
73. Spend Some Time Alone
Subsequently, make sure you set aside enough time for your own. You don’t necessarily need to recharge, but you need this time in order to get a new perspective. Stop for a while and look around. Where are you? Where do you want to be?
74. Fix Something By Yourself
Go fix a broken window, or a scratch on your car. Don’t call for a specialist, get involved, see how you can have an impact on things around you. Work with your hands, prepare to sweat. It will instantly make you feel better.
75. Create Value
Make things that others need too. Make something useful. Don’t follow blind or outdated commitments, go for what really makes a change around you. Creating value is the core of your activity here and the only thing you really have to strive for.
76. Do A Random Act Of Kindness
Doesn’t have to be in the form of a nice compliment this time. You don’t even need to communicate it to the target person. Just do an incognito service to someone. See how this makes you feel. Think how many times you received that.
77. One More Second
Create the habit of looking at things for one more second. Spend one more second before taking an important decision. Delay something. Time will follow your intention and open some unexpected window for you. Slow it down a little.
78. Understand What People Want From You
What you can do is not always what people want from you. Clearing that confusion alone could bring an immense relief to your life. You don’t have to immediately provide what they’re wanting, but if you do, you may have some big surprises.
79. Break An Old Bad Habit
Breaking a bad habit is difficult. But breaking an old bad habit will free an incredible amount of time into your life. Quit smoking or stop talking on the phone for hours. Whatever you break, it will change your life for the best.
80. Stop Complaining
Complaining is like an open invitation for troubles. The more you complain about something, the more of that something you invite into your life. Cut it out. You don’t get any comfort out of complaining, only troubles.
81. Reject What You Don’t Want
It’s so simple, yet so underrated. Society wants us to complain even when we don’t really like stuff. Like forcing us to smile when we don’t find it funny. Allow yourself to walk away from something you don’t like. Just do it!
82. Being Is Better Than Having
Too much and too often we shape our life’s fulfillment degree to the amount we possess. The fundamental mistake. If you’re doing it, stop it right now. You’re not what you’re having. Being is so much better than having.
83. Listen To Your Critics
This one might be difficult in the beginning but once you get used to it it’s fantastic. You may find out a lot of stuff about yourself that you didn’t know about. You think you are one kind of person, but others may disagree.
84. Don’t Take It Personally
Never. Your world is shaped by your reaction to things, not by the things themselves. Don’t get upset, don’t think that somebody knows you enough to make right assumptions about you. Acknowledge and move on.
85. Laugh
This time is not about smiling. It’s about laughing. Don’t you ever miss another opportunity to laugh. Especially at yourself. The longer your laughing sessions, the shorter your misery ones. Looks like a nice deal, isn’t it?
86. Go With Passion
Don’t let your rational mind stand in the way of your passion. If you found – or at least felt, even occasionally – something that thrills you, you’re there. You don’t need a confirmation on this from anybody. Go with your passion.
87. Trust Your Emotions
Don’t underestimate your emotions. Or overestimate them. Your emotions are your feed-back system and for that they are very important. Trying to ignore your emotions is like depriving yourself from lights in a car running in the middle of the night.
88. Live It Like A Holiday
Ever observed how nice you feel during your holiday? How light, joyful and authentic? Everything is just wonderful. Well, you are on a continuous holiday here. It starts with your birth and end with your death. Live it like a holiday.
89. Make A Story Out Of It
Do you like a good story? I love it. Make everything in your life story-worthwhile. Make it as it would be a fantastic journey and you will be at all time the observer, the hero and the narrator. Create the story of your life.
90. Stop Being A Follower
Admiring is nice. But being admired is even better. Stop trying to fit in other people’s shoes. Find your own path. If that means breaking up completely your lifestyle, so be it. If you are “like” somebody else you can’t be “like” yourself anymore.
91. Watch Your Beliefs
Your beliefs are not you. But they are shaping your life constantly. You have the power to change them at any point in your existence. But in order to do that, you must first start to observe them, to isolate them, to accept them.
92. Stop Lying
To others and to yourself. Although it might ease a complicated situation, a lie is not good in the long run. The trick is that if you’re telling a lie you’re altering your reality. And a distorted reality will be impossible to handle.
93. Stop Reacting To Stuff
And start acting on stuff. Initiate things. Start projects. Predict situations and be there before the hurricane hits. Reacting to stuff is a victim paradigm. Stop being a victim and start acting. Create your life instead of being the creation of others.
94. Live Today
Not yesterday, not tomorrow. Go for what you can do today and leave yesterday behind for good. It’s not here anymore. And tomorrow doesn’t even exist yet, so why bother. All you have is today. Don’t waste it.
95. Expect The Unexpected
If there’s something unusual that happens to you, go for it. The unexpected is a signal of an opportunity. It will not always be nice, this unexpected, but whenever it’s around, magical things are happening. Wait for it. Praise for it.
96. Enjoy
Like being in joy. Like giving permission to yourself to extract joy from any situation you’re in. Even if it’s bad. Or especially if it’s bad. Joy is everywhere, you just have to let it manifest through you. Don’t resist joy. Don’t reject it.
97. Make Your Own Rules
And stick with them. Go for what works for you, not the others. Go for what you want, not the others. Including me. Make your own system and be proud of it. You may upset some people in the process, but hey, that’s life.
98. Love
Unconditionally. Totally. Constantly. Restlessly. Love is the only glue that keeps your life running. You were born out of love and you carry it deep down in your being. Love is never about the others, it’s about you.
99. Get Rid Of Labels
Things are what they are. Don’t use labels anymore, use directly the things. Your notion of “right” and “wrong” are nothing but labels. In a different country your “right” might be “wrong”. Don’t charge yourself with this unneeded burden.
100. No Regrets
Regretting something is another form of not accepting reality. What you can do about it now? It’s gone. It doesn’t exist anymore. Focus on what you can change: your present moment. Not yesterday, not tomorrow. Now. Live now.
About me
I am a citizen of the world, known by the name Dragos Florin Roua. I’m on a wonderful trip in which I discover, experience, share, seek and create many wonderful worlds. I was born in a country called Romania a while ago, and I don’t know yet when and where I will die. But from some social experience I know that this specific physical trip will end somehow and someday. Between my birth and my death this fantastic journey will spread.
Donate
He put a lot of work into this list, I'm sure it will be of help to someone.
1. Accept Your Mistakes
You’re human. We, humans, are making mistakes. Accept what you did wrong and try to do better next time. No need to punish yourself forever. In fact, accepting your mistakes is the only way to make them disappear.
2. Accept Your Friends Mistakes
Maybe you got hurt by somebody. Happens. Just accept it and deal with it. People are making mistakes and if you can accept that for yourself, accept it for your friends too. In the end, all you need from them is their love.
3. Create A New Habit
We’re doing a lot of stuff on autopilot. Try to integrate in this category new things you want to attract into your life. Habits are powerful. Harness their energy for your own good. Start by creating a habit in 15 days.
4. Build Self Discipline
Don’t wait for other people to impose discipline on you. Start early. Create your own discipline. Although it sounds a little bit harsh, self discipline is a facilitator for many things in your life. It’s hard to get but great to have.
5. Make New Friends
Reach out. Don’t be afraid. Establish new contacts. The worst thing that may happen to you is to be rejected. Well, if that’s the case, move on. The reward of having true, long-lasting friendship is worth all the potential rejection.
6. Get A New Job
Shaking your comfort zone will often create a lot of value in your life. If you’re not satisfied with your job, just get a new one. The pitfall of not having money for a limited period of time is temporary, get over it.
7. Start A New Diet
You are, in a vast proportion, what you eat. Trying a new diet would often be the only needed change for a dramatic boost of your health and energy. Don’t necessarily have to be raw food, or even vegetarian, whatever works for you.
8. Keep A Journal
Write down you feelings, your ideas, your goals, your activity. Journaling is by far one of the most useful things I’ve done to change my life for the best. It works in such a silent, yet effective way. All you need is pen and paper.
9. Create And Keep A Morning Phrase
Whatever you say to yourself in the morning, it will most likely come true during the day. Why not taking advantage of it? Create a simple morning phrase and say it to yourself first thing in the morning. Is that simple.
10. Travel Far Away From Your Home
Traveling long distance is incredibly rewarding. It’s so exciting and full with unknown events. I only recently started to travel really far away from my home, but I do wonder how could I ever made it until now without this.
11. Learn To Take Risks
Your life may be so boring and fade because… err, you made it like this? When was the last time your tried something really difficult? When was the last time you challenged the odds doing something risky? Do it now.
12. Start Your Own Business
Be your own boss. Work your own hours. I know, it sounds so shallow, for you, who hate your job but still have to stay there because of that mortgage. Well, unless you make the first step, nothing is going to change. That’s for sure.
13. Change Your Work Space
Clean up your desk. Re-arrange furniture. Add some color to that space. Make the place where you work really enjoyable. So enjoyable that work there won’t be perceived as work anymore. It will be something you love to do.
14. Learn A New Language
Challenge your mind. Constantly. If you’re going to do number 10, you’re going to learn some new languages too. From my experience, learning a new language is a fantastic mind opener. Sometimes you don’t even have to travel there.
15. Find Reasons To Agree
Rather than disagree. We have this mindset of competition which makes constantly arguing over things. Well, stop that. You don’t have to force yourself into agreement, if it’s not the case, just trying to find some reasons will be enough.
16. Pay Yourself First
You can’t give something if you don’t have it. You can’t spread light onto others if you don’t have light from within. You can’t give wealth to others if you don’t have it for yourself first. Make yourself a service and pay yourself first.
17. Wake Up Early
This is not a habit, this is a lifestyle. Don’t just wake up early without a purpose. Be early. Be there before others. Look for opportunities and embrace them. Waking up early means keeping your eye open to every available opportunity.
18. Train Your Focus
Your focus is in fact your reality. Use it wisely. Train it constantly for it will enhance your reality in ways you never imagined. Keep your focus sharp as a razor blade and be prepared to experience life in fantastic shapes and colors.
19. Start A Blog
On whatever topic you want. Not only it will give you the opportunity to create something new and valuable but it will also bring new people into your life. Blogging is far more than a hype, is a personal development tool. A very good one.
20. Write An Ebook
You may think you don’t have a talent, but that’s completely wrong. And the easiest way to prove it wrong is to start writing an ebook. Any ebook. You pick the topic. It might be something you know or want to learn about. Write it. It’s fun.
21. Be Better, Not Perfect
Striving too much for perfection will ruin your life. It will wipe out all those little imperfections which are making you… human. Being better, on the other side, is rewarding. Look back at the yesterday you and just say: I’m better!
22. Stop Self Sabotage
You’ll be surprised by how much of a burden you can be to yourself. You are literally self sabotaging. Most of the time, unconsciously. If you have a long history of failure behind, that could mean you’ve become your worst enemy. Stop it.
23. Find Reasons To Love Your Life
Maybe life wasn’t fair with you. Yes, I know, I’ve been there: life is never fair. But it’s fantastic. It’s unique, unrepeatable, one of a kind, beautiful, simple, challenging, sweet, hard… Just take a step back and find reasons to love your life.
24. Try Something New
Maybe you’re sad because you’re bored. Have you ever thought about that? Just reach out and try something completely new. Go for a challenge, learn a new sport, pick a different restaurant or go for a comedy movie (if you’re the drama type). Just try it.
25. Avoid Fighting
Fighting is the biggest energy leak of your being. Trying to prove another guy wrong is so against your true nature. You’re here to acknowledge life’s wonders, not to prove anybody’s wrong. They’re not wrong, just have different opinions. And that’s part of life.
26. Stop Wasting Your Power
Are you doing something that you think you shouldn’t be doing right now? Well, that’s wasted power. That’s meaningless stuff promoted to the honor of being a part of your life. How long are you going to approve this? Why wasting power?
27. Learn To Ignore
I think they should be teaching this one in schools. We’re so focused on so many topics and think we have to do so many stuff, that our life is literally clogged with stuff. It’s good to do stuff, but learning to ignore stuff is much better.
28. Experiment Gratitude
When was the last time you said “thank you”? With all your heart? Everybody knows that an attitude of gratitude is the key to success, but almost nobody practices it. Well, start by experience gratitude first, and take it from there.
29. Recycle Your Aggression
Don’t throw it away, recycle it! Use it for something you really want! Call out those wild forces inside of you and put them to work. Aggression is part of your being, so don’t try to reject it, because it will only grow stronger. Recycle your aggression.
30. Release Your Guardians
Don’t touch that! Don’t eat that! Don’t go for that opportunity! Those are the sentences you hear when going for something you really want. Those are your guardians, your mental constructs made to protect you. Release them, you’ll be much better off.
31. Clean Up Your House
It’s fun. And it’s good for you. Make a habit out of cleaning up your house with joy and happiness. What’s outside is a mirror of what’s inside. If your house is a mess, probably your internal life is a disaster. Neat that stuff, it’s easy.
32. Write A Personal Mission Statement
You’re here with a reason. No matter how small you feel now, how insignificant others may made you feel, you have a purpose. Take the time to write your personal mission statement. It will bring light and direction into your life.
33. Dissolve Negative Opinions About Yourself
Whatever you think you may do, it’s half of what you can really do. And that’s because you have so many negative opinions about yourself. You can solve them. Just accept the fact that you have them and then start working on them.
34. Build Different Skills
Don’t stop learning. Don’t remain stuck in a single career, it’s boring and limiting. Learn different skills, possibly from completely unrelated fields. You never know when life will ask you to use them. Besides, it’s a lot of fun.
35. Manage Your Time As You Manage Your Money
Have you ever thought what would be if you would manage your time the same way you manage your money? Just give it a try. See where you spend most of your time, what the return of investment is and how rich are you in time.
36. Exercise
You don’t have to break the world record, or something. Just make sure you exercise constantly. It will make your body healthier and your mind clearer. It’s also one of the simplest and most affordable ways to improve your life.
37. Be A Parent
Having kids doesn’t necessarily means you’re a parent, and I know that very well. Being a parent will surely change your life forever: filling it with unconditional, life lasting love, care and warm feelings. You’ll live in love. And learn.
38. Throw Away One Object A Day From Your House
Maybe your life is breathing so hard just because it’s suffocated by objects. Learn to let them go. You may donate them, give to charity or simply throw them away, but don’t let the clutter stay in your way. You’re not the objects you have.
39. Read A Book Per Week
Or, alternatively, a fine selection of blogs. That will keep your mind alert and your focus steady. Reading is like good food for your brain, without it, it will go lazy, obese and unresponsive. But with the proper food it can become your best friend.
40. Start A Monthly Challenge
Being it physical, mental or social. Intend to acquire something new in your life in 30 days. Improve your health using new methods, or your relationships by starting new things together. Make it count. And count on it.
41. Call An Old Friend
It’s enlightening to meet somebody you haven’t talk to in the last years. Go right now and call an old friend, or a relative. It will bring up memories and it will create new opportunities. Don’t let the dust settle on your relationships.
42. Follow A Coincidence
Well, there aren’t any coincidences, I lied. Everything has a purpose. If you witness something which may seem like a coincidence, then you’re very lucky, you just got a sign. Follow it with trust, it will lead you well.
43. Play A Game
Any game. Just play. Like a child. Allow yourself to do something just for fun, without any goals, pressures or deadlines. Will make you understand that everything is a game. Sometimes a little bit harder, but still a game..
44. Forgive Somebody Out Of The Blue
Don’t hold that grudge for that past insult. Grudges are heavy and tend to make the take off for a new life a little bit difficult. The longer you hold that grudge, the more difficult the take off will be. Forgiveness will lift you off.
45. Stop Solving The Wrong Problems
You are not here to witness the bad things in your life. Nor the performance in itself. You are here to enjoy a journey. To become aware, To grow. So, stop solving the wrong problem and focus on what really matters.
46. Make Peace With An Old Enemy
That’s more than forgiveness, that’s the actual process of reversing a situation. Make peace with somebody. Turn it into your friend. I’m not saying this is easy, I know it first hand. But I also know it works. Enemies count down, friends count up.
47. Make A Promise To A Close Person And Keep It
It doesn’t have to be something big. It doesn’t have to be for someone special. It doesn’t have to be difficult also. But it has to be a commitment to somebody. Just reach out, make a promise, keep it and then enjoy the feeling after.
48. Break Up With A Person You Don’t Really Like
Maybe you’re friend with somebody just by habit, chemistry being dead for a long time now. Just break it up. Tell him. Ok, let’s unfriend us, this will not work. It will bring up something you thought you lost it long ago: courage.
49. Get A Thing You Wanted For A Long Time
But you didn’t had time or money to get it. Just go out and get it. Not only it will boost your self-respect, but it will also free your desire channel, which may be a little bit clogged by having one and only one desire for such a long time.
50. Stop Being Judgemental
With others AND with you. Excessive criticism will kill your enthusiasm. And if you think this post is something you shouldn’t read in the first place, then, my friend, you really are judgemental. Lighten up. Accept life as it is.
51. Change Your Wardrobe
You don’t know how much are you tied to what you wear. If you’re on the gray loving side, put some color in your clothes. If you’re on the black and white, try some gradients. Of course, your clothes are not you. Hence, they’re so easy to change, right?
52. Smile At Least 10 Times A Day
And I mean it, start to count that. Smiling is a sign of honesty and power. Everybody can cry over a disaster but only the most powerful can take bitterness with a smile. Exercise that power. And then try to go for 20 times a day.
53. Burn Some Old Memories
Maybe the notebook from your 7th grade? Maybe the teenage dumb poetry you wrote? Whatever it might be, break up. It might be difficult, but it might also be a sign that you’re so attached to the past that you can’t advance in your life anymore.
54. Plant A Tree
Or take care of a flower. Do it for at least several months. It will give you a sense of potential. Seeing that tree or that flower growing will make your self-confidence go up. If a flower can make it, why can’t I? Of course you can, now do it!
55. Move To Another Town Or Country
Maybe it’s time to change the environment? Take the plunge, move over. Pick another town or even another country. Like all the good stuff, it might be pretty difficult in the beginning, but you can bet it would shake everything really good!
56. Join A New Group
Go to a bikers meeting. Or, if you’re not a biker, to a toastmaster meeting. Join a group and see how you fit in. It will help if the group will be focused on some of your passions, of course. It will reveal a lot about your social skills.
57. Stop Watching TV
Television evolved a lot from the balanced news provider it was in the beginning up to the current manipulating tool. Just stop watching it for a week. And then for a month. Meanwhile, assess your psychological progress. You may be amazed.
58. Start A Totally Unexpected Hobby
Start making trains out of matches. Raise cobras. Put tiny vessels into tiny bottles. Do whatever it takes to move your mind from your problems for a while. And if you can create something nice in the process, why not doing it?
59. Randomly Hug A Stranger On The Street
Ok, this might be a little bit dangerous, but only if you think at it. If you’re doing it, chances are that you’re going to get your hug back. It will also help raising your adrenaline up to levels you never had for a very long time.
60. Set Up A Surprise Party
For your or for a friend. It’s always good for your mood, even if – or especially if – you’re down. Do a thematic one, invite friends and tell them to bring their friends. And then expect to meet new, wonderful persons. And of course, have fun.
61. Go Hiking
Do it for at least one week-end. Nature is more powerful than our human created environment. We don’t know how to channel the energy into our artificial habitats. If you want to recharge, go outside and stay in connection with the wilderness.
62. Get A Pet
Whatever works for you, a bird, a guinea pig, a dog or a cat. It will keep you alert and it will cheer you up when you’re down. Taking care of a pet is also easier if you’re overwhelmed with human interaction. Even from a pet, love is still love.
63. Write A Thank You Letter
You can send it or not, the real catch is to write it. Pick someone who helped you in the past. Start writing the letter and say everything you want to say to that person. It will make you understand what are you really grateful for in your life.
64. Meditate Daily
It’s the easiest thing you can do. True mediation acts like a mind emptier, leaving you open to the whole flow of the sensations and experiences you would otherwise ignore. You don’t even need a complicated technique, meditate as you see fit.
65. Say Something Nice To Somebody
Just like that. Out of the blue. Pick an unknown person and say something nice. After the initial surprise you’ll be amazed by the unmasked joy and gratitude they’re expressing. Admit it: you would like that too, isn’t it?
66. Say Something Nice To You
Ok, but if nobody is telling you nice things, why not start this yourself? Do it in whatever form you think it’s appropriate: send yourself emails, write in your calendar or leave yourself nice postits on the desk. With something nice just for you.
67. When I Doubt, Improvise
Being so scared for not knowing the answer, so nervouse that you may screw thins up… I know the feeling, I’ve been there too. Just go with the flow. Improvise. It will be so good for your unconscious mind. The real answer will be surprising.
68. Don’t Argue, Win Or Lose
This goes hand in hand with avoiding the fight, but it’s a little bit different. If you get caught in an argument, just accept that you can have only two outcomes from it: win or lose. Settle with one and just move on.
69. Stop Faking Your Life
It’s so easy to get caught in a flow of fakes. Society wants us to politely lie and you need to lie sometimes. Just stop it. Being authentic is the best thing you can do. No need to hide your sorrow, nor your joy. They’re both part of life.
70. Define Goals
Again, that goes hand in hand with writing a personal mission but it’s more than that. It’s the habit of clearly deciding – and, subsequently, describing – where you want to go. Do you have a goal? A passion, maybe? Go for it! And be verbose.
71. Help Others
Reach out and try to see if you can help others. You don’t have to be a Samaritan, just go out there and support somebody. The biggest trick of helping is really surprising: although it seems you’re giving, you’re in fact receiving a lot more.
72. Go Social
Mingle, interact, go out. Get used to meet new people. Make this a habit and you’ll soon get used to do new things too. The goal is not to be the best networker in the world, but to be connected to as many energy sources as you can get.
73. Spend Some Time Alone
Subsequently, make sure you set aside enough time for your own. You don’t necessarily need to recharge, but you need this time in order to get a new perspective. Stop for a while and look around. Where are you? Where do you want to be?
74. Fix Something By Yourself
Go fix a broken window, or a scratch on your car. Don’t call for a specialist, get involved, see how you can have an impact on things around you. Work with your hands, prepare to sweat. It will instantly make you feel better.
75. Create Value
Make things that others need too. Make something useful. Don’t follow blind or outdated commitments, go for what really makes a change around you. Creating value is the core of your activity here and the only thing you really have to strive for.
76. Do A Random Act Of Kindness
Doesn’t have to be in the form of a nice compliment this time. You don’t even need to communicate it to the target person. Just do an incognito service to someone. See how this makes you feel. Think how many times you received that.
77. One More Second
Create the habit of looking at things for one more second. Spend one more second before taking an important decision. Delay something. Time will follow your intention and open some unexpected window for you. Slow it down a little.
78. Understand What People Want From You
What you can do is not always what people want from you. Clearing that confusion alone could bring an immense relief to your life. You don’t have to immediately provide what they’re wanting, but if you do, you may have some big surprises.
79. Break An Old Bad Habit
Breaking a bad habit is difficult. But breaking an old bad habit will free an incredible amount of time into your life. Quit smoking or stop talking on the phone for hours. Whatever you break, it will change your life for the best.
80. Stop Complaining
Complaining is like an open invitation for troubles. The more you complain about something, the more of that something you invite into your life. Cut it out. You don’t get any comfort out of complaining, only troubles.
81. Reject What You Don’t Want
It’s so simple, yet so underrated. Society wants us to complain even when we don’t really like stuff. Like forcing us to smile when we don’t find it funny. Allow yourself to walk away from something you don’t like. Just do it!
82. Being Is Better Than Having
Too much and too often we shape our life’s fulfillment degree to the amount we possess. The fundamental mistake. If you’re doing it, stop it right now. You’re not what you’re having. Being is so much better than having.
83. Listen To Your Critics
This one might be difficult in the beginning but once you get used to it it’s fantastic. You may find out a lot of stuff about yourself that you didn’t know about. You think you are one kind of person, but others may disagree.
84. Don’t Take It Personally
Never. Your world is shaped by your reaction to things, not by the things themselves. Don’t get upset, don’t think that somebody knows you enough to make right assumptions about you. Acknowledge and move on.
85. Laugh
This time is not about smiling. It’s about laughing. Don’t you ever miss another opportunity to laugh. Especially at yourself. The longer your laughing sessions, the shorter your misery ones. Looks like a nice deal, isn’t it?
86. Go With Passion
Don’t let your rational mind stand in the way of your passion. If you found – or at least felt, even occasionally – something that thrills you, you’re there. You don’t need a confirmation on this from anybody. Go with your passion.
87. Trust Your Emotions
Don’t underestimate your emotions. Or overestimate them. Your emotions are your feed-back system and for that they are very important. Trying to ignore your emotions is like depriving yourself from lights in a car running in the middle of the night.
88. Live It Like A Holiday
Ever observed how nice you feel during your holiday? How light, joyful and authentic? Everything is just wonderful. Well, you are on a continuous holiday here. It starts with your birth and end with your death. Live it like a holiday.
89. Make A Story Out Of It
Do you like a good story? I love it. Make everything in your life story-worthwhile. Make it as it would be a fantastic journey and you will be at all time the observer, the hero and the narrator. Create the story of your life.
90. Stop Being A Follower
Admiring is nice. But being admired is even better. Stop trying to fit in other people’s shoes. Find your own path. If that means breaking up completely your lifestyle, so be it. If you are “like” somebody else you can’t be “like” yourself anymore.
91. Watch Your Beliefs
Your beliefs are not you. But they are shaping your life constantly. You have the power to change them at any point in your existence. But in order to do that, you must first start to observe them, to isolate them, to accept them.
92. Stop Lying
To others and to yourself. Although it might ease a complicated situation, a lie is not good in the long run. The trick is that if you’re telling a lie you’re altering your reality. And a distorted reality will be impossible to handle.
93. Stop Reacting To Stuff
And start acting on stuff. Initiate things. Start projects. Predict situations and be there before the hurricane hits. Reacting to stuff is a victim paradigm. Stop being a victim and start acting. Create your life instead of being the creation of others.
94. Live Today
Not yesterday, not tomorrow. Go for what you can do today and leave yesterday behind for good. It’s not here anymore. And tomorrow doesn’t even exist yet, so why bother. All you have is today. Don’t waste it.
95. Expect The Unexpected
If there’s something unusual that happens to you, go for it. The unexpected is a signal of an opportunity. It will not always be nice, this unexpected, but whenever it’s around, magical things are happening. Wait for it. Praise for it.
96. Enjoy
Like being in joy. Like giving permission to yourself to extract joy from any situation you’re in. Even if it’s bad. Or especially if it’s bad. Joy is everywhere, you just have to let it manifest through you. Don’t resist joy. Don’t reject it.
97. Make Your Own Rules
And stick with them. Go for what works for you, not the others. Go for what you want, not the others. Including me. Make your own system and be proud of it. You may upset some people in the process, but hey, that’s life.
98. Love
Unconditionally. Totally. Constantly. Restlessly. Love is the only glue that keeps your life running. You were born out of love and you carry it deep down in your being. Love is never about the others, it’s about you.
99. Get Rid Of Labels
Things are what they are. Don’t use labels anymore, use directly the things. Your notion of “right” and “wrong” are nothing but labels. In a different country your “right” might be “wrong”. Don’t charge yourself with this unneeded burden.
100. No Regrets
Regretting something is another form of not accepting reality. What you can do about it now? It’s gone. It doesn’t exist anymore. Focus on what you can change: your present moment. Not yesterday, not tomorrow. Now. Live now.
About me
I am a citizen of the world, known by the name Dragos Florin Roua. I’m on a wonderful trip in which I discover, experience, share, seek and create many wonderful worlds. I was born in a country called Romania a while ago, and I don’t know yet when and where I will die. But from some social experience I know that this specific physical trip will end somehow and someday. Between my birth and my death this fantastic journey will spread.
Donate
Monday, October 26, 2009
For the sake of love.
In future postings on this blog I will seek to recall various crucial facts, which people are led to disregard and even deny under the influence of the turmoil of the modern age. One of these basic facts is that of creation, that the universe, all living things and man, are not self-existing entities, but indeed are the artifacts of God, the Supreme Creator. We are all created by Him and to Him we will all return. Love, not knowledge (intellectual), is the bond between God and man. From God's love proceeds only what is good, and punishment is also inherently good. God's omnipotence is not merely infinite in time, but also in intensity.
I call out to everyone from every corner of the world, from whatever cultural, racial, ethnic or social background to realize this basic fact and think of his duties to his Creator. In this message lies the real redemption and happiness of mankind.
True holiness is not the exclusive possession of those who engage in detailed ritual observance, nor is it the preserve of those who devote their energies to the pursuit of spirituality. Real holiness is found in small actions that make a profound difference to the lives of the people around us and the world in which they live".
"Each one of us has to ensure that "Divine Love" is always associated with the highest levels of our intention and empathy, I pray that we always keep an open heart, so that our behavior always brings credit to our heritage and to our Creator.
I call out to everyone from every corner of the world, from whatever cultural, racial, ethnic or social background to realize this basic fact and think of his duties to his Creator. In this message lies the real redemption and happiness of mankind.
True holiness is not the exclusive possession of those who engage in detailed ritual observance, nor is it the preserve of those who devote their energies to the pursuit of spirituality. Real holiness is found in small actions that make a profound difference to the lives of the people around us and the world in which they live".
"Each one of us has to ensure that "Divine Love" is always associated with the highest levels of our intention and empathy, I pray that we always keep an open heart, so that our behavior always brings credit to our heritage and to our Creator.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Love is the New Religion
(The Spiritual Conspiracy) -Brian Piergrossi
On the surface of the world right now there is war and violence and things seem dark
But calmly and quietly, at the same time, something else is happening underground
An inner revolution is taking place and certain individuals are being called to a higher light
It is a silent revolution
From the inside out
From the ground up
It is time for me to reveal myself
I am an embedded agent of a secret, undercover
Clandestine Global operation
A spiritual conspiracy
We have sleeper cells in every nation on the planet
You won't see us on the T.V.
You won't read about us in the newspaper
You won't hear about us on the radio
We don't seek any glory
We don't wear any uniform
We come in all shapes and sizes
Colors and styles
Most of us work anonymously
We are quietly working behind the scenes in every country and culture of the world
Cities big and small, mountains and valleys, in farms and villages, tribes and remote islands
You could pass by one of us on the street and not even notice
We go undercover
We remain behind the scenes
It is of no concern to us who takes the final credit
But simply that the work gets done
Occasionally we spot each other in the street
We give a quiet nod and continue on our way so no one will notice
During the day many of us pretend we have normal jobs
But behind the false storefront, at night is where the real work takes place
Some call us the 'Conscious Army'
We are slowly creating a new world with the power of our minds and hearts
We follow, with passion and joy
Our orders from the Central Command
The Spiritual Intelligence Agency
We are dropping soft, secret love bombs when no one is looking
Poems
Hugs
Music
Photography
Movies
Kind words
Smiles
Meditation and prayer
Dance
Social activism
Websites
Blogs
Random acts of kindness
We each express ourselves in our own unique ways with our own unique gifts and talents
'Be the change you want to see in the world'
That is the motto that fills our hearts
We know it is the only way real transformation takes place
We know that quietly and humbly we have the power of all the oceans combined
Our work is slow and meticulous
Like the formation of mountains
It is not even visible at first glance
And yet with it entire tectonic plates shall be moved in the centuries to come
Love is the new religion of the 21st century
You don't have to be a highly educated person
Or have any exceptional knowledge to understand it
It comes from the intelligence of the heart
Embedded in the timeless evolutionary pulse of all human beings
Be the change you want to see in the world
Nobody else can do it for you
We are now recruiting
Perhaps you will join us
Or already have....
All are welcome...
The door is open
Brian Piergrossi
(From the book 'The Big Glow')
Read This please ~ 'Today I woke up' !!!
One looks back with appreciation to the brilliant teachers, but with gratitude to those who touched our human feelings. The curriculum is so much necessary raw material, but warmth is the vital element for the growing plant and for the soul of the child.
Carl G Jung
On the surface of the world right now there is war and violence and things seem dark
But calmly and quietly, at the same time, something else is happening underground
An inner revolution is taking place and certain individuals are being called to a higher light
It is a silent revolution
From the inside out
From the ground up
It is time for me to reveal myself
I am an embedded agent of a secret, undercover
Clandestine Global operation
A spiritual conspiracy
We have sleeper cells in every nation on the planet
You won't see us on the T.V.
You won't read about us in the newspaper
You won't hear about us on the radio
We don't seek any glory
We don't wear any uniform
We come in all shapes and sizes
Colors and styles
Most of us work anonymously
We are quietly working behind the scenes in every country and culture of the world
Cities big and small, mountains and valleys, in farms and villages, tribes and remote islands
You could pass by one of us on the street and not even notice
We go undercover
We remain behind the scenes
It is of no concern to us who takes the final credit
But simply that the work gets done
Occasionally we spot each other in the street
We give a quiet nod and continue on our way so no one will notice
During the day many of us pretend we have normal jobs
But behind the false storefront, at night is where the real work takes place
Some call us the 'Conscious Army'
We are slowly creating a new world with the power of our minds and hearts
We follow, with passion and joy
Our orders from the Central Command
The Spiritual Intelligence Agency
We are dropping soft, secret love bombs when no one is looking
Poems
Hugs
Music
Photography
Movies
Kind words
Smiles
Meditation and prayer
Dance
Social activism
Websites
Blogs
Random acts of kindness
We each express ourselves in our own unique ways with our own unique gifts and talents
'Be the change you want to see in the world'
That is the motto that fills our hearts
We know it is the only way real transformation takes place
We know that quietly and humbly we have the power of all the oceans combined
Our work is slow and meticulous
Like the formation of mountains
It is not even visible at first glance
And yet with it entire tectonic plates shall be moved in the centuries to come
Love is the new religion of the 21st century
You don't have to be a highly educated person
Or have any exceptional knowledge to understand it
It comes from the intelligence of the heart
Embedded in the timeless evolutionary pulse of all human beings
Be the change you want to see in the world
Nobody else can do it for you
We are now recruiting
Perhaps you will join us
Or already have....
All are welcome...
The door is open
Brian Piergrossi
(From the book 'The Big Glow')
Read This please ~ 'Today I woke up' !!!
One looks back with appreciation to the brilliant teachers, but with gratitude to those who touched our human feelings. The curriculum is so much necessary raw material, but warmth is the vital element for the growing plant and for the soul of the child.
Carl G Jung
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
"The Unifying Power of Love"
"The power of lovehasunitedhuman beings for centuries It has inspired masterpieces in poetry and the visual arts, yet still transcends our ability to explain. As mysterious as the Tao itself, love is more than the sum of its parts, connecting our souls ineffably, unforgettably, forever it takes us beyond our personal limits, expands the scope of individual consciousness. Illuminating a lonely and confusing world with the light of new awareness, love takes us in a quantum leap to a world beyond ego, providing a new way of knowing. Plato described love as the union of two souls with divinity itself, Dante's love for Beatrice led him to the gates of paradise where he sang of "the love that moves the sun and the stars." The ancient Taoist Chuang-Tzu taught that through love we experience the inherent connections between ourselves and others, seeing all creation as one."
Diane Dreher: "The Tao of Inner Peace"
Did you ever read someone's writings and find yourself looking into the depths of their soul? Or then perhaps in my mind's eye; it is only my own reflection that I see.
"Did'st Thou give me this inescapable loneliness so that it would be easier for me to give Thee all?"
"Still a few years more, and then? The only value of a life is its content – for others. Apart from any value it may have for others, my life is worse than death. therefore, in my great lonelineliness, serve others. Therefore: how incredibly great is what I have been given, and how meaningless what I have to "sacrifice".
Hallowed be Thy Name,
Thy kingdom come,
Thy will be done-
"You wake from dreams of doom and-for a moment-you know: beyond all the noise and gestures, the only real thing. love's calm unwavering flame in the halflight of an early dawn.
"The fire of the body
burns away its dross and rising in flame of self-surrender, consumes its closed microcosm.
"The ultimate surrender to the creative act-it is the destiny of some to be brought to the threshold of this in the act of sacrifice rather tha the sexual act; and they experience a thunderclap of the same dazzling power."
DAG Hammarskjold: "Markings" 7.29.58
"It is not we who seek the Way,
but the Way which seeks us.
That is why you are faithful to it,
even while you stand waiting,
so long as you are prepared,
and act the moment you are
confronted by its demands."
Diane Dreher: "The Tao of Inner Peace"
Did you ever read someone's writings and find yourself looking into the depths of their soul? Or then perhaps in my mind's eye; it is only my own reflection that I see.
"Did'st Thou give me this inescapable loneliness so that it would be easier for me to give Thee all?"
"Still a few years more, and then? The only value of a life is its content – for others. Apart from any value it may have for others, my life is worse than death. therefore, in my great lonelineliness, serve others. Therefore: how incredibly great is what I have been given, and how meaningless what I have to "sacrifice".
Hallowed be Thy Name,
Thy kingdom come,
Thy will be done-
"You wake from dreams of doom and-for a moment-you know: beyond all the noise and gestures, the only real thing. love's calm unwavering flame in the halflight of an early dawn.
"The fire of the body
burns away its dross and rising in flame of self-surrender, consumes its closed microcosm.
"The ultimate surrender to the creative act-it is the destiny of some to be brought to the threshold of this in the act of sacrifice rather tha the sexual act; and they experience a thunderclap of the same dazzling power."
DAG Hammarskjold: "Markings" 7.29.58
"It is not we who seek the Way,
but the Way which seeks us.
That is why you are faithful to it,
even while you stand waiting,
so long as you are prepared,
and act the moment you are
confronted by its demands."
Do no harm health workers join mandatory H1N1 vaccine resisters
More American health workers are joining others across the nation and the world protesting the mandatory, experimental H1N1 vaccine that many health experts agree is far more dangerous than the flu and not needed.
Vaccinate or lose job: Mandatory swine flu vaccination for all NY health care workers.
A New York state rally will be held in Albany next week to protest state regulation mandating that they be vaccinated with the dangerous H1N1 flu vaccine or lose their jobs. Similar state laws related to pandemics exist in forty-four states.
Federal legislation can overide state laws and provide no choice in vaccination when a pandemic and national emergency have been declared such as now.
Mass vaccination with the live virus is likely to trigger a genuine pandemic according to medical experts with no vested interested in the campaign.
The H1N1 vaccination campaign resembles a military intelligence operation more each passing day. Military involvement with the operation remais relatively quiet, although Pentagon met late August to plan how many troops to deploy on U.S. soil and reports had been earlier released that military would be assisting with the vaccination operation.
The U.S. has had combat troops deployed in the country since October 2008 during the Bush Administration when draconian laws stripping Constitutional rights were instated.
Now that more of those fascist legislations are being applied in the U.S., Americans are tasting the same outrage that some Middle Easterner detainees with no rights experienced during the past eight years.
Threats, intimidation, control
As some other states have recently done, the New York State Department of Health issued an emergency regulation in August requiring all health care workers in hospitals, public health clinics, hospices and home health care be immunized with the H1N1 flu vaccine.
Health workers know that the fast tracked vaccine has not been fully tested. Doctors are saying "No" to this vaccine. UK health officials have been told they will lose their jobs if they discuss what they know about the vaccine.
The New York State Nurses Association representing 37,000 nurses oppose the mandatory vaccination as an matter of rights.
"We as an organization have not questioned the safety of the vaccine," said Nancy Webber, spokeswoman for the association according to a Newsday.com report published Monday. "We see this as an issue of workers' rights."
The Public Employees Federation representing 9,000 nurses statewide and 3,000 health care workers agrees with the nurses' group.
Stony Brook Hospital Nurses in New York say they were not consulted before officials wrote regulations according to Newsday. The same has occurred in California.
A Los Angeles area nurse told the writer last week that she was reported to and reprimanded by her supervisor for distributing H1N1 vaccine information to colleagues. Required vaccinations are to begin at the hospital where she works but staff have not yet been advised of the start date.
"This vaccine has not been clinically tested to the same degree as the regular flu vaccine," said Tara Accavallo, a registered nurse in Stony Brook's neonatal intensive care unit in which staff members protesting reports Newsday.. "If something happens to me, if I get seriously injured from this vaccine, who's going to help me?
Pharmaceutical companies are immune to H1N1 vaccination liability due to recent legislation passed by Congress.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention experts plus infectious disease specialists claim that the H1N1 vaccine is to be released early October, is safe, and produces a powerful immune response.
The Pentagon officials claim that the mystery flu vaccine injected into thousands of unwitting U.S. troops followed by severe adverse reactions, from pain to death, was "safe and effective." (Dave Wagner, Target 5: Secret Shots, WLWT TV, Cincinnati, Ohio, July 16, 2007)
The Pentagon's involvement in the H1N1 campaign is among many concerns enshrouding the H1N1 vaccine. Military is to "assist" in implementing. ( D. Dupre, H1N1 vaccine for profit and the U.S. martial law factor, August 7, 2009)
"The live vaccine absolutely spreads the disease," stated Dr. Viera Scheibner. (Sherry Beal, Healthy Planet, Healthy Me, KPFK Public Radio Interview cited in D. Dupre, H1N1 October Surprise Prevention, Examiner ,August 22, 2009)
A live virus is in the vaccine being developed for American use by mid-October according to the Washington Post. (Terri Rupar, MedImmune Ramps Up H1N1 Vaccine, Washington Post, Saturday, August 1, 2009)
MedImmune, part of global drugmaker AstraZeneca and one of five companies contracted to fast-track and sell an H1N1 vaccine to the federal government, is developing a nasal spray or drops (instead of injection) made of a live virus. (Rupar, August 1, 2009)
Health worker's deadline for H1N1 vaccine compliance is November 30 leaving little time for legal maneuvers. A growing number of health workers are so committed to the Hypocratic Oath, First Do No Harm, they are willing to lose their jobs if need be.
Acording to Newsday.com, Rob Kozik, another registered nurse in Stony Brook's neonatal intensive care unit, said he has deep concerns about being immunized against H1N1.
"I usually get vaccinated against the flu, but they are mandating an untested and unproven vaccine. The H1N1 vaccine already has a poor track record. Back in 1976 there was vaccine [to protect against swine flu] that caused death and Guillain-Barre syndrome," said Kozik, referring to a nerve-damaging disorder linked to the vaccine.
Kozik says he worries about the vaccine additive thimerosal, the mercury preservative in some doses of the vaccine.
Stony Brook began a "major communication initiative" to inform staff about the need for the vaccine, said Lauren Sheprow, hospital spokeswoman who explainedn, "We feel some of the anxiety may stem from confusion and lack of information about the nature of the H1N1 vaccine" eports Newsday.
Statements by entire groups of doctors in other countries such as the Australasian Society for Infectious Disease oppose the potentially dangerous vaccine. (D. Dupre', No H1N1 'urgency' exists and vaccine strategy ‘risky’ doctors say, Examiner, August 2009.)
Dr. Steven Walerstein, Nassau University Medical Center medical director reported that his institution's flu campaign late last week resulted in most workers being vaccinated and those who did not without explanation are "being referred to human resources and counseling." Walerstein said. If there is not a good reason for their refusal, health care providers can lose their jobs. (Newsday.com) (Emphasis added)
Makers of the vaccine are among those refusing to take it.
Participants at the National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC) international conference October 2-4 in Washington DC will be addressing the H1N1 vaccine issues and meeting with Congresspersons to pressure changes in the manadatory provisions now instated in the nation's Code Red National Emergency, equivalent to a terrorist attack.
“It’s time to demand that government officials and drug companies stop conducting national vaccine experiments on the American people,” asserts Barbara Loe Fisher, NVIC Director
More from Examiner.com
One looks back with appreciation to the brilliant teachers, but with gratitude to those who touched our human feelings. The curriculum is so much necessary raw material, but warmth is the vital element for the growing plant and for the soul of the child.
Carl G Jung
Vaccinate or lose job: Mandatory swine flu vaccination for all NY health care workers.
A New York state rally will be held in Albany next week to protest state regulation mandating that they be vaccinated with the dangerous H1N1 flu vaccine or lose their jobs. Similar state laws related to pandemics exist in forty-four states.
Federal legislation can overide state laws and provide no choice in vaccination when a pandemic and national emergency have been declared such as now.
Mass vaccination with the live virus is likely to trigger a genuine pandemic according to medical experts with no vested interested in the campaign.
The H1N1 vaccination campaign resembles a military intelligence operation more each passing day. Military involvement with the operation remais relatively quiet, although Pentagon met late August to plan how many troops to deploy on U.S. soil and reports had been earlier released that military would be assisting with the vaccination operation.
The U.S. has had combat troops deployed in the country since October 2008 during the Bush Administration when draconian laws stripping Constitutional rights were instated.
Now that more of those fascist legislations are being applied in the U.S., Americans are tasting the same outrage that some Middle Easterner detainees with no rights experienced during the past eight years.
Threats, intimidation, control
As some other states have recently done, the New York State Department of Health issued an emergency regulation in August requiring all health care workers in hospitals, public health clinics, hospices and home health care be immunized with the H1N1 flu vaccine.
Health workers know that the fast tracked vaccine has not been fully tested. Doctors are saying "No" to this vaccine. UK health officials have been told they will lose their jobs if they discuss what they know about the vaccine.
The New York State Nurses Association representing 37,000 nurses oppose the mandatory vaccination as an matter of rights.
"We as an organization have not questioned the safety of the vaccine," said Nancy Webber, spokeswoman for the association according to a Newsday.com report published Monday. "We see this as an issue of workers' rights."
The Public Employees Federation representing 9,000 nurses statewide and 3,000 health care workers agrees with the nurses' group.
Stony Brook Hospital Nurses in New York say they were not consulted before officials wrote regulations according to Newsday. The same has occurred in California.
A Los Angeles area nurse told the writer last week that she was reported to and reprimanded by her supervisor for distributing H1N1 vaccine information to colleagues. Required vaccinations are to begin at the hospital where she works but staff have not yet been advised of the start date.
"This vaccine has not been clinically tested to the same degree as the regular flu vaccine," said Tara Accavallo, a registered nurse in Stony Brook's neonatal intensive care unit in which staff members protesting reports Newsday.. "If something happens to me, if I get seriously injured from this vaccine, who's going to help me?
Pharmaceutical companies are immune to H1N1 vaccination liability due to recent legislation passed by Congress.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention experts plus infectious disease specialists claim that the H1N1 vaccine is to be released early October, is safe, and produces a powerful immune response.
The Pentagon officials claim that the mystery flu vaccine injected into thousands of unwitting U.S. troops followed by severe adverse reactions, from pain to death, was "safe and effective." (Dave Wagner, Target 5: Secret Shots, WLWT TV, Cincinnati, Ohio, July 16, 2007)
The Pentagon's involvement in the H1N1 campaign is among many concerns enshrouding the H1N1 vaccine. Military is to "assist" in implementing. ( D. Dupre, H1N1 vaccine for profit and the U.S. martial law factor, August 7, 2009)
"The live vaccine absolutely spreads the disease," stated Dr. Viera Scheibner. (Sherry Beal, Healthy Planet, Healthy Me, KPFK Public Radio Interview cited in D. Dupre, H1N1 October Surprise Prevention, Examiner ,August 22, 2009)
A live virus is in the vaccine being developed for American use by mid-October according to the Washington Post. (Terri Rupar, MedImmune Ramps Up H1N1 Vaccine, Washington Post, Saturday, August 1, 2009)
MedImmune, part of global drugmaker AstraZeneca and one of five companies contracted to fast-track and sell an H1N1 vaccine to the federal government, is developing a nasal spray or drops (instead of injection) made of a live virus. (Rupar, August 1, 2009)
Health worker's deadline for H1N1 vaccine compliance is November 30 leaving little time for legal maneuvers. A growing number of health workers are so committed to the Hypocratic Oath, First Do No Harm, they are willing to lose their jobs if need be.
Acording to Newsday.com, Rob Kozik, another registered nurse in Stony Brook's neonatal intensive care unit, said he has deep concerns about being immunized against H1N1.
"I usually get vaccinated against the flu, but they are mandating an untested and unproven vaccine. The H1N1 vaccine already has a poor track record. Back in 1976 there was vaccine [to protect against swine flu] that caused death and Guillain-Barre syndrome," said Kozik, referring to a nerve-damaging disorder linked to the vaccine.
Kozik says he worries about the vaccine additive thimerosal, the mercury preservative in some doses of the vaccine.
Stony Brook began a "major communication initiative" to inform staff about the need for the vaccine, said Lauren Sheprow, hospital spokeswoman who explainedn, "We feel some of the anxiety may stem from confusion and lack of information about the nature of the H1N1 vaccine" eports Newsday.
Statements by entire groups of doctors in other countries such as the Australasian Society for Infectious Disease oppose the potentially dangerous vaccine. (D. Dupre', No H1N1 'urgency' exists and vaccine strategy ‘risky’ doctors say, Examiner, August 2009.)
Dr. Steven Walerstein, Nassau University Medical Center medical director reported that his institution's flu campaign late last week resulted in most workers being vaccinated and those who did not without explanation are "being referred to human resources and counseling." Walerstein said. If there is not a good reason for their refusal, health care providers can lose their jobs. (Newsday.com) (Emphasis added)
Makers of the vaccine are among those refusing to take it.
Participants at the National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC) international conference October 2-4 in Washington DC will be addressing the H1N1 vaccine issues and meeting with Congresspersons to pressure changes in the manadatory provisions now instated in the nation's Code Red National Emergency, equivalent to a terrorist attack.
“It’s time to demand that government officials and drug companies stop conducting national vaccine experiments on the American people,” asserts Barbara Loe Fisher, NVIC Director
More from Examiner.com
One looks back with appreciation to the brilliant teachers, but with gratitude to those who touched our human feelings. The curriculum is so much necessary raw material, but warmth is the vital element for the growing plant and for the soul of the child.
Carl G Jung
Monday, October 19, 2009
The Brink of Disquiet
"In the Kingdom of God--- ; ---all works are equal there, my smallest is my greatest, my greatest as my smallest. -About works in themselves there is something divisive which causes a division in the souls of men, and brings them to the brink of disquiet."
(Meister Eckhart)
"God does not die on the day when we cease to believe in a personal deity, but we die on the day when our lives cease to be illumined by the steady radiance, renewed daily, of a wonder, the source of which is beyond all reason."
"In the faith which is "God's marriage to the soul," you are one in God, and God is wholly in you, just as, for you, God is wholly in all you meet."
"With this faith, in prayer you descend into yourself to meet the Other,in the steadfastness and light of this union, see that all things stand, like yourself, alone before God, and that each of your acts is an act of creation, conscious, because you are a human being with human responsibilities, but governed, nevertheless, by the power beyond human consciousness whichhas created us.
"You are liberated from things, but you encounter in them an experience which has the purity and clarity of revelation.
"In the faith which is "God's marriage to the soul," everything therefore, has a meaning. So live, then, that you may use what has been put into your hand. . . ."
"Only in man has the evolution of the creation reached the point where reality encounters itself in judgment and choice. Outside of man, the creation is neither good nor evil.
Only when you descend into yourself and encounter the Other, do you then experience goodness as the ultimate reality--united and living--in Him and through you."
Hammarskjold, MARKINGS, 4.10.58
(Meister Eckhart)
"God does not die on the day when we cease to believe in a personal deity, but we die on the day when our lives cease to be illumined by the steady radiance, renewed daily, of a wonder, the source of which is beyond all reason."
"In the faith which is "God's marriage to the soul," you are one in God, and God is wholly in you, just as, for you, God is wholly in all you meet."
"With this faith, in prayer you descend into yourself to meet the Other,in the steadfastness and light of this union, see that all things stand, like yourself, alone before God, and that each of your acts is an act of creation, conscious, because you are a human being with human responsibilities, but governed, nevertheless, by the power beyond human consciousness whichhas created us.
"You are liberated from things, but you encounter in them an experience which has the purity and clarity of revelation.
"In the faith which is "God's marriage to the soul," everything therefore, has a meaning. So live, then, that you may use what has been put into your hand. . . ."
"Only in man has the evolution of the creation reached the point where reality encounters itself in judgment and choice. Outside of man, the creation is neither good nor evil.
Only when you descend into yourself and encounter the Other, do you then experience goodness as the ultimate reality--united and living--in Him and through you."
Hammarskjold, MARKINGS, 4.10.58
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Muhammad had to know
Without a doubt no false prophet had a greater effect on world history than Muhammad.
On the other hand, one cannot call Jesus a false prophet, because he is the God-man who never was.
In his time Muhammad had to know of Constantine's clever evolution of his sun god worship into a mix of pagan beliefs and of his metamorphosing it into Roman Christianity. Copycat Islam came about much the same way, only with a bit more fear and terror.
Now did Josephus really write about Jesus? I think not.
It is universally agreed by historians and Biblical scholars that the language used in the Josephus writings are entirely different from that used in his proven writings such as "War." There is little doubt that the reference to Jesus was an addendum and that this document was doctored, probably early church priests.
The other references are not contemporary with the time of Jesus and can be discounted because they reflect later traditions, legends and religious tales.
The truth is that there is absolutely NO historic reference to Jesus apart from New Testament writings. The dream of the Christian world is to find a tangible reference but that has not happened. The ossary supposedly containing the bones of the brother of Jesus was proven to be a fraud. The later inscription speaking of the repairs done to the temple of Solomon was also a fraud. The relics held in the Slientum Museum of Constantinople such as the spear used to pierce the side of Jesus are obvious frauds. NO evidence of Jesus exists and in itself, that is suspicious since we have contemporary writings of Herod, Pontius Pilate and even external references to Joseph of Armithea and Nicodemus . . . . but NOTHING of Jesus.
The absence of reference does not, in any way, prove that he did not exist but it becomes perplexing that a man that after the jubilant entrance into Jerusalem on an ass was proclaimed in Scripture to be "known by all of Jerusalem."
Even the Scriptural references to Jesus are suspect. Jesus heals a blind man and orders him to say nothing of the miracle. Jesus has the transfiguration and tells the disciples to say nothing of what they have seen. How then, do these events appear in the Bible? If nothing was said, how were these events known?
One thing we do know . . . . the information contained in Scripture about Jesus matches very closely with Mithraic beliefs that were most popular in Rome after the destruction of Jerusalem in 72 A.D. To control the Hebrew slave population, Christianity proved to be a perfect mixing of the Jesus character and the widely held belief in Mithra.
Religion lends a form of identity.
Identity is defined more by what you 'cannot do' rather than what you 'can do' ..
So, religion is based on restrictions (don't eat this, restrictions on sexuality, on oppression of women's rights etc etc)
Much of which over the years has been built sometimes by force, with the fear of death and terror as primary tools. However one can see as in the story of Abraham, religion has nothing to do with your relationship with your Higher Power. The love of God will prevail no matter what religion you may find yourself entwined. At best religion is only a guide post and teaching tool. At worst it inspires the ultimate fears and evil corruption mankind has ever known. God is the lone actor who can play a part in anyone's religion, simply because he is too big to have a religion, and is free to deal with the soul of every man woman or child who seek Him. To be sure, I have seen God do wonderful things, by playing Jesus to those in need. It is time to give Him full credit.
One looks back with appreciation to the brilliant teachers, but with gratitude to those who touched our human feelings. The curriculum is so much necessary raw material, but warmth is the vital element for the growing plant and for the soul of the child.
Carl G Jung
On the other hand, one cannot call Jesus a false prophet, because he is the God-man who never was.
In his time Muhammad had to know of Constantine's clever evolution of his sun god worship into a mix of pagan beliefs and of his metamorphosing it into Roman Christianity. Copycat Islam came about much the same way, only with a bit more fear and terror.
Now did Josephus really write about Jesus? I think not.
It is universally agreed by historians and Biblical scholars that the language used in the Josephus writings are entirely different from that used in his proven writings such as "War." There is little doubt that the reference to Jesus was an addendum and that this document was doctored, probably early church priests.
The other references are not contemporary with the time of Jesus and can be discounted because they reflect later traditions, legends and religious tales.
The truth is that there is absolutely NO historic reference to Jesus apart from New Testament writings. The dream of the Christian world is to find a tangible reference but that has not happened. The ossary supposedly containing the bones of the brother of Jesus was proven to be a fraud. The later inscription speaking of the repairs done to the temple of Solomon was also a fraud. The relics held in the Slientum Museum of Constantinople such as the spear used to pierce the side of Jesus are obvious frauds. NO evidence of Jesus exists and in itself, that is suspicious since we have contemporary writings of Herod, Pontius Pilate and even external references to Joseph of Armithea and Nicodemus . . . . but NOTHING of Jesus.
The absence of reference does not, in any way, prove that he did not exist but it becomes perplexing that a man that after the jubilant entrance into Jerusalem on an ass was proclaimed in Scripture to be "known by all of Jerusalem."
Even the Scriptural references to Jesus are suspect. Jesus heals a blind man and orders him to say nothing of the miracle. Jesus has the transfiguration and tells the disciples to say nothing of what they have seen. How then, do these events appear in the Bible? If nothing was said, how were these events known?
One thing we do know . . . . the information contained in Scripture about Jesus matches very closely with Mithraic beliefs that were most popular in Rome after the destruction of Jerusalem in 72 A.D. To control the Hebrew slave population, Christianity proved to be a perfect mixing of the Jesus character and the widely held belief in Mithra.
Religion lends a form of identity.
Identity is defined more by what you 'cannot do' rather than what you 'can do' ..
So, religion is based on restrictions (don't eat this, restrictions on sexuality, on oppression of women's rights etc etc)
Much of which over the years has been built sometimes by force, with the fear of death and terror as primary tools. However one can see as in the story of Abraham, religion has nothing to do with your relationship with your Higher Power. The love of God will prevail no matter what religion you may find yourself entwined. At best religion is only a guide post and teaching tool. At worst it inspires the ultimate fears and evil corruption mankind has ever known. God is the lone actor who can play a part in anyone's religion, simply because he is too big to have a religion, and is free to deal with the soul of every man woman or child who seek Him. To be sure, I have seen God do wonderful things, by playing Jesus to those in need. It is time to give Him full credit.
One looks back with appreciation to the brilliant teachers, but with gratitude to those who touched our human feelings. The curriculum is so much necessary raw material, but warmth is the vital element for the growing plant and for the soul of the child.
Carl G Jung
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Religion From Hell. Virgin Girls Raped Before Execution
If this is of God, then God must be Satan himself.
A highly influential Shi'a religious leader, with whom Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad regularly consults, apparently told followers last month that coercion by means of rape, torture and drugs is acceptable against all opponents of the Islamic regime.
In the wake of a series of publications worldwide regarding the rape and torture of dissident prisoners in Iran's jails, supporters of Ahmadinejad gathered with him in Jamkaran, a popular pilgrimage site for Shi'ite Muslims on the outskirts of Qom, on August 11, 2009. According to Iranian pro-democracy sources, the gathered crowd heard from Ayatollah Mohammad Taqi Mesbah-Yazdi and Ahmadinejad himself regarding the issue.
"Can an interrogator rape the prisoner in order to obtain a confession?" was the follow-up question posed to the Islamic cleric.
Mesbah-Yazdi answered: "The necessary precaution is for the interrogator to perform a ritual washing first and say prayers while raping the prisoner. If the prisoner is female, it is permissible to rape through the vagina or anus. It is better not to have a witness present. If it is a male prisoner, then it's acceptable for someone else to watch while the rape is committed."
This reply, and reports of the rape of teen male prisoners in Iranian jails, may have prompted the following question: "Is the rape of men and young boys considered sodomy?"
Ayatollah Mesbah-Yazdi: "No, because it is not consensual. Of course, if the prisoner is aroused and enjoys the rape, then caution must be taken not to repeat the rape."
A related issue, in the eyes of the questioners, was the rape of virgin female prisoners. In this instance, Mesbah-Yazdi went beyond the permissibility issue and described the Allah-sanctioned rewards accorded the rapist-in-the-name-of-Islam:
"If the judgment for the [female] prisoner is execution, then rape before execution brings the interrogator a spiritual reward equivalent to making the mandated Haj pilgrimage [to Mecca], but if there is no execution decreed, then the reward would be equivalent to making a pilgrimage to [the Shi'ite holy city of] Karbala."
By SABINA AMIDI:
In a shocking and unprecedented interview, directly exposing the inhumanity of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's religious regime in Iran, a serving member of the paramilitary Basiji militia has told this reporter of his role in suppressing opposition street protests in recent weeks.
He has also detailed aspects of his earlier service in the force, including his enforced participation in the rape of young Iranian girls prior to their execution.
The interview took place by telephone, and on condition of anonymity. It was arranged by a reliable source whose identity can also not be revealed.
Founded by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in 1979 as a "people's militia," the volunteer Basiji force is subordinate to the Iranian Revolutionary Guards and intensely loyal to Khomeini's successor, Khamenei
The Basiji member, who is married with children, spoke soon after his release by the Iranian authorities from detention. He had been held for the "crime" of having set free two Iranian teenagers - a 13-year-old boy and a 15-year-old girl - who had been arrested during the disturbances that have followed the disputed June presidential elections.
"There have been many other police and members of the security forces arrested because they have shown leniency toward the protesters out on the streets, or released them from custody without consulting our superiors," he said.
He pinned the blame for much of the most ruthless violence employed by the Iranian security apparatus against opposition protesters on what he called "imported security forces" - recruits, as young as 14 and 15, he said, who have been brought from small villages into the bigger cities where the protests have been centered.
"Fourteen and 15-year old boys are given so much power, which I am sorry to say they have abused," he said. "These kids do anything they please - forcing people to empty out their wallets, taking whatever they want from stores without paying, and touching young women inappropriately. The girls are so frightened that they remain quiet and let them do what they want."
These youngsters, and other "plainclothes vigilantes," were committing most of the crimes in the names of the regime, he said.
Asked about his own role in the brutal crackdowns on the protesters, whether he had been beaten demonstrators and whether he regretted his actions, he answered evasively.
"I did not attack any of the rioters - and even if I had, it is my duty to follow orders," he began. "I don't have any regrets," he went on, "except for when I worked as a prison guard during my adolescence."
Explaining how he had come to join the volunteer Basiji forces, he said his mother had taken him to them.
When he was 16, "my mother took me to a Basiji station and begged them to take me under their wing because I had no one and nothing foreseeable in my future. My father was martyred during the war in Iraq and she did not want me to get hooked on drugs and become a street thug. I had no choice," he said.
He said he had been a highly regarded member of the force, and had so "impressed my superiors" that, at 18, "I was given the 'honor' to temporarily marry young girls before they were sentenced to death."
In the Islamic Republic it is illegal to execute a young woman, regardless of her crime, if she is a virgin, he explained. Therefore a "wedding" ceremony is conducted the night before the execution: The young girl is forced to have sexual intercourse with a prison guard - essentially raped by her "husband."
"I regret that, even though the marriages were legal," he said.
Why the regret, if the marriages were "legal?"
"Because," he went on, "I could tell that the girls were more afraid of their 'wedding' night than of the execution that awaited them in the morning. And they would always fight back, so we would have to put sleeping pills in their food. By morning the girls would have an empty expression; it seemed like they were ready or wanted to die.
"I remember hearing them cry and scream after [the rape] was over," he said. "I will never forget how this one girl clawed at her own face and neck with her finger nails afterwards. She had deep scratches all over her."
Returning to the events of the last few weeks, and his decision to set free the two teenage detainees, he said he "honestly" did not know why he had released them, a decision that led to his own arrest, "but I think it was because they were so young. They looked like children and I knew what would happen to them if they weren't released."
He said that while a man is deemed "responsible for his own actions at 13, for a woman it is 9," and that it was freeing the 15-year-old girl that "really got me in trouble.
"I was not mistreated or really interrogated while being detained," he said. "I was put in a tiny room and left alone. It was hard being isolated, so I spent most of my time praying and thinking about my wife and kids."
This is incredibly inhumane, even by Middle Eastern standards. And it further demonstrates the suffering of women in places where Islamic fundamentalists hold sway. Maybe I'm naive, but I simply can't understand why "enlightened" Western nations would have ANY diplomatic ties to a country this barbaric. And the government we're leaving behind in Iraq isn't much better. All we succeeded in doing in Iraq is instituting a theocratic dictatorship. This has been known for some years, after they started making women wear veils again or die. Iraq *was* secular and women had equal rights and worked. All that is long gone. Of course, our government is such good friends with the Saudis, is it any surprise? Even Kuwait had more "religious freedom" under Saddam Hussein.
Life Under Occupation
"Kuwait was a land of religious freedom, and the idea of living under the banner of Iraq's extreme socialist Baathist ideology was terrifying for many. As a result, many imams left the country as soon as the Jordanian border opened up."
One looks back with appreciation to the brilliant teachers, but with gratitude to those who touched our human feelings. The curriculum is so much necessary raw material, but warmth is the vital element for the growing plant and for the soul of the child.
Carl G Jung
A highly influential Shi'a religious leader, with whom Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad regularly consults, apparently told followers last month that coercion by means of rape, torture and drugs is acceptable against all opponents of the Islamic regime.
In the wake of a series of publications worldwide regarding the rape and torture of dissident prisoners in Iran's jails, supporters of Ahmadinejad gathered with him in Jamkaran, a popular pilgrimage site for Shi'ite Muslims on the outskirts of Qom, on August 11, 2009. According to Iranian pro-democracy sources, the gathered crowd heard from Ayatollah Mohammad Taqi Mesbah-Yazdi and Ahmadinejad himself regarding the issue.
"Can an interrogator rape the prisoner in order to obtain a confession?" was the follow-up question posed to the Islamic cleric.
Mesbah-Yazdi answered: "The necessary precaution is for the interrogator to perform a ritual washing first and say prayers while raping the prisoner. If the prisoner is female, it is permissible to rape through the vagina or anus. It is better not to have a witness present. If it is a male prisoner, then it's acceptable for someone else to watch while the rape is committed."
This reply, and reports of the rape of teen male prisoners in Iranian jails, may have prompted the following question: "Is the rape of men and young boys considered sodomy?"
Ayatollah Mesbah-Yazdi: "No, because it is not consensual. Of course, if the prisoner is aroused and enjoys the rape, then caution must be taken not to repeat the rape."
A related issue, in the eyes of the questioners, was the rape of virgin female prisoners. In this instance, Mesbah-Yazdi went beyond the permissibility issue and described the Allah-sanctioned rewards accorded the rapist-in-the-name-of-Islam:
"If the judgment for the [female] prisoner is execution, then rape before execution brings the interrogator a spiritual reward equivalent to making the mandated Haj pilgrimage [to Mecca], but if there is no execution decreed, then the reward would be equivalent to making a pilgrimage to [the Shi'ite holy city of] Karbala."
By SABINA AMIDI:
In a shocking and unprecedented interview, directly exposing the inhumanity of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's religious regime in Iran, a serving member of the paramilitary Basiji militia has told this reporter of his role in suppressing opposition street protests in recent weeks.
He has also detailed aspects of his earlier service in the force, including his enforced participation in the rape of young Iranian girls prior to their execution.
The interview took place by telephone, and on condition of anonymity. It was arranged by a reliable source whose identity can also not be revealed.
Founded by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in 1979 as a "people's militia," the volunteer Basiji force is subordinate to the Iranian Revolutionary Guards and intensely loyal to Khomeini's successor, Khamenei
The Basiji member, who is married with children, spoke soon after his release by the Iranian authorities from detention. He had been held for the "crime" of having set free two Iranian teenagers - a 13-year-old boy and a 15-year-old girl - who had been arrested during the disturbances that have followed the disputed June presidential elections.
"There have been many other police and members of the security forces arrested because they have shown leniency toward the protesters out on the streets, or released them from custody without consulting our superiors," he said.
He pinned the blame for much of the most ruthless violence employed by the Iranian security apparatus against opposition protesters on what he called "imported security forces" - recruits, as young as 14 and 15, he said, who have been brought from small villages into the bigger cities where the protests have been centered.
"Fourteen and 15-year old boys are given so much power, which I am sorry to say they have abused," he said. "These kids do anything they please - forcing people to empty out their wallets, taking whatever they want from stores without paying, and touching young women inappropriately. The girls are so frightened that they remain quiet and let them do what they want."
These youngsters, and other "plainclothes vigilantes," were committing most of the crimes in the names of the regime, he said.
Asked about his own role in the brutal crackdowns on the protesters, whether he had been beaten demonstrators and whether he regretted his actions, he answered evasively.
"I did not attack any of the rioters - and even if I had, it is my duty to follow orders," he began. "I don't have any regrets," he went on, "except for when I worked as a prison guard during my adolescence."
Explaining how he had come to join the volunteer Basiji forces, he said his mother had taken him to them.
When he was 16, "my mother took me to a Basiji station and begged them to take me under their wing because I had no one and nothing foreseeable in my future. My father was martyred during the war in Iraq and she did not want me to get hooked on drugs and become a street thug. I had no choice," he said.
He said he had been a highly regarded member of the force, and had so "impressed my superiors" that, at 18, "I was given the 'honor' to temporarily marry young girls before they were sentenced to death."
In the Islamic Republic it is illegal to execute a young woman, regardless of her crime, if she is a virgin, he explained. Therefore a "wedding" ceremony is conducted the night before the execution: The young girl is forced to have sexual intercourse with a prison guard - essentially raped by her "husband."
"I regret that, even though the marriages were legal," he said.
Why the regret, if the marriages were "legal?"
"Because," he went on, "I could tell that the girls were more afraid of their 'wedding' night than of the execution that awaited them in the morning. And they would always fight back, so we would have to put sleeping pills in their food. By morning the girls would have an empty expression; it seemed like they were ready or wanted to die.
"I remember hearing them cry and scream after [the rape] was over," he said. "I will never forget how this one girl clawed at her own face and neck with her finger nails afterwards. She had deep scratches all over her."
Returning to the events of the last few weeks, and his decision to set free the two teenage detainees, he said he "honestly" did not know why he had released them, a decision that led to his own arrest, "but I think it was because they were so young. They looked like children and I knew what would happen to them if they weren't released."
He said that while a man is deemed "responsible for his own actions at 13, for a woman it is 9," and that it was freeing the 15-year-old girl that "really got me in trouble.
"I was not mistreated or really interrogated while being detained," he said. "I was put in a tiny room and left alone. It was hard being isolated, so I spent most of my time praying and thinking about my wife and kids."
This is incredibly inhumane, even by Middle Eastern standards. And it further demonstrates the suffering of women in places where Islamic fundamentalists hold sway. Maybe I'm naive, but I simply can't understand why "enlightened" Western nations would have ANY diplomatic ties to a country this barbaric. And the government we're leaving behind in Iraq isn't much better. All we succeeded in doing in Iraq is instituting a theocratic dictatorship. This has been known for some years, after they started making women wear veils again or die. Iraq *was* secular and women had equal rights and worked. All that is long gone. Of course, our government is such good friends with the Saudis, is it any surprise? Even Kuwait had more "religious freedom" under Saddam Hussein.
Life Under Occupation
"Kuwait was a land of religious freedom, and the idea of living under the banner of Iraq's extreme socialist Baathist ideology was terrifying for many. As a result, many imams left the country as soon as the Jordanian border opened up."
One looks back with appreciation to the brilliant teachers, but with gratitude to those who touched our human feelings. The curriculum is so much necessary raw material, but warmth is the vital element for the growing plant and for the soul of the child.
Carl G Jung
Tuesday, October 06, 2009
A Libertarian Hero
1834-1902
Lord Acton was born John Dalberg-Acton, in Naples, Italy on January 10, 1834. His family moved to Britain in 1840. With his cosmopolitan background and upbringing, Acton was equally at home in England or on the Continent, and grew up speaking English, German, French, and Italian.
Barred from attending Cambridge University because of his Catholicism, Acton studied at the University of Munich under the famous church historian, Ignaz von Döllinger. Acton learned to consider himself first and foremost a historian. Early in life, he nurtured a great fondness for Whig politicians such as Edmund Burke, but Acton soon became a Liberal. Through his studies and his own experience, Acton was made acutely aware of the danger posed to individual conscience by any kind of religious or political persecution.
Acton pursued electoral politics and entered the House of Commons in 1859 as a member for the Irish constituency of Carlow. In 1869, Gladstone rewarded Acton for his efforts on behalf of Liberal political causes by offering him a peerage.
In 1895, Lord Acton was appointed Regius Professor of Modern History at Cambridge University. From this position, he deepened his view that the historian's search for truth entails the obligation to make moral judgments on history, even when those judgments challenge the historian's own deeply held opinions.
When he died in 1902, Lord Acton was considered one of the most learned people of his age. He has become famous to succeeding generations for his observation -- learned through many years of study and first-hand experience - that "power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely."
Fanaticism in religion is the alliance of the passions she condemns with the dogmas she professes. Lord Acton
Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men, even when they exercise influence and not authority: still more when you superadd the tendency or the certainty of corruption by authority.
Everything secret degenerates, even the administration of justice; nothing is safe that does not show how it can bear discussion and publicity. Lord Acton
There is no worse heresy than that the office sanctifies the holder of it. Lord Acton
To be able to look back upon one's past life with satisfaction is to live twice. Lord Acton
A wise person does at once what a fool does at last. Both do the same thing; only at different times. Lord Acton
Opinions alter, manners change, creeds rise and fall, but the moral laws are written on the table of eternity. Lord Acton
The danger is not that a particular class is unfit to govern. Every class is unfit to govern. Lord Acton
Liberty is not a means to a higher political end. It is itself the highest political end...liberty is the only object which benefits all alike, and provokes no sincere opposition...Lord Acton
Acton took a great interest in America, considering its Federal structure the perfect guarantor of individual liberties. During the Northern War of Aggression, his sympathies lay entirely with the Confederacy, for their defense of States' Rights against a centralized government that, by all historical precedent, would inevitably turn tyrannical. His notes to Gladstone on the subject helped sway many in the British government to sympathize with the South. After the South's surrender, he wrote to Robert E. Lee that "I mourn for the stake which was lost at Richmond more deeply than I rejoice over that which was saved at Waterloo."
The Acton-Lee Correspondence
Lord Acton was born John Dalberg-Acton, in Naples, Italy on January 10, 1834. His family moved to Britain in 1840. With his cosmopolitan background and upbringing, Acton was equally at home in England or on the Continent, and grew up speaking English, German, French, and Italian.
Barred from attending Cambridge University because of his Catholicism, Acton studied at the University of Munich under the famous church historian, Ignaz von Döllinger. Acton learned to consider himself first and foremost a historian. Early in life, he nurtured a great fondness for Whig politicians such as Edmund Burke, but Acton soon became a Liberal. Through his studies and his own experience, Acton was made acutely aware of the danger posed to individual conscience by any kind of religious or political persecution.
Acton pursued electoral politics and entered the House of Commons in 1859 as a member for the Irish constituency of Carlow. In 1869, Gladstone rewarded Acton for his efforts on behalf of Liberal political causes by offering him a peerage.
In 1895, Lord Acton was appointed Regius Professor of Modern History at Cambridge University. From this position, he deepened his view that the historian's search for truth entails the obligation to make moral judgments on history, even when those judgments challenge the historian's own deeply held opinions.
When he died in 1902, Lord Acton was considered one of the most learned people of his age. He has become famous to succeeding generations for his observation -- learned through many years of study and first-hand experience - that "power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely."
Fanaticism in religion is the alliance of the passions she condemns with the dogmas she professes. Lord Acton
Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men, even when they exercise influence and not authority: still more when you superadd the tendency or the certainty of corruption by authority.
Everything secret degenerates, even the administration of justice; nothing is safe that does not show how it can bear discussion and publicity. Lord Acton
There is no worse heresy than that the office sanctifies the holder of it. Lord Acton
To be able to look back upon one's past life with satisfaction is to live twice. Lord Acton
A wise person does at once what a fool does at last. Both do the same thing; only at different times. Lord Acton
Opinions alter, manners change, creeds rise and fall, but the moral laws are written on the table of eternity. Lord Acton
The danger is not that a particular class is unfit to govern. Every class is unfit to govern. Lord Acton
Liberty is not a means to a higher political end. It is itself the highest political end...liberty is the only object which benefits all alike, and provokes no sincere opposition...Lord Acton
Acton took a great interest in America, considering its Federal structure the perfect guarantor of individual liberties. During the Northern War of Aggression, his sympathies lay entirely with the Confederacy, for their defense of States' Rights against a centralized government that, by all historical precedent, would inevitably turn tyrannical. His notes to Gladstone on the subject helped sway many in the British government to sympathize with the South. After the South's surrender, he wrote to Robert E. Lee that "I mourn for the stake which was lost at Richmond more deeply than I rejoice over that which was saved at Waterloo."
The Acton-Lee Correspondence
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