not the end, a time for change - a beginning

 "On 21 December, a day very important to the Maya. In a recent speech to the UN, Evo Morales, president of Bolivia, said that according to their tradition, this date marks the end of the non-ti...me and the beginning of time, is the end of Macha and the beginning of the Pacha - Mother Nature-the beginning of life in accord with Natural Law. It's the end of selfishness and the beginning of brotherhood. It's the end of individualism and the beginning of the collectivism. It's the end of hatred and the beginning of love. The end of the beginning of the lies and truth. It's the end of the sadness and the beginning of joy. It's the end of the division and the beginning of the unit."

I love how you can turn something upside by simply changing the perspective. The prediction of the worlds end according to the Mayan calendar is all over the news and top of mind. I think its great - some fuel for more action in the right direction. The global unity and awareness is slowly picking up momentum. And it does not mean it will not get worse before it gets better. But it means the wheels are in motion, the more energy that more humans put in the right direction will help strengthen the centrifugal force towards a better world, one people, the fresh start that will happen post-Mayan calendar. 

 

 

glitter, lost, wither, frost: unknown, found, loan, sound

All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.

- J. R. R. Tolkien


Riches can be found in the unknown
Not looking is when it can be found
Strength cannot come in a loan
Time and depth will be sound

- T M Jarvis

Enthusiasm

The word enthusiasm literally means "the God (enthos) within (iasm)"

To get what we desire/want in life we must have enthusiasm towards life and living.  A general enthusiasm towards whatever you wish to do. Bring a bit of energy to the game and you will get closer to whatever you want (even if what you want is not even clear to you).

And to go deeper and understand the root of the word, you can look at your enthusiasm towards what your doing as a manifestation of your higher self (God).  Pondering this myself....hmm.

Do more good than harm?

No Impact Man - thank god for documentaries. So much thought provoking content to be pondered and wondered. And then actioned in someway....hopefully.

A difficult task, 1 year without making one bit of impact on the environment. I mean no garbage, no restaurants, no electricity, no bags, no impact at all.  I liked the film - enjoyed the relationship of this young family - so thoughtful, purposeful, smart, creative and funny. Loved the humor of his wife, brilliant. She goes along with the craziness, a bit reluctant but we go along for the ride with her.

Things I liked:

- can I live on this planet and do more good than harm?

- we are in a consumption coma (aint that the truth)

- individual action causes people to engage

- Why do this (he questions his motives) - even reaching a few matters.  To see interconnection of us (humans), even on a practical level. ie: if i splash a puddle and you are standing next to me it gets you wet. Our mind keeps telling us "I", is the only important one. However "I make pollution you have to breath". We do have to keep training ourselves over and over. It is not easy.

- One of the biggest downfalls of the current society is the loss of community. Biggest culprit of ignorance and the steady decline of our environment is screaming this is the case!

I am inspired by people like this man; visiting our leaders to see what he can do to help, what policies to back, speaking to kids and helping a little bit at a time.

example of the power of meditation

The Dhamma Brothers
is a documentary (2007) about using meditation in a prison, specifically they use Vipassana intensive techniques.  This takes places in an high security facility in Alabama.

And the impact/outcome of the experiment was powerful and such a cool experience to watch. It is moving to see what sitting in meditation can do for someone. Powerful stuff.

Just sitting in silence. Seems simple in concept yet it is complex in execution. The "internal" is not something we are taught to do.  It is a REAL shame, one I feel is a very huge loss for modern western culture. Its all about external, external, material drive for us...education, car, house, clothes, etc. But through internal work we learn to understand ourself first, our true nature, our emotions.  And this will make for a more purposeful and full filling life. Peace of mind results in happiness more often.

When you meditate it is just you, you have nothing you can hide with (emotions, fear, angry, etc) but a serious face-to-face experience.
And within that silence you will learn about yourself and the life you were given to learn within; a space to grow up, learn, endure, excel and be the best you can be.

To see these major criminals explore this and change is a strong argument that this should be part of our standard life curriculum.

Consistency - my blog goal

Yet another respite, 2 months have come and gone since I've posted. Inconsistent.
Like anything in life, without focus, attention and effort it passes us by.

I took yet another life detour - this was a detour not a turn down a road or going to a new destination. But even in a detour there is truth, and lessons to be learned.

The dots never connect during or in advance, only retroactively - as they say hindsight's 20/20. Its an important life point - if you ask your self "why me, this doesn't make sense, how can something hurt so much" etcetc, knowing that you look back and the pieces will fall into place. They just will.  This notion alone can help bring a bit of peace to the current situation. And sometimes just a little sliver of hope is enough to get us by. Cause in life that is what we all have in common, we are trying to get by.

Enough for now.

There is power in consistency and repetition. I am back to blogging, lets see how we go, if I find some "power" :)