Love Beyond the Shell

Although we often use popular labels in conversations, few of us know the origins of the expressions we so freely use.
I think most people – at least once in their life – have used the term “my better half” when referring to their significant other; yet, if asked, not many of them would know how this affectionate address ever came to be.
In 360 BCE, Plato attempted to explain the concept of soul mate in “Symposium”, and used the analogy of humans having four arms and four legs before the Greek God Zeus split them in half and scattered the severed parts to the four winds. After that, humans wandered the world looking for the other half.
As enchanting as Plato’s story may be, it has one fatal flaw: When thinking of soul mates we readily assume that only humans can have such deep connections, while other aspects of creation are automatically relegated in a different category, void of emotions and unable to experience attachment to one another.
For the habitual visitors of Laniakea Beach, a small stretch of sandy Paradise located about one and a half miles from the old Haleiwa town in the island of Oahu, it was suddenly very clear that animals have soul mates too.
Although strict regulations protect the welfare of green sea turtles, one unfortunate individual known by the name of Honey Girl was senselessly slaughtered last week, and abandoned to the shore to be found by regular visitors. Saddened animal lovers set up a small memorial for Honey Girl, including flowers and a photo taken while she was alive. To everyone’s surprise, on Monday, a large male slowly made his way out of the waves and inched toward the memorial, where he remained for several hours. Onlookers were stunned by the fact that the male turtle – affectionately known as Kuhena – appeared to stare for a long time at the picture of his companion. http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2008/07/23/mizutani.hi.turtle.love.khon?iref=mpvideosview
Needless to say, the people who were fortunate enough to witness Kuhena’s final goodbye to his mate were left speechless and profoundly touched.
Sadly, we are conditioned to function in a world which promotes separateness from the whole. We live our lives on automated pilot, choosing to view ourselves as the only beings able to love and connect to one another. True love and friendship are powerful enough to cross past the boundaries of time, space and form; no matter what type of home our soul chose to inhabit during this lifetime, we are all aspects of the same source of creation, briefly sharing an earthly experience, and all connected by the need of unconditional love.
Kuhena and Honey Girl had a special bond which was untainted by her death.
By allowing humans to witness this powerful display of soul connection, they have blessed all of us with an awareness that might have been elusive otherwise, and have gently shown to all of us that love should not be considered a human exclusive .

The other face of the Homeless.

When walking down the paths of Moore Square in downtown Raleigh, North Carolina, one has the feeling of having reached the heart of the city.
The ancient oaks and poplar trees set a marked contrast to the rest of the world vibrating all around, and embrace each other as to create a net of protection over this tiny island of peace, from the hustle and bustle of the nearby City Market.
Moore Square is the home of Christine and some of her homeless friends.
I met Christine a few months ago, when I strolled downtown looking for a group of homeless to bring a box of groceries to. The first time I saw her, she was sitting on the edge of a small garden bed with a few others, and eyed me suspiciously when I walked right up to her and put the box down near her feet. I asked her if she knew anyone who could use the things I brought, and explained that the homeless guy I had bought those items for was nowhere to be found that morning. Christine told me that she was going to take care of distributing the groceries I brought, so I thanked her and left. As I walked off, I turned around to look, and saw that she had summoned several people I had not seen just a moment before, who were now all gathered around the cardboard box. Watching them go through the few treats I brought was like watching my children on Christmas morning: they were smiling and talking excitedly, and held fruit cups and packs of peanuts with the same reverence and enthusiasm that my kids display when opening an expensive new video game.
Since then, I have gone back several times to bring groceries and other small items. With each visit, their suspicion has thawed a little, and has now been completely replaced by gratefulness and excitement.
When I went to bring a box, two days ago, I saw that Christine’s backpack was badly torn, and her few belongings were falling out of it. I thought of the many backpacks in my storage room that my kids no longer use, and told Christine that I would bring them to her the next day. Yesterday morning, I went back with my younger son, my daughter, my friend Connie and her two children. Christine was in her usual spot sitting beside a few other homeless people, and greeted us with a big smile as we approached her “home”. I laid the bags near her other stuff, and we all talked for a while. While we sat, a small man, attired in a blue dress shirt and khaki pants walked up to my son, and handed him a small handful of change. Michael immediately refused, and tried to give the coins back, but the little man was adamant about him keeping them: he was touched by Michael’s compassion and good heart, and wanted to give something back.
Before we left, I told Christine that I would be back soon with more things; she just smiled and said: “You don’t have to bring anything. If you are in the area, just come by and talk to us for a while”.
Needless to say, we all left Moore Square with a lot more than we walked there with, and realized that there is another face to the homeless, a very human, warm and caring one. Beyond the rough edges, they are normal people, who enjoy human contact and love one another. Life circumstances have forced them to shed their ego and live humbly, but have not robbed them of human dignity and inner beauty. Their light shines from within and touches the heart of anyone who will take a moment to know them beyond their appearance. I don’t know if my son will ever again meet the little man who gave him the coins, but he will forever remember how, one day, an angel came up to him and gave him a gift from the heart, mindless of the fact that those coins could have been his next meal.

The healing power of prayer and positive thinking.

Ella Newmiller is a five-year-old little girl who is terminally ill.
She was diagnosed not too long ago with an inoperable brain tumor, with a prognosis - according to The Cure Starts Now, a group formed to search for a cure for brainstem tumors - of eighteen months at most. Ella’s story has made it around the world, and many spiritual communities have come together to pray for her healing.
As I was relating this story to a friend, today, another common friend stepped up and asked if I think that prayer truly heals people.
Personally, I wholeheartedly believe it does, but I had to come up with a few reasons that would satisfy the left brain of my not-too-spiritual friend.
Research has shown that quiet meditation and prayers, or the comfort of being prayed for, appear to lower blood pressure, reduce stress hormones, slow the heart rate and have other potentially beneficial effects. Many studies done over the years indicate that believers tend to be healthier than non-believers.
These findings still do not explain the benefits of people praying for others, although one experiment conducted in 1988 by San Francisco cardiologist Randolph Byrd showed that the 192 people targeted for prayer by a group of born-again Christians needed fewer drugs and less help breathing than the 201 cardiac patients who had not received prayers.
None of the subjects were told that they were being prayed for.
Einstein himself wrote about interactions between particles at a distance, and quantum physics – although still in infancy – show that distant particles can affect each other's behavior in mysterious ways.
Skeptics will undoubtedly look for reasons why any of these experiments might be considered bias, but at some point we have to realize that we don’t always need science to quantify the benefits of something that has proven itself through the ages.
There are things that science cannot prove or disprove, and it is up to the faithful to draw personal conclusions.
Meanwhile, prayer is a free gift, and one offered from the heart; it might help or it might not, but it will certainly not hurt. The vibrations emanated through prayer are impregnated with love and caring for one another, and create a ripple effect that travels past the boundaries of space, time and form.
Spiritually speaking, there are reasons why prayers don’t work sometimes, as what we ask for may simply interfere with an individual’s soul contract, but attempting to explain the mechanics of such a deep concept will only confuse rather than clarify, and is not necessary at the moment.
All we need to know is that by praying we connect to the divine part of ourselves, and open the doors to the wider horizons that extend beyond the scope of scientific limitation.
We don’t have to be religious to pray; even atheists make a wish when they blow out their birthday candles.
That’s what prayer essentially is, a wish. Whether we send our wish to God, Goddess, or merely to the good person who lives inside our mind, what truly matters is that we are thinking loving thoughts and wishing somebody well.
And as for my ten cents, I wish Ella a lifetime of good health and happiness. May she and her family find the healing they need, and may she grow into a beautiful and graceful young lady who, someday, will pray for another soul in need.

Islam: A Highway to Peace on the Map of Global Unity

Of the four billion people who died in the 20th century from all causes combined, 185,000,000 deaths were caused by other humans.
At 8.5 millions, murders exceed deaths related to natural disaster (including floods, earthquakes and volcanoes) by five millions.
These are scary odds. They get even scarier when one thinks that many of the 'manmade' deaths are the product of hate crimes.
Organizations around the world are working very hard in promoting education and tolerance, but many individuals are still light years away from understanding the spiritual link that connects us all beyond race, heritage and social standing.
A few days ago, I stood behind a young man wearing eastern garb while I waited in line at a local fast-food restaurant, and I noticed that a lot of the people around were focused on the black backpack on the young man’s shoulders. Although the line continued to move smoothly toward the cash register, low-level anxiety was almost tangible. A serial killer could have been standing there wearing a baseball cap - and he would have gone completely unnoticed - but the young man wearing a turban was looked upon like a circus animal.
Sadly, since the September 11 incident, anyone wearing eastern garments has been at risk of attracting unwanted attention in our country, even though the individuals responsible for the 9/11 atrocities were disguised as normal Americans, and they boarded our planes wearing regular slacks, dress shirts and NOT donning a turban.
Ignorance has certainly played a huge part in this process, but it is intolerable that so many people have been demonized and demoted to sub-human status because of their religious affiliations or fashion trends.
Religious conflicts and wars have claimed many lives throughout history, but it must be made clear that the people responsible for those deaths are not the good and honest believers; rather, they are a minority group of fanatics and radicals who have used religion to manipulate the masses and fit their personal evil purposes.
As the Dalai Lama passionately stated in his address to Lehigh University in Pennsylvania, “it’s totally wrong and unfair to call Islam a violent religion”. http://www.newsobserver.com/2178/story/1140533.html
With events such as the Euro-Mediterranean Summit which took place this past weekend,
http://voanews.com/english/2008-07-13-voa13.cfm, worldwide leaders are hoping to promote understanding and peace, but it is up to individuals to understand that religions are paths to love, not hatred or destruction.
As children, we were taught that one bad apple does not necessarily spoil the whole basket, but as adults we conveniently choose to throw all the apples in the trash, regardless of the fact that many of them are good and perfectly healthy.
Islamic radicals are the exception, not the rule, of Islam, as much as Catholic Inquisitors or Christian Crusaders were not rightful representatives of the Christian creed.
As citizens of this country and inhabitants of this world, we need to take a hard look at the atrocities we personally commit when we simply judge good people because of their beliefs or appearance. Only by allowing ourselves to see the other paths leading to a common vision of peace and unconditional love, we will increase our chances of ever getting to our desired destination.

Fried Chicken vs. Tofu: Changing our perception without losing our pride.

Jesse Helms--the North Carolinian senator who was passionately loved and hated during his long political career--was laid to rest this morning in Raleigh, North Carolina. http://www.newsobserver.com/politics/politicians/helms/story/1135448.html
Throughout his political career, Senator Helms always stood by his extremely conservative opinions on sore issues such as race, sexuality, and education, and was mostly considered a bigot by the newer generations; yet, those who had a chance to talk to him and meet him in person, unanimously claim that Jesse Helms was as gentle as a lamb and a true southern gentleman, very approachable and always ready to chat.
Jesse Helms labeled himself a country boy who was fascinated by the sleepy ways of the South, and spent his life fighting to maintain those traditions of honor, respect and southern hospitality he was raised with. Jesse Helms was as southern as fried steak.
For those who are not familiar with Monroe, NC, it is hard to fully understand the lifestyle of this little town tucked into the warm blanket of Union County, which still reflects the southern charm people have only glimpsed at when watching ‘The Andy Griffith Show’ and ‘Fried Green Tomatoes’.
Most residents in Monroe know one another, and are united in their resolve to resist the northern influence, which has already changed iced tea into Espresso and fried chicken into Tofu, in many of the other larger towns and cities of the State.
Monroe is the town where Jesse Helms was born, eighty-six years ago. I never met the man, but I am sure that, in his youth, he was one of those kids whose mothers spent the day exchanging polite gossip with neighboring ladies, while snapping green beans for supper, or jarring homemade jam. Jesse Helms was the product of southern thinking, a gentleman who did what he thought was best from the perception he had inherited in his youth. He never understood the meaning of each individual being a necessary part of a whole, because, ultimately, he was taught a different reality.
As children, we paint our world with the colors that are handed to us, and absorb the perception which stems from the point of perspective our caregivers adopt, as they form their own views on life. To us, our family unit is the privileged keeper of universal truth, and we assume that our parents’ opinions are sacred and righteous. In attempting to understand this concept, we can just glimpse at children who rally against abortion, while they walk down the street holding huge signs inscribed with thoughts and opinions they don’t even understand: As Jesse Helms spent his life expressing Monroe’s values, these children speak the truth of their parents, and honestly believe that they are fighting for the greater good of all.
Our perception is directly impacted by our upbringing, and by the lifestyle we have identified with, but as we shift toward a greater understanding, people are becoming more open to embracing a merger between the new and the old, slowly shedding the fear of losing the individual identity born from pride in one’s heritage.
And hopefully, between now and then, somebody will come up with a recipe to make Tofu taste as good as fried chicken.

The Storm and the Rainbow

The sun still shines behind the storm clouds.
Although this is a scientifically proven fact, it is also the first thing people choose to forget when Mother Nature unleashes its fury.
Similarly, each time we are caught into a life storm, we get easily swept into the whirlwinds of fear and doubt, and forget about the cyclical nature of all things.
We survive through the birth and death of loved ones, disease and marriage crisis, parental challenges and job uncertainties, but we seldom take the time to observe that each event quickly explodes and saturates our life with uninvited misery only for a limited time, before it naturally runs out of steam and comes to an end. If we were able to see the bigger picture beyond the blinding patina of drama, we would see life storms for what they truly are: the necessary eradication of the old and the nurturing of the new.
We blame unpleasant occurrences on an unkind destiny, and rarely acknowledge that the storms we ride are necessary portals we must step through, if we ever hope to reach the finish line and achieve what our hearts desire.
A person stuck in the stagnant waters of an unsatisfactory relationship may have to face the storm of a breakup, before he or she can focus on seeing the sparkling light of a new, more fulfilling love affair. If parents wish for their children to become more responsible and realistic, their own life may be temporarily unsettled by the mistakes the children will have to make, as they learn a sobering life lesson which will gift them with greater wisdom and an increased sense of reality.
Most life storms bring along winds of change, but even if we eternally wish for positive alterations in our lives, deep down everyone is afraid of shaking things up.
We unrealistically expect to reach the desired destination without going on the trip.
Just as weather storms are visible on radars and to the naked eye, most life storms are also easy to detect before they approach, and allow us time to make the necessary preparations.
In a few cases when situations explode without warning, we need to be aware that even those events will often lead to unexpected benefits in their aftermath.
Whether we go through a summer storm, a sudden tornado, or even a hurricane, all that will ever be destroyed is the manmade illusion of material stability. What truly matters remains untouched, and sometimes even enriched.
The next time dark clouds loom ominously on the horizon, we can remember that this new storm, like all others before, will pass, the clouds will dissipate, and the sun will shine brightly again.
And, maybe for the first time in our life, we’ll notice the soft colors of a beautiful rainbow, painted on the clear skies of new and unforeseen opportunities.

Changing the world one act at a time.

In the aftermath of 49-year-old Esmine Green’s death, after she collapsed in a NY hospital where she had been waiting to be evaluated for 24 hrs, people are scratching their heads.
In a shocking video released to the media, Esmine is seen thrashing on the floor of the waiting room for over thirty minutes, in obvious distress, before she died. Hospital personnel are caught on tape while passing by the collapsed woman, ignoring her condition entirely.
So far, six people including security and medical personnel have been fired and many of the hospital policies have been revised, but six children are still left alone without a mother to care for them.
At least two or three people walked beside Esmine Green while she was in the throes of death, but went on to mind their business as if she was not there.
Since the late eighties, a lot of emergency rooms around the country have admitted that their lack of proper care toward patients is aimed at discouraging people from going to the ER. Because of a drop in health insurance coverage, a lot more people have used ER facilities to treat ailments that are routine care and not life threatening, stretching the already overwhelmed staff, and increasing waiting time for patients who go in for emergencies.
The ward where Esmine Green awaited her death is described as filthy and poorly managed, but that’s not enough to explain the total lack of human compassion exhibited in the waiting room. There is no excuse as to why a human being is treated this way.
With crime constantly on the rise, and violence being glorified by the media, we have become desensitized to the suffering of others.
Especially in poverty-ridden areas, residents are so used to witnessing pain and discomfort that they have made them a part of their everyday reality. Life is given very little value, and incidents such as the one of which Esmine Green was the victim are blamed on one thing or the other, with nobody really stepping up to claim their personal responsibility in the act.
As humans, we love the blame game. We blame everything and everybody, we shake our heads in disbelief, but none of us are truly willing to accept the fact that we are all responsible for what is happening. We can’t change the world in its entirety, but we have the opportunity to change the reality we live in by at least caring for one another.
We spend our lives consuming ourselves with worry over things that are out of our sphere of control, but willingly turn our heads away from events we can personally impact.
We have deliberately isolated ourselves from the collective consciousness of the world, and have become disconnected from the light that each life brings to the whole.
The dim light of one candle might be bright enough to expose the path to walk, but the light of a thousand candles will make the road clear and the obstacles visible.
By opening to one another we can allow ourselves to widen our perspective and understand the value of life beyond first impression.
It is time we reclaim our divine nature and renew our connection to the light that lives inside each of us, regardless of circumstances.
When someone needs our help, whether it is a hungry man asking for change or a woman seeking medical attention, we need to open our eyes and see that we are in front of a window of opportunity, through which we can soar to the higher skies of human compassion and unconditional love. And when the rest of the world seems to be crumbling around us, we can peacefully know that we are taking steps to change what we can, one act at a time.