MEDITATION

Here’s a meditation I received in my in-box that seems pertinent to today’s material living from

Daily Inspiration - Daily Quote ... Jonathan Lockwood Huie -Insights for living simply; an Inspired Life.

We turn today to one of my favorite Russian writers. Feodor Dostoyevsky, who keenly points out...

Wealth is the number of things one can do without.

I don't know about you, but as I grow older (I'm 58 years old as I write these words) I have less and less interest in all the stuff I've bought, borrowed, or inherited during my years on this ball of dirt.

I mean, seriously, I could give away just about everything I own and never miss most of it for more than a few minutes.

I don't know if that's the slumbering mystic in me trying to get out of work so I can move to a mountain top and contemplate my navel for the rest of my days or if it's a serious aberration of some sort that's causing me to reject the American habit of constantly accumulating more and more stuff.

Honestly, though, I really do yearn for a day when I can live very simply with little more than the basic needs of life.

Well, let's meditate on Dostoyevsky's observation this coming week and see where it takes us.

Breathe in your stuff... hold... then breathe it out and let it go, completely.

Really let it go........................................................................

Life is a sum of all your choices
- Albert Camus

Silence means giving rest to the mind and this means giving rest to the body. Sometimes rest is the only medicine needed.
- Robert Foster Bennett

I recently heard.................................................

.......................A quote by Florence Foster Jenkins, a soprano of the forties.
"I am aware that people say I can't sing. But nobody can say that I didn't sing".

Love & Forgiveness

It is truly amazing how we come down on celebrities when they falter.

I guess there is nothing surprising about it because this is the kind of society we have become.

Like none of us has ever faltered in our life.

What have we become?

We have transformed into a very unforgiving and fickle society. The media, television and movies have helped to turn us into a society that is too quick to condemn, too quick to judge, too quick to sentence and too quick to sever ties - be that of love, loyalty or just a fan-club.

When Michael Jackson was accused of child molestation, every radio station I know boycotted his music. There was not one positive thing being said about him at that time. At the time of his death and after, nobody could stop talking about him and how he was the greatest showman on earth, and he really was the greatest showman on earth. But news sells. Sensationalised news sells even more, be it positive or negative.

Now the wrath of humans is on Tiger Woods.

With celebrities, for sure they are role models. But we also revere and respect them for what they do - their sport, their music, their acting or writing. What they do in their personal lives is really their business. As our former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau has, very aptly said “What goes on in people’s bedrooms is nobody’s business but their own”.

Unfortunately, it is not unusual that celebrities will err - too much money, too much power, too much pride. However, it is not up to us to condemn them. It is up to their families to condemn or forgive them but since the media propagates this constant barrage of hate and condemnation, the families are led and influenced towards a negative outcome. What a pity!

It is not the negative that governs who we are and what we do but how we come out of the negative, to learn from it and grow from it. Be it with celebrities or in our daily lives, we are just too quick to pass judgment and condemn rather than learn from the mistakes and make the relationships stronger and the futures brighter.

To err is human and to forgive is divine. How many times have we heard that? We may not be aiming for divinity but there is not one person on this earth that has not erred. We have all erred in our ways many many times.

So then why are so quick to judge and condemn in the case of Tiger Woods?

We need to learn to live our lives knowing that mistakes will be made, that upsets will happen and that there will be negative situations in our lives, while not letting these negative situations govern the outcomes of our lives. Life cannot be measured by the negativities but how we come out of the negative, forgiving the people we love, asking for forgiveness from the people we love and continuing to grow and striving to become better.


Not just for the new year, in the spirit of giving, but for the rest of the year and for the rest of our lives, it is important that we learn to forgive, not ignore, not condemn, not judge, but forgive each other, our spouses, our children, our parents, our neighbors and most of all, ourselves so that we can get on with matters that are more important in life like love, admiration, generosity, kindness, integrity and brotherhood.

A sample chapter from my upcoming book - 'I Have Good News and Bad News'

When I was younger I had issues with the world. I wanted to do something to make the world a better place. I wanted to be a better person myself. I had aspirations and dreams. I wanted to be a writer, an actor, a teacher, a chef, and even considered being a flight attendant. I just wanted to make the world a better place

I used to be as emotional as I am now. Come to think of it, it was probably the beginnings of my Multiple Sclerosis and nobody could diagnose it correctly. I would lose my temper easily, and was considered ‘an angry young man’. I do not know why I was so angry but I was. I had a wonderful upbringing with extended families and cousins that were (and still are) like siblings. I was still a very angry teenager. I was also sick, which ranged from anemia to hypoglycemia to getting malaria very often.

Whenever I was upset, I would run into the mosque and pray for strength. I would cry and pray for a miracle. Miracles are subjects for myths.

My parents were not wealthy and could not afford expensive schools or universities. They also spoiled me lots and loved me lots and we had great times together. I wouldn’t change anything. Ultimately, it was up to me how I turned out. Was I going to play the eternal victim and blame it on missed opportunities and what could have been? Or was I going to be a master of my own circumstance and destiny? I chose the latter. Not conscientiously but instinctively – To be the best you can, using the resources you have. That was what I believed then and that is what I believe today.

Now I have Multiple Sclerosis. How am I going to lead my life? Am I going to be a victim? Or am I going to be a master of my circumstance?

Religion has taught me “Be true to your self” and “Honor yourself”.
If ever I needed an answer to the question, “Why me?” it would be now.

Why not me?

Am I going to be a victim by even asking “Why me”? Or am I going to take the bull by the horns and be a master of my circumstance?

Well I am not a master of circumstance, as such. But, I can certainly accept things and continue doing my best, being my best and let nature and this illness take its course.

As much as I am an idealist, I like to think that I am more a realist who lives in the present world under my present conditions, whatever those conditions may be.

So why not take the bull by the horns? And if he has no horns, then grab him by the ears.

I have good news and bad news.

The bad news is that I am having a hard time with my illness and the future looks dark and bleak. I cannot help but think the worst.

The good news is that I am not a quitter. I still do my best at everything I do and I now have to set a new pace. I need to contemplate less and do more - read more and write more - live more. I have made some adjustments that are required and I will re-invent my life, if I have to. I have people that love me so much, it is quite amazing. If I were to die tomorrow, I can say I have had an amazingly fulfilling and love-filled life but I am not about to give up and die.
So it is not just taking the one bull by the horns, I have the whole bloody herd by the bloody horns………..for now.

That is the great news…………for now.

MARTYRDOM, SACRIFICE & JIHAD

In the Webster's Dictionary, a 'martyr' is one who dies or suffers for principles, or sacrifices all for a cause. For centuries, there have been martyrs in the name of Religion. It is hard for me not to question, how different are we today?

Then, there seem to be a misconceptions and a misunderstandings on the real meaning of jihad. It actually means struggle.
Either the meaning of struggle is something other than mine or there are individuals who are simply misinformed, ill-educated and/or are easily influenced.
I think it is a bit of everything, and the leaders have used the misinterpretation to their advantage. Some have even condoned the change of meaning, to suit their own advantage.

I am convinced that most of the time the average person is misguided and misinformed.We know that the wars and strife that go on are very detrimental to the survival of mankind. The leaders of the world are making a big mistake whether they know it or not. But war is money and money brings power. We know from past history that all our attempts made to dissuade people from fighting and killing have been futile. India and Pakistan, Palestine and Israel, the Islamic extremists and the rest of the world, are all examples - naïve people misled to believe some figment of some demagogue’s imagination (or claims to be the word of God).

This is really not the right way to go. God has never said we should kill, injure, hate and judge (or misjudge).Not enough effort has been made to re-educate the population. All that is being done by the leaders and the media is adding fuel to the fire by feeding propaganda with more propaganda and speculation and these 'theories' turn into fact in the minds of the naïve and fuel the fights that have gone on for generations.

The ‘jihad’ or struggle should be one for love, brotherhood, peace, love, patience, tolerance and understanding. I consider the real martyrs to be those that 'sacrifice' violence to make place for brotherhood, peace, love, tolerance patience and understanding but instead we steal, loot, rape, pillage, behead and, blow up, to destroy the very essence of what has termed us human.

Whatever happened to humanity?

MY UNIVERSAL DREAM

(revised)

To seek dreams without slumber
To live life without degradation
To have neither pain nor tear
To love unconditionally without expectation
To sometimes win even without a try
To look beyond the shadows and adumbration
......and seek the light
To be a martyr without having to die
To live life fully without a fight
To laugh so hard I could cry
To use words and not might
To always speak and hear the truth without fabrication
To soar the winds like a kite
To have surrender without annihilation
To always love and not spite
To have a kingdom without commission
To question without anxiety
To belong without being a possession
To have identity
Without conformity
To be able to say what I mean
And
To be able to mean what I say

Will there really be a New Day?

*****