It is my lot to be teaching World Religion starting in January. In preparations for this class I came across a rare group of interfaith friends and colleagues. They call themselves the “Interfaith Amigos.” This might interest our group members as well (they have a YouTube site).”

Their website presents the Interfaith Amigos with the following words:
“Known for their unique blend of spiritual wisdom and humor, Imam Jamal Rahman, Pastor Don Mackenzie and Rabbi Ted Falcon openly address the usual taboos of interfaith dialogue — the “awkward” parts of each tradition — in order to create a more authentic conversation.”

And they ask: “With so much divisiveness splintering our world, how do we Get to the Heart of Interfaith?” And one of the interfaith amigos, Imam Jamal Rahman, answers: “As the Prophet Muhammed said, we need to move from ‘knowledge of the tongue’ to ‘knowledge of the heart.’” – Perfectly true.

Here is a video from TEDxDU

Some days ago I got the following appeal forwarded from a site called Evolutionary Leaders – in Service to Conscious Evolution, where they also launch an appeal for a world-wide meditation for Oneness, and evolutionary leap in consciousness. The have created “Global Care Rooms” where you can see where other participants are located through a beautiful representation of our Earth.

The appeal further says:
“Countless individuals around the world share the belief that humanity’s next evolutionary leap will be achieved by collectively serving conscious evolution. They support the need to build a global community, restore ecological balance and encourage social transformation that optimizes human potential. Let us together reflect upon our own individual and collective part of the evolutionary process. …
11-1-11 Meditation Intention: Our intention is to transcend superficial differences that divide us – race, religion, politics, beliefs, culture – to acknowledge, experience and honor the essential bond that unites us all as one interdependent organism.

We also intend to evolve in both consciousness and action so that each of us learns to perceive the whole, relate to others in wholeness, widen our definition of ‘we’ to be all inclusive and become evolutionary leaders for a peaceful, holistic, sustainable world.”

“The Blessing” – extract from a painting done in February 1987

Right Here All Over (Occupy Wall St.) from Alex Mallis on Vimeo.

“A young lady was waiting for her flight in the boarding room of a big airport. As she would need to wait many hours, she decided to buy a book to spend her time. She also bought a packet of cookies. She sat down in an armchair, in the VIP-room of  the airport, to rest and read in peace.

Beside the armchair where the packet of cookies lay, a man sat down in the next seat, opened his magazine and started reading. When she took out the first cookie, the man took one also. She felt irritated but said nothing. She just thought: “What a nerve! If I was in the mood I would punch him for daring!”

For each cookie she took the man took one too. This was infuriating her but she didn’t want to cause a scene. When only one cookie remained, she thought, “ah, what this abusive man do now?”

Then, the man, taking the last cookie, divided it into half, giving her one half.

Ah, that was too much! She was much too angry now!

In a huff, she took her book, her things and stormed to the boarding place.

When she sat down in her seat, inside the plane, she looked into her purse to take her eyeglasses, and, to her surprise, her packet of cookies was there, untouched, unopened!

She felt so ashamed! She realised that she was wrong… She had forgotten that her cookies were kept in her purse. The man had divided his cookies with her, without feeling angered or bitter, while she was very angry, thinking that she was dividing her cookies with him. And now there was no chance to explain herself… nor to apologize.”

The moral of the story…
There are four things that you cannot recover:
The stone ….     after the throw,
The word …. after it’s said,
The occasion … after the loss,
The time …. after it’s gone.

Hello, nice person, did anyone ever tell you just how special you are? The light that you emit might even light a star.
Did anyone ever tell you how important you make others feel? Somebody out there is smiling, about love that is so real.
Did anyone ever tell you that many times when they were sad your e-mail made them smile a bit, in fact it made them glad.
For the time you spend sending things and sharing whatever you find, there are no words to thank you, but somebody thinks you are fine.
Did anyone ever tell you just how much they like you? Well, my dearest friend, today I’m telling you.
I believe that without a friend you are missing out on a lot.
Have a nice day, and I’m glad we are friends.

In the afternoon a university philosopher spoke to us about power and leadership. It was partly a dialogue with the audience about what are the attitudes and values determining how we deal with other people – superiors, subordinates, team members. We read short extracts from philosophers like Marx, Macchiavelli, Socrates and Kant where he showed attitudes we encounter in our everyday lives: It is normal that we are being used at a job, but what happens if we start feeling we are only used, like objects and not like personalities? What happens when the use is getting less, be it through disease or old age? Do you meet the other as a fellow being or as a function to be filled out? When you notice that you are just being used, you feel unwell and easily being misused.

The philosopher had a brilliant mind and raised many questions. I liked his style but at the same time the image of a mental juggler, a player rose up in me, and memories of the times of my studies of philosophy came where I felt fed-up with these and those concepts. Listening to the philosopher I felt tattered with the time, and I sensed the need to be centred in me, to get aware of the foundations of values for which I take my stand and which guide my actions.

In the evening when meditating I felt well diving into silence and leaving the waves of mental agitation back at the shores of the ocean of the mind. I later thought that reliability and meeting the others on a fair and equal basis and with trust in one one another is essential for being and working together.

When opening my computer I found an e-mail of Sri Kumar just with the words “Thank you Ludger.” I had written him twice the last 2 weeks asking for the next texts of the Vaisakh Newsletter (VNL). He wrote yesterday: “I was touring a lot. In two days time I will send you the text. Please bear with me. There are too many issues happening here demanding frequent tours. All were emergencies.” I answered him: “Yes, emergencies always have priority. At my work there is also a flood of emergencies…, and the VNL will come when time gives a window.”

I highly appreciate his reliability in our cooperation and the attention he gives to minute details. It has been an inspiration for me since years in my dealing with others, especially via e-mails, be it at my job or at home, with the good-will activities. I thought, you don’t need big philosophies, but a loving, reliable and consistent relation with your fellow beings to create trust and comfort. A short feedback expresses a lot of caring attention.

A bee using a flower, but fertilising it at the same time

Most of us won’t go there, but they have a fascinating map of about 800 “Today’s Front Pages” (yesterday, Saturday, July 30, 2011 they had 785 front pages from 81 countries.) where you can just put your mouse on a city, almost anywhere in the world, and the newspaper headlines of the day pop up… Double click and the page gets larger…you can read the entire paper on some if you click on the right place. This site changes every day with the publication of new editions of the paper.

On their site they say: “The front pages are in their original, unedited form, and some may contain material that is deemed objectionable to some visitors. Discretion is advised.”

You have also a section of a number of European papers. So when you want to have a quick overview of what the world is talking about…

There are also a lot of exhibitions, about such “important” topics like: “First Dogs: Presidential Pets in the White House” (images of dogs belonging to 23 presidents, including the newest addition: Bo, a six-month-old Portuguese water dog), “Pictures of the Year” and “The President’s Photographer: Fifty Years Inside the Oval Office“.

The Newseum, Washington DC, Photo: James P. Blair/Newseum

The movie is not a work of fiction. It will be released end of 2011. Very impressive.

My friend sent a second link to another film: Connected. An Autobiography about Love, Death and Technology. The synopsis of the film says (extract):

“Between texts and tweets, memes and microchips, we’ve become great at breaking the world down into byte-sized bits. In the process we’ve stopped seeing the forest for the trees, never mind the root system that connects them all.

For centuries we’ve been declaring independence. With insight, curiosity, and humor, this film asks if it’s time to declare our interdependence instead. Connected is a journey through the interconnectedness of humankind, nature, progress and morality at the dawn of the 21st century.”

Photo: From the video (c) Honda