Catastrophes, Attention and Compassion
Some thoughts about the recent violence and a correspondence with Sri Kumar.
Last Friday morning when I went down to pick up the daily newspaper a thought flashed through my mind: Is there something in the news about a terror attack? The thought quickly passed by and the newspaper didn’t report anything out of the ordinary. Next morning I read about the attacks in Paris. It was only then that I thought again of this “fiery messenger” in my mind: There was something in the air before it manifested “on ground”.
Later I saw the news-wave rising in the few online portals I visited. The following days, the newspapers were full with background stories and analyses. The politicians and other opinion makers got busy, governments demonstrated determination to counteract. Many showed their sympathy and solidarity: On Facebook, many faces of “friends” appeared in the blue, white and red of the French tricolore…
When I thought of the victims whose lives brutally ended, I felt something in the atmosphere beyond the uproar of indignation and confusion – like cries of other victims not in the limelights of attention fuelling – be it in the middle East, in parts of Africa and elsewhere. Later, I read in the local newspaper about people in Lebanon asking, Why no attention to our victims? And about the many victims of attacks in Nigeria and elsewhere. Rising the attention is one of the prime goals of the terror attacks and if we just focus on their acts, their perverse strategy works out: “mission accomplished”.
Attention is a precious good and often disproportionately distributed. Though sympathy and compassion are important, we need to open up our hearts to all where we feel the suffering. It is an attitude and not a doing. An attitude of inclusion and very much needed now.
Some friends from Spain asked me if Dr. Kumar, our teacher, did say anything about the terror in Paris. I wrote to him and he replied:
“I prefer not to get into the activity of opinionating upon events that have political relevance. I only see the whole violence at that level is but reaction to the past action of Europe in Middle East. We the humanity do not learn the basics. ‘Love thy neighbour’ remains an ideal. We fight with neighbours everywhere on the planet. We say we are developed but not in its true sense.”
And a little later: “Hundreds of thousands are killed in Middle East for believed political ideology, for which no concern is shown. Just a hundred and twenty draw global attention. Don’t you see the fallacy?”
From various sides I received calls for synchronised meditation to help spreading light and peace. One mail reminded that by building powerful thought forms the path of humanity will be energised towards a positive future – bringing Love and Light to counter-balance the fear and shadows, to create an international wall for protection. Meditative invocations are certainly important contributions.
I was reminded of the invocation for European unity given by Dr. Kumar some years ago, which I regularly use. Some friends just asked me about it, and so I share it here. The “East in us” refers to the Ajna centre on the front, the seat of soul consciousness, and the “West in us” to the base centre, the physical anchoring:
We the citizens of Europe strive to stand united.
We endeavour to unite the east and the west in us and in Europe.
We aspire to stand in the fusion of the East and West of Europe
and provide a field for fusion for easterners and westerners of Europe.
May we fulfil the Hierarchical plan of discipleship
standing in the Light, Love, Power and Synthesis of Hierarchical energy.
Having finished the above lines, I thought about the word “catastrophes” used in the title. Terror attacks are not “natural disasters” but purposefully planned atrocities. However, I decided to use this expression to hint at the larger avalanche of destruction caused by the pathological distortions of fanatic ideologies, political or religious.
March 31st, 2016 at 2:48 am
My Humble Love Om Namo Gurudeva