Today a friend from Califonia sent me a link to a fantastic video (8-9 min.) of a pantomime/puppet act, if you can call it that. It is an art that leaves you wondering like a good magic show, but it has the beauty and awe of Cirque du Soleil. The artist is Jerome Murat, from France, also called “The Man with Two Heads”.

Pantomine is acting in silence, thus focussing on the action, and often like here masks are used to sharpen the focus. In the show Jerome Murat even reduces the colours and uses only white. This reduction to the essential is something very much needed on the spiritual path. Though here it is a pantomine “show”, it is showing very basic elements, playing with illusion. Enjoy and keep aware.

I just got a link from a friend of a beautiful animated short film (7 min) called “The Potter“, done by the young animator Josh Burton and a team of friends. The film was Josh Burton’s final senior thesis project for Savannah College of Art and Design completed in 2005.

The Potter is an ancient creature who gives life to clay. In his care is an apprentice who wants learn how. It is a story full of magic, about how to learn using the heart. Here it goes directly to the film.

Today the Bangladeshi banker and economist Muhammad Yunus and the Grameen Bank founded by him are jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, “for their efforts to create economic and social development from below.” With his idea of giving microcredits to entrepreneurs who are too poor to receive traditional bank loans, he has given a concept that has spread to nearly all areas of the world affected by poverty, over 23 countries by now. According to the German “Spiegel” magazine, over 100 million peole have aready got a microcredit. To ensure repayment, the bank uses a system of “solidarity groups”, which apply together for loans and act as co-guarantors of repayment and mutual support in the effort of economic self-advancement.

(c). www.muhammadyunus.org

Yunus is a fervent opponent to traditional development aid: “Poor people are not asking for charity; charity is not a solution for poverty.” And: “Only thing we need to do soon, redesign our institution and policies. People can change their own life provided they got the right kind of institutional support.” His goal is to free humanity from poverty by self-empowering the people: “Poverty in the world is an artificial creation; it does not belong to human civilization. We can change it.”

Intelligent help is a major quality of good will and of practical spirituality in the service of humanity. Muhammad Yunus is an outstanding example for this.

I yesterday read in the Swiss Coop Consumer magazine – which is publishing besides theirs ads some contents of general interest to attract the attention of consumers – an article about the restauration of the papyrus of the Gospel of Judas (for details see the National Geographics article). In five years of a crazy detail work Florence Dabre and others have restored 66 pages of the old codex dating back to the 3th or 4th century a.d. which was about to decay. Part of it is now in the Bodmer Foundation near Geneva, where many original manuscripts are kept.

According to the canonical Gospels, Judas betrayed Jesus to the Jewish authorities, who then turned him over to the Roman authorities by whom he was crucified. This newly discovered Gospel portrays Judas as acting at Jesus’ request when he hands Jesus over to the authorities. Wikipedia says: “Like many Gnostic works, the Gospel of Judas claims to be a secret account, specifically ‘the secret account of the revelation that Jesus spoke in conversation with Judas Iscariot’.” And: “The Gospel of Judas describes Judas as being the favourite disciple of Jesus, just as the Gospel of Mary describes Mary as the favourite disciple, the Gospel of Thomas describes Thomas as the favourite disciple, and as the Gospel of John describes its author as the Beloved Disciple.”

This discussion reminds of the feeling of most of the jealous religious believers that their belief is the best and only right one and the others are wrong – an attitude which has to be overcome on the spiritual path. When seeing things from a synthetic point of view, you can discern what is right for you and respect what is right for the others without judging what is wrong and right. And you accept a multitude of different points of view as the many facets of the one reality.

For yesterday’s birthday my team gave me as a gift the new book in German language about “Jakob Kellenberger – Diplomat and ICRC-President“, by Hansjörg Erni. It is written in interview form and gives an insight into the life and work of this outstanding personality in the service of humanitarian work at the International Committee of the Red Cross.When I opened the book this morning just casually, a sentence jumped into my eyes, about why he had studied literature: “A study of literature also teaches to take words very serious, because you gain insight into the portentious significance of words and into the associations they awaken. You learn to be very careful when dealing with language. This was later also of benefit for me in negotiations. Many conflicts and much suffering could be avoided if people whould take more serious the language, which influences also our perception and our feelings.”

On the path of spirituality, this power of the word is something you have to learn.

“On 10 December 1948, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which has become a universal standard for defending and promoting human rights. Every year on 10 December, Human Rights Day marks the adoption of the Universal Declaration. On Human Rights Day it is celebrated around the globe that “All human beings are born with equal and inalienable rights and fundamental freedoms”.” says the Human Rights Education Association.

December 10th, 2004, Secretary General Kofi Annan said: “International Human Rights Day reminds us of persisting human rights problems in our communities and in the world, and of the enormous efforts still required to make human rights a reality for all.” You find more about Human right violations on the site of Human Rights Watch. See also our blogpost on Human Rights Watch.
Accepting the human rights of other people and nations is a sign of maturity. In spirituality you learn to govern yourself and let others govern themselves, without wanting to dominate their way of living and thinking. Imposing one’s own convictions on the others is seen as an aggression. This holds true for individuals as well as for nations.

I yesterday read an inspiring article in a magazine called Natürlich (Natural) about the “laughter-revolution” and the foolosopher Roland Schutzbach. His website: Hahahahaha.org, of the European Laughter Society. The goals are to bring back joy of life, love and optimism into daily life. He says, the energy of laughter is the direct way to englightenment, the joy-energy gives the experience of the present moment. After having been a teacher and philosopher for many a year (with a PhD), he decided to leave the “mainstream mill” and inspire people together with his wife. “HappyTopia” is their a project to realise the insights and ideas of the happy and foolish philosophy in a concrete community.

Some sentences from their site, to give you a taste: “To laugh about yourself – that’s something to laugh about!” – “Most people are born as originals and die as copies.” – “He who lives without foolishness is not as wise as he thinks!” – Andy Warhol: “Everybody has problems. So don’t make a problem with your problem.”
Another humanitarian clown mentioned in the article is Patch Adams, who is taking clowns to hospitals, prisons, even refugee camps and war zones to bring food, medicine and hope. By the way, the Swiss Red Cross is doing an Aids sensibilisation project with clowns in Swaziland.

Humour is a necessary ingredient on the spiritual path. In healthy spirituality there is an undercurrent of humour springing from the inner. It expresses in the more subtle form of smiling. In an e-mail I received yesterday a friend mentioned a quote of my spiritual teacher, Dr. K. Parvathi Kumar, saying: “Learn to smile. Smile lifts you up to Light. Work in that Light .”

And there is a site calling people for an International Day of Smiles, to be celebrated on December 9th, 2006 🙂 .

I yesterday came across the extrordinary biography of John Francis, a black American who lives car-free and silent for 17 years, who is walking and sailing around the world to heighten environmental awareness (see the site Planetwalk.org). He stopped speaking until 1990 because he was arguing all the time why he refused to use cars. Through the long years of silence he has developed and enormous power of listening. He even made a PhD during his time of silence and later was recruited by the U.S. Coast Guard to write oil-spill regulations and by the United Nations Environment Program to serve as a goodwill ambassador. He also has published a book called Planetwalker: How to Change Your World One Step at a Time.
You find here an interesting interview with him.

For about four years we had a youth group, where we met with four youngsters from our family and that of a friend. We called it a Mithila group and spoke about fundamentals of spirituality in a way adapted to the youngsters (see: Fundamentals of a Spiritual Education, PDF). Last Sunday we closed the group, for the interests of the youngsters had grown out of it.

Though signs had been there already since a longer time and my wife had seen them more clearly, I was a bit surprised and first felt sad about the development. We had a long talk and I came to understand the situation in a broader perspective. To sum it up: That which is resonating within them will find fruition, but it is up to the children to pick up what they want, for their way into life. Their blossoming does not develop in the way we suspect it. What has been important for me is not necessarily what they might consider important. They have to shape out their own way, and in freedom.

A friend sent me a link to a beautiful video on YouTube with Chinese female dancers representing in a performance the Thousand-Handed Goddess of Mercy. It is the female representation of the Buddha Avalokiteshvara, known in China as “Kuan Yin” and in India as the Boddhisattva of Compassion. All 21 dancers are deaf-and-dumb. Inspiring !