21,000 humans die every single day by starvation, most are children. The fact that this happens is intentional by those who govern at the highest levels. Yes, it is intentional. How could it be any other way? The surplus of food is there; the financial resources are there; the means of delivery and distribution are easily made possible by modern infrastructures; a detailed plan to end global poverty created by Jeffrey Sachs, a professor of economics at Columbia, has been sitting on desks at the UN since 2001. The political will is simply not there.
This week in the studio, my dharma talk was about the archetypal energy of Hanuman. Sita is the archetype of unconditional love and Ram is the energy of preservation. Sita helps us to love people who are different than us and to hold space for people to achieve excellence. The Ram mindset is what allows us to stay in the same career for 20 years. Hanuman is the outcome of love and sustainability coming together. He is the embodiment of devotion. Hanuman is being of service in the world in a heart centered way.
We all have access to all the archetypal energies within us- the hero with one thousand faces as Joseph Campbell called the concept. At certain times in life one archetype becomes perhaps more dominant. When we are faced with adversity, the warrior force steps to the forefront. When we have small children, the parental energies and concerns dominate. At one point along the path of a dedicated spiritual practice, we become more aware of devotion. Through self study, we observe where our devotion lies- what people, habits, ideas and circumstances are we devoted to? It is a natural part of spiritual awakening for our vision to expand. We see things that we didn't see before and wisdom and understanding begin to develop. Instead of dwelling on our own, big or small, problems or those of the people in our favorite circle, we begin to expand our concept of "us" to think globally. (A reminder here that we had a unique presidential candidate within our grasp who understood this larger vision.). We begin to understand that 21,000 global citizens dying each day affects us all. We understand that we all rise as each of us rises and we all suffer when one suffers.
We all have access to all the archetypal energies within us- the hero with one thousand faces as Joseph Campbell called the concept. At certain times in life one archetype becomes perhaps more dominant. When we are faced with adversity, the warrior force steps to the forefront. When we have small children, the parental energies and concerns dominate. At one point along the path of a dedicated spiritual practice, we become more aware of devotion. Through self study, we observe where our devotion lies- what people, habits, ideas and circumstances are we devoted to? It is a natural part of spiritual awakening for our vision to expand. We see things that we didn't see before and wisdom and understanding begin to develop. Instead of dwelling on our own, big or small, problems or those of the people in our favorite circle, we begin to expand our concept of "us" to think globally. (A reminder here that we had a unique presidential candidate within our grasp who understood this larger vision.). We begin to understand that 21,000 global citizens dying each day affects us all. We understand that we all rise as each of us rises and we all suffer when one suffers.
The first reaction to this understanding by many is what can I do about that? We are so busy staying busy with the business of day to day life that one more obligation can seem overwhelming. I would say first that the very existence of our busyness with the day to day struggle is just as intentional as letting 21,000 people die every day. An oppressed citizenry is more easily managed. And when you add tv zombie programming, misinformation and fear distributed by the lame stream media, with negative changes to our air, food and water, you have a nice manageable herd of sheep. Gaslighting is also used to make people who question authority or existing structures out to be crazy "conspiracy theorists ". But, there is one very simple way to be of service to the world, to take back a little personal sovereignty and it doesn't take much of your time. What's even better is that, if you do this, I guarantee that you will start to progressively feel just a little bit better. Thanks to patriots like Edward Snowden, we know now just how much we are being watched by big brother. All it takes for a politician to start caring about gay marriage and legal marijuana is for us to start caring about those things and TO TALK ABOUT THEM ON SOCIAL MEDIA. If you are reading this, there is a good chance that you are on Facebook. When we talk about what we want, rather than what we don't want, young men in hoodies and quantum computers take notice and record the new data. If we talk about it, our friends will talk about it. Before long, it's on a political platform. If you are not interested in politics, I'm sorry to tell you that politics is interested in you and does and will affect you. If you are awake, please let your social media persona reflect that state of awakeness.
The singer Bono gave a speech to the UN years ago about ending global poverty. He said in the same way that people today look back at Nazi Germany and ask, how could "they" have let that happen, that future generations will look back at us now and ask the very same question.
The world is in a beautiful state of transition- The Event that 25 different spiritual traditions have spoken of. What is needed now are spiritual leaders who are willing to step forward and get some skin in the game. This is a call to action. You are needed.
So good to see you writing again. I always enjoyed your blog site in the past. We havemore power at, literally, our fingertips than ever before in history. The Gandhi story is under played. Look what they accomplished, peacefully, in the face of repeated beatings and imprisonment. Not to broad stroke or make light but, as you indicate, our habits online en masse is almost enough to make a real difference on many issues. Scattered, busy lives are the breakdown. Again, good to see you writing publicly again.
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