September 16, 2010

I Want the ‘Mosque’ Built On Ground Zero

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 “The man who speaks of the enemy / Is the enemy himself.”

Bertolt Brecht

Here’s another one that just arrived in my inbox. Think about the kind of world you want to live.

In Unity,

John

By Michael Moore, Michael Moore.com
11 September 10

If the ‘mosque’ isn’t built, this is no longer America.I am opposed to the building of the “mosque” two blocks from Ground Zero.

I want it built on Ground Zero.

Why? Because I believe in an America that protects those who are the victims of hate and prejudice. I believe in an America that says you have the right to worship whatever God you have, wherever you want to worship. And I believe in an America that says to the world that we are a loving and generous people and if a bunch of murderers steal your religion from you and use it as their excuse to kill 3,000 souls, then I want to help you get your religion back. And I want to put it at the spot where it was stolen from you.There’s been so much that’s been said about this manufactured controversy, I really don’t want to waste any time on this day of remembrance talking about it. But I hate bigotry and I hate liars, and so in case you missed any of the truth that’s been lost in this, let me point out a few facts:

1. I love the Burlington Coat Factory. I’ve gotten some great winter coats there at a very reasonable price. Muslims have been holding their daily prayers there since 2009. No one ever complained about that. This is not going to be a “mosque,” it’s going to be a community center. It will have the same prayer room in it that’s already there. But to even have to assure people that “it’s not going to be mosque” is so offensive, I now wish they would just build a 111-story mosque there. That would be better than the lame and disgusting way the developer has left Ground Zero an empty hole until recently. The remains of over 1,100 people still haven’t been found. That site is a sacred graveyard, and to be building another monument to commerce on it is a sacrilege. Why wasn’t the entire site turned into a memorial peace park? People died there, and many of their remains are still strewn about, all these years later.

2. Guess who has helped the Muslims organize their plans for this community center? The JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER of Manhattan! Their rabbi has been advising them since the beginning. It’s been a picture-perfect example of the kind of world we all want to live in. Peter Stuyvessant, New York’s “founder,” tried to expel the first Jews who arrived in Manhattan. Then the Dutch said, no, that’s a bit much. So then Stuyvessant said ok, you can stay, but you cannot build a synagogue anywhere in Manhattan. Do your stupid Friday night thing at home. The first Jewish temple was not allowed to be built until 1730. Then there was a revolution, and the founding fathers said this country has to be secular – no religious nuts or state religions. George Washington (inaugurated around the corner from Ground Zero) wanted to make a statement about this his very first year in office, and wrote this to American Jews:

“The citizens of the United States of America have a right to applaud themselves for having given to mankind examples of an enlarged and liberal policy – a policy worthy of imitation….3. The Imam in charge of this project is the nicest guy you’d ever want to meet. Read about his past here .

“It is now no more that toleration is spoken of as if it were the indulgence of one class of people that another enjoyed the exercise of their inherent natural rights, for, happily, the Government of the United States, which gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance, requires only that they who live under its protection should demean themselves as good citizens …

“May the children of the stock of Abraham who dwell in this land continue to merit and enjoy the good will of the other inhabitants – while every one shall sit in safety under his own vine and fig tree and there shall be none to make him afraid.”

4. Around five dozen Muslims died at the World Trade Center on 9/11. Hundreds of members of their families still grieve and suffer. The 19 killers did not care what religion anyone belonged to when they took those lives.

5. I’ve never read a sadder headline in the New York Times than the one on the front page this past Monday: “ American Muslims Ask, Will We Ever Belong?” That should make all of us so ashamed that even a single one of our fellow citizens should ever have to worry about if they “belong” here.

6. There is a McDonald’s two blocks from Ground Zero. Trust me, McDonald’s has killed far more people than the terrorists.

7. During an economic depression or a time of war, fascists are extremely skilled at whipping up fear and hate and getting the working class to blame “the other” for their troubles. Lincoln’s enemies told poor Southern whites that he was “a Catholic.” FDR’s opponents said he was Jewish and called him “Jewsevelt.” One in five Americans now believes Obama is a Muslim and 41% of Republicans don’t believe he was born here.

Armenian World Peace Symbol

8. Blaming a whole group for the actions of just one of that group is anti-American. Timothy McVeigh was Catholic. Should Oklahoma City prohibit the building of a Catholic Church near the site of the former federal building that McVeigh blew up?

9. Let’s face it, all religions have their whackos. Catholics have O’Reilly, Gingrich, Hannity and Clarence Thomas (in fact all five conservatives who dominate the Supreme Court are Catholic). Protestants have Pat Robertson and too many to list here. The Mormons have Glenn Beck. Jews have Crazy Eddie. But we don’t judge whole religions on just the actions of their whackos. Unless they’re Methodists.

10. If I should ever, God forbid, perish in a terrorist incident, and you or some nutty group uses my death as your justification to attack or discriminate against anyone in my name, I will come back and haunt you worse than Linda Blair marrying Freddy Krueger and moving into your bedroom to spawn Chucky. John Lennon was right when he asked us to imagine a world with “nothing to kill or die for and no religion, too.” I heard Deepak Chopra this week say that “God gave humans the truth, and the devil came and he said, ‘Let’s give it a name and call it religion.’” But John Adams said it best when he wrote a sort of letter to the future (which he called “Posterity”): “Posterity! You will never know how much it cost the present Generation to preserve your Freedom! I hope you will make a good use of it. If you do not, I shall repent in Heaven that I ever took half the Pains to preserve it.” I’m guessing ol’ John Adams is up there repenting nonstop right now.

Friends, we all have a responsibility NOW to make sure that Muslim community center gets built. Once again, 70% of the country (the same number that initially supported the Iraq War) is on the wrong side and want the “mosque” moved. Enormous pressure has been put on the Imam to stop his project. We have to turn this thing around. Are we going to let the bullies and thugs win another one? Aren’t you fed up by now? When would be a good time to take our country back from the haters?

I say right now. Let’s each of us make a statement by donating to the building of this community center! It’s a nonprofit, tax-exempt organization and you can donate a dollar or ten dollars (or more) right now through a secure pay pal account by clicking here. I will personally match the first $10,000 raised (forward your PayPal receipt to webguy@michaelmoore.com  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it). If each one of you reading this blog/email donated just a couple of dollars, that would give the center over $6 million, more than what Donald Trump has offered to buy the Imam out. C’mon everyone, let’s pitch in and help those who are being debased for simply wanting to do something good. We could all make a huge statement of love on this solemn day.

I lost a co-worker on 9/11. I write this today in his memory.

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Radio host, inspirational speaker and health educator John Haines is the author of In Search of Simplicity: A True Story that Changes Lives, a startlingly poignant and inspiring real-life endorsement of the power of thought, belief and synchronicity in one’s life.

“In Search of Simplicity is a unique and awe-inspiring way to re-visit and even answer some of the gnawing questions we all intrinsically have about the meaning of life and our true, individual purpose on the planet. I love this book.”

Barbara Cronin, Circles of Light. For the complete review visit: http://www.circlesoflight.com/blog/in-search-of-simplicity/

“In Search of Simplicity is one of those rare literary jewels with the ability to completely and simultaneously ingratiate itself into the mind, heart and soul of the reader.”

Heather Slocumb, Apex Reviews

 

June 26, 2010

Paths for Peace

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Hiker on the Appalachian Trail

 “In the summer of 1952 Mildred Norman hiked the entire length of the 2,050 mile Appalachian Trail. She was the first woman to accomplish this feat….On January 1, 1953 Mildred became the Peace Pilgrim and began her first walk across America from coast to coast. Over the next 28 years she was to walk more than 25,000 miles, carrying in her blue tunic her only possessions. She lived a pilgrim’s life, in utter simplicity and spiritual trust. She walked and talked her message: ‘This is the way of peace—overcome evil with good, falsehood with truth and hatred with love.’ The Peace Pilgrim’s life was born in a vision that came to Mildred Norman at the end of the Appalachian Trail and it was to be her life mission: a pilgrimage for peace.”

The above words are from (or inspired by) the booklet Peace Pilgrim: An Extraordinary Life by Ann Rush with John Rush

Some years ago, while living in Peria in the Far North, I received a vision. It is a vision in which every land is traversed with walking trails, trails which transcend borders. Along each trail are planted (by the children of each country) durable species of fruit and nut-bearing trees. These trails will be part of a worldwide network of Paths for Peace. Imagine young men and wome – instead of seeking initiation into adulthood through alcohol, drugs, thrill-seeking or war – walking the length and breadth of their countries for peace. They shall be sustained along these walks by the edible foods planted there.

Peace Pilgrim was one woman working for peace with single-minded purpose. Imagine thousands or even millions of similarly dedicated souls collectively creating a world of peace—with their hands (planting) and their feet (walking). Imagine a world without borders united by carefree, healthy, happy hikers singing songs of peace.

Imagine a multitude of Paths for Peace – resplendent in beauty and diversity of flora and fauna, climate and terrain – representing the incredible diversity of the human family. These diverse Paths for Peace will represent the unique path towards peace each of us walks daily and the unique paths to peace each of the world’s religions represent.

This is my vision for peace. Will you help it to manifest by holding it in your heart?

 

Possibly related post:

World Peace is Inevitable

 

Radio host, inspirational speaker and health educator John Haines is the author of In Search of Simplicity: A True Story that Changes Lives, a startlingly poignant and inspiring real-life endorsement of the power of thought, belief and synchronicity in one’s life.

“In Search of Simplicity is a unique and awe-inspiring way to re-visit and even answer some of the gnawing questions we all intrinsically have about the meaning of life and our true, individual purpose on the planet. I love this book.”

Barbara Cronin, Circles of Light. For the complete review visit: http://www.circlesoflight.com/blog/in-search-of-simplicity/

 

“In Search of Simplicity is one of those rare literary jewels with the ability to completely and simultaneously ingratiate itself into the mind, heart and soul of the reader.”

Heather Slocumb, Apex Reviews

 

 

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Appalachian Trail Scenery

 

May 19, 2010

Let There Be Peace on Earth and Let it Begin With Me

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More than an end to war, we want an end to the beginning of all wars.

Franklin D. Roosevelt  

I love the Maori creation myth which tells how heaven and earth were once joined. Ranginui, the Sky Father, and Papatuanuku, the Earth Mother, lay together in a tight embrace. They had many children who lived in the darkness between them. The children wished to live in the light and so separated their unwilling parents. Ranginui and Papatuanuku continue to grieve for each other to this day. Rangi’s tears fall as rain towards Papatuanuku to show how much he loves her. When mist rises from the forests, these are Papa’s sighs as the warmth of her body yearns for him and continues to nurture mankind.

As I walked in the pre-dawn dark this morning Rangi’s tears fell upon me, the interloper. Gravity pulled the rivulets of moisture down my face, some finding their way to the earth mother, to Papatuanuku. I felt caught in their embrace, the Sky Father and the Earth Mother, a lone man moving step by step through the dark, feeling the love of creation. At such times one feels the stillness and I chanted a short song of peace as I walked. A pin prick of light bobbed towards me from down the hill. Only as they passed could I make out the forms of two ladies and a dog enjoying their equally early sojourn. “We must be crazy,” one called out, laughing. They too felt the joy of the moment, caught in the arms of the mother and the tears of the father.

“Peace. It does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble or hard work. It means to be in the midst of those things and still be calm in your heart.”

Unknown Author

Peace. Our primordial state. Anything other than peace is but a reflection of the misguided flailings of the ego. As my saturated shoes began to squish on the asphalt, I reflected on the progress we’ve made in the world towards peace and justice. It’s not so very long ago that Sammy Davis Jr. had to go through the service entrance to headline on stage. It’s not so very long ago that entire families in Berlin were separated by a huge wall of stone and concrete. It’s not so very long ago that Nelson Mandela was released after 28 years of imprisonment, heralding the end of apartheid and announcing the beginning of positive change in South Africa. Today one small country, Costa Rica, is home to a peace university and chooses not to have a military. Would this have been possible a century ago?

Transcendental Meditators (from TM) have proven that a group of sufficient size meditating together regularly can help bring peace to the area in which they live. Similarly, a late dear friend of mine, Dr. John Ray, led another group in a town in Virginia and also found reductions in crime.

A critical experimental test of the peace-creating effect of large meditating groups was conducted during the peak of the Lebanon war. A day-by-day study of a two-month TM meditation assembly in Israel in 1983 showed that, on days when the number of participants (“TM Group Size,” right) was high, war deaths in neighboring Lebanon dropped by 76% (p < 10-7). In addition, crime, traffic accidents, fires, and other indicators of social stress in Israel (combined into a Composite Index) all correlated strongly with changes in the size of the peace-creating group. Other possible causes (weekends, holidays, weather, etc.) were statistically controlled for.*

* Orme-Johnson, D.W., Alexander, C.N., Davies, J.L., Chandler, H.M., & Larimore, W.E. (1988). International peace project in the Middle East: The effect of the Maharishi Technology of the Unified Field. Journal of Conflict Resolution, 32(4), 776–812.

http://www.tm.org/blog/video/world-peace-from-the-quantum-level-david-lynch-and-john-hagelin/

Jeannie Whyte recently made a short post titled Are We Going to Make It or Not? Which I received from her on Facebook.

The first words of this post are printed below:

Dear wonderful friends,

It is said that if just 1% (or some other very small number) of the ENTIRE world population were to meditate for just 5 minutes a day, world peace could be attained. 

Will you join me in AFFIRMING that this has already happened?

In a world that is rapidly becoming a global village, a world without borders, what percentage of people is required to affect change? At the risk of repeating a quote you’ve all already heard I’d still like to refer to what Margaret Mead, that wonderful anthropologist said,  ####. We do make a difference with every breath we take, with every word we speak. Again I encourage you to use the following affirmation I made for myself a few years ago. It was inspired by some lyrics of Sting:

Every step I make, every breath I take, every thought I have,

 every word I speak brings me peace.

So I encourage you to not lose heart. This peace we all long for is not only possible, it is inevitable. All each of us need do is find one (or more) area in which to focus our peace efforts. For some this may take the form of political action, for others it may mean resolving some long standing conflict within their family. Each of us needs to take time to reclaim our own innate peaceful state of mind. Do join with others for regular meditations. If there is no group in your area consider sting with others at a distance at a prescribed time. One such technique in place around the world is termed Triangle Meditation whereby you choose to sit with two other people who can live anywhere. For information on this, click here.

Peace in ourselves, in our families, in our communities, in our countries and in the world is not only possible, it is inevitable.

Another enjoyable way to share with others is to perform Dances of Universal Peace. I will be joining a group of dance teachers at a beautiful retreat centre, Tauhara, in the middle of the North Island in late May to share Dances of Universal Peace.

The first light of dawn appeared on the horizon as I reached the beach, the last star visible under the overhanging cloud. The rain slowed. My heart sang. Nothing more is needed. Just the realization that all is well in the world and always has been. The dream may appear to be flawed, but it is just a dream.

Peace is not just the absence of war. It is the absence of negativity.

 ~David Lynch

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Radio host, inspirational speaker and health educator John Haines is the author of In Search of Simplicity: A True Story that Changes Lives, a startlingly poignant and inspiring real-life endorsement of the power of thought, belief and synchronicity in one’s life.

Related Posts:

United We Sing: An Appeal for Peace

United We Sing: The Video

World Peace is Inevitable

From the Heart of a Master

 

May 12, 2010

Working for Peace is a Full Time Job

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A friend of mine on Facebook, Jeannie Whyte sent a message to the members of Psychic & Spiritual Collaboration group. I am pasting it below because Jeannie is enunciating her awareness that world peace is inevitable, something I totally agree with. I thank her for working for a positive present and future for all the inhabitants of this planet. Join the peace train. It’s mostly in our minds.

John

Dear wonderful friends,

It is said that if just 1%
(or some other
very small number)
of the ENTIRE world population
were to meditate
for just 5 minutes a day,
world peace could be attained.

Will you join me in AFFIRMING that
this has already happened?

By making an affirmation, you,
as a SOUL, made in
the image and likeness of God, your creator,
are powerful and can do all things.

Therefore, claim your divine birthright
and claim what is rightfully
yours to live in PEACE and HARMONY
on your beautiful MOTHER EARTH.

One of our members, Robert, has asked that
we use Twitter and if you’d like to,
please do so because the more
often we AFFIRM something,
the more powerful it becomes.

However, feel free to do whatever
you feel led to raise
your vibration/consciousness
to align with the “good” that
lives within you.

You already are GOOD and PERFECT and you
can choose to move
away from duality.

REMEMBER to choose to align yourself with
your SOUL qualities, which are all GOOD
and POSITIVE.

YOU are already a DIVINE BEING and if anyone
has ever told you otherwise
they were not telling YOU
the truth.
So RELEASE that limiting belief, my friends.

I love you and I AFFIRM our DIVINITY and PEACE ON EARTH!

Love, light and in sincere gratitude,
Jeannie Whyte

Spiritual Life Coach/Certified Matrix Energetics Practitioner
http://www.facebook.com/l/d95f 1

www.psychicjeannie.com

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April 20, 2010

The Most Valuable Things in Life

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After a sojourn in the wilderness, Peace Pilgrim walked again in the streets of a city that had been her home for awhile. It was 1:00 p.m. She saw hundreds of neatly-dressed people with pale or painted faces hurrying in rather orderly lines to and from their places of employment. She walked amongst them in her faded shirt and well-worn slacks. The rubber soles of her soft canvas shoes moved noiselessly beside the clatter of trim, tight shoes with high heels. In the poorer sections of town she was tolerated. In the wealthier sections some glances seemed a bit startled, others disdainful.

On both sides of the walkers were displayed the things which could be bought if people were willing to stay in the orderly lines, day after day, year after year. Some of these things were more or less useful, others not – some had a claim to beauty, others were garishly ugly. Thousands of things were displayed – and yet the most valuable things were missing. Freedom was not displayed, nor health, nor happiness, nor peace of mind.

Peace Pilgrim was, of her choice, a penniless wanderer for 28 years. Her pilgrimage was her retirement project and she walked on the endless energy of inner peace. Earlier in life she realized making money was easy, but not necessarily satisfying.

In the nearly 30 years since she died the forms of the things we can buy if we decide to stay in the orderly lines year after year have changed. Still, some are more or less useful and others are not.

Is it time leave the orderly lines and risk being looked upon disdainfully? Is it time to march to a different drummer? Is it time to acknowledge that the most important things in life are free – health, peace and happiness – and readily available should we choose for them.

What will your choice be? I wish you freedom, peace, health and happiness.

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Radio host, inspirational speaker and health educator John Haines is the author of In Search of Simplicity: A True Story that Changes Lives, a startlingly poignant and inspiring real-life endorsement of the power of thought, belief and synchronicity in one’s life.

“In Search of Simplicity is a unique and awe-inspiring way to re-visit and even answer some of the gnawing questions we all intrinsically have about the meaning of life and our true, individual purpose on the planet. I love this book.”

Barbara Cronin, Circles of Light. For the complete review visit: http://www.circlesoflight.com/blog/in-search-of-simplicity/

 

“In Search of Simplicity is one of those rare literary jewels with the ability to completely and simultaneously ingratiate itself into the mind, heart and soul of the reader.”

Heather Slocumb, Apex Reviews

 

March 22, 2010

World Peace is Inevitable

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We become what we believe. The state of the world reflects our collective beliefs.

The power of love will ultimately overcome the love of power in this world and peace will prevail. Physical violence will stop. Psychological violence will take a little longer, but it too shall melt away. Peace will prevail. Inner peace is our natural state. Unfortunately in many of us it is obscured by a perceptual blanket of false and negative beliefs.

We share the same planet but we all live in different worlds. What you see is different from what I see. What we each see is not delivered from some outer source, independent of our choice. No, what we see is a direct result of the lens of perception we each choose.

Our individual experiences reflect our deeper beliefs. If we choose to see violence, hatred and war, we invite these scenarios into our lives. If we choose to see gentleness, love and peace we shall in time experience a world reflecting these chosen perceptions.

I received an email a couple of days ago from a Zen monk living alone in a redwood forest near Santa Cruz, California. He found me on the internet by doing a google search for ‘World Peace is Inevitable’. Here’s part of what he wrote:

I’ve greatly enjoyed reading your endorsement of the fact that world peace is inevitable. A few of the organizations I’m involved with here in the States as well as in Europe are beginning a global movement to spread the phrase “World Peace Is Inevitable,” and I figured I’d email you to tell you about it. 

Here’s some interesting information that you may not have been aware of: If you google the phrase in quotes “World Peace Is Inevitable,” there will be about 435,000 results that come up initially. However, this is extraordinarily misleading. If you click on page 10 of the results, you will see that in fact there are only 85 to 90 worldwide uses of the phrase on the internet. 

Now, if you google in quotes the phrase “the world is going to end,” there are 226,000,000 world wide uses of the phrase on the internet. I think we can both agree that this royally sucks!

So what we are doing is beginning to write the phrase on money bills, creating t-shirts, stickers, and encouraging people on the internet to use the phrase as much as possible. We are connecting with university students in Europe and here in the States and getting a lot of students on board for this world wide movement. 

Over the years when I’ve spoken about the inevitability of world peace I’ve more often than not received responses such as, ‘We’ve always had war and always will have.’ When we think and speak in such a way we are not acknowledging the immense power we have to affect change. If we all think that way, war is what we’ll get. There’s an expression that says, “If you always do what you’ve always done you’ll always get what you’ve always got.” Likewise, if you always think how you’ve always thought, you’ll always get what you’ve always got. We are the creators. Our collective expectations do, in fact, shape this world in which we live. Change our thoughts, beliefs and expectations and the world around us changes. It’s as simple as that.

I invite you to join this monk, Billy Guilfoyle, and me and a growing group of people worldwide who embrace a brighter future for humanity and this planet. The future is our choice. Let’s jump on the Peace Train together and recognize that peace in ourselves, in our families, in our communities, in our countries and in the world is not only possible, it is inevitable. The timing is up to us. Let’s share the dream!

 Peace,

John

I’ve pasted below the YouTube Video Billy made:

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Radio host, inspirational speaker and health educator John Haines is the author of In Search of Simplicity: A True Story that Changes Lives and the recently released Beyond the Search, books to lift the spirit and touch the heart. See http://www.JohnHainesBooks.com

“In Search of Simplicity is a unique and awe-inspiring way to re-visit and even answer some of the gnawing questions we all intrinsically have about the meaning of life and our true, individual purpose on the planet. I love this book.”

Barbara Cronin, Circles of Light. For the complete review visit: http://www.circlesoflight.com/blog/in-search-of-simplicity/

“In Search of Simplicity is one of those rare literary jewels with the ability to completely and simultaneously ingratiate itself into the mind, heart and soul of the reader.”

Heather Slocumb, Apex Reviews

 

February 10, 2010

All is Well in Our World

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Cherry Tomatoes

We’ve had an extremely dry summer. The drought started in late November and we’re not finished yet. With so many of us in this part of the world relying on rainwater for our household use and in the garden, it has been a challenge. A couple of women attending Lucia’s yoga class yesterday said they’ve let go of watering their vegetable gardens. There simply isn’t enough water. I know these have been difficult decisions for each of them to make them because they love their gardens.

We’re lucky. We have one 5000 gallon tank supplied by the water collected on the roof of our large shed/garage. And we a have a huge rectangular concrete tank under the deck of our house, fed by the expansive roof area of this colonial bungalow. We still have water because we’re able to collect a lot from dew and from the very occasional light shower of the last months and because we practice frugality.

One of the bonuses of such a dry summer is that the water quality of the ocean is better than usual. This is because the rains are not washing pollutants from the soil to the sea. So we’ve been swimming a lot, often twice a day.

New Zealand Fairy Tern

Yesterday I was out about 150 metres from shore in the midst of a flock of Fairy Terns. I would have thought they’d find more private fishing grounds when I arrived but, no, they continued to dive all around me. I surmised my flailing was disturbing the fish, making it even easier for the terns to find a meal. I didn’t mind at all.

Night Blooming Jasmine

Our drought is a reminder of the dualistic nature of our world. Often in the winter we have so much rain that the earth becomes saturated, leading to flooding the next time a heavy drenching of rain occurs. Then, you could say we have too much rain and now you could say we don’t have enough. I prefer to focus on what we have and what we’ve gained in each circumstance.

There is a positive for every negative. And our job is not to change (or want to change) the outer. This would mean resistance and resistance leads to pain. Our job is to turn away from our attachment to the outer, to form, and to find the deep abiding peace that exists inside, behind the surface of form and duality. This peace is totally independent of what is happening outside.

Wild Ginger

In the midst of our drought there is great beauty. Peaches and cherry tomatoes are ripening beautifully in the sun. The cicadas and crickets add their magical cadence to the ethers. Queen of the Night (Night Blooming Jasmine) and wild ginger lend their sweet fragrance. All is well in our world.

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John Haines is the author of In Search of Simplicity: A True Story that Changes Lives, a startlingly poignant and inspiring real-life endorsement of the power of thought, belief and synchronicity in one’s life

 

December 26, 2009

Transducing Heaven on Earth

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We live in unprecedented times. On the one hand, it would appear that much goes wrong on the planet. All one needs to do to support this viewpoint is to read the daily newspaper.

On the other hand larger and larger groups of people gather together in peace with the clear intention of transforming the Earth into the peaceful paradise that is her destiny. I urge you to visit the following link to join in world wide meditations for just such a purpose.

In peace,

John Haines

http://earthrainbownetwork.com/FocusArchives/MeditationFocus207.htm

1) SUMMARY

Since time immemorial, human beings on Earth have longed for an idyllic past when all beings, small and great, lived in complete harmony in a place where peace, freedom and love reigned supreme. This mythical place is in fact an archetypical memory of a state of being our souls experience between each lifetime in the physical realm. Some call this ethereal place “Nirvana”, a word that in our culture evokes a state of perfect happiness and absolute bliss. Others call it “Heaven” and in every culture, this invisible realm is said to be where souls go to rest and enjoy the most sublime rewards for their good deeds while in embodiment. It has also been said that humans create their own heaven or hell here on Earth, depending on where the focus of their attention is and what their beliefs are. As fragments of the Omniversal Being at the origin of All That Is, we are each endowed with unimaginably powerful creative powers which can be fully tapped only when we align our little will with the greater will and purpose of life. As living expressions of the Grand Design of Creator Source, we have no reason to remain confined forever by the limiting perception of ourselves as mere mortals whose ultimate fate if to live a brief existence mired in an endless struggle to survive and find a modicum of happiness in a world that is often felt as violent, unpredictable and harsh. We can free ourselves from the self-imposed yoke that prevents us from stretching our wings and flying into the skies of endless freedom and creativity, namely, fear.

To melt away and dissipate fear from our mind, heart and soul, the antidote is simply to let Love be our basic and permanent state of being and sole perspective through which everything is sensed and seen. To fully grasp how simple it is to allow Love to be our guiding beacon in everything, one has only to think of the greatest joys and moments of deepest happiness experienced so far in this lifetime, and invariably one can but come to the conclusion that, each time, Love is what made them possible. The lesson is clear and the path is well marked. Love is the key to manifest Heaven on Earth, to transform our near hopeless situation into a resounding victory over fear, born from the self-destructive sense of separation that pits us against each other. Now its the time to rise above the miasma of our self-inflicted disconnection from the Universal Source of All and to cocreate, through our own metamorphosis, the dream world of ancient lore. Now is the time to let go of our past misconceptions about ourselves and to enable, through our own self-purification, the emergence of the true state of inner peace, unconditional love and perfect harmony that is our innate nature. Now is the time to BE All that We Are.

Joining in meditation with all other souls walking this Golden Path of Light, we are to immerse ourselves during the coming four weeks, and especially at the globally synchronized moments of soul communion every Sunday, in the sense of devotional love that permeates our being when we let the Presence of Creator Source grow in us until we know, while in blissful ecstatic communion, that we are One with and inseparable from All That Is. Reaching out to each other while in that state of perfect Love, we will catalyze and magnify the global transformation now underway that will soon elevate the overall vibratory rate of this planet and of all its inhabitants up to a state of permanent fusion and mutual sentience from which a near miraculous dispensation of Grace will usher in a new Golden Era, thus transducing Heaven on Earth, for the Highest Good of all as One.

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John Haines is the author of In Search of Simplicity: A True Story that Changes Lives, a startlingly poignant and inspiring real-life endorsement of the power of thought, belief and synchronicity in one’s life.

 

October 6, 2009

Jean-Pierre Hallet: A Giant of the 20th Century

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“The pygmies of the Ituri Forest must be saved. They still represent the true human potential for love, peace and harmony, without crime or greed.” Jean-Pierre Hallet

Imagine an explorer who survived backwater fever, a knife slash in his leg, and a dynamite explosion that not only blew off his right hand at the wrist, but caused a 75 per cent loss of hearing. Though he was bleeding profusely, he swam across a lake, narrowly escaping crocodiles, and began a painful two-hundred-mile journey to reach medical aid. Jean-Pierre Hallet was that explorer and I reckon if he could live his dreams any of us can pursue ours. He was truly a giant of the 20th century. The following words summarize his life and were found at: http://www.midhudsongalleries.com/id8.html

Jean-Pierre Hallet was a man more intimately connected to Africa than perhaps any other westerner. His feats were legendary-what one expects of fiction and adventure movies. About his mission to save the vanishing Bambuti pygmy tribe in the Ituri Forest in Northeast Zaire, the newspapers and magazines of three decades reported it in various ways. He Saves Little People; A Giant Comes To The Rescue; He’s The Biggest Of The Little People of Zaire; Humanitarian Sows Seeds of Hope and Pygmies Have A Friend in Hallet.

A friend, indeed. In 1955 he lost his right hand, in an explosion, while dynamiting Lake Tanganyika for fish to feed a Pygmy tribe. In 1957 he was successful in obtaining, from the colonial government, official acceptance of his “Declaration of Emancipation” for the endangered pygmies. He lived with the Bambuti pygmies for eighteen months and learned six aboriginal languages and seventeen dialects. His extensive knowledge of the pygmy language resulted in a dictionary of more than 18,000 terms, which remains unpublished. He founded The Pygmy Fund in 1974, the only organization devoted to the preservation of the lives and culture of surviving forest dwelling Efe pygmies.

Born in 1927 in Louvain, Belgium, Jean-Pierre Hallet was the son of Andre Hallet, the famed Belgian post-impressionist painter, who lived in the Congo. Jean-Pierre played with pygmy children, north of Lake Kivu, in the northeastern part of the former Belgian Congo. At six, he left his playmates to go to school in Europe. He was already the height of an average adult pygmy in the forest. He returned in 1948 with a Sorbonne education. He was now an agronomist and a sociologist. Jean-Pierre was twenty-one. He was six feet five inches tall and 225 pounds. His incredible life was about to unfold and his reputation as “father to the pygmies” and the “Abe Lincoln of the Congo” was just beginning.

Jean-Pierre Hallet would become a heroic figure. He would become an authority on African culture and a blood brother to many tribes. He was an internationally renowned africanist, ethnologist, naturalist, author, lecturer, explorer, cinematographer, artist, African art authority and collector as well as a death-defying adventurer. He delivered more than 500 African babies, pygmy and non-pygmy. It would be difficult to find another man with such a resume.

He would author three books, the Kitabu trilogy. (Kitabu is roughly translated in Swahili as book.) Congo Kitabu, the first of the trilogy was autobiographical. It would be translated into twenty-one languages including Chinese and Russian. His own words say it best. “I grew up among the pygmies, learning everything that is their world,….making my first bow and arrow…..identifying birds and animals.”

In Animal Kitabu, he explained the odd double life of the hippopotamus, aquatic by day and terrestrial by night. “At the Rwindi Camp in the Congo’s Albert National Park, the hippos used to come on moonlit nights, walking a full mile from the Rwindi River, just to stand outside the restaurant and watch the tourists eating, drinking, chattering and playing cards. During the day, tourists went to the river to watch the hippos.”

In Pygmy Kitabu, his descriptions of the pygmies had palpable charm -”They are very amiable, warmhearted, fun-loving, sometimes mischievous but wholly non-aggressive characters, who behave more like the elves of European legend than the awful killer apes of modern myth.” He also wrote “They love to dance, sing, play the harp and flute, tell jokes, compose tongue twisters, and engage in thrilling sports like the grand old game of archery-ball.”

Jean Pierre Hallet withpygmyband

Human Potential, a magazine published by The Ambassador International Cultural Foundation, featured a cover story in the September 1975 issue entitled” To Save A People”. The cover photograph was a charming portrayal of a moment of tenderness between a pygmy father and child. The man behind the lens was Jean-Pierre Hallet who captured the warmth and the sensitivity of that moment. “To Save a People” was comprised of a series of conversations by M. Hallet as told to Senior Editor Herman L. Hoeh. Following is some of what he said.

About the pygmies: “The pygmies of the Ituri Forest must be saved. They still represent the true human potential for love, peace and harmony, without crime or greed. If people are judged by the quality of their hearts and minds, the ancestral pygmies are giants of mankind. Yet, our often blind, “civilization” is now responsible for the imminent extinction of those people by systematically destroying their forest. Sophisticated technology is self-destructive. Our ultimate survival can only be inspired by saving a simple people such as the pygmies…”

On the pygmy belief about death: “God willed it. If God willed it thus, it is because He had his reasons. One does not judge God.”

On his documentary, Pygmies: “In the fall of 1972, I made a full length documentary on the Efe pygmies wanting to raise funds to help them in their struggle for survival. The Zaire government was about to rule that the pygmies could not be photographed, since they felt that because of their “primitive” appearance they “are bad public relations for the new nation.”…..I managed to produce this graphic documentary incorporating into 90 minutes the essence of a lifetime of observation and understanding-the first and last ever made. In September 1973 the film was shown, at a press preview, at The Academy Award Theatre in Los Angeles. It was a great success: standing ovation and excellent trade reviews.”

Jean-Pierre Hallet was appealing and charismatic. He charmed Tonight Show viewers appearing as a guest of Johnny Carson. He was photographed with Dwight Eisenhower. Writing his eulogy, following his death on New Years Day of 2004, family friend, Donald Heyneman, Ph.D., wrote “…he could not enter a room without arresting all attention. He could commandeer any conversation usually redirecting it towards his worthy objectives. Strong opinions, strongly-and fully delivered were a trademark. He was indeed larger than life, a powerful presence. One who led a full, unrestrained unconventional independent and important life, Jean Pierre Hallet was, and remains, a significant force in the lives of all who were privileged to have known him.”

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Radio host, inspirational speaker and health educator John Haines is the author of In Search of Simplicity: A True Story that Changes Lives and the recently released Beyond the Search, books to lift the spirit and touch the heart. See http://www.JohnHainesBooks.com

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“In Search of Simplicity is one of those rare literary jewels with the ability to completely and simultaneously ingratiate itself into the mind, heart and soul of the reader.”

Heather Slocumb, Apex Reviews

 

September 11, 2009

Tell Me Why

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I can’t be the only one in the world who’s missed this amazing young man singing an equally amazing song. I dedicate this to all the brilliant young souls who are bringing the energy of peace to this planet. It’s just in time.

John

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John Haines is the author of In Search of Simplicity: A True Story that Changes Lives, a startlingly poignant and inspiring real-life endorsement of the power of thought, belief and synchronicity in one’s life. 

 

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