Finished the 3rd day of my juice fast. So I am at day four today and I’m feeling okay. Didn’t do yoga yesterday, so I’ll have to make sure I do a yoga routine today.
Went to Whole Foods and bought some organic lemonade and cranberry juice for the fast.
Yesterday I began my fast, and started doing yoga again. I’ve been on hiatus from my yoga routine, and it really felt good to be doing yoga again.
I did a 1 hour yoga routine in the morning, then a 45 minute yoga routine in the afternoon before my piano gig. And once again I had lots of energy playing piano. I didn’t take a single break and kept playing after the gig was supposed to be over.
Anyway, I feel the fasting and the yoga contributed to my sense of well-being.
So, I’ve fasted for 24 hours already, and this is the second day, in which I am halfway through. This morning’s 45 minute yoga routine felt good.
It’s been over a month since I’ve posted here. But I’ll make my return with a quote that I’ve been pondering over recently…
The greatest achievement is selflessness.
The greatest worth is self-mastery.
The greatest quality is seeking to serve others.
The greatest precept is continual awareness.
The greatest medicine is the emptiness of everything.
The greatest action is not conforming with the worlds ways.
The greatest magic is transmuting the passions.
The greatest generosity is non-attachment.
The greatest goodness is a peaceful mind.
The greatest patience is humility.
The greatest effort is not concerned with results.
The greatest meditation is a mind that lets go.
The greatest wisdom is seeing through appearances.
—Atisha
My religion is very simple. My religion is kindness.
Dalai Lama
Everytime I dwell on the above quote, I get this warm and fuzzy feeling.
The Dalai Lama speaks with simplicity, which I truly love. It just makes it so much easier for all of us to understand, because there is indeed a simplicity yet profound depth to what the Dalai Lama says.
Religion gets a bad wrap, if you ask me. It kind of reminds me of sports. Everyone has their favorite religion like sports fans have their favorite team, and everybody wants their favorite team to win… and so it is with religion, that followers of a particular religion naturally want their religious faith to win… It is in fact, a matter of faith.
And so it should be with kindness. It should be everyone’s religion, no? And kindness is all about Love and Compassion, Understanding and Tolerance.
If everyone in the world made Kindness their main religion, I think the world would be a better place. There would be less War and Hatred for whatever reasons… actually, those reasons would turn out to be unimportant.
People can start with Kindness on the simplest of levels. A smile. Saying “hello”. And as simplistic as this solution sounds… people can agree just how effective a smile or a hello can be!
We need more kindness in this world… I think if we all start out simple. Then, it’s a great and noble start to a new world in which more people enjoy happiness rather than suffering.
Anger and intolerance are the enemies of correct understanding.
Mohandas Gandhi
I was reading that there is once again a growing number of neo-nazi’s, the klu klux klan, skinheads, and this has been all brought about by the illegal immigration issues and laws.
I am just appalled that we are in the 21st century, and racism, bigotry and hatred are alive and well in today’s society.
It just shows us all how easy it is to hate our fellow man. The challenge is to have complete tolerance and patience for all people, however superior or inferior they may be to us. I’ve always had this subtle feeling that “a peaceful co-existence” is the ideal scenario for us all. Hatred has its way of dividing all of us, whereas, Love is the one true thing that can bind us all together and hold the universe in perfection and peace….
In all of the world’s great religions, there is a law that prohibits taking the life of another human being. Taking away the life of another is one of the most immoral acts that one could ever do. In Chrisitianity we have the commandment, “Thou Shalt Not Kill”. And yet, in or society it seems there is a time and place for killing, which is when one goes off to War to fight for one’s country.
I just watched a movie directed by Clint Eastwood called “Flags of Our Fathers”, about the battle between the American and Japanaese forces on Iwo Jima. The heroes never really considered themselves heroes. They didn’t feel good in taking the lives of the enemy soldiers. How could anyone feel good about that in the long run? And many soliders suffered psychological torment and years of nightmares because of their experiences in the war… watching their fellow soldiers die as well as having to kill enemy soldiers in the so-called process of War.
Now the main point in justifying any act of killing another human being is in the act of “self-defense”. This could be a small scenario of having one’s one life be threatened by another person, to the act of defending one’s country because of the threat of terrorism and violence by another country. And it is in this sense that I too am still questioning my moral logic as far as killing goes.
But that’s the dilemma I see. Everyone will tell you that to kill another person is wrong. Even taking the life of a killer just feels wrong to me. The executioner can feel justified and the courts and the judicial system, but me personally… I just don’t feel right about it. I don’t always believe in “an eye for an eye” because that kind of logic might perpetuate any animosity and hatred.
As Gandhi said, “an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind“.
If anything, it is always best to resolve any conflict and hatred in peaceful terms.
But the question remains… Can violence ever be justified?
Can the killing of another human being ever be considered the right thing to do?
My mind tells me that it is more sacred to respect life to its fullest. And to honor and obey whatever moral teachings we come to believe. And hope and pray we never get into a situation where we would have to decide….
The life of the nation is secure only while the nation is honest, truthful, and virtuous.
I am a steadfast follower of the doctrine of non-violence which was first preached by Lord Buddha, whose divine wisdom is absolute…
—-the Dalai Lama
With the current developments happening with regards to the War in Iraq and the possibility of another War with the country of Iran, it’s been pretty heavy on my mind, this whole thing about War.
I keep asking myself, if I a leader like President Bush, would I end up like him and doing the same things? Or would I try my best to resolve certain world situations by peaceful means?
It just seems ironic, that people who consider themselves religious like President Bush, can wake up every morning and not feel guilty about sending a lot of people to War.
It would be perfectly logical to defend oneself if one is being threatened. But, I wonder if the circumstances unfolding is a result of us, the U.S. protecting ourselves and the world from further attack by terrorists, and possibly by a nuclear threat?
Something to think about, I know…
All I know is that humans have been a violent bunch of beings. Maybe it’s ingrained in us that to resolve any problems in our life that may threaten us, we resort to violence, death and destruction in order to protect ourselves and achieve resolve.
I for one, am peaceful by nature.
I’d like to think that I’m the same as the next person. And I’m assume that most people around the world aren’t looking for War, and would rather find a way to resolve any problems peacefully and without the use of violence.
Leaders, like President Bush, should be more responsible and more open to the people’s thoughts and feelings. With current polls suggesting that his approval rating is around 30% (the lowest in his career) and with more than 65% against the War in Iraq and sending 21,500 more troops… shouldn’t he listen to the American people?
I am almost positive that he would never send his own children to battle in Iraq. Why would he think it any different sending other people’s children to die in a foreign country?
Just something to think about…
I’ve keep pondering over this question lately, being that the United States is at War in Iraq.
Me being a small fish in this big ocean of life, I say to myself, who am I to have any opinions on the matter. Maybe I should just go about my life and do what I can on my micro-level of existence.
Another part of me feels that any kind of violence is not justified. But, Americans have justified retaliating against a mostly invisible army of terrorists… retaliating against the evil that had been unleashed on American soil on 9/11.
I often read the philosophy and wisdom of great sages, of wise men such as Gandhi and the Dalai Lama, who say that violence only begets more violence, that hate can only create more hate. That love is the only weapon against evil and hate.
So, as citizens of America, citizens of a global community who’s watching, how do we respond? How do we demonstrate to our government that we are against the War in Iraq? That we should not escalate by sending more troops, and cut our loses and bring our fellow Americans home.
As I see in the media, there are tens of thousands now protesting the War, around the country. In my hometown, thousands of demonstrators marched in downtown to protest the War. This tells me that people are fed up with it, and that we want our family members, or friends and loved ones home.
But, is violence necessary in our modern world?
Our leader(s) tell us so… that the only way to fight the terrorists is to go to War against them. But the problem is… where are they? They are hidden. And no one has caught Osama Bin Laden yet, have they? It’s been several years already.
We all want peace, I think… If anything, both sides of any War will always want a peaceful resolve.
I for one, would always choose Peaceful solutions over Violent ones. You just have to look around the world at certain regions who’ve been at War for decades and decades. And you can see that War never ends, just as the Hatred never ends.
And as I see it, only Love can conquer Hate…
Hopefully, and one day, our world leaders will know this at a deep enough level that they will truly make an impact on the world in a most positive way….
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