Yesterday I asked...

Will hatred heal the wounds inflicted by hatred?

I got my reply in this article:

'You will not have my hatred', husband of Paris victim tells ISIS

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/europe/You-cant-make-me-hate-husband-of-Paris-victim-tells-ISIS/articleshow/49815198.cms?from=mdr


Antoine Leiris lost his wife in the massacre. He and his wife have a 17-month-old son. The Parisian refuses to give the killers a feeling of victory by hating them.

This wonderful person says:

"We are two, my son and I, but we are stronger than all the armies of the world. If this God for which you kill indiscriminately made us in his own image, every bullet in the body of my wife will have been a wound in his heart."

"....to respond to hatred with anger would be giving in to the same ignorance that made you what you are."

"....and all his life this little boy will dare to be happy and free. Because No, you won't have his hatred either."

This terrible, unbelievable tragedy in France...

It's awful what happened - this should never have happened...man against man....a terrorist against ordinary people.....this man, this terrorist...he too is a human being - no, I should only say being because the humanness has been taken out of him........inflicting this sort of pain on other human beings.....??? what can justify this? what went so wrong in his evolution to turn this being into a monster?

How can killing innocent people solve the terrorists' issues? Are they looking for attention to their problems? These kind of acts will only turn the world against them...or do they do this for larks knowing that nothing is going to come out of it? they have nothing to lose or gain?

How does one return to normalcy? How does one remove the hate from the heart? Will a 'pitiless' retaliation solve the problem? Will hatred heal the wounds inflicted by hatred?

There are many theories doing the rounds.......much advice from the wise......much planning and plotting on how to deal with this, the latest in the series of terrorist attacks that have happened and that are waiting to happen....

For now....my love and energy goes out to all those whose lives were so brutally cut short, who have left behind families....loved ones...

......and are now memories...

While we continue to search for something familiar to hang on to while we deal with our loved ones not being with us...while we deal with the devastating pain of separation...

A difficult exercise...

but one which needs to be done every day, is to take in life's little pains and joys. We have so many instances of these every day. But, we tend to balk at both the pains and the joys - pains because it's awful to feel and deal with any kind of pain, especially when that evil little voice pops up to tell us this is all there is to life, and joys because that evil little voice tells us to beware of joy. I've battled with both these for many, many years. I'm still not too brave about pain but I've seen that when I just accept the pain as is without dwelling on past pains or future ones, I can handle it better and when it finally leaves me, it does so without leaving any residue behind. Joy, too....I've been so skeptical, have done things like tell myself joys are not for me, this joy is going to extract its price and so on till the joy just faded away leaving an aching blank. Now, when I accept joy just as is, without connecting and relating it to anything past or future, even the teeniest bit of joy fills my heart with a peaceful, happy glow.

Try it......accept the pain and joy without analysis....just accept. This will clear the mind to deal with and bear the pain and savor the joy.

What my tree taught me...

I call it my tree because I can see it from my balcony. I love trees, but living in a city, these are rare, so I cherish this one. I can spend hours just looking at it and drawing its energies into me. I have seen how my tree changes itself in all the seasons, and love it equally in all its avatars.

This morning, while spending time with my tree, I thought these thoughts...

My tree breathes in all the toxic fumes generated all around it, but it gives out only life-giving and life-sustaining oxygen. Lesson to be learnt here - no matter what is dealt to us, no matter how toxic, heart-rending or gut-wrenching, we should send out and share only good thoughts, good vibes and uplifting words with those around us.

My tree never rushes. Each of its thousands of leaves takes its own time to grow and become mature. Its flowers are in no hurry either. Each flower waits patiently till Nature creates her distinctive shape and features and when she is ready, she blooms spreading her color and beauty to everyone, without exception. Lesson - there is no need to 'rush about and worry so'. Leave ourselves to Nature till she carves and creates us in our own unique shape. Then, we need to share ourselves in the beauty Nature has created, with those around us.

My tree is not scared of the winter. Though she looks glorious when she is in full bloom with an abundance of dark green leaves and beautiful red flowers, come winter she has to shed all of her glory. Every single leaf and flower is gone and my tree stands in its nakedness against the harsh winds, the hot sun, the swirling dust and terrible dryness. No birds chatter on the tree. My tree weathers it all patiently and bravely, becoming stronger in her solitude. The twigs and branches that cannot withstand these vagaries of the season are shed. Everything that distracts my tree from its standing straight and tall are cast off. And then, when all the conditions of Nature have been fulfilled, the first tiny little pale green leaves make their debut. Soon, the tree looks fresh and new and pale green. The leaves glisten in the early morning. And then, gradually, gradually, very gradually they mature and the tree stands tall and full. Lesson - we too need winter in our lives so that we can remove all that is bringing us down. We need the quietness of solitude to sift and sort our insides and clean ourselves up so that when the first winds of spring blow, we'll be new persons...

Many of us...

search diligently for perfection. Wise people have said that this is only an illusion; that in the striving for perfection, we often lose sight of what really matters to us....and so on. In other words, while striving for perfection, we have to keep in mind that we may be driving ourselves to beyond our limitations; that we are opening up ourselves to hurt; that we are in danger or trashing ourselves because we cannot attain that pinnacle on which we have set our sights.

Here is something to make us pause, since we often think...no, believe...that it is only if we are perfect that we are whole. There is no room for broken dreams, broken hopes, broken lives...

But...

Wholeness does not mean perfection, it means embracing brokenness as an integral part of your life. The broken bits are where the Light comes in from. Putting broken bits together shows us what we can do without and what we can shift around. Fixing broken pieces creates new patterns and designs.

My article...

Impressions.....Musings.....Questions

http://www.ibuzzle.com/articles/impressions-musings-and-questions.html

Spare a moment and go through it. Would love to hear back...

Daily Meditation...

from the White Bison (whitebison.org)


"Everyone has a song. God gives us each a song. That's how we know who we are. Our song tells us who we are."

~ Charlie Knight, UTE

The meditation on these lines, leads us on to further thoughts - Whenever we sing this song, we will receive courage and strength, not only for ourselves but if we sing this song for others, it will also help them. The song will give us power and make us feel really good. The song will make us see life in a sacred way.

The idea is to live our song every day...