Working it Out for Ourselves

I met with some friends recently and was asked the question 'What do I think about life after death?'

It struck me that like so many people today, I could have  talked  about  the Christian view of Heaven and Hell, the Muslim view of Paradise, The Hindu View of Reincarnation...and on and on ...but isn't it interesting that we live in a time when we have access to so many points of view, whereas centuries back one might have been immersed in only one culture?

But the question was to me ... and what a great opportunity to answer the question from my own life and experience as well as the researches I've done into religions and spirituality.

First thought for me is I wouldn't start with life AFTER death but with  life BEFORE death and consider that human life is a spectrum that goes from the  physical to the spiritual. The physical part obviously has a very limited life span and at death goes back to the earth. Then you have the mental and the emotional lives which are less physical and can either have a  strong centre of gravity in ones life or not. If ones thoughts and feelings are like leaves in the wind, blown along by current opinions, newspapers, TV and media ..then perhaps it also has a limited life. But if in a life, a person comes to their own values, principles and views, then perhaps they are building a mind which can continue to live beyond this life.... particularly if their values are in tune with the ways of the universe -constructive, constant, refining and evolving.

And then there is the soul and the spirit - how to describe those?  They are like life or light itself - a little bit of 'god stuff' in us all...so when we live our life do we give them opportunity and sustenance  ... does what we do light them up ... light us up ?

So, when thinking about what happens when we die...I feel a useful place to begin that ponder is how we actually live ! Do we experience and connect to  some of the magic of the universe - perhaps when we listen to the sweet harmonies of Mozart or stand under the night sky or look in the eyes of a child or a loved one ?

We think too much and feel too little.

 

“We think too much and feel too little. More than machinery, we need humanity; more than cleverness, we need kindness and gentleness. Without these qualities, life will be violent and all will be lost.” This is a quote from Charlie Chaplin in 1916. Perhaps all the more poignant as it was mid World War One

 

I wonder what he would have made of our world today?

Is Humanity Polarising?

After writing my blog last week about the inspiring attitude of the Palestinian and Israeli parents, and feeling uplifted by their attitude, I was sent an article about one of the fastest growing sports in the US amongst children - called Mixed Martial Arts (MMA)  I found it so distressing that I've pondered for a week about whether to blog or not about it...but decided to go ahead...So what is it all about?    It's a sport where two children are put in a metal cage to fight each other - some as young as five years old - and it's popular on television.

This is so barbaric on so many levels, it speaks for itself. To me,it's promoting sub animal behaviour in the young with parents and adults encouraging it.

It makes me ask the question - Is Humanity polarising?  Some trying so hard to mindfully bring more kindness, understanding and compassion into society and others who mindlessly career towards cruelty and barbarism?

If so, then every kind act, every mindful decision each one of us makes really counts towards what sort of world we live in, what sort of life we are building.

Breaking the Circle of Blood - Parents for Peace

I listened to a very inspiring conversation this morning between two parents who had both lost children. One was an Israeli woman whose son had been shot by a Palestinian sniper and other a Palestinian man whose ten year old daughter had been killed in the Israeli Palestinian conflict.

Both had come to the same conclusion - that peace can only come to their countries when individuals say enough is enough. The lady movingly described how when she was told of her son's death by the army, her first response was "You may not kill anyone in the name of my son"

They are visiting the UK to talk to Tony Blair and on radio she made the point to people here that if they say they are pro either the Palestinian or Israeli cause, then they import the conflict to this country. The only cause to be pro is 'RECONCILATION'

Apart from being uplifted by their personal stance, I was caught yet again at the growing trend which looks to solutions to big problems, coming not from the 'top down' in society, but from ordinary people - from 'the bottom up' - taking a position together. The base of any pyramid is very much larger and broader than the tip!