Friend & Foe

“Opposition is not necessarily enmity; it is merely misused and made an occasion for enmity.”  
-  Sigmund Freud

“A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out.”

- Walter Winchell

“We often give our enemies the means for our own destruction.”
- Aesop

“Don't walk in front of me, I may not follow.
Don't walk behind me, I may not lead.
Just walk beside me and be my friend.”

- Albert Camus

“Pay attention to your enemies, for they are the first to discover your mistakes.”
- Antisthenes

“The best way to destroy an enemy is to make him a friend.”

- Abraham Lincoln

“Though all things do to harm him what they can,
  No greater en'my to himself than man.”
- William Alexander, Earl of Stirling

“Some people come into our lives and quickly go. Some stay for awhile and leave footprints on our hearts. And we are never, ever the same.”

- Anonymous

Christian the Lion

Friendship leaves an indelible impression on our hearts, even when it is experienced second-hand, even when it is among the unlikeliest of friends.

In London, in 1969, two young men, John Rendall and Ace Berg, saw a lonely little lion cub in a cage, in the exotic animals department of Harrods. They decided to bring him home, and for about a year, he lived the life of an urban cat in the basement of Rendall’s flat in Chelsea. The lion, now named Christian, would occasionally take his exercise in the grounds of a local church.

However, as he grew larger, even though he was still friendly, it became apparent that he should be returned to the wild. Rendall and Berg made contact with the conservationist, George Adamson, and it was decided to move Christian to a lion preserve in Africa.

Rendall and Berg maintained contact with Adamson to keep tabs on Christian’s new life. In 1974, the conservationist told them that the lion had finally adapted to the Wild. He was the leader of his pride and had a litter of cubs. Though advised by Adamson not to bother, Rendall and Berg nevertheless decided to make a trip to see Christian, and to say a final goodbye. Go to the following link to watch a clip of that unforgettable reunion.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNv2A4Kfx4k&feature=related

Shinto Prayer for Peace

Although the people living

across the ocean
surrounding us, I believe,
are all our brothers and sisters,
why are there constant troubles in
this world?
Why do winds and waves rise in the
ocean surrounding us?
I only earnestly wish that the wind will
soon puff away all the clouds which are
hanging over the tops of the mountains.

Forgiveness

Buddhism:

“To understand everything is to forgive everything.”

the Buddha

Christianity:

“Oh Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console. To be understood as to understand. To be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive. It is in pardoning that we are pardoned.”

St. Francis of Assisi

Hinduism:

"The forgiving acquire honors here, and a state of blessedness hereafter. Those men that ever conquer their wrath by forgiveness obtain the higher regions. Therefore has it been said that forgiveness is the highest virtue."

the Mahabharatha

Islam:

“Those who pardon and maintain righteousness are rewarded by God. He does not love the unjust”

Qur’an 42:40

Judaism:

“Who takes vengeance or bears a grudge acts like one who, having cut one hand while handling a knife, avenges himself by stabbing the other hand.”

Jerusalem Talmud, Nedarim 9.4

 Sikhism:

“To practice forgiveness is fasting, good conduct and contentment”

  

Guru Arjan Dev

The Celestine Prophecy – an Adventure by James Redfield

Published in 1993, James Redfield’s The Celestine Prophecy condenses some of the ideals of the New Age Movement. While we’re on the topic, a word about ‘New Age’ - this term was used as early as 1809 by the mystic English Poet, William Blake. The ideology behind the movement is believed to have had its inception as early as the 1600s. So, perhaps it’s time to coin a more fitting label to describe this philosophy that draws inspiration from many ancient spiritual traditions, and finds common ground among practitioners of different faiths.

The story begins with the unnamed Narrator meeting with an old friend, about a mysterious Peruvian manuscript containing Nine Insights, the sequential realization of which will lead to the spiritual transformation of humanity. On the trail of these insights, the Narrator sets off for Peru, and comes across sudden perils, unexpected friends/guides, and an awakening awareness.

The book touches upon many issues fundamental in spirituality – an awareness of the role of destiny in lives, the realization that each individual is part of a grander design, and, that oneness with the Universe is inseparable from Love. These beliefs are not new, in the same way that Truth is not new, and is ever worth re-telling.

The author shares other insights with regard to diet, environment, parenting, intuition, and power plays within human relationships. Interestingly, each particular insight is relayed to him through a messenger who might be considered most apt to talk on the subject. Most of them are academics. Two of them are priests, and one is the mother of a small child.

 Like, Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist, the book takes the form of a parable, a modern fantasy adventure with a hero in search of his own personal Holy Grail. The Nine Insights are interspersed over nine chapters, with no bold font or italics to cue in the inattentive reader. Though the style is light and undemanding, the writer needs to be lauded for whetting our curiosity, and allowing the narrative to gradually draw us in, enveloping us in the unfolding tale.

I Am My Own Witness

When a plane flies across the sky, it leaves no mark on it, no streak that lasts, no furrow or pothole that interferes with further traffic. So too, witness all the feelings and emotions as they cross your mind, but, do not allow them to make an impression on you. This can be done by inquiry, by quiet reasoning within oneself, more than by listening to lectures or study of books.