And So It Goes...

 I like the phrase, “And so it goes…”, it reminds me of C’est la vie… I’m aware that it expresses resignation or acceptance that things will continue to be as they have been, and continue to happen repeatedly or persistently, despite our best efforts to change things; but we can only do our best. We can continue to do our best even if we are not completely able to change the world, no matter what. It may be part of the “plan.” To me, the world is like a school. We come here to learn many lessons — how to be a truly caring, loving, kind, compassionate, patient, and a peaceful human being.

I appreciate the teachings of many religions, like Buddhism. The Buddhists believe in the principles of acceptance, non-attachment and surrender. I’ll explain them here:

Acceptance refers to our ability to stay present. When life presents us with something we find painful and difficult, our tendency is to resist, avoid change or generally push against that. We need to learn to let go of the idea that we can control everything — we can’t! Some things are just meant to be… Yes, we can try our best to improve things, to do our part to help others, to bring awareness about injustices, to teach others about our beliefs and our commitments, to inspire them; but that’s it! We have to learn to let go of the belief that we can solve all of the world’s problems. We can change some things, of course, and make a difference in small ways, and this is perfectly fine. Our efforts do matter! And when many work together towards a common goal, things do happen. There will always be challenges, of course, and this is why we need one another to work together and help each other. We can also learn from the teachings of St. Thérèse of Lisieux and the "Little Way" idea; which is a simple approach to our spiritual life—seeking to do ordinary things, little things, with extraordinary love. Performing “little virtues,” not seeking grandiose sacrifices to God, but little acts of holiness. Let us practice the “Little Way.”

The Buddhists also believe in the principle of non-attachment. The Buddha said that attachment (and its opposite, aversion) is the root of all suffering. We easily attach to things, to people, even to ideas and desired outcomes, resting our happiness on external factors that we ultimately cannot control. The practice of non-attachment —of letting go of our ego’s constant grasping and clinging— helps alleviate our suffering and increases peace of mind. Non-attachment doesn’t imply that we let go of our plans, pursuits or goals; rather, we practice changing the energy or tone of our pursuits, focusing on the journey rather than the destination.

The third principle is surrender. Surrender is closely related to the notion of acceptance. While this principle, like acceptance, encourages letting things “be,” surrender takes it one step further. When we surrender, we simply let go… we leave it to God, like they say. No matter what we surrender to, the key is that we no longer take ourselves to be supreme and in control. Surrender will feel like relief (or like grace).

Let us practice letting go of what should have been or what should be. The Buddha said, “Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without.”

“I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” — John 16:33

The song “And So It Goes” by Billy Joel starts, “In every heart there is a room, a sanctuary safe and strong.” Let us remember that that sanctuary is God within. God is always with us! Always present… And let’s not forget the simple and powerful words by Abraham Joshua Heschel, “Just to be is a blessing. Just to live is holy.” And so it goes…

Karol Feld (January 16, 2024)

"Our goal should be to live life in radical amazement. …get up in the morning and look at the world in a way that takes nothing for granted. Everything is phenomenal; everything is incredible; never treat life casually. To be spiritual is to be amazed. Never once in my life did I ask God for success or wisdom or power or fame. I asked for wonder, and he gave it to me. Wonder rather than doubt is the root of all knowledge. The beginning of our happiness lies in the understanding that life without wonder is not worth living."

— Abraham Joshua Heschel

"Remember that there is meaning beyond absurdity. Know that every deed counts, that every word is power… Above all, remember that you must build your life as if it were a work of art."

— Abraham Joshua Heschel

KNOW - BE - DO

This morning I saw an interview with a pastor from Allen, TX. His daughter was in the mall where a crazy man killed 8 people recently, where she works. Luckily, she was not injured. Just imagine how worried he had to be knowing that his daughter works there, where another mass shooting took place. I noticed that he was wearing a T-Shirt with the words: Know, Be, Do, which made me think. I like certain words and feel compelled, at times, to reflect on their meaning. I read online that there’s a principle called the “Know-Be-Do Principle.” It seems that a Dr. Howard Hendricks (a longtime professor at Dallas Theological Seminary) expounded on a passage from the Bible: Ezra 7:10, which says, “For Ezra had set his heart to study the law of the Lord, and to practice it, and to teach His statutes and ordinances in all Israel.” Ezra was a Jewish scribe and priest (the Book of Ezra is a book of the Hebrew Bible). I’m not a Bible reader, I admit, but I hear at times beautiful passages from the Bible in Mass, gatherings and retreats that are meaningful and positive. I try to concentrate on those positive inspirational messages; there’s enough negativity in our world to focus only in teachings written by men (not God). Bible passages have been translated into many languages from the many biblical languages of Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek to present-day languages (as of September 2022 the Bible has been translated into 724 languages and just the New Testament into 1,616 languages. A lot gets lost in translations. Besides, we have to consider the times when things were written. When we know better, like Maya Angelou used to say, we do better. We have evolved, we have learned that what matters is to love others (even the Beatles taught us this, “Love is the Answer”­ and “All you need is Love” — simple and beautiful messages). We need to learn to harness the power and energy of love. Teilhard de Chardin wrote, “Someday, after mastering the winds, the waves, the tides and gravity, we shall harness for God the energies of love, and then, for a second time in the history of the world, man will have discovered fire.”

Let’s think now about these three words, know, be and do. KNOW… to know (and learn) what is right. We know when someone is lying, we are smart! We know when people deceive us for their own gain, we know the truth, we know their intentions — even when we don’t want to admit it because to believe “the lies” serves a purpose. We know when someone doesn’t do things for us out of love (with unconditional love in their minds). When someone only cares about himself or herself; when someone has selfish motives, when they cannot see beyond themselves. We KNOW… Let us open our minds and see.

Einstein wrote in a letter (given to the Hebrew University):

“There is an extremely powerful force that includes and governs all others and is even behind any phenomenon operating in the universe. This universal force is LOVE. This force explains everything and gives meaning to life, and each individual carries within them a small but powerful generator of love whose energy is waiting to be released. When we give and receive this universal energy, we will have affirmed that love conquers all, is able to transcend everything and anything, because love is the quintessence of life.”

Let us KNOW love… truth… and peace.

BE: Let us be the best that we can be. Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel wrote, “Just to be is a blessing. Just to live is holy.” Simple and powerful words. Let us embrace these words and try our best to be a person of character and integrity, an honest, loving, kind and peaceful person. This is what we are meant to be…

DO: Let us do the best too. Do what we know is the right thing to do. Being a healing loving presence to others. We have the power to encourage and inspire others. We will feel better when we do good! Let us just do GOOD!

Let us KNOW, BE and DO with all our hearts.

Also check: https://medium.com/@annikajiajia/the-be-know-do-model-of-leadership (The Be, Know, Do Model of Leadership - Interesting!)

Being Self-Righteous

Self-righteousness is the quality or state of being self-righteous. To be self-righteous is to be convinced of one's own righteousness, especially in contrast with the actions and beliefs of others –to be narrow-mindedly moralistic. Let us try our best not be so self-righteous, always believing that we are always right and that anyone and everyone who doesn’t see it our way or agree with us is wrong. Even if we believe we are right, let us have an open mind, let us listen to the points of view of others, what makes others who they are. Maybe even trying to analyze why they are the way they are, why they believe what they believe. Let us consider that they may have been raised in a certain environment and were highly influenced by their parents, by their families, by their schools, by their neighbors, etc. It’s always alright to agree to disagree. 

We must focus on “common ground.” If we dwell on all the ways someone is different from us, we might end up feeling like we're better than them. Instead, let’s try to find all the ways we're alike, trying to find that common ground – how are we alike? Concentrating in our similarities rather than in our differences. When we feel like someone is “on our team,” even in a small way, we're less likely to feel self-righteous towards them. After all, we are not perfect, no one is!

It is interesting that in Christianity self-righteousness is considered a sin, yet it’s hard for people to see it – to see that they’re being self-righteous; which can happen to all of us, it’s truly a challenge! People that follow a leader that is him/herself self-righteous (leaders that believe they’re always right) are usually self-righteous themselves. Those who follow someone or a movement or a particular party or a specific credo (religion, belief, etc.) can find themselves believing that they don’t have a choice, they cannot contradict the followers or the leader, and whatever they say goes. It’s easier for them to believe everything the “adored” leader or person of influence is saying (whether that person is a pastor, a priest, a rabbi, a guru, a boss, a teacher, a politician, a president, a parent, etc.). It’s easier because they don’t have to think too much. Their general attitude is, let’s allow others to do the thinking for us. We are not supposed to be judgmental, and yet, it’s easy to be just that. We are supposed to see the good in everyone, and in my opinion, it’s a very selfish stand to be self-righteous. It’s like saying “only my morals and beliefs are right, your beliefs don’t count, they don’t matter to me.” We have to learn to be more mindful and recognize those times when we’re being self-righteous and judgmental. We also have to learn to be forgiving of others, especially those who are so self-righteous. Learning to be a forgiving person will set us free.

The following are the signs of a self-righteous person: 

1. Close-Mindedness — A person who is self-righteous is a close-minded person. This is when it’s hard for us to open our minds to new ideas, new beliefs, proven scientific knowledge, etc. We believe what we believe and that’s it! We won’t listen to anyone else or to reason. We are a bit or very stubborn. We won't even contemplate the possibility that we might be wrong.

2. Believing that We Know It All — even when we lack knowledge, and are not willing to learn. 

3. Lack of Love, Kindness and Compassion for Others — even when we believe otherwise. If they don’t agree with us, we don’t love them, we don’t care for them. It’s like saying, “we only care for ourselves and our tribes, our party, our family, our group, etc.” 

4. Lack of Understanding — they simply cannot understand how others feel. They cannot get in someone else’s shoes or head. It’s incomprehensible for them to understand how others feel or why others believe what they believe. They lack empathy.

5. Following Someone Else Blindly — because we believe they are always right no matter what. When we believe the person that we follow is right and they can do no wrong. We need to learn to be more discerning.

 “Wise people store up knowledge, but the mouth of the foolish is near destruction.”

or

“The wise store up knowledge, but the mouth of a fool invites ruin.” (Proverbs 10:14) 

 “The first greatest commandment is to love God, and the second is to love others.” 

(Matthew 22:35-40) 

Self-righteous individuals will see themselves as already at the epitome of good behavior, and they find power in numbers (the more people they have around them that believe what they believe, empowers them). They will create strife and dissension in their relationships, because they truly believe they’re always right, they don’t agree with the opinions of others and that is that! It’s easy for them to brag, to openly express their opinions (even if they know they’re hurting or upsetting others – remember? It’s hard for them to be loving, kind and compassionate). Others may be afraid or concerned about expressing their own opinions around them (they prefer to avoid getting hurt). It is certainly a challenge to be righteous and not self-righteous. Even the Talmud teaches us what genuine piety is: the love of God, humility, the assumption of personal responsibility and commitment to truth, willingness to learn from others; that our egos must not get in the way of our service to God; that we must never feel that we have everything right and are always right; that we must be honest enough to admit our failings. Many people have forgotten the Christian and Jewish teachings, the lessons of love and the importance of love. 

Let us try our best not to be so hard on others or so hard on ourselves. We are all at a different stage of development. We have learned different things throughout our lives, many lessons (life is like a school, we come to this world to learn lessons and grow spiritually). Let us try our best to open our eyes and minds, to be aware of what we feel is the right thing to do – not to hurt others with words and actions, pretending we know everything, and lying because others do it too. Let us learn to listen and find common ground. Even if you don’t see my way, it’s OK. We can still get along... We MUST learn to get along! I always remember a great quote by Maya Angelou: "People will forget what you said. People will forget what you did. But people will never forget how you made them feel."

UBUNTU

Today I learned the concept of Ubuntu...

Ubuntu speaks of the very essence of being human

The only way we can ever be human is TOGETHER

The only way we can be free is TOGETHER, connected

If I diminish you, I diminish myself

A person is a person through other people…

We need other human beings in order to be human

I am human because I belong

I am because we are...

My humanity is inextricably bound up in yours

We belong in a bundle of life

We are made for goodness

We are made for love

We are made for friendliness

We are made for togetherness

We are made for all the beautiful things that you and I know

We are made to tell the world that there are no outsiders

All are welcome: black, white, red, yellow, rich, poor, educated, not educated, male, female, gay, straight, all, all, all

We all belong to this family, this human family, God’s family

(From Desmond Tutu's writings on Ubuntu)

What gives us a dignity is not our independence, but rather our interdependence, our ability to participate and share with one another, our vulnerability. We are because of others!

Ubuntu - “I am what I am because of who we all are”

You can find a lot more information online to understand this valuable term.

FILL YOURSELF WITH “GOD”

For a happy, fulfilled, healthy and long life — FILL YOURSELF WITH GOD!

Even if you don’t believe in “God”— or in a power greater than yourself, you can consider “God” everything that is loving, kind, happy and positive. God is love and God is life. We must all learn to embrace LIFE, positivity and faith, and believe in the power we have to create a better life for ourselves (and even for others). We can go deep within and find God inside of us! That power that inspires us to become the best that we can be, that drives us to be good to ourselves and others, to have some form of purpose and meaning in our lives.

No, life is not easy. Recently I created a digital work of art with the text, “Life is like a Zig Zag.” Think about it, life has its ups and downs, of course; we must face many challenges. But it’s imperative that we remain strong and hopeful; and to do this we must find our inner resources, we must read things that inspire us, we must reflect and pray (or affirm that we can do it!) every day or as much as possible — we have strength within us! Affirmations are very powerful, the Buddhists and many others believe in repeating “affirmations” every single day. When we affirm something over and over, it can become our belief and our reality. So affirmations are like prayers. Instead of putting negative thoughts in our minds, and even calling ourselves names and becoming our own worst enemy — let's affirm and reaffirm often how beautiful, intelligent, strong, resourceful, smart, wise, healthy, happy… we are. Pay more attention to your thoughts, your attitudes, your intentions and your actions. We can create our own reality and this reality can be a miserable one or a happy one, and on our “down” periods, with faith and a hopeful attitude, we will look forward to happy and better times.

It’s also important to seek the advice and encouragement of others. At times, even when we don’t believe we can do something, a friend, a relative, someone, can give us some helpful and positive words to make us believe more in ourselves, to point out our many strengths and qualities and to help us love ourselves more (one of our biggest challenges!).

It’s very easy to discourage ourselves, since there are a lot of negative people out there. People that like to drag and put others down due to their own weaknesses and insecurities. Everywhere you go, you can find some very negative and toxic people, that only think the worse, that make us feel bad, like bullies. We must remain strong! We must fill ourselves with confidence, and “God” gives us this power!

So, let’s fill ourselves with “God.” Fill yourself with everything that is BEAUTIFUL! You can do it and I can do it too!

With love,

Karol

“The deepness within us is God.”

“Let’s connect with our Spirit.”

“Find love in everyone and everything.”

“He that loves not knows not God; for God is love.” (Bible)

“God is love; whoever abides in love abides in God, and God in him.” (Bible)

“Beloved, let us love one another, because love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.” (Bible)

“Secrets to a long life: Be Loving, Be Kind, Be Compassionate and Have Empathy.”

~ Deepak Chopra

“We all have an infinite depth within us that contains more potential for creativity than we can ever imagine.” ~ Dr. Wayne Dyer

“We are not our bodies, our possessions, or our careers. Who we are is DIVINE LOVE and that is INFINITE.” ~ Dr. Wayne Dyer

“…we all have a place of depth within us, whether or not we are aware of it at any given time. This place of depth might be thought of as the spiritual dimension within us… it is where they (we) go in themselves (ourselves) to reconnect with God, with meaning, or with a sense of the big picture of their (our) life or for spiritual renewal or for creative inspiration.” 
~ Abby Seixas (“Finding the Deep River Within: A Woman’s Guide to Recovering Balance and Meaning in Everyday Life”)

“We all can tap into our Infinite Source of Power.”

“In the infinity of life where I am, all is perfect, whole, and complete. I believe in a power far greater than I am that flows through me every moment of every day.” 

~ Louise L. Hay

“Find the time to improve yourself.”

“Find a way…”

So, don’t allow sad days to dampen your spirit…

Remember why you are here:

To make a difference,

To be the best that you can be,

To love, to share, to give, to learn,

To walk in gratitude,
To walk in peace…

(My digital art "Life is like a Zig Zag")

God again...

I actually get a kick out of trying to define “God.” I guess in a way I'm always searching for answers, and also trying to find the best definitions of that creative awesome force that we call “God.”

I'm reading Peace Pilgrim again, the book compiled by some of "her friends" - "Peace Pilgrim: Her Life and Work in Her Own Words.” I love this book! Check the site dedicated to her and her work: www.peacepilgrim.org (you can even download an electronic copy of this book here: Peace Pilgrim Book). In one of the chapters you can read something she said about God: “Intellectually I touched God many times as truth and emotionally I touched God as love. I touched God as goodness. I touched God as kindness. It came to me that God is a creative force, a motivating power, an over-all intelligence, an ever-present, all-pervading spirit — which binds everything in the universe together and gives life to everything. That brought God close. I could not be where God is not. “You are within God. God is within you.” Peace used to say “Overcome evil with good, falsehood with truth, and hatred with love.” Powerful messages!

Another favorite writer, Chuck Gallozzi wrote:
“By being ever mindful of the nearness of God, our hearts are filled with gratitude. Bitterness is replaced with happiness. The greater our awareness of Him, the lesser our attachment to the things of the world. With detachment, insatiable greed and frustration are replaced by serenity. When we live as though we believe in God by practicing His love, our example inspires others to do the same and spread the happiness everyone yearns for.”

Jalal Al-Din Rumi (1207-1273) wrote, “By practicing God's remembrance your inner being will be illumined little by little and you will achieve some measure of detachment from the world.”

Menachem Mendel Schneerson said: “Connecting to God is the only way to truly free yourself from fear. By recognizing that you are an integral part of God’s plan, that your existence is significant and your participation is vital, you can wean yourself of the doubts that feed your fears.”

Joshua Loth Liebman wrote in his book “Peace of Mind”: “We can master fear through faith — faith in the worthliness of life and the trustworthiness of God; faith in the meaning of our pain and our striving, the confidence that God will not cast us aside but will use each one of us as a piece of priceless mosaic in the design of His universe.”

Millions of people have had “near death experiences." These people were pronounced “clinically dead” and when they came back to life, they said what they experienced “in the light” was a “higher intelligence” — they feel they were in the presence of God.

They felt unconditional love, caring and compassion beyond what they had ever known. There was knowledge of everything, their questions were answered instantly. They understood the whole of everything. They were part of the whole and the whole was part of them, everything is connected to everything. The whole was God. He was the “oneness” of all creation.

Susie Shellenberger wrote: “Think of God as an eternal power outlet. When you take time to plug in to his power, you automatically receive new energy, new life, new power. Trying to run on reserve can only be temporary. A run-down person is unproductive and ineffective. Just as our physical bodies need to be replenished, our souls also need to be revived.”

I firmly believe that too, that God is like an amazing Power Source. We can choose to be connected to that source, by tapping into the energy of God and being “in the light” or to be disconnected and live “in darkness”. It’s really up to us — we have a choice (we always have a choice!). We can be like a plant or flower who, desperately needs the sun and yet, never gets that needed sunlight because it was placed in a dark area (in darkness) — so it withers and dies; or like the sunflower who follows the light wherever it goes and gets enough sunshine. This plant will be beautiful, strong and happy, and admired by all. What is your choice?

Let's become warriors of light...

"A warrior of light knows that he has much to be grateful for."

~ Paulo Coelho

Lately I've been thinking about the concept of becoming a "warrior of light." What does this mean? Why am I even thinking about this? I read too much sometimes... Let's think for a moment about the game for the Nintendo DS, The Warriors of Light, also known as Light Warriors. I've never played this game and truthfully, I'm not interested in video games, but when I Googled "Warriors of Light" online, I found out about it and thought that we can even learn something positive from it. In this game four heroes are chosen by the Crystals, by a prophecy, a will, or by fate, to go on the dangerous journey to fight evil, or simply restore balance to the world.

What inspired me was something that I heard while watching Caroline Myss' video on "Being Fearless" (in YouTube). She mentioned something like: "The inability to forgive keeps you avengeful, bitter - a person that lives in a war zone. You are a warrior... You are not a strong one... you are someone that makes war. You are one of the reasons there is a war. You are a participant in war. The 'unforgiving' are the reason there is war..." I deducted -and thought at the time- that in reality "we are all warriors by nature - we like to make war, we like to fight." But we must learn to become warriors of "light" not of "darkness" - warriors of peace.

It's easy for us to be unforgiving and ungrateful - when we must strive to be the opposite (forgiving and grateful). It's also easy for us to believe that we're always right, isn't it? So as usual, I checked online, and realized many others have had this same idea before... the idea that a warrior of light is a kind of "hero," someone who promotes peace and harmony. I just finished reading "The Alchemist" by Paulo Coelho (great book!) and noticed that one of his books is called "Warrior of the Light" (I will have to check it out) - I'm curious now... I'm also reading some of Joseph Campbell's books ("Myths to Live By" and "Hero with a Thousand Faces") - where the idea that we all want to become heroes and warriors, in some capacity, is explored.

We are warriors by nature, by instinct. We want to protect ourselves, protect our loved ones, protect our beliefs (at least we like to think that we want to protect what's important to us). But ultimately we have a choice: we can become peaceful warriors, warriors of light, warriors of peace; or we can become warriors of darkness, evil warriors, without concern for the well-being of others. Can you see the difference? In the game, the warriors of light fight for PEACE, they restore balance and fight evil.

We can also become warriors of light in our lives. We can catch ourselves when our anger, pride, hate, judgments, and warmonger instincts take over and we purposely or inadvertently hurt others (causing physical or emotional pain). We must remember that love, peace, compassion, kindness, understanding, tolerance, patience, etc. are the virtues that we must strive to possess - the virtues of the Light Warriors.

Instead of causing chaos, or contributing to the madness, let's become peacemakers. It is our duty to get along with our fellow men (our brothers and sisters of this world); to uplift instead of demean, by respecting and valuing others. By listening to what they have to say. We must teach others to be peaceful by being peaceful ourselves; by example. We must be at peace by being peaceful. We must embrace peace and love above all, and practice peace and loving-kindness at all times. Not easy things to do. We know all this deep inside, sometimes we just forget... It is our challenge!

It's so easy to assume that we are always right, even when we are not. Sometimes we are, of course, but we cannot assume the arrogant attitude that we have all the answers all the time. It's so easy to take things personally too. Yes, we are only human, and we have a lot to learn. Socrates once said "I know that I know nothing." We cannot know anything with absolute certainty. We have to give others the benefit of the doubt and learn to be humble. Humility is another important virtue that we must learn, and forgiveness is essential. Without a forgiving heart, we cannot truly get along with others.

Let's put our pride aside, our desire to always be right, our need to say the last word... and let's choose to become loving individuals and live in peace. Let's restore balance in our lives and teach our children, friends, relatives, co-workers, students and those around us how to truly be at peace and live in peace. Not easy challenges... but I dare you! Let's learn from others and just do our best...

"If you want to make peace, you must be peaceful."

~ Peace Pilgrim

Check: The Manual of the Warrior of Light by Paulo Coelho (if the link doesn't work, you can "Google" it). I was able to download a free PDF of the manual.