What is the purpose of life? Why are we here? The purpose of life is to learn to truly love ourselves and each other. If we could love one another, there would be no need for the tragedies of wars and the atrocities of prejudice would not exist.
What most of us yearn for throughout our life, what we seek is to complete our life and existence through love. Love, in all its forms, is indeed our ultimate goal. That is why a life without love is a lonely existence that no amount of money, success, and other diversions can fill.
Love comes to us in many forms every day even when we are not able to recognize it as we are absorbed in our daily tasks and routines. It manifests itself in our daily life with a smile from a child, kindness from a stranger, caring friends, a wagging tail, a purr, and the excitement of our loved ones when they see us – among other ways. Try to observe love manifesting itself for you today, count the ways, pay attention, and let your heart rejoice.
Therefore, we must strive to love each other as we love ourselves or better. For ultimately, the big question we might have to answer when we pass on to the next life is how much and how well did you love, not just one person but everything and everyone that crossed your path.
Soulful Writings, Streams Of Consciousness, What Do You Think About This?
Once again, we are a nation in mourning. On Friday, we received the news that a 24-year old-young man had walked into a Connecticut school – after killing his mother at home – and massacred at least 20 innocent children and some of their teachers.
I read the reports…. some of them. This is too horrible to keep reading about it. I could not bring myself to read anymore. I saw the video of the President seemingly wiping away some tears. Why do so many go into killing sprees in this country? I wondered, as he mentioned the previous killings that have happened in the past few years, even this year (a movie theater in Colorado, a shopping mall, etc.) As far as I know, it does not happen as much and as often in most other countries. Why here? What is about our society that makes our children and citizens in general vulnerable to this type of actions?
I think that part of the answer is that we are an extremely self-centered and materialistic society. Compared to others, there is a huge lack of spiritual values, perceptions, and approach to life. We claim to be a nation that trusts God (‘in God we trust”) yet we don’t want to have anything to do with God in our schools and any other places (but churches).
Most people are spiritually “disconnected” from God, themselves, and others, regardless of how often they go to church. This is one of the reasons that a spiritual awakening is badly needed not just globally but particularly in America. Only a total disconnection from God, self, life, and others can lead a person to commit such atrocity.
The President said that we must do something….. There is no “practical” solution to this madness. I believe that one of the most effective ways to begin to eliminate this and other social maladies is to shift our focus from the material and egocentric ways to a more spiritual approach to life, relationships, and Self. By spiritual, I don’t mean “religious”.
We need more depth in our thinking and the way we conduct our life and interact with one another in all situations. Otherwise, this type of tragedy will keep happening to innocent civilians. Who knows? Maybe the next victim could be you or someone you love. The time for changes is now not after the fact.
GENEVA, Switzerland — Scientists at the world’s biggest atom smasher hailed the discovery of “the missing cornerstone of physics” Wednesday, cheering the apparent end of a decades-long quest for a new subatomic particle called the Higgs boson, or God particle, which could help explain why all matter has mass and crack open a new realm of subatomic science.
First proposed as a theory in the 1960s, the maddeningly elusive Higgs had been hunted by at least two generations of physicists who believed it would help shape our understanding of how the universe began and how its most elemental pieces fit together.
As the highly technical findings were announced by two independent teams involving more than 5,000 researchers, the usually sedate corridors of the European Center for Nuclear Research, or CERN, erupted in frequent applause and standing ovations. Physicists who spent their careers in pursuit of the particle shed tears.
The new particle appears to share many of the qualities as the one predicted by Scottish physicist Peter Higgs and others and is perhaps the biggest accomplishment at CERN since its founding in 1954 outside Geneva along the Swiss-French border.
Rolf Heuer, director of CERN, said the newly discovered particle is a boson, but he stopped just shy of claiming outright that it is the Higgs boson itself — an extremely fine distinction.
The Higgs, which until now had been purely theoretical, is regarded as key to understanding why matter has mass, which combines with gravity to give all objects weight.
The center’s atom smasher, the 8.05€-billion Large Hadron Collider, sends protons whizzing around a circular 17-mile underground tunnel at nearly the speed of light to create high-energy collisions. The aftermath of those impacts can offer clues about dark matter, antimatter and the creation of the universe, which many theorize occurred in a massive explosion known as the big bang.
Higgs, who was invited to be in the audience, said Wednesday’s discovery appears to be close to what he predicted.
“It is an incredible thing that it has happened in my lifetime,” he said, calling the discovery a huge achievement for the proton-smashing collider.
Outside CERN, the announcement seemed to ricochet around the world.
In an interview with the BBC, the world’s most famous physicist, Stephen Hawking, said Higgs deserved the Nobel Prize. Hawking said he had placed a wager with another scientist that the Higgs boson never would be found.
“It seems I have just lost 80.46€” he said.
Joe Incandela of the University of California at Santa Barbara, leader of the team known as CMS, said the discovery is so fundamental to the laws of nature that it could spawn a new era of technology and development in the same way that Newton’s laws of gravity led to basic equations of mechanics that made the industrial revolution possible.
I am an animal lover. I have always had a spiritual bond with animals. Perhaps, that’s the reason I’ve never been harmed by any, even some dangerous ones I’ve encountered in my journey. Animals just come into my life and settle.
Therefore, lately, I have been feeling rather guilty about eating meat. I was raised a meat eater and never gave much thought to it. I bought into the mentality that animals, at least some, were here for us to use and enjoy in our tummy.
However, a year ago, I became an animal’s welfare and rights advocate. Although my advocacy centered mostly on trying to prevent the murder of healthy and adoptable homeless pets at local pounds, their plight opened my eyes and heart to that of many other animals that we tend to take for granted and disrespect. Moreover, my deep love for animals began to make me feel guilty about enjoying a piece of chicken or a steak. I began to debate the options.
I found out that most vegans and some vegetarians refuse to eat meat mostly because they don’t want to kill anything alive for their nourishment, especially animals. However, my mind jumped to the fact that vegetables, fruits, nuts, and grains are also living beings. They were alive before they were harvested from their source. Therefore, by eating them, we are still killing to sustain our bodies. So, what’s the answer? I thought.
Through some pondering, I came to the conclusion that to fulfill the purpose, the only thing that we, animals lovers, should eat would be dairy products. However, when discussing it with my son, he made a good point: What about the microorganisms that live in dairy products? Bummer! I had thought I had found the answer to my dilemma!
Consequently, no matter how I look at it, the only way I can avoid killing anything to nourish my body is by not eating at all. But then, my body would surely die! I resigned myself to just enjoy the food and thank each of those I eat for their sacrifice and the nourishment they provide to my body. Since I cannot stop eating, the least I can do is to thank and honor what I eat and keep advocating against the unnecessary extermination of those we don’t need to eat.
This year is a special year not just because of the Mayan calendar but because there are many things going on in the world, many changes in several countries. Thus, most of us are curious about where all this might be leading. The mainstream media has dedicated to offer us mostly trivial news and shows. Therefore, many of us have turned to books, independent media, and the Internet for valuable information.
While browsing the Internet, YouTube, and some forums, I have realized that many people are searching for answers to fundamental questions about life, our existence, the future. There are many conspiracy theories, authors and speakers writing or producing videos about the changes that are happening, visitors from space, spiritual awareness, the economy, theology, science, and other topics. Some of them check out, others not so much. However, I have seen in many forums, including comments on YouTube and others, people who “fall in love” with the speaker and take everything that person says at face value.
I don’t want you to hang on my every word or anyone else’s. My articles or essays are my way to challenge you to use your own discernment and find the truth within you and on your own.
When we take everything or most of what someone else’s tells us at face value, we take the risk of giving away our power and rights to those who seek to manipulate and control us for their own benefits and hidden agenda. Thus, we should question everything. We should always seek corroboration of the facts presented through independent evidence and close scrutiny of independent sources of information. If necessary, we should do our own research. Find out different opinions or analysis by people who are experienced in the subject at hand and have no vested interest in the venue and material. We should read, read, read. Explore, expand our mind and learn to look at things from different angles. Have fun playing the “devil’s advocate” in forums and yourself. Through this practice, it will become easier for you to discern the wheat from the shaft. You will not be easily manipulated and controlled by others.
In today’s world, where there are many people trying to pull you in different directions and profit from your vulnerabilities and need to believe in something, it is paramount for you to exercise your power of discernment and listen to your instincts. In the end, there are only two beings that you can trust absolutely: God (or your concept of a supreme intelligence and creator) and yourself.
Consequently, question everything, do your own research to corroborate or dispute the facts presented, and listen to your intuition. The truth is within you. The answers have been within you all along. Don’t let anyone tell you what to think and what to believe. Own yourself.
The worldview and perspective that most of us grew up with is one of individualism and separatism. In general, we are encouraged to compete against one another for resources, popularity, attention, affection, power, among other reasons. This is reflected in the world of sports, business, politics, Miss Universe, and other competitions. It is also manifested in hierarchical systems, etc. Our planet is divided into countries, species, and other artificial markings. Everything around us promotes individuality and separation. Therefore, for most of us it is difficult to realize and understand how are we all connected. It is not an easy transition to go from an “I” mentality to an “Us” perspective.
Imagine that The Whole (or, the planet, if that makes it easier for you) is like the Sun. We and every other creature in existence are like the Sun’s rays. Each one of us is an individual ray emanated from the same source and united by our origin, Sun’s stuff. Thus, although we might act independently and even feel separate from the rest, as the Sun’s rays, we are all united in composition and source. Therefore, we are all connected.
That’s my very simple illustration. I do not feel the need to dissect it because, in the end, I think the result would be the same. The Sun’s rays would still represent us. In fact, I dare say that based on this analogy, I believe that the ancient cultures around the world were not so much worshiping the Sun as a god but honoring the concept of unity that it represents. I do not pretend to know more than the scholars who have studied ancient practices, I am just sharing with you my “gut feelings” and own conclusion based on my simple example. Sometimes, some answers to life’s mysteries are staring at us in the face and we are too busy looking for more complicated answers to notice them. I am a firm believer that all the answers we seek are evident in nature, if we pay attention. Therefore, the current state of the world, the division of resources and wealth, and separatist viewpoint are an abnormal state of existence, an anomaly.
Keep an open mind, ponder, and use your own discernment.