Equanimity

 

“If you think that people should be nice to one another, then by all means be nice. But when you project that belief onto the people and the world around you as if it were an objective reality, or worse still, as if it were their job to be nice to you, you put yourself at odds with what is, and suffering will surely follow.”
— Adyashanti

 

So much of my frustration in life comes from expectations. I expect people to act a certain way and when they don’t I feel cheated. Sometimes it is an anticipation towards what I believe is going to happen. As much as I may want it to, life does not always answer the call. Usually that turns out to be a good thing. Life and other people have the endless capacity to surprise in pleasant way. It also has an equal capacity to disappoint. The more I can face both with equanimity the more I find myself at peace.
Blessings, G

 

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Creature that Stills the StormSpirit That Stills the Storm by G A Rosenberg

 

Crawling Through BlueCrawling Through the Blue by G A Rosenberg

 

Pattern Lost in the RainPattern Lost in the Rain by G A Rosenberg

 

A Few Thoughts on Gaza

 

“We often think of peace as the absence of war, that if powerful countries would reduce their weapon arsenals, we could have peace. But if we look deeply into the weapons, we see our own minds- our own prejudices, fears and ignorance. Even if we transport all the bombs to the moon, the roots of war and the roots of bombs are still there, in our hearts and minds, and sooner or later we will make new bombs. To work for peace is to uproot war from ourselves and from the hearts of men and women. To prepare for war, to give millions of men and women the opportunity to practice killing day and night in their hearts, is to plant millions of seeds of violence, anger, frustration, and fear that will be passed on for generations to come. ”
― Thích Nhất Hạnh

 

I’ve been avoiding writing this one for awhile tho the topic has been on my mind almost obsessively. It’s somewhat easier to deal with controversy when other people are involved with it. Yet there is a time for silence and a time to speak and this is past time. I have done my best to be as well informed on what is going on in Palestine as possible. I have listened to arguments from both sides and been party to all the shouting and reactions whenever someone brings up the topic. One of the most enlightening conversations I’ve been party to was a thread on Facebook which mainly involved citizens of both Israel and Palestine talking to each other. None of them were reactionary. None of them agreed with their governments 100% and they were scared. About the only rhetoric in that thread was from people who lived outside the area giving the same old historical arguments about who had a greater right and to what. It was equally enlightening and equally horrifying to read accounts from a friend who works with the UN and has seen in this week first hand the destruction of both people and property that has been going on. So a few thoughts and yes I do have a bias. It is against waste, dehumanization and stupidity.

 

  • From a narrative viewpoint both sides have claim to the area. Part of this is the result of WWII and the end of the Ottoman Empire. England thought it would solve several problems at once by deeding land that nominally belonged to them to the Zionists to create Israel. The fact that there were already people living on the land and calling it home was if not ignored, given only cursory acknowledgement. Some were bought out, some forces out and some burned out. A new land was formed. However it happened citizens of this new land have now lived there for 70 years and they now call it home.

  • It is true that Israel has not occupied Gaza for the last several years. Instead they have barricaded it and they decide what and who goes in and out. This includes food, building and medical supplies and people. In the name of caution raised to the level of paranoia they have made it all but impossible for the people who live there to build a workable homeland. This has cause incredible resentment.

  • Palestine right now is under the leadership of Hamas, an organization dedicated to regaining all the land they perceive as being taken from them at any cost necessary. From what I have read the majority of the people living there would choose other leadership if they could.

  • Israel in the last several days have started to destroy what infrastructure that Gaza has with both bombing and then surface attacks. They have killed several hundred people, the majority of them civilians including many women and children. Israel claims that this is because Hamas uses civilians as human shields, putting weapon depots in homes where families reside. Every time I hear this I have to wonder what it says about a mindset that does not see this as a deterrent and who’s solution is to kill children so that they can get at the strategic sites.

  • Israel has notified people to leave their homes so that they can be bombed. There is literally no place for these people to go. They are not letting them through the barricades and bombs are falling everywhere.

  • On both sides there is immense dehumanization of the other. People in the Israeli government have referred to Palestinians as ‘beasts on two legs’. There is such incredible rhetoric on the sides of people outside the country on both sides. Religious and racial epithets flow freely. The worst part about it is how this has become war as a spectator sport with the supporters of both sides cheering on their respective parties and urging the destruction of the other side. It has become bread and circuses for the masses with no empathy for the human loss on both sides.

 

I could go on and on. I have friends in both countries whom I speak to and respect. I have to believe that there is a solution and that sanity will prevail. If not, I fear for the existence of both countries and for the world as a whole. This could get bad for everyone really quickly. I grieve for the cost especially to the Palestinians for they are the ones who are being decimated and they deserve so much better. I pray for empathy and wisdom for the leaders involved and for solace and an end to this. I pray that Israel who despite what their rhetoric says is Goliath and not David in this case, will put an end to its paranoid expansionism, stop the blockade and enable peace. I pray that Hamas will do what is best for its people and that an accord can be reached. I pray that people outside of the conflict will stop yelling at each other and rooting for destruction and give people a chance at peace. That includes the governments who are funding either one side or both in the hopes that they can use the conflict to their advantage
I know that I have only touched on some of what is involved here. There are so many layers to this situation and it would take much more space than I have here to discuss it. I haven’t said much about religions here because at best they are a red herring. You can find material in the texts of both religions that either support the extermination of outsiders or that talk about the importance of love and peace. I know which of these is my most fervent hope.
Blessings, G

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Deconstructing DavidDeconstructing David by G A Rosenberg

 

Environmental DistortionEnvironmental Distortion by G A Rosenberg

 

Solace After Solitude

 

“You cannot find peace by avoiding life.”
― Virginia Woolf

 

Too long I hid away
thinking that in solitude
I would discover meaning
I learned much
but the very things that brought me here
that I escaped
stayed unresolved
Tho I lived in peace
I was not peaceful
Too many others carried with me
in my heart.
I spoke to their echoes
but only I echoed back
Now I return
to resolve the past
to dissolve the lie
of my old lives
Only this way can outer peace join inner
and fractures start to heal.
— G A Rosenberg

 

blessings, G

 

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ObservedObserved by G A Rosenberg

 

Atomic CogsAtomic Cogs by G A Rosenberg

 

Meditating Once Again…

 

“I said to my soul, be still and wait without hope, for hope would be hope for the wrong thing; wait without love, for love would be love of the wrong thing; there is yet faith, but the faith and the love are all in the waiting. Wait without thought, for you are not ready for thought: So the darkness shall be the light, and the stillness the dancing.”
― T.S. Eliot

 

Water dripping…then silence
an itch…then silence
a bad play on words about trees in the forest…inner laughter
then silence
a rumble in my stomach leads to thoughts of dinner
silence again
from the silence..
a word…
a sound like a drum
echoing soundlessly
my word for the moment
the word bounds then silent
Peace

 

Blessings, G

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Tender of the ForestTender of the Forest by G A Rosenberg

 

Abstract BalanceAbstract Balance by G A Rosenberg

Tarot Post – Two of Swords

Two of Swords (Peace)

 

 

Two of SwordsTarot – Two of Swords (Revised) by G A Rosenberg

 

Swords crossed not engaged
I sit with this decision
Until all becomes clear

 

The Wisdom of Not Choosing

Resolve not to resolve
I know the choices exist
yet choose not to look
lest I come to favour one
and thus negate the other

Within me, I contain universes
They exist in complicit balance
If I strive to want, to hold, to prefer
they pop like bubbles
leaving only that chosen.
Thus the box opens and one more
corpsified feline laid at my feet

Hamlet died by choices made
and choosing I disdain

— G A Rosenberg

 

The suit of swords represents thought, ideas and plans. Twos represent duality, subject and object. What do we do when two separate ideas are presented to us. We can let them battle themselves into the ground and engage in endless debate or we can sit with them first contemplating one and then the other, thesis and antithesis until we reach a synthesis that integrates the best aspects of both.  The forming of this synthesis can bring a total release and peace. Of course then a new antithesis to the synthesis appears and the process continues.

Astrological Correspondance – Moon in Libra – The Moon in Libra is all about peaceful aesthetics. People with their Moons in Libra tend to be aware of all sides of a situation and are able to find compromise (synthesis) with all. Again tho this synthesis comes from a full understanding of all sides of the equation
 
I Ching Correspondance – 11) T’ai – Peace

___ ___
___ ___
___ ___
_______
_______
_______
 

This hexagram shows the trigram K’UN (earth)  above the creative CH’IEN (Heaven). Since the natural place of K’UN is to  below and CH’IEN above they harmonize well (again the idea of synthesis)

 

When the two of swords shows up in a reading things are at an impasse and it might be time to withdraw and consider both paths. There is inherent tension between Thesis and Antithesis so eventually it will need to resolve but time can be taken to look at both and arrive at the optimum solution. (Compare this the the Two of Wands which suggests immediate action)

When the Two of Swords shows up reversed in a reading then the weight of the decision has become too much. Either matters have fallen out of our hands or things have collapsed because of the inherent tension.

Quote of the Day – September 14 2011

“The best way to pay for a lovely moment is to enjoy it. ”
–Richard Bach

Looking for words of gentle wisdom–
Gratitude, Love, Peace, Unity, Diversity, Wisdom, Understanding, Truth, Freedom, Joy, Compassion
Yet all of these words have so many meanings, not only depending on who says them but when they say them as well. We sometimes make the mistake of expecting greater consistency from others than we do from ourselves.. To paraphrase Uncle Walt, I am huge, I contain multitudes. Wouldn’t it be foolish then if I expected something different from others. Don’t they get to contain multitudes as well. Yet the above words and many others do give me solace. They all express concepts to me that I often hold dear. That doesn’t mean that I haven’t abused them. I have not been the most faithful with my concept of any of them yet I’ve been working on it.
Funny thing, very few of these words can exist in a vacuum. They all speak of relationship, not only to others but to ourselves,and to the Youniverse that exists in each of us..
Just a few thoughts that have bubbled up to the surface tonight.
–Gar

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To The Surface and Above by G A Rosenberg

Stars by G A Rosenberg

Quote of the Day – September 14 2010

“All We are saying, is ‘Give peace a chance'”

–John Lennon

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A Time For Peace by G A Rosenberg

(This one is partly inspired by the “Emergence” series of pottery by Lori Buff , an amazing artist and one of my oldest (in terms of time-served) friends. Please check out her work at( (http://www.futurerelicsgallery.com/ ) and (Ex: http://www.etsy.com/listing/38851054/tea-pot-emergence)