By Dr. Stewart Bitkoff
If a small child stumbled
Fell and cut her knee,
Would you not bend over and try to help?
Helping the fallen
Is part of the basic requirement
Of being a human being.
Then why do you run away
From all the broken ones
Who call out for our help?
Are we not broken ourselves?
-SB (more…)
By Lt Col R K Langar
The title of this article is based on Hindu philosophy or the Vedanta philosophy. The four basic questions related to a human being are one, ‘who am I’ two ‘where have I come from in this world’, three ‘what is the purpose of my existence or what is my role’ and four ‘where do I go when I leave the world’. The answers to these four questions are discussed in subsequent paragraphs. (more…)
Recently I listened to a well-known politician advocate for healthcare reform on a television program where he was discussing his work in pushing legislation that would require health insurance companies to treat mental illness as a legitimate treatable disease so that people who suffer from various psychological dysfunctions and disorders can be covered for treatment. His contention is that most mental problems are due to physiological causes in the brain (which then delineates the condition “medicalâ€) and that if the brain is treated through various drugs and other medical treatments, the patient can get better.
Though I agree that health insurance companies should view mental illnesses as legitimate medical conditions that need to be treated, we need to go even further in how we, as a total society, perceive illness and the treatment of it. When we citizens of a culture can change our mindsets about causes of disease and healing, then the systems within our society will change to fit that consciousness. Thus the economic, political, medical, educational, and other institutions of mainstream culture will cooperate with the expanded consciousness of the population to create more effective and efficient healthcare systems that provide for all of its citizens regardless of financial or social status. (more…)
Many scientists in physics and in other areas of science are finding out that everything is connected. The micro/macro connection is from the smallest atom to the largest star. Great writers throughout history have written about this universal connection, such as Walt Whitman, who said when a leaf drops stars feel it. Since everything is energy, broken circuitry from the source of energy affects everything.
For example, there is a small, battery-operated device that shows the significance of connection. It is a tiny globe of the earth with two points that need contact by human touch in order to give off a musical tone. As long as both points are touched by connected humans, it will chime. Two or one hundred people holding hands will cause music from this device, but if there is any broken place within the human chain of touching hands, the music will stop. I guess you could say that as long as there is a connectedness among humans, the earth sings, but whenever there is a break in human inter-relatedness and unity, the earth cannot sing as fully as it is meant to. Simply put, we humans are conductors of the Creator’s energy, physically as well as by thought. (more…)
by Jeannette Schneider
The author of the internationally popular pamphlet Indignez-vous! (translated as Time For Outrage), Stephane Hessel spent his life warning of the dangers of “the unbearable dominance of market forces”.
Stéphane Hessel, the grand old man of ‘the call for social outrage’ died on 23 February 2013 at the age of 95. His pamphlet Indignez-vous! (the English title is: “Time for Outrage”) was published in 2010 and originally aimed at the French, especially the youth. To his delight and surprise, within a short time, 2 million copies were sold in his own country. By now 4.5 million copies have been sold in 35 countries. In Spain ‘Los Indignados’ took their name from the title of Hessel’s book, and the Occupy movement was inspired by it. Later Hessel published an additional three books all about the need for social and political change. (more…)
Interview with Jason Taylor
by Niels Bos
Jason Taylor, filmmaker and photographer for the The Source Project, discusses the ways in which progressive farmers in India demonstrate the sustainable agricultural techniques that can help save our planet.
Jason Taylor is the filmmaker and photographer of the Source Project, a self-funded multimedia venture that documents the methods, stories, and work of progressive farmers in India. He works primarily on agriculture-related issues and is based in Asia.Â
In his work he focuses on the everyday lives of Indian farmers and captures their environments, as well as their ideas and visions on agriculture by means of vivid photographs and video footage. Niels Bos interviewed Jason Taylor for Share International.
After ten years of working as a photographer and a filmmaker in the international development sector Jason Taylor came to the realization that much of what he was involved in was little more than what he describes as “managed poverty”. For him, the voice of the people he was being sent to document seemed to have far more clarity than the voice of the international development community and the terms of reference he was to work with seemed to have little in common with the reality of the field. So he decided to start a self-funded project called the Source Project and began a journey to meet some of the most progressive and enlightened farmers of India, documenting their stories about agriculture and food production in a series of films and photography. (more…)
Interview with Ken Nedimyer
by Jason Francis
Ken Nedimyer, founder of the Coral Restoration Foundation, discusses the ecology of the biologically diverse coral reefs, the ways in which CRF is rebuilding them, and efforts to educate the public as to the human impact on these critical oceanic resources.
The Coral Restoration Foundation (CRF) is a nonprofit conservation group based in Key Largo, Florida, that develops offshore coral nurseries and reef restoration programs for critically endangered coral reefs at local, national and international levels. Tens of thousands of corals are grown and maintained in multiple offshore nurseries. With the help of students, volunteers, scientists, dive operators, public aquariums, and community groups, thousands of corals grown in CRF’s nurseries have been replanted on degraded coral reefs. Ken Nedimyer, a commercial fisherman and tropical fish collector, formed CRF in 2007. Jason Francis interviewed Nedimyer for Share International. (more…)
Interview with Stephen Leahy
by Felicity Eliot
Canadian environmental journalist Stephen Leahy discusses the obstacles to halting climate change and the exploitation of resources in emerging countries.
Stephen Leahy has worked as a freelance Canadian journalist for the past 12 years, including five years writing for Inter Press Service. Leahy specialises in science, the environment and agriculture. He has been published in leading magazines and newspapers in several countries. Based near Toronto, Canada, Leahy is a professional member of the Society of Environmental Journalists. He is also the 2012 co-winner of the Prince Albert/United Nations Global Prize for Climate Change. (more…)
By Dr. Stewart Bitkoff
“O my Lord, if I worship Thee for fear of hell, burn me in hell; and if I worship Thee for hope of Paradise, exclude me thence; but if I worship Thee for Thine own sake, with hold not from me Thine eternal beauty.â€
 -RabiaÂ
For the spiritual traveler, in order to unlock what lies beyond everyday consciousness, a period of preparation is required. For a time everyday thought patterns must be suspended so the traveler can experience what lies beyond ordinary awareness. In order for a society or organization to flourish, people are conditioned into believing specific ideas and much of the day is filled with these thoughts.  Because of the emotions attached to these ‘sacred’ ideas/beliefs, often the traveler is blocked by their external noise from going deeper and experiencing the inner, spiritual reality. (more…)
Dreams provide a valuable key to understanding our unconscious mind, and therefore our true self. They may also offer an insight into our Spiritual essence and connection with the greater Spiritual reality. This article seeks to describe the concept of mind and give guidance on understanding the dreams it produces.
If our brain is like a supercomputer, the mind is like the software that it runs. Note that the software is distinct from the computer it runs on. Continuing the analogy for the Spiritually inclined the mind is the interface between our physical and Spiritual aspects, ie body and soul! (more…)