Go back to where you came From!!

Posted on February 4, 2016 by Rod's World

My country made a sad decision today, it legalised the right to keep children who were born in this country in prison camps on remote islands where known cases of child abuses take place because their parents are supposedly illegal refugees.

What does this word refugee mean, the definition of it is quite clear:

According to the United Nations Convention relating to the Status of Refugees [PDF], as amended by its 1967 Protocol (the Refugee Convention), a refugee is a person who is:

outside their own country and
has a well-founded fear of persecution due to his/ her race, religion, nationality, member of a particular social group or political opinion, and is
unable or unwilling to return.

Yet we in our own country use terms like border protection and lock up children for up to a period of over 12 months, I call this inhumane and not meeting the above guidelines.

What has been said about refugees over the ages, have we improved the way we deal with them. There are many famous refugees, I had no clue Freddy Mercury was one, fleeing after the 1964 Zanzibar revolution.

Here are Fifteen quotes I have chosen to look at more useful ways to deal with refugees.

1. I work in a place who dealt with the first wave of Asylum Seekers in Australia, many of them Iranian. I will give an examples changing his name. Ali worked as an airport Manager, his younger brother was accused of political dissent. Ali was called in by the police and tortured for two weeks and on release told next time he would not leave alive. He fled the country, leaving everything behind the following day. It took him 9 months to get to Australia, and yes he came by boat.

2. Name calling by the media, used to demean not empower or open people’s hearts to these people who have suffered unimaginable atrocities that people who live in area of war do. The only way I can relate to the effects of it are when I was in Leningrad and our guide said to imagine what happened here in a 2 year period kill 1 in 5 of the people you know and that is what occurred here.

3. I saw the drone shots Russia took of the cities of Syria, as this quotes states refugees often have no choice, there is nothing to go back to. We are just very lucky to have never experienced this in our country.

4. Probably the worlds most famous refugee is Einstein. A German Jew, his work was discredited by the Nazi Party. He was one of the lucky one who got out early in 1932 and went out to make some of the most significant scientific discoveries of the modern era.

5. Tonn Benn served in the British parliament for 47 years as was seen as being the most left wing member of his party. He did not hold back in stating what he saw as the dangers of his right wing opponents, this is one of his most famous quotes.

6. Famous for We turned back the boats and Team Australia sometimes our politicians forget and let their heart slip out, this was one such occasion.

7. Go back home, to what?

8. I love the poster of two earth’s , one with all the flags over it and the other as it actually is , One planet. Then no one would be illegal.

9. They say that the strength of your team is measured by your weakest link, what does that say about planet earth and its treatment of our refugees.

10. This picture speaks to the UN convention relating to the status of Refugees, designed to do exactly what it says. Delivery, Comfort and Mercy.

11. “Refugees are people like anyone else, like you and me. They led ordinary lives before becoming displaced, and their biggest dream is to be able to live normally again. On this World Refugee Day, the 20th June let us recall our common humanity, celebrate tolerance and diversity and open our hearts to refugees everywhere.”

Ban Ki-moon, Secretary of The UN pointing out with there is no such thing as Us and Them.

12. Taken from the glorious song by Leonard Cohen Anthem. to me means that we give love as though like we have lost our country and are stateless, a pure love of mercy.

13. This is being questioned with the current refugee crisis sweeping Europe. perhaps they need to send the political leaders on a holiday to Syria for a week or two and it would be put in perspective.

14. This poem was written by a Somali refugee commenting on what happened to his country and how he thought before the war and after the war when he became one.

15. A sign that says it all, not needing the political or economic commentary, just the humane one. Please when commenting on they should go back home, remember this, especially in our country where a great majority of our immigrants were refugees.

I had to stop halfway through writing this, we had a U.N. Interfaith Harmony Week event, the ethos if this week is Love of God, and Love of the Neighbour. They has youth speakers from six different faiths, aged from 12 to 20 they all spoke of love and compassion. This gives me great hope for the future of refugees.

Namaste until next Monday my dear friends.

Is Adversity Awesome?

Posted on February 1, 2016 by Rod's World

This is a great question, do we want adversity in our lives or do we want them to chug along with very few bumps in the road. I confess that I tried the latter and kept ending up in psych. units because I did not handle the former very well.

The first time was when they were going to shut down the office I worked in where we had created a special relationship with our clients and I didn’t want to lose it so I clandestinely fought it with the community and union so that they kept it partially open in a smaller site around the corner. The stress of doing this saw me start a journey were I was dismissed and put on a pension never to work again with another two admissions during the two year period.

So what can dealing better with adversity offer us? There are many quotes from famous characters in history to unknowns on the subject and it was a difficult task choosing the fifteen most relevant, but here are my favourite ones. Lets have a look :

1. One of the great tests of adversity is who stays along for the ride when the going gets tough. I know that when in deep depression I was not an easy person to stay with but there were certain friends who stayed through me trying to tell them to go away because I was not worth knowing.

2. Adversity is put in our lives to test our resolve, how we get through them increases our Strength in life, helps us get through those moments in life that truly test our ability to break on through to a stronger person.

3. Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī, also known as Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Balkhī, Mawlānā/Mevlânâ, Mevlevî/Mawlawī, and more popularly simply as Rumi, was a 13th-century Persian poet, jurist, Islamic scholar, theologian, and Sufi mystic. Rumi’s influence transcends national borders and ethnic divisions: Iranians, Tajiks, Turks, Greeks, Pashtuns, other Central Asian Muslims, and the Muslims of South Asia have greatly appreciated his spiritual legacy for the past seven centuries. His poems have been widely translated into many of the world’s languages and transposed into various formats. Rumi has been described as the “most popular poet” and the “best selling poet” in the United States. I spoke to an Iranian friend who did not know who Rumi was but knew Mawlawi well. He says it simply but it is profound.

4. In my friends Arion’s work The Activation Program we work on an aspect of life called Renewal where we look at what controls us being more effective and look to accept this, in doing so this allows it to no longer control us, like having it blow the adversity away.

5. American author and bloggist Randi J. Fine points out that even though adversity is happening to us it is occurring for a reason, what is happening is exactly what is meant to at that moment to move us through life. You could even say from reading her site she is suggesting Don’t worry be Happy.

6. A lot of my friends lead workshops and seminars in the conscious movement and personal development areas. If you were to hear their stories as how they got there you would definitely agree that they are shining the light for other, living proof of the wounded healer stories.

7. here is one of the great natural examples of what can be created by overcoming adversity. Considered the most sough after gemstone who realises that it began its life as a piece of charcoal.

8. Discussing his quote we all think of Frank Herbert as a Science Fiction writer of note, best known for the novel Dune and its five sequels. Though he became famous for science fiction, he was also a newspaper journalist, photographer, short story writer, book reviewer, ecological consultant and lecturer. He had adversity covered in all directions.

9. It is a little known fact that many millionaires go broke several times in their life. But due to the fact they can handle great wealth they can also handle great adversity so have the ability to return to their former status.

10. John A. Passaro grew up as a wrestler and points out that is were he learnt to be a better person not in his Science and Math and English classes. Perhaps this is what Pink Floyd meant when they sang We don’t need no Education.

11. If we lived our whole lives between the lines, in the safe zone, how much meaning would there be in our lives, I often here people referring to the Nanny State these days, that everything is so controlled people don’t know what to do when they are challenged in life.

12. Climatic disasters are what this quote reminds me of. It brings out the best in people because at the heart of it, we all want to make a difference with others and these occurrences are when we are needed to do it most.

13. When we look at our politicians and how many of them have to resign due to corruption this quote from Abraham Lincoln hits home. It seems to bring out the worst of behaviour in some people who seek to be elected to make a difference. As JOhn Lennon sang Power to the People.

14. Walter Elias “Walt” Disney was an American entrepreneur, cartoonist, animator, voice actor, and film producer. He was a prominent figure within the American animation industry and throughout the world, and is regarded as a cultural icon, known for his influence and contributions to entertainment during the Twentieth century. Flowers grow in deserts and mountains , areas we do not expect them to.

15. Roads keeps us well under control, discoveries do not come from staying on the road, but trying out the adversity of the Unknown, not many life changing inventions were made driving the car down the road.

I have learnt to deal with adversity much better these days, I do not recommend waiting 58 years as I did, many of these spent trying to fix myself.

Namaste until Thursday, my dear friends.

Are you Interested?

Posted on January 25, 2016 by Rod's World

I have lived in Preston, Victoria, Australia for four years now and find it a much more communal area than the suburb I previously lived in. Perhaps this is because of the local council who are committed to each of the 153 different cultures who make up its population and the Darebin Intercultural Centre that was sent up to ensure this happened. link to information on DIC.

What makes a great community, It is defined in meaning two distinct things

community

kəˈmjuːnɪti/

noun

1.

a group of people living in the same place or having a particular characteristic in common.

“Montreal’s Italian community”

synonyms: group, section, body, company, set, circle, clique, coterie, ring, band,faction;
2.

the condition of sharing or having certain attitudes and interests in common.

“the sense of community that organized religion can provide”

I have belonged to many different communities over my life: The football playing community, the singing community, the self development community and the Northside living community being some of them.

What has society said about Community over the centuries. The 15 quotes I have chosen say different things about it, lets have a look :

1. Author of the outstanding book Love and Will Rollo May states that Communication is an essential part of Community as it leads to us understanding each other not judging from made up opinions.

2, This beautiful poster suggests many ways to build a sense of community. If these are in place I suggest you would be part of a vibrant one.

3. When you become a genuine part of a community there is something you give to it, your heart. One touched in your heart you realise that this is what fulfils you th emost in your life.

4. Marianne Williamson, known for her quote from her best selling book A Return To Love: Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate, Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn’t serve the world. There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we’re liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others. This quote is often incorrectly credited to Nelson Mandela. Another powerful pointer to th epower of community from Marianne.

5. Synergy is another benefit of strong communities. Synergy is the interaction of elements that when combined produce a total effect that is greater than the sum of the individual elements, contributions, etc. You need less to achieve much more.

6. In your Face community, Love and Respect for all, Everyone Included – the ethos of my public FB group Interculturalism, a space to join and share your examples of Community that includes everyone.

7. Always look out for people who are in your community who are not partaking of what is available in belonging to it. Always give them the choice but don’t assume they don’t want to be.

8. I agree with Mahatma, when I am not partaking in a Community I feel a little lost as I did for the first year of living in Preston, but after discovering The Intercultural centre and its activities I became part of that beautiful gift one gives, Of Service.

9. Love this image and quote from Henrik Ibsen, father of the school of Realism. In a community anyone can step forward and lead, they tend to have less bureaucracy than other structures.

10 A gaggle of words that come out of Community. Things that you obtain, assets, a sense of wellness, support of others and events to attend and meet the others from your community.

11. I am listening to Mitch Albom’s book the Five people you meet in Heaven, a book about Ernie who dies where he learns that heaven is not a lush Garden of Eden, but a place where your earthly life is explained to you by five people. These people may have been loved ones or distant strangers. Yet each of them changed your path forever. Its fascinating and points out the importance of creating purpose and meaning in your life through community service.

12. David Bowie worked on this his whole love, from Ziggy Stardust to the Thin White Duke, he was all about including everyone in his fan group AKA his community. Here is one of his finest songs in relationship to Community: Heroes.

13. Jasmine Guy is an actress who pointed out that Community is not as easy as it used to be when we were part of a tribe living in a Village, but it is still is so worthwhile.

14. Maria Montessori was an Italian physician, educator, and innovator, acclaimed for her educational method that builds on the way children naturally learn. She created schools where the whole school was a community not broken up into separate classes.

15. And finally something to remember, that our bodies are a community as well, made up of millions of Star Seeds and Cells.

So have a think about what communities you say you belong to and those you would like to, I guarantee that it will open your heart more for you and by being of Service you will live a healthier life.

Namaste until next Thursday, my dear friends.

Did you Get It!

Posted on January 18, 2016 by Rod's World

I have started listening to Podcasts on the recommendation of my Anam Cara Emeli. I listened to a fascinating one about fulfilling your purpose by getting your message out there. This made me think did most people know what the Message they had to give in life was.

I have done several modalities to set up my message for the year and live from my Core Desired Feelings of . These are from Danielle LaPortes brilliant process The Desire Map. From the others my Word for 2016 is Sacredness and my Essence is Sacred Love, more about those in a later Blog.

I have chosen 15 diverse quotes, covering Love, Social Media and Purpose. No Oprah but there is Mother Teresa. Lets begin our journey.

1. This is describing the essence of Sacred Love, where you or someone say I Love You, and you don’t really have to say it again because they you or they hear it for the rest of you life this time in. Its to do with revealing your Sacred Stories.

2. Google didn’t find Aditya, but their message is Inspiring in its words and intention, don’t mess round delivering yours.

3. Its good to have a dream, I have a favourite image which is of a Unicorn and it says don’t let them kill your day dream. But to fulfil that daydream you also require the actions of Doing stuff.

4. Dennis S. Brown is a motivational speaker who grew up in a three room “Shot Gun” house in Central Louisiana is known as Mr Attitude. His ability to relate to transforming your message through real life events he has experienced draw people to him in the thousands.

5. Luke Rinehart wrote a book called The Dice Man back in 1971 where he shook a dice before making any decision. It is a fascinating read as to me the message is that we make decisions on much more shallow fears and judgements than this in our lives.

6. Throw in a bit of weird, a bit of not normal, Yes even some insanity to get that Message out there if you want it to be heard.

7. Probably not many people on Earth are quoted more than His Holiness, The Dalai Lama. When spreading you Message , if you want it to be joyful and easy look in the mirror and there is the person responsible for it happening.

8. There will always be critics, mainstream media makes a living from it, imagine if they reported the great messages that existed around the World instead, it would transform.

9. Parenting 101, give your used things to your next sibling or the family down the street who are not as well off as you. Thinking about it later and having judgements about it doesn’t get that Message out there.

10. I get to tell one of my sacred stories, about how I broke up a friendship via SMS because she said that it was a valid way to communicate and would not agree to meeting face to face. I told her it was a crap way and have not heard from her since after I said to her that I was not the negative person she talked about and that negative people did not send three things I love about you for 5 months each and every day.

11. Time for a song, Little Anthony from 1960. Tears on My Pillow, Tears may be necessary to move to the next level of getting your message out there. It isn’t always a cakewalk.

12. Penn Fraser Jillette is an American magician, juggler, comedian, musician, inventor, actor, and best-selling author known for his work with fellow magician Teller in the team Penn & Teller. He is also known for his advocacy of atheism, scientific scepticism , libertarianism and free-market capitalism . The Message is the Message, we often forget this as it becomes more difficult.

13. Mother Teresa is much loved and much maligned, there appears to be no middle ground with her. She got her Message out powerfully to the World about the slums of India. As she states, you need to light the flame daily for it to keep burning, same with your message.

14. There are roughly 6,500 spoken languages in the world today. However, about 2,000 of those languages have fewer than 1,000 speakers. The most popular language in the world is Mandarin Chinese. There are 1,213,000,000 people in the world that speak that language. How about if we wrote our message in every language, that certainly would make a difference.

15. Finally a bit of humour about getting your message out there. Make sure it is real for you. if its not why will other people listen to it.

Each of us have a message to bring to the planet and its people, it would seem that the messages being spoken the loudest are those of war, corruption and Terrorism. Do not worry, it is the last cries of a time that has seen its day. We are entering the Age of Aquarius. Peace and Love and Human Connection.

Namaste until Thursday, my dear friends.

The Irish got it Right!!

Posted on December 21, 2015 by Rod's World

I was given the honour of being declared someone’s Anam Cara the other day. We are entirely different people – Emeli is a kick Ass entrepreneur who is about having people see their purpose in life through workshops and retreats and I am a wordsmith who loves blogs and conscious dancing.

Historically, your Anam Cara is a person to whom you look as the person to share, confess and reveal the hidden intimacies in your life. With your Anam Cara you can express your mind, your heart, the very core of your innermost self. Your friendship with your anam cara is not just a friendship, but also an act of belonging, a place of recognition. Therefore, the most powerful gift you can bring to your friendship with your Anam Cara is your attention and awareness. It is your responsibility to be completely present with your Anam Cara.

So what does society have to say about Anam Cara’s, I have chosen 15 pertinent quotes to examine this, here we go.

1. Your Anam Cara may not be your lover or partner, He or she may not even be your bestie or live in the same state or country. But you simply know when you meet them that they are.

2. Back in the 1500’s Paracelsus came up with this beautiful quote that to me describes the Anam Cara relationship divinely. Partelsus was strangely called the Father of Toxicology as well as beng a being a philosopher.

3. Its said that with your Anam Cara you could sit there for days and days and resolve deep issues. My friend Kavisha, who is a renowned musician and chantress says the healing is not in the words, its in the silence in between.

4. It could have been easy for me to overlook Emeli as on of my Anam Cara’s, we meet putting chairs out at a yoga and meditation event mutual friends were running. It was when Em did a 45 minute workshop promising that you would know what stopped you in Life and delivered that caught my attention.

5. I love Ten Years After I’m Going Home from Woodstock , one of the great raw guitar performances Adam Cara Live. it reminds me of the joy you feel being around these people.

6. I was at a party Saturday night and overheard my friends housemate saying she was bored. it was full of bush doofers who would open a conversation with which doofs do you go to. She had just come back from working on AIDS projects in Africa and Asia. We had this amazing conversation about what we saw as making a difference for several hours. It was an honour to meet her soul.

7. John O’Donohue wrote the 1977 best seller Anam Cara. A former ex priest , he traces the expression back to the monastic traditions. I love you have arrived at your most Sacred Place – Home. Here is his last recorded talk on the subject – The beauty of Anam Cara.

8. John O’Donohue was skilled with his words and his quotes on the subject are very moving and this one touches me in many places.

9. More from John, after all he wrote the book on the subject, its on my list to read with about 6 others. This mystical quote speaks to how I feel about Emeli because it is not how we look, and what we say that draws us to be Anam Cara, it is other worldly.

10. I don’t know how many Anam Cara you are allowed in your life but another dear friend and I were discussing Yoni staring, I think this constitutes feeling the confidence to share everything.

11. I think this is self explanatory as to what it has to do with Anam Cara, it is breathtaking beautiful in its simplicity.

12. It was only less than two years ago I met Emeli, I am 61. but those two years feel like they contain as much of a journey as the previous 59.

13. Time for another song, Continental Robert Desouza and the Dynamic Hypnotics from 1984, he’s still performing around Sydney. Its a soul kind of Feeling Anam Cara Feeling.

14. Elephant and Cat, Anam Cara come in strange combinations, but they always feel Oh So right.

15. I like throwing in an Oprah quote or An image without words, I believe these beautiful butterfly friends are Anam Cara.

So when Emeli explained Anam Cara to me, I believed I entered a new phase in my life, as well as being an Elder, no longer a little boy I am an Aman Cara, sweet.

Namaste until Thursday , my dear friends