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Ask the Swami
by Swami
Beyondananda
Dear Swami:
I've noticed that so many of the great
teachers take their students on
journeys to sacred sites or beautiful places
or to swim with the
dolphins or whatever. I haven't seen
your name associated with any of
these various tours, however. Do you
ever take folks on traveling
quests, Swami?
Ron D'Vous,
Halifax, Nova Scotia
Dear Ron:
Coincidentally, I just got back from one such
journey -- Shark Quest,
it is called. Each year, I take a group
of attorneys to Hawaii to swim
with the sharks. And it's a fabulous
deal. Air fare is half price
because it's generally one-way.
* * * *
Dear Swami:
Each month, it seems, I get some e-mail about
a new worldwide
meditation for peace -- and yet, world strife
continues unabated. Iraq,
Africa, Kosovo, the death toll keeps mounting.
Are we meditators doing
something wrong? Is there a way we can
make our prayers for humankind
more effective?
Aretha Flowers,
Asheville, North Carolina
Dear Aretha:
Yes, I've often wondered about humankind and
human kindness. Is
humankind basically kind or is humankind
unkind? And what kind of
humankind are we becoming -- the kind kind or
the unkind kind?
Peace
prayers are certainly a step in the right
direction, but tend to be too
abstract and conceptual. It reminds me
of the event coordinator several
years ago whose marketing strategy involved a
daily meditation where she
imagined a full house. On the evening of
the event, sure enough -- we
had a room full of imaginary people.
I
think the healing of planetary
hot spots needs to be brought right into the
tangible and physical --
and what better way than through planetary
massage? I recommend you and
your friends buy some of those soft, cuddly
Hug-A-Planets, and sit
together in meditation and celebration holding
them in your laps. Then,
while singing "We've Got the Whole World
In Our Hands," gently massage
the hot spots, the areas of tension, tightness,
and distress. Gently,
gently, gently whisper words of love and
encouragement. Please don't
rub too hard -- you don't want to accidentally
set off a scud, do you?
Now of course, there are those who would say
that we Westerners are just
imperialists praying on Third World nations.
But can it do any harm?
Could anyone manhandle the world any more than
it is being manhandled
now?
* * * *
Dear Swami:
I know that for many months you have refused
to comment on the
impeachment crisis in America. Now that
the ordeal is finally over,
what is your take? Is the acquittal a
sign of decadence or
enlightenment? What have we learned from
this sad affair?
Colin Clense,
Melbourne, Australia
Dear Colin:
Certainly the trial and all that led up to it
was a spectacle, and what
better use for a spectacle than to help us
magnify? First of all, this
was a political rebalancing where the public
decided that in regards to
the culture wars, the Left was a little more
right -- and consequently,
the Right got left. And who could blame
them?
Those apparently healthy
young House Managers in the forefront of the
prosecution were sadly
found to be suffering from "strombosis"
-- and you can't expect to make
it in the new millennium with hardened,
96-year-old attitudes.
The vast
majority of Americans were unwilling for Ken
Starr's "Cootie état" to
succeed -- that is where you search for
cooties and then use them as a
pretext to thwart the will of the people.
Now Bill Clinton may or may
not have exposed himself to Paula Jones.
But the religious right most
certainly exposed themselves to the American
public. And in the final
analysis, Americans decided they'd rather put
up with one Slick Willie
than an entire Dick Armey.
Read also:
"Who
Is Swami Beyondananda"
and
more
articles from the Swami
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