Sending Love and Healing Prayers to South Korea/ Views of Life, Death and the Divine

Sometimes the world events resonate on various levels even over millenia...the timing of Passover when the Jews fled Egypt by being guided to paint their doorposts with the blood of a lamb so they would not be killed but would be 'passed over' is echoed in the tradition thousands of years later that emerged after Jesus' death, marked on Good Friday and, his Resurrection on Easter Sunday (three days later). This year, the Boston Marathon which is being highlighted after the bombing last year at that event, will be held on Monday, April 21st, 2014, the day after Easter.

There are earthquakes and yet most recently, the news of over 200 people, including many youth, on a ferry sinking off of South Korea makes us think about the fragility of life, the reality of death for each person walking the earth at some time, usually with some warning but not always. In addition, the despairing vice principal took his own life. He was feeling guilty, according to a report on www.npr.org ,that he was alive while so many of his students died.

Since we are each 'only one person, but indeed our own lens to view and connect with the world' we can perhaps comprehend the feelings or dilemma he faced. Hopefully, more people could plan to be supervised if undergoing sudden or difficult loss (even when it's expected, people can go into a severe, despairing reaction, feeling as though their reason for living or to make sense of life has been taken from them.)

We can be tuned into various cultural views of dying and death, whether there is a belief in a spiritual aspect to people or animals, a divine presence, one or more higher beings or Gods. These are profound 'anchor points' I learned about back in the 1980s at Vassar College in a popular course called Comparative World Views taught by a local friend from CT, Dr. Walter Fairservis.

While he journeyed beyond this earth realm a number of years ago, he encouraged hundreds of students to read  brief segments of many great books and assess whether the people in a culture, no matter the time period they lived in, believed in God or an afterlife.

Then like the concentric circles of a target, with God or Higher Power or Divine in the center, the next circle is religion and political structures, and then family patterns and education and so on. Unfortunately, in Japan 1/3 of suicides are linked to people facing bankruptcy and feeling deeply ashamed about that prospect.

The dignity of 'solving one's problems' or 'saving face by taking one's life' is engrained in that culture. I believe there was an area in WWII which Allies surrounded where 500 Japanese soldiers were trapped, and they all committed suicide to maintain loyalty to their Emperor and duty. In Hiroshima, Myth or Fact, supposedly the minutes of meetings where the President decided to use the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki said that reasonable compromises for Japan to be able to have a figurehead Emperor and they would surrender were refused.

Experts did recommend that a negotiated compromise be reached, without bombing, but overall, the President and a few of his supporters, not only condoned bombing Hiroshima in face of evidence that they were going to use acorns to fuel planes and had few resources to fight us if invaded. In addition, Nagasaki was bombed because the date had already been set which was only 3 days after Aug 6th, the disaster of bombing Hiroshima. The effects on generations, nature and the environment are still being felt.

We have yet to rewrite the history  books. All of these kinds of losses set the stage for the emerging population crisis we have with climate change and needing to feed 9 billion people in coming decades. Disturbing ideas  are on "Report 2000" from the CIA when Jimmy Carter asked for a world census and comments on the effects of population. A local radio station covered some of the disturbing ideas on that site for five years, so I looked into it. Basically, it says there's talk of 'intentionally decreasing the world's population to about 2 billion people' through viruses or other sweeping changes.

Part of the motivation to do that is because our earth may now be able to provide readily for 10 billion people. Hopefuly, people could learn about this crisis and decrease pregnancies (not end them, just ideally use methods to prevent them). Too many religions leave women and young girls at  the mercy of tradtions that do not advocate for their health and well-being, but rather keep allowing practices that keep them at risk for early pregnancy and many children without ways to educate not only them but a community about education, and practices to enhance life for all citizens.While this difficult time in South Korea draws our attention to their immediate loss, many traditions would say there were 'agreements' among those on the ship before they came into this current life that would balance their karma, their families' and communities' and to some extent out world's.

When we say we'd be willing to die to save someone (as played out in the case of our teen son Kaelan Paton in CT one day after school got out and a group of friends joined him at a dangerous spot at the HoUSAtonic River and got caught in currents, needing his help to get out from the side, but then he went in for a 3rd being swept upriver. While he was not able to save him and was pulled under, the lad surfaced and was miraculously saved by a rope rescuer, more info on other posts.) Finding more meaning on larger levels as Possibilities, alongside whatever traditional or cultural beliefs one has can perhaps give us more insight into our individual and shared human condition.

The ideas of millenia that there is a spiritiual dimension to our lives, that we may have many lifetimes, and we may be more amazing when alive (awake and asleep and when resting) can help us face our collective challenges with courage and creativity and community. More talks on www.npr.org and others say we may have more galaxies than we ever realized and of course, more healing abilities than known.

Meanwhile, we have to work with what we've got and who is in our life, in person, on the phone, online and in the media...and with the divine as we can consider that resource and connection. With a web of love among all of humanity we are growing in our sense of having a shared world and sense of life. Along those lines, hopefully all in South Korea (including someone special I know who runs a school there) can know we are sending them a lot of love and care to cope with this very difficult challenge and time of sadness.

May the lives of those who were on the ferry be cherished far and wide, with appreciation for their families and communities who took delight in their care as children and people, students and citizens. I hope these reflections can be taken in the spirit of love and care which marks this time of year in many traditions. The complex ideas of longstanding history and politics linked to religion and beliefs are becoming more widely understood. Together the messages of healing, peace and valuing life and cycles in life and nature with a call to be part of solutions and good team players will resound as recovery from this challenge and others like it on various scalessss both large and small.

Keep the faith, keep hoping and trusting in the greater good and keep in touch with people who care about you and others when help is needed during any time of danger, difficulty, crisis or big transition. Ideas on youtube about spiritual science or www.TheReconnection.com (which does not condone suicide for general reasons that were relayed to Eric Pearl by his mother after a near-death experience when she was in labor...)can be helpful theories to couch our souls when facing a wall. More understand that science does not prove or disprove the existence of the divine or things we cannot explain.

When we sleep every night, ideally from 11pm to 3am and on to 7am, according to Chinese Medicine (again, see www.drsha.com ) our souls and body download new energy from the cosmos. Sleep is the ideal channel to help with restoration of body, soul and mind at those times. The US is a young country, with science speaking more about the unified energy field which can help 'explain' how people may know more than they thought they did.

So let's keep an open mind and allow healing of our hearts, trusting the divine is 'creating and fulfilling each day' for us individually  and collectively, and to be forgiving of others and ourselves as Jesus and so many practices promote to bring us back to health and friendship (at least in our hearts and minds even if we need to maintain safer social or physical or financial boundaries with one or more people, places or programs, etc) Peace be with each and everyone of you...