A bit of light relief.

You Are Rain

You can be warm and sexy. Or cold and unwelcoming. Either way, you slowly bring out the beauty around you. You are best known for: your touch Your dominant state: changing

What Type of Weather Are You?

Charity that puts you in chains.

I was out with an old friend last night, it was good to catch up and have a long chat. One subject came into the conversation that we both agreed was out of order. My friend had been along to a Christian music festival, now given that he's a pagan, that was an eyebrow raiser. The subject we meandered into from there was even more so!

We all know about the various sponsor a third world child type charities. Well, my friend told me that there's a Christian charity that does a similar thing. With a catch. The child will be fed and taught, etc, but on the condition that the child is indoctrinated into and converts to Christianity. We both find this outrageous!

Charity should be given freely, without clauses. Any act of charity that puts a person in chains is not an act of charity, it is an act of enslavement.

Getting in our own way

I'm amazed by how much we keep getting in our own way sometimes.

It's as if there's a little gremlin in our heads that sets us up to fail, constantly undermining us and taking any excuse to help us procrastinate. One of the things I've learned from practicing meditation is that it's possible to turn that gremlin to your advantage.

It's like Tai Chi, you use it's force against it, in meditation you use the fact your mind is wandering to remind you "Hang on, I should focusing!". So, why not use the fact your gremlin is acting up to remind you that generally, you're a lot more capable than you give yourself credit for?

Monkey with syntax

I caught a report in the Times newspaper recently about the Putty Nosed Monkeys in Gashka Gumti National Park.

Scientists studying them have found that they're capable of very rudimentary syntax. Previously this was only thought possible in Humans, though there's no sign of abstract thought. For me, this helps to underline the truth that whatever airs and graces we may give our species, we're not as far removed from the animal kingdom as we like to make believe.

Alternative energy sources

I was reading the Times newspaper the other day and I saw that Venezuela's president had said that if there's any action against Iran, then Middle England will have to stop using their cars. So, our over reliance on oil has now been used as a tool to threaten us with, I'd wondered how long it would take.

As much as it's up to the government to develop alternative energy sources to oil, it's up to the people to lead them. The government won't shift until it's forced to, which makes sense, in an "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" kind of way. But in this, there's no choice but action, what's needed is the people to lead the way, to try to stop using our cars without need and to try to stop wasting energy.

What's amusing is the thought of the sheer panic that it would cause in the Treasury if everyone actually bought and used a bike!

Playing the role

I changed jobs recently, it's been a positive experience so far.

The change brought to mind the Uncarved Block, this is one of the basic principles of Taoism, my interpretation has always been that it's about a state of mind. We often get lost in our role in life, we get so caught up in playing the role that we forget that it's just a role, a label. Doctor, Lawyer, Mother, Father, these are just labels, they don't define the spirit that exists in each of us.

Our spirits are expressed through our interactions with the world, the roles we play in life, this thought underlines the importance of seeing beyond our contrived labels to the reality beneath.

The darkness within the light.

I figure I'm going to try and put a few thoughts in order regarding the Taiji symbol. I personally interpret the symbol as representing a system, be it a person or a company.

All things are made up of qualities, and each quality has it's opposite, love/hate, hot/cold, wet/dry etc. Obviously these things are subjective labels, after all what meaning does wet have for a fish? But we are purely concerened with the human viewpoint here.

In each side, there is a small piece of the other, this shows us that each thing contains it's opposite, which moderates it. Thus a storm cannot last forever, it must eventually stop. In the same way, summer can't go on forever, there must eventually be autumn, then winter.

I feel that this also acts as a guide for our behaviour. For example, if forced to use violence in self defence, we should moderate it's use, shown by the darker side of the symbol. In altruism, we should keep a guard there so that we don't get taken advantage of, as shown on the the light side. The Taji is a profound symbol, it always manages to surprise me!

Patriotism is not enough.

Sorry for the delay in updates, I've just started a new job, and I'm finding my feet. We were in London over the bank holiday, doing some sightseeing. The pictures are going up in my Flickr account and a video in my Youtube account as we speak!

At one point, I happened across this monument, it's just up from Trafalgar Square.

I took one look at the inscription and knew I had to get a picture, I think this inscription has a great message for us.

It reads:

Patriotism is not enough, I must have no hatred or bitterness for anyone

With all the trouble that old fashioned notions of patriotism are causing, I think this is a very good reminder of how things ought to be!