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The last time I could even remotely be called an “activist” was in 1959 when I was a freshman at University of Florida.  These were the days of segregation in the U.S.

Coming from a Northern State, I had never seen separate drinking fountains and hand sinks for white people and “colored” people, as the signs said.

My family abhorred prejudice, and this was instilled in me deeply. My 18-year old heart hurt empathizing with the hurt all the “colored” people must feel to be treated in this manner.   My personal activism was not great, but began with my using the drinking fountain marked “colored only” when I was in public places, and then extended to sitting in the back of the Greyhound bus which took me from Northern Florida through Macon, GA, to East Lansing, Michigan during vacation times.  The scowls and sidelong glances from white people as I spoke animatedly with my “colored” seat mates, including a Howard University student, did not deter me.  Later learning the unfortunate fate of many of those who defied this negative social order, I realized that I was somehow very protected.

Since those days, I have been aware of a lot of injustice in the world, but other than voting for someone who promised to change it, participating electronically through MoveOn.org, leaving a phone message on a Senator’s hot line, or donating to various causes, like Save Darfur campaign, I admit that I never have taken the time to search out a person of influence to register my feelings against something that I felt was extremely irresponsible.

Not until today, that is.

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As the longest day of the year comes to an end, an opportunity for a new way of being begins . . .

This is a crossroad moment for us, should we choose to take it this way.  The Summer Solstice graces us by providing a portal of opportunity through which we can walk with unusual grace and ease, moving with the flow of Nature’s own rhythm.  No wonder it has been celebrated for countless centuries.

The key to opening wide this portal of potential– this Portal of Possibility–is a deep feeling of gratitude for all the bounty in our life.  (not a bad idea any day!)  This feeling is nothing short of a communion.  It is a quantum communication with the Infinite Universal Field which seems only too willing to provide our heart’s desires when beckoned forth through this medium.  This is my experience, anyway.

Watching the sun setting on this day, I cannot help but be filled with awe at the natural beauty that surrounds me here on this beautiful Island of Maui.    As I photograph, an owl glides silently by.  She is a symbol to me of death and rebirth—another portal, underlining the importance to consider what might be hampering me and needs to be let go of right now, in order to have more space to enjoy what comes next.

To my visitors and companions moving through this passageway, I bid you a very good journey.

Despite appearances–beneath the mask we are really all the same

One whole interconnected community of wo/man

Ten days before his 11^th birthday (12/9/02) DECLAN GALBRAITH released his first single, “Tell Me Why”.

The largest choir in history assembled from all over the UK and Ireland joining Declan to sing his song for a Guinness World Record.

I’m thinking about my young grandchildren, Jules and Abbott, and the world that they are inheriting and I couldn’t help but wonder:  What would our world look like if all of us from around the globe joined together to “sing” a response to Declan’s question?  It could be a harmony that has never been heard before in our Uni-verse, our One Song.

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In my dream children sing a song of love for every boy and girl
The sky is blue and fields are green and laughter is the language of the world
Then I wake and all I see is a world full of people in need

Tell me why (why) does it have to be like this?
Tell me why (why) is there something I have missed?
Tell me why (why) cos I don’t understand.
When so many need somebody we don’t give a helping hand.
Tell me why?

Everyday I ask myself what will I have to do to be a man?
Do I have to stand and fight to prove to everybody who I am?
Is that what my life is for to waste in a world full of war?

Tell me why (why) does it have to be like this?
Tell me why (why) is there something I have missed?
Tell me why (why) cos I don’t understand.
When so many need somebody we don’t give a helping hand.
Tell me why?

(children) tell me why? (declan) tell me why?
(children) tell me why? (declan) tell me why?
(together) just tell me why, why, why?

Tell me why (why) does it have to be like this?
Tell me why (why) is there something I have missed?
Tell me why (why) cos I don’t understand.
When so many need somebody we don’t give a helping hand.

Tell me why (why,why,does the tiger run)
Tell me why (why why do we shoot the gun)
Tell me why (why,why do we never learn)
Can someone tell us why we let the forest burn?

(why,why do we say we care)
Tell me why (why,why do we stand and stare)
Tell me why (why,why do the dolphins cry)
Can some one tell us why we let the ocean die ?

(why,why if we’re all the same)
tell me why (why,why do we pass the blame)
tell me why (why,why does it never end)
can some one tell us why we cannot just be friends?

Link to YouTube Video Declan Galbraith \”Tell Me Why\”
The event was organized by ‘Young Voices in Concert’. Funds from the record-breaking attempt were donated to the Sargent Cancer Care for Children.

Whew!! YOU MADE IT HERE!

Overwhelmed by responsibilities?  Breathlessly rushing to complete deadlines?  Disturbed by the latest news?  A special relationship stressing you out?  Forgetting to breathe deeply and be deeply grateful for all the Miracles in your life?

Grace yourself with 7 exquisite minutes of peace transmitted by Buddhist monk, teacher, author, poet and peace activist Thich Nhat Hanh

“This wonderful sound brings me back to my true home”.

Homage to Avalokiteswara, Embodiment of Compassion

(If you want to both listen and follow the words- go to the next page)

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This piece appears in conjunction with a feature in the Maui Weekly (www.mauiweekly.com)

This week the extraordinary healing presence– the “Gaze of Miracles”–of a man called BRACO (pronounced Braht-so) returns to Maui.  His work has received the blessing of Hawaiian spiritual leaders throughout the Islands, including our own Auntie Pua Mahoe, Auntie Nahi Guzman and Lehua Rider.

Braco has been sharing his healing energy in Eastern Europe for 15 years.  He does not touch anyone with his hands nor does he give out philosophical teachings or offer solutions to people’s individual problems. Since 2002 he has not spoken in public. The powerful Energy which comes through him, and enters our hearts and minds and our lives speaks for itself.  Read the rest

I recently became aware of a beautiful song by Sarah Mclachlan, “Ordinary Miracle”,  which expresses the heart-view of “Miracles and Grace”.

We hustle around so fast these days, that  it is easy to miss the abundance of ordinary, everyday miracles, even when they are right under our noses.

C.S. Lewis wrote:  “Miracles are a retelling in small letters of the very same story which is written across the whole world in letters too large for some of us to see”.

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If you want to both listen and follow the words- - Read the rest

Miracles and Grace  reveals–through story–the abundance of ordinary/everyday miracles presenting themselves to our consciousness every single day.

Raising  consciousness expands the mind to perceive more of a truth  that we are not an insignificant dot on the globe, but  are constantly reflecting and affecting each other.

Long before modern physics came up with the hologram as an essential model of the Universe, an ancient Indian teaching story, the Avatamsaka sutra, spoke to the unity, interconnectedness and interdependence of all creation.

“Indra’s Net” ~ In the heavenly realm, the god Indra cast a net that extends infinitely throughout space. A multifaceted crystal is attached at each of its nodes. Every single crystal reflects, and is being reflected in, all of the other crystals, endlessly. The slightest change in one crystal is reflected as change in each of the others.

This alignment of modern science with ancient philosophy allows us to imagine each of ourselves as a single crystal on that net, affected by and affecting each other in infinite ways. Simply considering the impact our every thought, feeling, word, or deed has on everyone and everything brings a profound awakening. . .and a sense of responsibility for not only ourselves, but the whole organism we call our world, of which we are an integral part.

There have been civilizations who understood our  interconnectedness, and lived in ways that supported it. The ancient/tribal way was to band together in Community. All was organized around the principle of WE (not me vs.you).

Every thought, word and deed accompanied by heart-feeling  strengthens our conversation with the entire Universe.  Together WE have the power–with just one action–to manifest a change for the whole of  our planet Earth.  WE are essentially that crystal.

Today, I am projecting a visualization and an intention for a world where we live in peaceful balance and harmony, sharing our best with our neighbor and demonstrating caring for the quality of life of future generations.

What we intend, we create.   WE  are All One;  WE are the WHOLE.

Painting on canvas:: “WE“  (18″ x18″ x 1 1/4″)  created by Sherry Remez

Have you noticed?   It is being spoken of everywhere!   It has become topic of interest for everyone; not just scientists and philosophers, but our neighbors, our friends, business associates, family, etc.: 

A HUGE CHANGE ON OUR PLANET IS IMMANENT!

That statement is the source of a range of emotions–Fear being the greatest of these. How many times have you heard someone say:  “Look at how the world is deteriorating, and how rapidly”, “a huge upheaval, an apocalypse, is approaching and not many will survive”?

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BRACO (photo from YouTube video)

I think that we all yearn to feel deeply loved and accepted –just as we are, right now–and we want to experience a deep inner peace that is not dependent upon external circumstances.  We desire to feel hopeful about our unfolding lives, and to be free from physical pain, or at least be free of the mental suffering that can accompany it.

To this mind, any of the above represents “healing”.   In these challenging times, as things seem extremely out of control in many places on our beautiful but beleaguered planet, the need of healing is very apparent; whether it is physical, mental/emotional or on more refined levels of beingness, of spirit.

I just had the opportunity, privilege and blessing to experience such healing, attending a series of public events that I believe are positively changing the collective consciousness of the world.  All that was required of me was to stand with an open heart and mind and receive “The Energy” coursing through and around a man called BRACO (pronounced Braht-so).

Braco, a 42 year-old native of Croatia, husband and father, and former business man with a master’s degree in accounting, does not speak in public, nor does he give teachings or offer solutions to problems.  There is no need.   Allowing himself to be utilized as a conduit for the greatest Love, he most humbly shares the miraculous gift, which was spontaneously bestowed upon him at age 26, by simply standing and gazing at those who come to be in its presence.  Read the rest