TheLeaderInside.com

The Big Picture — More Thoughts

“Poverty is the worst form of violence.”

~~~ Mahatma Gandhi

How many of you were, or are, fans of Star Trek? I know that I certainly did enjoy all those episodes of the far-out problems those folks would encounter on their voyages through space and time. There’s one set of lines that seemed to be repeated often in those episodes that had to do with one of the crew members reporting to Captain Kirk that “All Life Support Systems Are Failing!” I don’t remember exactly the words Captain Kirk used in response, but it was something like, “Shut everything down that isn’t essential and put all our resources into the life support systems.”

It’s kind of like that for us here on planet Earth, isn’t it? We have to quit devoting so much of our resources to fighting wars and other “pork barrel” projects promoted by our Congresspeople, and instead put our resources into the health of our people and our planet. We need to shore up our life support systems and we need to do it now.

That would mean dumping a lot of the wasteful systems that are in effect these days. Things like manufacturing items that are designed to be thrown away after minimal use — cut back on projects that make the rich richer and the poor poorer. Our dollars need to be spent on education, health care, pollution reduction and peaceful pursuits with all nations. We need to devote more of our resources to our communities. For example, sidewalks, bicycles, bicycle paths and, above all, public transportation, especially in areas where the distances from home to work are too far apart for non-automotive travel. We need to turn our advertising budgets away from all the push for more consumption and into ways to conserve ourselves and our resources.

In other words, we have to start doing almost the exact opposite of what we’re doing today. We have to begin to do the exact opposite of what our current economic systems and our political systems are designed to promote.

I saw a statistic recently that made me happy I was sitting down (not happy otherwise!) when I read it. It was in a Forbes Magazine I picked up while in a waiting room. The articles pointed out that in 2005 there were 691 billionaires in the world. In 2008, there are 1,250 of them — nearly double. They have a combined wealth estimated at $4.4 trillion dollars. Thats’ the kind of inequality we are living with these days — we live in a world where the division between the wealthy and the poor is more and more pronounced. The article didn’t talk about how many millionaires there are, but I’d be willing to bet that the growth in that category is similar to the billionaires. These are the folks that are getting the huge tax breaks. The richest 1% of the people in the world own 51% of all the world’s assets. That’s awful enough, but did you know that the opposite is also true — that the poorest 50% of the world’s people own only 1% of the assets?

This same article gave this example of how the system today is working: A poor family would like to grow some food and they find a small plot of land on which to grow that food. A wealthy family wants the same piece of land to build a 20,000 square foot vacation home that they’ll use for about a month each year. It doesn’t take a high IQ to figure out who gets the land, does it? While this is going on we keep hearing the politicians tell us that the only way to lift up the poor to prosperity is to have more economic growth. Translated that means, get the poor to spend more of their hard-earned dollars on “stuff” that the rich people are producing. As long as they keep spending they’ll stay poor and under the control of the rich.

When we look at the “big picture” all we can truly say is, “There’s something wrong with this picture!”

This disparity will continue to grow unless we start looking at the “big picture” and go to the source of the problems we face and quit letting the current “powers that be” dictate a bunch of band-aids that will have no long-lasting positive effects.

How many of you took the time to watch “The Story of Stuff” by Annie Leonard that I gave you the link for last week? If you didn’t take the time — or you’re new to us here at this blog — then here’s the link again:

http://www.storyofstuff.com

Do take the time to do this today. This short video is an absolutely remarkable way to graphically show you how a system like the one we live with today is designed to make a small number of people very rich, without paying any attention to what that system is doing to our human and natural resources.

I’m not done with this rant — but that’s enough for this week. I’ll pick it up here next week on Thursday. I hope you’ll check back and see what else I’m thinking along these lines.

Again, I’d like to urge you to watch this video. It will take about 20 minutes of your valuable time. Even if you don’t feel that you can spare 20 minutes right now, I urge you to make an exception and take the time to watch this. If nothing else, you’ll hopefully see that I’m not alone in expressing the frustration with what I’m describing in this article.

And also, please share it with others.

Here’s the link again:

http://www.storyofstuff.com

Stay tuned.
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“You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection.”

~~~ Buddha

I’d love to hear your comments on this. At the very end of this post (after the commercials and the tags) you should see a place where you can leave your comment. It will be a link that says “No Comments” — or “Comments”. Let me hear from you. Thanks.
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One of the reasons why I don’t go completely bonkers with all the frustrations I’m writing about in these articles is because of my time each day in meditation. Those glimpses we get of peace, love, acceptance and happiness when we’re meditating will soon grow into more than glimpses if we keep practicing. Keep those feelings alive. A meditation can be as simple as one, deep, conscious breath. When something happens in one of your moments to cause you to suffer, just stop and take one of those breaths and remember, “This too shall pass!” Another thing that is wonderful, especially at this time of year, is to have a fresh flower where you work. Just stop from time-to-time and look at it — don’t label it — don’t judge it — just be with it for a couple of moments. It really does work. I’m looking at mine as I write this.

“Each flower is a soul blossoming out to nature”

~~~ Gerard de Nerva

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Although I’m on a bit of a rant for these next articles, I still would like you to bring meditation into your life. It sure is helping to keep me reasonably sane. If you’re new to us here, I’ve written a series of articles about meditation. If you look on the upper left of the sidebar, you’ll see a list of the categories. Click the one called “Meditation” and you’ll be able to read the articles you missed. They start with the January 24, 2008 post. The video meditations that I included with the earlier articles may no longer function. I’m sorry about that, but those are out of my control. Hopefully, they’ll all still be working.

Do include meditation in your daily life. If you’re just starting out, make it a 10 minute meditation. If you’ve been doing this for a while, try to do a minimum of 20 to 30 minutes. The longer you can maintain your focus on just your breath, the better. And, remember, anytime you take a deep, conscious breath — that’s a breath where you’re putting your focus on that breath — that’s a meditation. Do it often every day — especially when you’re feeling stressed. I guarantee, you’ll find more peace and happiness in your life if you’ll do this.

“Those who really seek the path to Enlightenment dictate terms to their mind. Then they proceed with strong determination.”

~~~ Buddha

Namaste!

And, as I always say in closing — remember these words …

You are the most precious gift you can give yourself. Every day look in the mirror and say, “I’m available to more good than I have experienced, realized or imagined ever before in my life!” Do this every day while you look into your own eyes.

You are special — and you are loved. You are the greatest gift you can be.

Shanti … (A sanscrit word meaning, “Let there be Peace. Peace, beautiful Peace. Peace within, Peace without. Peace in this world. Peace for all beings.”)

“Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without.”

~~~ Buddha

~~~ Ron
http://www.theleaderinside.com
http://www.wecould2.com

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Even though the live webcasts of the Eckhart Tolle New Earth classes are now concluded, you can still download the entire course. It’s being called “The Best Summer School Course Ever!” I highly recommend it. It’s completely free. All you really have to do is get the book, “A New Earth — Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose” by Eckhart Tolle. You can access the course online at:

http://www.oprah.com/obc_classic/webcast/archive/archive_download.jsp.

You’ll find everything you need there — all 10 classes. If you happen to have iTunes on your computer, you can also access the course by subscribing to it through the podcast link in iTunes. Check it out. Several million people around the globe took part in this amazing spiritual teaching. I hope you’ll soon be one of them. This is how we can create a new consciousness on the New Earth.

“Feeling will get you closer to the truth of who you are than thinking. ”

~~~ Eckhardt Tolle —

Also, Oprah now has her Soul Series of Webcasts started. There is a series with Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor and more from Eckhart Tolle. You can get these from this site for downloading:

http://www2.oprah.com/spiritself/oss/ss_oss_archive.jhtml

I’ve listened/watched all of these so far, and I highly recommend them. If you have iTunes, you can subscribe to them.
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In my meditation I often use what I believe is a powerful aide to deep meditation. It’s the The Holosync Solution. I knew that meditation was a vital element to nurturing my soul — to opening myself to the universe — and this tool has allowed me to achieve and receive the benefits of deep, long-term meditation — and to achieve it much more quickly. If you’re having trouble “getting meditation to work for you” - then the The Holosync Solution is what you’re looking for.

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(3) New levels of self-awareness and inner peace.
(4) The healing of emotional issues at the deepest levels.
(5) It is the proven path to finding the peace, love and compassion within all of us –

— it’s definitely worth taking the time for this powerful practice every day.

With a One-Year 100% Iron-Clad Guarantee, you can now do so with no risk whatsoever — just click any of the links that say … The Holosync Solution

— The Holosync Solution
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