Dear Friends,

May this find you all well and happy.

I feel need to share with you some thoughts about what helps me deal more positively deal with impressions and feelings about this increasingly ugly war.

Natural Feelings and Questions

Regardless of our beliefs about whether it is right or justified, it is natural to be affected by tension, pain, sorrow and anger around it.

It is natural to feel pain of those being bombed and losing their loved ones whether they be Iraqis or American or British families losing their precious spouses and children.

It is natural for many to feel angry about America’s choice to ignore UN and cause death of so many innocent people – including its own.

And equally natural for those who think about Saddam Hussein’s reign-of-terror to see him as a threat to world peace.

Some may see all this as a senseless waste of human life, not to mention so much money and human energy, that could be used for health and education programs in USA and around world and thus - eliminating all our enemies with love, food and education - rather than with weapons.

Some people, depending on their beliefs and programmings, might wonder: v Why do these people - Iraqi and Coalition - have to go through this pain and loss?

v Why do these people have to be bombed?

v Why has Saddam Hussein killed so many of his people?

v Why doesn't he leave so his people are not killed?

v How has America become so self-righteous and oblivious to others’ beliefs, rights and dignity?

v What has happened to truth?

v When will we live in peace and love?

v How long will we create pain for ourselves?

Many of us feel so helpless and unable to do something about it.

Seven Truths

In our previous issue we have mentioned Seven Steps that each of us can take towards making a difference.

In this issue, I would like to briefly mention a few philosophical thoughts that might help us perceive this differently.

1. One spiritual truth is that all is happening within and being controlled by certain cosmic laws. That these laws do not allow anything to happen which is not exactly what we need for our next evolutionary step.

As St. Paul has said, «Not a hair can move on a person’s head without God allowing it.»

This applies to this war in Iraq and Sept 11th and every other horrible event that has occurred – and of course beautiful ones too.

Thus, it seems that there must be some higher spiritual reason for this horrible, painful and hate-and-fear-creating this war.

This is not to say that we will always need war.

Neither does it mean that we should not do every we can to stop it – if we believe that it is wrong – or simply not solution to problem.

2. The second concept is that all events and situations have sole function of provoking our inner learning process.

Thus we each need to look inwardly to see what we can learn from this situation.

What might be some possible lessons?

a. Some may need to learn to use power more wisely and not for personal benefit.

b. Many will need to learn forgiveness and understanding.

c. Others will need to learn to feel God’s presence even in midst of bombs, pain and loss of loved ones.

d. Certainly one main lesson for all of us is to transcend our narrow identification with our personal country, religion or political beliefs and experience unity with and interest in all beings regardless of where they live and what they believe.

e. Another lesson is to put ourselves in others’ position and imagine how they – our "enemies" feel and realize that they are human beings like us with families, children, fears and needs.

f. Still another is to free ourselves from any hate towards any being and see all as expressions of divine.

g. And perhaps most important is to remove from ourselves those characteristics which lead to such situations.

We are being asked to see where we ourselves misuse power, where we lie to ourselves and others in order to serve our needs and where we are indifferent to others and their needs. Especially our indifference to those to who belong to «other» groups, nationalities, religions political systems.

In order to heal ourselves from this illness of alienation, which enables those in power to separate us for their own benefits, we will need realize and put in practice our unity with all. Then they will have no power.

As long as we favor one person, group, religion or nation over another, we are not experiencing unity, and we are contributing to problem.

It is important that we free ourselves from limiting ourselves with these superficial temporary roles as Americans, Iraqis, Israelis, Moslems, Christians or Jews and realize that we are all immortal souls playing these temporary roles in order to discover our true divine nature and inherent unity in God.

But, you don’t have to, for our Creator has sent Him to us as His first-born, for our support and guidance. Jesus was here to present a wake-up call: “Hey, y’all, forget ten commandments; they did not work. You are (wo)men, you remain sinners, period.

“Watch me! First, I am going into desert and not eat for 40 days, so that I can be extremely exhausted and challenged by temptation. What am I showing you and my heavenly father? That my body means squat, and I am here to demonstrate a higher cause.

“When I perform a wonder next, such as making a blind man see, I really mean to get humanity to understand that there is a ‘third’ eye for spiritual realm and understanding. I am frustrated that my ministry is limited to physical stuff, and have to go away by myself to pray, many times.

“Finally I am going to die a bloody death on cross, because I once and for all want to take your attention away(!) from ‘SIN’ by ‘taking it upon myself’, and let you watch my ascension back to spiritual realm later.