Hari
Om
'Freedays' are the 'gather our thoughts' days;
Q&As; a general review of the week so far…
It seems that we permanently live in 'interesting times'. The
onslaught of news-availability ensures that there are not many parts of the
globe which are not connected in some way to another part of the globe, albeit
by the thread of poor and saddening news. Media outlets now seem to thrive upon
and encourage the gathering of sound and video 'bytes' from Joe Public and his
Smart Fone. Being involved is quite a fantastic thing, to be fair. It is a
double-edged sword, however.
There is no respite from all that is sordid and hateful and tragic
because that is what is considered worth broadcasting. Any good-news stories,
of which there are a few occasionally, get swamped in the mire of the less
positive.
As a caring population, we certainly need to be aware. However, in
order not to be overcome ourselves, to feel sullied or weighed down by issues
and situations which are actually not ours to own and, if possible, to empower
those in the midst of such events to rebuild, recoup and renew, we ourselves
must be strong and clear and uncluttered by those events. This requires that we
have 'sorted our own patch' first. We can only be strong and remain strong if
we have formed a solid base of values, self-care and increased 'now-ness'.
This is what is on offer in the practice of Vedantic philosophy. All
philosophies, well-taken and put into practice, ought to fund this base of
strength and presence. It is a question of being sure to find the practice to
which we, the 'self-builders', can adhere, else our foundations may crumble.
Frequent, regular and dedicated self-care can ensure we are there
for others who cannot do this for themselves.
There is never a period of time which wasn't
"interesting"; the best we can do is prepare ourselves to meet them
in the peak of personal, emotional and spiritual fitness!
