Earth-Loving Ramblings: Ways to Achieve Success, Plan for World Peace, and Growing the Activist in Us All

Virginia Beach, Virginia, USA

What time did you wake up today? What was your goal that you wanted to accomplish? Did you succeed?

The time for action is now, and the time for excuses was yesterday. Each second there is a possibility for you to form your next idea, which will lead you to greatness.

What comes to mind when you hear the word "greatness?" Money...houses....cars...power..sexual partners...maybe even food?

As our eyes open in the morning, and the sunlight is wide, let us all set a goal of trying to bring peace to the world, in whatever small way we can contribute. The beginning of such a plan is how one formulates the goals they wish to achieve.

One can think of all the wonderful things that they would like to have, wonderful material things. They can dream of having more so that life will be easier, even excessive, yet the true achievements of humanity will come when a person such as yourself forms a goal that will benefit the entirety of the human race. That person, just like you, must then work toward this goal for the rest of their life.

The days can begin, and the night can fall, and you can spend every moment of every day finding new ways to make yourself rich or to have more possessions, but who is looking out for the starving, the sick, and the uneducated?

When we compose goals to help humanity, we must always remind ourselves that the pathway to this achievement, the start of this idea , must not come by force, must not come by government order, and must not come because of the utterance of a famous person.

It must come from the genuine human devotion to trying to help our fellow humankind, at the animalkind, and the plantkind, and the Earthkind, and the entire universe. So much love to share and give. The only thing our goals need is a way to send the love of one human, one heart and mind, to the rest of the populations and all the living.

It might seem like it will take a lifetime to achieve, and it may seem more difficult than scaling the highest mountain peak on Earth...but always remember, that if you had an idea to help the entirety of humanity, you are strong. You are bold. You are kind, and you have the ability to make your goal a reality, not just for you, but for all.

The choice is yours, and the dawn rises in the next morning, try to create a new way to help those in the smallest way possible. Then, the next day think of way to help more people and more animals. Then, on the third day, think of a way to even more people, animals, and the plant life of Earth. On the fourth day, include the natural wonders of the world, for without any of those, we wouldn't have conscious life at all.

The choice is yours. The idea to bring peace to the world is waiting inside of you to become a reality.

Spiritual Beginnings: Let Our Passion Lead Us to Solutions

Shenzhen, Guangdong, China 

Are there any limitations on what someone can feel for another human being? Are there are any boundaries that must be in place? Does love have a limit? Or are our limits are designated for passion? 

The passion between two human beings can be a gift, a curse, a sensual experience, lightning in a bottle, fire in the eyes, and a reason to gaze at what is beyond the stars, but one of the real messages we can learn in life is that passion can have limits between humans, but there should be no limit of passion between a human being and life itself.

The human connection to all living things is greater than many must perceive. A footstep on a blade of grass has left an imprint that will take ages to heal. When the tree falls, so that a home can be built the force of nature is not broken, but distorted. Let us make an antidote to all of these contradictions and calamities. 

Love oneself. Love one another, but let us not restrict love and devotion only between human beings. Dogs and cats have become ingrained in our societies. We share love and compassion with them at ease, providing, nurturing, and caring. Horses have carried humans for millennia and develop a special bond with many humans. There is love for the animal kingdom, and there is love for the green Earth.

As the strength of the tree grows toward the sky, let it remind us that there is a passionate relationship between humans and the plants as well. Let the tree grow upward. Trample not upon the grass when the path is already worn. Gaze not upon the animals as beasts of burden, but rather of living creatures who can survive among humanity in coexistence, as opposed to working for it. 

All humans are welcome on the Earth. The flora and fauna have evolved to their present state. All boundaries are limited only to creativity. Let us not reserve passion only for ourselves. It is said that even the stars have a life. 

We all share the same Earth, the same Sunlight, the same Moon, and we are all a micro-fragment of the same universal connection, the same conscious experience of existence. Whether it is a dog that is hungry, a horse that is injured, a human in need of medicine, find a way to share something. This can become the ultimate goal for the energy of the passionate. 

Hindu Ramblings: Noble Intentions, Protecting the Earth, and the Optimistic Future

Guiyang, Guizhou, China

Is trying good enough? The answer is simply no. Is trying your best good enough? Maybe the answer is yes....and in a sad unfortunate amount of times, the answer is still a firm negative. When someone hurts you, and says "sorry it was not intentional", does that do anything to ease the suffering? Usually not. Yet when you are on the other side of the coin, you cannot comprehend why someone would not understand that you did not mean to hurt them. 

It feels that no matter what step we take, there is an imprint left on the Earth, whether it is a footprint in the soil, or an outline made of moisture that after leaving the shower. Sometimes without looking, our footsteps lead to destruction, lead to breaking something we did not see, lead to taking the life of an insect, a slug, or perhaps an even larger creature. Was that an intention? Yet the small amount of broken material or the loss of life is there all the same.

As we walk forward in life, let us always try to use each step as one toward kindness, awareness, and duty. However, sometimes things will break, and others will be hurt. Where does one go from there? It feels the answer is a little more complex. Some people need space and time to heal their emotional wounds. Others are more resilient and demanding, they will recover by removing you from their life all together. It is never easy to embrace rejection from someone, but you do not want the relationship to end. It does make you stronger, but there are ways to get stronger without destruction. 

Let's us try harder not to hurt anyone or anything. Let us walk forward with only the smallest amount of imprint on the Earth, for if our steps are too heavy, the ground, the grass, and the home will break with ease. 

Words are not enough. Actions are more valuable than words. Where is the effort in our words? We can say many things, but at the end of the season, what do we have to show for ourselves? Our works and efforts might not be enough. We do not need to fight. We need to nurture, but we also need education before we can become nurturers. The answers to all our questions seem so much more understandable in retrospect. Hindsight is 20/20, and the rear view mirror is often clearer than the windshield. 

Yet who are we to make mistakes and blame it on the past? Who are we to make mistakes, and say that we should have tried harder? Who are we to do harm and brush it off?  

Let us study the past. Let us plan for the future. Let us live in the present, but thoughts, ideas, and dreams will not be enough. For the medicine of the Earth is often in our actions. If we did wrong in the past, there is a way for us to do greatness next time...not just do better, but to achieve the highest possible form of greatness. 

Education. Kindness. Optimism. Planning and Preparation. The sharing of ideas and knowledge.Learning the way to care for all things. Learning the way to share love for the Earth without trampling a single blade of grass. How to love the oceans without dropping a single contaminant. How to show kindness to the stray animals on your street without any neglect. 

There are many things that one can say. There are many plans that one can make. There are many inspirational things that we can tell ourselves, but through the course of our actions, we will see the true examination of our love. 

Let each day be one of not only dreams, but also education, and show your education to what tomorrow will bring. 

The Humanity Party: Religion is a Fantasy - Or is It ?

There is a fascinating new political movement going on in the America, but accessible anywhere in the world thanks to social media. Their name is the Humanity Party, and they have some very bold and interesting plans on ending poverty.

I'll post a link to their website, so people can see the details of their platforms and also all of their videos, but for now let's look at two specific tweets that came from the Humanity Party.
http://www.humanityparty.com/index.html

Again, if we could just get rid of the fantasy of religion and the idea that there exists an entity outside of ourselves that will help us and save us, we would then become more focused on saving ourselves and solving the problems that WE created ... that the "dragon" created.
-June 29th

Most people believe in God because they don't believe in their own goodness and of others. God is the concept of "good," the moral compass of our humanity. But until people learn to love themselves, first, above all, and then their neighbor as they do themselves, God will exist.
-June 29th.

I will also post a link to their Twitter account, so you can follow all of their updates, tweets, posts, and so on.
https://twitter.com/humanityparty1

Now, let's get to perhaps the more pressing issue of the day. I am coming from the spiritual side, and when I first read their tweets regarding religion as a fantasy or people believe in God because they don't believe in their own goodness....I did not quite fully understand them. It took me a few times to read over the tweets to grasp what they are trying to say.

Response 1:
Religion is not a fantasy term. There are an enormous amount of religions in the world, and religions such as Hinduism and Jainism (once you get deep into their theology) often deal with observations of the cosmos and existence itself. This is referred to as religious cosmology. For starters, religion contains many things from many aspects of human life, and how would a religion like Pantheism (which states that either the universe is God or that nature is the equivalent of the Divine) hold up to any sort of fantasy term. It is dealing with real life and existing properties.

Response 2:
Let's look at how we approach God and religion.
I would propose that the vast majority of humans use the term religion to mean that spirituality can affect culture.

God - 

A concept, idea, property, or anything that is greater than our material world.

i.e. the divine

Spirituality-

Someone's personal  connection to the God or the Divine. 

Religion-

When spirituality begins to affect culture. 

One persons viewpoint, individual practice, and feeling about the divine is not religious (Sorry Jordan Peterson, Maps of Meaning is a off point). Once it begins to affect a social group, and change the course of the that social group, it is becomes religious. One person who prays to God in their own way is not a religion, but when people start praying five times a day toward Mecca as described in the Quran, that is religious.

One person not eating fish on a Friday because they have a reason is not  religious, but when a social group proclaims that fish should only be eaten on Fridays and one should attend a service on Sundays, it becomes religious. Religion is when Spirituality affects culture.

There is no fantasy associated with that. It is not impossible that certain fantasy-elements could be incorporated to a religion, but that is not the heart of the issue. Moreover, it is not guaranteed that there is any connection between religion and fantasy. To reiterate, many religions devote a large portion of their work only to try and understand the cosmos, and through observation...I repeat observation...they have discovered that the our material world is contingent upon the existence of something greater.

Response 3: 

The most important of all responses. "But until people learn to love themselves, first, above all, and then their neighbor as they do themselves, God will exist."

This statement is supported by the assumption that humans have any control over God or the Divine. The fact of the matter is that as human beings we do not get to decide whether or not God exists. Many critics of religion can articulate well-worded prose and debate performances on this subject, but first one has to accept the premise that a human can control the outcome of whether or not God exists. Humans can control the outcome of very few things, and more importantly, just because one person says one thing it does not alter the universe of existence.

Humans have no control over whether or not there is a God.

All discussions of religion and politics aside, I invite you once again to visit the Humanity Party's website and check out their videos.