Gaia: Now I Can See The Moon - SPIRITUALITY - Is there a God in your life?

Re: Is there a God in your life?

http://SilentTemple.gaia.com — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 05:30:19 GMT

LOL

Tharlam, you be dah dog!

I just got an email from Talitha MacKenzie who now lives in Scotland - your gain and our loss. Anyway, I love the way she does the Mouth Music. She is like an angel to me. If you ever see her, tell her she saved Sean McKenzie's life once without knowing it.

Anyway, can you get me a job in Scotland? :O)

Re: Is there a God in your life?

http://kathysmith.gaia.com — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 17:48:58 GMT

About: "we are faith". There was a man who sailed with Columbus, and used the Supreme Being to achieve incredible feats of danger and adventure, making his

postulates and dreams come true in discovering America and from a story I read of that discovery made me come to that conclusion. We also "have faith" but there are times we can come up with examples in our life of overcoming obstacles toward goals that we are. We can discuss further when I return from the weekend trip.

I put Keith's post here on Bhutan on GROSS NATIONAL HAPPINESS

Economists appraise Bhutan's happiness model

Posted on Dec 5th, 2008 by Keith

Bhutan

Just had to share this …

Economists appraise Bhutan's happiness model

(12-04) 04:00 PST Thimphu, Bhutan – In the thick of a global financial crisis, many economists have come to this Himalayan kingdom to study a unique economic policy called Gross National Happiness, based on Buddhist principles.

When considering economic development, policymakers here take into account respect for all living things, nature, community participation and the need for balance between work, sleep and reflection or meditation.

“Happiness is very serious business,” Bhutan Prime Minister Jigme Thinley said. “The dogma of limitless productivity and growth in a finite world is unsustainable and unfair for future generations.”

Read the remainder of the article … Here

The Royal Palace - Thimphu Bhutan

King of Bhutan, H. M. Jigme Khesar

[Side Note: I just read that the newly crowned King of Bhutan, H. M. Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, who is a mere 28 years old, spent much of his life in Andover, Massachusetts. Aley and I lived only a few miles from Andover, which is northwest of Boston.]

Tagged with: Happiness, Buddhism, Bhutan, Economics, Gross National Happiness, World Economy, Socio-Economic, Polital-Economic, Solutions

Keith said

Here is the link to the Gross National Happiness website.

Enlightened.thinker said

If we could only model happiness perhaps one day everyone would actually feel it!

Resurrected1 said

Gross National Happiness???!!!!

OMG, one of my early blogs, I asked (mused really, lol)…about how come a Nation wasn’t recognized by how happy its people are…for there is the real Greatness of a Nation! The Contentment of the People! =)

Fantabulous blog, very nice to see it is REALITY!!!

Muahhhs~~<3

Keith said

Gross National Happiness is an approach to development unique to Bhutan. While conventional development stresses economic growth as the ultimate objective, GNH is based on the premise that true development takes place only when material and spiritual development occur side by side. For GNH to grow, government must concentrate on four key areas:

– Promotion of equitable and sustainable socio-economic development
– Preservation and promotion of cultural values
– Conservation of the environment
– Good government

In a bid to popularize the concept internationally, the Bhutanese government is devising a GNH index that is expected to be ready as early as the end of the year. Unlike the gross domestic product index, however, a GNH index measures the quality of life based on 72 standards. “We’ve been chasing gross domestic product for decades, and now societies are starting to say we need to look beyond GDP and start measuring well-being,” said Jon Hall, a project leader at the Paris-based Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development.

Isn’t this … like … past due?

Judi said

Past due for sure, Keith :)

This is a great post and thank you for sharing it. I wonder if our shiny, new president will institute something like this? We should all get on his website and let him know about this if he doesn’t know already. I’ll bet Dennis Kucinich could head the department!

Keith said

Yes, appears we’re heading in this direction, although under a different name/title.

{{{{BREATHE IN THE FRESH AIR}}}}

Brandon said

Excellent post Keith! I recently read an article in which the results of a study found that money only accounts for about 12% of our happiness… how peculiar it is that our society bases the greatness of a nation on a matter that excludes 88% of the cause of our happiness. I truly look forward to the new America which will almost certainly take into account happiness as a factor of how great this nation is!

http://www.livescience.com/strangenews/060629_money_happiness.html

~KES said

I want to thank you for putting up this post for everyone. I cross posted this to “Let’s discuss the ECONOMY”……….. on Gaia Networking for others to share. {BREATHING….AHHHH] "

Re: Is there a God in your life?

Fri, 16 Jan 2009 09:07:34 GMT

Hey ST.

Y'know - I am so going to buy you a helmet for your Birthday. I worry about those brain cells the way you keep bump-ing into things!

-

As for:

Is there a God in your life?

Well.

As someone pointed out above, the word God is debilitating and unworthy when it comes to the indescribable. It is the same with all such words and concepts and brightly colored poetic renderings. The only hope we can truly derive from such notions is the knowledge that they are all pointing to -ultimately- the same 'thing'.

God. Mind. Consciousness. Reality.

Insert buzz word here.

Re: Is there a God in your life?

http://SilentTemple.gaia.com — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 08:22:23 GMT

bump

Re: Is there a God in your life?

http://christine-arpita.gaia.com — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 04:29:45 GMT

haha - yeah... i definitely won't be reading that entire Economics thread...
thanks for your reply Kathy ... I don't think i have anything else to add to that particular discussion in that thread in that pod... but i do appreciate the points that you made concerning Gross National Happiness... and considering what i had to say about Bhutan here (in this pod) i find it humorous and delightful that you were the one involved in that discussion about Bhutan (in that pod).
You have an interesting way with words.. and it is possible (because i am little slow) that i miss some of what you intend to say... however, we do our best with language.... and i can see your lovely heart....
can you explain a little more about what you mean when you say "we are faith".
love to you
arpita

Re: Is there a God in your life?

http://kathysmith.gaia.com — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 03:57:41 GMT

Thanks both of you... I answered just below your new post.

whew... Let me know your take.

Thanks!!

Group hug here.

Kathy

Re: Is there a God in your life?

http://kathysmith.gaia.com — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 03:56:09 GMT

Hi arpita,

I see the difference and I don't feel we have any sort of disagreement but we have different viewpoints. To be honest with you from my own experience, when I play in the aesthetic band with any form of art and when I am operating the pod I cultivate called Dreams of Artists I feel very much like the culture you describe. When I am in aesthetics I find its easier to reach God or the Supreme Being. One of the reasons I use Supreme Being is that it also refers to people that I feel do stellar work. People are trying to control actions of others and cut down their self-determinism by using the thread and potentials of God -- well, that has to be undone, cuz it makes one not even understand the subject of a Supreme Being. The way to undo it is to find who was trying to control him/her by using God as some threat. Its not OK and I know we can both agree on that.

We had a huge thread on Economics in my other Pod that was about 128 comments. You don't have to read the whole thread but the parts on Bhutan and Gross National Happiness became a very HOT part of the discussion. I would love if you could post after the picture of the king or my last speech on happiness. I was dragged through the dirt on that discussion but persisted to show that happiness RULES along with attitude. Regarding just the word "faith". I never tell anyone but I will now. I feel we are faith.

Thanks for taking the time to read my comment.

Re: Is there a God in your life?

http://christine-arpita.gaia.com — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 03:33:17 GMT

...oh.... never mind the point about the quest for gold to finance the crusades.... sounds good - but there is a few hundred year disrepency there.... don't remember where i read that - but doesn't make much sense looking at historical timelines... regardless though, the europeans desimated entire cultures in short order.

Re: Is there a God in your life?

http://SilentTemple.gaia.com — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 01:46:03 GMT

yes, it's a problem

Re: Is there a God in your life?

http://christine-arpita.gaia.com — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 00:12:17 GMT

hi - i replied to Kathy's post finally - just want to direct you - it is up the thread a ways... i find when i post in the middle of a thread - sometimes it gets missed.

Re: Is there a God in your life?

http://christine-arpita.gaia.com — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 00:04:25 GMT

hi Kathy.... third time responding... this time - writing offline and pasting...

I want to spend a couple of minutes responding because i had a reaction to your post - and wanted to explore what that meant for me. So, i think the crux of it is, for me, that i don't actually think that faith in a Supreme Being is related to healthy compassionate living... and the lack of belief in a Supreme Being does not breed depravity. Rather, i believe the most vibrant societies come from a sense that each individual is part of a much greater continuum... and that encourages individuals to see past their own story, their own salvation. - interestingly - in this circumstance , in the letting go of personal salvation - one is saved.

As you know, some the most depraved actions .... have been in the name of a Supreme Being... so faith in God does not render a culture impervious to hideous deeds. I am thinking of the slaughter in south and central america of the indigenous peoples there - within an amazing short period of time... by europeans... partially in search of gold to finance the Crusades.... and colonization in general throughout the world by europeans... bolstered by their version of religion and notion of being "an advanced" society and race...

and especially i am thinking of a place i have been to - about 12 years ago now - where there is no faith in a Supreme Being, but there is enormous faith in compassion.... a place where culture, art, religion is so integrated in everyday living that it is quite astonishing... where the guiding principle of the monarchy government (who only just had their first democratic election) is GNH - Gross National Happiness. This is the Vajrayana country of Bhutan. When i was there - there was no crime, no bitterness, no desparation. People lived simply for sure... in the village near to where we were every family had a plot of land and they worked hard growing food... and they traded with other people at different elevations so they could have everything they needed... no electricity, no heating - except the cooking fires inside the houses (we were at about 10,000 feet). Maybe people had one or two changes of clothes and socks were a symbol of wealth. There was a cow to milk - for cheese... and even in monsoon season, where there were water borne enteric illnesses - it was seen as an opportunity to cleanse (internally)...

I don't mean to paint an unrealistic picture here - because Bhutan has it's fair share of challenges and difficulties - politically and otherwise - but i merely point out that these people - who quick to laugh and sing, to spontaneously start praying and reciting mantras... they are doing quite alright - without the Supreme Being....

(they call us butter people - because we are so physically soft)

so - the only other thing i would like to say Kathy is that i trust you will not take offense because i disagree with you. I really enjoy your energy here and all the great contributions you make

warm regards

arpita

Re: Is there a God in your life?

http://SilentTemple.gaia.com — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 18:29:15 GMT

bump

Re: Is there a God in your life?

http://openarms.gaia.com — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 09:43:49 GMT

Can “god” materialize on any plane in a specific, separate form? Or is “god” an energy that flows through everything?

that is such a good point...
everyone is confronted at some point with locating the nature of things... how we struggle with those questions creates the kalidoscope or backlash of meaning and we are still left naked and spent... have we reached the answer?

i see it as both sides... it is and it isn't...
not grand or minute
not vast or insignificant
not the center or core of something else
certainly not being born or dying
rather being born and dying
just like the many different sides of ourselves.

as arpita said... a freshness not experienced before... but that freshness is always and never there... it is our awareness that brings it into view or out of view as the ebb and flow of our movement dictates...

yes :)

Re: Is there a God in your life?

http://SilentTemple.gaia.com — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 03:15:50 GMT

Christine,

Your experience is one reason I try to copy long posts as I go along.

Re: Is there a God in your life?

http://SilentTemple.gaia.com — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 03:14:34 GMT

So many people love you, Kevin!

You are a Gift!

Sean

Re: Is there a God in your life?

http://SilentTemple.gaia.com — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 03:12:02 GMT

No. Don't delete, Kathy!

:O)

Re: Is there a God in your life?

http://christine-arpita.gaia.com — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 02:39:53 GMT

i was replying to Kathy's lengthy post...
arpita

Re: Is there a God in your life?

http://christine-arpita.gaia.com — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 02:38:12 GMT

weird... i replied twice to this post - both times it disappeared just as i was finishing... i guess i will just sit with this post a bit longer and just see how it feels later.
warm regards
arpita

Re: Is there a God in your life?

http://kevinsworld.gaia.com — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 23:56:21 GMT

to me the nature of the universe is dichotomous. So there always is and is not a "god" in my life hehe. Can "god" materialize on any plane in a specific, separate form? Or is "god" an energy that flows through everything? These seem to be the two options that most people I know struggle with. Wouldn't it make since, in this dichotomous universe if God was one thing and all things? But it is not significant in this present moment to know what exactly god is. The only thing that we need to know is that there is something there. There is something connecting all energies. There is something that is more powerful and spiritual than anything else humans can experience and that is love; compassion. We'll find out later if there is a god and what exactly that means haha, or we will die and nothing will happen, what evs! hehe. Me personally though, I feel non-it all of the time surging out of the deepest part of my being.

namaaaaaste =)

Re: Is there a God in your life?

http://kathysmith.gaia.com — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 21:32:06 GMT

I should delete? I don't understand.