The Rejuvenating Power of Nature

This blog is part of the content of a Life Postive forum with the same title.

My heart and prayers go out to the Japanese people who have to endure the devastating impact of their most recent tsunami. Reading the stories and watching the videos of recovery that have been pouring through the internet has replaced my feeling of sympathy for the Japanese people for one of deep admiration. No doubt this is a nation that is no stranger to disasters of all kinds, that of man and nature alike. Indeed their resilience, response, discipline and care in handling the unprecedented effect of this terrifying tsunami, even by Japanese standards it seems, has left a feeling of inspiring awe for a nation of disciplined and industrious people. I can only hope that our nations can execute such excellence in fortitude in such a calamity. We owe a debt of gratitude to the Japanese for their example.

Intense events like this tsunami and not too long ago the devastating earthquake in New Zealand effects not only those who have to experience them first hand but also all those who come to know of these events. The scale and speed at which nature can unleash her fury can make even the most resilient among us ponder on the security of our individual existence. At the very least we have to deal with the sadness that the news of devastation causes us. A couple of common quandary that comes out of dealing with this sadness is wondering why this tragedy had to happen and what do we do to deserve such fury of nature? The internet is awash with as many points of view as there are those who care to post their thoughts. This is my perspective. First the quick answers. To the question why this tragedy had to happen, my answer is obvious, we live on planet earth. To the question what people do to deserve such devastating experiences, my answer is a cryptic question, it is, don't we all deserve the same?(Allow me to explain my perspective, for ultimately these answers are sourced from mystical and positive perspectives. The Explanation is in my Mystic Musings Blog. Click here to go to the blog to read "The value of natural disasters.")

On the Japan earthquake day (March 11) I was preparing to go to the island of Phuket in Thailand with a group of friends for a vacation cum pilgrimage. We were all in high spirits as you would expect in preparation for a vacation. In Phuket the weather was perfect and the sea was in her best and most alluring behaviour. She was beautiful to behold and graciously gentle as she provided us with much fun. We kept tabs with the news occasionally and were dismayed by the images of devastation. I also met with a Thai friend who was at the thick of the search and rescue effort during the 2004 Tsunami that struck Phuket. The unfolding news in Japan brought up all sorts of memory for him and others I met in Phuket of their time of trial. It impressed me that none of them even cared to seek a justification of why they had to endure such a tragedy. In Phuket they have picked up the pieces and moved on. This of course is the inevitable course for all those who endure natural disasters, whether earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes or volcanic eruptions.

I lived through a powerful hurricane when I was in training in my guru's monastery in the Hawaiian Island of Kauai. It was in September 1992, Hurricane Iniki had unusually diverted its course northwards from the equator with its eye set to pass squarely over our Island. The category 4 hurricane was packing wind gusts of more than 370 km/h. It was devastating to the Island of Kauai to say the least. No building was spared damage from wind or wave, for those ocean front properties. When we came out of our stronghold in the monastery which was our temple that was purposefully built to withstand hurricanes, the scene outside looked like a bombed out  war zone. Uprooted trees and heavy branches littered all the walkways. Trees seemed naked bereft of their leaves. The scene was surreal and saddening. However the sadness didn't linger. An hour later we were all in a meeting with our guru, with everybody being assigned duties of recuperating. There was a cleanup crew, a communication and energy team, food, inventory and hygiene managers. A team went to checkup on the neighbours. There was no time for brooding. In fact it felt inspiring now that the danger had passed we were picking up the pieces moving toward a new and positive future. This was true of many of the Kauiians we met. We survived Iniki together and everybody was busy working together to get the Island back on its feet. There was no room for any differences, prejudice or bias. Everyone was equally affected and everybody helped each other. People from the other unaffected Hawaiian Islands and other states rushed to give support. The days following the destruction caused by Hurricane Iniki was not sad as one might think, but inspiring, especially with the outpouring of friendliness, generosity and help.

This is a wonder of nature to me. Unlike man made calamities where assigning blame and hatred is the first order of business, natural disasters may cause worse destruction, but it can also bring out the best and inspiring among its survivors and those who give support. Natural disasters can crumble not only buildings, but barriers of hatred as well, to the point of causing enemies to set aside differences and lend a hand. A fresh and rejuvenating start on many levels, from physical to spiritual, are positive outcomes of natural disasters once Mother Nature returns to her natural nurturing self. I believe this outpouring of unconditional love and care that follows these catastrophes is just as important to humanity as the violent unleashing of Earth's geology is important to for the maintenance of Earth's weather balance. This reminds me of a Hinduism Today magazine article that covered a massive earthquake disaster in Maharashtra, India sometime in the mid 90's. The reporter was interviewing an elderly man who was laying bricks to rebuild his home that razed to the ground. This man had this enlightened wisdom to share. He said that the earthquake was an act of God, so there is nobody to blame and no hatred to carry on to the future.

On a more practical note, during the recovery from Hurricane Iniki in Kauai, I was in charge of recovering food stocks and keeping inventory of food and medical supplies. From previous a experience of hurricane that the monastery had gone through ( I was not there then) there were boxes in the pantry with 'hurricane supplies' labels on them. Unfortunately most of the food and batteries inside were unusable because they were about a decade old. Even if we were able to use the supplies, there would not have been enough to last us more than a couple of days. After Iniki we learned our lesson and made sure that our food, water and medical supplies was prepared to last us at least two weeks. We also set up a schedule every year to use up the emergency supplies and replenish it with new stock, so these supplies are always fresh and ready for use. We even bought electrical generators and set up an emergency power circuit for the entire monastery in event of power outages. Iniki left us without electricity for three months and treated tap water for two weeks. So where ever you are living, please be aware of what natural disasters your area is prone to and prepare for it as best you can. This is positive and pragmatic living, for we are living in a planet that strives to maintain balance for the benefit of all life. This balancing act can be violent and may involve us at anytime, so it is good to be prepared.

I received many emails on the anecdotes of amazing survival stories from Japan. This happens with all natural disasters. Often during the worst of times, humanity comes out with its best potential. Of all the emails I really liked the one below and wish to keep it in record on this blog for all to read. Here it is:


10 THINGS TO LEARN FROM JAPAN

1. THE CALM: Not a single visual of chest-beating or wild grief. Sorrow itself has been elevated.

2. THE DIGNITY: Disciplined queues for water and groceries. Not a rough word or a crude gesture.

3. THE ABILITY: The incredible architects, for instance. Buildings swayed but didn’t fall.

4. THE GRACE: People bought only what they needed for the present, so everybody could get something.

5. THE ORDER: No looting in shops. No honking and no overtaking on the roads. Just understanding.

6. THE SACRIFICE: Fifty workers stayed back to pump sea water in the N-reactors. How will they ever be repaid?

7. THE TENDERNESS: Restaurants cut prices. An unguarded ATM is left alone. The strong cared for the weak.

8. THE TRAINING: The old and the children, everyone knew exactly what to do. And they did just that.

9. THE MEDIA: They showed magnificent restraint in the bulletins. No silly reporters. Only calm reportage.

10. THE CONSCIENCE: When the power went off in a store, people put things back on the shelves and left quietly!

RESOURCES YOU CAN USE:

For images of planets, space and knowledge base on astronomy: 

www.jpl.nasa.gov

Very good resource for timeline of Earth’s geologic and biologic history: www.scientificpsychic.com/etc/timeline/timeline.html

Preparing for natural disasters:

www.fema.gov

www.72hours.org

This Life Postive Forum content can be found in the Mystic Musings Blog and Pondering Blog of www.myhindupage.org  Pondering blog title: The Rejuvenative Forces of Nature; Mystic Musings blog: The Value of Natural Disasters

A HELPFUL E-BOOK ON PREPAREDNESS

Happy Deepavalli 2010 and Millenium Anniversary of Thanjavur Big Temple

Happy Deepavalli (Diwali) 2010 to all who are celebrating the Festival of Lights. This is a wonderful day to remind us of the power of illumined wisdom that can dispel dark ignorance in a flash.

There are a number of festivals in the Hindu tradition that are celebrated in solidarity among all the sects of Hinduism. These celebrations are Ganesha Chaturthi, Navaratri (Dusheera) and Diwali (Deepavalli). They unite Hindus in joyous celebration that remind us that God is One and paths to God are many. I believe that as Hindus we have a mission in the world to continue practicing the truth that God is Universal. Swami Vivekananda did this successfully and the world can use his inspiration today in accepting the fact that we are all the children of God, irrespective of our many differences. Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam–The Entire Earth is But One Family is such a wonderful philosophy to be fanatical about.

To celebrate Deepavalli this year I created a collage of photos and videos of the Big Temple in Thanjavur – Thanjavur Periya Kovil, Tamilnadu; also known as Brihadeshwarar temple. This temple is on of the architectural wonders of the ancient world. ( Learn more about Thanjavur Temple at HinduSearchEngine.com . Search Thanjavur )

2010 is an historic year for Brihadeshwarar because it is celebrating its millenium anniversary. 1000 year old sturctures are rare in the world. However what makes Brihadeshwara unique among such ancient structures is that it is still functioning for the purpose for which it was built by the famed Tamil King Rajaraja Cholan. In fact all the ceremonies of this temple are still performed very much like how it must have been done during the time of King Rajaraja. It is a proud achievement that should be shared with all of humanity.

The background audio for this collage is a Tirumurai song that hails from a tradition of Tamil saints–nayanars, that is equally ancient as Brihadeshwarar itself. Happy Deepavalli to all who are celebrating and to the everyone else in the spirit of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam.

The stills seen in the video of this post are available for download. Click Here for the download link at myhindupage.org online shop.

The Hindu View of Organ Donation

On July 14 2009, I was invited as a panelist in forum organized by the Nilai University College during its Ribbon Week. The Ribbon Week is an event initiative by the college to increase awareness in Malaysia on important health causes. There are four colour coded ribbons that represent:

White Ribbon: Maternal and Child Health

Pink Ribbon: Breast Cancer

Green Ribbon: Organ Donation

Red Ribbon: HIV and AIDS

The forum was to enlighten the public on the various religious points of veiw on the practice of organ donation. There was four of us, a Buddhist monk, a Christian Pastor, A Muslim lecturer and I of course represented Hinduism. Below is the introductory text of my opening for the Hindu Point of View on Organ Donation.

In my years of Hindu missionary work in Malaysia and abroad I have not encountered a situation where a Hindu leader or guru has forbidden organ donation or organ transplanting. However, no authority in Hinduism has come up with guidelines for this relatively new innovation in medical care. (Relative from the the point of view of human history). In general organ donation is considered the personal choice of an individual.

I personally believe that if the late Sage Charaka, an eminent Ayurvedic surgeon, were here today, he would be very excited about organ transplanting and will most likely delve into this field with no hesitation. Charaka is an historic figure in the development of Ayurveda, the Hindu medical system. During his time, about 1000 years ago, he innovated facial reconstruction techniques.

From the spiritual point of view, organ donating will amount to good karma for the departing soul of the body and also the family who willingly allow the use of the donated organ. This is obvious especially if the organ transplanting is successful and the welfare of the receiver is preserved or becomes better. The good feelings and gratitude of the receiver and his loved ones will transform to a good deed for the soul and his immediate family, hence the good karma.

According to Hinduism the body of the departed is but a shell or vehicle of the soul to experience life and express itself on earth. Once the soul departs, the physical body is not important to the welfare of the soul. In general unless the soul has achieved liberation from the cycle of reincarnation, the soul will go on to another life on earth in a different body. Thus the preservation of the body after the soul departs has no consequence to the evolution of the soul. In fact the tradition of cremating the body is to make the soul become aware as soon as possible of its disconnection from life on earth so it may continue with its spiritual journey.

However it is important for the organ donor to inform his or her immediate loved ones of the their willingness to donate their organs if they are viable at death. Since the soul will lose rights to its body after it departs, it is important that the decision is a joint decision among family. Any good karma that the soul might accrue from organ donation will be cancelled if the action causes upset or hurt feelings among his immediate loved ones.

Being on the receiving end, the patient has to go through various challenges to accept the new organ into his or her body. Since the process is against the basic natural order of nature, the body initially rejects it biologically. However, technology to overcome this has become more advanced and efficient over the years, therefore success rates and risk have considerably improved. I believe these days it is taken for granted that organ transplants are successful.

From the spiritual point of view, the receiver neither accumulates good nor bad karma. However organ donation can have psychological consequences for the receiver of an organ. According to yoga philosophy, which is the basis of Hinduism, our mind, particularly the subconscious mind exists in the entire body and is not isolated in the brain. In fact different organs will hold different emotional impressions, memories and tendencies of the donor. Organs that hold the most intense of these are the heart, eyes, stomach. liver, larynx, hearing organs, pancreas and the gonads. Other organs such as the bones, skin, kidneys, tongue and blood hold mainly personality tendencies.

Thus when an organ is transplanted from one person to another, part of the mind and personality of the person can be transfered. This transfer however is more subtle and depends on the intensity of the memories of the the donor. In most cases overcoming the rejection process of the body can erase most of these subconscious impressions in the organ. However, if the impressions are especially intense positively or negatively, they can amalgamate into the subconscious of the receiver. The receiver can have flashes of memory that is not theirs and changes in personality can occur.

As far as I know mainstream medical care does not recognize this consequence of organ transplanting. There is sporadic evidence for this, but because of the subjectivity of it, it is mainly ignored by modern medical care of organ transplant patients. I believe that modern medical care also dissuades the receiver from knowing of or meeting the donors family, that is if they are unrelated. Though it would be therapeutic for the patient if they encounter changes in their personality or encounter memories not theirs, to meet with the donors family. At the very least they should be prepared to ignore memories not theirs and regain their own personality if they sense changes since the subconscious can be reprogrammed internally.

To summarize, organ donation from the Hindu point of view is a spiritually advantages deed for the donor, if the decision is made with the knowledge and agreement of those close to the donor. For the receiver it is more challenging physically and in the mind. However, when these challenges are overcome, it can be considered their good karma to have a new lease on life. A win-win situation in other words.