I know. I know. I do recommend you not become immersed in the news. I do recommend you avoid it. It makes you stressed over things you cannot change. It can make you feel hopeless and depressed. I always say if you simply turn off the news daily and check in once a month, you will see nothing much has changed. However, that is no longer the case. ALOT is changing and very quickly.
I love politics, current events, finance, technology, and all things new and trending. I have an Aquarian mind and can’t resist the global perspective. I’m also a humanitarian and what I see going on right now in the Middle East and slowly bleeding onto the streets of my old stomping ground, St. Louis, demands action. It was the Dalai Lama who said the finest form of meditation and what the world needs right now is critical thinking with action.
Well I’ve been critically thinking all night since I learned of the video taped beheading of an American journalist, James Foley, by the group formerly known as ISIL. I’ve been sitting, watching, learning, and praying, for the past three years when the civil war in Syria started. I’ve been doing the yogi thing of being neutral (upekshanam) of that which I cannot understand. I mean really, what do I know of growing up so depraved of basic human rights that a gang of terrorists over 50,000 strong now seems like a good movement to join and to give my life for? Did you know they have over 1,000 recruits from all over the world joining them who are not even part of any of this? These are just mentally unstable humans looking for a gang to join. I don’t understand.
The brutality. I don’t understand and this lack of human comprehension for the deplorable and tamasic nature of these terrorists…all terrorists and please don’t forget Sudan…has me so frustrated and I have to do something and it needs to NOT be my own personal jihad. I won’t turn into them.
So back to critical thinking…and yoga.
What’s in a name? Well. Everything. Your name is your power and as it is spoken it connects to the Naad…to universal consciousness and it creates you just like every single word you speak is creating your life. I usually refer to this as weaving (tantra) the tapestry of your life. In the case of these terrorists, they are weaving a dark, tamasic, suffocating blanket and the threads of it are seeping into my and your beautiful tapestry. They are changing our children. They are making us forget that we have words we can use and not rubber bullets and tear gas. They are making me want to energetic vote for an annihilation via GOUSA and drop a million bombs if you have to and I don’t want to be that person (ranting). That person started this whole thing.
Solution from critical thinking.
Those terrorists are smart at PR and marketing. They started as ISIL (which Pres. Obama you will notice still calls them.) ISIL stood for the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant. Let’s face it though, who in the world outside of their world knows where or what Levant is? They probably weren’t getting much traction. So it became ISIS for the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (Shem). Better. I know where those are and what is going on. I get it. But now, they are IS standing for Islamic State.
I’m repulsed by the choice to use IS. It is a powerful word. When something ‘is” it is “be”coming meaning it is becoming into existence. It feels like a powerful mantra akin to “Tat Tvam Asi” or “thou art that.” It implies oneness. When we speak it, use it, think of it, it becomes real and that is what they want.
So, to me, and I hope to you…they are the gang formerly known as ISIL, ISIS, IS and currently known as
isNOT
It’s a small yet powerful change in consciousness. If it catches on they will become what they really are…a bunch of psychotic bullies with no appeal and no power. #isNOT
Other stuff…
isNOT is getting most of it’s funding from crime, extortion, and seizure of assets especially from Mosul to the tune of $450 million…enough to pay each jihadist $600/month for the next year. That’s a fortune and big motivation to join. The big win this week was the Kurdish win of control of the Mosul dam after American airstrikes drove back isNOT. The Kurds and Iraqis are now moving in on the land to the west of the dam.
what do they want? isNOT wants to form one Islamic state of Iraq and Syria that is Sunni. They are Salafi Jihadists who want total isolation from all things that are not them and if you are not them they are justified to use brutality, force and show no mercy. They believe in unity with God. They believe in God’s rule meaning the reasoning of the human mind is substandard and God’s rule is not to be interpreted. They reject all things new. They believe in executing justifiably all non-Muslims including Muslims deemed “non-Muslim” because of the first 3 beliefs above. And finally, they believe in Jihad…a war against the infidel. (and that’s why this seems hopeless to a rational mind.)
On a daily basis you can do lots of stuff. Meditate, pray, and do your practice. Be kind
to your family, friends, and community. Be sweet to strangers and go out of your way t
o be sweet to those who are different than you. Be genuinely interested in the suffering of others. Practice peace on all levels. Give to the organizations offering relief to refuges.
I hope this is helpful, Pamela
*The sole purpose of these articles is to provide information about the tradition of ayurveda, yoga, and meditation. This information is not intended for use in the diagnosis, treatment, cure or prevention of any disease. If you have any serious acute or chronic health concern, please consult a trained health professional who can fully assess your needs and address them effectively. Check with your doctor before taking herbs or using essential oils when pregnant or nursing.