Post Eight - THE BALI BOMBINGS

9/11 and our world came crashing down with the World Trade Center towers. Instantly the world dropped to their knees in prayer for those who died and for those who suffered the loss.  Immediately the focus on the I shifted to a focus on the WE as each became involved in helping others. 

Unfortunately this WE-ness of life soon shifted back to the I-ness of life and in many ways the I-ness became even more intense.  At the same time the focus became one of responding with force against the terrorist. We all know how that has worked out for us and the world.

One year later there was a major bomb blast in Indonesia on the island of Bali. Because the Balinese live from their hearts their response was totally different....as was the outcome.

The Bali way --- to Respond with only Love

Bali...October 12, 2002: A bomb went off in the tourist district of Kuta on the Island of Bali. The attack was the deadliest act of terrorism in the history of Indonesia according the the police general. 202 killed, 240 injured.

The next day as we dealt with our anger and our fears that it would no longer be safe to travel to Bali, we called Bali to learn what was happening. The message from Kabayan was that everything was OK. They felt the bombing was to tell them that the energy of the Tao of Bali was out of balance. There is more negative energy then positive energy on the island.

He went on to share that then had taken care of those injured and the authorities were investigating. To bring balance back to the energy of the island, beginning that night they would be doing prayers in all the temples to bring more peace into the hearts of the Balinese.  These prayers would continue till the energy was balanced.

Balinese prayer and ceremony for inner and outer peace

The symbol of the Tao on the floor of a Balinese temple

The Tao is the symbol of balanced energy of life. 

After the call we sat and reflected on the Balinese secret of life that they were honoring.

When the dark energy increases the light energy must decrease. This creates imbalance and chaos. When this happens there are two possible responses to the message.

The most typical response is to judge the event as negative and to declare war on the dark energy it has physically manifested. This is called the battle between good and evil. The Balinese know that good never does battle for it is simply light energy. All energy that is doing battle is dark and will intensifies the dark and thus increase the chaos.

The Balinese know that their outer world is simply a reflection of their inner world. When there is chaos in their outer world it is a reflection of the chaos in their inner world.The only way to change their outer world is to first change their inner world from dark to light energy.

As the prayers continued, the days soon turned into weeks, months and even years as the dalily focus and prayers of balance contined.

Prayers in the Mother Temple

Bali...October 1, 2005. A second bombing occurred at two sites on Jimbaron Beach in Kuta. Report cited 20 plus dead and between 101 to 129 injured.  Once again as the authorities searched for the terrorist the Balinese responded by taking care of the casualties and leaving the government to finding the terrorist.

When they had done all that they could they returned to their temples and continued their personal prayers to balance themselves for the bombing was again a message that they were still out of balance.

Living in the calm watching the rice grow

Bali....One day between Christmas and New Year 2009, everyone awoke on the island with the awareness that Bali was calm.  The Tao had been rebalanced.

Check back often for 

Up coming posts:

Post Nine - Bali and Island of Calm in a Sea of Chaos.

Post Ten - Living the Balinese Model of Peace

Post Eleven - Transforming Fear to Peace.

BE SURE TO READ  ALL PREVIOUS POSTS  OF THE BLOG

Post Seven......LIFE IS A MEDITATION

LIFE IS A MEDITATION

By Pam Cooper

Today in our morning meditation I received a message that life is a mediation.  As these words came to me there were hawks calling from both east and west.  The calling went on and off for a long time. I would open my eyes briefly and it would start up again.  I know that hawk is the messenger and knew it was time to listen.  There was so much energy around this that I could not deny it.  They continued this until I went and got my laptop computer and started writing the words that was coming to me.

Life is a meditation when you become the witness of your thoughts, emotions, actions and reactions to life.  It is a state of being and allows one to observe the interplay of your inner and outer worlds.  In this witness state I can be more aware of my inner world which allows me to make certain choices before the outer world decides to give you a thump on the head.

Recently, I observed a reaction of jealousy and envy to a success of a friend.  My ego was asking me questions like why can’t you do that.  The ego kept grinding away at me.  You should do this or that.  Why don’t you do more?  What’s wrong with you?  

Each morning David and I always share our dreams, awareness, and wisdoms.  I shared with him that I had a tinge of jealousy and envy when I read about a friend’s success.  It was a fleeting moment, but there it was none-the-less.  I thought how petty to not be able to celebrate someone’s success and realizing that was not who I want to be even for a fleeting moment.  

As we talked I realized that I did not want to put the time and energy into becoming that kind of success that I saw in this individual.  The reason being was that was not really what I wanted to do.  Further more, it was not who I am.

Each day is a new beginning

 I now know the importance of truly understanding who you are as well as the clarity of purpose for this lifetime.  It gave me strength to withstand the pressures of the ego.  Once I realized this is not who I am or what I wanted to do with my life it diffused the chatter of the ego and I was once again back into my heart and on my own unique path for my journey.  The stress and the anxiety left my body, the mind was silent, and I was at peace again.

Gratitude returned as my Magic Heart opened and I returned to living in a state of harmony with the perfection of life.  Life is a mediation of constant observation of the inner and outer world and it gave me the opportunity for tweaking my course.  

Post Six .... - BALINESE MAGIC HEART

TRANSFORMING FEAR TO LOVE........PEACE

First light of dawn from our porch in Bali

One morning in Bali, we were sitting on the porch having breakfast.  Our conversation was about our explorations of the Spiritual Energy of Bali and how everyone in Bali lived in and from their hearts.

As we finished breakfast Wayan, the Balinese man who was the caretaker of the house for the people who owned it, came to take our dishes back to the kitchen. He listened to our conversation for a moment as he waited for us to pause so he could clear the table.

When we paused he looked at us and smiles as he spoke. "why do you spend so much time talking about life. To Balinese life is very simply. We have one way to live." With that he put down his tray and looked into our hearts as he spoke.

We are here to learn how to live.

When things are in front of us that we do not like

We do not get angry or push them way.

We reach out and put our arms around them 

as we pull them into our heart.

With the final sentence he stretched his arms out as if to surround the fear. He them pulled it into his heart. A soft beautiful smile of peace filled his face and radiated from his entire body. Without another word, for no words were necessary, he picked up his tray, cleared the table and returned to the kitchen to finish his morning kitchen duties.

After he left we sat in silence reflecting on the beauty and simplicity of his wisdom and how he truly lived it. In three simple sentences he had captured the concept of transforming fear to love and moving from the pain and chaos of the duality of life to the state of peace, Unity and Oneness of life.  

...........another step on the path of life

As we continued our travels and exploration of Bali it became clearer and clearer that this is the model that everyone in Bali lives. There is no duality of judgement over events for all events are witnessed  from the state of Unity and Oneness from within their Magic Hearts. Each time we used the model it became easier and easier to make the transformational shift from the duality of fear to the Unity and Oneness of Love. 

With this simply yet powerful moment our decision was re-made to focus totally on living in our Magic Hearts....every day all day.

Thank you Bali for this model and persona has brought us both to a deeper and lasting state of inner and outer peace. 

Each day becomes  more and more obvious that peace is an inside job. 

Until we are able to live without pointing our finger at others as the cause of the pain 

the person pointing will continue to live in pain and dis-ease.

Pam and David

Post Five - BALINESE MODEL FOR LIFE

ITS ALL ABOUT THE ENERGY

When asked what was the name of our Balinese teacher people are often surprised with our answer. The Balinese model of life is not a mental or written model.  It is a way of life where the energy of life is the teacher. 

To help you explore their model of the energy of life as your teacher, we share some of the very basic principles that control life. When you have learned how to identify, and live in harmony with theses principles you will then live in harmony with life....... Peace.

The journey from head to heart is a physical spiritual journey  

up the steps back to the Garden of enlightenment and peace.

There is One Supreme God who is the Creator of all that is.
The primary purpose of life is to be in service to God.
Our role is to honor everything and everyone as an aspect of God manifested on earth.

All life is made up of energy

All energy follows our thoughts, words and actions

All energy is in constant motion as it seeks to return to balance.

All energy that we project out come back to us ten fold.

When we give love - love comes back 

When we give fear - fear comes back

When we live in harmony with the energy of life we are at peace.
When we live in dis-harony with life the message is we are not in our heart.
When we return to living in our heart, peace returns in our life.

The key is..........walk it,don't just talk it.

Each morning I have a choice to live the day in Love or Fear

Today I choose only love.

Remember, peace on earth is an inside job. Nearly 4 millions people on the Island of Bali live in their hearts as they walk this path of peace each day. In addition our life is also one of peace, which says, you do not need to live in Bali to find Peace......simply give up all judgements and duality as you live in your heart in unity and harmony with the energy of life and you will live in peace.

Love and peace to all,

Pam and David

Post Four - LETTING GO OF FEAR

Nov. 2. 2012

ITS ALL ABOUT LOVE

                     By David

I had a dream last night that the entire country was experiencing what is happening in New York and New Jersey. People were running out of food, the power was off, their homes were destroyed and there was no gasoline or means of transportation. Many were fighting in the streets for survival.  I awoke in a fit, feeling that with all the political and economic chaos in this country and the world this could truly happen through out America at any moment.

Getting up to quiet my mind, I processed the dream as to what it could mean to me and to the country.  Gradually there came an image of Jesus walking on the water surrounded by a giant storm.

(Jesus walks on water, by Ivan Aivazovsky - 1888)

I remembered the story......In the midst of the storm and the darkness of the night the disciples became fearful.  The more fearful they became the more intense the storm became. Looking at the horizon they saw Jesus walking on the sea. They were even more frightened, thinking they were seeing a spirit, but Jesus told them not to be afraid as he asked the question, do you not trust me? They were reassured as Jesus calmed the storm and entered the boat. They then sailed peacefully to the other shore.

Instantly a question, as if from beyond me, resounded in my mind.  Why are you afraid? Do you no longer Trust God?

(To read the entire story of the Photo - Trust  God - visit Trust God)

A deep feeling of peace and understanding filled me as I remembered the recent sign of the UFO shaped cloud that God manifested over my head on the beach one night as a reminder that everything was going to be OK…..I only had to let go of control and my fears and Trust God. 

With a deep inner peace I returned to bed. Sleep came instantly.

Later that morning, in sharing my dream with Pam, we took a moment to reflect on the dream. Our wisdom was that yes, there is chaos and fear in the world today.  Because we live in Florida we simply looked at the political and economic chaos like we did each summer as we prepare for the possible arrival of a hurricane. 

We both agreed that because of my dream it was time to review our checklist of things we need to take care of in our personal life in case the political and economic storm that is affecting the world arrives in our neighborhood and our life.

Completing our check list review we knew we had taken care of the details to protect ourselves and our property. We were ready. We then went back to doing what we do each day......being a light house of love....Trusting and Serving God......

.............knowing that things always work out for us when we respond only in Love without judgments to all that is happening to and around us. 

 

We will be soon posting our next post 

as we share how this model relates to 

the Balinese Model for Peace.