lets talk important things, shall we?

I am writing to express a feeling. A profound one indeed.

A feeling so strong in my heart. One that has not been produced by a family member.. or by football.. or by a concert.. or by a friend.. or by a girl.. or by a new born nephew.. or by a great opportunity offered to me in life.

Rather it has developed when learning about the ongoing developments in Haifa, Israel, where the greatest global event of the year has been taking place.

Onehundred and fiftythree countries (that is 153), are taking part in a global democratic election to elect a governing body.

Now... Lets stop for a second and try to picrure what this might look like.

What do you see when you think of the words democratic, global and election?

.........

... maybe a bunch of people screaming at eachother trying to push their own agendas, their own desires, their own best interest?

.. or maybe different groups beating each other up in suits and wearing ties..

.. or maybe police beating up some activists outside on the streets...

It is not far fetched to say that we all might be induced, by looking at the status of the world today, into thinking this is probably the nature of the events in Haifa.

But if those ideas and visions are truly in our heads, and are part of our understanding of today's reality, then this event in Haifa is re-shaping them, and needless to say, revolutionizing the world.

What is happening is in fact quite the oppsoite.
In a spirit of harmony, unity, devotion, respect, justice and love, people from cultures and realities so diverse (one can hardly immagine), have found the one thing that makes them one.... The promotion of the best interests of their kind... the human race.

153 countries, all with the same influence on the final result of an election, all rappresented justly, all in harmony, when did this EVER happen?
I could not hold in all the love and admiration i have for the Baha'i Faith when i read the articles.

It is a historic moment, wouldn't you agree?

If you do not believe me then read these three articles and look at the photographs that are within them
http://news.bahai.org/story/627

http://news.bahai.org/story/624
http://news.bahai.org/story/626

oh and most importantly check your tv news channel...

If you do not see or hear anything about it, then probably it is true.

Rejoice for something new is born

ShidON

thank you luciano

Last night Luciano Ligabue was in London. This visit is part of his european tour.

Now, you all already know how i feel about Ligabue's music.

The first time i saw him live (it was my first concert ever) was in italy. I was with some of my best friends and approximately other 220.000 people. HUGE. It was amazing. Fireworks, helicopters flying over us, a sea of people.

This time though the venue could only squeeze in 1400 max.

So it was extremely small and comfortable. Some of his hardcore fans drove all the way from italy to support him! He was litterally in front of me.

The two concerts were two hugely different experiences, but to be considered equal in their final outcome.

THEY ROCKED.

He is without doubts the greatest artist in italy, not only because of his music and lyrics, but particularly because of his personality. There is something about him which is so human and loving.

When talking to the crowd he experimented with his english, which i must say is great! I screamed he should be our prime minister since berlusconi cant say one single thing well!

And also roberto donadoni was at the concert... donadoni for those who dont know is the coach of the italian national football team. so when there was a moment of calm in the concert we all started singing songs for him, asking him to win the euro cup for us all!

'dacci l'europa! roberto dacci l'europa! dacci l'europa, roberto dacci l'europa!!'

if you are on facebook you can check the videos out.

as you can see by my writing i am still overwhelmed by the beauty of last night...

come vedi sono qui, monta su, non ci avranno fin che questo cuore non, crepera'
di ruggine di botte o d'eta'!

ShidON

full?

the other night, other than talking about God and His amazing humility, or lack of (just the word lack makes me think He must have it by the way, lack and God do not go well together), we talked about our capacity.

In the Baha'i Faith it is explained that when we are born we come to this world with a capacity.

This capacity is given by the hidden spiritual gems latent within us(our virtues such as generosity or truthfulness) and the talents we are endowed with (some people are more skilful than others at football, or playing the piano, or pubblic speaking).

Yet another important variable in the capacity realm, and one we forget too often, is opportunity of growth. This in other words means that because of the circumstances of life (being born in the western world vs being born in a poor country, or being born in a country where human rights are part of the local laws vs NOT) we have opportunities of growth that others may not have.

This category of Divine endowments though, is a risky one to deal with because it can become the prime reason for our lack of growth (money is a tool that increases our capacities, because it allows us to view the world, travel, know, but only if used correctly and with detachment).

Anyway to explain the concept the Baha'i Faith uses a metaphor of containers. Some have a cup, others a barrel, others a swimming pool, and some a lake.
No one really knows the capacity of others and is unaware of the depth of his/her own.

And it does not matter how good or useless you are, how succesful or unlucky you are in comparison with others.

All that matters is how much you've filled up your container.

God is the only Being capable of judging this. SO DO NOT MAKE EXCUSES OR ASSUMPTIONS!

Now after this intro i will get to the point.

Why do people die prematurely?

This is something we all ask ourselves, and is usually one of the reasons for which many do not believe in a just God.

What i came up with though (and i have no writings as of yet to suggest it is right, which probably indicates it is wrong), is that since God is the only One that truly knows where we stand in terms of our spiritual growth, and He is the most just of justs, when we are taken out of this world, it is probably because we have filled up our cup or capacity.

Since our goal is growth, if we can't go any further, God justly takes us to a place where we can truly acheive and reach the next level!

Now does that sound crazy?

ShidON

is God humble?

Last night we had a great evening with some friends, discussing spirituality and various themes of the individual's spiritual growth.

Some of these themes regarded our own abasement, our weaknesses, our incapacity to manifest the virtues that God endowed us with and that shine forth from His Sun.

In one of the quote it talked about human beings being the only created thing that can in potential reflect all of God's attributes, whereas all the rest of creation is limited in their expression.

But one thing was interesting. We considered the virtue of humilty, and wondered if it is a virtue of God.

I am extremely interested in knowing what others think.

The group did not come to a conclusion, but we brought it down to two options (as if that was hard.. hehehe)

a) God is not Humble. It is the only virtue He does not need as He is above our realm and any other. He is the Creator. Hence we, creation, have been given a unique capacity to shine forth, our humility.

b) Man is in potential a mirror of God. He has all the virtues of God. Where does humility come from? It must be of God. And if God wanted to, Him being all powerul, He could be Humble beyond comprehension.

Interesting no? I researched and did not find any clear answer as of yet..
Do you have any interesting thoughts? Please comment!!

Where do you stand??

ShidON

i am banksy

just kidding!

to some extent i wish i was banksy! I think he is an amazing artist.


But is he just an artist?! I think he is an artist, and a super hero! He manages to be invisible!

To all of you un-aware, like i was until recent, of who Banksy is go to http://www.banksy.co.uk/

That shall answer your questions.

Some things do not say much to me. But most of it is very interesting.

His projects are without a doubt ambitious, and at times probably a bit over the top.

But some things he states are so wonderful and thought provoking.

I would even say uplifting. Though this is down to interpretation!

One of his graffiti read ' people who enjoy waving flags don't deserve one'

BanksyON

a trojan horse

now, after that lame post about underwear and commandos, i will try to talk semi-seriously.

i lost a battle the other day. i lose battles every day, but this one was really painful!
i thought i had it all sorted out! no need to really worry...
i thought enemy troops were well away, hiding somewhere and scared to death of me.

then all of a sudden i find this amazing gift of the gods infront of me. i feel special!
i let it all in, saying to my self that it is fine, because the gods have sent it down for me to enjoy, because i have been good and i deserve it!
at night though i can hear some crazy noises in my heart. i look down into my heart and i see thousands of these guys running at me, entering my castle and burning it down! and this is all because of my being supersticious and allowing the trojan horse of ego into my house!
i could not manage.

this metaphore is pretty accurate! :) it transmits the feelings and thoughts of that moment.

cause we do have to fight with our ego every single day.
it is not possible to wake up one day and be done and over with fighting. that would be tooooo easy!

Abdu'l-Baha', the Son of Baha'u'llah, refers to ego as 'the insistent self''.
Interesting and very profound use of words.

So even when you think that the enemy troops are soar and defeated, always be careful cause in reality this war with ego is an endless one, and one were deceit is the most powerful weapon.

the war is endless, and it will always be a pain and a struggle. We will loose many battles. No doubts.

But it is never written anywhere that we have lost the whole war!

ShidON

'going commando'

'In military science, the term commando can refer to an individual, a military unit, or a raiding style of military operation. In some contexts, "commando" means elite light infantry or special forces'

ok. before the official post about a lost battle but a war continuing, i would like to know two things.

a) why is there such a thing as military science? i thought it was all about Rambos and stuff...

b) who has an idea of what the term 'going commando' means....?

now the title of my serious post was going to be 'going commando'. i do not know why, but i searched the meaning of going commando on google and always according to my buddy Wik:

'Going commando (or to go commando) is the practice of not wearing underwear under one's outer clothing.'

anyway i thought that was something of interest... i want to understand how it developed.

I am sure Arnie had to dispose of his undies in order to carry that rocket launcher....!

Get into tha choppa!

ShidON