When you look at the world

[Mr. Brightside]

What is it that you see?

[Kiran]

Beauty...joy
Cruelty...ignorance
Love...creation
Bigotry....hate

Nature...human capacity for compassion and love...art....music...all help counteract the negatives:two hearts:

[Lion Spirit Walker]

The Great Dance of Creation/Destruction.

[BlueStar]

It really depends what you mean. And it really depends on how I look at it.

When I look at the world....I see exactly what's on front of me in any given moment. Computer, chair, cup, window....

Beyond that? I can't say anything more in this moment, because beyond that any thoughts I have about the world are just that - thoughts. The notion of "the world" is an abstraction really...all that exists for me in any given moment is what's on front of me.

If I go beyond that, there's the tendency to spin endless stories about what is only just thoughts and internal representations I have of something that doesn't even exist independently of consciousness.

So........I see whatever is on front of me. And if I tend to create stories about what lies beyond that, then I try to stop it.

[Mr. Brightside]

Rory - you think too much

[brother]

On a good day I see what can be, what will be.

On a good day I can see beyond the illusion.

http://api.ning.com/files/qRhUkxp7ruYuA8fslQNZks5ONGcwlWKfFQFSU1C9vKCPqVxiO0zbQ7KyInQZpVP2urzq4F nn73wGYHbVliLfXnq6nQcKenUE/My_House__My_Blue_Planet_Earth.jpg

[Kiran]

Oh! Fabulous picture Chad!!

[Narnia]

HySAx6R6zBQ

Potential in the Inherent Beauty We Possess


[later edit]

I just noticed Sean posted the same video in the Poetic Songs thread ... please excuse the double video posting ... but that U2 song was the first thing that came to mind.

[Lion Spirit Walker]

Rory, my very good friend. Pleas take no offence.
Allow yourSelf to see with more than your eyes. Or to put it another way, allow your third eye to open wide.
As you already well know, everything is in the Now.

[BlueStar]

No offence taken :)

The question was asked and my answer had to be authentic to me. The days of me saying what I think others want me to say are long gone now :spinny: I didn't express very well though.....

The world is not separate from the perceiver.

It's all lila....it's all a play in consciousness.

That's how I see "the world".

Perhaps Sean was asking whether we believe we live in a benign or a hostile world/universe? I used to believe the latter, and i saw evidence to back it up everywhere. Then I decided to believe the former, that love is the glue that binds it all together and allows life to continue, and then I began to see evidence of that everywhere...in the air that gives us life, the sun that warms the world for us, the trees that help us breathe, the way gravity supports us and our body (mainly!) knows exactly how to function and respirate and digest food without our even having to think about it. We're all nurtured and supported by life without having to do anything to deserve it or work for it.

And still....although we are bombarded via TV and internet of images of the world *out there*, which is to say representations of other people's experiences of the world, I still now try to stay present to wherever I am HERE, NOW. That is "my world". I don't watch news. Whatever causes I hear about that I can help with, I help, but the key for me now is to be wherever I am fully, and to see the best in that situation. A lot of people might misunderstand that or think me blinkered...but HERE, NOW is the only place I can be, if I try to leave it and step into my mentally created representations of what I think "the world" is about, I tend to stress and suffer. So I come back to the only thing that's real for me in the moment. Which at the moment is coffee and macbook.

[SoulChild]

The very first thing I thought of when I saw this thread is a Marvin Gaye song "Save the Children" some of the lyrics include "When I look at the world....it feels me with sorrow. Children today, really suffer tomorrow.....Oh what a shame...." But, this song means so much to me...the music, the sound of his voice...the fact that it is about the children of the future! When I look at the world, I think about my children....I think about children....I wonder....I sometimes stare at my children...and I find myself praying, asking, thinking, wishing, hoping, visualizing...whatever it takes, asking nature, meditating and just hoping that my children be okay...that nothing drastic happens......and with the H1N1 every day on the news, and knowing my children has asthma its can get scary sometimes. And if they do make it and they have children....I start thinking, praying wishing, hoping that nothing happens to them! I hope food will still be abundant, and nature good. I hope we take care of the planet so things wont be too bad for our children in the future....These are our children we are talking about!

[Rana]

... what do i feel when i look at my world ? .. hmmmmm i feel the longest breath inwards ..the longest breath being held .. watching ..interacting ..imagining... dreaming .. nothing more nothing less ..than waiting ..

[TheNavigator]

Once a year, sometimes twice I experience an interesting thing, and while I never know exactly when it will happen or where but it is the most amazing thing.

An energy comes into me and grounds me into the earth in such away that I can not move for a minute or so, and in that moment I connect and see in rapid motion every single being that exists on this earth, or somehow all I feel in the most amazing love come through to them.

I only see at those times the beauty that exists within all things.

http://www.pharrah13.com/images/unconditional%20love.jpg

http://fc06.deviantart.com/fs13/f/2007/080/5/d/Unconditional_Love_by_btoinc.jpg

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_HUtWEMf7PjU/SChIcuiwHoI/AAAAAAAAFiw/S8jLQ11mjrU/s800/Unconditional%2BLove.jpg

This world is fascinating, our lives are equally as fascinating.

Peace ~ Love ~ Joy

Shannon

[BlueStar]

I love your post Shannon. I love this topic, thanks Sean! :) It has brought up a great many insights. I absolutely know what you mean Shannon...I've been feeling the love as never before. Even amid seemingly terrible situations, when I can take a step back and rebalance myself I'm seeing seeds of love everywhere. I don't know if I can quite explain it right now. It's as if love is the force that keeps our bodies alive and keeps the world spinning and the heavens in its eternal clockwork motion. It's like the glue or the electricity which sustains everything...?

[Lion Spirit Walker]

With regard to this world as it pertains to the system called society. You can paint it with as many pretty colors as you feel you need to in order to bare it. But nonetheless, it remains a system hell bent on destruction.
And should you read this and think I'm wrong, your living a lifetime of illusion.
:no.1:

[SoulChild]

With regard to this world as it pertains to the system called society. You can paint it with as many pretty colors as you feel you need to in order to bare it. But nonetheless, it remains a system hell bent on destruction.
And should you read this and think I'm wrong, your living a lifetime of illusion.
:no.1:

unbalanced..

Do you feel that we humans here can find the balance? because it will never be all good....so, why not paint pretty colors every now and then? This planet, our society can be a differnent place.....?

[Narnia]

A shame as it is - we Humans have ugly tendences that weigh heavier on the scale of reality ... there is beauty, but at the moment it just doesn't out weigh the ugly.

As for the Planet itself - EARTH is sheer perfection [later edit] ... minus we Humans!

[Lion Spirit Walker]

Some images for a childs coloring book.
http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss70/psy_Michael/dead-fish-marine-dead-zones.jpg
http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss70/psy_Michael/deforest.jpg
http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss70/psy_Michael/air-pollution.jpg
http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss70/psy_Michael/nasa-pollution-jj-002.jpg
http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss70/psy_Michael/nuke-war-h0011.jpg

[Lion Spirit Walker]

And as your child colors those pictures, explain to them why such images exist.

[SoulChild]

And as your child colors those pictures, explain to them why such images exist.

They don't understand.....

When my children saw the 9/11 disaster...they didn't understand.

When my husband and I watched 'Hotel Rwanda' they didn't understand.

When I talk to them about the future...they don't understand, and adults don't seem to care since they know we are only here for a short time...but, as adults, we should care because our children are our future!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dnr2pidUqN0

dnr2pidUqN0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ad9aNUmYbY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XOxwE5lXOY

In complete darkness we are all the same. It is only our knowledge and Wisdom that seperates us.

[SoulChild]

Children are called the future of an adult world
They are born with spirits so innocent
Til we teach them how to hate
Add to the world's confusion
We teach our kids rules
That we don't adhere to ourselves
Right or wrong
What example can they take
The people we learn from
Forge the ideas we become

Living in a world they didn't make
Living in a world that's filled with hate
Living in a world where grown-ups break the rules
Living in a world they didn't make
Paying for a lot of adult mistakes
How much of this madness can they take
Our children

Children grow to become our young adults
Problems of the world
They must learn how to confront
Doing drugs and joining gangs to rebel
Colors show they belong
To the social override
Cause they're living in a space
They feel out of place

Living in a world they didn't make
Living in a world that's filled with hate
Living in a world where grown-ups break the rules
Living in a world they didn't make
Paying for a lot of adult mistakes
How much of this madness can they take
Our children

~Janet Jackson

[SoulChild]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1tN0ZKnRgs

I just want to ask a question
Who really cares?
To save a world
in despair....who really cares?


There'll come a time,
when the world won't be singin'
Flowers won't grow,
bells won't be ringin'
Who really cares?
Who's willing to try
to save a world
That's destined to die
When I look at the world
it fills me with sorrow
Little children today
are really gonna suffer tomorrow
Oh what a shame,
such a bad way to live
All who is to blame,
we can't stop livin'
Live, live for life
But let live everybody
Live life for the children
Oh, for the children
You see, let's save the children
Let's save all the children
Save the babies, save the babies
If you wanna love, you got to save the babies
All of the children

............But who really cares Who's willing to try Yes, to save a world Yea, save our sweet world Save a world that is destined to die Oh, la, la, la, la, la, la, la Oh, oh dig it everybody ~Marvin Gaye

[brother]

With regard to this world as it pertains to the system called society. You can paint it with as many pretty colors as you feel you need to in order to bare it. But nonetheless, it remains a system hell bent on destruction.
And should you read this and think I'm wrong, your living a lifetime of illusion.

mmmmm so then is our society's system a true representation of reality?

Fear is the law and love is the delusion?

What we give energy to grows. That doesnt mean we live with blinders but we cant solve our problems with more fear and pain.

((((((((((((((((((hugs))))))))))))))))))))

[brother]

Several years ago, I had the privilege of meeting a young girl in her early twenties. She was so full of love and light and happiness that it radiated from her. She was blind and had been blind since she was 14 mo. Old. Her childhood could be called a horror story but she chose to call it a blessing of Gods love.

When she was 2 months old, her mother died. Her father had been a "good" man till this time. The death of his wife and the prospect of raising an infant girl alone was more than he could handle. Her father started drinking heavily and lost himself in his pain.

At fourteen months old, her father in a fit of rage shook her violently, causing her blindness. Her father, after realizing what he had done became immersed with guilt and tried to commit suicide.

Social services stepped in to her life then, and she spent the next 16 years in and out of foster homes. During this time she was sexually and emotionally abused to a degree it’s hard to fathom. When I asked her how she came to find such peace and love coming from such a terrible environment, she told me that she was given a gift that no one she had ever met had.

While she couldn't see with her eyes, she could see with her heart and what she saw was the beauty and love in everything. From the grass we sat on, to the people that passed by, she saw love. I wish I had a tape recorder with me to record how she described what she saw in people. Needless to say, I was in awe. She didn't want any one to feel sorry for her, she felt sorry for us!

She came to an understanding of love that few will ever know because of how she chose to see "evil".. as LOVE. She loved the gift her father and mother gave her. With out them she would never have the gifts she now possess.

[BlueStar]

"Society" is nothing more than a reflection of the consciousness of the majority. At current it is not a high level of consciousness.

We can't take responsibility for 'society' or for other people's consciousness. All we can do is be responsible for ourselves and our own consciousness. Again - we "Be the change". That's the only way.

I always remember Byron Katie saying there are only 3 kinds of business in the world: my business, your business and God's business (and when she uses the word "God" she means 'reality'). A lot of our suffering happens when we stray outside of our own business and into other people's or "God's".

I can't change the world. I can't make other people behave as I think they 'should'. I can try to raise consciousness and awareness and if I see someone suffering I offer my help. But ultimately the only world I can really be sure of changing is my own.

The world...my world...your world...is there really a distinction? Does changing one not automatically change the others?

Just thoughts...!

[BlueStar]

Several years ago, I had the privilege of meeting a young girl in her early twenties. She was so full of love and light and happiness that it radiated from her. She was blind and had been blind since she was 14 mo. Old. Her childhood could be called a horror story but she chose to call it a blessing of Gods love.

When she was 2 months old, her mother died. Her father had been a "good" man till this time. The death of his wife and the prospect of raising an infant girl alone was more than he could handle. Her father started drinking heavily and lost himself in his pain.

At fourteen months old, her father in a fit of rage shook her violently, causing her blindness. Her father, after realizing what he had done became immersed with guilt and tried to commit suicide.

Social services stepped in to her life then, and she spent the next 16 years in and out of foster homes. During this time she was sexually and emotionally abused to a degree it’s hard to fathom. When I asked her how she came to find such peace and love coming from such a terrible environment, she told me that she was given a gift that no one she had ever met had.

While she couldn't see with her eyes, she could see with her heart and what she saw was the beauty and love in everything. From the grass we sat on, to the people that passed by, she saw love. I wish I had a tape recorder with me to record how she described what she saw in people. Needless to say, I was in awe. She didn't want any one to feel sorry for her, she felt sorry for us!

She came to an understanding of love that few will ever know because of how she chose to see "evil".. as LOVE. She loved the gift her father and mother gave her. With out them she would never have the gifts she now possess.

Thank you for sharing that story, Chad, it moved me to tears. Every moment is a choice to see fear or love. Most people sadly don't realise they have the choice, because they are unable to question their thinking. But I have heard of people who've undergone the most horrific circumstances and how their suffering has transformed them into beacons of love. I think of Imaculee Ilibagiza who survived the Rwandan holocaust and lost her entire family...or Victor Frankl who wrote 'Man's Search for Meaning' after surviving Auschwitz; an unspeakable harrowing but deeply inspiring book. If they can find love and meaning in such horrific circumstances, then not only can we.....but we MUST.

[Lion Spirit Walker]

....................

[Lion Spirit Walker]

There are without doubt aspects of this world that must be changed. Mistakes that must never be repeated or forgotten.
A global healing must occur.
But has been clearly stated above, this healing can only occur through Love Unconditional.
Forgive me for having lost sight of this.
I ask this of each of you, mySelf, and the Universe.

[Lion Spirit Walker]

I think this is a good time to bring out the "Giant Baby Crazy Goats."
You've got to love them. :)
http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss70/psy_Michael/muskox.jpg

[Narnia]

I am at peace with seeing all the beauty and ugly in the world
- because I know it is a balance -
The Human Conscience as a collective whole has a long way to go.
I am living being the change I wish to see in the world!
And, that is bringing more beauty and Love to the world!

[Jordan]

CHAOS
http://kapalla.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/b-chaos-theory.jpg

gravitate towards


http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk120/Taurtmaat/harmony.jpg


HARMONY

[Lion Spirit Walker]

Very cool art Jordon.
Ty.

[Rana]

lately in my world when i really look around .. i feel the distance between those who are concious and those who arent ..my ears become dull to so much babbling ..selfishness ..and my spirit is drawn away from feeling towards the nonsence .. it happens as a reflex now ..as i am being pulled away from the crap ..that just happens .. when my children ask me how i am ..im pretty honest ..if ive had a ****ty day ill say so ..of course its said in a patient quiet voice ..but ill say " today i felt angry because people were thinking about themselves and not working as a team ..then i felt sad because i saw a duck run over on the road " i want them to know that the world isnt full of roses and that i feel and this is how i feel. when they ask me more about it ..i tell them how i deal with my feelings ..so they can learn to process themselves .. SO much in this world is disappointing and thats me being polite.

[Kiran]

lately in my world when i really look around .. i feel the distance between those who are concious and those who arent ..my ears become dull to so much babbling ..selfishness ..and my spirit is drawn away from feeling towards the nonsence .. it happens as a reflex now ..as i am being pulled away from the crap ..that just happens .. when my children ask me how i am ..im pretty honest ..if ive had a ****ty day ill say so ..of course its said in a patient quiet voice ..but ill say " today i felt angry because people were thinking about themselves and not working as a team ..then i felt sad because i saw a duck run over on the road " i want them to know that the world isnt full of roses and that i feel and this is how i feel. when they ask me more about it ..i tell them how i deal with my feelings ..so they can learn to process themselves .. SO much in this world is disappointing and thats me being polite.

HUGS....I understand!!

[Lion Spirit Walker]

With my heart and arms open to you. I share my love with you unconditionally and eternally. :two hearts:
Remember...

[Mr. Brightside]

Several years ago, I had the privilege of meeting a young girl in her early twenties. She was so full of love and light and happiness that it radiated from her. She was blind and had been blind since she was 14 mo. Old. Her childhood could be called a horror story but she chose to call it a blessing of Gods love.

When she was 2 months old, her mother died. Her father had been a "good" man till this time. The death of his wife and the prospect of raising an infant girl alone was more than he could handle. Her father started drinking heavily and lost himself in his pain.

At fourteen months old, her father in a fit of rage shook her violently, causing her blindness. Her father, after realizing what he had done became immersed with guilt and tried to commit suicide.

Social services stepped in to her life then, and she spent the next 16 years in and out of foster homes. During this time she was sexually and emotionally abused to a degree it’s hard to fathom. When I asked her how she came to find such peace and love coming from such a terrible environment, she told me that she was given a gift that no one she had ever met had.

While she couldn't see with her eyes, she could see with her heart and what she saw was the beauty and love in everything. From the grass we sat on, to the people that passed by, she saw love. I wish I had a tape recorder with me to record how she described what she saw in people. Needless to say, I was in awe. She didn't want any one to feel sorry for her, she felt sorry for us!

She came to an understanding of love that few will ever know because of how she chose to see "evil".. as LOVE. She loved the gift her father and mother gave her. With out them she would never have the gifts she now possess.

That was a very moving story chad, When I left the childrens home I lived in as a child, I was fostered out to a couple for a while who had 3 of their own children, 2 other foster kids and an adopted child Lisa, who was a baby when I was there, I only lived there for a year but a few years ago I was working in the same village and got talking to a local girl who told me the adopted child Lisa had been sexually abused by her adopted father all her life, Very sad how people think they can use and abuse children for their own perverted plealsure... especially it seems vunerable children...

I hope she eventually found the same love that the girl in your story did...

[brother]

((((((((((sean)))))))))) me too.

I hope we all do.

When I met this girl I was in my late twenties. I was managing a grocery store in a small town in Colorado and she came in with a young man at her arm. She was a passenger on the train that ran through town and had a lay over of a few hours. When they came into the store they wandered through and picked up something to drink and a light snack then came over to the front office where I was at. While I rang up their purchases she looked at me with such piercing eyes it took me back a little. She asked me to walk with her and I let my assistant manager know I would be gone for a few min and we left the store. The young man followed and sat on the bench outside the store while we walked across the street and sat on the grass under a tree. It was one of those times in life you know not to ask questions and that something momentous is going to occur. While we walked she held onto my arm lightly and I felt more like I was being lead rather than leading the way. After we sat down on the grass she told me she had come to see me that day, and she had a message for me. When she was finished with her story, tears where streaming down my face and I knew something had changed with in me.... I'm still learning from that visit and to this day I feel as though I was visited by an angel.