In It For The Gravitas in München is doing 23 things including…

be the change i wish to see in the world

36 cheers

 

In It For The Gravitas has written 10 entries about this goal

Water 15 months ago

This also belongs to the Find and Found a Coven goal.

I have a book by Masaru Emoto
If you follow the link to Wikipedia you’ll see that he doesn’t work scientifically.

He exposes water to different music, words, TV programmes, emotions etc, and the takes drops, lets them freeze and takes pictures of the resulting crystals.
I remember pictures of two crystals, one pretty, the other distorted. The distorted one had been exposed to a violent TV program, the other, the pretty one, was labeled “Water has watched a good TV program (a feature about the secret of life)”

Reading this I teared up, because … dunno, I found that so sweet!
“Water has watched a good TV program”. :’)

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He claims that water stores information and emotion and says it’s a good idea to treat water with love and respect.

I can say: I like the book, I like Emoto’s writings, I have a very good feeling about this and I do tell any water I meet :) that I think it’s beautiful, and that i am grateful. Yea, even when flushing the toilet.

In the book I found his idea of all people all over the world telling all the water on the planet “I love you” (Project HADO).

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I have only read this one book, and my feeling towards it: I sense only good intentions and care for our planet. That’s why I invite you to think about this, take part if you like, and perhaps gather further information yourself.


Here’s the Project HADO site—I haven’t checked it out though, but they do have some beautiful photos there.



13 principles of Spiritual Activism 15 months ago

I found those here but I must say: I haven’t checked that site yet. I have only read those 13 principles, and I like them. Very much!

Here they are:
I have emphasized the sentences that are most important to me..

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1. Transformation of motivation from anger/fear/despair to compassion/love/purpose. This is a vital challenge for today’s social change movement. This is not to deny the noble emotion of appropriate anger or outrage in the face of social injustice. Rather, this entails a crucial shift from fighting against evil to working for love, and the long-term results are very different, even if the outer activities appear virtually identical. Action follows Being, as the Sufi saying goes. Thus “a positive future cannot emerge from the mind of anger and despair” (Dalai Lama).
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2. Non-attachment to outcome. This is difficult to put into practice, yet to the extent that we are attached to the results of our work, we rise and fall with our successes and failures—a sure path to burnout. Hold a clear intention, and let go of the outcome—recognizing that a larger wisdom is always operating. As Gandhi said, “the victory is in the doing,” not the results. Also, remain flexible in the face of changing circumstances: “Planning is invaluable, but plans are useless.”(Churchill)

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3. Integrity is your protection. If your work has integrity, this will tend to protect you from negative energy and circumstances. You can often sidestep negative energy from others by becoming “transparent” to it, allowing it to pass through you with no adverse effect upon you. This is a consciousness practice that might be called “psychic aikido.”
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4. Integrity in means and ends. Integrity in means cultivates integrity in the fruit of one’s work. A noble goal cannot be achieved utilizing ignoble means.
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5. Don’t demonize your adversaries. It makes them more defensive and less receptive to your views. People respond to arrogance with their own arrogance, creating rigid polarization. Be a perpetual learner, and constantly challenge your own views.
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6. You are unique. Find and fulfill your true calling. “It is better to tread your own path, however humbly, than that of another, however successfully.” (Bhagavad Gita)
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7. Love thy enemy. Or at least, have compassion for them. This is a vital challenge for our times. This does not mean indulging falsehood or corruption. It means moving from “us/them” thinking to “we” consciousness, from separation to cooperation, recognizing that we human beings are ultimately far more alike than we are different. This is challenging in situations with people whose views are radically opposed to yours. Be hard on the issues, soft on the people.
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8. Your work is for the world, not for you. In doing service work, you are working for others. The full harvest of your work may not take place in your lifetime, yet your efforts now are making possible a better life for future generations. Let your fulfillment come in gratitude for being called to do this work, and from doing it with as much compassion, authenticity, fortitude, and forgiveness as you can muster.
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9. Selfless service is a myth. In serving others, we serve our true selves. “It is in giving that we receive.” We are sustained by those we serve, just as we are blessed when we forgive others. As Gandhi says, the practice of satyagraha (“clinging to truth”) confers a “matchless and universal power” upon those who practice it. Service work is enlightened self-interest, because it cultivates an expanded sense of self that includes all others.
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10. Do not insulate yourself from the pain of the world. Shielding yourself from heartbreak prevents transformation. Let your heart break open, and learn to move in the world with a broken heart. As Gibran says, “Your pain is the medicine by which the physician within heals thyself.” When we open ourselves to the pain of the world, we become the medicine that heals the world. This is what Gandhi understood so deeply in his principles of ahimsa and satyagraha. A broken heart becomes an open heart, and genuine transformation begins.
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11. What you attend to, you become. Your essence is pliable, and ultimately you become that which you most deeply focus your attention upon. You reap what you sow, so choose your actions carefully. If you constantly engage in battles, you become embattled yourself. If you constantly give love, you become love itself.
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12. Rely on faith, and let go of having to figure it all out. There are larger ‘divine’ forces at work that we can trust completely without knowing their precise workings or agendas. Faith means trusting the unknown, and offering yourself as a vehicle for the intrinsic benevolence of the cosmos. “The first step to wisdom is silence. The second is listening.” If you genuinely ask inwardly and listen for guidance, and then follow it carefully—you are working in accord with these larger forces, and you become the instrument for their music.
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13. Love creates the form. Not the other way around. The heart crosses the abyss that the mind creates, and operates at depths unknown to the mind. Don’t get trapped by “pessimism concerning human nature that is not balanced by an optimism concerning divine nature, or you will overlook the cure of grace.” (Martin Luther King) Let your heart’s love infuse your work and you cannot fail, though your dreams may manifest in ways different from what you imagine.



While loking for web entries on LAMMAS 16 months ago

I found the Lammas Eco Village.

This looks very good to me. But I am a city kid, and we cannot all move back to the countryside. We have to move the countryside into the cities.

Munich with its big lush green spaces gives me a notion of how it could be.
At the moment, as Munich is celebrating its 850th birthday, they have closed the Altstadt, (Oldtown) downtown, for cars. I went there with me Mum, yesterday. the street were filled with people, many on bikes.
Gives me a notion of how it should be.

Imagine a city where cats roam the streets at night.
Birds. Grass growing, weeds, herbs, even food.
A city with no cars but other means of transportation.

Humanity is so advanced, we have so much technology at our hands, so much wealth.
Often I think of that feature on TV about that whale they carried through America, to save its life.
People lined the streets. Cheerying, being moved, feeling GOOD. It was made possible.

We watch Matt dance around the world, and it makes us cry.

We know what’s good, we know what we love, we know how to do it. So let’s DO it.



A 43T quote 17 months ago

I don’t really pay much attention to them, and some I find to be quite the bromides; but some are really good, and the one I saw just now, from the corner of my eye, made me hit the back button.

Change is a door that can only be opened from the inside.
- Terry Neil

Had to think about it. And yesyes. You can’t make people or society change. You can open the door to new ideas and concepts and views, and adapt them and work on yourself and thus contribute to change.

How fitting that I found that quote next to my latest troll rant. Yesyes. Work to do.



Spread Peace in My World 17 months ago

I just found that goal and an entry by Alexmarie3.

Very sensible, surely more useful than raising a toast to world peace.
I am constantly struggling with me Mum and my Bro (and they with me); but I won’t write about it, because they might not appreciate that. Also almost everyone has a Mum and a sibling and issues with them.

Anyway, spreading peace in MY world, be it family, job or just going out on the streets is something one CAN do—though it doesn’t always come easy.
But recent experiences with Mum and Bro show that it’s doable. And a process. Probably never finished. A verb.

Another thing Alexmarie3. posted, which I think is great:

Always Respond, NEVER React



It's hot and humid 17 months ago

and I just found a new beverage; though I’m not sure if this makes me the change I wish to see in the world…
or if people will think that I totally lost it now
but perhaps s/o likes to try this, too
it definitely saves some money and energy.
I used to drink only herbal tea (and, um, coffee).
Now I have a jar with water and a shot of balsamico vinegar (smooth, fruity vinegar) in the fridge, and I mix that with not so cold water from the tab.

One needs drinkable tab water, of course.

Iz gud, trussst me!



What I DON'T do 17 months ago

I don’t tell other people what to do.

Even though I wince when they let the water run without needing it, or leave the fridge door open for too long, or have all their electrical stuff on glowing standby day and night, or ride their car to the store across the street, or leave the windows open in winter when they leave the house while having the heater go full power, or throw plastic into the paper bin, or…

Well, sometimes I do say something. Rarely.
I mean, what is there left to say that hasn’t been said?
It wasn’t Al Gore who taught me not to waste resources. My parents taught me that.

It’s a question of respect.
Not to waste or pollute air, energy, water and earth is common sense, nothing more, nothing less.

And.
Every little thing matters. It’s all the little things that people think didn’t matter that amount to the mess we are in today.

And.
Democracy happens. Elections are held every day.
In stores, malls, supermarkets, shops, online sales all around the world.

YOU can make a difference.


Ooops, did I just tell others what to do?
Aw, heck, I just wrote my thoughts down, gave some tiny hints and made a suggestion.

Stay Gold



What I actually do 17 months ago
  • I don’t drive a car. We have a great transporting system in my city. And I am used to walking. And much better: I got a good bike. Specially now, in the summer time, I so enjoy to roam the city by bike. I am totally free, going where ever my whim takes me. Love it.
  • I don’t own a mobile phone. There are antennas all over the area, on the roofs, I really don’t like them. So how could I own a mobile?
  • I recycle paper, glass, metal, plastic and organic waste. Thanks to my city, that provides bins for all that.
    But!
    Much better than recycling would be not to produce so much waste at all! Something to work on.
  • I buy only organic food.
  • I don’t buy things, brands or at shops that are known for exploiting their workers and/or harm the environment. Eg. Tschibo, H&M, Nike, I don’t trust Nestlé either (Nestlé includes Wasa, Maggi, Lion and surely much more that I am not aware of) ... their name is legion…
  • I buy brands, things or at shops which I know to support their workers and use methods to heal the environment. Eg. dm, Transfair, Demeter … their names are becoming legion, too. I am grateful for that! :D
  • I try to be informed about those brands and shops and companies, because last year’s bad guys might have changed their ways; and this year’s good guys might become greedy and hide unwholesome acts behind their good name. For getting that information, besides keeping my eyes and ears open, I joined Greenpeace.
  • I try to always be polite, helpful and friendly. I am getting better and better at this; and more often than not I get rewarded at once by smiles and friendly reactions.
  • I have much anger inside me, and often I realize that I am arguing with unknown people inside my head, eg. while riding my bike along the street. First step is to notice this automatism at all. 2nd step is to stop it. I’m not sure if this is a part of my character which will always be there; or if it’s something I will eventually heal and get rid of.
    I know anger is angst/anxiousness. I am anxious and shy. I have a notion that as soon as I work in my profession I’ll feel more like a ‘real person’ and my anxiousness will cease much.

to be continued…
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"Meane Weil, Speak Weil and Doe Weil". 17 months ago

That’s the Motto of the Scottish Clan Urquhart; and it is my motto, too. (Don’t worry, Urquharts, I won’t start sporting your lovely crest badge now, that belongs to you, and only to you!)

I am not always true to this motto, but it is the heart and soul of this goal—Be The Change I Wish To See In The World

Those three things: Mind, Action and Speech trigger each other and are the interface of our connection to the world.

Thinking wholesome thougths is healthy and sweet, but sharing them with others by words and acts makes them come true so much faster. :)

Saying the right thing is very educational and nice, but if I don’t feel and act accordingly I produce nothing more than an ugly double bind.

Changing the way I act is great; but if I don’t change the way I feel and speak and think it won’t be a lasting change.

You get the picture…

This is all dry theory; and my clumsy English doesn’t help, either.

One thing: the power of the mind might be much greater than most of us think.
Personally I believe that our thoughts and feelings have a vast impact on reality; and that changing our attitude is the key of any change in the world.
Mind you: I am not preaching ‘positive thinking’ – “Each day and every possible way I’m getting better and better and better and…”

That’s not what I mean.
What I DO mean i find hard to explain, specially in English. But as I am working on this goal I am changing my attitude about it :D.
Drafting it in German and looking some words up (action) will help, too.
So, I think (and feel) that soon I’ll be able to say what I really wanna say :)

Stay gold



Only way to change anything 17 months ago

—only thing that we really have (some) control over: ourselves.



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