sâmbătă, 16 aprilie 2011

Children



"Children show me in their playful smiles the divine in everyone. This simple
goodness shines straight from their hearts. This has so much to teach. If a
child wants chocolate ice cream, he just asks for it. Adults get tangled up in
complications over whether to eat the ice cream or not.  A child simply
enjoys. What we need to learn from children isn’t childish. Being with them
connects us to the deep wisdom of life, which is ever-present and only asks to
be lived. Now, when the world is so confused and its problems so complicated, I
feel we need our children more than ever. Their natural wisdom points the way to
solutions that lie, waiting to be recognized, within our own hearts."

Applehead


joi, 7 aprilie 2011

The Egg



You were on your way home when you died.
It was a car accident. Nothing particularly remarkable, but fatal nonetheless. You left behind a wife and two children. It was a painless death. The EMTs tried their best to save you, but to no avail. Your body was so utterly shattered you were better off, trust me.
And that’s when you met me.
“What… what happened?” You asked. “Where am I?”
“You died,” I said, matter-of-factly. No point in mincing words.
“There was a… a truck and it was skidding…”
“Yup,” I said.
“I… I died?”
“Yup. But don’t feel bad about it. Everyone dies,” I said.
You looked around. There was nothingness. Just you and me. “What is this place?” You asked. “Is this the afterlife?”
“More or less,” I said.
“Are you god?” You asked.
“Yup,” I replied. “I’m God.”
“My kids… my wife,” you said.
“What about them?”
“Will they be all right?”
“That’s what I like to see,” I said. “You just died and your main concern is for your family. That’s good stuff right there.”
You looked at me with fascination. To you, I didn’t look like God. I just looked like some man. Or possibly a woman. Some vague authority figure, maybe. More of a grammar school teacher than the almighty.
“Don’t worry,” I said. “They’ll be fine. Your kids will remember you as perfect in every way. They didn’t have time to grow contempt for you. Your wife will cry on the outside, but will be secretly relieved. To be fair, your marriage was falling apart. If it’s any consolation, she’ll feel very guilty for feeling relieved.”
“Oh,” you said. “So what happens now? Do I go to heaven or hell or something?”
“Neither,” I said. “You’ll be reincarnated.”
“Ah,” you said. “So the Hindus were right,”
“All religions are right in their own way,” I said. “Walk with me.”
You followed along as we strode through the void. “Where are we going?”
“Nowhere in particular,” I said. “It’s just nice to walk while we talk.”
“So what’s the point, then?” You asked. “When I get reborn, I’ll just be a blank slate, right? A baby. So all my experiences and everything I did in this life won’t matter.”
“Not so!” I said. “You have within you all the knowledge and experiences of all your past lives. You just don’t remember them right now.”
I stopped walking and took you by the shoulders. “Your soul is more magnificent, beautiful, and gigantic than you can possibly imagine. A human mind can only contain a tiny fraction of what you are. It’s like sticking your finger in a glass of water to see if it’s hot or cold. You put a tiny part of yourself into the vessel, and when you bring it back out, you’ve gained all the experiences it had.
“You’ve been in a human for the last 48 years, so you haven’t stretched out yet and felt the rest of your immense consciousness. If we hung out here for long enough, you’d start remembering everything. But there’s no point to doing that between each life.”
“How many times have I been reincarnated, then?”
“Oh lots. Lots and lots. An in to lots of different lives.” I said. “This time around, you’ll be a Chinese peasant girl in 540 AD.”
“Wait, what?” You stammered. “You’re sending me back in time?”
“Well, I guess technically. Time, as you know it, only exists in your universe. Things are different where I come from.”
“Where you come from?” You said.
“Oh sure,” I explained “I come from somewhere. Somewhere else. And there are others like me. I know you’ll want to know what it’s like there, but honestly you wouldn’t understand.”
“Oh,” you said, a little let down. “But wait. If I get reincarnated to other places in time, I could have interacted with myself at some point.”
“Sure. Happens all the time. And with both lives only aware of their own lifespan you don’t even know it’s happening.”
“So what’s the point of it all?”
“Seriously?” I asked. “Seriously? You’re asking me for the meaning of life? Isn’t that a little stereotypical?”
“Well it’s a reasonable question,” you persisted.
I looked you in the eye. “The meaning of life, the reason I made this whole universe, is for you to mature.”
“You mean mankind? You want us to mature?”
“No, just you. I made this whole universe for you. With each new life you grow and mature and become a larger and greater intellect.”
“Just me? What about everyone else?”
“There is no one else,” I said. “In this universe, there’s just you and me.”
You stared blankly at me. “But all the people on earth…”
“All you. Different incarnations of you.”
“Wait. I’m everyone!?”
“Now you’re getting it,” I said, with a congratulatory slap on the back.
“I’m every human being who ever lived?”
“Or who will ever live, yes.”
“I’m Abraham Lincoln?”
“And you’re John Wilkes Booth, too,” I added.
“I’m Hitler?” You said, appalled.
“And you’re the millions he killed.”
“I’m Jesus?”
“And you’re everyone who followed him.”
You fell silent.
“Every time you victimized someone,” I said, “you were victimizing yourself. Every act of kindness you’ve done, you’ve done to yourself. Every happy and sad moment ever experienced by any human was, or will be, experienced by you.”
You thought for a long time.
“Why?” You asked me. “Why do all this?”
“Because someday, you will become like me. Because that’s what you are. You’re one of my kind. You’re my child.”
“Whoa,” you said, incredulous. “You mean I’m a god?”
“No. Not yet. You’re a fetus. You’re still growing. Once you’ve lived every human life throughout all time, you will have grown enough to be born.”
“So the whole universe,” you said, “it’s just…”
“An egg.” I answered. “Now it’s time for you to move on to your next life.”
And I sent you on your way. 


by Andy Weir


vineri, 1 aprilie 2011

Let me dance with me




Stii mirosul unui fir de nisip ars? Cand privesti in zare si nu te vezi decat pe tine privind in alta zare? Cand soarele nu mai e prietenul tau bun si iti ia toata viata din tine...Cand tot ce ai mai scump porti in buzunare, iar buzunarele-ti sunt goale...Cand ai talpile arse si nu ai auzit niciodata un sunet, dar poti sa juri ca tu ai inventat muzica? Cand dunele de nisip poarta nume si iti sunt frati vitregi? Stii noptile reci care iti fac cunostinta cu rabdarea? Noptile in care cerul iti zambeste in galaxii nemaivazute si in stele cazatoare pe care tu le prinzi in palme? Iti amintesti ca vroiai sa povestesti oamenilor ca li s-au intamplat lucruri? Stii furtunile de nisip care iti sfasie pielea si iti amintesc de trecut? Cand simti in masele fire de nisip si iti incrunti fruntea ca sa mai ai senzatii umane? Te trezesti mereu zambind in arsita desertului si nu stii ce o sa fie peste un minut......si te bucuri....pentru ca minutul nu mai exista...Si tu nu ai mai fost aici... desi aici locuiesti. Si calatoriile tale au ca parteneri fiecare fiinta vie din univers, care impartaseste cu tine fiecare traire si fiecare sentiment si tu le simti durerile  si bucuriile tuturor in aceeasi clipa si le traiesti la o intensitate care te extenueaza...si iti place...si astepti sa te trezesti in alt loc...in alt spatiu...cu alte figurine....fara timp....fara material...fara ganduri...fara litere...fara cuvinte...fara....