October 10-13, 2008: "Heartbeat for Peace: Drum the Heart; Heal the Earth" -


On October 13, on the fourth day of a four-day event, and on the fourth anniversary of their founding as an Alliance, the Grandmothers will participate with Eli Painted Crow and Turtle Women Rising in a Drum Gathering for Peace on the Ellipse in front of the White House in Washington, D.C. The Grandmothers Council will come together to sing to the Earth Mother, in order to create peace. For as women we know that "We cannot demand Peace; we can only become it. We cannot fight for Peace; we can only live it."


Eli Painted Crow writes, "It is the intention of Turtle Women Rising to invite all people to stand for peace in Washington D.C., the heart of where important decisions are made affecting the world. Our ceremony will be held on October 10 -13, 2008. We will be drumming, praying and offering our healing songs continuously to change the unbalance of the planet, and to help heal the hearts of those who are dying and suffering."


more >> Turtle Women Rising Letter: http://www.grandmotherscouncil.com/docs/turtlewomenrising.pdf

For more information see http://www.turtlewomenrising.org/.

A young man learns what's most important in life from the guy next door.

It had been some time since Jack had seen the old man. College,
girls, career, and life itself got in the way. In fact, Jack moved clear across the country in pursuit of his dreams. There, in the rush of his busy life, Jack had little time to think about the past and often no time to spend with his wife and son. He was working on his future, and nothing could stop him.

Over the phone, his mother told him, "Mr. Belser died last night. The funeral is Wednesday." Memories flashed through his mind like an
old newsreel as he sat quietly remembering his childhood days.

"Jack, did you hear me?"

"Oh, sorry, Mom. Yes, I heard you. It's been so long since I thought of him. I'm sorry, but I honestly thought he died years ago," Jack said.

"Well, he didn't forgot you. Every time I saw him he'd ask how you were doing. He'd reminisce about the many days you spent over 'his side of the fence, as he put it," Mom told him.

"I loved that old house he lived in," Jack said.

"You know, Jack, after your father died, Mr. Belser stepped
in to make sure you had a man's influence in your life," she said.

"He's the one who taught me carpentry," he said. "I wouldn't be in this business if it weren't for him. He spent a lot of time teaching me things he thought were important...Mom, I'll be there for the funeral," Jack said.

As busy as he was, he kept his word. Jack caught the next flight
to his hometown. Mr. Belser's funeral was small and uneventful. He had no
children of his own, and most of his relatives had passed away.

The night before he had to return home, Jack and his Mom stopped
by to see the old house next door one more time.

Standing in the doorway, Jack paused for a moment. It was like
crossing over into another dimension, a leap through space and time. The house was exactly as he remembered. Every step held memories. Every picture, every piece of furniture...Jack stopped suddenly.

"What's wrong, Jack?" his Mom asked.

"The box is gone," he said

"What box?" Mom asked.

"There was a small gold box that he kept locked on top of his desk. I must have asked him a thousand times what was inside. All he'd ever tell me was 'the thing I value most,'" Jack said.

It was gone. Everything about the house was exactly how Jack
remembered it, except for the box. He figured someone from the Belser family had taken it.

"Now I'll never know what was so valuable to him," Jack said. "I better get some sleep. I have an early flight home, Mom."

It had been about two weeks since Mr. Belser died Returning home
from work one day Jack discovered a note in his mailbox. "Signature
required on a package. No one at home. Please stop by the main post office within the next three days," the note read.

Early the next day Jack retrieved the package. The small box was
old and looked like it had been mailed a hundred years ago. The handwriting as difficult to read, but the return address caught his attention.

"Mr. Harold Belser" it read. Jack took the box out to his car and ripped open the package. There inside was the gold box and an envelope.

Jack's hands shook as he read the note inside.

"Upon my death, please forward this box and its contents to Jack Bennett. It's the thing I valued most in my life." A small key was taped to the letter. His heart racing, as tears filling his eyes, Jack carefully unlocked the box. There inside he found a beautiful gold pocket watch.

Running his fingers slowly over the finely etched casing, he
unlatched the cover. Inside he found these words engraved:

"Jack, Thanks for your time! -Harold Belser."

"The thing he valued most was...my time"

Jack held the watch for a few minutes, then called his office and
cleared his appointments for the next two days. "Why?" Janet, his
assistant asked.

"I need some time to spend with my son," he said.

"Oh, by the way, Janet, thanks for your time!"

"Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take but by
the moments that take our breath away,"

Think about this. You may not realize it, but it's 100% true.

To everyone I sent this to " Thanks for your time"

September 11, 2008 is world day of prayer.  Once a year to open our 24 hours of prayer we hold an Ecumenical Service.

We invite Priests, Monks, Clergy, Practitioners from 12 different religions to speak. This year we've had 8 reply that they will attend.

7 pm September 10, 2008

3501 Moylan Drive

Bowie, MD 20715

(301) 464-5581

Auspicious date some would say. Well we've had the day of prayer for many years but not to long ago we decided to add the Ecumenical service to kick it off. That year was 2001 and that day was 9/11/2001 and we had I believe 9 representatives that first year, and believe it or not each and every one talked about peace and love. Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Jew, Bahai...each and all peace and love, beautiful prayers and sentiments.

  

This year the calendar has worked its way back to the same day.

 Our 24 hours of prayer will close on September 11 at 7 pm with a 45 minute Rumi movie, followed by Sufi Dancing, the Dances of Universal Peace.

  

Again, any and all who are in the area are welcome.

  

Our World Day of Prayer is part of our kick off to 11 days of Global Unity an International Event and culminates here on the UN Peace Day September 21st where we will be dedicating a Peace Pole in our meditation garden.

 Search the net, find an event near you, or start one!

Start by clicking here...and then watch the rest of them....

Please send link to the movers and shakers you know, whether they are techhies, bioengineers, or grass roots backyard inventors, lets get this party started!! 

Yeah, click here only if you want to see a 230 mpg car, coast to coast w/o refueling!!
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/tech/2008/06/05/washburn.230.mpg.car.kfmb

I took my kids to four corners.  The silliest place on earth in my mind.  And the whole time we were going there they thought why, why drive an hour out of our way to see where four states meet.

Well as a kid it was in the middle of nowhere when my parents drug us.  Just a platform of concrete and  a couple of cars.

Well it is part of the Dineh Nation now and surrounding it is what I call a Dineh mall.  plywood flea marketeske tables and shacks with native food, jewelry and trinkets...lovely stuff really.  $3 to get into the area a true tourist trap in the making now.

My mom was saying how this isn't like she remembered it, and why do we have to pay, my kids were like forget it dad, we don't want to see it anyway.

We looked at the line to go stand on the platform (they had built a platform to take pictures from and then everyone waited so their family could get on the dias)  So the kids didn't want to wait and Mom didn't want to wait, so I said, go look at the stuff (the mall was in ring around the platform) I'll holler when I'm close (the one with the camera actually determined who got to go next on the dias so I'm in line for the camera platform)

I got close I called the kids they got up on the concrete square and as they stood there for the first picture embarassed as a hundred people are looking on and waiting for me to snap the picture.

So then I get started.

Left foot New Mexico

Right hand Arizona

Right foot Colorado

Left hand Utah 

As my kids began twisting and turning the crowd started laughing and I kept it up for a few more times and then we got a big applause as the left the 'stage'

They'll bring their kids back to four corners someday all the while hearing...

"Why do we have to go there, its stupid"

and saying

"It sure wasn't like this when I was a kid"

I love planting seeds of memories....

And I love the simple things that remind me of them.

Received in an email, I searched the web to find anyone who identified an author, the only one's I found were listed as anonymous.  You know I don't know if anonymous wrote this or not, but anonymous writes a lot of good stuff.

Dancing With God

When I meditated on the word Guidance, I kept seeing the word "dance" at the end of it.

I remembered reading somewhere that following God's leading in life is a lot like dancing. Nothing feels right when there are two people trying to lead. The movement doesn't flow with the music, and everything becomes uncomfortable and jerky.

Upon realizing the problem, and when one lets the other lead, both bodies begin to flow with the music. One person gives gentle cues to the other, perhaps by a nudge to the back or pressing lightly in one direction or another. It's as if two people become one body, moving beautifully.

To enjoy the dance takes surrender, willingness, and full attentiveness from one person, combined with gentle guidance and skill from the other.

My eyes drew back again to the word Guidance. When I saw the letter "G:" I thought of God, followed by "u" and "i" . . . God, "u" and "i" dance . . . God, you and I dance!

I lowered my head as I came to understand that I would get spiritual guidance if I became willing to let God lead my life.

My prayer for you today is that God's blessings and mercies will be upon you this day and everyday. May you abide in God as God abides in you. Dance together with God, trusting Him to lead and to guide you through each season of your life.

Prayer is powerful. It's one of the best gifts we can receive from someone. There is no cost to pray, but there are great rewards; so let's continue to pray for one another.

And I Hope You Dance!

Unity Walk

The Unity Walk begins at 1:30 PM this Sunday September 9th.  Arrive at the Washington Hebrew Congregation at 1:30 PM, the program is at 2:00 and we begin walking at 2:30.  The Washington Hebrew Congregation is at 3935 Macomb Street NW Washington, DC 20016

Interfaith Service

9/12/07 7pm Bowie, Maryland,  12 religions  honored/represented, followed by 24 hours of prayer, Dances of Universal Peace, and closing 7pm 9/13  301/464-5581 for info.

DC Peace March

9/15/07 10 am Zaangha at the Carousel on the Mall in DC, then over the main event at the Whitehouse.

Will we see you at one or more of the above events?

Be the change you wish to see in the world!

Two for the road you'll enjoy them both.

11:9 They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea. (King James Bible, Isaiah)

"Know thou, O Prince, that whenever the world declineth in virtue and righteousness; and vice and injustice mount the throne, then come I, the Lord, and revisit My world in visible form, and mingle as a man with men, and b my influence and teachings do i destroy the evil and injustice, and re-establish virtue and righteousness. many times have i thus appeared; many times hereafter shall i come again." -Krishna, Bhagavad Gita

"I am not the first Buddha who came upon the earth, nor shall i be the last, in due time another Buddha will arise in the world, a Holy One, a supremely enlightened one...an incomparable leader of men...He will reveal to you the same eternal truths which I have taught you." -Gautama; the Buddha

"I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when He, the Spirit of Truth, comes, He will guide you into all truth." John 16:12-13 (NIV)

"Do not think that i have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets...but to fulfill them." Matthew 5:17 (NIV)

"We believe in what hath been sent down to us [Qur'an] and hath been sent down to you [the Torah or the Gospel]. Our God and your God is one, and to His are we self-surrendered." - Mohammed; Qur'an 29:45

*"Come, come again, whoever, whatever you may be, come. Heathen, fire-worshipper, sinner of idolatry, come. Come even if you have broken your penitence a hundred times. Ours is not the portal of despair or misery, come." (Mevlana Celaleddin-i Rumi)*


*"In whatever way men approach me, in that way do I assist them; whatever the path taken by mankind, that path is mine." (Bhagavad-Gita, iv, 11).*


"Those who are confident of their faith are not threatened but enlarged by the different faiths of others." (Sir Jonathan Sacks, Chief Rabbi of the British Commonwealth)


*"My heart has become receptive of every form. It is a meadow for gazelles, a monastery for monks, an abode for idols, the Kaba of the pilgrim, the tables of the Torah, the Qur'an. My religion is love--wherever its camels turn, Love is my belief, my faith." (Muhyiddin Ibn `Arabi)*


“However innumerable sentient beings there are, I vow to save them. However inexhaustible the defilements are, I vow to extinguish them. However immeasurable the truth is, I vow to expound it. However incomparable enlightenment is, I vow to attain it!” (Bodhisattva Vow)


"The living spirit grows and even outgrows its earlier forms of expression... This living spirit is eternally renewed and pursues its goal in manifold and inconceivable ways throughout the history of humanity. Measured against it, the names and forms which have been given to it mean very little; they are only the changing blossoms on the stem of the eternal tree." (Carl Jung)


"I believe Christ is in all the cultures--Krishna in Hinduism, Zeus of the Greeks--in every age there has been a Christ-Consciousness. This is not necessarily the Jesus we Christians embrace, but Christ-Consciousness meaning the consciousness of a God who redeems and who is beneficent; who loves everything and everybody. He is not the sole property of any one religion." (Bishop Carlton Pearson) - Interview with Integral Yoga Magazine


“You, the Ultimate Reality, are All in All. Atheism confesses the ineffability of Your Essence. Polytheism personifies Your manifold Attributes. Monotheism witnesses the unity of Your Being. In every God-Ideal an emanation of You shines forth. The heart receives of You as much as it can contain. When the heart is supple it is capable of every form. Then Your manifestations surpass the limitations of belief.” (Pir Zia Inayat Khan)


*“The Absolute created the universe for the purpose of Delight. The Absolute, i.e. the Omnipresent Reality wished to extend its Delight of Being to objects. The Divine manifested a universe in division and duality to enable the greatest multiplicity and possibility of forms. The ultimate purpose in life is to discover the delight of being through our higher consciousness; thus fulfilling the purpose for which the Divine manifested a universe of forms; further diffusion and dissemination of the Original Delight into the universe.” (Sri Aurobindo)*


"Truth is one, the wise call it by different names." (Rig Veda)


"It is, therefore, an inadequate recognition of the unique station of Moses, Buddha, Zoroaster, Jesus, Muhammad—or of the succession of Avatars who inspired the Hindu scriptures—to depict their work as the founding of distinct religions.
Rather are they appreciated when acknowledged as the spiritual Educators of history,and the animating forces in the rise of the civilizations through which consciousness has flowered...what honors them is the soul's unconditioned surrender of its will to the transformative influence they mediate..."

One Common Faith, p 33-34 (Commissioned by the Universal House of Justice, 2005)

Nine years ago on Father's Day my sister's family and mine had the honor of taking part in the first signing of the Inner Peace Treaty.  My kids and nieces may not remember it, but they were there, and they signed along with the Mayor of Annapolis, Maryland.  We circled the statehouse hand in hand in silence and then gathered and sang.

You can now add your name to the list electronically, take part in spreading the concepts of Inner Peace.  Be the change you want to see in the world. ~ Ghandi

The Inner Peace Treaty™

The Inner Peace Treaty’s purpose is to encourage self-responsibility through inner reflection and to build an expanding group consciousness of the deep connection among all people. It is also a personal commitment to find peace within ourselves and act peacefully in all we do.

Its message is that peace begins within each of us as a seed thought. As we consciously cultivate peace in our thoughts, our communications, and our actions, we contribute to a global revolution in the hearts and minds of people around the world. World peace will come as the result of greater peace within.

The initial ratification of the Inner Peace Treaty™ was begun in ceremony on Sunday, June 21, 1998 in Annapolis, Maryland. Since then, it has been signed by hundreds of people, including dignitaries and other political leaders. The global email version on the Inner Peace Treaty™ was begun in ceremony on Sunday, March 21, 2004.

Your ratification of the Inner Peace Treaty™ indicates your willingness to act as a peace builder in your family, your community, your nation, and the world, starting within yourself. Print and sign the Inner Peace Treaty™ PDF version to use for yourself. If you would like to offer yours as a sample inner peace treaty please send it to AHAA with permission to use for possible publication.

The Inner Peace Treaty™

"With this treaty I agree to reconnect with the highest aspects of my being. Toward greater harmony and peace from within, I acknowledge and release all unforgiveness I have created. I choose to be at peace with the process of my life as an unfolding journey toward greater love and joy. I honor and hold this Truth as Self-evident."

Please help expand this expanding Peace Pulse™ thought form project through your involvement. You can do so in two ways.

1. Share the Inner Peace Treaty™ with your friends and the organizations to which you belong. Conduct a ratification ceremony.

2. Allow these words to inspire you to write your own inner peace treaty. Let it seed your present moment with peace and extend hope for the future.

E-mail or write AHAA to share the outcome of your experience. Remember, as you send your e-mail, please add your meditative thoughts or prayers of inner peace. Know that your thoughts will affect the recipients as an expanding vibrational energy called the Peace Pulse™.

Excerpts from some e-mails will be shared through this website. Others will be included in the book about this project called We The People: Co-Creating Inner Peace as part of the Peace Nouvella™ educational programs for youths and adults. and in the wellness-education programs being created for youth and adults. Please include your name, address with country, and age in your e-mail or mailed version with permission to reprint when you send it to AHAA.

To become a co-sponsor, or for additional information about the Inner Peace Treaty™, Peace Pulse™, Peace Nouvella™ and We the People: Co-Creating Inner Peace book about the Inner Peace Treaty™ project please Contact us.