Additiional Information on Sedona Sweat Lodge

http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/valleyfever/2009/12/court_docs_sedona_sweat_lodge.php

Documents released yesterday by a Yavapai County judge show that the October deaths of three people at James Arthur Ray's "Spiritual Warrior" sweat tent debacle in Sedona were not the first time someone was injured while following Ray toward, um, spiritual enlightenment.

More than two months after the event, we come to find out that people had suffered broken bones, fallen unconscious at past events, and Ray just carried on with business as usual.

According to the documents, which contain scores of interviews with victims of the Sedona incident and other participants from past events, Ray seemed to think some of the participants were ninjas and had them break bricks with their hands. As (bad) luck should have it, many participants were not ninjas, and when they attempted to punch through the bricks, they broke their hands.

Other participants at past events claim to have puked just before falling unconscious after taking part in one of Ray's many idiotic quests for cosmic harmony.

While Ray seemed content with people breaking bones and passing out, the owner of the property where the October death tent ceremony occurred tells the Washington Post that she warned Ray that he would have to change his ceremony after a similar event in 2005 left one man "severely ill."

However, she, too, seemed to see nothing wrong with trapping people in a poorly ventilated tent while piling hot rocks inside, and claims Ray made the necessary adjustment to make the ceremony safe.

Um, apparently not.

Richard Wright participated in the fatal October sweat lodge ceremony and says, before the event, Ray told those in attendance that people puking and passing out was normal.

"We all chose what we did," Wright tells the WP. "But, again, if you make a choice with only having half the story, have you really made a choice?"

Hmm, which "half of the story" enticed Mr. Wright -- the puking or the passing out?
Tags: arizona, death, james arthur ray, sedona, spiritual warrior, sweat lodg

Ramana Maharshi Talks About "I"

According to Ramana Maharshi, the pure ‘I’ is the spirit that transcends the body: “The body dies but the spirit that transcends it cannot be touched by death.”

A jnani does not fear death because he is constantly aware of the fact that in the states of dream and deep sleep also when the body lies inert with eyes closed, the Witness-Self or the Eternal ‘I-Consciousness’ does not identify with these, but sees the subtle dream world and deep sleep as being distinct from itself. Identifying himself with the Witness-Self, he experiences the exalted state of turiya, the supra-causal state of consciousness.

To whom does the world appear? For the world to exist there has to be the perceiver, ego to experience the world and talk about it. The basic difference between the waking and dream states is that while in the former the perceiver experiences the physical world through the physical body, in the latter he experiences the subtle dream world through the astral body.

The common factor between the two however is that the perceiver is present in both. But in the deep sleep state the perceiver is missing; therefore the world does not appear in this state.

The physical body was not in existence before it was born; is made up of five elements; does not appear in the deep sleep state; has both a beginning and an end; and is reduced to a corpse when the prana departs from it. Deep reflection on this leads the seeker to the conclusion that the inert, perishable body cannot shine as the Eternal ‘I-Consciousness. To gain access to the eternal ‘I’, it is important to overcome the ego, the false ‘i’, by constantly reflecting on the question: Who am ‘I’? And once the ‘I-am-the-body’ thought is eliminated through sustained inquiry and intense meditation, what remains is the resplendent, eternal Self.

Statements like ‘I was in deep sleep; I am awake; I saw a frightful dream’ go to show that ‘I’ was present in all the three states. The Eternal ‘I’ was there then, it is here now, and will be there at all times irrespective of the three states that come and go.

To a jnani who has transcended the ‘I-am-the-body’ thought, there is nothing to renounce, nothing to acquire, for he firmly and continually remains entrenched in natural samadhi wherein he realises that the endless diversities that occur in the waking and dream states are projected on his own Self.

It is akin to the screen in a movie on which different types of colourful pictures alternately appear and disappear. Sometimes one sees a huge conflagration reducing skyscrapers to ashes; at other times one sees endless waves of a turbulent sea wreaking havoc, destroying crops and countless lives. But the point is that the screen remains totally unaffected. In the same way, the occurrences of the waking, dream and deep sleep states do not impact the inner Self that has neither beginning nor end.

Sages emphasise that one should make the best of human birth by making ceaseless efforts to realise the innermost Self by directing the mind inwards. Ramana Maharshi said: “The mind turned outwards results in thoughts and objects. Turned inwards it becomes itself the Self.”

The writer is an editor with the Indian Council of Historical Research.

Free Gifts for Spirtual Seekers

MMD Newswire) December 14, 2009 -- For Christmas, 2009, natural spirituality and science of mind activities are offered online as free gifts to strengthen the humanity, the environment and peace. The activities are part of an Internet based health and spiritual guide program that adds nature's wisdom to our spiritual journey. The activities heighten spiritual enlightenment and growth via nature-connected education, psychology and spirit. They reveal spiritual laws that serve as an empirical religious science to increase spiritual growth and direction for new thought unity, healing and spiritual practice.

San Juan Island, Washington, December/14/09: To reduce our greatest disorders, Project NatureConnect and Akamai University are offering natural spirituality and science of mind activities online as free Christmas gifts to strengthen individuals, the environment and peace. Through the science of Natural Attraction Ecology (NAE), the activities enable us to correct the flawed map we presently use to chart our way to personal, social and global well-being

The activities are part of an Internet based health and spiritual guide program that adds nature's wisdom to a person's map for their spiritual journey. Their object is to offer an accurate NAE map that helps us heighten our spiritual enlightenment and growth through the use of nature connected education and psychology.

The spiritual laws in each activity serve as an empirical religious science, one that increases spiritual growth and direction for new thought unity, healing and spiritual practice.

The NAE map works because is based solely on empirical sensory facts. It helps us rectify the destructive unsubstantiated stories to which we are conditioned and improve the well being of any endeavor or relationship. The map empowers us think, feel and act sensibly by energizing 45 natural senses, sensitivities that our flawed map ignores.

By recognizing that all living things, including our planet and us, relate in attraction ways that produce optimums of life, diversity and health, the NAE map conveys that life, including our body, mind and psyche, is guided by the time tested, self-organizing and self-correcting cycles of nature that flow through, in and around us.

Dr. Michael J. Cohen, the program director and author of "Reconnecting With Nature," says "The NAE map shows that nature's streaming cycles consist of natural attraction that holds atoms as well as our solar system together. This energy is attracted to renew, restore and purify life systems. It sustains nature's balance and beauty without producing garbage, pollution, or our excessively abusive ways."

Cohen demonstrates that for survival, nature endows us to engage in and register at least 53 types of natural attractions. Our psyche experiences them as 53 natural senses and feelings. He says, "To our loss, in our exploitation of nature we usually learn to ignore or demean these sensitivities because they are nature, too."

The NAE map and activities gives us the ability to sense, think with and enjoy nature's cyclic flow. This helps natural systems keep our 53 natural attraction senses in our conscious awareness so we can make greater sense of our lives. The fulfillment of these senses by nature releases Dopamine. This produces a happiness in us that signals all is well.

Some NAE map activities are located at:
http://www.ecopsych.com/giftearthday1.html

For additional information and free materials:
Michael J. Cohen, Ph.D. www.ecopsych.com
360-378-6313
nature@interisland.net

Mashpee Tripe in Spiritual Gathering

By: Brian Kehrl

Published: 12/25/09

In the past three centuries, the Old Indian Meetinghouse has been a gathering place, a church, a spiritual stronghold for the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, a tool for Christianizing Wampanoags, and a source of great controversy past and present. But on Saturday it was a cause for celebration for a broad cross-section of Mashpee. In some cases, it was an inspiration for better days ahead.

The little white meetinghouse off Route 28, considered one of the most significant historic buildings on Cape Cod, was reopened this weekend after being closed for six years.

In a ceremony that included a ribbon-cutting, unlocking the door to the public for the first time, and a series of prayers and speeches inside, there were more than a few tears shed. There were profound statements, memories recalled, and, as tribal council leaders emphasized throughout, bridges forged across divisions.

“We have had more setbacks than we can count, but this meetinghouse has always been here,” said Mashpee Chief Vernon (Silent Drum) Lopez, in brief remarks before the opening. “It is the nucleus of our tribe.”

“This building here represents the whole beginning and ending of our tribe. It has stood here with strength and dignity throughout,” he said. “We have always considered it a home.”

The building looks stronger now than it has for many years. The $1 million-plus reconstruction project, which included money from the tribe, the town, the state, the federal government, and other tribes, has restored the building so that it will stand the test of time.

Whereas just two years ago the building was covered in tar paper, its condition considered a dark blemish by many in the tribe and the town, the old church now looks heavenly. Under the bright sun on Tuesday morning this week, after the snowstorm that blew in a few hours after the reopening ceremony on Saturday at 11 AM, the building and the grounds gleamed almost iridescently against a bright blue sky.

The history of the Indian church in some ways illustrates the tribe’s complicated experiences with European settlement and the founding of the town. Tribe members said it at once represents perseverance through great travails, as well as the contact with European civilization that wrecked life as their ancestors knew it.

It is one of the only Indian meetinghouses remaining in the state, one of dozens built in the effort to convert Native Americans in New England to Christianity during the 17th and 18th centuries. It was part of Mashpee becoming a “praying town.”

“It is a standing testament to the last 300 and some odd years of colonialism. And that is important, because the building has weathered that colonial period. And we have weathered it,” said Jessie (Little Doe) Baird, a tribe member who gave the opening remarks in the church.

“To become a praying town meant salvation for Indian tribes,” she said, in that it protected them in war and gave them rights that the colonial governments did not afford to non-converted tribes.

“I could feel something coming for the last week or so, like before it opened. I can’t really explain it, but I could feel myself filling up again with hope. And I am wondering if it is the same as for the other people that last time,” she said.

The Reverend Curtis W. Frye Jr., the pastor at the Mashpee Baptist Church, who traces his ancestry back to an influential preacher at the meetinghouse, represents the confluence between the Wampanoags and Christianity. In remarks at the opening ceremony, he thanked the Creator and prayed to God for the unity of the Wampanoag people for years to come.

Cedric Cromwell, chairman of the tribal council, used the opportunity Saturday to issue repeated calls for unity. He lavished praise upon David L. Pocknett Sr., the former vice chairman who helped oversee the restoration of the building before his term expired in February

He urged those in attendance to stow away their feelings on Saturday, to be drawn upon in the future. “It is a rebirth in Mashpee,” he said.

Mr. Pocknett, in turn, said that moving forward the tribe should use the meetinghouse to set the standard for cooperation. “This is unification,” he said.

Mr. Pocknett and Mark Harding, the tribal council treasurer and Mr. Pocknett’s replacement as tribal council liaison to the project, both emphasized the need to maintain the building. “Let us never again take this building for granted and never see these doors locked again,” Mr. Harding said.

That unification was on display with the mere presence of Mr. Pocknett, who has never been close to Mr. Cromwell’s administration. “We all have a stake in this,” Mr. Pocknett said.

Ed Peters, a tribe member and operations manager for C.H. Newton who supervised the project, said, “This was the most ultimate project I have ever done in my life.”

“I have never seen more people proud like this,” he said.

However, despite the calls for unity, missing from the event were Shawn W. Hendricks Sr., the former tribal council chairman, and most of the former employees and other dissidents who have been challenging Mr. Cromwell’s administration since the election in February.

Amelia G. Bingham, a tribe member who helped spearhead a renovation of the building in the 1950s, also did not attend the event. In a recent interview about the building’s history, she criticized aspects of the restoration.

She questioned the decision to use mahogany, an extraordinarily hard wood chosen for its durability and resistance to rot, for the doors and windows, arguing that it is a foreign wood that would not have been used when the church was first built. She likewise questioned the decision to use a steel beam to support the structure, arguing that the building stood for all these years without steel, so it should not be used now.

Much of the structure is new, from the steel beam to the posts now hidden inside the walls.

But interior of the approximately 35-by-35 foot building—the pews, the floor, the beams—were all salvaged from the church prior to the restoration and returned to their original locations, according to Stephen J. Viglas, a project supervisor for C.H. Newton who worked on the meetinghouse.

The floorboards look ancient, and the pews equally so, with names and doodles scraped into the blond wood.

“We made sure that stuff stayed, because that is the character of this building,” Mr. Pocknett said.

The building houses a single large meeting room, a small entry area, and a small second-floor gallery.

The exterior of the building is marked by Greek revival-style of architecture, though it is likely not the original style.

Several tribe members remarked on the indescribable feeling inside the building. “Listen to the quiet,” said Earl (Chief Flying Eagle) Mills Sr.

He recalled coming to the meetinghouse for the ceremonies in which tribe members are given their Indian names; of “Richard Bourne Sundays” called to honor the 17th-century missionary who helped the tribe gain political autonomy and real estate; of walking down to the brook nearby to fetch water for the minister’s glass.

The reopening also evoked a sense of unity between the town and the tribe, with three selectmen and other representatives of town government on hand for the event.

Town officials and residents involved in historical preservation have expressed hope that the meetinghouse, the South Mashpee One-Room Schoolhouse, the archives, and later the tribe’s museum off Route 130 can be turned into a sort of historical tourism corridor, at once displaying Mashpee’s history and attracting visitors to town.

Mr. Cromwell said it is not yet clear how the building will be used, when it will be open, and other details of its future. He said a committee would be formed to make those decisions.

The tribe pledged in its application for financial assistance from the town Community Preservation Committee that the building would be open to the public.

Rosemary H. Burns, a member of the Mashpee Historical Commission who has questioned some previously accepted aspects of the meetinghouse history, attended the event on Saturday. “I was awed,” she said. “It was so beautifully done. Having seen it in its disrepair before, I thought it looked wonderful.”

Ms. Burns said her reaction is summed up by “Mashpee Shines”—a reference to the 1930s-era rally song “Mashpee Will Shine Tonight,” recently sung by a group of schoolchildren at the reopening of the one-room schoolhouse. “Won’t she look so neat tonight, dressed up so fine/When the sun goes down and the moon comes up, Mashpee will shine,” the song goes, according to Mashpee’s 125th anniversary book prepared by Ms. Burns.

“Mashpee has so few old buildings. You know, you go to Sandwich or you go to Falmouth and there are so beautifully restored old homes. And Mashpee has so few remembrances of the past. The meetinghouse is Mashpee’s history,” she said this week. “It was a gathering place, and will be again for the Mashpee people.”
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Spirit Sunday Worship Locations

Church Services
Oroville Mercury-Register
Posted: 12/25/2009 09:28:42 PM PST

OROVILLE Saturday services:

Seventh-Day Adventist Church, 1180 Robinson St.: Worship service; 10:45 a.m. Pastor Larry Kostenko. 533-4461.

YANKEE HILL Saturday services:

Seventh-Day Adventist Church, 3861 Detlow Road, 1Ú4 mile off Highway 70: Worship services; 9:30 and 11 a.m.

BERRY CREEK Sunday services:

Whispering Pines Chapel, 60 Whispering Chapel Lane, behind the Berry Creek Post Office: Sunday worship service; 11 a.m. Pastor Brad Long. Interdenominational church.

BANGOR Sunday services:

Bangor Community Church, 7419 Oro-Bangor Highway: Worship service with message from Pastor Bruce Chikalla; 10 a.m. Theologically conservative, Bible-believing church affiliated with pastoral leadership from Village Missions. (www.village-missions.org).

OROVILLE Sunday services:

Baha I Faith: Casual service of prayer and devotion with readings from all faiths; 1-2 p.m. 534-7674.

Bible Christian Center, 2133 Monte Vista Ave.: Sunday services; 10:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. Sunday Youth service; 5 p.m. Pastor Layne Horton. 532-4600.

Calvary Baptist Church, 2376 and 2377 Foothill Blvd.: Worship service; 10:30 a.m. Pastor Doug Taylor. 533-7320.

Calvary Chapel, 3723 Ashley Ave.: Worship services with message from Pastor Bob Scott; 8:30 and 10:30 a.m. 533-1535.

Calvary Evangelical Lutheran, Foothill Boulevard and Edgewood Drive: Worship with message from Pastor Mark Rabe; 9 a.m. Scripture: Luke 2:33-40. 533-5017. Spiritual Living, 5250 Olive Highway, Suite J, by the Lakeside Market: "Where do We go From Here?" from the Rev. Pat Ballard; 10:30 a.m. Metaphysical Bookstore is open to public. 589-9719 or www.orovilleCRS.com. Thursday, Dec. 31: New Year's Eve celebration open to the public; 8 p.m. Bring your favorite snacks.

Christian Science, in the Reading Room, 1940 Bird St.: Sunday Bible lesson sermon, "Christian Science;" 10-11 a.m. Sentinel radio broadcast on KSTE 650 AM, "I will do a New Thing;" 7:30 a.m. Bookstore, reading and study rooms open Wednesdays and Fridays; 11 a.m.-1 p.m. 533-1274.

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints: Services: Oroville 1st Ward, 2390 Monte Vista Ave.; 11:30 a.m. Bishop Tom Robertson, 533-4681. Oroville 3rd Ward, 2390 Monte Vista Ave., 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m., Bishop Tom Gravison, 589-4157. Table Mountain 1st Ward, 167 Table Mountain Blvd., 9 a.m. Sunday school; 10:50 a.m. Sacrament meeting, Bishop Ray Nelson, 534-4282. Table Mountain Hmong Branch, 167 Table Mountain Blvd., 1 p.m. 533-2005. Sacrament meeting, 2:10 p.m. President Vang Choua Chue, 532-0942. Missionaries conduct meeting house tours; call 403-7406 or 403-7043. Family History Center, 2390 Monte Vista Ave., open to public 2-5 p.m., 6-9 p.m. Tuesdays-Thursdays.

Cornerstone Bible Chapel, 4122 Big Bend Road, Yankee Hill: Worship service with message from Pastor John Murphy; 11 a.m. 533-4053.

East Hills Church, 3210 Heritage Road: Worship service with message from Pastor Jim Lightle; 10:15 a.m. contemporary. Relaxed, casual church. www.easthillschurch.com.

Evangelical Free Church, 3785 Olive Highway: "Getting Ready," from Pastor John Bronson; 9 a.m. Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 4:9-12, 5:1-11. No evening Vespers service. 533-6866; office@evfreeoroville.com; www.evfreeoroville.com.

Father's House Church, 2833 Ft. Wayne St.: Sunday service with message from Pastor Steve Orsillo; 10 a.m. 534-4140.

First Assembly of God, 3210 Oro Dam Blvd.: Sunday services with message from the Rev. E.E. Smith; 11 a.m. and 6 p.m. 533-4707.

First Baptist Church, 2661 Yard St.: Worship service with message, "Consider Your Ways;" 11 a.m. Scripture: Proverbs 16:3. Bible based, Christ centered and life related church. 533-6197.

First Congregational Church, UCC (United Church of Christ), 1715 Bird St. at Oak Street: Worship service with message from Pastor Jerry Hambleton; 10 a.m. The church is part of the United Church of Christ. 533-2483; www.fccorville.org.

First United Methodist, 45 Acacia Ave.: Hmong worship; 8:45 a.m. English worship with message, "Simeon and Anna Song of Expectant Hope," from the Rev. Donna Van Maanens; 10:30 a.m. Scripture: Isaiah 9:2-7, Luke 2:22-38. 534-9455.

Foothill Boulevard Church of Christ, 2295 Foothill Blvd.: Sunday service with message from Pastor John Taylor; 10 a.m. Non-denominational Christian church.

Foothill Community Church, Free Methodist, 2475 Foothill Blvd.: Worship services with message from Pastor Phil Gilmore; 9 and 11 a.m. www.foothillchurch.com.

Freedom Ministries Family Bible Church, 1720 Daryl Porter Way: Worship service; 10 a.m. Come as you are. 533-3749.

Grace Baptist, 3606 Oro Dam Blvd.: Worship service with message from Pastor John Craig; 11 a.m. and 6 p.m. 533-1456 or www.graceoroville.org.

Harvest Christian Fellowship, Greater Oroville Resource Center, 1720 Daryl Porter Way: Worship service with message from Pastor Billy Bond; 1 p.m. 712-0502.

Harvest Community, 2250 Fifth Ave.: Sunday services; 10:30 a.m. Contemporary worship and relational teaching.

Lifespring Foursquare Church, 3330 Orange Ave.: Worship service with message from Pastor Ted Lienhard; 10 a.m. 532-1234.

New Home Missionary Baptist, 4380 Lower Wyandotte Road: Worship service with message from the Rev. Timothy E. Harrison; 11:15 a.m. 534-6518.

New Hope Missionary Baptist, 5640 Lincoln Blvd.: "Lord, All My Desire is Before Thee," from Pastor James Taylor; 11 a.m. Scripture: Proverbs 13:19, Psalm 21:2, 38:9. Evening service with message from Elder Bill DeVore; 5 p.m. 533-7692 or www.newhopembc.org/.

New Life Church, 965 Grand Ave.: Worship services; 10:30 a.m. and 6 p.m. Pastors Ken and Brenda Malone. 534-6816.

Olive Hill Missionary Baptist Church, 200 Executive Parkway, behind hospital: Pastor Aaron Bryan continues his sermon series, "Mysteries of the Bible Revealed;" 10:50 a.m. and 5 p.m. 282-6554.

Oroville Church of the Nazarene, 2238 Monte Vista Ave.: Worship service with message from Pastor Dennis Day; 9 and 10:45 a.m. 533-7464.

St. Paul's Episcopal Church, 1430 Pine St.: Worship service with message from the Rev. David Englund; 9 a.m. classic service with Communion. Prayer Garden at 1454 Pine St.; walk the Labyrinth. 533-5035 or www.stpaulgold.org.

St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church, 1330 Bird St.: Masses; Sunday 8:15 a.m. and 10:30 a.m.; 12:30 p.m. in Challenge. Pastor Rolan Pabellan. 533-0262.

Taylor Memorial Christian Methodist Episcopal Church, 1957 B St.: Worship service with message from the Rev. Darlene Goodson; 11 a.m.

Temple of Praise, Pastors John and Lorrie Frazier; Sunday service 2:30 p.m. (followed by free dinner). Homegrown church, affiliated with the Pentecostal Evangelical Church. Casual. 370-7516.

Trinity Presbyterian Church, 2350 Foothill Blvd.: Worship service with message from the Rev. Stan Henderson; 10:15 a.m. 534-0354.

Unity of Oroville, 1321 Robinson St.: "Lulls and Leaps," from spiritual leader Robyn Plante; 10 a.m. Licensed Unity Teacher, Robyn Plante, by appointment Thursdays, Sundays. Peace Pole garden, labyrinth and Zen garden open every day to public. 533-8696 or orovilleunity@sbcglobal.net. New Year's Eve service, Dec. 31: Burning Bowl ceremony; 7 p.m.

Wynn Memorial C.O.G.I.C., 2528 D St.: Sunday service with message from Bishop Albert Balbraith; 11 a.m.

PALERMO Sunday services:

Christian Faith Center, 7695 Melvina Ave. at Williams Avenue: Sunday service; 10:30 a.m. 532-1215 or www.cfcoroville.org.

Palermo Baptist Church, 2290 Kenilworth Ave.: Worship service with message from Pastor Peter Wooten; 11 a.m. 533-8197.

Palermo Bible Family Church, 2570 N. Villa: Sunday services; 9:30 and 11 a.m. and 6 p.m. Rev. and Mrs. Michael Jacobsen, pastors. www.pbfcpcg.net or e-mail pbfcpcg@sbcglobal.net.

THERMALITO Sunday services:

Thermalito Baptist Church, 1443 10th St. at Nevada Street: Sunday service with ministry and music from Associate Pastor Hank and Vicki Maphet; 10:30 a.m. 533-1713, 534-6795. Service followed by a potluck, birthday celebrations and singing.

Sunday Mass to Spirit on Christmas Weekend

Archbishop Edwin F. O'Brien, the 15th archbishop of Baltimore, boasts a religious career that spans four decades on several continents, including work as a combat chaplain in the U.S. military. On October 1, 2007, O'Brien was installed as leader of the Baltimore region's half-million Catholics. He succeeded Cardinal William H. Keeler, who held the post for 18 years. O'Brien was born April 8, 1939, in the Bronx, N.Y. After receiving a bachelor's degree and two master's degrees from St. Joseph's Seminary, O'Brien was ordained as a priest on May 29, 1965. The church assigned him as a civilian chaplain at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Five years later, at the height of the Vietnam War in 1970, h... Show more »
Edwin F. O'Brien, the 15th archbishop of Baltimore, boasts a religious career that spans four decades on several continents, including work as a combat chaplain in the U.S. military. On October 1, 2007, O'Brien was installed as leader of the Baltimore region's half-million Catholics. He succeeded Cardinal William H. Keeler, who held the post for 18 years. O'Brien was born April 8, 1939, in the Bronx, N.Y. After receiving a bachelor's degree and two master's degrees from St. Joseph's Seminary, O'Brien was ordained as a priest on May 29, 1965. The church assigned him as a civilian chaplain at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Five years later, at the height of the Vietnam War in 1970, he joined the Army and attained the rank of captain, taking flight training that required him to parachute out of airplanes. From 1971 to 1972 he served a tour of duty in Vietnam with the 173rd Airborne Brigade and the 1st Calvary Brigade. He pursued a doctoral degree in Rome and returned to New York, where he would spend the bulk of his career from 1976 to 1997. During his time there he coordinated the New York visit of Pope John Paul II and, as secretary to Cardinal Terence Cooke, had to endure the painful job of attending to the ailing head of the New York archdiocese. « Show less

Santa Communicating with the Kids

This is the day millions of people turn to the NORAD Santa Tracker instead of tracking the Senate health care bill or keeping track of Tiger's mistresses or Sarah Palin's latest screaming headlines.

Whew. What a relief to change directions, even if only for 24 hours of spirited celebration. Giving surges to the forefront. Churches attract their biggest attendance of the year. Prayers uncounted lift off from grateful hearts.

For some, the day will really be no different, however. Anne Graham Lotz, the powerful Bible-teaching daughter of evangelist Billy Graham, has spent years of her life tracking the spiritual path of Abraham the patriarch.

Her newest book, The Magnificent Obsession, writes that Abraham's gift to future generations is the lesson of the joy and necessity of total obedience to God. Not easy. God, she writes, "can be hard to listen to."

There's a passage that particularly caught my attention because I recalled a conversation with Lotz years ago when she mentioned that each year she forces herself out of her comfort zone to reach out to someone.

In her new book, she writes:

In times past, God has commanded me to love someone who has rejected me, to forgive someone who has wronged me, to serve someone who resents me, to help someone who has not helped me, to remain silent and absorb unjust abuse.

It may seem incongruous to talk about the painful challenges of faith on the eve of Christian's celebration of the birth of Christ, whom they believe was God's greatest gift -- and God's ultimate sacrifice as the Son who came to die for humanity's sins.

So somewhere in the groundswell of Christmas music, you can also track the mournful note, foreshadowing Easter to come. Somewhere in the partying and present-unwrapping glee of the next 24 hours, you can glimpse people who have humbled themselves to give sacrificially to others all year long.

Take today to thank them, bless them -- and tell us about them here, if you like -- and may your Christmas -- or any holy day you celebrate -- be full of joy.

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/Religion/post/2009/12/norad-santa-tracker-christmas-eve-billy-graham/1

Christmas Full On

ARCADIA —

Dear Editor:
Here it is that time of year again for everyone to get in the Christmas spirit. Did you know you can have spirit 365 days a year. Christmas is giving from the heart and not receiving. Look around, there are always ways to help people. Go to visit a rest home or shut-in neighbor and sit and talk for a while, smile, listen, hug them and hold their hand. Sometimes you’re all they see.
The other morning I looked out my front door and there was a lady picked up sticks for her fireplace to keep warm, so I picked up some and took them to her. You don’t have to have money to help people. Just be there for them. When I go by the Salvation Army pot I always have to put something in it. Change makes a difference in peoples’ lives. So when you go by a Salvation Army kettle drop something in. It helps someone.
The Toys for Tots is a wonderful thing because children wake up Christmas morning and have a present under the tree. Christmas is about the birth of Jesus Christ for without him we would have nothing. So take your children to church and teach them how to love, give and be kind to people.
Love your family, kiss and hug them and tell them you love them every day and how special they are. Everyone loves kindness. So God bless all of you and merry Christmas and be safe. God bless our men and women serving our country.
Ernestine Ward Berkey
Arcadia

Christmas Spirit in Kentucky

The Christmas Spirit

Volunteers spend hours wrapping presents for needy children

By Samantha Swindler / Managing Editor

Volunteers spent hours wrapping Christmas presents for the Empty Stocking Fund Monday night — presents that will be in the hands of needy children by this afternoon.

“We just had so much good fortune for ourselves, we just want to give something back,” said volunteer wrapper Trish Webb, a mountain of Barbie dolls by her side. “...There’s so many children who don’t have anything for this time of year, and it’s just nice to be able to see them get something and be excited about it.”

Sarah Tipton, a Rotarian scholar now studying at Transylvania University, has been wrapping Empty Stocking toys since she was seven years old.

“I just feel like it’s a good way to give back and it’s something anyone can do,” she said. “Anyone can wrap gifts.”

The annual Empty Stocking program, sponsored by the Rotary Club of Corbin and the Times-Tribune, will serve just under 700 children from the Corbin area this year. Organizer Joe Caldwell said 795 children signed up but only 681 were ultimately able to be served by the program. Those remaining, he said, were referred to other charities in the area that provide Christmas gifts.

“Right now, community-wide, through Empty Stocking Fund, Grace on the Hill, Sacred Heart, T.J. Memorial Toy Run and American Legion Auxiliary, we’re at 1,318 children, total” being served, said organizer Christina Bentley.

The toys purchased with Empty Stocking donations will be distributed to children today at a Christmas party at Forest Lanes in Corbin. Lt. Gov. Daniel Mongiardo is expected to make an appearance and help distribute some of the toys.

Additionally, 34 bicycles and helmets donated by Waste Connections in Laurel County will also be raffled off among participating children in the appropriate age range.

The Rotary Club spent more money on toys than they had raised, and organizers are counting on additional donations to trickle in to the Empty Stocking Fund before the end of the year.

“We are probably $10,000 short of our goal right now, but ... last year we got money after the Christmas party from people who were able to sit down and write checks and took them as a tax deduction... We got $8,000 or $9,000 last year,” Caldwell said.

People who want to help provide Christmas gifts to needy children should mail checks payable to Southeast Kentucky Empty Stocking Fund, P.O. Box 1789, Corbin, KY 40702-1789. Donations are tax deductible. For more information, call Rotary Club members Christina Bentley, 528-7523 or Joe Caldwell, 606-878-7935.

Christmas Spirit Alive

Dixie Frantz
Two Sundays ago our church had their annual “Sharing Sunday.” Every year for as long as I can remember parishioners have brought festively wrapped Christmas gifts which are distributed to hundreds of needy parishes throughout the Houston area. The Frantz family saves all year the pennies jingling in their pockets, nickels at the bottom of purses, dimes hangin’ out in backpacks, and yes, even a bunch of quarters found between the couch cushions.

We have a couple of old glass milk bottles that should have been returned for deposit decades ago camped out right next to the microwave so it’s plenty handy for collection purposes. It’s amazing how much change we managed to accumulate again this year, along with a bunch of funny-looking foreign coins that the Coin Star machine rejected.

My favorite part is the shopping, and the least … well … the wrapping part to be sure. Besides the exceptional toys, it’s why I shop at a neighborhood toy store that does the wrapping for me. It’s not that I’m exactly lazy. I’m just a terrible wrapper upper. My family can attest to that fact. Look under our Christmas tree and they can all point to which presents have been wrapped by mom. Next year I should definitely take lessons.

Personally, I like to purchase lots of baby dolls for our “Sharing Sunday.” I’ll never forget when I was probably 4 or 5 how I loved my baby doll. I remember how my little sister, Mary and I, used to bring our dolls over to my grandmother’s house and she would make doll clothes for them. My grandmother was always fragile in health. She was also Dutch and couldn’t speak a word of English. But she sure could give the best hugs … and make some pretty awesome doll clothes. That memory still makes me smile.

It was a few weeks back I happened to be chattin’ with Barbara. She’s a lovely lady I know that works in transportation in our school district. She was Mimi’s, our special child’s bus driver for a couple of years and a real jewel … we’re talkin’ flawless diamond quality. I was tellin’ Barbara that I was getting ready to buy a bunch of baby dolls when she told me about the Secret Pal group she has belonged to for the past 15 years.

“For years our group in transportation used to just exchange gifts amongst ourselves. Then about 5 or 6 years ago everyone decided we had enough gifts and wouldn’t it be nice to do something for others. I mean some kids don’t get anything for Christmas,” said Barbara.

Because of confidentiality rules, their group contacted a school nurse at one of the needier elementary schools in the district. It was there the Secret Pals “adopted” a young boy that they helped all year long, for several years, with school clothes and gift cards for toys and food. The lad has since moved on to middle school.

“We always wished we knew who the child was. The nurse had told us that sometimes the family had to sleep in their car,” Barbara told me.

This year the Secret Pals in the transportation department adopted a local shelter.

“We noticed that the rooms were so plain-looking when we went over there so we provided bedspreads, pictures for the walls and flower arrangements. One of the ladies sews and made some crib sheets out of full-size sheets,” said Barbara.

This year the Secret Pals gave gifts to the volunteers at the shelter.

“This was our first Christmas adopting the shelter so we helped put up a tree and decorated and gave all the volunteers watches,” Barbara told me.

Just so you don’t think the rest of the transportation department in the district is resting on their holly bushes, did you know that they are providing Christmas presents to all the Pre-K and kindergarten at three local needy schools? Makes your heart feel kinda full don’t it?

Say … did you hear that jingle? It’s a day or two early for Santa’s sleigh bells so that is not what’s jinglin’. Actually, that was the sound of coinage hitting the bottom of the old milk jug by our microwave. No time like the present to get started on next year’s Sharing Sunday baby doll extravaganza. May your Christmas be merry!

Dixie Frantz is a long-time Kingwood resident and newspaper columnist since 1996. E-mail Dixie with your comments at dfrantz@ourtribune.com.
© 2008 Ourtribune.com
http://ourtribune.com/article.php?id=8925

Spiritual Father Grand Ayatollah Dies in Iran

By ALI AKBAR DAREINI and JASON KEYSER (AP) – 3 hours ago

TEHRAN, Iran — The spiritual father of Iran's reform movement died Sunday at the age of 87, prompting thousands of his followers to immediately head to the holy city where the dissident cleric is to be buried.

A huge display of mourning for Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri could transform his funeral Monday into another display of power by the opposition, whose activists have for months defied a brutal crackdown, a mass trial and abuses in detention to denounce the country's hard-line clerical rulers. Opposition leaders called for people to turn out for a day of mourning.

Police reinforcements were also called out into the streets of Qom, the religious center south of the capital where Monday's commemorations will take place, an opposition Web site reported, and a prominent government critic who was one of Montazeri's students was arrested on his way to the city, a human rights group said.

Authorities also banned foreign journalists from traveling there to cover the events.

Montazeri was a key figure in the 1979 Islamic Revolution who later accused his fellow clerical leaders of imposing dictatorship in the name of Islam. His criticism persisted after June's disputed presidential election ignited a new wave of anti-government protest.

In particular, he opened the door to direct condemnation of the ruling clerics, a bold step that energized Iran's young activists. In August, he decried the "despotic treatment" of protesters at the hands of the ruling theocracy. A month later, he accused the regime of committing "crimes ... in name of Islam."

Despite his stature, Montazeri's death is not likely to have a profound impact on the opposition movement, which has moved past allegations of vote rigging to assert that the entire ruling system has been corrupted, said Abdulkhaleq Abdulla, a professor of political science at the United Arab Emirates University.

"I think the current opposition movement has gone way beyond and above what Montazeri was standing for," Abdulla said.

But his strong denunciations against Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei helped break the taboos against such criticism and pushed the protesters into bolder acts of defiance. In demonstrations earlier this month, students shouted "Death to the dictator!" and burned pictures of Khamenei.

Khamenei issued a statement of condolence Sunday that contained a mixed message.

He praised Montazeri as an outstanding jurist, but added that he hoped God would forgive him for what he called Montazeri's "crucial test," a reference to his falling out two decades ago with the Islamic Republic's founder, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. The split between those two men led to a long government campaign to marginalize Montazeri that included five years of house arrest in which security agents were posted just outside his front door.

Montazeri's grandson, Nasser Montazeri, said he died in his sleep overnight. The Web site of Iranian state television quoted doctors as saying Montazeri had suffered from asthma and arteriosclerosis, a disease that thickens and hardens arteries.

Police increased their presence in the city of Qom, where he is to be buried, according to the pro-reform Web site Rah-e Sabz.

Authorities there faced a difficult choice over whether to try to prevent an outpouring at the funeral that could turn into another opposition street protest. Doing so risks serious backlash from an influential group of clerics based in Qom who are among the current leadership's critics.

The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran said one of Montazeri's followers and a government critic, Ahmad Ghabel, was arrested while driving to Qom with his family to attend the funeral. The New York-based group called on the government not to interfere in the commemorations.

Another prominent critic, filmmaker Mohammad Nourizad, was arrested on a charge of insulting officials, the state news agency IRNA reported Sunday. Nourizad, once a conservative government supporter, wrote a letter of protest to Khamenei in September urging him to apologize to the nation for the postelection crackdown.

The opposition's leader, Mir Hossein Mousavi, called Montazeri's death "a great loss," but said he is hopeful other clerics will fill the gap left behind and answer the needs of Iran's younger generation.

Mousavi's claims that fraud deprived him of the presidency in the June 12 election set off weeks of street protests.

He and another defeated pro-reform candidate, Mahdi Karroubi, called for a day of mourning and urged people to join Monday's funeral of "the legend of jurisprudence and spirituality."

Montazeri had once been designated to succeed Ayatollah Khomeini, the late founder of Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution, as the supreme leader. But the two men clashed a few months before Khomeini died of cancer in 1989.

Montazeri was one of the leaders of the revolution and he helped draft the nation's new constitution, which was based on a concept called velayat-e faqih, or rule by Islamic jurists. That concept enshrined a political role for Islamic clerics in the new system.

But a deep ideological rift soon developed with Khomeini. Montazeri envisioned the Islamic experts as advisers to the government who should not have outright control to rule themselves. He was also among those clerics who believed the power of the supreme leader comes from the people, not from God.

Taking an opposing view, Khomeini and his circle of clerics consolidated absolute power.

The two men also diverged over Khomeini's fatwa, or religious decree, calling for Salman Rushdie to be killed for writing "The Satanic Verses." And Montazeri sharply criticized a wave of executions of political prisoners in the late 1980s.

During that period, Montazeri was gradually stripped of his official duties and became the focus of a high-level campaign to undermine his credentials as a leader and theologian.

In 1997, Montazeri was placed under house arrest in Qom, 80 miles (130 kilometers) south of Tehran, after saying Khamenei wasn't qualified to rule.

The penalty was lifted in 2003, but Montazeri remained defiant, saying the freedom that was supposed to follow the 1979 revolution never happened.

Keyser reported from Cairo. Associated Press Writers Nasser Karimi in Tehran and Brian Murphy in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Spirit Sunday in Wildwood

By CAROLINE KLAPPER, DAILY SUN

WILDWOOD — The Christmas spirit got a big boost last Sunday at Rock of Ages Lutheran Church.

For the first time, the church put on a special Christmas cantata full of music and singing.

The cantata tells the story of the birth of Jesus through narration and song, which for choir leader Winnie Dixon, is the best way to celebrate the holidays.

“I love music, (and) for this church, they never had anything like this,” she said.

Creating a community cantata

Rock of Ages didn’t even really have a choir before Dixon came up with the idea to create a Christmas cantata.



She said she had been noticing several good voices among the congregation, and when she brought up the idea of forming a choir for the cantata, everyone was excited about the plan.

“They’ve got a lot of talent in this church,” Dixon said. “They all wanted to really be a group. They really inspired me.”

The event was planned not only as a celebration of Christmas, but also as a way to bring the community into the church.

According to the Rev. Zachariah Harris III, pastor at Rock of Ages, the cantata achieved both goals.

“It’s the whole spirit of being able to celebrate the story of Christmas in all kinds of different ways,” he said. “It’s a way for us to get the community ready for the coming of Jesus at Christmas time.”

The Wildwood community also played a big part in bringing the cantata to life, because many of the evening’s performers were from other churches in the area.

Such community spirit is wonderful to see at this time of year, Harris said.

“It stretched across different churches and congregations,” he added. “Subsequently, it was Rock of Ages’ gift to the community. It’s our congregation reaching out to the community.”

Joining the celebration

More than 100 people attended the event, often singing along with the choir to “Silent Night,” “Joy to the World,” “Away in a Manger,” “Mary Did You Know?” and other Christmas songs.

The evening closed with everyone standing up to sing “Amen” together with obvious enjoyment.

For choir member Dolores Riel, the cantata was a perfect way for the church to start the Christmas season.

“I think it’s important not only to honor Jesus at this time of year, but also to get the Christmas spirit out to everyone,” she said. “It’s a really spiritual booster.”

Her favorite part of the evening was singing “Amen” with all of the other people in attendance, because she said it represented the sense of community the small church is trying to promote.

“You could see, at the last (song), everyone was joining in,” Riel said. “We want to try to get the word out to them (the community) that we’re here.”

Dixon agreed that the cantata was a success, adding, “It seems that everybody left in a happy mood. Everybody was in a joyous mood.”

The community is invited to attend the next special event at Rock of Ages Lutheran church, the Christmas Eve candlelight service, which starts at 7 p.m.

Rock of Ages Lutheran Church is at 201 Barwick St. in Wildwood. Sunday services are at 8:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. The Christmas Eve candlelight service begins at 7 p.m.

Caroline Klapper is a reporter with the Daily Sun. She can be reached at 753-1119, ext. 9018, or caroline.klapper@thevillagesmedia.com.

Christmas is Coming

OSKALOOSA — The Christmas spirit will fill George Daily Auditorium Sunday afternoon as The Oskaloosa Symphony Orchestra presents “The Music of Christmas.”

Conductor Tony Chang will direct the orchestra, the Oskaloosa Symphony Chorus, the Oskaloosa High School Orchestra and Choir, and the Oskaloosa Elementary Choir in the concert.

Chang also will turn his baton over to six celebrity guest conductors who are vying for the honor of directing the symphony in a song. The guest conductor competition is an annual fund-raiser for the orchestra. The guest conductor contestants are Dave Krutzfeldt, Barb Finney, Tim Breon, Andy Davis, Eric Dursky and Steve Noah.

Tickets are: Adults, $12; Students, $7; and Family, $24.

Swami The Good Life

And their beliefs rest on some absurd superstitions. Or mere assertions which bear no proof. And now they find it difficult to question their veracity.

Following this trend humanity has reached a perilous state. People must wake up. Realise the emergent need to develop, strengthen the intellect. The process of thinking should have started from an early age. Having failed to do so, at least start the process now. Develop the art of thinking. Follow it up with the study of the impeccable truths of life. Delve deep into the truths. Accept those that appeal to logic and reason. Apply them in practical living. Adopt this procedure all through life. It will enable you to build your intellect. Nobel laureate Albert Einstein has observed: Intellectual growth should commence at birth and cease only at death.

Humans need a strong intellect to exercise the right choice of action in life. The world presents endless trials and tribulations. The human species alone is provided with an intellect to fight against and surmount mundane challenges. All other species, devoid of intellect, are helpless victims of the rigours of the external world. A powerful intellect helps humans overpower these onslaughts.

But the role of the human intellect does not end there. Far above its suzerainty in the world the intellect has the unique capacity to even transcend the world and reach the ultimate state of spiritual Enlightenment. No other creature save humans can conceive, much less achieves that exalted state. You must make good use of the intellect to attain this very purpose of human birth.

Unaware of the dire need to build the intellect, people entertain themselves with merely reading others’ periodicals and publications. They indulge in the mere length of study. Just poring over pages of literature apathetic towards the message therein or its deeper implications if any. Rare indeed are the ones who go into the depth of study. Thus little is assimilated, absorbed by the readers. People have been mere educated robots for generations. And have been traversing through life without knowing the meaning and purpose of it.

The world abounds in personalities with one-sided development. Intelligence and no intellect. An example of one such person suffering from this human imbalance is a renowned scientist. He is an alcoholic and his liver is damaged. He is extremely short-tempered and his blood pressure has shot up. And he is stressed, unable to face even the petty challenges of the world. Just reflect over his state. Analyse his personality carefully. He is a brilliant scientist with profound knowledge of his subject.

He has acquired abundant intelligence but never cared to develop his intellect. His intellect has always remained weak. It lacks the strength to handle the multifarious demands of the mind. His mind craves for alcohol. His intellect is not powerful enough to control the nagging desire. So too his mind raves in foul temper. His frail intellect is unable to control its ravings. And when his mind is humiliated, strained and stressed by the problems confronting it, his mere intelligence looks on helplessly.

On the contrary, there are luminaries possessing awesome intellects which hold their minds under perfect control. Some of them possess no academic qualification but academies are built around them.

It is time the world woke up to the urgent need to develop the intellect. Only then can we save ourselves from impeding self-destruction and evolve to spiritual perfection.

(Extracted from The Fall of the Human Intellect by Swami Parthasarathy.)

Morroco is a Source for Spiritual Enlightenment

Author: Frank Romano:Publisher: World Audience Inc: ISBN: 978-1-934209-43-1

From the very first pages of Frank Romano's Storm Over Morocco, this autobiographical memoir and travelogue of one man's spiritual search rivets you with drama, and rarely lets up over the next 341 pages.

After a silence of over thirty years, Romano decided to recount a period of his student days in the mid-1970s when he spent three months in a mosque in Morocco hoping to find truth, combat and conquer his prejudices and at the same time find the spirit of God.

Before chronicling the brainwashing he endured in Morocco under the tutorship of Islamic fanatics, Romano briefly describes his brief stint as a big brother or counselor for delinquents in the Anderson Horse Ranch in California. After leaving the ranch, Romano enrolled in pre-law courses at Santa Rosa Junior College where he decided he wanted to learn everything about French culture. This passion in turn led him to Paris for his senior year where he studied philosophy at the Sorbonne and lived for three years.

It was in Paris where Romano befriended two Moroccans, who described to him the beauty of their native country where, if he journeyed, he would be surrounded by God's people chanting the Qur'an. As they informed him, it is in Morocco where he would find truth, away from the harsh, impersonal Parisian streets. Romano was determined to seek the universal religion and he began to think to himself that perhaps the answer lies in the Islamic religion. He persuaded himself that he needed to travel far away to find the path that would lead him to the truth. Romano informs us that he needed to know " if there was something beyond the superficial nightclubbing, strobe light illuminated world of beer and hot dog-a world where values were ridiculed or ignored, and human life was sacrificed in the kind of meaningless violence he had sometimes witnessed living in the Ghetto. "

With fifty dollars in his pocket, an innocent and gullible Romano decided to take the plunge and travel from Paris to Morocco, still wondering if in fact he was trying to find spiritual enlightenment or that he was losing or transcending his mind, as a result of a steady diet of philosophy and vegetarian food.
While wandering into a mosque in Casablanca, Romano met a Black African, who informed him about a group of Islamic missionaries in 'Mashid Nord' (North Mosque) that was full of enlightened, Islamic monks with whom he could live and learn the true religion. Although at first hesitant to the dangers of brain washing and exposure to a fanatic religious sect, Romano eventually succumbs but not before meeting a wonderful, generous and warm Moroccan family that accepted him in their home him as their guest. They even warned him about the dangers that awaited him if he should study with these Islamic missionaries. Unfortunately, Romano refused to heed their advice, and as the story continues, we learn about the intimate details of his imprisonment and escape from these fanatics.

If you want to smell, taste and feel the pulse of Morocco, read this enlightening book. If you know something about radical Islam, read this book anyways. Although, it should be mentioned, as Romano states in the opening pages, "the words you will read could be misconstrued by some as a criticism of Islam-this would not be true."

There is a great deal of loneliness and alienation on display here and yes, this is at times a difficult book to digest because of its emotional toll and perhaps even our constant questioning as to why a young American would want to get himself mixed up with a bunch of zealots. Nonetheless, you will likely stay with this compelling odyssey as Romano plunges his readers into a world of Islamic Fundamentalism contrasting it with the warmth and hospitality of some of his Moroccans hosts. Not to be omitted is the book's high adventure, as well as the author's psychological complexity. Romano does a masterful job of pulling all of these facets together in an accessible style, as if it were raw material taken from a blog. And although this book is not a fictional horror story, at times it certainly felt like one as the narrative rolled along seamlessly for the most part.

CLICK HERE TO READ NORM'S INTERVIEW WITH FRANK ROMANO
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Norm Goldman

NORM GOLDMAN-EDITOR & PUBLISHER BOOKPLEASURES.COM

For over thirty five years Norm Goldman practiced as a Title Attorney and Civil Law Notary in Montreal, Canada.

Norm's site, Bookpleasures.com comprises over 40 international reviewers that come from all walks of life and that review all genres.

Bookpleasures.com has posted over 4500 reviews and over 500 author interviews.

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In addition to the regular review service that Norm and his reviewers offer, Norm personally also offers a Priority & Fast Track Review Service for those authors,publishers and PR reps who are in a hurry to have their books reviewed with substantial Internet exposure.

Spiritual Enlightenment from Santa

By Don Martin, Canwest News ServiceDecember 11, 2009
http://www.canada.com/will+know+when+time+give+kids+Santa+talk/2330635/story.html

A neighbour's kid raised an interesting question after checking out photos showing climate change turning the North Pole into open water: will Santa's toy factory sink?

No, Virginia, Santa won't be scuba diving to work any time soon, but any youngster asking the question has provided their parents with a dreaded answer. Sadly, it's time for The Talk.

The rest of this column is rated PG-under-10, so hide it from curious youngsters, but any preteen grasping the potential consequences of global warming is ready to confront the harsh reality about jolly old Saint Nicholas.

The correct age to reveal the bogus Santa clause in the growing-up guidebook is a painfully difficult call for parents. Having done the dirty deed three times, I can tell you there's no joy in seeing the true believer twinkle in their eyes fade when they hear Santa is `the spiritual leader of giving' instead of an actual generous geezer with a chimney fetish. The birds and bees chat is much easier.

But, to spare them the humiliation of being, like me, the last kid in the village to be enlightened, my advice is to limit the Santa concept to those of a single-digit age.

My overly protective father seemed to think my belief in Santa should persist until my Christmas wishlist included an electric razor and a Penthouse subscription.

It wasn't as if I didn't sense something was amiss in all the holiday hype.

The notion of selling `stocking stuffers' in the Eatons catalogue was baffling. Why would anyone need to buy items to fill a stocking that Santa personally stuffed?

The Santa-in-every-store concept bothered me. They were all sporting fake beards and pillow-enhanced bellies, yet they all insisted they were the real deal and my mother's explanation that they were `Santa's elves' didn't mesh with the Disney image of those tiny perfect helpers. Besides, shouldn't they all be busy at the North Pole?

And how those nasty, bullying, rich kids always got the expensive must-have toys while the angels living on the wrong side of the tracks only found a cheap pair of slippers under the tree seemed grossly unfair coming from someone supposedly determined to reward children for good behaviour.

Yet, despite my suspicions, actual confirmation of the Santa mythology didn't come until I was at least 10 from a younger kid next door, who laughed pretty hard when I confided to her my wanna-have Santa wishlist.

It's obviously a decision for parents to make on their own and you should be aware that your child may only be pretending to believe to pressure parents into coughing up more gifts. But consider these as clear hints that the moment of truth is at hand.

1. If your kid writes to Santa requesting rap albums with explicit lyric warnings instead of a Zhu Zhu pet hamster, they're ready for the @#$%$%! truth.

2. If you catch the child trying to Google Street View the North Pole, they're clearly suspicious.

3. When the questions turn to the improbables of a single reindeer's red nose providing a beacon of light through a blizzard, concerns for Santa's cholesterol levels from all those cookies or whether insurance covers roof damage should a sled land on it without snow, well, they're clearly ready for the bad news - and high school.

If having that revealing conversation seems too difficult to engage, you can always chicken out by leaving this column on their bedside table and hiding downstairs.

Yes, Virginias everywhere, there is a Santa Claus. But you know him as Dad or Mom and you'd better clean up your room if you want some decent presents.

Sadly for all of us, that means there is no risk of Santa's workshop sinking beneath a balmy North Pole.

dmartin@nationalpost.com

Spiritual Enlightenment in a Travel Book

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/travel/news/article6945101.ece
Anthony Sattin

The prophets of doom should fall silent: this has been an excellent year for new travel writing, including books by authors who made their name with travel, then moved to other genres. William Dalrymple hasn’t written a travel book in a decade, but Nine Lives (Bloomsbury £20) sees him in India, following pilgrims and searchers of spiritual enlightenment.

Each of the “lives” in the title is a story from a different religion or cult — a Buddhist monk, a Jain nun, a Brahmin idol-maker and so on. Dalrymple’s storytelling skills and eye for the bizarre and exotic make this a fascinating and entertaining window onto spiritual India.

A couple of years ago, Jan Morris published what she said was her last book, but she has raised the curtain once more with Contact! (Faber £15). This collection of paragraph-long recollections, taken from 50 years of encounters, is both hypnotic and suggestive. Some of them are inconsequential, but many have the power to conjure up both character and place.

There’s an equally eclectic collection of characters to be found in Bicycle Diaries (Faber £15), by the former Talking Heads front man David Byrne. He began riding around New York in the 1980s, but here he also describes encounters in Istanbul, Manila and other bike-hostile cities. Byrne writes at greater length than Morris, and with just as sharp an eye and as lively a sense of humour.
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A bicycle sits at the heart of Andrew Eames’s Blue River, Black Sea (Bantam £18), which is unexpected, as he is following the Danube. Eames also follows the footsteps of Patrick Leigh Fermor, who walked across Europe in the 1930s. Wanting to see what remains of old Europe, he proves himself both witty and willing, and his tale, while not as elegantly told as Fermor’s, makes for fascinating armchair reading.

Peter Ackroyd has been a passionate chronicler of London, most recently with his bestselling book on the Thames, but he has now written Venice: Pure City (Chatto & Windus £25). The city’s history has been well told often enough, and Ackroyd’s TV spin-off delivers no revelations, but it is a lively, learned, warts-and-all portrait of a place most of us tend to glamorise.

Life on an Aegean island also tends to get glamorised, but not in Dmetri Kakmi’s autobiographical novel. Mother Land (Eland £17) may take us back to the innocence of summery days in the early 1960s, with wine-dark seas, dusty lanes and big feasts, but the idyll is riven by tensions between Greeks and Turks, and between a sophisticated mother and a fisherman father. Beautifully told, sensitively observed and painfully poignant, this is a gorgeous memoir of an island life that is now lost to us.

Finally, two photographic books stand out from the decorative pack. Los Angeles (Taschen £45) is a suitably outsize, 572-page celebration of the city where big and bold are best. By contrast, the slender, elegant Desert Songs (AUC £30), by Arita Baaijens, is a beautiful, evocative record of three journeys across Egypt and Sudan, with several short, fascinating essays on life in the sands.

Holy Spirit is in Seattle

By Janet I. Tu
Seattle Times staff reporter
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CLIFF DESPEAUX / THE SEATTLE TIMES
Handel's "Messiah" was performed recently by Orchestra Seattle and Seattle Chamber Singers at the First Free Methodist Church in Seattle.
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'Messiah'

Northwest Chorale: 7:30 p.m. today, Edmonds United Methodist Church, 828 Caspers St., Edmonds; freewill offering to benefit Northwest Harvest (www.nwchorale.org).

Tudor Choir and Seattle Baroque Orchestra: 7:30 p.m. today and 2 p.m. Sunday, Town Hall, 1119 Eighth Ave., Seattle; $30-$40 (800-838-3006 or www.brownpapertickets.com).

Music Center of the Northwest: Sing and Play-Along, 6:30 p.m. Sunday, St. John United Lutheran Church, 5515 Phinney Ave. N., Seattle; cash or food donation to benefit FamilyWorks Food Bank (206-526-8443 or www.mcnw.org)

Seattle Symphony and Seattle Symphony Chorale: 7:30 p.m. Thursday, 8 p.m. Friday, 1 and 8 p.m. Dec. 19, and 2 p.m. Dec. 20, Benaroya Hall, 200 University St., Seattle; $20-$63 (206-215-4747 or www.seattlesymphony.org).

Everett Symphony: Sing-Along. 3 p.m. Dec. 20, Everett First Presbyterian Church, 2936 Rockefeller Ave., Everett; $10-$15 (800-595-4849 or www.everettsymphony.org)

Bellevue Philharmonic/Bellevue Chamber Chorus: 5 p.m. Dec. 20, Westminster Chapel, 13646 N.E. 24th St., Bellevue; $15-$30 (425-990-1011 or www.bellevuephil.org)

University Unitarian Church: Sing and Play-Along. 7 p.m. Dec. 26, UUC, 6556 35th Ave. N.E., Seattle; $10-$15 (www.uuchurch.org/activities/music/messiah)

Hallelujah Chorus from Handel's "Messiah"





Hours before more than 400 singers and musicians are expected at University Unitarian Church's (UUC) "Sing and Play-Along Messiah" later this month, longtime church member Carole Jones and several dozen other volunteers will be busily setting up.

After all, there are many chairs and musical stands to move; tables to prepare for hundreds of desserts; not to mention the boxes of merchandise — "I'm a Messiah fan" paper fans, stainless-steel "Messiah" water bottles, and "Messiah" rub-on tattoos — to display.

It's the 40th year UUC has put on the Sing and Play Along Messiah and, as always, it's a big deal.

"It's always sold out, standing-room only," said Jones, 54, who's on the church music committee. "Honestly, if we didn't even advertise it, people would still be coming."

It's a scene being repeated throughout the region, and the nation, this month as groups large and small participate in what's become a supremely popular holiday tradition: "Messiah" performances and singalongs. Locally, Handel's oratorio (a piece written for voices and orchestra usually based on a religious theme) is being performed by high schools, churches, community choruses, amateur singalong groups and professional symphonies.

For those who attend or participate, some glory in the dramatic music, others in the spiritual text. And for some it's become a family tradition, a once-a-year community gathering, or, simply, a fun time.

Handel "was very skilled at expressing human emotion in music — something which speaks to people from all walks of life," said Karen P. Thomas, who conducts UUC's "Sing and Play-Along Messiah."

"When Handel's music expresses joy or sorrow or anger, you can really feel those emotions in a deep and visceral way."

Spring debut

Though the "Messiah" is now thought of as a Christmas piece, it actually debuted around Easter in 1742.

Back then, opera could not be performed during Lent. So Handel — no dummy he — "made boatloads of money writing these semireligious operas (the oratorios) that could be performed during Lent," said Geoffrey Boers, director of choral activities at the University of Washington School of Music.

Such a piece was "Messiah," which Handel composed in 24 days, based on a libretto by Charles Jennan. In three parts, it tells of the prophecy of Christ's coming and birth; his life, death and resurrection; and the meaning and gift of Christ's resurrection.

Several decades later, it began to take off as a popular Christmastime piece.

Its enduring popularity and adaptability to a variety of groups has to do with its musical accessibility and themes that are familiar yet can speak to very different circumstances.

For instance, earlier this month, the Tacoma Symphony Chorus held a "Messiah" rehearsal on the Monday night following the shootings of four Lakewood police officers the day before.

"Our choir was not in a good place," said Boers, who conducts the group. But as choir members sang the line, "since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead," "it was so uplifting, regardless of your faith background," Boers said. "The music itself goes from being somber to uplifting."

Economics has also long played a role in its popularity.

"It's one of those pieces, along with Mozart's 'Requiem' or Orff's 'Carmina Burana' that you know will sell tickets," Boers said.

Since the Tacoma Symphony Chorus began performing "Messiah" about five years ago, it's always packed the large St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church.

The Seattle Symphony's annual performances of "Messiah" generate about a fifth of the organization's holiday ticket-sales revenue.

And Orchestra Seattle/Seattle Chamber Singers, which held its performance of "Messiah" last week, usually gets about 500 loyal audience members who come back year after year.

George Shangrow, who founded the group, says he's probably conducted more than 250 performances of "Messiah" in his lifetime, ever since he fell in love with a recording of it in junior high.

One year, he wanted to do something different. "All the chorus members, the orchestra, the soloists said: 'No, we can't do that.' "

Sense of community

Shangrow also started the "Sing and Play-Along Messiah" at UUC decades ago, just because he thought it would be fun.

These days, hundreds of people crowd the sanctuary each Dec. 26, bringing their own musical instruments and voices. And it's become a fundraiser for the church's music committee, raising upward of $4,000 each year.

Longtime participants have favorite anecdotes from past performances.

Shangrow remembers a man who wanted to conduct the Hallelujah Chorus but didn't know how to conduct, "so he stood up there and just said 'go.' "

Jack Coleman, who attends another church but has participated in the UUC singalong for at least 15 years, remembers a woman named Alice who for years played "The trumpet shall sound" trumpet solo, which comes in the middle of the piece.

One year, she announced she had to leave early to pick someone up at the airport and asked to play that solo at the very beginning — which she did.

And several years ago, when Alice died, the other trumpet players made an announcement about her passing and dedicated the performance of that movement to her, remembers Thomas, the current UUC "Messiah" conductor.

It's that sense of community, along with the music and the message, that keeps people coming back.

"Things will be far from perfect," Thomas laughs. "But I keep it going, no matter what."

Janet I. Tu: 206-464-2272 or jtu@seattletimes.com

Hanukkah Begins in the USA

By DAVID BROOKS
Published: December 10, 2009

Tonight Jewish kids will light the menorah, spin their dreidels and get their presents, but Hanukkah is the most adult of holidays. It commemorates an event in which the good guys did horrible things, the bad guys did good things and in which everybody is flummoxed by insoluble conflicts that remain with us today. It’s a holiday that accurately reflects how politics is, how history is, how life is. It begins with the spread of Greek culture. Alexander’s Empire, and the smaller empires that succeeded it, brought modernizing ideas and institutions to the Middle East. At its best, Hellenistic culture emphasized the power of reason and the importance of individual conscience. It brought theaters, gymnasiums and debating societies to the cities. It raised living standards, especially in places like Jerusalem.

Many Jewish reformers embraced these improvements. The Greeks had one central idea: their aspirations to create an advanced universal culture. And the Jews had their own central idea: the idea of one true God. The reformers wanted to merge these two ideas.

Urbane Jews assimilated parts of Greek culture into their own, taking Greek names like Jason, exercising in the gymnasium and prospering within Greek institutions. Not all Jews assimilated. Some resisted quietly. Others fled to the hills. But Jerusalem did well. The Seleucid dynasty, which had political control over the area, was not merely tolerant; it used imperial money to help promote the diverse religions within its sphere.

In 167 B.C., however, the Seleucid king, Antiochus IV, issued a series of decrees defiling the temple, confiscating wealth and banning Jewish practice, under penalty of death. It’s unclear why he did this. Some historians believe that extremist Jewish reformers were in control and were hoping to wipe out what they saw as the primitive remnants of their faith. Others believe Antiochus thought the Jews were disloyal fifth columnists in his struggle against the Egyptians and, hence, was hoping to assimilate them into his nation.

Regardless, those who refused to eat pork were killed in an early case of pure religious martyrdom.

As Jeffrey Goldberg, who is writing a book on this period, points out, the Jews were slow to revolt. The cultural pressure on Jewish practice had been mounting; it was only when it hit an insane political level that Jewish traditionalists took up arms. When they did, the first person they killed was a fellow Jew.

In the town of Modin, a Jew who was attempting to perform a sacrifice on a new Greek altar was slaughtered by Mattathias, the old head of a priestly family. Mattathias’s five sons, led by Judah Maccabee, then led an insurgent revolt against the regime.

The Jewish civil war raised questions: Who is a Jew? Who gets to define the right level of observance? It also created a spiritual crisis. This was not a battle between tribes. It was a battle between theologies and threw up all sorts of issues about why bad things happen to faithful believers and what happens in the afterlife — issues that would reverberate in the region for centuries, to epic effect.

The Maccabees are best understood as moderate fanatics. They were not in total revolt against Greek culture. They used Greek constitutional language to explain themselves. They created a festival to commemorate their triumph (which is part of Greek, not Jewish, culture). Before long, they were electing their priests.

On the other hand, they were fighting heroically for their traditions and the survival of their faith. If they found uncircumcised Jews, they performed forced circumcisions. They had no interest in religious liberty within the Jewish community and believed religion was a collective regimen, not an individual choice.

They were not the last bunch of angry, bearded religious guys to win an insurgency campaign against a great power in the Middle East, but they may have been among the first. They retook Jerusalem in 164 B.C. and rededicated the temple. Their regime quickly became corrupt, brutal and reactionary. The concept of reform had been discredited by the Hellenizing extremists. Practice stagnated. Scholarship withered. The Maccabees became religious oppressors themselves, fatefully inviting the Romans into Jerusalem.

Generations of Sunday school teachers have turned Hanukkah into the story of unified Jewish bravery against an anti-Semitic Hellenic empire. Settlers in the West Bank tell it as a story of how the Jewish hard-core defeated the corrupt, assimilated Jewish masses. Rabbis later added the lamp miracle to give God at least a bit part in the proceedings.

But there is no erasing the complex ironies of the events, the way progress, heroism and brutality weave through all sides. The Maccabees heroically preserved the Jewish faith. But there is no honest way to tell their story as a self-congratulatory morality tale. The lesson of Hanukkah is that even the struggles that saved a people are dappled with tragic irony, complexity and unattractive choices.

Spiritual Package in a Lecture

By Dan Kelly
Reading Eagle


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When it comes to keeping the peace, Buddhists might not be the best persons to call on.

Despite their calm, meditative reputation, Buddhists don't believe there's a difference between good and evil, said Dr. Victor J. Forte, assistant professor of religious studies at Albright College, and a practicing Buddhist.

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Reading Eagle: Tim Leedy
Dr. Victor J. Forte, an assistant professor of religious studies at Albright College and a Buddhist, on Wednesday during a World Affairs Council of Greater Reading breakfast meeting.
Instead, Buddhists believe that good and evil must coexist rather than do battle.

"Problems like violence come out of making those types of distinctions," Forte said.

Once people start concluding that one religion, or nation or people are good and another religion, nation or people are evil then there isn't anywhere to go diplomatically, he said.

"It leads to some dangerous conclusions," Forte told about 50 members of the World Affairs Council of Greater Reading at the organization's fifth World Religions Breakfast Series at the Wyomissing Family Restaurant, 1245 Penn Ave.

Forte said that books have been written about how Japanese Buddhist monks helped spread Japanese imperialism prior to World War II.

Obviously, Buddhism isn't something you can do for an hour on Sunday and achieve spiritual enlightenment, Forte added.

"You're going to need some time," he joked.

The biggest difference between Buddhism and Christianity, Judaism, Islam and other world religions is that Buddhists don't worship a god.

All of their religious pursuits are focused on spiritual enlightenment. And that requires a lot of inward reflection, Forte said.

Buddhists believe in an exterior and interior existence. The exterior is the world and its impact on people and the interior is our consciousness, thoughts and inward reaction to the exterior.

One of Buddhism's features is karma, Forte said.

"There is no god meting out justice, but a natural law of the universe," he said. "There is no turning back from your actions."

There there is good karma and bad karma.

Building good karma is a way for people who don't have a lot of time to meditate to work their way toward enlightenment, Forte said.

If you wait to help an old woman across the street and later find a $20 bill in your laundry, that's good karma. Ignoring the woman and rushing ahead of her only to get hit by a bus, would be an example of bad karma.

Nirvana, or total enlightenment, is achieved by getting the three poisons - greed, anger and violence - out of your consciousness.

"They are the roots of violence," Forte said.

Nirvana can be reached only by achieving compassion, energy and wisdom.

"Nirvana is recognizing the suffering of others and having the energy to respond to that suffering with wisdom and compassion," he said.

Contact Dan Kelly: 610-371-5040 or dkelly@readingeagle.com

Travel in Search of Spiritual Enlightenment

By MARTIN VENGADESAN

History and faith connect and touch those who gather at the temples and cities that are significant to Buddhism.

WE live in a country where religion and race are often erroneously linked; one tends to think of Buddhism as being synonymous with the Chinese community. However, students of history and/or religion will tell you that the roots of Buddhism lie not in China, but India, where Buddha himself spent most of his life.

Some weeks ago, I was privileged to travel to India to experience the majesty of Buddhism’s holy sites. Now this is not a trip for those accustomed to five-star hotels and first-class flights. All the important sites related to Buddha’s life are located in relatively under-developed regions of the provinces of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, while his birthplace is across the border in the lowlands of Nepal.
As the infrastructure between the various cities isn’t particularly good, we spent plenty of time that we spent on the road. Nonetheless it was a pretty fascinating journey that I would heartily recommend to all, not just adherents of the Buddhist faith.

I flew from Kuala Lumpur to Bodh Gaya (in Bihar) via Bangkok. There are no direct flights from KL, but Thai Airways plies the Bodh Gaya route regularly during the pilgrimage season (October to March). I had been told that to prepare for cold weather, but when I went, the Indian winter had yet to set in, and most days were quite hot and humid.

Bodh Gaya is arguably the most important site in Buddhism, but first, let’s go back to how it all started.
Buddha was born Prince Siddhartha Gautama in Lumbini, Nepal (approximately 400BCE). He was married and had a child, but in his late twenties he abandoned the worldly life in search of spiritual enlightenment.

Gautama lived a very austere life and after seven years or so of wandering, he arrived in Bodh Gaya where, after intense meditation, he achieved enlightenment while seated under a Bodhi tree.

He then went on to teach the people around him about his discoveries at sites such as Varanasi, Rajgir, Sarbath and Vaishali. He died in Kushinagar, aged about 80.

While revered by most of his followers as a god, Buddha himself did not wish to be worshipped in that way. His teachings were built round the philosophy that humans could alleviate suffering by shedding their desires, and ultimately achieve a state of enlightenment.

Like most popular religions Buddhism was born at a time of political conflict – the kingdom of Gautama’s father, Suddhodana, came under attack and fell to the neighbouring kingdom of Kosala during his lifetime. Buddhism had few adherents until the Mauryan emperor, Asoka the Great (273-232 BCE), embraced the philosophical way of life after massive slaughter in a war he waged against the kingdom of Kalinga.
The reclining Buddha at Kushinagar.

Under Asoka, Buddhism flourished in India and was even “exported” to Sri Lanka and modern-day Pakistan (through which it eventually reached China and beyond, going as far as Japan, Vietnam and even ancient Malaya and Indonesia.)

Ironically, Buddhism gradually declined in India. Despite a brief resurgence under the Gupta kings (circa the third and fourth centuries CE), it was virtually wiped out by waves of Muslim invasions that began in the 10th century.

What is known about Buddha’s life and the kingdoms that followed can be credited to the buildings of Asoka, and the writings of China-based monks like Faxian (399-412 CE), Xuanzang (630-646 CE), and I Ching (67-687 CE), all of whom made pilgrimages to India.
The Matha Kuar Shrine at Kushinagar where Buddha is believed to have breathed his last.

Bodh Gaya is one of many Buddhist sites that fell into virtual neglect and disuse. Thanks to Anagarika Dharmapala (1864-1933) a Sri Lankan monk who founded the Maha Bodhi Society of India (MBSI) , the temple and city itself were gradually restored. Today, it is a world heritage site that serves a spiritual home for the many branches of Buddhism that have evolved over the centuries.

I was shown around the temple by MBSI deputy general secretary the Venerable P. Seewalee Thera, who explained the significance of the location. Incidentally, the Bohdi tree behind the temple is grown from a branch of the same tree which the Buddha had meditated under. The original tree was destroyed, but a branch from it has been preserved in Sri Lanka!

The site of Buddha’s enlightenment is a powerful place, where even a champion of secularism like myself could be moved, if only by its historical signifiance. The many devotees who journeyed to see the Bodhi tree were clearly deeply affected.
The Mahaparinirvana stupa at Kushinagar.

Unfortunately, as with most of the sites we visited, the Maha Bodhi temple is surrounded by beggars and peddlars whose persistence can be harrowing. Just as I was thinking of embarking upon a spiritual journey and divesting myself of worldly goods, my digital camera was skilfully removed from my person!

There are many temples to visit in Bodh Gaya as contributions from the governments and people of Tibet, Japan, Burma, Sri Lanka, Thailand and other countries have ensured that what is arguably Buddhism’s holiest city remains in tune with its proud history.

Travelling through India’s roads is an experience like no other. Most “highways” cut straight through towns instead of bypassing them and the traffic jams can be interminable. Honking appears to be almost compulsory for motorists.

The roads in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh are often lined with abandoned buildings, while cow dung patties on the walls of houses (used for fuel apparently) add to the generally squalid atmosphere. Billboards promoting cellphones, communist symbols or the likes of Amitahb Bachan and Shah Rukh Khan show up in the strangest places.

Our party endured no less than three tyre punctures; one stretch of the roads was closed because village youths were wildly celebrating the festival of the goddess Durga. Our journey was not smooth sailing, but it was undeniably colourful.
The grounds of the original palace in Lumbini, Nepal, where Buddha’s family lived.

We also saw the Sujata Stupa (a large solid mound of bricks) where Buddha was given a meal of milk-rice after a long fast, and Rajgir, the site of Vulture’s Peak, where he delivered his second sermon at the behest of King Bimbisara of Magadha.

To reach Vulture’s Peak, one has to take a chair lift, a rickety, slow-moving swing with a strap on it. Halfway up the hill, you’ll find yourself saying a prayer or two!

Another high point of our visit was a trip to Nalanda. The glorious ruins of a once monumental university (closed in 1197 by the invading Muslim Allauddin Khilji) was supported by the Gupta Emperors and certainly reminds one of how prosperous and advanced Buddhist civilisation was for its time.

The city of Kushinagar is home to the Matha Kuar Shrine – where Buddha breathed his last – and the Mahaparinirvana Stupa. The sleeping Buddha inside the Parinirvana Temple attracts many visitors, but I personally was more drawn to the unassuming Matha Kuar Shrine.

Our trip included an unforgettable crossing into Nepal. The border was like a chaotic marketplace, with cows, cyclists and children carrying smuggled goods scurrying away from cane-wielding border guards. There were heavy trucks heading in both directions and bureaucrats aplenty!

The tranquil gardens of Lumbini, where Buddha is believed to have been born, have a familiar Asokan pillar and the ruins of the ancient palace are well-protected.

We stopped at Varanasi to catch the beautiful sunrise on the river Ganges – it was surreal – before taking the direct flight back to Bangkok.

Three years ago I was fortunate enough to visit the ancient sites of Buddhism in Pakistan (Gandhara, under the Buddhist Kushan kings, most notably Kanishka, from the 2nd century CE onwards).

As fascinating as those sights were, the places I visited in India were on a whole different level, historically and, arguably, spiritually. This is a once-in-a-lifetime journey that no open-minded traveller should miss out on.

> For details on packages, contact Holiday Tours and Travel in Kuala Lumpur (03-6286 6286); Penang (04-229 3670); Kuantan (09-516 4051) or Johor Bahru (07-276 7110), or visit holidaytours.com.my.

Spiritual Climate Debate is Predicated

By Brian Winter, USA TODAY
COPENHAGEN — Sunday started like any other day for Sister Joan Brown — with a period of prayer and meditation just before dawn at her home in Albuquerque.

Then, instead of going to Mass, the Franciscan sister boarded a plane to Copenhagen. When she arrives Monday, she'll join 20,000 other attendees at a United Nations summit on climate change, where she hopes to persuade leaders including President Obama to reach a worldwide agreement to cut pollution levels.

"Many people can't afford to make this trip," says Brown, who is using frequent flier miles and staying with a Danish family to cut costs. "But all our voices are needed, and this is one small way I can speak to the greatest moral and spiritual issue of our time."

FAITH & REASON: What's a good citizen to do?

She will be among numerous preachers, rabbis, ministers and other faith-based figures who are bringing a spiritual presence — and, often, a strong point of view on the political issues — to Copenhagen. At a time when political leaders are struggling to pass environmental legislation in the USA and elsewhere, in large part because of the potential economic costs, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon says religious leaders "can have the largest, widest and deepest reach" when it comes to influencing the outcome of the summit.

The main goal in Copenhagen is to forge a long-range global deal to cut emissions of greenhouse gases including carbon dioxide, which climate data suggest is causing the Earth to warm. Representatives of 192 countries will attend, including Obama, who plans to arrive next week.

So how does Brown, an ecology minister in the Archdiocese of Santa Fe, plan to make her voice stand out? For starters, she and a crowd of supporters held a candlelight vigil before her departure and wrote letters to New Mexico's U.S. senators, expressing concern over climate change.

Once she's in Copenhagen, she'll blog. And she'll do her best to navigate the dizzying two weeks of conferences, side events, parties and concerts that will make Copenhagen seem almost like the Woodstock of the environmental movement.

"I'm going to speak the truth to the delegates there, and try to educate people back here," she says. "It's our obligation for posterity to leave a world that exudes the beauty of the Creator for future generations."

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Other religious leaders in Copenhagen will include Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury and spiritual head of the Church of England and the worldwide Anglican Communion; Richard Cizik, a former vice president of the National Association of Evangelicals; Jim Ball, head of the Evangelical Environmental Network; South African cleric and Nobel Peace Prize winner Desmond Tutu; and representatives from the National Council of Churches (NCC), which encompasses more than 100,000 Protestant, Anglican, Orthodox, Evangelical and other congregations with 45 million members across the USA.

In all, as many as 100 religiously affiliated representatives from the USA plan to attend the summit, estimates Tyler Edgar, assistant director for the environmental arm of the NCC. Worldwide, she says that number will likely run "in the hundreds."

There is a wide range of views among — and within — different faiths as to the fundamental questions in the environmental debate: to what extent climate change is occurring, whether human activity is responsible for it, and what, if anything, should be done as a result.

Some are actively pushing against Copenhagen's agenda.

E. Calvin Breisner, a founder of the Cornwall Alliance, a coalition of clergy, scientists and academics, says recent data show the human role in causing global warming is minimal or non-existent. Religious figures who say otherwise, without a full background in science and economics, "risk an abuse of their moral authority," Breisner says.

Edgar, who also is traveling to Copenhagen, sees things differently. Broadly speaking, America's religious communities have shed their long-standing suspicion of the environmental cause "as that hippie, tree-hugging thing," she says.

In the past three years or so, many have rallied behind the belief that "we are all called upon to protect God's creation and God's people" by acting to stop climate change, Edgar says.

It's unclear whether such lobbying will be able to overcome a rough couple of months for the green cause.

In Copenhagen, Obama plans to present a goal of cutting U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 by about 17% compared to levels in 2005. But to make good on that target, he'll need the Senate to pass an energy bill next year over the objections of many Republicans, who say it could result in dramatically higher energy costs for businesses and consumers. The legislation has been stalled for months.

Then there's the "Climategate" controversy, in which hackers recently obtained and published e-mails exchanged among prominent scientists who say the Earth is warming. Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., is seeking congressional hearings into whether the e-mails show the scientists deliberately censored opposing views, and manipulated data in order to exaggerate their claims.

If anyone can help move the debate, it's faith-based leaders, says Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn.

"This is a very religious country. God the Creator still does better in polls than any politician," says Lieberman, who backs legislation to mandate lower carbon emissions. He says he first began to embrace the environmental cause 20 years ago because of his own spiritual beliefs.

Lieberman, who is Jewish and has deep ties with evangelicals, says religious leaders and constituents could still help swing some Senate votes, especially among Republicans. "This helps put the issue in the broader context ... of exercising our responsibility to protect God's creation ... and that helps us," he says.

'A profound moral issue'

Ball, who arrives in Copenhagen on Friday, says he plans to spend most of his time "hanging out in the hallways" of the Bella Center conference hall, where international delegates will be negotiating a deal. He'll be looking to speak with senior Obama administration officials and members of Congress.

Ball's pet cause is a proposal for rich countries, including the USA, to send poorer countries money — at least $10 billion a year will be needed, the U.N.'s Ban says. The funds would help the countries overhaul their economies to pollute less, and cope with possible consequences of climate change such as lower agricultural yields, or rising seas that could devastate island nations.

"Our role is to remind (politicians) that this is a profound moral issue, and that the basic moral teachings of religion apply to these environmental problems," Ball says.

Such talk is relatively new. It wasn't long ago that, broadly speaking, religious and environmental groups were at odds — an echo of the age-old tension between religion and science, exacerbated by the Bill Clinton-era culture wars of the 1990s.Fletcher Harper, executive director of GreenFaith, a New Jersey-based group, cites two recent turning points — the 2006 release of An Inconvenient Truth, the environmental movie featuring former vice president Al Gore, and the devastating impact the previous year of Hurricane Katrina, which Gore and others argue was made more deadly by warmer ocean water.

"When religious communities see human beings, particularly poor human beings, getting whacked like that, it's a real wake-up call," Harper says. "People saw the humanitarian side of this issue in a way they'd never seen before."

The debate is playing out worldwide. Last month, Harper attended a summit called "Many Heavens, One Earth" at Britain's Windsor Castle that sought to rally global religious leaders ahead of Copenhagen. The conference brought together leaders from nine major faiths — Bahai Faith, Buddhism, Christianity, Taoism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Shinto and Sikhism.

The power vested in those groups is enormous. Together, the world's churches and other faith groups control 7% to 8% of the world's habitable land, are involved in more than half of all schools, and hold more than 7% of global financial investments, according to the Alliance of Religions and Conservation, the British group that organized the Windsor conference.

That explains why religious groups are uniquely positioned to not only influence the political debate, but also be an active part of environmental solutions, says Olav Kjorven, an assistant secretary-general at the U.N. who was at Windsor. He says religious institutions can use their influence to promote investment in industries that emit less carbon, support education on environmental issues in schools, and make places of worship more environmentally friendly.

"We hope to spread that message to Copenhagen," Kjorven says. "The faiths are ready to move on these issues."

Concerns about cost

There are others in the religious community who believe the proposals on the table at Copenhagen would hurt, rather than help, the world's poor.

Breisner, a theologian, says "efforts to control future temperatures by reduced use of fossil fuels would cost trillions of dollars, condemning future generations in poor countries to abject poverty."

Sen. Inhofe says that efforts to bring churches into the "liberal environmental lobby" are failing, at least in his home state.

"I can't find one pastor of an evangelical church who isn't fired up on my side of the issue," Inhofe says.

Indeed, recent polls suggest some of the public urgency on the issue is fading. A survey completed in October — before the "Climategate" scandal broke — by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press found that 65% of Americans believe that global warming is a "serious" or "very serious" issue, down from 73% in April 2008.

That's still a majority, says Katharine Hayhoe, a climate scientist at Texas Tech University and co-author of A Climate for Change, which examines the global warming debate, and potential solutions, from a faith-based perspective. She says a better understanding of science has compelled senior religious leaders to join the environmental cause, even if some within their own congregations remain unconvinced.

"If you look at the heads of all major denominations — even Southern Baptists — you'll see that there's a real movement toward acknowledging the role that human activity is playing in climate change," she says.

Byron Johnson, director of the Institute for Studies of Religion at Baylor University, says there is evidence of a generational split on environmental issues among Evangelicals.

In a recent poll, his institute found that 73% of young Evangelicals agree with the statement that "Global climate change will have disastrous effects" — compared to 59% of older Evangelicals.

That's no big surprise, Inhofe says. "These young ones, their entire lives, all they've heard is that global warming doctrine," he says, shaking his head.

"The schools are just filling their heads with this issue."

The political debate

Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., says he has been "touched" by the role that religious leaders are playing in the environmental debate — and says they may help forge some kind of middle ground.

Brownback says he is not fully convinced that man-made climate change is occurring, but welcomes "prudent" steps recommended by some religious leaders to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.

"I think their premise is right," Brownback says. "The question becomes: How do you tackle the issue?"

He ruled out passage of the energy bill that passed the House last spring, saying it would damage the economy — a stance echoed by Inhofe and many other Senate Republicans.

Brownback says he prefers a focus on innovative technology that he says could be just as effective in reducing greenhouse gases.

The White House — as well as governments in the European Union, China and much of the developing world — says anti-pollution efforts will be insufficient unless they set firm targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Whatever happens, people of faith around the world will be watching closely, says Mary Dickey, a spokeswoman for Odyssey Networks, a media organization that is sending a three-person video crew to Copenhagen to cover religious implications of the debate.

"You wouldn't believe how passionate people are about this," Dickey says.

"Faith leaders are going to be a big part of the debate at Copenhagen, and beyond."