Namastay Healthy with HAF: Chef Divya Returns for Ayurvedic Principles in Italian Cooking
-Presented by Chef Divya Alter of Divya's Kitchen
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Watch HAF’s latest Namastay Healthy Webinar as Chef Divya Alter of Divya’s Kitchen returns to show how you can use Ayurvedic principles in Italian cooking. Divya will prepare a “Steamed Artichoke with Olive Tapenade” dish and explains how to make it, how to eat it, and the health benefits of the ingredients used.
Click here to watch Divya's cooking demonstration or on the image below.
Divya Alter is a certified nutritional consultant and educator in the Shaka Vansiya Ayurveda tradition. She is the co-founder of Bhagavat Life, the only Ayurvedic culinary school in New York. She and her husband launched North America’s first Ayurvedic chef certification program and Divya’s Kitchen, an authentic Ayurvedic restaurant in Manhattan. Divya is also the author of What to Eat for How You Feel: The New Ayurvedic Kitchen (Rizzoli, April, 2017).
Download the recipe from this video: https://www.hinduamerican.org/wp-cont...
Find more of Divya’s recipes divyaalter.com
Visit Divya’s Kitchen in NYC divyaskitchen.com
Follow Divya on Instagram @divyaskitchennyc @divyaalter @bvtlife
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KsOo58CJklQ[/embed]
Surprised by Joy
by Ananda Vrindavan
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It’s a restless morning
I’m dragging myself around
Avoiding my beads and other meditations
Until I open the front door and there I see
A colorful box turtle, holding still
With neck stretched and head raised
It’s an utter surprise in these pre-dawn hours
And the extraordinary beauty stops me in my tracks
‘Sit with me’ I hear her say. Slow down. Take your beads
And I do. I sit nearby and watch her not move
Except for her eye which glints in the porch light
And reminds me of the soul within
Kindred spirits, this turtle and I
Why now, why at this moment do you cross my path?
To encourage me to keep going
No matter how slow things seem to be?
To withdraw within when I need to?
To hold still and be quiet more often?
Later she is gone
I miss our momentary connection
But savour the gift of her presence
And the prompts she left in my life.
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A Pandemic of Covid, A Pandemic of Hatred
~by Rukmini Walker
June 1, 2020
To listen to the audio version of the blog, please click here:
[audio m4a="http://www.urbandevi.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/709-Amelia-Island-Ct-5-2.m4a"][/audio]
“A riot is the language of the unheard”
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr
Within the pandemic of covid, a pandemic of hatred is taking an equally toxic toll.
We need a pandemic of healing, a pandemic of change of heart, a pandemic systemic change in our collective consciousness.
Over so many centuries, immigrants came to this country from everywhere else in great hope. Others were brought here unwillingly, in tears and in chains.
Today, so many are suffering, and so many are dying. 100,000 Americans have now died of the Covid virus. So many others are working to relieve suffering as doctors, nurses, and other care workers. To live in dharma, I can act to diminish my own suffering by trying to relieve the suffering of others, not by compounding them. Scapegoating others for my own suffering is an act of cowardice.
Today, I received this message from a devotee friend, a woman of color, who is also a mother:
“I tell you philosophically I can understand that I’m not this body. However, when I see this ocean of hate and violence, my mind, my heart, my intelligence, my whole being is disturbed. I see the deep sadness in my children’s eyes. There are no words I can use to assure them of their safety. As they leave the house for routine walks, or to just hang out with their friends, I give them a page full of instructions telling them how to shrink their existence so to not make people who are threatened by their black skin uncomfortable. It is appalling. My son says he refuses to accommodate other people’s sickness projected onto him.”
Bhagavad Gita says that whatever a great one does, common people will follow in their footsteps. Can we together try to become truly great?
Can we together try to inspire each other to live in a better way, a different way? Can we try to create a change born out of the pain of this suffering?
Can we speak to incite healing, rather than hate? Can we together breed a climate of seeing the soul existing in every living being of every color, gender and specie?
An infectious honoring of all, a contagious love, a pandemic of healing?
Be safe, be well, and be blessed,
Rukmini Walker
It’s So Simple, You Could Miss It
~by Rukmini Walker
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To listen to the audio version of the blog, please click here:
[audio m4a="http://www.urbandevi.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/709-Amelia-Island-Ct-5.m4a"][/audio]
It’s morning. I’m listening to a recording of a talk given in London by my guru, Srila Prabhupada. He often likes to cite parallels from ordinary life experiences, but today, I was struck hearing this one in particular.
He compared the path of Bhakti Yoga to homeopathic medicine. In homeopathic medicine, a remedy is given as an almost undetectable infusion into a tiny sugar pellet.
He said that it’s so simple and painless, that we don’t take it seriously. Where is the bitter medicine? Where is the suffering? Without contortions of our bodies and minds, could we actually access the spirit in realization and joy? It seems improbable and impossible.
To offer my heart and the things I possess to God, or Krsna, seems so simple, so inconsequential, so momentary. Can something so insignificant be so transformative?
In fact, everything that exists is spiritual, or existing in the brahmajyoti (or spiritual effulgence of God). When we try to usurp it or enjoy it separately as our own, it takes on amaterial, illusory quality. But when we offer it back to divinity, it regains its original spiritual quality.
The holy name as a means of approach to God is so freely given in so many of the world’s traditions. It costs nothing but our sincerity and attention.
[perfectpullquote align="full" cite="" link="" color="" class="" size=""]“…the holy name can cleanse the mirror of the heart and stop the miseries of the blazing fire of material existence…” (Siksastakam, spoken by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu)[/perfectpullquote]
But the skeptic mind wonders: How could it be so simple and effective as they say?
It’s so simple, you could miss it.
All the best,
Rukmini Walker
From Seeds to Flowers and Fruits: Progressive Stages of Loving Devotion
~by Rukmini Walker
To begin to advance on the path of Bhakti is compared to a tiny seed of faith (sraddha) that sprouts into a creeper that grows up and winds around the Tree of Life, which in many of the world's traditions is identified with God. The process of hearing and chanting the holy name of Krsna is considered to be the daily watering process of this little creeper.The tiny seed of faith inspires one to seek to hear from persons who are elevated on the spiritual path (sadhu sanga). In the next stage, one takes shelter of a particular spiritual teacher, and accepts instruction in the process of devotional service (bhajana-kriya).By serving under such guidance, one gradually becomes freed from material attachment (anartha-nivritti), attains steadiness in self-realization (nistha), and acquires a taste for hearing about the Absolute Personality of Godhead, Sri Krsna (ruci).
Click here for larger image: Madhura-kadambini-1Ed-chart
*Image from PureBhakti.com
This taste leads one forward to attachment for Krsna consciousness (asakti), which is matured in bhava, or the beginning stage of love of God. Real love of God is called prema, the highest perfected stage of life.At this stage, the creeper blooms with delicious fruits and fragrant flowers of rasa, or relationship with Krsna, in peace, service, friendship, maternal love or finally, in conjugal, or romantic love.Let us begin to cultivate this sacred creeper of devotion in our hearts!All the best,Rukmini Walker
The Pandemic Pause Brings Us Closer
An interview by Suhag Shukla with Rukmini Walker
Suhag Shukla is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of the Hindu American Foundation (hinduamerican.org). She asked me to share my thoughts on our current world situation from a perspective of Bhakti Yoga. Click here to listen to the interview
Blessings,
Rukmini Walker
patreon.com/RukminiWalker
How I Prepare for Life's Final Exam with Krsnanandini and Family
An Interview by Anuttama Das, ISKCON GBC Strategic Planning Team
My dear godsister, Krsnanandini is a guru to us all. She has been dealing with advanced cancer with grace, deep gratitude, and meditation on her sweet Lord Krsna. Krsnanandini was recently sent to hospice care as her cancer has become unmanageable and she must now prepare herself, her family and her greater ISKCON community for her departure. Please pray for her, and hear from her as she clears the path for us all to follow.Please listen to the conversation facilitated by her longtime friend Anuttama Das as they explore and appreciate her lifetime of service to her spiritual master Srila Prabhupada. Her family also shares their realizations of walking this path of bhakti and surrender with their illustrious mother.
Please click here or on the video image below to listen to the talk.
All the best,
Rukmini Walker
https://www.facebook.com/gbcspt/videos/3623958104298937/?eid=ARCEyIR7Q_AVqlvo4yPfDGGmBMaZLcgU1LVLrp8P3ZdgNMg7fxU9-73zL-uOZCI4WNZHFhJQPsgv77_-
Krsnanandini Dasi was brought to Krsna consciousness by her mother as a young teenager along with her other siblings. Her mother was a simple woman and a devout Christian who deeply resonated with the Bhakti perspectives given by Srila Prabhupada in his writings. But when she came to the local temple along with her children, ready to join the community there, she faced bigotry and racism. She was treated as a troublemaker and was turned away.She took her children and put them in the car. She didn’t know where to turn, but somehow by the grace of God she was given the intuition to drive all the way to Dallas, Texas. When they arrived there, to their surprise, Srila Prabhupada himself was there visiting. She explained her situation to the temple president there, that she and her children were not welcome at the temple in their hometown of Cleveland. Srila Prabhupada out of his great compassion, then gave initiation to her and her children as well.About their work:Founded in 1996 by Krsnanandini Devi Dasi and her husband Tariq Saleem Ziyad--an orthodox Muslim, The Dasi-Ziyad Family Institute is a non profit organization born of necessity. Seeing the urgent need for relationship skills and tools because too many families were experiencing divorce and family disintegration, the founders realized that there are skills that people can learn and commitments they can make to transform weakened families into strong, healthy ones and to transform hopelessness and defeat into hope and success.They began providing relationship skill-building classes and workshops, communication and conflict resolution seminars and parenting classes. Couples requested their help. Initially, they provided these services on a volunteer and donations accepted basis. Gradually, by demand and request, the services provided by Tariq (TSZ) and Krsnanandini (KDD) accelerated. Curricula were designed, youth projects implemented and counseling services increased.Learn more about Krsnanandini here: http://btg.krishna.com/krishnanandini-devi-dasi
Our Kirtan went Viral - by Kishori Jani
~An interview with Kishore Jani~
Kishori Jani is a second generation devotee, born to two senior disciples of Srila Prabhupada. She had a unique upbringing that spanned both India and the USA. She is married to Birju Jani and together they have four young children all under the age of nine. She participated in the Festival of the Holy Name recently and was picked up by a news channel in India and overnight she gathered 100k followers on Facebook. Her kirtan has been viewed now more than 10 million times on Facebook. Kishori decided to take the opportunity to preach to her new followers.
Click on this link to tune-in and hear her interview this past Sunday by Madan Gopal Das from New Jersey.
O Bird of My Heart…
Inspired by Srila Bhaktivinode Thakur’s “Keno Hare Krsna Nam”
by Divya Alter
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O bird of my heart, I know you long to be free.
Set your sorrow apart, the holy name is the key.
Why can’t you cry while chanting Krsna’s name sublime?
Why do you try to fit in Maya’s paradigm?
What sins have brought you this state of misery?
What wants have caught you in this cage of apathy?
O bird of my heart, I know you long to be free
Set your sorrow apart, the holy name is the key.
Come! Let us go back home and join the pranks divine.
Come! Let us roam about Yamuna’s banks and shrines.
There is the only place devoid of mundane sadness,
Where you can cry “Radhe Shyam!” in loving madness.
O bird of my heart, I know you long to be free…
Living In The Season: Spring
Here is a deep meditation on entering into the Spring season, written by my sister, Susan and her husband George. They live in central coastal Maine where the Spring arrives later than many places of the world. Susan practices Five Element Acupuncture and what they offer here is informed by the wisdom of her practice. May you unfold into Spring with grace and harmony! ~ All the best, Rukmini Walker
~by Susan Weiser Mason & George Mason
Here in Damariscotta Mills, the alewives have returned, the star magnolias are in full bloom, and a delicate halo of yellowish green is emerging in the hardwood canopy. The arrival of Spring brings a welcome and magnificent surge of energy that speaks confidently of renewal. And not a moment too soon! So now that we are here, what is the invitation of this season?My hope for this periodic letter will encourage observation of the seasons throughout this coming year. Using the lens and practice of Five Element Acupuncture, I will be following this seamless flow of change, and I hope you will follow along with me. By drawing attention to how every season does, in fact, have an energetic texture that presents opportunities and tasks, we may come to know once again how to live in harmony with this, our very own Spring, unfolding right here, right now.This is a really good time to initiate. What do you want to clear out, internally and externally? What would you like to see happen this year? Spring invites a new start. We make a plan and we begin to implement. There is, for instance, the decision to plant, and then we put the seed into the ground. Literally or metaphorically, this is what Spring is asking of us. Be assured, the energy of this season will support you in your push to begin, your desire to engage, whether it is trying new things or making changes.Some of us may feel we just don’t have the get up and go to meet this dramatic shift after Winter, but waking up to Spring is really worth the effort! Not planting the real or metaphoric seed now has a ripple effect throughout the entire year. There may not be time for the germinated seed to mature in the full expansion of summer, or for it to ripen and be ready by Fall. So then there may not be a harvest. Without having secured a harvest, it is difficult to let go into the winter, as we are called to do. Lack of reserves undermines our ability to embrace the opportunity that Winter offers; rest and rejuvenation. So when Spring finally does come around again, is it any wonder that many feel depleted, and are challenged to marshal reserves of our own? No season is more important than any other. They are all completely interdependent, with each season having its own emphasis, voice, and requirements. Spring’s clarion call is to begin. Coming into balance with this season, is one way to experience what health actually looks like.Trees are anchored by strong roots that support upward growth. They flower, leaf out, and express themselves in all their glory. This is the emphatic energy of Spring. Winds may blow, rains may pour down, but trees are irrepressible, and determined to grow upward. We too are like a tree reaching towards the sun. What do you need to help you grow right now; to fully express yourself? What has been just waiting and longing to be changed? On another note, many folks are reporting feeling anxious these days. Part of this may have to do with a political climate that is unsettled, and the confrontational way groups are relating to one another. But whatever the reason may be, this anxiety is affecting our overall communal health. Being attentive and responsive to Nature’s guidance, especially now, is deeply grounding, and can help dispel feelings of resignation.In closing, a little Spring cleaning is in order. Its time to let go of the heavier diet of winter, and replace it with a lighter one with lots of Spring bitters like dandelion greens, spinach and arugula, scallions and chives. All of these foods help cleanse the body and support Spring renewal. And last but not least, what a wonderful time to rise early and take a walk, being nourished by the promise of this season.
Susan Weiser Mason and Traditional Acupuncture are located in Damariscotta Mills / Nobleboro. She has been practicing since 1986.www.susanacupuncture.com.George Mason is an artist and acupuncturist. www.georgemasonart.com
Feminine Energy on the Bhakti Path - an Interview with Rukmini Walker
In this Wisdom of the Sages podcast, Raghunath Cappo and Kaustubha Das interview Rukmini Walker founder of Urban Devi.
Bhakti pioneer and Urban Devi founder, Rukmini Walker was our guest on Sunday morning. She has a fascinating history and a ton to share. We'll be speaking with her about the early days of the Bhakti movement in the West, her women's discussion group Urban Devi, how the feminine side of spirituality is something for us all, and much more.
Please click below to view the interview.[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4bdbTGEwB4[/embed]
Calm, Confident and Courageous Life with Madhvacarya
Madhvacarya Das is a deeply realized practitioner of Bhakti Yoga. He is also an anesthesiologist working long hours at a hospital in the Washington, DC area. This hospital is now completely converted to dealing with Covid-19 patients. He is the one who is most at risk dealing face to face with these patients. Listen intently as he speaks about where he's taking shelter as he risks his life each day to help those on the edge between life and death.
**Please click here to watch Madhvacarya's talk**
Be safe and well,The Appearance Day of the Half Lion, Half Man Avatar
by Rukmini Walker
In this world there’s a tension between those who act to uplift the world, and those who exploit others thinking they will rise by pushing others down.
The Appearance of the Half Man/Half Lion avatar Nara (man) Simha (lion) is a drama showing the universal dichotomy between those who try to exploit and subjugate others; and those who act for universal harmony and the welfare of all.
Spiritual vision means to see that the same individual quality of soul within me is present in all other living beings also. If I cause pain to others, that pain will revert back to me.
This great tale unfolds in the seventh book (or canto) of the Srimad Bhagavatam, or the Bhagavat Purana.
The King Hiranyakasipu (his name means gold and soft beds-nothing wrong with having cash and soft cushions, but when that’s our only concern, it becomes a problem…) has usurped the kingdoms of earth and the heavenly planets. Even the demigods, the universal controllers, bowed to him.
But while he was away performing yogic austerities with evil intentions, his pregnant wife was taken by the saint, Narada Muni to his ashram. Narada instructed Kaiyadu, the mother, and Prahlada Maharaj, the child in her womb, in the wisdom of Bhakti Yoga.
Little Prahlada Maharaj—having heard from a great sadhu even before his birth—is born saintly and peaceful. He only aspires to hear, chant and remember the glories of the Lord. By the age of five, Prahlada is the antithesis of everything his father lives and believes.
His father, the original child abuser, forces his wife to attempt to poison their son, so domestic abuse raises an ugly head here as well.
The culmination of the story is when the Lord appears to vanquish the evil father, and rescue his saintly son.
When Lord Nrisimhadev asks Prahlada Maharaj what benediction he would like, the child bhakta replies, “For myself, I want nothing, but please give liberation to my father”.
It’s a long and fascinating history, which I hope you will read in Srimad Bhagavatam Canto Seven, Chapters Two through Ten.
The sublime consciousness of Prahlada Maharaj is revealed in his prayer in Srimad Bhagavatam. Here’s a paraphrase:
[perfectpullquote align="full" cite="" link="" color="" class="" size=""]May the entire universe be blessed with peace and good hope. May everyone driven by envy and enmity be pacified and reconciled. May all living beings develop abiding concern for the welfare of others. May our own hearts and minds be filled with purity and serenity. May all these blessings flow naturally from this supreme benediction: May our attention become spontaneously absorbed in the rapture of pure love unto the transcendent Lord. (SB 5.18.9)[/perfectpullquote]
Today—be safe, be well, and be blessed to imbibe this pure consciousness,
Rukmini Walker
Festival of the Holy Name Pandemic Kirtan
~by Rukmini Walker
Mohini Ekadasi, May 3, 2020
Today is Mohini Ekadasi. The Ekadasi days fall every eleven days from the waning to the waxing moon. Ekadasi is a special day for receiving blessings and empowerment on the spiritual path.
On the path of Bhakti, devotees observe Ekadasi by fasting completely, or fasting from grains and beans, or just eating fruit, or juice. Astrologically there is special power on this day, that comes twice in a month. So to save time, usually taken up by eating, and also to save food grains in the mood of sharing with others, this day is observed.
Today is particularly special because today marks the completion of 360 hours of continuous kirtan (chanting of the Holy Names of Lord Krsna) that began on the last Ekadasi day, last April 18th, and circled the globe by 360 degrees.
During this time, that began as a tiny inspiration, millions of people (7.2 million at one count) have taken part in this continuous kirtan, with the intention of blessing, and sending healing to our world.
Sound travels in the ether, and so often the ether is contaminated by lies and propaganda coming from those with ulterior motives to control and deceive. In order to purify and uplift the world during this time of pandemic, this blessing kirtan was conceived. Today, upon its completion, this kirtan has garlanded the earth with Prema Nam Sankirtan, or the chanting of the Holy Name, offered in a mood of divine love.
Here is a verse from the Padyavali of Srila Rupa Goswami, in glorification of the chanting of the Holy Name:
[perfectpullquote align="full" cite="" link="" color="" class="" size=""]May Krsna’s holy name, which is a reservoir of all transcendental happiness, the destruction of Kali-yuga’s sins, the most purifying of all purifying things, the saintly person’s food as he traverses the path to the spiritual world, the pleasure-garden where the voices of the greatest saints, philosophers, and poets play, the life of the righteous, and the seed of the tree of religion, bring transcendental auspiciousness to you all. (author unknown)[/perfectpullquote]
Be safe, be well, and be blessed,
Rukmini Walker
Human Rights and UN SDG
In honor of International Woman's Day, here is a video that was written and created by a young woman named Sana Mittar. She lives in Delhi, India, where her loving family so kindly hosted me last February. This past year, Sana was the valedictorian of her high school graduating class at the Springdales School, in New Delhi.
Happy International Woman's Day!
All the best,Rukmini Walker
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndLX3cLKsSA&feature=youtu.be[/embed]
Paradoxes of the Path, Lessons from Loss
~presented by Rukmini Walker
This past Sunday, I presented a special class to the ISKCON New Jersey ISKCON Temple called "Paradoxes of the Path, Lessons from Loss". To listen to a recording of the class, please click here https://www.youtube.com/user/
Leaning in, or Leaning Out?
~by Rukmini Walker~
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“Let us not squander this hour of our pain” (Rilke)
There’s a fleeting sense of relief when I indulge my anger to explode at another person. Usually quickly followed by a sweeping regret. What have I said or done? How has a valued relationship been shattered by my rash word or action?
Right now many of us are on edge, worried about finances or family members, or ourselves who may be sick or concerned about getting sick. Some of us have suffered losses of family members or friends.
How are you feeling today? Are you feeling angry, frustrated, or alone?
Right now we can lean in to fear or despair, or try to lean in to find shelter in higher places, deeper places of wisdom. There are verses in wisdom books like Bhagavad Gita you can read and immediately feel the solace they offer. For example, this one from Bhagavad Gita, Chapter Two, verse 70:
[perfectpullquote align="full" cite="" link="" color="" class="" size=""]"A person who is not disturbed by the incessant flow of desires— that enter like rivers into the ocean, which is ever being filled but is always still— can alone achieve peace, and not the one who strives to satisfy such desires."[/perfectpullquote]
My guru, Srila Prabhupada, in times of difficulty, would often chant the Prayers of Queen Kunti, given in Srimad Bhagavatam, canto one, chapter eight, verses eighteen through forty-three. Or whole chapters of Bhagavad Gita, or the mantras of Sri Isopanisad. Of course, in the West, for centuries, people have found shelter repeating the Psalms, the ecstatic prayers of King David.
There are zoom calls right now where you can find online sanga, reading, and discussing sacred books, like the daily podcast called Wisdom of the Sages, which you can find on YouTube.
There are also sangas of chanting in kirtan*, such as the kirtans being posted by Jahnavi Harrison being posted daily from her home, during this time of lockdown; and other kirtans on Zoom where many, sometimes hundreds or thousands of people are participating.Right now, we can each choose to lean in to grace, to the light; or to lean out into fear, despair, or anger, and darkness.
[perfectpullquote align="full" cite="" link="" color="" class="" size=""]"Do not be daunted by the enormity of the world’s grief. Do justly, now. Love mercy, now. Walk humbly, now. You are not obligated to complete the work, but neither are you free to abandon it." (an interpretive translation of Talmudic texts)[/perfectpullquote]
Be safe, be well, and be blessed,
Rukmini Walker
*kirtan is a practice of mantra meditation by singing the holy names of God, by oneself and often with friends or community.
Krsna
jñānam asti tulitaṃ ca tulāyāṃ
prema naiva tulitaṃ tu tulāyām
siddhir eva tulitātra tulāyāṃ
kṛṣṇa-nāma tulitaṃ na tulāyām
Knowledge, yes, that can be quantified,but love can never be quantified.Now, yogic powers, they can be quantified,but Kṛṣṇa's name cannot be quantified.
(Śrī Śrīdhara Svāmī, Padyāvalī 15)
This is a translation of a beloved Sanskrit verse, rendered by a dear devotee in the UK, who is now (hopefully) recovering from the corona virus.All the best,Rukmini WalkerPatreon.com/RukminiWalker
Lecture: "The Masks We Wear, and the Shelters We Seek"
Last Sunday, I presented a class called "The Masks We Wear, and the Shelters We Seek (some may be helpful, and some may not)", at the ISKCON of DC, Potomac Temple. A recording of the lecture is available on SoundCloud. I hope you enjoy it. ~All the best, Rukmini Walker
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-To listen, please click on the link below-
https://soundcloud.com/
" We fell asleep in one world..."
I've been thinking how interesting it is that during this time of 'social distancing', which we really should be calling 'physical distancing’— many people are noticing that, worldwide, we are caring more deeply about each other. It's almost brought us to a more cosmic consciousness of interconnectivity. So interesting... Here are a couple of poems I think you might find inspiring. ~ Be safe, be well, and be blessed, Rukmini Walker
~by Haroon Rashid*
We fell asleep in one world, and woke up in another.
Suddenly Disney is out of magic,
Paris is no longer romantic,
New York doesn't stand up anymore,
The Chinese wall is no longer a fortress,
and Mecca is empty.
Hugs and kisses suddenly become weapons,
and not visiting parents and friends
becomes an act of love.
Suddenly you realize that power, beauty and money
are worthless, and can't get you
the oxygen you're fighting for.
The world continues its life, and it is beautiful.
It only puts humans in cages.
I think it's sending us a message:
"You are not necessary. The air, earth, water and sky
without you are fine. When you come back,
remember that you are my guests.
Not my masters."
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*Correction with apologies to the author of this poem, which was originally published as "by Anonymous" **Painting by Gina Rose Halpern