911
This is America’s universal emergency calling number that connects us to any emergency assistance or police location in the vicinity. It is the telephone number we use when we are in trouble. It was the number used by several of the passengers on the highjacked planes. Perhaps out of the skies of New York and Washington, it is God’s wakeup emergency call to us to change our course of action, change our attitudes, change our beliefs, change our responses, change our way of life to encompass universal peace, equality, love, compassion, harmony and acceptance in our actions!
There is much talk of retaliation here in America for the wrong that has been perpetrated upon us. Perhaps a reality check is in order.
First, the World Trade Center is not just an American icon or institution. It was filled with world citizens from foreign trade businesses and foreign banks. Therefore, other nations have lost citizens as well. This is a reminder that the planet is interconnected in business, finance, emotion, spirit, protection, defense and daily existence. While New Yorkers are sobbing, the citizens of Germany, England, Japan and Australia are also weeping. We are all one (as the date suggests 2001 or the 2000 year of the Christian calendar, the first year of the new beginning of oneness or wholeness). When you touch a blade of grass, the entire world quivers.
Second, the focal point of the American way of life revolves around our freedom to speak our truth and act our truth as civilized human beings using our resources- our money (WTC; NY)- protected by our security- the military (Pentagon) and our power (Washington, DC). Perhaps God’s message is that these are only illusions of power. The military, CIA and FBI, our earthly defenses, were caught unaware and powerless. Perhaps our REAL power is something intangible and greater than our military might. Throughout these days of crisis, it is amazing how EVERYONE has moved towards the real power that we neglect and lack in our daily lives as we focus on career, money, control and getting ahead- our emotions, our hearts, our humanity, our service to others, our brother and sisterhood, our ability to share and communicate, our instincts to survive, and our God in prayer. Our very essence of power has been revealed to us- it is our oneness and our humanity to each other that is the lifeblood of this planet. But we have all become TOO BUSY ‘getting ahead’ to listen, nourish and sustain our fundamental needs. Perhaps the lesson of this tragedy is for us to listen to the heavenly wakeup call to the fundamental reasons and purposes for our existence on this planet; our unity as world citizens to rekindle our spirituality in its various manifestations. The lives of those who perish are not in vain when we can all begin to live in this world as if EVERYONE is our brother and sister, part of the universal family, deserving of our respect, loyalty, compassion, love and service, not just the particular nationality, religion, skin color or sect to which we belong. Is this not the message of every religion around the planet, the center of our power?
Third, is the speculation about the perpetrators. It has been said that they represent a religious persuasion- Islam- AND the country of Afghanistan AND that the event is religiously motivated.
a) The blood of innocent men, women and children is somehow not logically representative of any God, Islam or ANY religion this author has studied on the planet. Islam forbids killing.
b) According to religious truths, we are to take care of our temples- our bodies- and those of our fellow neighbors. If this is so, then our first job is to begin to take care of ourselves so that we have the stamina and energy to take care of everything else. This includes our bodies, which encompasses our health (mental, emotional and physical), our spirits, our souls, our energy and those things that influence our temples- our environment, our family, our community, our world. Terrorists could not possibly be religiously motivated to do what they do in the name of God. It is obvious that this group especially, did not value their bodies or those of others AT ALL! It is an act perpetrated by angry people who have no purposeful way to vent their anger and frustrations, who were misdirected into inappropriate venues of emotion and passion that could better be directed towards peace and happiness.
c) HOW did these people become misdirected and misguided? THE ANSWER to this is the very real essence of what the message from the skies is telling us. In America’s attempt to control the world in the 1980’s, when communist Russia was attempting to overpower Afghanistan, the CIA trained, paid and armed a man and his band of rebels. The CIA trained them to move from one place to another so as not to be detected, to create ‘cells’ in order to be more powerful, to watch the enemy over and over in order to predict their moves, to observe their responses to ‘contrived’ attacks or false alarms (like bomb scares) so as to predict their actions for future attacks, to catch people unaware and off guard, to use the weaknesses of the nation against itself, to make sure to train young men from 16-28 (men who believe themselves to be invincible), to be the soldiers, to train young children (which is learned from the way of capitalism or teaching children to be lifelong consumers) to hate and kill, to use fear, poverty and oppression as tools to maintain order. These are the skills Ben Laden received from the CIA under our delusion to control the Middle Eastern part of the world! The Russians were defeated and retreated through these actions. He is America’s shadow, the ‘prince’ of darkness, come back to haunt us!
d) The Taliban and Ben Laden are not native to Afghanistan. The Taliban are a cult of fanatics who took over Afghanistan in 1997 with a very specific plan. Here we are 60 years later and the Taliban could be considered analogous to Nazis; Bin Laden, to Hitler and “the people of Afghanistan” to “the Jews in the concentration camps.” Afghan people, in reality, are the first victims of these perpetrators. In today’s Afghanistan, the only people who are fed, mobile and have the ability to hide are the Taliban (thanks to by Bin Laden’s millions). The Afghans will not rise up and overthrow the Taliban. Why?
e) Afghanistan is a country of starving people from a two-year draught, from oppressive rules and regulations, from the aftermath of war with Russia that still predominates the country. Hungry, starving, poor people will do ANYTHING to fill their bellies and those of their families. When the only person to assist them with his millions of dollars is a terrorist who also happens to share the same religious denomination, you protect him. Do you think that desperate people care one way or the other if they are bombed for harboring a criminal? Perhaps bombing is seen as a way out of their misery.
f) A few years ago, the United Nations estimated that there are 500,000 disabled orphans in Afghanistan–a country with no economy, no food. The sight of children moving in wheelchairs to avoid bombs and attack is an awesome one.
g) There are millions of widows from the various wars and state of the economy. The Taliban have been burying the widows alive in mass graves as well as stoning and beating them. Actually, it is estimated that 60% of Afghans are women.
h) The ground is littered with land mines and the farms were all destroyed by the Soviets, after math of the invasion of the 1980’s.
i) The poppy crop, which unethically supported at least 30% of the population, was banned by the new country codes. Bomb Afghanistan? Make the Afghans suffer? Level their houses? Turn their schools into piles of rubble? Eradicate their hospitals? Destroy their infrastructure? Cut them off from medicine and health care? Someone already did all of this to the people of Afghanistan years ago.
j) To go into Afghan with ground troops would only be killing Americans who would be lost in the jungles and mountains and snipered by guerillas capable of maneuvering the terrain. Bin Laden’s hideout would elude us just as it did the Russians. Or perhaps this time the Chinese would arm the rebels against the West to balance the power scheme.
k) To get troops to Afghanistan, we must go through Pakistan ground and airspace. Will they let us? Probably not. Therefore, we might have to conquer Pakistan. Will the other Muslim nations stand by to watch us obliterate the Middle East? To the point, we are flirting with a world war between Islam and the West. And THIS is Bin Laden’s REAL agenda or at least, it is what he has been announcing for a long time. After all, with Islamic soldiers ranking in the billions, he strongly believes just sheer numbers alone would overcome the West. It may seem ludicrous, but polarizing the world into Islam and the West would realize billions of Islamic soldiers. If the west wreaks a holocaust in Middle Eastern lands, there are a billion people with nothing to lose. The war would last for years and millions would die. Who has the tenacity for that? Are we willing to loose an entire generation of males to war? Bin Laden does.
l) Why is it that terrorists are always males from ages 17-30? Why is it that the people who are making decisions for America are only males? War is the guiding principle of discussion. Yet, our experience on this planet is that war creates more mess than it solves. Why are there no women in the decision making process? Men use their intellects; women are guided by their heats and intuition. The brain emits .5 watts of power while the heart broadcasts 5 watts. Isn’t it time we make decisions from our hearts rather than from age old patterns of the intellect? The intelligence of the heart has more power.
Suppose we employed the ageless ancient practice of Tai Chi to this event. In Tai Chi, when your opponent is moving towards you with great force, you wait until the last moment and step aside. This disarms the opponent and he goes flying forward with his own momentum and falls. What would happen if the US and the world governments flew thousands of military planes all at once over Afghanistan and air dropped tons of food to these starving people? With full bellies, would they be more likely to co-operate with us? With 60% of the country full of oppressed women who are unable to have a job, go to school, without fathers to care for their children, might they consider this act of kindness as a gesture for rebelling against their oppressors? What would happen if we used our hearts instead of our intellects as a solution? What could it hurt to do something DIFFERENT in response to violence? God says in every religion, LOVE your enemy. What an ennobling way to disarm our opponent.
It is at these times that we must always remember that we are one world, one planet and one people under the illusion of being divided by imaginary boundaries. Our consciousness, communication and the various systems that affect our daily lives are linked in an interwoven tapestry of multi-colors, creeds, beliefs, attitudes, values and sentiments. If we are to survive on
this planet, then our differences must be recognized as gifts rather than barriers, our shadows must be uncovered and revealed, our dirty laundry made clean. This ownership of responsibility to the world will enables America to move and grow, change and elevate to greater and greater heights. The men of history like Hitler, Ben Laden and those that have devastated the spirit of nations see themselves as separate and apart from the rest of humanity. In this modern era, such a worldview is self-destructive. We are all part of the whole. When one nation or institution falls, we all fall. When one succeeds, we all succeed.
There are those that understand this intricate web and those that see from a narrow perspective; their own little corners of the world. Please pray that those who embrace a narrow vision and are in need of placing blame through long held unresolved bitterness from unrelated issues will be kept at bay from harming the innocent people and children who might share the same creed, nationality or skin colors as those who perpetrated this awful deed. Please pray that we will all learn to live peacefully and that our anger, frustrations and resentments will be resolved in healthy venues. And finally, in whatever way seems appropriate, please ask that the hand of God may rest upon the hearts, minds, spirits and souls of our leaders to make decisions based in the highest wisdom, thoughtfulness and reserve for the good of ALL peoples, American or otherwise.
Perhaps the symbols of this event, 911 from the skies of New York and Washington, is God’s call to begin to practice, share and LIVE a more spiritual rather than materialistic, inhumane life on earth acknowledging, educating and appreciating every aspect of our humanness and that of others from the very beginning of life. As we have learned from this event, we are all capable of extra-ordinary acts of human kindness and compassion if compelled to do so. It takes only a second to shift our awareness from self-centered localism to global humanitarianism.
Dr. Daria M. Brezinski
CEO: To Protect Our Children