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The hostess -- seen here with Tibetan refugees in North India in the late 1960s -- is a medical astrologer, herbalist, and philosopher specializing in the relationship between emotions and the soul. Ingrid Naiman is the author of six books and over a thousand articles that have been translated into many languages. More on Ingrid and the mission |
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On a Planet where competition and lust for profit is threatening the survival of every living creature, I am envisioning a new approach to existence, one based on respect for all life, one in which the joy of cooperation displaces the egomanical and often sociopathic corporate and political influences that have never before displayed their sinister agendas so conspicuously.
Burma
The issue in Burma is not democracy; the issue is abuse of power. When we realize this, we will have a much deeper understanding of what is wrong with the world in general rather than the Burmese regime in particular.
As an East-West Center grantee, one of the very first to graduate (1962), I have been acutely aware of social, economic, and political conditions in Asia for a long time. More importantly, I had the opportunity to visit Burma in 1967 when posted with the State Department in Vietnam. I knew very little about the Lanzin Socialists and was unprepared for the reality of what was found in the People’s Republic of Burma.
My relationship to Burma had been based on the textbooks I read as a student and a wonderful Japanese film called the Harp of Burma. Fate was kind to me. I managed to visit not only Mandalay but also Pagan and many other places, but my big dream was to hear Burmese music, something that required a permit from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as well as the Ministry of Culture. It was conservatively estimated that the paperwork would take a minimum of eight weeks and perhaps twelve. It would involve embassies, diplomats, and countless bureaucrats who somehow feared that the revolution would be jeopardized by a few measures of music or photographs. Recognizing the lay of the land and risks individuals took when speaking to foreigners, I resisted the temptation to look up the students from Burma who had shared the exhilaration of the early days at the EWC.
However, the situation in Burma is not as unique as some make it out to be. In 1963, my mother and I visited Vietnam. Monks were immolating themselves on the streets and yet matters went from bad to worse, not because of democracy or communism but because of tremendous misuse of force by both Vietnamese and Americans.
Discouraged by the plight of the Burmese, I turned on the TV the other night and noticed that Gandhi was replaying on TCM, now a classic? I thought, this will be edifying; I can recharge my psyche and see how the stubbornness of one man can bring down an empire, but I had the ghastly bad luck of turning on the TV just as the order to fire on the unarmed crowds of Amritsar was given.
If we think we are the civilized and we have some moral right to force our brand of civilization on another culture, we need merely to look at Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Iraq. Does our napalm or depleted uranium give us any moral high ground? No, I think not, but if we think this is a uniquely Burmese problem, we are completely wrong because the thugs throwing their weight around in Burma are no different from some of the sociopaths in high positions in our country.
Keeping this in mind, we look at the monks and what they represent and why they have taken it upon themselves to forfeit tranquility and meditative bliss in order to wage a non-violent protest. The reasons that motivate the monks in Burma must inspire all people everywhere to take a stand against abuse and against insanity. I believe the hearts and minds of humanity are basically sound but the masses have lost control over the tides of civilization. To restore sanity and sustainability of life, everyone must band together to renounce all use of force, this whether the police brutality at university speeches or airports. For this reason, we must all, if only for a moment, be monks and be true to our divine nature lest we fall victim to the worst of human depravity.
Published on the EWC Burma Blog
SiCko
See various emails sent by Ingrid Naiman that address the complex issues surrounding health care, the need for health care reform as well as freedom of choice in health care.
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"It is the world that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth."
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A Message from Dr. Emoto
Emergency Notice: Please forward this message to everyone you know.
Prayers can limit the secondary disaster. To everyone in the world, let us offer a prayer of love to the Indian Ocean rim countries!
Through the research of the water crystal over the last ten years, I have proven that people’s pure energy of consciousness can change the water in areas that people have prayed for, regardless of the distance. Also, the most effective Hado prayer is the feeling of Love and Thanks. Now is the time to send everyone’s feeling of Love and Thanks to the earth’s water.
Specialty Formulas honoring the
Native American Herbal Tradition
Copyright by Ingrid Naiman 2008