Inspired by the tremendous power of the human heart

[Aurora Carlson]

Dear everyone, I would like to share with you these three stories I have recently read about. They are a testimony of the greatness of our spirit, and to me, a proof that compassion in action is what will heal our world. Please read them and allow these great people to inspire you.

The first story is about Jorge Munoz, a simple busdriver in New York who for the last five years has used every moment when he is not working or sleeping to prepare meals and deliver them to the homeless, unemployed, hungry people of his city. The food is leftovers collected from local restaurants, and Jorge, together with his family, uses almost all his small income to support this activity. Read the story of Jorge here

The second story is about Betty Makoni from Zimbabwe. She was raped when she was six years old, one of the countless victims of the myth that raping a young girl will cure AIDS. Her mother told her to keep silent. Three years later, she witnessed how her father murdered her mother. Read the story of how she created 700 groups for raped girl-children and three entire villages for healing in Zimbabwe here

The third story is about Efren Peñaflorida from the Phillippines. He grew up in a slum where becoming ruthless members of gangs was the only way for teenagers to survive. But he refused to live that way. Together with other teenagers, he created teams of educators with a pushcart classroom. They make and sell crafts and collect recyclable items to fund the school materials in their shopping cart. They help other children and teenagers learn to read and write and to brush their teeth. Read Efren's story here

These are just three stories about ordinary but extraordinary people. You can read about seven more such people here. You can also vote for which of them you think should receive CNNs hero award. For me, it is hard to vote for only one of them, because they are all amazing in the way they refuse to accept limitations to how much compassion can accomplish. I will pick one, but more important, I will continue to ask myself in what way I can be as extraordinary as they demonstrate it to be possible.

Thank you for reading, may your life be joyful and supremely meaningful!

love,
aurora

[Sara Iglesias]

Dear Aurora,

Thank you so for sharing these wounderful stories with us. I have not words enough to express my admiration and love for those people and for what their compassion is accomplishing in the world. Thank you for putting all light on them and for reminding us all to act with compassion and be part of the great love of humanity.

Love and light on you Aurora!

//Sara

[Lynda Gorgopa]

Perfect expressions of love and open hearts...courage and willingness to be vulnerable...my deepest gratitude for sharing these stories of giving without expectation...from the heart!

This brings us all to a higher vibration...thank you so very much Aurora!

Peace and Love,

~Lynda

[Aurora Carlson]

Dearest friends, I am so glad that you too have been touched by these people's greatness. This is to me true greatness. We can do anything, which is much more than we often think. All we have to do is BE much more than we think :)

Let me know about the greatness you dream of :) I want to end all suffering in the world.

love, love,
aurora

[Liviu Caliman]

Dear Aurora,

Thank you for this, it is a timely reminder that 'being' and 'doing' are almost... synonyms.

With love,
Liviu

[Aurora Carlson]

Yes Liviu, but they are -almost- synonyms.
Looking closely, I've noticed that there is a world of difference between Being and Doing, as Being is outside timespace and Doing is within it. The big trap I have noticed is to want to DO in order to BE. Do great things in order to be great and fulfilled. The truth is that the purpose of our life is to unfold in Being until we are permanently at home in it. That is the greatness and fulfillment we all seek. It is about transforming who we perceive ourselves to be, so we can then naturally flow into the world of timespace as unblocked, uninhibited, pure compassion, healing, love, power, joy, creativity- everything that our spiritual core, our Being, is .

So to me it has become clear that whenever I see spirit in action, inspiration is primarily about consolidating this Being spirit in human form and human action. Otherwise it is so easy to get dragged into chasing accomplishments, results... according to the ego's image of what greatness is.

This is so important, I feel. So many people are desperately trying to change the image in the mirror. I've been one of them :) No more.

a hug, dear friend,
aurora

[Mieke van der Poll]

Dear Aurora,

Perhaps you are right. But don't you think the Ego is a natural part of a human being?

A few years ago someone in my country said to me: "That what is inside has to come out in one way or another".

And being creative by doing gives such a wonderful fulfilment in oneself. And if you are a little bit extravert, like me, you are inclined to share it with every one :)

It is the competitive factor and the money that is involved in this in our Western society that has placed the Ego in a suspected daylight.

Look at the sports nowadays, it is all about winning. Look at the ridiculous amounts of money that tennis players and soccer players and many more sportsmen and women receive and all the commercial business around it.

It is almost the same situation as has been on the stock market. And this is happening in more layers of our society.

I go for Harb's book.
It all has everything to do with the forces of nature in our lives. Life is a process of learning how to deal with those different energies.

Best wishes from Mieke

[Aurora Carlson]

Hi Mieke,

the problem with the ego is that it is not real, not real enough for those with a desire to know themselves. The ego is like a shape you would draw on the water with your finger, calling it "me"... it is a temporary bundle of beliefs and tendencies manifesting as a bundle of atoms and cells. It is real enough... on the surface, for a fleeting moment in eternity.

In a deeper reality, we are all spirit taking human form. We have a personal individuality, but it is not primary and it exists in order to play with, be creative and enjoy our Being through. Creativity is a natural quality of spirit. But creativity can only flow in its pure state when we let go of the confinement of the ego. From the ego you won't ever get true creativity- because the ego, the "shape on the surface", is always busy re-confirming itself by re-drawing its boundaries. So acts from the ego have one purpose only (open or hidden): to strengthen the image most of us call "me". That is one kind of fulfillment, a very superficial and temporary one, the fulfillment of the ego. Really worth nothing :)

Creativity from spirit happens when we allow the flow of inner enthusiasm or inspiration, or love, or compassion - all qualities of spirit - to melt our personal limitations and flow through action into the world. Action can be breathing, painting a picture, building a house or rescuing raped girls in Zimbabwe. When it comes from spirit, action is infused with spirit and touches the heart of anyone it comes in contact with. That is real fulfillment, the fulfillment of fully being one's true self- in action.

What I say here is not from a book, it is my observation of how it works. I have an ego, but less and less does its dance fool me into believing it is my real identity, into following it blindly. The ego is a tiny confinement, and I am real only in the total freedom, supreme creativity and eternity of the true Self. The accomplishments the ego wants to run after do not fulfill in the log run. They are empty and meaningless when one looks at it with attention.

love, aurora

[Mieke van der Poll]

May be so. But I never had an ego.
We women of my generation were not raised to have an ego.
I had an egoless mother so she has been my example.

But nowadays I do have one and I am very happy with it because it helps me to make a difference in what I do want and what I do not want to happen in my life.

I do listen to the Universe and it always helps me in finding my way. And it also warns me (intuition) when I am about to do something I better should not.

A healthy ego in a healthy body-mind for a woman is something very nourishing.

I can imagine that for men this is all so different. They have demonstrated their ego so much that it would be a good thing if they would let go a little bit of it.

Why is it that that raped girl in Zimbabwe who did so much good for her fellow girls in her own country had to go to live in the U.K.? Because she was threatened to death in her own country by the men who live there.

This fact was also mentioned in the video of CNN.

[Aurora Carlson]

Dear Mieke,

My inner observation tells me that the guidance of the Universe through intuition, the one that tells me what the best and highest way is for this person, is not the same as "what I want and what I don't want" coming from ego. There is a world of difference between them.

And ego... it is that noisy part of us which believes that our suffering comes from others. That is because it perceives itself as separate from "others". In spirit, we are above our gender identities and any separation. The more we listen to ego, the better (or worse, as some egos insist) we look compared to "others". Ego sees the world as consisting of victims and perpetrators, good and bad, better and worse, higher and lower, because ego doesn't understand that the world is the projection of one consciousness in different states. If we are grounded in spirit, we are specks of the same consciousness, and our individual and collective reality is a mirroring of our state of consciousness.

When we stop listening to the voice of the ego, the one who separates, compares and blames, we have a chance to go deeper within our own consciousness, and align our body- mind to the wholeness, reality, safety, power and knowingness of our spirit. As I see it, a harmonious existence is not body mind and ego, but body-mind-spirit.

love, aurora

[Mieke van der Poll]

Dearest Aurora,

You talk about an Ego that I am not familiar with.

The Ego or the I in my perception is conditioned by the forces of Nature and it is the task of a human being to deal with those natural forces in his/her life.

This is a long process, it is a process of consciously discovering what those forces evoke in oneself and how one can find one's own reply.

But I have already understood that it is of no use discussing this further.

I have again found my dharma here on the ANH pages. Someone has asked me to step into a very creative adventure of me adding my poetic inspiration to their pictures.
I have my intention of making E-books; they have their intention of making their art a cultural happening to share in a unity with people all over the world.

My ego is very flattered with this possibility. I will do my very best to honour their wonderful intention.


Best wishes,

Mieke

[Aurora Carlson]

Dear Mieke,

we do agree that it is a process.
I wish you the highest joy and fulfillment and best of luck finding them in ego and flattery :)

love,
aurora

[Mieke van der Poll]

"Treat people as if they were what they ought to be and we help them to become what they are capable of being! -- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe"

You can see it in that way too :)

Because with the beautiful project I am now involved in I can learn so much from another culture and am perhaps able to establish a better understanding between people from different cultures.