The Treasure Within

This is a reprint of an article written in Alan Cohen's July 2011 Newsletter sent to me by a friend. I think it well worth printing again and sharing with you all. Notice taken especially to the areas I have highlighted and italicized.

The TREASURE in YOUR BASEMENT

Earlier this month the nation of India discovered a nearly unbelievable treasure locked in the basement of the Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple in Trivandrum. The cache of gold statues, diamonds, and jewels was accumulated through donations to the temple by wealthy families over a period of 500 years. Locked in six tightly secured rooms, no one has viewed the booty for over 150 years.

The value of the find is currently estimated at a minimum of $22 billion, perhaps much more. Indian leaders are now deciding what to do with the treasure, the sum of which exceeds India’s annual budget for education for the entire nation of nearly 1.2 billion people.

Since what you see outside you, including public news, represents what is happening inside you, the news is good for all of us. You have an extraordinary treasure hidden in your basement. You own a royal fortune of talent, insight, creativity, vision, love, and connection to universal wisdom. Like the treasure at Padmanabhaswamy, your cache has largely been locked away. Yet the day comes when the riches are liberated and put to good use. No one benefits from gold sitting in a dark chamber, especially when circulating it can improve the world. How many people in India can be fed for $22 billion? How many homes could be built for the many impoverished there? How many children could be educated so they can create better lives for themselves and their families?

I think it symbolic and appropriate that the greatest hidden treasure of all time has been unearthed in one of the most overtly poor nations on the planet. No matter the appearance of lack or bleakness the outer world shows us, there exists an invisible gift to offset it. The issues of the world seem insurmountable: the ecological crisis, financial deficit, war, hunger, and social and moral decay. Yet there are answers and healing for all of these pressing issues if we just look below the surface, and go within.

The deity of the Trivandrum Temple, Padmanabhaswamy, represents the Hindu Lord Vishnu asleep. Perhaps Lord Vishnu is waking up as an inspiration for all of us to join him.

To read the rest of the article, go to http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2011/07/06/137627235/some-22-billion-in-gold-diamonds-jewels-found-in-indian-temple

The Anthony Case

Casey Anthony was found not guilty today of murdering her daughter, Caylee. I'm not writing to talk about whether the verdict was right or wrong; that was left up to the jury to decide and they have declared their verdict.

What I would like to comment on was people's reaction to the verdict and my take on their reaction. It appears we have a lot of angry people out there. I've never heard so many people say, "She deserves to die," as I have heard during these proceedings. Those are very strong, judgmental words. I, personally, did not watch the trail...did not want to watch it because of the drama involved. It seems the more people watched, the more outraged they became as the days progressed. Did any of those people who were outraged have any control over what the outcome was going to be? The jury already had been selected. It was out of every one's hands, except those selected.

But the bigger question I have is, if this is a Christian nation, as so many propose it is (and would be the first to say they are Christian when asked their belief), would not Casey Anthony be forgiven by God for any misdeeds, if done, according to what Christ did for the children of God (everyone on earth) at the crucifixion? And yet, so many wanted to crucify her before and after the verdict???? Why? Is it so hard for us to realize that life sometimes is not fair...we are powerless over so many things. Is it hard for us to wrap our minds around what Christ accomplished on that cross? Is that a much greater love, than in our humanness, we are capable of perceiving? We, in our humanness, don't know that depth of love. Those are times when I have to say, "God, I can't..... but I am willing to allow you to do it through me."

Does this point perhaps to the spiritual sickness that pervades our land....where we want to take vengeance into our own hands out of our own anger at what are seemingly injustices. Anger is nothing more than wanting to change a person or a situation....so I understand that. So....what is it that so many want to change?

Have we forgotten who we are? We came from Love and are here to be examples of love and forgiveness to one another...examples of Christ's love to all (according to Christian belief). Christ told us in Matthew, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” Those are difficult marching orders when you get in the trenches of life, and especially have to follow to the love and forgiveness part.

I question whether the anger expressed is really unspoken anger that perhaps a lot of people have toward their own parents, caregivers or authority figures for how they were treated as children...and perhaps have never talked about and that is ready to be released. This certainly has given them a safe direction to vent their anger...one that is less confrontational...one that perhaps feels safer.

The question is this, however, venting the anger in the direction of Casey Anthony will do nothing to address the depth of anger within or the reason that it is there. It will only lie dormant until it gets tapped into again in another news happening, or something that pushes "the button".

We are, in history, an angry, vengeful nation. We even stalk down those who in other lands have done something we perceive as incorrect or doing things not according to "our beliefs". We declare war on them. When were we ordained the earth's police department.

I've often said we are still like the early settlers, who were as rebellious teenagers, running away from that which no longer worked for them. Would it not have been better for them to confront their situation of lack of religious freedom...rather than run to this land, and do the very same thing when they arrived here to the Native Americans' beliefs? The settlers did what had been done to them in their native land. They forced their religious beliefs on the Native Americans.

It is time to come home....... come home to ourselves, deal with our internal wounds individually, and collectively, so that we can move through the pain, that has been stored within our individual and national soul. Otherwise we will recreate it over and over in circumstances trying to make sense of the original wounds.

It is time to return to the Love, from which we came, remember who we are and heal not only ourselves....but our land. It is time to build bridges of understanding amongst ourselves, First, however, what did not work has to be torn down in order to rebuild. Our foundation has been built on unstable ground. It has to be rebuilt on different ground, with different values. Our values have brought us to where we are today. Is your life working for you?