mercredi 18 octobre 2017

MEDITATING ON THE MEANING OF DESIRE

A young medical student from Cuba asked me:
I explain, I understand that the more we want something, the more likely it is to happen, so tell me, I must not desire anything intensely that prevents me from seeing the other things around me.

You asked:/Me preguntaste
Te explico,tengo entendido que en cuanto mas deseamos algo,hay mayor probabilidad de que suceda,entonces dime,no debo desear nada intensamente que me impida ver las otras cosas que me rodean.?

First of all, what is desire? One thing is for sure; desire for material things will never make you happy, perhaps comfortable, such as a nice house or a car. But the desire for them will make you unhappy, as you may not achieve it or you may want more.
Desire for Love? We are not sure why we are attracted to people like we are. But generally, we are attracted to someone because of something that we lack in ourselves. So that desire is for the defect in yourself rather than the person. If that happens, a couple is not happy since each person looks for some thing different. Desire for something or someone, will blind you to the real things around you.
Do not confuse desire with Goal. Say that you want to be a compassionate doctor that is a goal rather than a desire. Desire involves attachment, when you become attached to anything, your mind does not allow you to see everything clearly.
I became aware of it very early in my life and one by one I gave up my attachment: I am not attached to being a Doctor but I love my work and my work is appreciated and respected, but I am not attached to the role of the doctor. Then to give my attachment to Australia, I never thought I would leave Australia but here I am. My love for Cuba on the other hand is not an attachment but much purer a love. Desire makes things less pure, desire takes away the true meaning of love and friendship and companionship.
There are five things, which we can call Structural Defects in our ways of thinking, all of which bring unhappiness in our lives.
EGO
Attachment
Aversion, which is the opposite of Attachment
Fear of Change and governing all four is Ignorance.
Ignorance of the world makes us nationalistic.
Ignorance of our desires makes us choose bad lovers, bad husbands and bad friends
Ignorance leads to attachment and its opposite aversion.
It is ignorance that makes us want to hold on to something that we feel comfortable, rather than welcoming a change.
None of the above is easy to achieve but the results of achieving of them or decreasing these defects is a blissful state of mind, a state of mind in which you become brother to many people, you gain respect, you are genuinely happy and feel a sensation of fullness.
When Indians have ceremonies, we sacrifice our bodies by subjecting it to extreme heat and then we pray for others. No Indian would pray for LOVE of another person (like, please make so and so fall in love with me), but only for the welfare of the other persons in their lives.
Wanting another person is a very low level physical attraction but wanting that person to be the person she can be, is a true prayer and a way to decrease desires.
I never wish hard for anything, but everything comes my way. I don’t really think that if you want something very badly, you will get it. My opinion is that if you want something badly, it reflects some deep defect in you, looking something to fill that defect.
We can talk about it if you wish when we meet.

Antes que nada, ¿qué es el deseo? Una cosa es segura, el deseo de cosas materiales nunca te hará feliz, tal vez cómodo, como una casa bonita o un automóvil. Pero el deseo por ellos te hará infeliz, ya que es posible que no lo consigas o desees más.
Deseo de amor? No estamos seguros de por qué nos atraen las personas que nos atraen.
. Pero en general, nos sentimos atraídos por alguien por algo que nos hace falta. Entonces ese deseo es por el defecto en ti mismo en vez de las buenas cualidades percibidas de la persona. Si eso sucede, una pareja no está feliz ya que cada persona busca algo diferente. El deseo de algo o alguien te cegará a las cosas reales que te rodean.
No confundas deseo con objetivo. Diga que quiere ser un médico compasivo que es un objetivo en lugar de un deseo. El deseo implica apego, cuando te apegas a algo, tu mente no te permite ver todo claramente.
Me di cuenta de ello muy temprano en mi vida y uno por uno renuncié a mi apego: no estoy apegado a ser médico, pero amo mi trabajo y mi trabajo es apreciado y respetado, pero no estoy apegado al papel de el doctor Entonces, para dar mi apego a Australia, nunca pensé que me iría de Australia, pero aquí estoy. Mi amor por Cuba, por otro lado, no es un apego sino un amor mucho más puro. El deseo hace las cosas menos puras, el deseo quita el verdadero significado del amor, la amistad y el compañerismo.
Hay cinco cosas que podemos llamar Defectos Estructurales en nuestras formas de pensar, todo lo cual trae infelicidad en nuestras vidas.
EGO
apego
Aversión que es lo opuesto a Apego
Miedo al cambio y
causando los cuatro defectos estructurales es Ignorancia.
La ignorancia del mundo nos hace nacionalistas.
La ignorancia de nuestros deseos nos hace elegir malos amantes, malos maridos y malos amigos
La ignorancia conduce al apego y su aversión opuesta.
Es la ignorancia lo que nos hace desear aferrarnos a algo en lo que nos sentimos cómodos, en lugar de dar la bienvenida a un cambio.
Ninguno de los anteriores es fácil de lograr, pero los resultados de lograrlos o disminuir estos defectos es un estado de ánimo feliz, un estado mental en el que te conviertes en hermano de muchas personas, ganas respeto, eres genuinamente feliz y sientes sensación de plenitud
Cuando los indios tienen ceremonias, sacrificamos nuestros cuerpos sometiéndolo a un calor extremo y luego rezamos por los demás. Ningún indio rezaría por el AMOR de otra persona (como, por favor haga eso y así se enamore de mí), pero solo por el bienestar de las otras personas en sus vidas.
Querer a otra persona, es una atracción física de muy bajo nivel, pero querer que esa persona sea la persona que ella puede ser, es una verdadera oración y una forma de disminuir los deseos.
Nunca deseo nada difícil, pero todo se me viene encima. Realmente no creo que si quieres algo muy mal, lo obtendrás. Mi opinión es que si quieres algo mal, refleja algún defecto profundo en ti, buscando algo para llenar ese defecto.

Podemos hablar de eso si lo deseas cuando nos encontremos.

mardi 17 octobre 2017

OFFERING TOBACCO TO MOAI IN TAHAI IN RAPA NUI: A GIFT FROM MY BROTHER ARNE VAINIO OF MILLE LACS OJIBWAY

ARNE VAINIO, my Ojibway brother, was being honoured as the American Indian Physician of the Year 2017 at a meeting where I was one of the speakers. Our meeting and the deep feeling we felt for each other was instantaneous.
Is this a Bromance? joked his wife. They live in Duluth, Minnesota and he is a Family Physician to the Fon du Lac band of Ojibway.
When we said good bye to each other we knew we will meet each other again soon.
Not even a week had passed when I was asked whether I would be interested in going to Minnesota to give some lectures, I was eager to go and imagine my happiness when I found out that one of the places I would be talking was Duluth!
He was one of the first people to RSVP to the invitation, said the local contact person and he arrived and we just felt so happy to see each other.
I felt his presence soothing and comforting to me, it is as if we had known each other for generations.
He gave me two things: native tobacco which was his own and also wild rice that he had harvested by the lakeside from a secret place. I was grateful.
Soon after the meeting I went to Rapa Nui and I had the tobacco he had given me in my pocket. At the very first chance I got, I walked down to Tahai area where the lone Moai stood at the original palace area of the first king of Rapa Nui.
There were only a couple of visitors to the area. I offered the Moai tobacco before I prayed in no specific order:
my family in Belgium, my sister and her family in Miami, my mischpochah in Portland, my Cuban friends, my Omaha friends. I prayed in the Native American fashion without asking for any favours but asking the spirits to accept the tobacco given to me my Ojibway brother. 
Moai usually have a vision that look straight ahead of them, I was surprised to see when this photo was taken and you can observe it, it was as if the Moai was looking at me, full of pity for my humble self but pleased at the tobacco.
Tobacco has great symbolic value in the Native American tradition
I know that I will be seeing my brother Arne Vainio sometime soon, and also the Moai will draw me back to Rapa Nui, of this I am certain.
I felt immensely happy and that happiness continues as I write this at the Blue House where I stay among the Omaha Indians.

lundi 16 octobre 2017

MY RAPA NUI FRIENDS : MEMORIES AND ANTICIPATION





I renewed some old friendships and made some new friends in Rapa Nui














It was lovely to celebrate a shabbat, inviting some Rapa Nui friends.

mardi 10 octobre 2017

GRATITUDE, HUMILITY AND SACRIFICE FROM OMAHA COUNTRY TO SOUTH AMERICA

I am grateful for the kindness shown to me by the Omaha Tribe of Nebraska; especially Ashleen BB, Wehnona S, Lorna S, Taylor H among the many others.
Lately I have had a chance to show my appreciation of the tribe, by promoting in Northern Minnesota and Marquette, Michigan the Omaha Model of Diabetes Care, which I think would be THE model to follow in the Indian Country.

 The Moon slowly rising over a silent landscape in Northern Minnesota, near Brainerd.
When I woke up at Craiguns Inn by the lake, this is what was waiting for me 



The many good friends that I made during my jaunt brought the lesson in Humility, yet another Omaha Indian characteristic, to me. Mindy, Joe, Sara M, Troy, Rich, Dr. G and then again the wonderful Providers at the Cass Lake, Mille Lacs and Fon du Lac bands of Ojibway. It was a pleasure for me to see my new brother Arne of the Ojibway. I was given hand collected wild rice and also the Ojibway tobacco, both of which I will put to good use. Was also given a handmade bag from Duluth, Minnesota.
When goodness is shown to me, I would like to return it hundredfold to people who know, and complete strangers to me.
Those of us who are familiar with the Indians have become richer in life’s context by observing the fundamental qualities of Indian perception of the world: Humility, Gratitude, Sacrifice, and Mindfulness.

I left feeling well, with my head in the Clouds, (the Traditional Kickapoo of Mexico call me Ke Se Kui Te Pa, or Head in the Clouds) and headed towards the Amazon, via Miami and Lima.
My first day in Iquitos, the largest city that cannot be reached by road in the world, was all that I wanted. I reacquainted myself with the architectural sumptuousness of the Rubber Boom Days, visited the Iron House built by none other than Gustav Eiffel of the Eiffel tower frame, took in the air of the vast Amazon River, went in search of the history of Moroccan Jews who had come here during the Rubber Boom, ate at a Chifa which is the Peruvian version of a Chinese restaurant famous for its Fried Rice and Chicken. I spoke to many local people, but not to a single foreigner or a tourist. I am not on a holiday but to enhance my anthropological ability to observe life as it goes on in another part of the world, far removed from our everyday life.

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I will highlight some anecdotes of the day here in the Amazonian Outpost.
The common form of public transport is MotoKar, wich is a motorcycle usually a Honda attached to a rear two seater, which splutters along. I wanted to go to the Museum and the receptionist at the Palau Amazonas Hotel where I am staying hailed a MotoKar and we began our journey. Once the driver found out my Cuban conncetion, he insisted that we go and look for some Cuban friends he has, we ended up in a Barber Shop in another suburb, met the Cuban barber, I may get my hair cut by him tomorrow and then went to the Amazon where the Nanay River meets it. I loved his enthusiasm for life and great hope he has for his life ahead of him. He was from Barranquilla in Colombia and he hopes to get to Ecuador and from there to Spain.
(Erstwhile home of Mr Cohen who might have arrived in the late 1890s to IQUITOS, Now a supermarket and a cafe)
When I enquired about a restaurant where Peruvians eat and not those frequented by tourists (with its high prices), she offered to come with me to the restaurant tomorrow evening!
People in general are friendly and talking and getting their life story is what I do best on my travels.
 It was good to see a patriotic march to celebrate the end of the War of the Pacific, one of the many internal wars in Peru
Gustave Eiffel of Eiffel Tower fame said to have built three houses here in Iquitos, this one called House of Iron is easily to find.

Women tend to be on the plus size in this outpost and one can easily see why if you are to go to outdoor areas where plenty of food is being sold. Fried in the same oil, these rings, I think they are called Sancoche, are offered for a fraction of a dollar for a small plate (2 Soles).















vendredi 6 octobre 2017

MINNESOTA MON AMOUR : A NEW LOVE IN MY LIFE

This country is immense, and most of us just touch small patches of it. I cannot claim to have traveled it well rather than in patches: Florida, Texas, Nebraska and South Dakota, Iowa; all more or less flat states, with no great claim for natural beauty, except in isolated parts. Also the population diversity of this country, gives Texas to Mexicans; Florida to Cubans; Nebraska and Iowa to the Germans, with the smattering of multiple other nationalities, sometimes incongruously placed: Somali in Sioux City, Iowa; Sudanese in Omaha, Nebraska. Immigrants are welcomed but their struggles are different from the native born or those in the professional class, native, immigrant or foreign.
When one is struggling to survive in a competitive capitalistic society, there is little time or inclination to be nice to each other or show solidarity for their plight.  America is changing so fast that we tend to forget what it looked, felt and talked like just a couple of decades ago.
 I had a chance to experience America, which is well hidden, one of the more beautiful parts of this large country with sweet people to match its beauty.
Northern Minnesota as the leaves were falling in multitudes of colours, the lakes tranquil but deeply breathing the light that falls on it, to share the glow with us. Very genuine people, healthy looking to boot, I enjoyed so much my drive through Northern Minnesota and enjoyed meeting a variety of people.












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It was a memorable visit for me.

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