Having read her inspiring
story of near death experience and miraculous healing from stage four terminal
cancer, I wished I could bring as many people as I could to her talk. I invited two of my aunts but the one person
I so wanted to hear Anita speak was my Mom.
I was too scared that Mom would be too skeptical and too busy to attend.
Ironically, Anita’s talk is all about
fearless living. That still has to sink in
deeper for me to practice consistently, relentlessly.
I wanted my friend, R whose
father recently passed away to have heard Anita’s message. After recounting her riveting story in the
first half of the talk and explaining the lessons from the other realm in the
second half, Anita delivered a sort of postscript assuring us that nobody goes before
their time. Those who cross over wish
only our happiness and nothing else. Our
mourning is more for ourselves missing dear ones terribly.
If one listens to Anita’s
experience and insights, one goes away thinking there is nothing to worry
about, to fret over, to be afraid of, to be sorry for because in essence, we
are all love and we are loved unconditionally.
All we have to do is live out our joy and celebrate our unique selves. It’s
a rather simple message that has been taught through the ages by various teachers,
gurus and enlightened masters but we’ve also contradicted and denied that
message by having a society focused on competition rather than collaboration,
on giving criticisms rather than encouragement, on achieving rather than being.
A big shift is needed in the
way we’ve designed our educational and governance systems. We should also question how our medical care
focuses on diseases rather than wellness.
Anita wishes that people who can influence bringing about changes in
these fields would read her book.
Knowing who we really are, knowing about the world without boundaries
where we are all headed, knowing what is beyond death, our perspectives and attitudes
in this lifetime calls for some re-alignment.
Unfortunately, there is no
video of the entire talk delivered by Anita in Manila
Thank you Joie for this wonderful 'review' of Anita's talk.
ReplyDeleteYour mom will hear her talk in the most perfect time, not to worry :) You , and everyone else on those 2 days who listened to her needed to be there and has taken away what they needed to take away :) It's all good.
Let's all continue to live a joyful life, one that makes sense to us, and one that is immune to judgment, even our own *wink*.
With Love and Hope,
Marga
This is good, Joei. Wow, she was here, eh?! Last month a parish priest's homily included how he frankly told parents of a child who died (of complications with asthma) while they were away that their rushing home was useless for the boy(apparently the father chose to stay in the office, and the mother, working overseas, could have come home during the boy's hospitalization but chose also not to). He told the congregation of how long the wake was, how lavish, and how perhaps the length of a wake could be related to the guilt those still living felt, about their difficulty letting go because of their own perceived faults. It was kind of blunt of the priest to say to the family ("what for are you doing all this? it's for you, not for him"), but really it's true, wakes are processes that help the living more than the dead and they are essential aren't they.
ReplyDeleteAnyway...I find it hard to believe you say practicing 'fearless living' hasn't sunk deeper yet. You live so fully and fearlessly already! With that I greet you a Happy Chinese New Year, and Happy birthday in advance!