A mother in Vietnam gives up one of her identical twin girls at birth as she does not have the finances to take care of both. The girl lands up in California, USA, and after years is now ready to go to UCLA (University of California at Los Angeles) Medical School to become a doctor. She does not know the fate of her twin sister in Vietnam. As a refugee from Somalia in 1993, she finished her Bachelor’s degree in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and is collecting money for the starving children in Somalia. She knows starvation as she fled it when she was six years old. A girl from the orphanage of Mother Theresa’s Sisters of Charity in Calcutta adopted by a friend of mine in St. Louis, Missouri, is a surgeon. She wonders about the children left behind in the orphanage in Calcutta. A boy who was given birth by a 15 year old Brahmin girl in Chennai and abandoned to die in a garbage barrel was salvaged and adopted years ago in USA is a smart young man doing very well. Girls in USA are trying to connect with disadvantaged girls in the world through Girl Up, a campaign of the United Nations Foundation. Many poor children, especially girls, in Africa and Asia who spent most of their waking hours trying to fetch water and firewood to cook the little food they have to barely stay alive. The irony is many affluent girls in the USA are obsessed with their weight and shape, and succumb to Anorexia Nervosa or Bulimia Nervosa (Eating Disorders related to excessive obsession with body shape and weight) while many children ( girls and boys) in the world die of malnutrition or starvation. They also have too many outfits, and are faced with a decision as to what to wear every morning or for a special occasion while many girls in Asia and Africa do not have a change of clothes or are in tatters.

             I have been back in the United States from India for about five weeks. The debate about raising the Debt Ceiling so the US would not default on its debt on August 2, 2011, was on everybody’s mind, and consumed a great deal of time and energy through meaningless bickering and theatrics, and brought the US and the world (the US economy, the biggest in the world, affects the global economy) to the brink of an economic disaster. Still the last minute bill passed in both houses of the US legislative body and signed by the US president sent economic shock waves across the world. The debate showed that the government is not only divided but it is dysfunctional. The politicians in the US as well as in India are mostly irrational, and cater to people’s emotions, and tell the majority of unthinking people what they want to hear to get elected. Individuals, families, and governments living beyond their means and spending money that they do not have through unscrupulous borrowing or deficit financing are creating unsustainable and artificial economies that are not related to realities in many developed countries, especially the US, Greece, Spain, Italy. This tragic situation adversely affects hard-working persons who consciously live within their income. Another thing I observed was the preoccupation with temperature and how that affects every one’s work and life. The temperature in St. Louis has been in the 90’s Fahrenheit (90F=32.2C). The effect on people of the frequent weather broadcast during the day, and the dramtic moan and groan the weather broadcaster gives while broadcasting with also the heat index is very profound indeed. Hardly a conversation without the mention of how hot the weather is. [Needless to say, I prefer the naturally air-conditioned weather (mostly in the 70’s F or below throughout the year) around the Ashram in Munnar, India.] What kind of a world are we living in? What is life after all? Are the things that need to prepare us for a rich purposeful life eluding us?

Formula of Life

            Change in our consciousness will bring about change in the way we are, what we do and have. We have created the corrupt, greedy, immoral, hungry, and destructive world that deprives the overwhelming majority of inhabitants the necessities of life. We are our bothers’ and sisters’ keepers. We are for ourselves as well as for others. The ingredients of the formula for life are: Do to others what you like others to do to you (the Golden Rule). Treat others the same way you like to be treated. How do you like to be treated? Make an exhaustive list of the way you like to be treated. Now you know how to treat others. For instance, you like others to forgive you when you make a mistake; forgive them when they make a mistake.
            
• Accept yourself and others unconditionally. God does not create anything bad. We are all created by God; we are all good. God created us unconditionally, and loves us and accept us unconditionally. No apology for the way you are. You cannot help it. If others cannot accept you for who you are, it is their problem. Do not make their problem your problem.
• Live in the present; live in the here and now. Yesterday is gone; tomorrow comes only in terms of today. Today was the tomorrow we worried about yesterday. Tomorrow will be amply taken care of if we live today fully.
• Non-violence, truth force, and respect for others need to be in all human and international transactions.
• Give to each one what is one's due and more. Do not take advantage of anyone's misfortune, hard labor, and sweat.
• Do not fret over failures and waste precious energy fretting. Failure is part of human living. There is no human being who has not experienced it. Failure makes success even more enjoyable. Failure can be a stepping stone to success if used wisely.
• Give everyone the benefit of the doubt and a good measure of compassion. Concession and compassion go hand in hand.
• Think before you say and act.
• Be honest. Say what is on your mind, and mean what you say. Say only what is true. Nobody, except certain authorities for good governance or common good, has a right to certain information. It is good, though, to disclose everything to a few selected close friends.
• Thoughts cannot be controlled. They are neither good nor bad. They come and go. They become good or bad only when one consciously chooses them. Intentions can be controlled as they are acts of the will.
• Fear and anxiety cripple the human spirit, drain the human energy, lead to depression, and make life worth not living.
• Keep your word. Do not make promises that you will not keep.
• Human freedom and perpetual vows do not go together. Freedom relates to a dynamic state, a vow relates to a static condition. Only doing God’s will at every moment is what is required of human beings as it is essential for holiness. That means on-going discernment. Humans continuously change over life-span. A vow that is made at one period in life may not be relevant for another period. I will not recommend, except in the case of marriage, perpetual vows that will abridge human freedom.
• Eat nutritionally. Food is the first line of medication. Many diseases are due to poor eating habits. An old saying - an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure – is worth remembering. First nutrition, then taste. Taste without nutrition spells disaster. Food prepared and handled without love and care is toxic; I will not recommend its consumption.
• Take care of your body in the best possible way; for it is the temple of the Holy Spirit.
• Keep bodily, mental, and spiritual hygiene always. Make an examination of conscience at the end of every day, and come to terms with your own self, others, and God.
• Have a sense of humour; laugh heartily; celebrate life; do not take life so seriously as not to be able to laugh at yourself and others. Some ingredients are essential; others enhance the flavour.