About Author Richard F Holmes

I was born in London in 1955 and have lived a very topsy turvey life. I left school at 15 with no qualifications, and had I not left voluntarily, I would have been asked to leave. I always felt that I didn't fit in anywhere, and as a result, by the time I reached the age of 17 I'd had 24 jobs. I joined the army in 1976 hoping that it would give me a purpose in life but instead I became even more disillusioned and turned to alcohol. I hated the army because I found it to be such a hypocritical organisation and as soon as I was eligible to do so, I bought myself out. Whilst in the military however, I did enjoy my experiences in Germany and in 1980 went back there to work, staying for six years. My heavy drinking continued during my time in Germany and by the time I returned to the UK in 1986 I was heading down into a deep depression. I managed to haul myself out of it in the mid-to-late 1990's but my life hit an all time low in 2000. In early 2001 I found my spiritual pathway and started to turn my life around. I now live in Gloucestershire in the UK and I'm a successful medium and healer. I'm also the author of ten spiritual publications and have produced five meditation and three chanting CDs. I'm a workshop facilitator in various spiritual topics and I also give profound interpretations of dreams. There are plans in 2014 for another book, provisionally entitled "An Idiots Guide To Spiritual Law" and a series of audio books in CD form. Connect with me on facebook https://www.facebook.com/authorrichardfholmes

Interfaith Prayer Meeting – Bath Guildhall 5 February 2012

Posted on February 27, 2012 by Author Richard F Holmes

Dear Friends

It gives me great pleasure to be able to share with you the write-up of the interfaith prayer meeting held in Bath on 5 February 2012.

REGION 7: Mayor of Bath’s Annual Call To Prayer to all Faith groups

For the last ten years the Sai Baba organization, along with representatives from seven major faiths, have been asked to make a short presentation at this annual event in the splendid Guildhall. This year the theme was ‘Bath’s Industrial Heritage’ which was challenging to say the least!

The Mayor opened the event and called upon the Mayor’s Chaplain to MC the proceedings. The Reverend welcomed the audience drawn from Bath and the surrounding region and expressed happy surprise that extra chairs had to be brought in, despite the snow, to seat the large number assembled.

The Christian Youth representatives from St Saviour’s led the way by summarizing their activities and core values. They welcomed all to visit their church and enjoy their most valued sense of community and love of Christ Jesus.

The Jewish tradition followed with a vibrantly sung prayer drawn from the Torah with a brief explanation.

This was followed by Ruhi, a 4^th generation Bah’ai who gave a brief history of her faith and heartfelt reading and song.

Then came the Islamic faith group who led a question and answer dialogue, mentioning that there are between 1200-1500 Muslims in Bath and informing us of the local Islamic tradition of the city.

They were followed by Arun Bedi from Swindon who led the Sikh tradition’s contribution. He explained the potency of the 2 primary symbols of Sikhism and the power of Aum. He finished by chanting and translating a prayer.

Buddhism followed with another question and answer dialogue led by a monk from the Bristol Buddhist Centre, and then we enjoyed a beautifully sung Liberating prayer blessing in English.

We were then treated to a sweet rendition of the Gayatri mantra and a bhajan led by Satyen Gadher and his group of young Hindu children who, in their beautiful colourful dress, lit up the proceedings with deep heart and respect.

To close the proceedings and before we broke for tea and mingling came the Sai Baba group with our Sarvadharma. Knowing the Mayor’s love of song, we wanted to get everyone singing and so kept our presentation to a minimum, focussing on the Universality of Swami’s message and the commonality of His teachings with those of other traditions. Without God, without Love and without Service there would be no Industrial Heritage in Bath, regardless of the faith and beliefs of those who created this magnificent city.

It was heartwarming to see many in the audience joining in with a couple of devotional songs with which we concluded the proceedings, accompanied by Kathryn Crosweller on the guitar :

Happy are they who in friendship willingly work together …who in peace united willingly work together.

And to finish, the rousing song Let the Love we’re sharing spread its wings, fly across the earth and bring new joy to every soul who is alive…Samasta Loka Sukhino Bhavantu….

Afterwards, the Lib Dem MP of Bath, the Honourable Don Foster, who had been singing at the top of his voice, told Clare that he thought everyone in the UK should be encouraged to sing this song regularly…!

The event aims to bring together all the various faiths so that the promotion of common values and purpose can be shared and felt. To this end much was achieved this year. There was a definite feeling of tolerance, understanding, mutual co-operation and appreciation of each other’s spiritual paths.

It’s also a wonderful networking opportunity and most of us enjoyed interesting conversations with those from other faiths. A representative from the Islamic, Buddhist and Ba’hai groups have each accepted an invitation to come to our Sunday Study Circle to speak on a chosen theme of their particular tradition. This outstretched hand of welcome and friendship is as our Sai would hope and expect of us and we look forward to further extending this sense of sharing and openness to other groups.

Roland Pargeter, Bath Sai Group.

A New Angle On Astral Travelling – Part Two

Posted on February 18, 2012 by Author Richard F Holmes

I have also held the opinion for quite some time that our out-of-body experiences contain messages of guidance for us in the same way that our dreams do. This is what I meant at the beginning of this article when I said it was being written on the principle that EVERYTHING happens for a reason, right down to the minutest detail. This is also supported by the fact that whenever I go on an astral journey I am always taken to a specific place; it is never random. So, with all this in mind I want to deal with the symbolism of the castle-like building made out of red stone.

Earlier that day I had seen a news bulletin announcing that Glasgow Rangers Football Club had gone into administration for millions of pounds of unpaid tax bills. For those around the world reading this who may not be familiar with British football, Glasgow Rangers are bastions of The Scottish League with a history of over 50 league championships behind them, they have also been victorious on countless occasions in domestic cup competitions. Over the years a number of Scottish teams have gone to the wall through financial difficulties, but you would never have thought in a million years, that the institution that is Glasgow Rangers, with its glittering history, would have followed suit. Although the club hasn’t folded, the situation it finds itself in is unprecedented in its history. Rangers ground is called Ibrox Park and during the bulletin, footage of the exterior of this grand old building was shown. It just happens to be made of red brick.

My red stone building was symbolic of Ibrox Park and the “fortress” that was Glasgow Rangers FC (the fortress representing the grip that Rangers have had on Sottish football over the years). The whole point of showing me this scene was as a reminder that everything on the Earth plane has its day and will eventually perish. A castle is representative of strength and security, but not even the “fortress” that was Rangers FC could continue without going through revolutionary changes. It’s also a reminder of the futility of putting our faith in “things of the world” because they are only temporary.

As for the muppet-like characters, now that is a strange one, although I do have my theories. I know that on the astral planes we can “think” ourselves instantly into different forms; and I have first-hand experience of this. Also, as stated earlier in this article, I honestly believe that all of our thoughts, feelings and actions within the Earth dimension have a knock-on effect that creates for us our own personal little astral world which is representative of where we are on our spiritual pathway. Now, if the place I was taken to is somewhere that has been created by my consciousness, all I can say is that there sure must be a lot worse places out there in creation. In all honesty, that place wasn’t half-bad at all. The musicians really seemed to be enjoying themselves, and the muppet-like characters to me, symbolise child-like enthusiasm. They also represent the little bit of chaos that continues to rear its head in my life from time to time. There is also another, much simpler theory that I have, which is that they could just have been souls who looked that way. Or, they “thought” themselves into those forms knowing it would make me smile and give me something to think about. I also believe that the purpose of me being exposed to high frequency music was so that I could reap its healing benefits; the healing being received on a level beyond my current comprehension.

Guest Writer

Posted on February 17, 2012 by Author Richard F Holmes

A huge round of applause please for my latest guest writer….. put your hands together for the one and only Bonnie Trachtenberg….

Bonnie Trachtenberg is the award-winning, bestselling author of Wedlocked: A Novel. She was senior writer and copy chief at Book-of-the-Month Club and has written seven children’s book adaptations. She has also written for three newspapers and penned countless magazine articles. Trachtenberg lives on Long Island with her husband, four cats and a dog.

You can learn more about Bonnie and read her blog at: http://www.BonnieTrachtenberg.com.

Find her on Facebook: http://www.Facebook.com/BonnieTrachtenberg and http://www.Facebook.com/Wedlocked

Follow her on Twitter at http://twitter.com/#!/writebrainedny

Buy Wedlocked on Amazon:

http://ning.it/qC1y2V

Buy Wedlocked on Amazon UK

http://ning.it/sEStFV

Buy Wedlocked at Barnes and Noble

http://ning.it/pPRGvC

On what should be the happiest day of her life, Rebecca Ross is panic stricken. Rebecca has just wed Craig Jacobs, but she realizes she put more thought into choosing her florist than she did in choosing the man she’s just pledged to love for the rest of her life.

Before Craig, Rebecca, a talented Long Island girl, dreamed of following in her grandmother’s footsteps with an acting career. Unfortunately, she was cut down to size by years of disappointment, and by her first love-a Hollywood director. She returned to Long Island a lost and broken woman, and ended up in the last place she ever wanted: her old bedroom at her parents’ house.

But Rebecca’s mother, an overzealous convert to Judaism, has a long held dream too: marry off her three daughters to Jewish men. So no one is more thrilled than her when Rebecca meets and marries bon vivant Craig Jacobs, the man who has won over the whole family. Too bad they’re all about to discover that underneath his charismatic shell, this Prince Charming is anything but! “Wedlocked is a funny, warm, and engaging story about life, love, marriage and family.

“This page-turner is the perfect summer read!” -Wendy Walker, bestselling author of Social Lives

A New Angle On Astral Travelling

Posted on February 16, 2012 by Author Richard F Holmes

I awoke this morning at about 06.40 a.m., and on going back to sleep, I had a dream (which was the usual strange affair) which led to an out-of-body experience. The thing about this astral journey though, is that it has made me look at things from a different angle. Now before I go any further I just want to say that this article isn’t meant to be set in stone, it’s just my personal theory that I concluded because of the strangeness of the experience.

I’m not even going to bother trying to relate the dream because it was one of those typical dreams where nothing makes sense and you find yourself in some kind of ridiculous scenario. But as the dream was tapering off, and just before I was aware of being out of my body, I can remember running in near darkness. I was alone, and at regular intervals I encountered dogs. Running towards dogs in almost total darkness didn’t seem very clever but I then became aware that, as I met the dogs head on, I could run in the air above them, thus avoiding any confrontation. All of a sudden I was travelling at terrific speed in total darkness and I was wide awake; aware also that I was being carried.

As we slowed down and entered into daylight I could see to my left a magnificent old-looking building. It was in the design of a castle, but it was like one of the many old buildings we have in the UK that have been made to resemble castles but have never actually been castles. There is one in Cirencester, about 10 miles from where I live, that is an annexe of Cirencester College. This one was made out of red stone and I noticed that it was “outside”, meaning that my companion and I had entered a building and as we were slowing down I could see this magnificent castle-like structure through the huge glass panelled windows.

The area we entered was quite busy and it looked like a cross between a hall and a large reception area. There was what looked like the kind of reception desk you would get in a hotel, but it was large and open planned. All around this reception-type area was the most beautiful ornamental glass. It was the colour of highly polished rose quartz, but translucent. I say “the colour of rose quartz”, but in reality the colour was not what you would see on the Earth plane. There were pieces of glass of all shapes and sizes, and all were incredibly beautiful. Next to the reception there was an area where a band was playing; they were definitely playing but I could hear no music. The strange thing was that some of the band members looked like they could have been characters from the muppet show on TV. They were definitely not animals, they just looked strange and reminded me of the muppets. As we came down to land a soul crossed our path, a tall male soul with fair hair, and he just looked at us quite blankly and carried on walking. We landed right across the other side of the hall to where we had entered and seemed to have the spot to ourselves. As my companion put me down I turned to see that it was a male soul who (in earthly terms) looked as though he was in his 40’s, he had grey hair and was of medium build and height. Even though I did not recognise him, I’ve done this enough times now to know that there will be some connection between us, that I will not be aware of because I only have my earthbound memory whilst in this physical body. I thanked him and said “good to see you”. He said to me “what do you want to do”.

As we stood interacting I noticed a long corridor going off from the opposite corner, diagonally, from where we came in. For some reason, that remains a mystery, I answered him in a half-hearted manner; it was as if a part of me knew it wasn’t to be.

So, instead of saying to him “I want to explore, show me around, what’s down the corridor” etc. I didn’t even get my half-hearted reply out of my mouth, and I was back in my body in bed. When I came back down to Earth and started to analyse the experience I was totally baffled; what with muppet characters and being half-hearted about wanting to explore. So, after a great deal of thought I have come up with the following theory, which works on the principle that literally EVERYTHING happens for a reason.

Firstly, and I have encountered this before but never given it much thought, why could I hear no music even though the band were clearly playing very enthusiastically? My feelings are that because this was the astral planes, where the vibration is higher than the vibration on the Earth plane, the frequency of the music coming from the instruments must have been beyond my hearing range. I may have been in astral form but I was still technically earthbound, and therefore I would not have been attuned to hear it.

I have felt for some time now that every astral journey I have has a specific purpose. I also know that we exist on many levels simultaneously. Now, we know that our thoughts create our lives, and we also know that beyond the realm of matter our thoughts materialize as our reality instantaneously. So my theory is that even though we may be in a physical body within the Earth dimension, our thoughts and actions can have an instantaneous knock-on effect within our astral existence. It’s obvious that we DO exist at an astral level simultaneously because our astral form is encased within our physical form. The previous day I had been in a neighbour’s house trying to help her with a computer problem, and in the house there had been a number of glass ornaments, some of which were a similar colour to rose quartz. One piece in particular had been quite beautiful. I feel that my fascination with this glass created a “thought impression” that materialized within the astral world of “semi-matter”. I honestly feel that we are not only creating our lives here, but we are also creating a kind of “personal astral world” all of our own at the same time.

I also feel that when my companion said to me “what do you want to do”, it wasn’t because he was going to show me around, it was because he DID show me around. I really do believe that even though I came back to my body, an aspect of me remained in that place and most certainly did get the tour. I know this all sounds crazy, but we have to remember that not only is earthly life illusory, but also astral life is illusory, because the astral planes are simply a stepping stone back to source.

I am going to finish for now because I don’t want this article to get too complicated. But I haven’t finished. There is the significance of the red stone building and the muppet characters to decipher yet. God bless and stay tuned.

Fleeting Life

Posted on February 16, 2012 by Author Richard F Holmes

Some things rush into existence, and others hasten out of it; and of those coming into life some part is already extinct.

Movement and flux are continually renewing the world, just as the unbroken course of time makes eternity forever young. In this flowing river, on which no one can stand, what is there for us to value among the things rushing by? It would be like a man falling in love with a passing sparrow, which is already out of sight.

Surely a man’s life is as fleeting as the vaporisation of the soul from his blood or his breath inhaled from the air? For just as you draw in a single breath and then return it, which you do in every moment, so you will have to return the actual power of breathing that you had originally at your birth, to the source from which it came.

Marcus Aurelius

A Message From Baba

Posted on February 13, 2012 by Author Richard F Holmes

No matter where you go always do your duty as you see it, and know that I will be there inside you guiding you every step of the way.

In the years to come you will experience me in many different manifestations of my own. You are my very own, dearer than dear to me. I will protect you like the eyelids protect the eyes. You already have me and I have you. I will never leave you and you can never leave me. From this point on do not hanker after anything. Do your duty with unwavering love, seeing all as God. Be patient. In time evrything will be given unto you.

Be happy. There is no need to worry about anything. Whatever is experienced, whatever happens, know that this Avatar willed it so.

There is no force on Earth which can delay for an instant the mission for which this Avatar has come. You are all sacred souls and you will have your parts to play in the unfolding drama of the new Golden Age, which is coming.

Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Nothing

Posted on February 9, 2012 by Author Richard F Holmes

Bear all and do nothing

Hear all and say nothing

Give all and take nothing

Serve all and be nothing.

Sri Sathya Sai Baba

The above quote from Sri Sathya Sai Baba is highly symbolic and goes way beyond the surface. In this article I would like to humbly offer my own translation of Swami’s wonderful words.

“Bear all and do nothing” simply means to accept everything as it is, in the knowledge that all is in Divine and perfect order at any given time; “all” being God’s will. When we detach from the ego we are able to do this, embracing both pleasure and pain with equal equanimity.

“Hear all and say nothing” All is God and God is All. Therefore maintain silence and hear the voice of God, the inner voice of Love; for silence is the language of the spiritual seeker, and it is only in the silence that we can hear the voice of God.

“Give all and take nothing” Give of yourself to others wanting nothing in return. There is nothing we can take anyway, because there is nothing in this earthly life that we can own, except our love which was given to us by God before time began.

“Serve all and be nothing” This is very, very powerful indeed. Following on from the last statement, the easiest way to serve God is to serve our fellow humans, because God dwells within the hearts of all. Baba tells us that the easiest and most effective way to enlightenment is Karma Yoga, which quite simply means to serve others, completely without thoughts of self, wanting nothing in return. When we give our love selflessly we are taking a step closer to God, and when we do that, God takes manifold steps towards us, filling us with Divine love in the process. This ultimately will lead to Self-realization.

The symbolism doesn’t quite end there. The word “nothing” itself has an extremely deeper meaning here than would appear on the surface. We were all once “nothing” until we became ideas within the super-conscious mind of God. We then became particles of “nothing” until God willed us into form. So life is a journey from the formless, into form and then back to the formless; or “nothing”.

We can conclude by saying that this seemingly simple quote from our beloved Sai is actually a mini-instruction manual on how to achieve Self-realization and Oneness with the Divine. If we bear all, hear all, give all and serve all, we will achieve “nothing”. Nothing being the uncreated state of pure bliss. Sai Ram.

Hell-Fire And Damnation

Posted on February 2, 2012 by Author Richard F Holmes

I’ve been meaning to write an article on this subject for some time now. The reason being that the ancient scriptures of all the world’s major religions were written in the language and style of the era, and as such, have been misinterpreted by religious leaders and followers for centuries. It’s because of this misinterpretation that many people who would otherwise have been interested in finding out more about the religion of their birth, or religion in general, have been put off and avoid anything to do with religion at all costs. This is exactly what happened to me (but I’m actually glad of that because if religion hadn’t repelled me I would never have discovered my spiritual pathway). But for the record, I was born “Church of England”, and therefore, having had no experience of any other religions when I was younger, I will be writing this article from the perspective of a “reluctant” Christian.

We didn’t go to church in our family, unless someone got married, although my mother expressed religious beliefs on occasion. But I say “reluctant” Christian because, whether I liked it or not, I was a Christian by birth. I was born in a predominantly Christian country, and that was the religion that was taught in school. In many ways I was lucky to have had a father who wild horses would not have been able to drag into church at any cost, so I was not made to attend Sunday school or anything similar. The only downside with having a completely non-religious father was that I didn’t have any spiritual guidance at all. But I wouldn’t change anything because I found my pathway in the end, and I have no doubts whatsoever, that every minute detail fell into place in accordance with the Divine plan. So, by now you must be wondering where this article is going? Well, it’s like this, I felt that it would be a good thing to share some of the things that put me off religion, because I’m sure many feel the same way, and also to endeavour to give clarity to some of the misinterpretations.

What I really didn’t like was the use of words such as “sinners”, “repent”, “renounce” (sins), “righteousness”, and having to “burn in Hell” if I didn’t behave myself. I also took exception (even today but in a nice calm way) to the Christian God who is “angry”, “jealous” and “vengeful” and who will have the audacity to judge me come “judgement day”, even though he seems to be quite immature and spoilt himself, and in no position to judge others. Because apparently, not loving him in the way he demands to be loved, is the reason he gets angry, vengeful and jealous. Love with conditions! How pathetic and egoistic is that?

I feel that the word “sin” has been brutalised over the millennia and is now only a shadow of its former self. A more accurate word to use would be “imperfection”. You see, we all have imperfections; this is the reason we incarnate into flesh, in order to work on unresolved issues and karma from previous births, and ultimately get to the point where we don’t have to incarnate any more. It stands to reason that we are bound to have imperfections, otherwise what would be the point of human birth? So in the ancient scriptures the word “sin” referred to any action that was not in line with our soul pathway and purpose. Those religious fundamentalists who say we are all born sinners, actually mean that we are born with certain unresolved issues that we need to work on and ultimately overcome. They have simply not understood their own scriptures properly.

Next I’d like to deal with the word “repent”. This is actually an easy one. Originally, repenting meant “to follow an inner pathway that would lead to Self-realization; thus giving up the delusion that the bliss we all crave could be found outside of ourselves.” If we didn’t repent (look to the God within, instead of following the cravings of our desires in the “world”), and if we didn’t stop sinning (engaging in acts not in line with our soul purpose), then we would remain chained to the cycle of birth and death. Jesus said “the kingdom of Heaven is within you”, and he wasn’t joking. So, in a nutshell, when we repent we seek the Heaven within, and give up the sin, which keeps us tied us to the “Hell” of continued human birth. The true meaning of “Hell” is to be the constant slave of the mind that plays its tricks and causes us to stress and worry over nothing. This state is only consistent with life on Earth, therefore by realizing the “Self” within, we free ourselves from the constant treadmill of birth and death.

To “renounce” sin is simply to cease from engaging in actions not conducive to our spiritual pathway, and “righteousness” simply means to engage in “right activity”; positive activity that is in line with our soul purpose, for example, being of selfless service to others. I much prefer the Sanskrit word “dharma”, which means “right action”. I believe that the confusion arises because the ancient scriptures are very symbolic in meaning and go much deeper than the surface, and over the course of time, religious leaders and followers have tended to take words such as “sin” and “repent” at surface value; hence we end up with hell-fire and damnation.

Of course another huge problem is that people tend to follow religion as a matter of blind faith; having a series of beliefs, held mainly through fear, and never realising these beliefs as truth by their own life experiences. When people live their lives in accordance with their fears, instead of following the loving light that guides them from within, it can ultimately only lead to misery. I believe a simple way of knowing if a particular religion or way of living is right for you is to give it the heart test. If it conjures up a lovely feeling inside of you then it is right for you. If makes you fear or feel uncomfortable then it isn’t.

Sai Humour 7

Posted on January 27, 2012 by Author Richard F Holmes

It seems like a while since I’ve written an article on Sai humour, so here I am with part seven of this most intriguing of subjects. On this occasion I’m going to share two gems concerning the American devotee, Dr John Hislop and a personal experience that happened no more than a few hours before writing this post. Dr John Hislop was one of Swami’s closest devotees for many years until he departed this Earth in August 1995.

In 1973 Hislop accompanied Baba and some students on a trip to Bandipur forest where they spent Shivarathri. It was during this trip Baba performed one of his most famous miracles ever, materializing a crucifix for Hislop. When Baba performed this miracle the crucifix took a second or two to materialize instead of the usual nano second. This prompted Swami to issue a tongue-in-cheek apology for it taking so long, adding that the reason for the delay was because the crucifix was made from some of the actual wood from the cross on which Jesus was crucified 2000 years ago. The scientist in Hislop prompted him to get it checked out on returning to the US. He gave it to a friend who was an expert in this particular field, and he confirmed that the wood was indeed around 2000 years old. Six months later Hislop returned to India and he could not hide his embarrassment when Baba, with a cheeky grin on his face, said to him “so, you didn’t believe the wood was 2000 years old until you got it tested”.

On another occasion Baba materialized a ring for Hislop with an enamel picture of himself on it. After some time the enamel developed some cracks, and not wanting to wear a broken image of Swami on his finger, he tied a piece of string through the ring and wore it around his neck. When Baba asked him why he was wearing the ring around his neck Hislop replied “it’s my talisman Swami, as long as it’s on my body it reminds me to think of you whenever I’m in need of your care and protection”. Some time passed and Hislop had a miraculous escape from death. He was travelling in a taxi from Whitefield to Bangalore when a car was approaching at speed in the opposite direction. The road was not wide enough for manouvering and Hislop, in terror, closed his eyes and waited for the inevitable impact. After a few seconds he opened them again and was shocked to find that he was still travelling in the taxi with a clear road ahead. He could not figure out how the driver had managed to avoid a collision, and he was still in a state of shock when he arrived at his hotel. When Baba saw him the next morning, with a hint of sarcasm and a twinkle in his eye, he said “when you were in such a grave situation yesterday you didn’t think of me did you”. But Baba’s love is boundless and he gave Hislop another ring.

This next example is so funny to me, because Baba used his humour to convey a message to me via someone else’s dream. I find it so funny because it is very personal and very, very apt. Somone who is very dear to me told me this morning that Baba had come to her in a dream and that she had been face to face with him. Now Swami always said that when we dream of him it is not a dream but a visitation. I explained this to my dear friend who has only come to know of Sri Sathya Sai Baba in the last few months. She said that in the dream Baba asked her “do you know me?”. She replied, “Yes, I know you through Richard Holmes”, to which Baba replied, “ahhh the foreigner”.

At first I just thought to myself that it was typical Baba and that it was one of his amusing quips. But, I should have known better. Swami never does or says anything just for the sake of it, and nothing that he ever does can be described as “typical”. A couple of hours later the penny dropped, the light bulb in my head came on and I knew exactly what he meant when he referred to me as “the foreigner”. It was extremely appropriate to my circumstances and his way of letting me know that he was aware of everything. To me it was just wonderful to know that he blessed a very dear soul with his presence and at the same time delivered a personal message to me. Oooooh that’s why I love him so!

A Wonderful Paradox

Posted on January 19, 2012 by Author Richard F Holmes

One of the great things about the universe is that it has been created as a paradox. Everywhere we look there are examples of this and I’m going to share with you such an example here; a truly wonderful example.

The philosophy of Stoicism has come in for a lot of criticism over the centuries because it is viewed (wrongly) as the philosophy of doom and gloom merchants; people who are constantly agonising over pain and death etc. But if you look at Stoicism it is exactly the opposite. It was apparent to me very quickly that the principles of Stoicism are the exact same principles that form the basis of all the worlds major religions. That there is an individual in-dwelling spirit within the human physical body which is a part of the One Universal Spirit, that all of nature is interconnected with that self-same Universal Spirit and that each of us as individuals are responsible for our own lives; and that it’s not our circumstances that determine whether we are happy or not, it’s the way we deal with them.

One of the early Stoicist philosophers was the Greek Epictetus who was born into slavery. He was moved to Rome by his master but later moved back to Greece after being granted his freedom. Marcus Aurelius, one of only five Roman Emperors ever to have been considered “good”, also became a great philosopher who based his work on the teachings of Epictetus. What a truly wonderful paradox, that Marcus Aurelius, a rich and powerful Roman Emperor who became a world-renowned and revered philosopher, was influenced by, and based his philosophy on, the work of Epictetus; a man who was born into slavery. You really couldn’t make it up, and this inspiring and heart warming story truly and aptly illustrates the wonder of paradox.