Last night I went to the Seder dinner at the Kabbalah Centre in London. It was my 1st Seder dinner so I didn't know what to expect. I should get one of the teachers to guest post and explain it properly, my take is that throughout the evening we meditated, ate and scanned Hebrew text with the intent of removing bits of our ego. Then after midnight when the cosmic windows are wide open you receive a shot of good and light that will last the whole year. I couldn't sleep when I finally got home.
The dinner has fifteen short courses and the energy of each matches the intent of that particular meditation. I sat next to a good friend who explained each course as we went along. One of the 15 rounds was about removing that part of our ego that represents "kindness, with a hidden agenda." I thought that was a great idea. The thought of people being friendly because they want something from you doesn't sit well with me. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. In some societies, good samaritans may even be eyed with caution ...
Ten years ago I volunteered to hand out food and clothing bundles in a poor town in Mexico. We were supposed to sit and chat, give them the goods and go - no strings attached. We were told to listen, help them feel cared for, etc. The initial reaction from all of the villagers was skepticism and disbelief. What did we want in return? Nothing! A few of them asked if we were there to talk about religion. Not the case.
Funny thing is this expedition was organised by my business school, which happened to be founded and run by the Opus Dei, I signed up after they clarified that we wouldn't talk about religion. The faculty member who was organising the event said it would be an abuse of power if we went into poor communities, giving charity with one hand and evangelising with the other. Totally agree! Not that I would have been any good at it (see what I mean here).
Not sure why I am writing about this now. I have been thinking of donating a percentage of my book royalties to cancer research or to support patients, through a charity like McMillan (or even sponsoring healing sessions for cancer patients). That's what my book is about though so it does support my goal of making it easier for cancer patients to try Reiki, Energy Healing and other complementary healing techniques. Would that be sharing with an agenda? Or just aligning my efforts with my book's purpose?
No comments:
Post a Comment