The one who beams never walks in the dark.
The Western World has its holy cow: the free market economy. GNP and welfare are its arteries. It is convinced that here, now and immediately, everything always has to go quicker and better, while its adage is one of 'always more'. The average westerner is chasing their salary, from early morning till late at night. Their holy cow has eaten every scrap of them in the meantime. As well as the soil that has produced the animal.
That is the problem.
We have reached the limit. It is not easy to admit that we have grown crooked towards ourselves, away from the other; alienated from the essential, away from our heart. We are collectively indulging in navel-staring at our individualism, while we are searching with our remaining energy, for new stimuli that have to give us a feeling that we are still alive. Essentially, we are squeezed dry. Empty. Exhausted. Notwithstanding all our knowledge and abilities, we are like a giant with feet of clay who screams from a deep nostalgia he cannot name.
Nostalgia: the sign of our times
"Homesick", the English call it, "Sehnsucht" for the Germans. Our heart shouts that is 'sick' for its 'home', wants to "come home" and "longs to see". We are directed by a longing we cannot name, that drives us and of which Zen Master Hisamatsu says: "it rises from the heart of existence itself".
When we stop making a playground of our life and become aware of our emptiness and longing, a deeper force is released from within us. Against all odds it is experienced as 'light'. Light without darkness, hope without despair, fullness without emptiness. This light is not only there, but essential. Small and humble, but beaming with life. The one who stands in this light, no longer walks in the dark. Never again.
In this time of winter URI Europe wants to spread this light. We do this thanks to your support. Your contribution in this sensitive time is for people in need of peace and harmony and for us of vital importance. We wish you and your family a Christmas, Hanukkah, Mawlid an Nabi, Bodhi Day, Zartosht-Diso, Yule, Human Rights Day - or whatever occasion you may commemorate during this time - full of light and life.
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Movement without a Name (MWN / BZN) CC and URI Europe wish to contribute to a better world in a substantial manner. We want to set an example and have therefore introduced the URI Europe proverbs. They are meant to inspire and spark conversation. You can subscribe to the URI Europe monthly proverbs for free. Click here to find out more.
