Thoughts for a new life & a new world

Just a question for you: do you think a new world is REALLY possible?

Yes, you think it is possible. Yes, you probably work on many fronts for that, whether it is ecological or a new education for children. Yes, you would love that to be real. But, do you really THINK it is possible?

One thing is to think from your desire that a new world is created. Another thing is to think out of possibilities that this old world changes into a new one.

I think it is possible. In fact, I live for that. No, I don't believe in some magic spell changing the world, nor even I would fall in the trap of a nice smiling politician who speaks the things everyone wants to hear. I don't believe it can happen through money or companies interested in doing something good for others. Neither I believe that can happen through an ecological movement or some new age stuff.

I believe it is possible coming from an individual. I believe the change is really possible when a critical mass of individuals change - when they, or we, become new, the world will be new.

This is why, in this new year, a firm determination for a new life is important. A complete transformation of my own attitude and awareness, a change in my behavior and the way I speak, the clothes I use and the time I wake up.

When I change, then there is a chance for the world to change too.

Meanwhile, just hear what that nice leader has to tell you, with a big smile and big promises... But, when you start to change, you will see the new world just in front of your own eyes.


Enjoy your new 2011! Enjoy a new self!

The Power of Dialogue

During almost 30 years, I have been practicing meditation and I have been part of a spiritual path, Brahma Kumaris. I am used to tune with different people, places, in a quick way. However, I had a very powerful realization in relation to the power of dialogue, and I want to share it.

The first week-end of December, I had the opportunity to be part of my second Call of the Time. Using the methodology of dialogues, linked to key motivational speeches, I realized the power that lies in the collective in a different way I have known up to that moment.

Under a pouring rain and a climatic change that challenged the forecasting – as the sun showed as it would want to be part of our dialogue as well – we have sat and talked, framed by the landscape that made us all look like we were in some kind of painting, in the mountains near Medellin.

First of all, I’ve realized that by creating a harmonious and creative environment, we are able to evolve our thought within the group. Normally, this happens at an individual level, or maximum in couples or groups of 3, as it is not easy to do it among 30 people. How did we complement ourselves, how did we help and challenge each other to think beyond all we have thought up to that moment?

Second, we shared emotions at very deep levels. We’ve opened our hearts, revealing what we are used to hide behind masks and social expressions. The dialogue enabled us to have courage to use emotions to grow and go beyond the words. It was in this way that the dialogue penetrated the soul, leaving the superficial theoretical level and getting into something experiential.

From emotions, we reached feelings. It s like when you leave the waves towards the depth. It is not simple to go there and in such a short time, with so much people… but I feel we have got to reach very close to share our hearts. We got to overcome inner differences and to become one.

Last, there was the experience we have a future together. There is something, a task or project, we will share, we will be and we will do together. I don’t know what will be, but future was sown in that weekend, in a brilliant way.

The main lesson I keep is the power of the dialogue, something I want to live much more.

The Call of the Time is a leaders’ community that is bein created worldwide.

The Drama of another at my side

As a foreigner I have experienced the great advantages that come from being so. While you are in your country and your own culture you are suppose to accept the set up standards; in a new environment you are free to accept some things and reject others. You can choose to say some words and simply just don’t speak others, you can dress in a different fashion than everyone else’s, no matter what the culture, the surroundings or society might say about it.

Nevertheless, there are things which are more difficult to be liberated from than others, such as the violence on Colombian ground and one of its hardest forms: the kidnapping. I have never been close to being kidnapped, but I had been in violent areas. The strongest memory I have of such a time is related to a town in the area called el Chocó.

This is typically a department in Colombia with a high number of african descendents, but I was surprised to find at my arrival to San José del Palmar, a basically white population, mostly migrants from other parts of Colombia. There I had the opportunity to coexist with the people, take baths with buckets due to a shortage of water, and to see beauty in nature, so close to me.

I went there to dictate conferences on human values, to different people from various religions. In a certain part of the city, in another side of the mountain, I found myself in front of the resistance of one of my hosts. I didn’t understand much why he was acting so and it was only later that I discovered the reason: somebody had been kidnapped at his own place. He could never forget the feeling of impotence he had while his guest was being removed from there.

In this situation I experienced the power of a pure and positive thought. It worked as a protection to me, no so much physically, but rather psychologically, because I felt protected from the fear that used to pervade in the country then.

I have experienced this protection as an umbrella, which would not allow the rain to get me wet or like a harness that well prevent me from falling or being hurt. There, in those Choacan lands, I saw a man whose violent attitude seemed to create a negative aura around him; at that moment I was bathing in a not quite typical river, with its bed covered with oval form pebbles. I thought positively, I let the purity of my feelings take my mind over. Later they will confirm that in effect, that man was an actor within the violence, but my thoughts had changed him and to me he was a human being. Just like me.

But, besides a feeling of personal protection ¿could it be that the thought might also generate protection for others as well?

Another experience of the power of thought turned out to be almost magic. Trying to cooperate with the kidnapping situation, Brahma Kumaris organized a conference for the families of the people held hostage. In took place in Medellin, with Sister Jayanti, the teacher that coordinates BK affairs in Europe.

Days before the conference, we started to get lots of persistent calls from a lady. She identified herself as the sister of a judge that had been kidnapped. For two years she had not heard a word about him and she wanted to have an appointment with Sister Jayanti. Unhappily we couldn’t arrange for a time in her agenda, but we invited her to the conference. She accepted. I cannot describe what I really felt that day. At some point it was as if I was floating on the air while I translated the sweet and powerful words of Sister Jayanti. In short, she was talking about the importance of thoughts and personal feelings. What each person felt will reach not only those who were suffering but also will reach those who were making them suffer.

At the end of the conference, I had to take my role as organizer, trying to speed up things because we had to go to the airport and be on our flight on time. But, against all odds, that same lady that was so insistent somehow managed to get on the stage and approach Sister Jayanti, who in turn simply held her hand very sweetly, look at her deep into her eyes and repeated what she had just said. The feeling of the moment was great, but we couldn’t give her much time and so we departed.

Two weeks later, her brother was liberated.

Yes, may have been a coincidence.

Yes, may have been that they pay the ransom.

Yes, may have been other reasons, but to me it was the power of that lady’s thoughts that were able to reach her brother’s heart and the hearts of those who were holding him captive.

Very often I prove those types of thoughts. When a problem arises in my life or in the lives of others, before reacting, I go within my own self, gaining access to the power of my own thoughts.

Today it has become my main form of overcoming any obstacle that may arise on my path. I cannot prevent the problems to be there or the violence or the kidnapping of people, but I can change the way I think, protect myself and protect others as well.

---

Marcelo Bulk

(this paper was submitted to the Call of the Time, Medellin, December 2010)

Leadership and Values in the Organization

Present leadership, as it has always been, is a exercise of overcoming important challenges. One of the most complexes nowadays is to link the need to prioritize the human, social and environment and the natural need of profiting in business.

For that, it is fundamental to redefine leadership as the practice of wisdom - something we often remplace with knowledge. Wisdom is irreplaceable as it enables the leader to visualize new paths in his/her daily practice.

 

But, how to develop wisdom? How to get to that modern and conciliator leadership?

One of the ways is to start from within, to start from the most personal values. First we build-up our self-leadership and, based on those personal values, we perform the role of a leader.

"Think of a commited and inspirational leadership, and a plan shared by all and based on the respect that exists in the organization. Think of a possible sinergy between people when there is harmony and trust. In this way, it is possible to understand how values are important in the alignment of all the factors."

Valores Humanos no Trabalho, Ken O'Donnell

Success or failure?

I must admit - I seldom buy magazines, books or newspapers. I prefer their e-version with the advantages that come with them: you can explore what you are reading, interconneting the information with other data in the net, and, yes, it is cheaper (free! sometimes).

However, when I travel, from time to time, I do buy something for enternaiment or just out of curiosity. After ages, I've bought an edition of NewsWeek and, not sure if the quality came back (last times I've read, quality was pretty down), or I was lucky, but reality is it was a very good edition (September 20, 2010).

Among the many interesting stories and articles, one drawn my attention. I've read it before as our Colombian main newspaper (El Tiempo) has talked about it before, but it was good to read again.

Julia Baird question the topic of success, helping us to redefine that word. And it really resonates with me a lot.

If I look with the world's glasses, I will find my whole life as failure, as I am going quick as a bullet-train towards the 50s. But, I feel good, I have so much to give and I have a full schedule. Always a full schedule.

So, who is really successful? Is it the guy with the best cell phone, best car, living in the best part of the town? Or is success something so internal that any attempt to measure it from the outside can just create a deep sense of disillusion.

I invte you to read the article and to share your view. You are probably more successful than you've thought. Bye.

The Rubbish of the Economy

Here in Panama, where I am living for a few months, I start to think what is Economy, really?

With fears for a new recession rising in the air, and no leaders who can give an answer or solution for that, isn't it time to re-think worldwide Economy? Our model didn't work - let's be sincere. There are MUCH more poor people than 50 years ago, even in terms of proportion, and it does not look that will change soon.

We have tried several models for an Economy that did not prepare itself for a world of so many billions of people and the Internet, which united us all, at least in theory.

The problem in re-thinking the Economy is that the only solution I see is individual, not collective. As individuals raise their own awareness and start to  use resources and trade in a more efficient and eco-human-friendly way, economy will shift naturally. I like the example of WholeFood chain in USA, and that is only one sample of what is changing in the world.

Do you know why I started to think about that? Rubbish! Yes, rubbish! Panama is going through a rubbish collecting crisis and so, when you walk around, you have to bear the horrible smell and deviate of huge amounts of rubbish. Sad scene, as the city is so nice and people are great! But, I've learned you can always learn a lesson with everything - whilst people with less resources, their streets were dirt and their rubbish was, well, more "rubbish-ish", people with more resources managed to have clean streets and even their rubbish was much more organized.

Yes, if the resources we waste are better organized, it is quite probably we used the ones we did not waste in a better way. Check your rubbish by now and see how is it...

The individual awareness of his or her own rights over the resources must be re-assessed. What do you or I really need? How much of it? Can we afford to have less of that? Can we change whatever we use for something which does less harm to the world?

Have a nice time!!

A leader

In my last post, I've talked about my own perception of not having leaders around us. But, I must say, we do find some exceptions.

The miners in Chile are an excellent example - how they are OK after being trapped for 17 days and knowing they will have to spend until Christmas there? There has to be a leader there, someone who was able to touch their heart and give them the force to do what, in another situation, they wouldn't be able to do. I think we should all clap that group of people and their leader for this achievement, no matter what happens in the future.

Then, I think, would I be able to do that? Would I be able to stimulate a group of people, living in such an extreme condition? I am not sure of that. And, yes, we do need that kind of leader as our world is reaching extremes only thought in old prophecies.

Can you be that leader? Can we prepare ourselves to be such a kind of a leader? I do think we can. I can. You can. It requires effort, a new perspective, a totally new set of values and paradigms. But we all can.

Let's not forget the miners in Chile, let's follow their example. Have a nice day!