Above is a murti of Ganesh or Ganapati after I had done worship or pooja to the universe in his form a few months ago for the Hindu festival of Krishna Janamashtami as in Hinduism the way I practise it Ganapati is worshiped at the start of all poojas no matter which form is being worshiped. However tonight I start my blog with this image to use it to symbolize the Indian city of Mumbai as Ganapati is seen as the deity of the state of Maharashtra or I like to call it the patron saint of Mumbai and normally Ganesh Chauth/Chaturthi/Ustaav are the biggest there in all of the Hindu world.
This morning India time there was no traffic in Mumbai ...no traffic! How come you ask? Well if you don’t know as yet it is as a result of the terror attacks (the Mumbai Terror Attacks) that were carried out the night before at one or two of the city's major hotels, a famous cafe and a railway station. It is currently being paraded all over CNN and BBC and they keep talking bout how Brits and Americans may have been singled out as the terrorists asked for passports from people of these nationalities. So it begs one to consider whether the terrorist chose these targets this time and this approach so that CNN and BBC would jump on it...after all say the word Brit or American...show me your green card or your American or British passport and now you are a person and the world will decide if it jumps or if it mourns!? I mean terror attacks go on globally all the time and in India itself on several different occasions this year including Mumbai. What makes this particular attack so highlighted? Aren’t all the people of the earth and the Universe important? Isn't all life important?
As America prepares for it's annual turkey fest I had originally thought I would be putting up a short blog about that here before I continued on my Christmas theme…but then this happens…I was going to post bout how I think Thanksgiving would be and is essentially a lovely festival minus the massacre and praying over the dead turkey bit…I mean why not… a family gathering to give thanks...what could be bad about that?
It makes me reflect that I am also thankful cause I live on a little island that for now with all its other problems is basically terror free although sadly even here we had our own localized version of terror in 1990 and sorry for the religious stereotyping but even that insurrection was by Muslims…I’m not against Islam or Muslims however and this blog is about Universal Collective Prayer …Islam included…but prayer can never take the form of violence…not to a man and not to an animal…
But we are all animals only thing though as George Orwell’s Animal Farm characters remind us… “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others”. So we can eat turkeys and then be thankful for our happiness and we can give token acknowledgment to India the world’s largest democracy now, but not that we are really only worried bout this one (despite all the terror attacks they have all the time)cause it’s just the Brits and Americans we are really worried bout…then we might mention some of the Australians one or two other important European nationalities you know…then we will talk bout India a bit…well it’s how CNN and BBC does it…don’t know if their people’s hearts are like that though. And I’d like to be hopeful and say no people globally aren't like that by and large especially since on the Intent community I hear/read so many warm stories by mostly Americans…
I can go into how hurt and bothered I can sometimes get in the world …and all of the possible political and this and that reasons why all of this is happening and the possible ramifications of it according to little ole my brain (ego)but as I always say its not why I started Universal Collective Prayer …why not at all…But without getting into it again I will quote myself from a comment I made earlier tonight on Intent when and a lovely lady (I’m assuming American) started a blog called Pray for India!!!:
“Thanks for starting this Blog Lynn I was thinking to send prayers too...might put up a full call to prayer blog on my Universal Collective Prayer blog later tonight...hope others do too and things calm down...it's sad too that the reality is this happens a lot in India but this one is more highlighted as perhaps the terrorist envisioned it...cause a lot of foreigners are involved and tourists etc and so now it's getting a lot of TV coverage...India is really a place that is at the mercy of terrorists much more so than the US and the UK etc...and it made me remember as a person also living in a 'third world country' how sometimes many dead here isnt a concern but a few in a developed place is so highlighted...luckily I dont live in a land of much terror...but feel sorry for those in India that have to live at the mercy of it daily in many parts and in so many other countries too....”- Me on Intent earlier on.
Anyway I can’t say I’m my usual joyous self tonight... dancing like Rumi I’m not…but I have to dig deep and find a way to inspire myself and ask others to join me in Universal Collective Prayer. I don’t know what to say so I will find a way to say it with a song so listen and watch the good ole YouTube vid below and to it I should add that it not only matters if you are Muslim or Hindu etc...but it also doesn't matter if you are born in Iraq, Trinidad, India, Pakistan, Barbados, USA (or got your greencard!) or are a Brit...but don't tell CNN and BBC that! Anyway hope the song brings some prayer, peace, beauty and love for all! And to all fellow intenters and Americans HAPPY THANKSGIVING! And I know the vid clip is in Hindi but if you scroll down in the comments on YouTube you will get the gist of the meaning but it is basically about saying that it doesn't matter if you are Hindu or Muslim just like Michael Jackson once sang "it doesn't matter if you are Black or White".
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