 Beyond
Diving: |
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Come,
come whoever you are.
An unbeliever, a fireworshiper come.
Our convent is not of desperation.
Even if you have broken your vows a
hundred times,
Come, come again.
Jalal Din Rumi
September 30 1207--- December 17 1273 |
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These
are the words of the great Sufi poet and mystic
Rumi, uttered more than 730 years ago.
A message of tolerance if ever there was one,
such tolerance that can only come out of such
boundless, limitless and complete love.
Dare we imagine what the world would be like
if all people could try to live by those words.
Food for thought. |
Book of choice Leo the African: |
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By:
Amin Maalouf |
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This
book was first published in French
in 1986 by Amin Maalouf, a Lebanese
journalist and writer.
Maalouf
was formerly Director of the weekly
international edition of the Lebanese
paper “Al Nahar”, he
now lives in Paris.
His
other books include award winning
“Samarkand”
( Prix des maisons de la presse),
and “The Rock of Tanios”
( prix Goncourt).
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Leo
the African is based on the true life
of Hasan Al Wazan, a 16th century
Arab traveller and writer who became
known as Leo Africanus.
Hasan
fled the Christian inquisition to
Fez in Morocco where he spent his
childhood, from there he embarked
on his many quixotic travels and adventures
through the East, Mediterranean, Rome
and Asia.
During
the course of his fantasy - like life
he converted in extraordinary circumstances
to Christianity, reverting back to
his Muslim faith later in life.
Through
the amazing experience of Hasan or
Leo, Amin Maalouf takes in a whirlwind
of fantasy mingled with rich historical
events such as the fall of Grenada
and the last days of the Arabs’
Golden age in Spain. We are given
an insight to the Ottoman invasion
of Egypt and the Roman renaissance
under the Medicis; all in a wonderful
tapestry of some real, some fictional,
images, places and people, that we
cannot but forget ourselves in wonder.
Maalouf
is one of those few writers who can
so craftily intertwine fact with fiction
with such delightful harmony it leaves
the reader so much richer in knowledge
and filled in spirit. This is entertaining
education at its best. |
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| Film
of choice Monsieur Ibrahim |
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Directed
by: Francois Dupeyron
Starring: Omar Sharif |
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This
film was released last year and
was nominated for a Golden Globe
award. It won several other awards
including the Venice Film Festival
for best actor (Omar Sharif), and
National Board of Review for best
foreign film.
The
film's exterior is a simple story
of a boy’s coming of age,
in this case a young French Jewish
boy in Paris who becomes friends
with the elder Muslim Sufi Ibrahim
(Omar Sharif) who owns a grocery
store across the street.
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A
story of two different people, of
different age, different culture
and of different faith who nevertheless
forge the most unusual and strongest
of bonds that transcends all these
cosmetic and seemingly irreconcilable
differences.
They forge an unlikely friendship
in which Ibrahim adopts the young
boy as his son and takes him on
a soul searching voyage through
Turkey. It is a testament to the
power of love, not a romantic passionate
love but the universal love that
should be shared by all humans to
one another, the universal love
that comes from the heart and that
lives in the heart, if only we could
see, and not just observe.
Omar Sharif puts on a magical performance,
in a role that allows him to look
aged and bedraggeld and yet no less
majestic. While Pierre Boulanger
who plays the young boy is definitely
a star in the making.
A
delightful experience.
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| Reiki –
Alternative Energy Healing: |
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By:
Birgit Baumann Reiki Master |
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“The
body is the shore in the sea of
being” – Sufi Wisdom
A
curious young woman enters my
Reiki Room and asks about Reiki.
She works as a dive guide on a
safari boat, and feels a bit exhausted.
I ask her to lie down on her back
on the treatment bench.
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I
place my hands over her body without
touching her. She feels a heat,
and sometimes an undefined pressure,
a wave flowing from her head down
to her legs.
As
soon as I finish her face appears
relaxed. She awakes as if something
took her away for this hour. She
feels a change, a sudden clarity
in her mind. “What was that?”,
she asks.
“That
was KI, the energy that you felt
passing through your body”,
I answer.
“I also had a slight discomfort
in my back”, she added.
“The discomfort you felt was
the dissolving of blocked energy
that made you feel tired. You are
exposed to water all the time, a
very relaxing but magnetic medium
which absorbs energy and drains
your body when you do not rest.”
She slowly gets up and we sit for
a while chatting.
Life
is energy, we consist of energy,
an electro-magnetic field which
the universe and every life form
is created from. This energy rotates
on different frequencies through
seven energy wheels, about 3cm above
our body, called Chakras.
These are both sensors and generators
of energy at the same time. They
give us information from the outside
and create energy from the inside
through our thoughts and emotions.
They develop through life experiences
and our attitudes. Every Chakra
stands for an emotional, mental
and physical issue which can appear
when the rotation of the energy
wheel is disturbed. Reiki balances
the energy flow which results in
a change of emotions to the positive,
peace of mind, the courage to change
our attitudes, or simply a physical
healing. One treatment enables us
to describe the current life situation
a person is in, and that it can
be changed for the better.
We
learn to believe that we see the
world through what we experience.
When we are able to change our thoughts
we can change our reality. We are
able to enter the world of feeling
and intuition, and the power to
manifest what we want to see and
experience next.
We enter the world of self awareness.
Reiki
was rediscovered by Dr.Mikao Usui,
a Japanese principal of a Christian
University in the early 1900’s.
Once he was asked by a student how
healing really works and found he
could not answer. Confused that
he was not able to answer this essential
question, he left the university
and decided to search and study
again. He left his home for several
years. After endless disappointing
studies he decided to meditate as
the last try to end his search.
At the moment he surrendered and
gave up any hope of finding an answer,
it came to him. Through enlightment.
Usui Reiki Ryoho is an original
method based on intuitive powers
of the universe. By this power,
the body becomes healthy and enhances
happiness and peacefulness. He had
never been taught this method by
anyone nor studied to get psychic
power to heal. He came to the realisation
that he had received his healing
power through fasting.
Usui
founded a hospital and taught several
masters. One of them, Hawayo Takata,
emigrated to the United States.
From that point on Reiki spread
to Europe and reached thousands
of people, both practitioners and
receivers.
Everyone can learn Reiki, as we
are all energy, we live and communicate
through energy. When I did my first
degree in Reiki, I had my chakras
opened and cleaned. This enabled
me to become attuned to a higher
frequency of energy which I could
pass through my hands. But this
is not all of it. You have to follow
some rules to improve yourself and
to release negative thought patterns.
When you start with Reiki, you make
a decision for positive growth.
If
we cannot accept changes and welcome
them, we will not experience the
awakening of our true selves as
a challenge, but as a crisis.
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| Baby Swimming: |
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By:
Dr. Omar Adly |
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Getting
your baby used to water early is
important from a safety point of
view and it's great fun, too. Your
child won't be coordinated enough
to learn to swim properly until
he is two or three, but you can
get him to feel confident and relaxed
in the water, and make swimming
a fun way to exercise for both of
you. Babies posses the larynx diving
reflex from birth up to 5-6 months.
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This reflex makes the babies automatically
hold their breath when submerged
under water and can be used for
an easy transition towards learning
to hold breath at will.
Parents
used to be advised to wait until
their baby had had their immunizations
at two, three and four months before
they took their babies swimming.
But government health experts no
longer believe this is necessary,
so it's really up to you when you
start taking your baby to the pool.
There are no medical grounds for
waiting until your baby is immunized.
However, most pools start classes
at around 12 weeks.
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The
benefits of "baby-friendly",
infant/toddler swimming are
unique, uplifting and contribute
to the positive development
of the whole child. Researchers
have documented that the stimulating
effect of child-paced infant/toddler
swimming lessons has the potential
to increase intelligence, concentration,
alertness, and perceptual abilities. |
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Improvement
in social, emotional and physical
development has also been published.
Of
course, the manifestation of such
inspired cognitive, personal and motor
development takes time, patience and
repetition especially in children
who started lessons prior to12 months
old, but it’s never too late
to receive these unique and subtle
benefits of infant-toddler swimming.
These babies eventually become extremely
peaceful and relaxed in the water.
Water
is a forgiving healer, its caressing
and stimulating effect on children
with special needs is most remarkable.
Its buoyancy is like an invisible
helping hand. Zero gravity allows
for freedoms that do not exist on
dry land. Optimal learning conditions,
combined with kindness and patience
can even release a withdrawn or hurting
child from their shell.
Early
swim lessons set a positive foundation
towards a lifetime of participation
and enjoyment in a variety of water
sports and aquatic venues on, in and
under the water (read Scuba Diving).
This is often a child’s first
social experience out of the home
that involves their peers. They learn
to relate and interact with each other
and look forward to seeing their class
mates. Caring and patient mums and
dads of young children have an ideal
opportunity to meet like minded people
who share common interests. |
Safety
skills are a primary reason
why many people initially enroll
in lessons. But, as you now
know there is much more to infant/toddler
swimming than merely one aspect.
However, with the acquisition
of safety skills not only is
early swimming life enhancing,
it can be lifesaving. The younger
a child can begin their swimming
adventure the sooner they will
be able to build a foundation
for the eventual ability to
perform age appropriate safety
skills. |
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