Define: Love by Gregeory David Roberts

Love is the passionate search for a truth other than your own. Any definition of love must be broad enough to include all the many and varied forms of love, from the love of parents for children to the kind of love that keeps poorly paid researchers struggling to find a cure for a communicable disease; from romantic love to the kind of love that keeps teachers working to bring new generations into the light of understanding.

My definition includes its essential elements for the following reasons:

“Passion,” because there is no love without passion: You can’t be half-hearted about love, because love is all or nothing.

The “search,” because love is an active thing, not a passive thing: You can’t sit around, loving things by intention — you have to get out there and connect in order to love.

“Truth,” because love is inextricably connected with truth: You can’t love something that is a lie, and you can’t love something with a lie.

And “other than your own,” because love reaches outward from within: The idea that we can love ourselves is solipsistic nonsense, in my view, because every act of love involves engagement and interaction with others, directly or indirectly. We can like ourselves or dislike ourselves, but it takes two — or many more than two — to make love exist.

Companionship

Let it be comfort
and a medium of the all knowing
Let it become what you aspire
and a mode of growing

Let it teach
and compliment the spirit
Let it not breach
the boundaries of merit

Let it nourish
and kindle the soul
Let it flourish
like the garden for all

Or it shall perish
Dwindling the spirit
and its faith in love...

I am love, grace and the Universe!
Nisha Balani
April 16, 2011

The World Cultural Festival

Brandenburg, Germany, 2^nd Jul 2011 - 3^rd Jul 2011

Celebrating Harmony in Diversity

The World Culture Festival, to be held July 2-3, 2011 at the Olympiastadion in Berlin, will be a celebration of the diverse cultures of the world. With an expected attendance of 70,000+ people from over 150 countries, this Festival will showcase music, dance and food from across the globe.

The Festival will mark the 30th anniversary of The Art of Living Foundation, a UN-accredited non-profit whose programs have benefited over 55 million people in 151 countries across the world.

The Festival will recognize and celebrate the traditions and values of all cultures and peoples of the world. It will also highlight the vast cultural heritage of India. Special programs on Yoga, Indian-dance and vegetarian cuisine will allow participants to experience the richness of the Indian subcontinent.

For more information: http://www.artofliving.org/world-culture-festival

To Love, Serve & Remember

Why have you come to earth, do you remember?
Why have you taken birth, do you remember?

To love, serve and remember...

This beautiful song by John Astin came to me during a breath workshop. Three simple sentences summarize is essence my spiritual path. I have come to earth to love, serve and remember.

I have been told to blog more often. With all the extensive travels I did this past year I should have blogged throughout but sometimes not documenting the details of events leaves an after taste that wouldn't exis if it's details were captured. I sometimes I felt I that I was either not documenting enough or too much. Perhaps this is a common issue for amatuer writers. This year in recap has been one of the most adventerious years of my life. Adventure never seems to leave me and neither do I want it to part. But this last year especially has been extremely eventful and worth writing about.

I started reveling around this time last year. I headed out to Bombay which is where I was born. I've always loved bombay, it's history the contradicting property, colonial history, alternative fashion and historic parks, mosques, churches and temples all in one area. One of my favorite places in Bombay is haji ali, an Islamic shrine in honor of a dervish who spent his life in Devine love and preaching Devine love. His shrine sits in the the middle of the Arabian sea. The mile long walk with no side railings in the middle of the ocean to get to to the shrine is what attracts me most about haji ali. I have seen people from all walks of life on that one mile walk. Vendors selling food, flowers to offer, offing scarfs (an Islamic tradition), ad even change to distribute among the poor. I paid 5 rupees for loose change of 50 rupees so that I could distribute them amongst the homeless.

Bombay travels included Leopold's, taj, causeway bay, and a lot of other eateries and clubs that will always be remembered. Leopold's soon became one of my comfort places to grab a bite and drink plenty of kingfisher. Kingfisher is a very delicious beer local to india...