Acts of God?

December 30, 2004

Dear Alice,

Until recently, I thought I could write whatever I thought might be a subject to

learn from around this fire. I am somewhat intimidated at the moment , and not

at all sure that still holds....and do not want to start a rush of

whatever....unpleasantness..

I guess however, my interest will overshadow my fear of being trounced.

This is my thinking, and it may be circular.

We believe we can influence others ....we send healing energy, prayers, love,

and actually believe the energy will transfer...at least you do, and I do.

So now we have a huge calamity....100,000 thought to have died all told, far

away on the other side of the world.

Wouldn't it be logical to conclude, that the same dynamic which emits love and

healing, can also cause natural acts to take place in some way I do not

understand?

The collective consciousness has power and energy. The collective unconscious

likewise.Have we human used that energy to bring calamity on some of us....no

not consciously, I think, but just as we assume some responsibility for our

health of mind and body, and we say 'there are no coincident are we not left

with collective responsibility for what happens on this earth?

I don't think calling this " an act of G-d " is truthful. I think all of us

together, through violent, negative thinking, depression, power, whatever, bring

events into being.

That of course, sounds as if we are blaming the victims, which I suppose we

are...along with the rest of humanity.But we are all the victims in such an

event. We are all One, I maintain, so.....

I cannot see my way out of this? Either I believe we influence others,( when 2

or 3 are gathered together....) or we don't. If all the energy of ours on this

earth were concentrated, could we not cause a tidal wave? Again, I don't see

humanity as evil and therefore conspiring to kill 100,000 people. Not at all.

But unconsciously, without awareness of where that negative energy could lead,

could we or couldn't we? We have free will. There is no power that will stop us

from using it to destroy ourselves or others, as we see everyday....

This is an unconscious act for all of us on this earth or......what? We have

no influence over the lives of others for good or ill. And then, are only

positive thoughts, prayers, energy sent...that is hard for me to believe.

So if there are no coincident on this earth, and I cannot see blaming the All,

the One for destroying his own creation,nor some kind of 'punishment " from an

angry Being.I simply do not believe that according to my faith.

I am curious if anyone else has gone down this trail as we watched in horror the

destruction of so much. And if we consider ourselves (humanity) guilty for the

wars we create, do we not have a responsibility here?

If my thinking is off somewhere, I wish someone would set me straight. This

weighs on my mind. We are One, and what happens in Asia affects me in America.

love,

Toni

December 30, 2004

In a message dated 12/30/2004 10:00:55 AM Central Standard Time,

omagramps410@... writes:

>I don't think calling this " an act of G-d " is truthful. I think all of us

together, through >violent, negative thinking, depression, power, whatever,

bring events into being.

_by Sara Yoheved Rigler_

(_http://www.aish.com/search/article_search_results.asp_

(http://www.aish.com/search/article_search_results.asp) ?

A spiritual response to disaster.

Born in 1948, I have never experienced a catastrophe as massive and sudden

as

the earthquake/tsunamis that, at last count, have killed more than 60,000

people. Living in Israel during the terror war of the last few years, I have

unfortunately become accustomed to crying at the funerals of children. But

to

read of hundreds of children together being buried in mass graves staggers

my

mind and batters my heart. How should/can/does one respond to a tragedy this

enormous?

A young Israeli traveling in Thailand when the tsunami hit reported to his

family that there was no panic among the local people. They are Buddhists,

he

explained, and believe in the Law of Karma. They accept their fate.

The Law of Karma holds that nothing that occurs to human beings is random.

Rather, a meticulous law of cause and effect, action and reaction,

determines

that, as Americans would say, â€œWhatever goes around, comes around.â€ Human

actions create effects that, sooner or later, like the tsunami itself

building

up over time and distance, strike with shattering force.

Certain elements of this idea are consistent with Judaism. Certainly, there

is no randomness in the universe, and human conduct sets in motion spiritual

forces which eventually manifest in physical effects, revolving back on

human

beings themselves.

Judaism, however, differs from the Law of Karma in significant ways. First

of

all, the Law of Karma is strictly personal; an individual who steals will be

stolen from, in this incarnation or the next or the next. The individualâ€™s

dishonesty will revolve back only on him/herself. It cannot cause others to

suffer. Although there is a concept of group karma, here too the boomerang

flies back to the hands that threw it; only the perpetrators become the

victims.

Judaism, on the other hand, credits human action with a much broader effect.

A person stealing $100 in Tel Aviv lowers the moral fiber in Mexico City and

could encourage massive embezzlement in Melbourne. Conversely, a person

doing

a mitzvah in Haifa may avert an auto accident in London or prevent

complications during open-heart surgery in Los Angeles. The spiritual

channels of

effect run far below the surface, untraceable but powerful.

Spiritual forces, like ocean waves, do not lose their power over distance.

ABILITY TO CHANGE

A second major difference is that karma is inexorable; a misdeed once

committed is, as they say in India, like the tusks of an elephant. It can

never be

retracted. Judaism, on the contrary, teaches the concept of teshuva.

Teshuva

means that a person can regret and change his/her mode of conduct, and when

s/he does, the past actions are spiritually erased. In fact, if one does

teshuva from pure love of God, the subterranean channel, the river of fire,

turns

into a positive force, a river of sweet water.

This is precisely what Judaism endorses as a response to disaster. The

Talmud

says that when one suffers, one should scrutinize oneâ€™s deeds, implying that

teshuva for wrong conduct can change oneâ€™s fortune. And what if one is not

directly affected, but only hears about a disaster that occurred in a

distant

place? The Talmud asserts that if a person even hears about a disaster such

as an earthquake, one must relate to the tragedy by examining oneâ€™s own

deeds.

It is appropriate to respond to the present Hiroshima-scale disaster by

contributing money to aid the relief effort, but physical action should not

preclude a spiritual response as well. When you ask yourself, â€œWhat can I do?

â€

here are some spiritual responses:

1. Allow yourself to mourn for the tragic loss of life. Do not

emotionally distance yourself by burying your heart in the internet news.

Feel the

pain.

2. Recognize the fragility -- and therefore the preciousness -- of life.

The people on the beaches of southeast Asia that day had no warning that

this would be their final hour. Neither will we. Appreciate the

preciousness of

every hour.

3. Recognize the spiritual effect of every action you do -- not just on

yourself but on the world. Petty lying, stealing, cheating, gossip,

promiscuity, and exploitation set in motion waves of negativity. When many

people

engage in such actions, those waves can build up into tidal waves.

4. Change one action. Undertake to do a new mitzvah or eschew one kind

of negative behavior. This is a better defensive measure than any early

warning system.

Maimonides asserts that one who fails to respond to suffering by doing

teshuva is cruel. The implication is that we have it within our power to

stop

human suffering. How can we look at the pictures of bodies on the beaches

-- each

of whom is someoneâ€™s beloved relative -- and not be willing to undertake

whatever we can to ward off the next calamity?

In the wake of the catastrophe, CNN.com treated its readers to speculation

by

a noted seismologist that a volcano erupting in the Canary Islands could

cause landslides that would send a tsunami hurtling across the Atlantic

Ocean

with enough force to destroy New York City. Judaism would add that such a

scenario is not a matter of fate, nor of geological upheavals, nor of

random

forces. It is in our power, by the moral choices we make, to prevent the

Share your thoughts and feelings in the comment section below.

This article can also be read at:

(http://www.aish.com/societyWork/society/Reacting_to_the_Tsunami.asp)

Author Biography:

Sara Yoheved Rigler is a graduate of Brandeis University. Her spiritual

journey took her to India and through fifteen years of teaching Vedanta

philosophy and meditation. Since 1987, she has been practicing Torah

Judaism. A

writer, she resides in the Old City of Jerusalem with her husband and

children. Her

articles have appeared in: Jewish Women Speak about Jewish Matters, Chicken

Soup for the Jewish Soul, and Heaven on Earth.

December 30, 2004

Toni & All,

I, too, have a very difficult time calling this tragedy an " act of G-d. "

And I have also wondered if the collective negative energy (as well as

positive, prayerful energy as well) of humankind might influence the natural

world. (Actually, I am convinced that it does.) However, I think it is

virtually impossible to place a definitive " causal factor " on a disaster of

such immensity. It also weighs on me that such a disaster should befall

people who already seem to have so little. But that's very " American " of

me, isn't it? We have so much in material wealth yet our western culture is

so impoverished in the " treasures of the heart. " ( A voice in my head keeps

saying, " if this is some kind of punishment, why not US? " ) But I cannot

bring myself to believe it is Divine punishment - - yet if Gaia is a living

organism, she is suffering and she surely is angry and desperate for our

attention. I also cannot help but think of all the apparitions of that

have been occurring in the past century, and of her supposed " warnings " to

humankind that great disasters will befall us if we do not turn to G-d. As

you can see, my mind is a muddle as well. I do very much appreciate what

Alice has said about the Transcendent Function, and I pray that her hopes

for that kind of an outcome are fulfilled! We seem to be living in a time