TYPHOON HAIYAN AND IMPERMANENCE

TYPHOON HAIYAN AND IMPERMANENCE

The news coming out of the Philippines is heartbreaking - peoples lives lost, homes destroyed, possessions scattered, families in pain, lives shattered - also what about animals - how many lives have been lost? - The suffering is so sad and we must pray for those that have lost their lives and for those that are in pain and urgently need help.

Why do these disasters happen? If you think about it disasters at many different levels happen every day in all our walks of life. These "disasters" may not be as earth shattering or as serious as the one caused by Typhoon Haiyan, but they still have deep significant meaning to all of us that face them.

How many times do we read in newspapers or watch on the television news that a mother has lost her child; someone has kidnapped a baby; a train or road accident; a gas explosion; accident at work; a helicopter or plane crash; people being mugged and attacked in the streets; women being raped and assaulted etc - we learn about people who have lost their jobs and livelihood; lost their homes; some people all over the world every day are being told by their doctors that they have a serious illness - many of these have no hope of medical help or proper treatment - the list of "disasters" is endless and at some level we all face them. Indeed there is no escape because no matter how blessed and happy you are at this moment, at some time in the future we will all face that final illness and die. This is not being morbid or depressive - it is simply a fact of life.

The sooner we realise that everything is impermanent the sooner we will find a deep inner happiness. Think about it - every thought, everything we do has a beginning, a middle and an end - our lives have a beginning a middle and an end - indeed everything you can think of has a beginning, a middle and an end - we all suffer at some stage in our lives - it is simply inevitable and once you realise this it makes every moment so precious. Living in the moment is the most important thing in our lives - why? Because simply we don't know what will happen next - everyone of those people who woke in the morning didn't expect to die that day - they didn't expect to be in a plane crash or car accident - they didn't expect to be told they had cancer or some other sad illness - they didn't expect to be mugged or have their baby stolen - none of us expect to have something happen to us and I pray that nothing happens to any of you - but the point I am writing about is that we have to cherish every living moment.

How much time do we all waste? Dreaming of riches; watching mindless television; endlessly playing computer games on your lap top, iPad or mobile phone; day dreaming etc - we all do this - we all waste our time and waste our lives - every minute is so precious and yet most of us don't think like this do we?

Do you think of your breathing? I bet you haven't given any thought to it at all until you get a terrible cold or you have lung problems - and yet if we stop breathing we are dead! Pretty devastating thought isn't it - maybe we should start to think about our breathing - and maybe now we should start to think about everything we do every minute of the day - when we wash the plates - think about it and live in the moment - when we eat think of the food on our plate - how it got there and how precious it is to our lives - every time you go into McDonald's or KFC or Burger King or any restaurant for that matter and eat meat or fish (most of us do this without thinking) please remember that you are eating at the expense of an animals life - its a pretty devastating thought isn't it - that when we have a delicious Hamburger a cow has died to provide it! I am not trying to preach to you all to become vegetarians - that is your personal decision but it would be wonderful if you thought about it - we don't need all this dead flesh no matter how tasty it is.

The point of this blog is to ask you to think of everything you do - every minute is so precious and important to you and every one of us. If we thought like this and valued every moment - when a disaster or suffering reaches us we give thanks for the amazing moments in our life that have given us and our loved ones so much happiness - and we are strengthened to deal with the suffering that inevitably will come to everyone in some shape or form.

This is NOT a reason to be depressed indeed it is a reason to celebrate every living moment and to embrace this marvellous world we live in. Once you accept that everything is IMPERMANENT you will accept that every living moment is a gift to be cherished and embraced.

Please pray every day for those in pain and suffering. Please pray for those that have died or are dying at this moment and for those who are suffering not only in the Philippines but anywhere on the globe - this is so important - it brings peace and joy to your lives and I believe it helps those suffering and in need of help.

PLEASE also do whatever you can to send help to those people in the Philippines who are so desperate for assistance

Thank you for reading
Peter