so this is christmas... not one of my favorite times of year... because there is so much hype, so much religion and so much commercialism. but in the truest sense this is an important time. it is the season of the winter solstice, the end of a year, on the cusp of new possibilities. to really celebrate the season, we should do less, reflect more and practice a new sensitivity -- towards ourselves, and to others.
somewhat late, but why don't you check out the story of the Buddha Boy, meditating under a tree since 2005 (http://kr.youtube.com/watch?v=rQoxWQLSnCg) he has become controversy, as many outsiders come out to say 'its not possible'. We live in a time when religion itself is a hollow shell of itself, when those who believe in the 'old miracles' (safely distant from the here and now) reject the remotest possibility of them happening now. (http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=6227385)
The hegemony of science -- religious, social and political orders -- yes, religion is a science of social control, has trained us to be totally unconscious to anything that does not fit within the metanarrative of 'normal'
at this time of christmas, make the opportunity to gaze again in wonder at the world you might have seen as a child. I know its difficult. try to act natural. break out of the blinders and the conditioning. try it a little, if you can.
Christmas should be the time of forgiveness. try that too, if you dare, and remember these words of the wise:
"an eye for an eye will make us all blind" Mahatma Ghandi
