The Tsunami

We can understand well your vicarious suffering with the horrid tsunami. A catastrophe of this dimension and scope is difficult to impossible even to imagine.

The first question on everyone's lips is, of course, "Where was God?"

In addressing this most important question, the most important thing to remember is that God is not an interventionistic "big daddy in the sky." That is the view of only the spiritual toddler. Spiritually evolved people realize the higher truth that "God is Love." It is up to us, and other compassionate people, to bring God into the situation, right now. God is not in the disaster, but in the recovery. God is not in the destruction, but in the repair. God is not a "rescuer" like the "white knight," "genie," or "fairy-tale" god of the public imagination.

First, all-- each and every one-- of those souls chose that very minute to leave the planet. Second, no one really ceased to exist. Third, the death-experience is more astoundingly pleasant and ecstatically joyful than we can even imagine; death has been seen by mystics as no curse, but as a great liberation. So, instead of bemoaning all the "death," we can learn that that huge mass of souls experienced both bliss and liberation through a joyful Transit. Fourth, all souls must leave this earth. It is only a question of the timing and the manner of exit. There are much more nightmarish ways to leave than a quick drowning. People who have almost drowned, and have been saved at the last minute, tell us that drowning is very quick and painless. You leave the body almost immediately, and there is often no pain, and no suffering. Fifth, many of those souls left behind disease, starvation, poverty, and other aspects of horrific lives; and now, they have been given a new start. They have been dealt a "new hand." Sixth, they are now enjoying the ultraparadise of the Homeworld, described in the novel Luminous Ecstasies and Passions.

That having been said, it is crucial not to "mope," to sit around and allow your head to be filled with thoughts of loss, suffering, and tragedy. Those are mental toxins. The facts just shared are not justifications. They are facts to bring us some comfort in the face of unimaginable disaster. No soul ever leaves the earth at random or by chance. Every soul programs in the very minute of its exit. So, death does not just, as it appears, strike randomly "out of the blue."

The tsunami is designed to awaken new Love, not only in those who left the earth, but in all of us. It presents us with a sterling opportunity to practice compassion.

Love Ministries, for example, has donated a hundred dollars to Unicef, the UN fund giving loads of aid. We are also going to send one hundred dollars to our brother David in India, to support his personal relief-work. It is not the amount that you give, but the spirit of Love in which you give, that is vitally important. For it is only intention that counts in eternity.

CAUTION: Believe it or not, there have been some fake "charities" set up to grab money from the tender and sensitive. Make sure that you give to a genuine, real charitable group that is really going to reach the people. And watch for administration-costs; we want the funds to go to the work, not to administrators. Unicef makes sure that 93% of the funds actually end up aiding the people, and it has a long record to prove it. In David's case, we think that 100% of any donations will go straight to the effort.

Hope that these few words can help you in some of your adjustment to this massive Transit of so many souls. If you still find yourself troubled, practice pervasive meditation ("acognitive therapy") after you have taken practical steps to give aid.