Honour Life, While You're Living It

Life is so fragile, so short. Age is a meaningless number.

I very recently, lost a friend of mine who I'd known since I was in high-school in Hong Kong. He was a few years younger than me, an almost inconceivable notion to accept that he is no longer among us. A few weeks ago, another good friend of mine passed away. She was much older, but like I said, age does not matter. Life is life.

We are so focused on the here and the now, and we weep with the loss of those who go before us. And while their presence is no longer here in persona, their energy and "life" continues on. Their adventure has only just started, and what an adventure that is.

For those of us "left behind" on this spinning rock, we must make the most out of every minute, and create our adventure each and every moment of each day.

We need to focus on living and not focus on the negatives that hit us and hold us down/back.

Does it really matter that someone you love said something that offended you? Would it be so important if they were to go in the next few minutes?

Each time I am faced with the loss of someone I love dearly, it just fortifies me to love stronger, deeper, forgive more readily, accept unconditionally, and always make sure I let those I love know their worth to me, my appreciation of them, and how much I love them.

In the end, when we sit back and look at all the "little things" that have "piled up", they truly are only our Selves building mountains out of grains of sand. These "mountains" will dissipate with the storm of loss. So why hold on to those mountains, continue adding to them, at times burying ourselves under them? Just let go.

Release the negativity, the anger, the annoyance... It doesn't really matter. It's almost never "that" huge, and living a life where you can truly LIVE and let go and let God, will reduce much stress in your own life, and may possibly prolong your life.

Rest in peace my dear friends and loved ones who have departed. Your lessons have been etched upon my soul, and I pledge to remember them.

I am filled with gratitude and love for all of you who are in my life, even if you only read my updates, "Like" something, or make a comment here and there, you each mean so much to me, and I want to extend my gratitude and love for you all.


Namaste

_/|\_

Laughter Truly IS The Best Medicine

What do you do to have fun? I mean laugh out loud, roll on the floor laughing, belly-aching, fun?

Do you know that this is a really important component of life? When we are too serious and we do not permit fun in to our lives, we grow old faster and our very souls begin to "dry up".

We have one friend who is in his mid-30s who still makes "forts" at his house, and at other friends houses, just because. In describing these "forts" he makes, one is transported to the scene and can't help but laugh out loud. I am speaking about, entire living room "tents" made with sheets off of beds and blankets, pillows inside to sit on, and various household objects holding the "tent" in place.

The funniest thing about this is that he does this with his dates! And yes, even first time dates!

While my husband and I don't undertake the architecture of "fort-building", we'll make funny videos and engage in silly little role-playing.

Sometimes, being "immature" is a healthy thing, it's a positive thing, and it keeps us young.

Do you know that in India there is a phenom called "Laughter Yoga" and this has spread far and wide across the world?

In the mid-80s I was a teenager who was concerned with the whole "image" thing, and any and every little thing adults around me did was a major embarrassment.

One afternoon, my Mum and her best friend and I were at lunch at the Jockey Club in Hong Kong. We'd long finished lunch and had spent quite some time talking, when suddenly Aunty Primrose's face lit up. She had recently learned about this "Laughter Yoga" and decided that right there, in the middle of the Jockey Club restaurant was the time and place to exercise her new studies.

She suddenly began laughing completely and totally out of the blue. Then she began making all kinds of funny faces at us, sticking her tongue out, hands fanned at her ears, it was hilarious. Mum and I looked at her, looked at each other, and then could not help but begin laughing. The more we laughed, the more she laughed; the more she laughed, the more we laughed. It was a beautiful, vivacious cycle of laughter, of fun, and of being completely and totally present.

Out of the blue, I stopped laughing and asked "What are we laughing at?" This just fueled even more laughter what was completely and totally infectious.

Our bellies ached, our faces were wet with the tears that had streamed down them, washing our eyes, and we felt amazing. We felt good. We felt... light.

Several years ago, my girlfriend and I went to see a movie, it was a comedy but it was not particularly funny. However, there was something that my friend saw in the movie that struck her, and she began into a fit of laughter. Her laughter is loud and vivacious and the more she laughed, the more I laughed, the more the audience began laughing; no one was laughing at the movie anymore... or even watching the movie, but each time Cynthia laughed, the entire theatre erupted in uncontrolled laughter.

We laughed so hard, we laughed ourselves into an asthma attack and out came the inhalers, which only made us laugh more.

At the end of the movie, we were laughing so hard that we could hardly walk down the steps. I could hear other patrons saying "They're still laughing" and burst into new fits of laughter.

Laughter is a fabulous workout. It's great for the soul, it's great for the body, and it takes years off as far as health benefits go.

I am sure you have heard the terminology "Laughter is the best medicine", and it truly is. I have had friends who have beaten breast cancer without treatment but by pure determination, change in mind-set, refusal to accept the "C" label, and who laughed themselves well. They ensured that they lived each day having fun, making fun, and being fun.




Of course, each individual is different and many do choose to go the route of medicine, and that is truly up to the individual, but even so, laugh... have fun... be fun... just live with a lightness in your heart and a smile on your soul.

That's how I choose to live my life.

Here's the little silly video my husband and I made tonight... Hope it makes you chuckle.









©Leyla Hur
All Rights Reserved. Copying, altering, displaying or redistribution of this material without written permission from the author is strictly prohibited.

Sai Baba and Me

"Love all, serve all; help ever, hurt never." 
~ Sathya Sai Baba


On Easter Sunday morning, many around the world woke up to the joy of  the knowledge of the Resurrection of their Lord and Saviour. Many around the world got dressed in their finest clothes to attend services in their

Sathya Sai Baba

local churches celebrating the life and the works of Jesus the Christ. It was a day of celebration, it was a day of renewal, a day of life, and a day of rebirth.

During this same time, many people around the world awoke to the sad news that their beloved Swami Sathya Sai Baba had passed from this incarnation in India.

It was news that saddened me also. And it was me who would have to break this news to my already grieving mother.

Sai Baba has featured largely in my life  for my entire life. My mother became a devotee of his back in the 1970s when I was still a little girl. I have memories of Thursday evening bhajan's (type of Indian devotional song) at the Sai Center in Tsim Sha Tsui (Hong Kong), a tiny apartment with all the bedroom walls knocked out to make a "hall" of types where we sat, women on one side of the room, and men on the other, singing, chanting, meditating, clapping, laughing, and "feeling".

I remember afterwards receiving little candies that Baba had materialized and someone had brought back from a recent trip to his Ashram in Puttaparthi, or other little sweet delights that just brought a delightful end to a meaningful prayer session.

It was a life in which I grew up, and it fit in perfectly with every other aspect of my life.

Sai Baba's photos were found throughout our home, to the degree that sometimes I'd bring a new friend home, and they would ask if he was my father!

Sai Baba's teachings were not of religion, or which religion was "right" and which was "wrong" as so often we encounter within the bonds of religion. His was a teaching of peace, of love, of acceptance of all human beings regardless of colour, religion, society status, sexual orientation, it was not about the mundane things of the world that so many of us hold to, it was higher, deeper, elevated. He taught that he was God as we are all God; "I am God. You too are God. The only difference between you and me is that while I am aware of it, you are completely unaware." It is something that I have taught often.

And it was because of these teachings that people from all walks of life, from all over the world, celebrity (the likes of Goldie Hawn, Ricky Martin, Issac Tigrett [founder of The Hard Rock Cafe], cricket champion Sachin Tendulkar, to name only a few) and common-man alike, turned to him and learned from him, and enriched their lives because of applying his teachings.

Baba said “Life is a challenge, meet it! Life is a dream, realize it! Life is a game, play it! Life is Love, enjoy it!” It was under this mantra, that I grew up, I learned, and I lived; and I continue to do so to this day, and I will continue to do so for the rest of my life.

He truly was a miracle man and did perform many miracles. Two very dear friends of my Mum and avid-devotees had experiences that were almost unbelievable had I not witnessed them with my own eyes. Knowing these women, I knew them to be honest, upstanding, and absolute in their faith.

One friend was lent a photo of Baba from another friend who had recently been to his ashram and who had received a materialized medallion (a blessing) from Baba. The photo was framed and at the time, the lady to
whom this photo was lent was praying for a miracle to occur. Each night she prayed and each morning she prayed. One day she found that on the photo itself (inside the glass) was forming the holy ash that Sai Baba is known to materialize, vibhuti. By the time I saw the photo, the ash was thick under the glass and was covering most of the photo. It was truly an amazing miracle.

An example of the miracle of Sai Baba's vibhuti manifesting
in photos

After returning that particular photo to the original owner, she purchased another photo and she has had the new photo continuing to manifest vibhuti on it, under the glass.

When I wrote to inform her of Baba's passing, she told me that that very morning, the vibhuti  from Baba's head on her photo had disappeared and she had wondered why.

Another friend, we knew in Malaysia, was also a devout devotee. She woke up one morning to find ash all through her house, the more she swept and cleaned, the more materialized. Once again, if I had not seen it for myself and with my own eyes, I would not have believed it, or at least questioned it.

Baba manifesting vibhuti

Baba was a huge part of my life. He still is. I have experienced my own miracles with him, those that I still hold close to me. This week, Baba left this incarnation. While he left this physical presence, he is closer to us now than he was ever before. His miracles will continue. His life will continue in all of us who are devotees of his message, his works, and his life. He can never die, as long as we continue.

It is said he will return, be reincarnated as Prema Sai Baba which will be the third and last of the triple Avatar incarnation of Shirdi Sai Baba and Sathya Sai Baba.

Prema Sai Baba

"Sathya Sai Baba made several claims about when Prema Sai Baba will be born - estimates range from one year after his death (which would mean 2012) to eight years after (which would mean 2019). Prema Sai "will be born in Karnataka (the old Mysore State), at a place between Bangalore and the city of Mysore". Some of Sai Baba's devotees add that he once said that Prema Sai Baba will be born and/or live in or near Srirangapatna. Sathya Sai Baba died on April 24, 2011 at age 84 (though he considered himself to be 85 as he was in his 85th year)." [Source]

I believe he lives on. I continue to live by his teachings, they make sense, they traverse the bounds of religion and apply to all mankind. While my tears fall at his passing from this physical incarnation, I do take comfort in the knowing that he was such a great part of my life and that much of my life and how I live it, is because of his teachings of peace and love.

On the day that many around the Christian-world celebrated the Resurrection and eternal life of their Saviour, we mark the life and journey of Sathya Sai Baba, and his entrance in to eternal life. It was an auspicious day for his departure from this incarnation, and lends many devotees to the belief that he truly was an incarnation of Jesus who returned Home, chosen on that specific day.

Whatever the truth behind it is, he no longer walks among us in the physical, and many over time have chosen their own beliefs about Sai Baba, but those of us who knew, who love, and who believe, all we can do is repeat back to you the words of this great Avatar “Before you speak, think -Is it necessary? Is it true? Is it kind? Will it hurt anyone? Will it improve on the silence?”

Jai Sai Ram. Om Sai Ram. Sri Sai Ram. Shanti, Shanti Om.

©Leyla Hur

All Rights Reserved. Copying, altering, displaying or redistribution of this material without written permission from the author is strictly prohibited.