h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I just read your entry on "The Quaker Peace Testament" after reading your entry on "Mindfulness". I'm a brand new member and don't know much about the inner workings of H2G2. Am I contacting your "Space" as I post this conversation? You are the first "real" person I've attempted to contact, and I hope you don't mind if I added your name to my list of friends. Was that overly forward and presumptuous?

Is there a "k" in panicking? I'm a little gerund-confused (not to be mistaken with "gender-confused").

Do I even remember my parts of speech properly? A gerund is the verbal form that functions as a noun using the "ing" ending, am I correct? The etymology for "gerund" in my dictionary comes from the Latin word,
"gerere", meaning "to carry on". Somehow I think this ties in with the posting recommending you change the title to "The Quaker Peace Testimony", or am I just rambling...

Hi - sorry for the delay in replying - I've been away. Yes - I am a real person.

'I hope you don't mind if I added your name to my list of friends. Was that overly forward and presumptuous?' How kind, - and no - I don't think it is.

'Is there a "k" in panicking?' Yes - and you're right about the formation of a gerund too.

You may be rambling, however the Quaker Peace Testament is actually called that. Quakers often call things by slighly archaic forms of language. When I was visited by two of them to see if I was a fit person to join (one person from my meeting, one from another), it was called a 'visitation'!

Is the Vger part of your name from one of the Star Trek episodes?

How delightful to finally hear from you.

I was afraid you were no longer a member

or went on to other things.

Yes, I'm a wandering derelict seeking purpose in life.

I'm not such an avid Trekkie that I remember all the episodes by heart

and go to conventions, and only have a vague memory of the episode from

which I derived my name.

My first and only experience with Quakers was from reading "Uncle Tom's

Cabin several months ago, from which I'm still mopping up the diluvian

mess from all my tears.

I hope to keep in touch with you as I have a hunch that you're a truly

good person. AV

I used to be much more active than I am now. I had a really intensive week last week - I was one of a team organising a conference - I have a day off work today to recover (and do stuff like laundry).

I really don't remember any mention of Quakers in Uncle Tom's Cabin, but then I was around 11 when I last read it. I remember it was the first book that made me cry.

I've just been to visit your space and there's an awful lot that I empathise with. The one that really made me smile was 'Being a woman, I speak Yinnish, which is not the officially accepted Yanguage of earth.' You spoke about the Sufi message of Hazrat Inayat Khan! Although I've not been to the London Sufi Centre for quite some time now (I have a 10 year old), I initiated a while back and still consider myself as a (slightly detached) member.

I think that one of the things that we're often not good at is appreciating and loving ourselves. Sometimes it takes effort. I know that the bad things in the world seem at times to outweigh the good. I'm reminded of a story (one of my favourites) that I spoke to Tonsil Revenge about only last week:

A man comes up to a new city and asks the gate-keeper what the people are like in this city. The gatekeeper asks, "What are the people like where you come from?" The man answers, 'They're mostly rude, inconsiderate and greedy.' The gatekeeper says, "You'll find people exactly the same here."

A second person came to the city and asked the gatekeeper what the people in the city were like. Again, the gatekeeper asked what the people were like in his home town. 'Oh, they're mostly lovely, kind and helpful,' said the visitor. And the gatekeeper answered, "You'll find the people exactly the same here."

Who was it who said, 'You become what you think about' - ah yes, Earl Nightingale http://strangestsecrets.typepad.com/dacoach/2006/03/you_become_what.html. When I was really down after my husband left, one of the things that helped me was to write down a list of things to be grateful for. I still do that from time to time, and I now write down a list of things I want in my life. It really does work.

If I'm not mistaken, there's a smattering of one of the Dr Who baddies in your name too (or am I going potty?)!

How did you come by h2g2?

I pulled Assondria out of the blue, and haven't seen much of the Dr Who series. I'm a computer-illiterate worm in need of evolution. I'm receiving much helpful advice on learning GuideML but haven't gotten around to applying it yet.

In a recent reading, (was it Eknath Easwaran's, "A Man to Match His Mountains: Badshah Khan, Nonviolent Soldier of Islam"?), my memory is fuzzy, there was a quote of an Arab Proverb:


There is an Arab proverb that each word we utter should have to pass through three gates before we say it.

At the first gate, the gatekeeper asks, "Is this true?"

At the second gate, he asks, "Is it necessary?"

And at the third gate, "Is it kind?"


I suppose I shouldn't have made the worm reference about myself. I want
to be an instrument of good, as in the Prayer of St. Francis of Assissi,
but I feel rusty and unused. I read a lot, and have been absorbing like
a sponge, but it's all input and no output.

My most recent read was "The Salmon of Doubt", which led me to H2G2.

I think writing would be lovely if it could produce something helpful to others. I'm deeply indebted to author's who have helped me along the
path and wish to find a way to give back.

Maybe writing is not the way I can or should give back. I've been praying for answers.

AV

... in no particular order ...

I haven't read the Salmon of Doubt. Is it good?

I started with GuideML gently. I used to start off in plain. Then change to GuideML and start off paragraphs with:

and finish them with

That's all you need to begin. It gives you paragraphs. The trick is to have one of each in turn.

Why not try this on your Personal Space. You can try more complicated stuff later. For me it was best to begin gently.

I really love that quote! Thanks for that!

h2g2 is a great place to try out your writing. I started straight off in Peer Review and found a couple of really helpful scouts who pointed me in the right direction. I became a Scout and then a Sub-Editor, which gave me more insight into the job. I really liked doing both, but then found I didn't have enough time to do the jobs properly, so gave them up.

Gosh, I see you've already started to work on a couple of entries! The 'Sheath-Wiggery' one made me smile. I usually put some Sellotape round the errant shoe-lace if that happens. An entry on the Bhagavad Gita is quite ambitious. I've had a quick look around and six7s may be working on a similar one at the moment. A12069074

Actually, it wasn't the worm reference I thought you might look at again - it was the bird-poo one.

Mind you, the essence of the Bhagavad Gita is that we are all fundamentally one consciousness.

The Salmon of Doubt was very good and precious as can be.

Douglas Adams is dear to my heart though I've never met him in person.

I really liked what six7s did with my mere skeleton of an entry.

Could that be sent in to replace the existing entry currently in the PR?

Would that be considered an edited Guide Entry thereby interweaving our

DNA strands on this early attempt at penmanship?

I still don't understand all the inner workings of H2G2.

It took me a while to understand the workings of h2g2 too, especially Peer Review (PR).

The ettiquette for entries to PR is that you should first have a look to see if anyone has done anything on the subject before, as entries aren't supposed to be duplicated (although in practice some are; the authors just write about a different aspect of the subject). You're also supposed to check if anyone is writing a similar entry. You can do this by using the 'search h2g2' box. I found six7s entry by putting 'Baghavad Gita' in. If you look at the top of the entry, you'll find a date, which shows when the entry was written (27 May 2006). Six7s has been around since 2002, so he is quite an old-timer U192113. Generally, then, the advice is to get in contact and see if there's any mileage in working together on an entry.

If it was me, I'd drop him a line on his personal space about it.

Thank you for the suggestion to clean up a little bird poop.

I traded it in for a quote from Alexander Pope.

From poop to Pope.

It's come a long way.

Life, and writing, is a work in progress, eh?

'From poop to Pope.' Definitely much better!

'Life, and writing, is a work in progress, eh?' True - my partner says that he thinks that life should be like a work of art.

I'm going to be away for a few days, but I wanted to send you this

quote from Hazrat Inayat Khan which I keep posted over my kitchen sink

to look at when I'm washing dishes:


O THOU, Who art the Perfection of Love, Harmony, and Beauty,

The Lord of heaven and earth, Open our hearts, that we may hear Thy

Voice, which constantly cometh from within.

Disclose to us Thy Divine Light, which is hidden in our souls, that we

may know and understand life better.

Most Merciful and Compassionate God, give us Thy great Goodness;

Teach us Thy loving Forgiveness;

Raise us above the distinctions and differences which divide men;

Send us the Peace of Thy Divine Spirit, and unite us all in Thy Perfect

Being.

Amen

AV

Hi AV

I like this too - it was one of the prayers we used on retreat. Thank you for reminding me of it.

I used to have a little book of prayers, but unfortunately have lost it.

I was having a look around for other Sufi prayers, found some, then found this lovely quote from Ralph Blum, posted by someone on a commemorative site for 9/11. I thought you might like it:

"I honour your gods.
I drink at your well.
I bring an undefended heart to our meeting place.
I will not negotiate by with-holding.
I have no cherished outcomes.
I am not subject to disappointment."
(Ralph Blum)

I hope you come back refreshed.

Greetings (H)ZSF

Thank you for the quote from Ralph Blum.

I have returned feeling quite refreshed and touched to discover a new
post from my new-found friend.

I also discovered "Kaizen", which seems to be an ongoing Journal conversation between you and Alsoran1(spelled correctly?). Thank you for including me in your world. I came back a bit afraid that I've become a nuissance and an arrogant "ugly American" just barging in on the Hootoo community when perhaps I should have looked for NeedaShrink?.com or something more along those lines. Is the little (fish) the 10 year old you mentioned in a previous posting?

I'm thrice-blessed myself, with a college student a mere semester away
from graduating "pre-med" and deciding where to embark on "Med-school".
I also (have?) a 13 and a 10 year old at home. I say (have?) because I
don't believe in ownership of persons, spousally or parentally. I'm
blessed to share this journey of Life in this Universe with Everything
that Life and the Universe entails.

I hope you have a lovely visit to the (HEVER?)castle. We don't have such ancient sites here in America, but we do have Native American mounds which are quite old, but not open to the public that I know of.
My favorite book by St. Teresa of Avila is "Las Moradas", or "The
Interior Castle" in translation. I read it in the original Spanish
first (I have a B.A. in Spanish). Are you familiar with her book?

St. Teresa emphasizes the importance of going within for the answers to Life, the Universe and Everything. I understand this concept and have tried for years to do so, and being terribly shy has kept me from looking to the (world) for answers. I am however seeking balance for my family's sake especially. I just love this Hootoo community that I've discovered, thanks to Douglas Adams, and wish to continue embracing
a love and appreciation for the creation as well as the Creator. If I seem to have bipolar tendencies, it might be from being raised in Christian Science. Mary Baker Eddy had wonderful insights into (LU&E),
and Being, but C.S. may have caused a conflict in my understanding and my ability to live harmoniously with the One and the Many.

As for parenting (and the teaching that this role requires), I've been merely muddling along the best I can on a wing and a prayer. I don't have a canned religion to offer my boys and tell them that "this is the meaning of LU&E in a nutshell". I want to teach them how to be good, kind and honest, and to respect life and others.

Thanks for listening to my long-winded ramblings. I'm not sure if I spelled your Journal friend's name or the castle's name correctly, but if I go back to the Kaizen posting, I may lose (again!) all I typed here and my family is waiting for me to join them on some errands. I told Emmily that I've been out of touch with a sense of community and might really need to seek a more asylum-based one, but thought I'd try H2G2 first. I really don't want to take,take,take... I love the Prayer
of St. Francis of Assisi, and would hope to share something good here in this Community of Researchers. As I told my husband on the drive home
yesterday, I have many more questions to share with our kids than answers. I hope that doesn't make me a bad parent.

Oodles of Love,

AV

The Ralph Blum quote was lovely wasn't it, AV? I hadn't known it earlier.

Oh my goodness! You were raised as a Christian Scientist too!! So was I.

I too am happy to have a new friend. What's all this 'arrogant "ugly American"' stuff? h2g2 has lots of American researchers, and one of my oldest friends online, Tonsil Revenge U186749, is a Texan.

The Kaizen journal entry is an open one. Sometimes lots of people join in, sometimes only one or two, sometimes none. So if you would like to join in, please do.

Yes, little is the 10 year old I mentioned in a previous posting. He's a singleton (always makes me think of bridge, that word) I can see where you're coming from not wanting to 'own' your children - one of my favourite books it 'The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran: http://www.library.cornell.edu/colldev/mideast/propht.htm#Children - I also love what he has to say about marriage and I've just been reading again what he has to say about love.

So you have three. I decided early on with little that he needed some kind of spiritual life. I tried going the the evangelical Christians, but I found that the narrowness and (frankly) bigotry really put me off. I then found the Quakers, which felt much more like 'home'. Also, it didn't conflict with the Sufi practices. Quakers over here are incredibly open-minded, which I like. I suspect that parental example is a really big factor in how children grow up, although I do try to have consistent 'house rules', which I use along with rewards and punishments (he gets fined for specified shortcomings - it does work - for example, he no longer pouts). I would describe myself as operating on a bit of a wing and a prayer too. He also doesn't get 'canned religion', although I hope he has a spiritual basis for his life.

Hever Castle's nice: http://www.bbc.co.uk/kent/do_see/castles/hever.shtml - I've only been once before and I can't remember is little was there too - probably he was. When I was in the US, I really enjoyed visiting Monicello - not quite as old, but certainly historic and atmospheric. I didn't visit Native American mounts, but I went round the battlefields (an enthusiasm of the friend I went to visit). You do them rather well.

I've not read 'St. Teresa of Avila's "Las Moradas"/"The Interior Castle". Maybe I can get it from the library. Is it anything like Carolyn Myss's 'Into the Castle' programme?

I certainly don't see you as just taking and not giving back. Thanks to you I found the wonderful Ralph Blum quote and I have a new friend. I think questions are good. I think it's much more important to ask the right questions than to start looking for solutions. Solutions come from asking the right questions. If your kids get to learn that, you'll have done your job brilliantly.

Much

It just struck me that there are a number of clubs and societies for US researcher, eg A595163, A594902, A537428, A583760 and A479225. See - lots of US researchers.

O/~

I've just found a recent h2g2 entry, which I'd missed: A12644048. Well worth a look.

o/±

Thank you HZSF for the link to Kahlil Gibran.

I have a copy of "The Prophet" on my bookshelves and have added two others as well. I've eyeballed more at the bookstore and may bring more home now that you've rekindled my interest.

I've a mountain of work to do and mustn't return 'til it's been whittled
away at least a bit.

St. Teresa's "The Interior Castle" is about going within and achieving union with the Lord. Being a parent with children requires some attention and focus in the world into which the little ones have been brought into. I wonder sometimes if it was an act of cruelty to bring them here, but then I stumble across rare flowers such as yourself and remember the beauty that coexists with the chaos.

I hope someday to discover a world completely reconciled with goodness.
Until then, it's nice to stumble across reminders that all in not unwell
in the universe (or at least our corner of it).

AV

I think they say that 'birds of a feather flock together', don't they, AV. It goes both ways.

At present, I'm reading "Truth vs Falsehood" by Dr David R Hawkins. Fascinating stuff about calibrating consciousness. When I've finished, I may well go to the library and see if I can get a copy of St. Teresa's "The Interior Castle".

I do sympathise with having a mountain of work to do. I too always seem to have one. Mind you, we're going to the cinema this afternoon to see 'Pirates of the Carribean', which should be good fun.

I think that my view of the world depends very much on my view of myself. If my view of myself improves, my view of the world improves - and that what I see depends on what I concentrate on.

Thank you SO MUCH for steering me towards Dr. Hawkins' "Truth vs. Falsehood". I looked it up on a search and discovered that it's about transcending duality.

I'm pretty sure that the Christian Science upbringing left a few schisms
to be healed, and I certainly want healing, for myself and those around
me.

Hope you enjoy the movie. It sounds perfect for little fishes (and their moms too). I'm sure we'll see it eventually, if not on the big screen, then when it comes out on DVD.

Have Fun!
AV

By the way,
St. Teresa was a 16th Century Descalced Carmelite nun. I'm not Catholic, don't intend to be and am not in the business of proselytizing

She was just a contemplative with a good heart, who followed her heart (which sometimes got her in trouble with the church)

Thanks again for the Kahlil Gibran link. It was interesting to learn that he was a seeker of solitude himself. He must be sorrowful to see the state of despair in his native Lebanon if he has a window to this world from wherever he's perched now.

Enjoy the movie and precious time with little fishie. They don't stay minnows for long, do they?

AV