Hiroshima: Before and After
Alan: Arthur's article reminds me that the two most influential figures in the history of our world -- Gautama Buddha and Yeshua, the Nazarene -- were categorically unique in that people didn't ask them "Who are you?" but "What are you?"
Yeshua answered: "What do you say I am?"
Buddha answered: "I am awake."
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Last Minute Reminder Floating Lantern Ceremony, Downtown Calgary, This Saturday August 6
(An invitation from Arthur Clark, M.D., Global Center For Community, Calgary, Canada http://www.calgarycgc.org/)
That morning of August 6, 1945, an atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. I was two years old, and two year olds like me were incinerated but not me, and why not me?
Fast forward to August 2016. I’m seventy-three years old and the world around me seems to be moving “fast forward” – in the sense of coming to some sort of conclusion but not so much in the sense of waking up. The adolescent immaturity in our civilization that gave us the wars of the twentieth century has persisted into the twenty-first. I encountered a bully in junior high school and I recognize the same foolishness in
We’ve had maybe twenty-one civilizations (Arnold Toynbee) and we’re living in an unconscious civilization today (John Ralston Saul). It’s been ten thousand years now. I’d love to know that we can wake up and transition to a conscious civilization, so that human beings can flourish for another millennium or more. It’s just that it doesn’t seem likely at the moment.
And maybe that’s okay. I’m seventy-three, I don’t have that much time left, and that’s okay. But I certainly want to be awake and aware of what lies ahead. I want to be conscious, not unconscious, for the time I have left. I'd like our species on Earth to become conscious and truly flourish for whatever time we have left.
At the Floating Lantern Ceremony on August 6, we will be waking ourselves up, trying to move toward a conscious civilization and human flourishing worldwide. Your presence is all the more important as tensions and violence are on the rise in so many parts of the world. Calgary is not immune. We are part of the world. Calgary can speak to the world, saying Yes, we are very much aware of the danger and we are doing everything we can to wake up and change direction. Bring your presence and your voice to that awakening. There is still time.
Saturday, August 6th 8.25pm to 10pm @ Olympic Plaza
Come, experience the breathtaking beauty of lanterns floating on the Olympic Plaza pool. Vibrant live music by the Midnight Taiko kai, the Circles of Rhythm, Trevor Uruski's Didgeridoo and Flute, along with a Children's Drama and a former TEDX speaker, will provide food for thought and commemorate Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Launch your lanterns (available for rent $5 or donation) for peace and happiness for your family, our community, and the world.
This is a FREE annual summer family event at the Olympic Plaza from 8.25 pm to 10 pm. Lanterns for rent $5 or donation. Please visit and "Like,"https://www.facebook.com/
WHAT: The Floating Lantern Peace Ceremony. Hundreds of coloured lanterns will be floated on the Olympic Plaza pool. Multiple musicians will play. A children's drama will move the audience. TEDX speech giver Louise Gallagher will inspire. The M.C. is 13 year old Dai Sato
WHEN: Saturday, August 6, 2016, 8.25pm to 10pm. This is the fourth year.
WHERE: Olympic Plaza, downtown Calgary
WHY: August 6 is the anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima. This event is to remember those affected by the bombing, to seek a world without nuclear weapons and to hold up the goal of unity in diversity for humankind.
WHO: Hundreds of Calgarians attend. The Calgary Consul General for Japan will be in attendance. The Mayor of Nagasaki has sent greetings in solidarity with Calgarians. The event is put on by two respected groups: Project Ploughshares Calgary and 2020 Vision for Humanity, in partnership with the United Nations Association of Canada, Calgary Branch.
CONTACT: Sally Hodges 403-247-1653 sjhodges@telus.net
FACEBOOK PAGE: https://www.facebook.com/
WEBSITE: www.ploughsharescalgary.ca
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