Religion and Cos

I am not a religious person.

Before we start, if you are, and easily offended, it is probably best that you click "next blog" and read about a Mormon mother of two from America..

Don't get me wrong, I like the idea of religion - the history, culture and traditions. Experiencing it first hand, whether it be a Mosque in Egypt, a Temple in Cambodia or the Vatican in Rome are all amazing.
But I simply don't have the faith to believe in a God, several deities or that there is anything at all after my last breath. Apparently "God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith", so maybe I missed out due to my feminism?


I was baptised Catholic and some of my extended family are Catholic, Buddist or Christian, but my upbringing wasn't religious by any means. My mother gave me a bible when I was in primary school and I did read it, but I also read the chronicals of Narnia. We went bush walking instead of Church on Sundays and instead of religious writings on the back of the bathroom door, we had a list of endangered frogs.
Charles Darwin was mentioned in our home more often than Jesus and the two don't get along very well.

I like the idea that we all have a fate that is determined by a higher power, but it sounds like a copout to me. I believe in education, the laws of physics and making your own fate. I am in control of my own destiny as much as anyone else is. Hard work and planning will get you where you want to be, not praying.

So what if I'm wrong? In scripture I was told that I would burn in hell for the rest of eternity if I didn't accept Jesus into my heart... But I'd have to believe in Hell for that to be a real threat.

Ultimately we are all free to believe what we choose to believe. The real problem comes when people try to force their beliefs on others. My favourite opinion of tolerance to other religious views comes from the Dalai Lama. "It's like going to a restaurant - we can all sit down at one table and order different dishes, but nobody argues about it." Wouldn't that be nice?

Here in Delhi the Bahá'í House of Worship or Lotus temple (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lotus_Temple) provides a place for people of all religions to pray, meditate or just contemplate the meaning of life. Muslins next to Buddhists next to Christians next to Hindus, all next to Cos. No one religion is allowed to dominate with sermons and all that is allowed is chanting or singing. And to top it off, it kinda looks like the opera house. Sounds good to me. 

Off to India and Nepal

Right now I'm flying to India.
I'm leaving behind my life in England and probably never returning. I'm glad that I came. That I worked and lived in another country. It allowed me to make some wonderful friends and see some wonderful places throughout Europe. Ads and I have barely had a weekend to rest, but definitely had some amazing adventures.
But I am happy to be going home. I miss the surf, sun and sand and I honestly think the quality of life is better in Australia than anywhere else in the world, (but as a true blue Aussie I'm pretty biased!)

The next stop is India. I'm travelling from Delhi overland to Kathmandu where I'll then join a charity, Edge of Seven, to build a secondary school in Phuleli, Nepal. http://www.edgeofseven.org/Volunteer.html In a nut shell we're building a boarding school to help girls get an education. The girl effect will then change the whole village and help many people escape poverty. Woohoo!
I am so excited about the project and so grateful to those who helped me get to Nepal. Thankyou!

I've nervous to be travelling on my own and leaving Adam behind in England. He's meeting me in Australia, hopefully for Xmas/New Years. I will miss him dearly.
I can't wait to see everyone back in Aus again and have a proper Australian xmas, (Mum's cooking a roast!) not to mention the beautiful Australian beaches.

I'll try to do the occasional blog updates as I travel, and the usual posts should come out every Friday as usual, so you won't miss me too much!

Wish me luck!
xo

Shadows in the surf

Although it had predicted to be onshore today, the light winds meant the sea was glassy smooth. 2ft waves peaked and rolled across the beach. Perfection! I slapped on my shortie and a ton of sunscreen, the water was clear and the sun was fierce. I paddled out among the other surfers. Only 4 guys were out, probably due to the onshore forecast. One of my great loves of surfing is floating among the waves. There is something so serene about being a buoy in the water, floating where the currents take you, feeling the surge of the swell as it passes beneath you. I looked back at the land and saw people rushing about. Driving kids to soccer games, going to work, shopping or some other inane task. As I bobbed about the swell, I drifted into my daydreaming, zen state. Which to be fair, is probably why my surfing is not what it should be – too much zen, not enough actual surfing. Out here it was as if you could hit the pause button. No phone, no watch, no interruptions. 

Just then a dark shadow passed underneath my board. FARK!!!! A high pitched squeal emerged from my mouth as I sat frozen on my board. I don’t have anything against sharks, but there is no way I’m going to be fish food! What do I do? Paddle furiously or stay still? What did they do in Jaws?
I turned to the beach, deciding to desperately remove myself from the water. Immediately a shape came out of the water in front of me. This was it, it was all over!!
Then it savagely blew spray into my face… Hangon, spray?
Woah! It was a dolphin. The bastard scared the crap out of me!


As I regained my composure I discovered it was a pod of around seven. They were playing among the waves, just like me. I forgot the waves and watched them swirl through the water, spiraling together, flicking their tails as they shot through the surface, showing me their pale underbelly. I made eye contact with a young dolphin, his eyes were sparkling with excitement and mischievousness. It was as if he was saying, “Check this out.” A set wave came through and they claimed it as their own. They rode in the wave, twisting along the unbroken section, inches from breaking the surface. The young dolphin powered through the face of the wave, shooting a good 2 meters through the air and giving a playful call as he did so.

If you’ve ever gotten close to a wild dolphin, it’s a magical experience. They are graceful, playful and mesmerizing. But at the same time, these are wild animals. They are solid creatures weighing up to 200kg  of solid muscle.
As they skimmed through the water, their thick tails barely moved. I paddled closer and thought about the comparison between their movements in the water and mine. The power that must be in that tail is remarkable, one accidental knock and I’d be unconscious!
In comparison by arms felt slow and sluggish as they pushed through the water causing a wash behind me. A dolphin behind me blew out and took a breath of air, I turned and saw nothing, no wake, just still water. The two dolphins wrestling next to me pushed up towards the surface, one shot out of the water, its silver gleaming body close enough for me to touch it. Then with a flick of its tail and a lot of water sent my way, they were off.

Death and all his friends

I'm comfortable with the thought of death. Comfortable and accepting that I will someday die.

That being said, I don't want to die and in the event of a zombie apocalypse I'll be armed to the teeth and fighting for all hell.

However, I have lived a fantastic life. I have loved, laughed, learnt, travelled and experienced life to the full. If this is all I get, I've done bloody well.

I am not accepting of death because I believe in heaven or reincarnation or any form of an afterlife. In fact I believe we never experience death. Why? Because in death we no longer have any senses, feelings or anything. Our synapses stop firing and no longer have conscious thought. At the exact moment we die, we cannot perceive, hence why should we fear something that we will never experience.

I am however a believer in physics. I am made of flesh and bones which is made of particles of carbon based matter. When I die these living particles still exist and as matter cannot be destroyed, they will always exist. The essence of me will always exist - in some form.
It is amazing to think that the food that I ate, to grow my body, will someday be reabsorbed into the earth, which will give nutrients to plants to grow food, to be eaten, to then be reabsorbed again.
My consciousness may be gone, but life goes on.

The diamond on my finger was once a carbon based life form, just like me and it still exists here and now.
Maybe I should ask to be buried in a peat marsh so one day I can sparkle too.
Or if you have a spare $6000 why wait? You could be a diamond in 3 months! http://www.phoenix-diamonds.com/process/

Technolology

I am an Engineer, but I wouldn't call myself a technology expert. In fact I don't really like technology.
I have a very good skill of causing everyday electrical things to stop working, much to the amusement of Adam.
I find it impossible to use any sort of touch pad/screen. I cannot seem to get automatic door sensors to operate for me. Buying a train ticket from a machine is painful. My wi-fi will often drop out specifically to my computer, which will then get the blue screen of death.

This is obviously not fantastic with my choice of career, but thankfully this is usually limited to items outside of work. At work I am often called on to fix IT issues and teach others how to use certain programs. Again, Adam finds this very amusing.

As I seem to be behind in the technology game, I find it fascinating when I see other people struggle with basic technology. It reminds me that these everyday items that we take for granted haven't been around too long and many people today did not grow up with these technologies.

A man was struggling to use a vending machine.
A lady at Tesco struggled to scan bar codes at the self-serve checkouts.
A man at work, who uses computers everyday, didn't know what an address (for documents/webpages) was.
An apprentice at work had never sent an email.
An draftsman at work still uses pencil and paper instead of Autocad.

If nothing else it makes me feel better about using a stock standard Nokia phone that barely texts and calls rather than an infernal smart phone. I have spent enough of my life playing snake, I don't need angrybirds too.

But mainly it makes me wonder what life was like before the 80's. I don't ever remember life before computers, I had a mobile in high school and I've always had the internet to do assignments with. It boggles my mind to think how you contacted people before mobile phones and the internet.

What will my kids be like? Having seen a 3 year old more proficient with an iphone than I, it makes me think this is only the beginning. How could you get a management job if you didn't know the Microsoft Office Suite? How do you even apply for a job without an email address? How would you do a university degree without a computer?
The norm is evolving and it is evolve or become extinct, much to my dismay.

Do you know how these are related?

Want an ipad?

Or an Iphone??