Fighting Terrorism with Books

So on the plane home tonight I read my favourite magazine "Outside". I picked it up as it had an article in it about this amazing man named Greg Mortenson. He is one of my top living heroes. I was interested in his book "Three Cups of Tea" since he is a climber and I have an avid interest in Mountain climbing (I have only dabbled in this in Africa but not comparable to any base camp!). In 1993, Greg Mortenson nearly lost his life trying to climb one of the world’s highest mountains, K2 in northern Pakistan. Losing his Balti porter in a storm, reeling from his failed attempt, Mortenson stumbled into the village of Korphe in Pakistan’s Karakoram Himalaya region. They looked after him for 2 months(?) until he was strong enough to go home even though most villagers had never even seen a foreigner before!

While recuperating one morning, he the saw children huddled in the cold wind, on the top of a mountain scratching out lessons with sticks in the dirt. No teacher (one came by maybe every 20-30 days and give them lessons; then the kids would meet on the mountain daily with to study). And our kids today complain about school... Anyway, he was inspired and impetuously made a promise to the village’s leader, Haji Ali: He said "I will build you a school."

That promise took him to rock bottom and back again as he despaired while living in his car to save money for the school until a generous benefactor set him on his way (Jean Hoerni). It was this old man's dying wish to see the first school built, and it happened days before he died. They co-founded the Central Asia Institute to build schools for children in remote areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan. Illiterate high-altitude porters (like Sherpas) have put down their packs to make paltry wages and risk their lives in order to educate their children. Former Taliban members have renounced violence and went to work with him as security forces to get him in and out of these war-torn regions. Mortenson's remarkable Odyssey reflects the astounding humanitarian reach that one person can generate.

Today his article was about the continuation of all the schools he has built since the book (62 to date). Makes me want to read the book again. Funny enough with the enemies he has made over the years (as he has relationships with many middle eastern diplomats and politicians, he has received the most intense threats from Americans themselves! They call him a Muslim supporter, terrorist etc. How pathetic is that?

Anyway, this is why the book is called 'Three Cups of Tea':

Greg learned quickly during his endeavors that in order to gain trust in the tribesman, you had to stay for three cups of tea. It is customary when you stay in one of their villages abd Greg has drank alot of tea since 1993! During the first cup, you are strangers; with the second cup, you become friends; and by the third cup, you are regarded as family and are willing to die for you if need be.

It really is all about building relationships you know.

Ubuntu

Ubuntu = "A universal truth, a way of life that underpins the concept of an open society" It does not mean that one should not address themselves, but that they must do so in order to enable the community around you to improve.

The concept of Ubuntu is very difficult for the westernized mind as it is just too dirty and spoiled with the intoxicating ideas of the omnipotence of the individual identity. I respect the spirit of Ubuntu for the connectedness of us all.
I was still exploring this area within me and while watching Mandela’s short explanation of what the Ubuntu in life is (you can see it on 'Wikipedia Ubuntu Philosophy), and it finally dawned on me.

It was the 'deserve-oriented', language that creates a gap, the canyon between the spirit of Ubuntu and my little self. This discourse, always operating with the idea that I have to deserve to be accepted, appreciated, loved, respected…, this cultural context of there being some universal rules I need to (and will always fail to) follow in order to deserve my needs to be met within a group of people.

This paradigm was dominates my society and most of my socializations throughout my life. And I fear that I somehow have internalized it into the very fundamentals of my own being and my beingness. Do I deserve to be accepted? Do I deserve to be a part of this beauty? Have I complied with all the requirement to be let in?

I see this 'deserve-oriented' language of conditioning as one of the most fundamental failures of the humanity. It results in being conditioned and conditioning others. If you do this and that then you may qualify to deserve my love. If you comply with this and that, then you may deserve to be let in. Distinctions. Hierarchy. Levels of importance. Inner and outer circles. Social climbing. Competing. Building up as much power over others as possible…

What I am trying to say here is that I feel, somewhere very deep and barely tangible within me, that the Ubuntu starts within us, with our perception of ourselves, our own worth and our own needs. And with the realization that it is not at all about deserving or not deserving. This language and these notions are completely irrelevant and meaningless.

Ubuntu, as I see it, is a complete absence of evaluation and deserve oriented perception of self and others. We do not have to deserve to be accepted, to be part of it all, to be taken care of. And the same is true for everybody else. Because we can not, actually be separated, be not-connected. We are connected, ultimately and universally. We can not be if others are not. We are because others are. We are because we all are.

The only choice we have is to choose to continue denying it all or to choose to cease denying and embrace it fully.

Dazed and Confused

What do you do when your mind is overtaking your emotions? When you feel so goddam lost that noone can relate to you anymore? I am struggling with this and need a refuge.... This is my chance to practice self-discipline and take control of my emotions. The challenge is that I need to be at my strongest when I am at my weakest. I am haunted by my own mind. It is very true that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.

I know that this too shall pass...but riding out the storm is no holiday.

I am so thankful to have my friends near when I need them so much. Thank you.

I will bounce back.