Jubal Naimed is a man I met in an internet social network. I read his post about Puerto Rico beaches and the safeguarding of the playas from government destruction. I identified and I commented on the subject because I cared. I love Puerto Rico and Iwas returning after several years. I care about the preservation of the pristine and unaltered beaches I remember in the beautiful island called “Preciosa”. And I knew how the Loiza Aldea natives safeguarded Pinones from government neglect in my time. So I wrote, “Remember Pinones”. And Jubal responded to my comment, and an amicable relationship ensued. His opinions became very important to me very quickly, for we had similar concerns. We also shared philosophies and energies and became one in spirit.
So I allowed myself to emerge in a world of spiritual seduction which I enjoyed and it became necessary. I knew I was up to something when I found myself continuously changing my priorities to put Puerto Rico and puertorricans first. It was ever present that I had an upcoming trip to Puerto Rico-but for the last four months I had put it aside. Now suddenly, I was in first gear. I was fired up learning and sharing and extending myself and becoming eager to be there. Jubal helped me realized that mentally I had never left and spiritually I was already there.
Was it something he said or something I said? I don’t know but I know that our words connected us. And it had me riding an endless train in which I could go on, non-stop, not just looking out the window passively, but involved actively. I was fired up from the very beginning. And I tried to be cool for I like to be calm, cool, and collected but I also like to let go. I know that I love writing and I would indulge myself any time. But this was more than just pure indulgence. I was transformed; he was transforming me, perhaps we were transforming each other.
I had a strong reaction and with that realization I had to take a break. I had to break to think, and to do so I had to write about it. It reminded me that I had recently read: The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances; if there is any reaction, both are transformed. ~ Carl Jung (1)
Whereas I was afraid to let go, I am half gone and whereas my future was far away, it is now on my face. I fear not to confront my fears.
It is interesting to note, that all this seems familiar and yet strange. It is no accident, not pre-planned, manipulated, or anticipated. It could be destiny if I may say so, but I don’t know what it was. If it is the man, Jubal, this man was Inlakesh (2) (I am another you… another me, another like me).
Wow. In thinking while typing, and typing while thinking, I realized Jubal was also Ubuntu (3). Traditionally Ubuntu is referred to as having to do with brotherhood between humans. Of course I will say sisterhood too. A popular definition of Ubuntu is, “the belief in a universal bond of sharing that connects all humanity.” Yes, our connection was there, easy, smoothly, quick flowing. And our identification was good too. It kept us going. I enjoyed learning about his rescuing a kitten, he called Kitty, that in looking like a tiger I called Tigris. He rescued Kitty after a woman drowned both the mother and a sibling. And his efforts to rescuing the natural resources of our island-so rich- that it was named Rich Port were noteworthy. It definitely caught my attention. I believe and trust that he was for real and these were not just mere words…he really cared to rescue people and things, and had a natural ability to do so. I felt it- he was rescuing me.
Of course, I feel a spiritual connection too because I am a spiritual woman. My mother was an “espiritista” spiritualist. My life time writings are about spirits; “Spirits Ride” and I live in both a physical and spiritual multidimensional world. It is because of this that I recognized the Inlakesh, Ubuntu, Animist and Namaste in D’man and he helped me recognized my Querencia! The more ways that I can explain the connection to all life through which spirit flows, the greater chance we have to experience it to our mutual benefit. So we explained things to each other. I could not help but to make this spiritual connection. Our interaction is based on conversations, conversations in words, words in thoughts, thoughts in beliefs, beliefs in creeds, creeds in feelings.
My motto and business name, Asi Lo Creo, or As I create –means: in this way or as I think, as I believe, as I create, it is my creed. It is my way of life to speak and write. All of my life I avoid to hear speeches so standardized that it expresses nothing about spirit, or it gives birth to nothing and it’s completely disempowered because it’s completely disconnected.
I’d like to see exchanges and hear meaningful language as an expression of the spirit of oneself. I look to hear the spirit talking. I heard Da’man, and I felt him and I needed not to see him physically for he was present and felt, in spirit and words. Jubal’s spirit to preserve and save the playas, his connections and relations with Sierra club and other environmental concerns was Ubuntu (3). And I was dragged and sucked into it for I believe that Ubuntu (3) it is the way out of destruction. We can save the world- one by one. It takes a village to save a child, to save the world but never underestimate the power of one-you are one I am one, together we are a village!
Jubal commented on my short story; Spirits Ride: The Chocolate Candy Man, (Spirits ride the train as if they were alive looking for the living to help with their passing. They need to find the right person and until they do, they will be riding back and forth forever). In Jubal’s comment to my story: “I like the chocolate candy man, the mystery of the train as you not only pass through places, but also the interaction as you touch lives along the journey…very nice!” I interpreted that not only he liked it-but that he shared beliefs in spirits-as beings that can interact with the living, which is Animism (4), “the belief that natural objects and phenomena and the universe itself possess souls and consciousness, belief system that predates even polytheism in the annals of religion and holds that every human quality or affliction has a “spirit” with a will of its own.”
This is a belief I withhold. It is present in Spirits Ride-in all my seven stories- and I was happy that he shared these beliefs. Again, I think about Carl Jung’s quote: “The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances; if there is any reaction, both are transformed.” with regards to D’man and I, but I also think about the meaning of Namaste (5) “The real meeting between people is the meeting of their minds.
When we greet one another with Namaste (5), it means, ‘may our minds meet’, indicated by the folded palms placed before the chest. The bowing down of the head is a gracious form of extending friendship in love, respect and humility. The reason why we do Namaste has a deeper spiritual significance. It recognizes the belief that the life force, the divinity, the Self or the God in me is the same in all. Acknowledging this oneness with the meeting of the palms, we honor the god in the person we meet.”
Talking with Jubal interested me because of his physical presence in my home country to which I feared to returned, and has been delaying for a long time. I have been trying to convince myself to leave without regrets and to return without delays, but words are easier say than done. And I have been holding back from my Querencia (6) for too long. This is my inheritance that I had neglected to claim for almost 20 years. My herencia is my querencia (7). Conversing with Jubal helped me make these connections and I began to move right along.
Not-d-end
Definitions: 1. “The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances; if there is any reaction, both are transformed.” (CARL JUNG (26 JULY 1875 – 6 JUNE 1961)-FROM MODERN MAN IN SEARCH OF A SOUL , PROBLEMS OF PSYCHOLOGY-BY CARL GUSTAV JUNG, WILLIAM STANLEY DELL, CARY F. BAYNES-IMAGE – RICOEURIAN – “CONNEXION”)
2. INLAKESH is a Mayan word meaning “I am another yourself”. Recognizing the divine in each person that we encounter, reminding us to live in simplicity and love, in peaceful coexistence and respect, encompassing the truest aspirations of life.
3. UBUNTU, A popular definition of ubuntu is, “the belief in a universal bond of sharing that connects all humanity.”
a. There are many possible translations in English for Ubuntu, including: “Humanity towards others” “I am because we are” “I am what I am because of what we all are” “A person ‘becomes human’ through other persons” “A person is a person because of other persons”
b. An attempt at a longer definition has been made by Archbishop Desmond Tutu (1999): “A person with Ubuntu is open and available to others, affirming of others, does not feel threatened that others are able and good, for he or she has a proper self-assurance that comes from knowing that he or she belongs in a greater whole and is diminished when others are humiliated or diminished, when others are tortured or oppressed.”
c. Archbishop Desmond Tutu further explained Ubuntu in 2008: One of the sayings in our country is Ubuntu – the essence of being human. Ubuntu speaks particularly about the fact that you can’t exist as a human being in isolation. It speaks about our interconnectedness. You can’t be human all by yourself, and when you have this quality – Ubuntu – you are known for your generosity.
d. We think of ourselves far too frequently as just individuals, separated from one another, whereas you are connected and what you do affects the whole world. When you do well, it spreads out; it is for the whole of humanity
e. Louw (1998) suggests that the concept of Ubuntu defines the individual in terms of their several relationships with others, and stresses the importance of Ubuntu as a religious concept. He states that while the Zulu maxim umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu (“a person is a person through (other) persons”) may have no apparent religious connotations in the context of Western society, in an African context it suggests that the person one is to become by behaving with humanity is an ancestor worthy of respect or veneration. Those who uphold the principle of Ubuntu throughout their lives will, in death, achieve a unity with those still living.
f. Nelson Mandela explained Ubuntu as follows. “A traveller through our country would stop at a village, and he didn’t have to ask for food or for water. Once he stops, the people give him food, entertain him. That is one aspect of Ubuntu but Ubuntu has various aspects. Ubuntu does not mean that people should not address themselves. The question therefore is: Are you going to do so in order to enable the community around you to improve? ”
g. Ubuntu is an ethic or humanist philosophy focusing on people’s allegiances and relations with each other. The word has its origin in the Bantu languages of southern Africa. Ubuntu is seen as a classical African concept. The Ubuntu operating system was named for this principle.
h. An interpretation of the concept of Ubuntu is illustrated in the film In My Country, about the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, starring Samuel L. Jackson and Juliette Binoche. This interpretation inspired the title of the documentary film I Am Because We Are directed by Nathan Rissman and produced by Raising Malawi founder Madonna.
i. On June 18, 2009, in her swearing-in remarks as U.S. Department of State Special Representative for Global Partnerships, Elizabeth Bagley discussed Ubuntu in the context of American foreign policy, stating that “In understanding the responsibilities that come with our interconnectedness, we realize that we must rely on each other to lift our world from where it is now to where we want it to be in our lifetime, while casting aside our worn out preconceptions, and our outdated modes of statecraft.”
She then introduced the notion of “Ubuntu Diplomacy” with the following words: In 21st century diplomacy, the Department of State will be a convener, bringing people together from across regions and sectors to work together on issues of common interest. Our work no longer depends on the least common denominator; but rather, we will seek the highest possible multiplier effect for the results we can achieve together.
We will also act as a catalyst, with our Foreign Service Officers launching new projects in tandem with those NGOs, philanthropies, and corporations at the front lines of foreign affairs to discover untapped potential, inspire fresh ideas, and create new solutions. And we will act as a collaborator, leading interagency coordination here in Washington and cross-sector collaboration in the field, with our Ambassadors working closely with our non-governmental partners to plan and implement projects for maximum impact and sustainability.
In the same way that Secretary Clinton has often said that ‘it takes a village to raise a child,’ we are now realizing that we must apply a similar approach worldwide. It takes a shared, global response to meet the shared, global challenges we face. This is the truth taught to us in an old South African principle, Ubuntu, or ‘A person is a person through other persons.’ As Archbishop Desmond Tutu describes this perspective, Ubuntu ‘is not, “I think therefore I am.” It says rather: “I am a human because I belong. I participate. I share.”’ In essence, I am because you are. We are truly all in this together, and we will only succeed by building mutually beneficial partnerships among civil society, the private sector, and the public sector, in order to empower the men and women executing our foreign policy to advance their work through partnerships.
4. ANIMISM 1. The belief in the existence of individual spirits that inhabit natural objects and phenomena. 2. The belief in the existence of spiritual beings that are separable or separate from bodies. 3. The hypothesis holding that an immaterial force animates the universe. 1. (Philosophy) the belief that natural objects, phenomena, and the universe itself have desires and intentions 2. (Philosophy) (in the philosophies of the Greek philosophers Plato (?427-?347 bc) and Pythagoras (?580-?500 bc)) the hypothesis that there is an immaterial force that animates the universe. [from Latin anima vital breath, spirit].
5. NAMASTE In Sanskrit the word is namah + te = namaste which means “I bow to you” – my greetings, salutations or prostration to you. The word ‘namaha’ can also be literally interpreted as “na ma” (not mine). It has a spiritual significance of negating or reducing one’s ego in the presence of another. How to Namaste: Bend the arms from the elbow upwards and face the two palms of the hands. Place the two palms together and keep the folded palms in front of the chest. Utter the word Namaste and while saying the word bow the head slightly. Namaste could be just a casual or formal greeting, a cultural convention or an act of worship. However, there is much more to it than meets the eye. The real meeting between people is the meeting of their minds. When we greet one another with Namaste, it means, ‘may our minds meet’, indicated by the folded palms placed before the chest. The bowing down of the head is a gracious form of extending friendship in love, respect and humility.
The reason why we do Namaste has a deeper spiritual significance. It recognizes the belief that the life force, the divinity, the Self or the God in me is the same in all. Acknowledging this oneness with the meeting of the palms, we honor the god in the person we meet. In everyday life, “Namaste” is not consciously considered a religious gesture. However, many believe it has a spiritual basis, in recognizing a common divinity within the other person. Westerners who learn about “Namaste” from yoga often believe that the word is part of yogic practice, and that it has a multitude of very complicated and poetic meanings.
Some examples: * “I honor the Spirit in you which is also in me”. — attributed to author Deepak Chopra * “I honor the place in you in which the entire Universe dwells, I honor the place in you which is of Love, of Truth, of Light and of Peace, When you are in that place in you, and I am in that place in me, we are One.” * “I salute the God within you.” * “I recognize that we are all equal.” * “The entire universe resides within you.” * “The divine light in me salutes the divine light in you.” * “Your spirit and my spirit are ONE.” — attributed to Lilias Folan’s shared teachings from her journeys to India * “That which is of God in me greets that which is of God in you” * “I honor the Holy One that lives in you.”
6. QUERENCIA (pronounced ke-ren-see-a) is a Spanish word, “that implies not just a “love of home”, as the dictionaries say, but, “a deep, quite sense of inner well-being that comes from knowing a particular place of the earth, its diurnal, and seasonal patterns, its fruits and scents, its history and its part in your history…. where whenever you return to it, your soul releases an inner sigh of recognition and relaxation.” (context, bullfighting) the area of the bull-ring where the bull makes its stand, Querencia is a beautiful word.
It is a place on the ground where one feels secure, a place from which one’s strength of character is drawn. In Spain, according to Lopez, the word is used to describe a spot in the bullring where the wounded bull goes to gather himself. It is the best definition I have for home. There is no exact translation for the word in English, but these are the definitions I managed to find; a place from which one’s strength of character is drawn. in Spain, it is the place in the ring (the ‘corrida’) where the wounded bull goes to renew his strength and center himself, ready for a fresh charge. a place in which we know exactly who we are. the place from which we speak our deepest beliefs. a safe haven, affection, fondness, homing instinct, den, lair, nest, roost, home, sanctuary.
7. “My herencia is my querencia”. My inheritance is my homestead.