I came back from Albania last Sunday. The whole week in Albania, I had only few hours to see around in Tirana and a day trip to the north of the country. Other days were full of meetings. Landscapes, villages and people are very much like in Turkey. But cities are small, poor and infrastructure is a luxury. A country poor by West European standards.

It is a beautiful country though. Sometimes lack of money prevents degradation in nature and in cultures.

What I like the most in Albania was the peaceful coexistence of religions. Mosques next to churches. Muslim neighborhood next to Christian neighborhood. I hope the reality is similar to what is seen to my eyes. Actually, what I found from the Wikipedia agrees and gives the reasons for this peaceful coexistence: “During the communist era religion was prohibited. Since that time the Albanian has been proclaimed as the only officially atheist country in the world, claiming the religion to be Albanianism. The most widely-practiced religions are Islam (70%), Albanian Orthodox (20%), and Catholic Church (10%). It should be noted that the other main religions of the world have some representation in Albania, though small. Religious fanaticism has never been a problem, with people from different religious groups living in peace and even inter-marrying. Intermarriage across religions is very common, and an immensely strong sense of Albanian identity has tended to bind Albanians of all religious practice together.”

Lessons learnt: for the peaceful coexistence of religions we should first forget about our religions, forget about the practices of religion and then maybe we can understand each other, understand that in the very deep they all say the same thing: Love is the only duty.

I wish I had more "slow" time for zaadz.

However there are two things limiting my time: first of all, I have computer only at work. So I connect only if I am early or late in the office (fortunatly my office is open 24 hours/7 days). Not having a computer at home has been a very conscious choice. To me, my home has been a place for listening music, reading, relaxing or treating friends. But now this "very conscious choice" is being reviewed and considered against "reading and meeting friends in zaadz". 

The second limitation is my travels. I often travel in the country (rarely out of the country as well). As in the case of this week and next week. I will be away from wednesday until the 9th of October , first for the east of Turkey, later for a meeting in Tirana, Albania.

Remain with Love and Peace,

Bilgi

P.S. the bird on the photo is a black stork

I am back from Artvin, a province of North-Eastern Turkey, near Georgian border. It was a mission to monitor a World Bank funded conservation project in the region.

We visited 6 villages in Macahel Biosphere Reserve and I admired its natural beauty and cultural diversity. It is a forested mountain area. People are living on forest and tourism.   

I am glad I had this chance to go away from the city and meet with Macahel people. I learn enormously from people who are close to the earth and nature.

I add a photo to share with you the "greenness" of the landscape.  Best, Bilgi

I am fascinated by Ilana Yahav's creations.

Check out her art at (and click on one of the pictures):
http://www.sandfantasy.com/videoclips/videoclips.htm

You can not own her art, buy it or sell it, collect it, touch it.. You can only watch it changing moment by moment.

It is the art of the momentary inspiration. I believe she has no idea what she will create in the next minute. She is just doing it in the moment.

I myself admired and wanted to share with my zaadzster friends.

With Love,

Bilgi

Is freedom the ability to control his/her own life? Having choices?

It would be a 'yes', if we were talking only about the "outer freedom". Yes we are free if we have the chance to decide for our own sort, have choices and control of our lives.

I believe NO, the freedom is not only that. You can control your life and make your own choices but still be slave of the system, of your fear, of the tradition, of the religion, of many things.

To my sense, the freedom is to be spontaneous. To decide for each moment. The freedom is to be able to act and being proactive in each moment, moment by moment. "Free" is the one who is spontaneous. It requires letting your self into the flow and welcome whatever it brings: Joy or pain. It requires not avoiding the unknown or the undesired.
Freedom is not something going very well with the social life though, unless all beings are free.

..... or is freedom = not thinking but acting by the inner knowledge.

It may sound very animal, but this is why we think animals are free.

Humans think too much. We are too intellectual. Intellectual thinking requires information, learning, to be updated.... However inner knowledge cannot be learned, it is there with you. But we don't see it. We learn too quickly to think intellectually at our childhood.

The faith if comes from your inner knowledge may lead to freedom.

Buddha was not Buddhist and Jesus was not Christian. They knew, they did not learn.

The one who knows versus the one who learns.
The one who is free versus the one who thinks is free.

From that point of view books will not free us; nor any intellectual action, discussion, nor zaadz. But they may just open a door. The rest depend on us.

So May all beings be free.

I believe there is not such thing like "right livelihood" if there is no integrity in life.

What I understand from integrity is to align with the wholeness. The question is not "how can you make your time at work meaningful" but is "how do you express yourself and be yourself in an interrelated world".

Money is a mean isn't it? A mean for what? To live? There is a paradox here. We may give up to this paradox if we have the intention. If the money is a replacement of interconnectedness; then we should start by finding a good connection with the wholeness. Where is my place? My unique place for that I serve the whole. When we find it, money or other means for living would come automatically. It is a matter of trusting the life and its miracles.

-sorry this is in french- 

Qu’ils sont nombreux leur points communs ! Tous les deux sont puritains. « Que chacun suive sa pente… mais en montant » dit Gide. L’œuvre de Gide et celui de Tolstoï ont pleins des débats moraux, de la voix de la conscience, de considérations étiques. Ils écrivent sur l’individu et son rapport avec le Dieu. Ils sont mystiques et individualistes.

C’est encore plus surprenant de voir les paroles de Gide s’approchant à ceux de Bouddha :

« c’est en prenant conscience de lui-même que l’homme devient libre et c’est par là qu’il peut parvenir à la gratuité. »

« Une seule minute de conscience par jour est très précieuse. »

Ne seraient-ils pas parfaitement les paroles d’un Monk bouddhiste ou d’un meditateur ?