Guest guest Posted December 14, 2005 Report Share Posted December 14, 2005 Keval wrote: >> Your brother?? Yikes! If anyone deserved the death >> penalty, Stan "Tookie" Williams did! If you want to >> spend several hours chanting and sending out >> unconditional love and/or Amma's love to someone, how >> about to the families of the four people he was >> convicted of killing. Not to mention the many people >> killed or maimed by members of the Crips gang he >> founded. >> IMHO lethal injection was too good for Tookie.. they >> should have brought back the gas chamber. Dear group ~ I fear this will lead to another back and forth go 'round, but I was happy to read that someone had prayed for Stan. As Temba has reminded me, Amma regards even the most hardened criminals as her children, and many of them are being reached through the Circle of Love Inside. Reading your post pushed my sad button. Sigh... Even when I worked with families of victims ... and these were people whose loved ones had been through hideous deaths, I listend to their pain, and their anger, and even their desire that the person be killed. But I have never felt right about it myself. Factually, the death penalty has not been found to be a deterrent, and with new DNA analysis available, many who were on death row have been found to be innocent. I am not saying that Stan was innocent of his crime. I don't know. But we know nothing of him as a person. Last night I watched a movie. It was a hard movie to watch. It was called "Monster" and was about the female serial killer, Ailene Wernous. But where was the system when, at 8 years of age she was repeatedly raped and at 13 when she was expected to earn money for her family and the only thing she had to offer was her own body. I saw a lecture once with Elizabeth Kubler Ross. At the time she was doing work in prisons. She said she had come to a frightening realization. Since it was a realization I was living and struggling with, it touched me deeply. She said, "Everyone has a black bunny in their life." She said that to explain her realization that she was as capable of hideous acts as any of the criminals she worked with. Then she told her story. When she was a little girl, she had a black bunny that she raised from infancy. She loved the bunny. Then one day her father ordered her to take the bunny to the local butcher and have it killed for their dinner. That was the day that she met what Jung would call her "shadow." If a person has not met their shadow, they are incomplete. You must, like in the old Star Trek episode (there are two Kirks ~ one white and one black ~ who war with each other until they realize they need each other to live) meet your shadow. It can be a frightening encounter. For me, it was even more frightening than the abuse I went through ~ to realize at the core of my being that I was capable of hideous acts. It took me years to struggle through that. But I do know that many, not all, but many who are in prison are like Ailene Wournous ... they had hideous acts perpetrated on them; they did not learn or experience love. Society may put such people to death, but only God/dess can truly know and judge them, and God/dess would always choose love. Jai Ma ~ Linda Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 14, 2005 Report Share Posted December 14, 2005 Bless you for this, Linda. Bless you for your honesty and open heart. Your sister in Amma, Pahari Maa > > > Dear group ~ I fear this will lead to another back and forth go > 'round, but > I was happy to read that someone had prayed for Stan. As Temba has > reminded > me, Amma regards even the most hardened criminals as her children, > and many of > them are being reached through the Circle of Love Inside. Reading > your post > pushed my sad button. Sigh... Even when I worked with families of > victims ... > and these were people whose loved ones had been through hideous > deaths, I > listend to their pain, and their anger, and even their desire that > the person be > killed. But I have never felt right about it myself. Factually, the > death > penalty has not been found to be a deterrent, and with new DNA > analysis > available, many who were on death row have been found to be innocent. > I am not > saying that Stan was innocent of his crime. I don't know. But we know > nothing of > him as a person. > > Last night I watched a movie. It was a hard movie to watch. It was > called > "Monster" and was about the female serial killer, Ailene Wernous. But > where was > the system when, at 8 years of age she was repeatedly raped and at 13 > when > she was expected to earn money for her family and the only thing she > had to > offer was her own body. I saw a lecture once with Elizabeth Kubler > Ross. At the > time she was doing work in prisons. She said she had come to a > frightening > realization. Since it was a realization I was living and struggling > with, it > touched me deeply. She said, "Everyone has a black bunny in their > life." She > said that to explain her realization that she was as capable of > hideous acts as > any of the criminals she worked with. Then she told her story. > > When she was a little girl, she had a black bunny that she raised > from > infancy. She loved the bunny. Then one day her father ordered her to > take the > bunny to the local butcher and have it killed for their dinner. That > was the day > that she met what Jung would call her "shadow." If a person has not > met their > shadow, they are incomplete. You must, like in the old Star Trek > episode > (there are two Kirks ~ one white and one black ~ who war with each > other until > they realize they need each other to live) meet your shadow. It can > be a > frightening encounter. For me, it was even more frightening than the > abuse I went > through ~ to realize at the core of my being that I was capable of > hideous > acts. It took me years to struggle through that. But I do know that > many, not > all, but many who are in prison are like Ailene Wournous ... they > had hideous > acts perpetrated on them; they did not learn or experience love. > Society may > put such people to death, but only God/dess can truly know and judge > them, and > God/dess would always choose love. > > Jai Ma ~ Linda > > > > > > > > Aum Amriteswarayai Namaha! > > > > > > > ▪  Visit your group "Ammachi" on the web. >  > ▪  >  Ammachi >  > ▪  Terms of > Service. > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 15, 2005 Report Share Posted December 15, 2005 Excellent post !! It is true that everyone is capable of doing hideous acts - it is something our fellow devotees like ckinley & Keval have to remember when deriding and judging others. Santana dharma says be pure in thought, word & deed. Word & deed we understand but why thought? Thought is very important too. Consider what Osho had to say - Beyond the conscious & unconscious mind is the collective unconscious where all our thoughts are collected.When we think a bad thought it stays in the collective unconscious and this thought can overtake a weak mind and cause them to do horrible things. How many times have we heard some people saying a voice in their head asked them to commit a certain act! So we should remember that we are personally responsible for all good & BAD(because of our intentional negative thoughts) happening in this world. That's why Santana Dharma places importance on personal responsibility - transform yourself first before blaming the world. > Dear group ~ I fear this will lead to another back and forth go 'round, but > I was happy to read that someone had prayed for Stan. As Temba has reminded > me, Amma regards even the most hardened criminals as her children, and many of > them are being reached through the Circle of Love Inside. Reading your post > pushed my sad button. Sigh... Even when I worked with families of victims ... > and these were people whose loved ones had been through hideous deaths, I > listend to their pain, and their anger, and even their desire that the person be > killed. But I have never felt right about it myself. Factually, the death > penalty has not been found to be a deterrent, and with new DNA analysis > available, many who were on death row have been found to be innocent. I am not > saying that Stan was innocent of his crime. I don't know. But we know nothing of > him as a person. > > Last night I watched a movie. It was a hard movie to watch. It was called > "Monster" and was about the female serial killer, Ailene Wernous. But where was > the system when, at 8 years of age she was repeatedly raped and at 13 when > she was expected to earn money for her family and the only thing she had to > offer was her own body. I saw a lecture once with Elizabeth Kubler Ross. At the > time she was doing work in prisons. She said she had come to a frightening > realization. Since it was a realization I was living and struggling with, it > touched me deeply. She said, "Everyone has a black bunny in their life." She > said that to explain her realization that she was as capable of hideous acts as > any of the criminals she worked with. Then she told her story. > > When she was a little girl, she had a black bunny that she raised from > infancy. She loved the bunny. Then one day her father ordered her to take the > bunny to the local butcher and have it killed for their dinner. That was the day > that she met what Jung would call her "shadow." If a person has not met their > shadow, they are incomplete. You must, like in the old Star Trek episode > (there are two Kirks ~ one white and one black ~ who war with each other until > they realize they need each other to live) meet your shadow. It can be a > frightening encounter. For me, it was even more frightening than the abuse I went > through ~ to realize at the core of my being that I was capable of hideous > acts. It took me years to struggle through that. But I do know that many, not > all, but many who are in prison are like Ailene Wournous ... they had hideous > acts perpetrated on them; they did not learn or experience love. Society may > put such people to death, but only God/dess can truly know and judge them, and > God/dess would always choose love. > > Jai Ma ~ Linda > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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