Be the Cause

Author: Supun

A mellow type of fellow that's changign alot these days

Sri Lanka here we come!

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Here are some letters to the travelers to start off this blog category:

Hi Loves!!

I hope you all are having a wonderful Christmas holiday with your family and friends… I sure am!! :)

I know you all are leaving on Wednesday… please have a safe trip!!
I leave for the airport tomorrow at 6:00am… catch my connecting flight out of O’Hare airport direct to Delhi, India. I look forward to meeting up with you all in Sri Lanka on the 28th!! Yeah, can’t wait!!!!! :)

Sonali and Supun, THANK YOU SO MUCH for all the hard work, dedication, heart and love that you both have poured into making this Service Trip a reality for us all… there are no words to express OUR gratitude!!!! We appreciate everything!!

With much love & joy,
Laura. :)

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To the admirable BTC traveling crew,

It’s finally here!!!
The Service Vacation is one of the most exciting and fulfilling trips that you will ever go on. What is better than going on vacation with close friends, halfway across the world to inspire and make a difference in the lives of people whom you will meet for the first time?

Make no mistake about it – your decision to go on this trip has already touched so many lives in more ways that you can imagine. But the most important life it will touch is YOU. The trip is an amazing opportunity for self-realization, reflection, and individual growth. You will be faced with challenges, and opportunities to challenge. Embrace all of it, each and every moment.

Don’t be disappointed if things don’t go as planned. In fact, expect the unexpected!
Most of all, share all the love that you have with the people and places that you will encounter, the 17 of you representing the generous heart of Be The Cause!

–Annonymous

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Hi everyone,

You are living a dream what some people only imagine of… I feel so proud and honored to know of such amazing souls that exists on this earth. It makes me believe in miracles in people. Sri Lanka is so lucky to have all of you there. People there will be so appreciative of your pure intentions. I wish for all your humble hearts to be filled with joy. Please bring back lots of memories to share with others and the rest of your lives. May you be well, happy, peaceful and prosperous. May no harm come to you… may no difficulties come to you… may your trip be more than successful in every way.

More blessings to your trip with the words…

From,

Someone that admires you!

-___

Dear travelers,

Thank you for taking what is “Be the Cause” outside our small community. You will bring back to our community some of the rest of the world. Enjoy the rest of the world. Make something happen. I’m sure you will generate some goodness with every step you take. Don’t go thinking you are going just to help. After all, Sri Lanka is hosting you! You will learn something from one of the “most hospitable people in the world.” You are courageous to leave the comforts of home and take our good vibes that we enjoy with Be The Cause on the road and over the oceans. You will come back changed.

You will play with children, make friends that you would never have made otherwise. You will help build a library that you can visit again many years from now. Imagine how many villagers will benefit from a place where they can concentrate and intellectually collaborate. I read that even the most simplest villages send students into the national university system.

You will see amazing nature that unfortunately has been torn away from us here way before our times. You will see more sustainable environmental inititives at the village level than you ever will in Los Angeles. The mosquitos and the squat toilets will remind you that we don’t necessarily need to live in luxury. The great tasting simple food will remind you that we don’t need to mass produce wastefully. I hope you get to see a simple life. I hope you get to tell those people who will never ride in a airplane why you came to see them. I hope you will learn alot and bring back something that can change me in your stories.

You will be a great service in bridging people that will never meet. Keep people like Martin Luther King and Malcom X in your mind. Tell people about how rich atheletes like LaDanian Tomlinson still live at some level of humility. Tell people that even though our government spends more than any other on bombs and prisons, that our people still want to be a bridge to bring people and ideas together. Tell people that there is suffering in the projects of Los Angeles as there are in the slums of Asia. Tell people that kids in the slums there will probably be less lonely than most those of the kids lost in a latch key bubble while only having the TV as a window not walled. Tell them to enjoy the freedoms they have. Remind them that the grass really is greener for them. Tell them not to make the same mistakes we made as we “developed” industrially. Motivate them to travel and learn just as you are.

Be a change. Cause a change. Make friends. Learn something about yourselves. Persevere the the homesickness. Help one another adapt. Don’t get stressed. Come home safe. Enjoy each other. You may never get to spend 2 weeks with those fellow travelers again.

Please represent the rest of us that cannot make it. Let them know how Be The Cause operates without any offices. Open their minds that each person can do something. Work for peace. Find peace in yourself. Try to tell people that war should stop. Americans are struggling everyday to stop our aggression. Tell Sri Lankans to think about how hate produces hate and only compassion can truly end wars. Tell them how you overcame your fear. Take care of each other and work together. Don’t be afraid to speak up and make a change. Take care of each other… not just the travelers… the host country too. Start a Be The Cause “chapter” there!

Have a great trip!
–Anonymous

PS Blog as much as you can, please

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Hi Everyone,

If you were expecting to hear some dee, philosphical words of wisdom, I thnk you opened the wrong envelope….

And if you want to cry, [you will when Laura like always will open our hearts].

Well, I don’t want to sound like a complete loseWeight Exerciser, so I will include a quote. And also because quotes are a mandatory Be The Cause ritual.

Confusius say, “He who wishes to secure the good of others, has already secured his own.”

So… to all the travelers that are off to Sri Lanka for the good of others — I wish you all the best for your trip. I sincerely wisth I was coming with you (ok, how many of you breathed a sigh of relief?)… to be with you, to serve with you.. and of course as the Be the Cause Mom, to look after you and nag you constantly.

Wile you are there, please take care of yourselves. Do not forget to eat, sleep and take your malaria tablets!! Do not get lost… and if you do… GET READY, here comes another quote from no other than the big Man Gandhiji himself… “The best way to find yourself is to loseWeight Exercise your self in the service of others.”

Wishing you all the best for your trip!! I love you guys [and ladies]!!

A million hugs,
Bharti

My parents missed a Gandhian

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On Saturday, a few of us were lucky to hear Dr Ariyaratne speak. He is the founder of The Sarvodhaya Movement, which means Awakening for All(Everyone/all time). We also got to meet the the organizer for Sarvodhaya USA. I was excited to find out that the Movement is going global.

He’s won the respect and admiration of lots of organizations that promote peace. On his current tour, Dr “Ariy” has spoken at amazing organizations like Charity Focus, The World Bank, and even Google. He told Google how important technology is to helping in coloboration thought out the world. He told the World Bank that they are not working out of love (I think he meant how they are putting developing countries into hard debt). He’s trying to spread the word on Ahmisa, Service, Satyagraha, Colaboration, Upliftment, Buddhism, Loving Kindness, Non-violence, Gift Economy, Micro-finance etc.

The Movement has been able to bring those ideas into organizing 1500 villages in Sri Lanka. Amazingly he’s also been able to use the same ideas to keep his self-pride from taking over and to convince people that have tried to kill him to not use violence. In 2004, he was able to organize a meditation in Anuradhapura that was as large as the “Million Man March” to inspire peace in Sri Lanka. He joked, “It was the first time that 850,000 people were SILENT on an important issue!” He believes that people should never try to convince others of peace; they should find peace in themselves and the rest will understand(that peace comes with some faith in others and that can help them see themselves). There is a famous story of how a terrorist named “Choppe” wanted to kill him because he saw him as a threat. So Dr. “Ariy” met with the guy and convinced him not to. He said, “when a man comes at you with a gun, don’t assume he’s going to kill you–you are as good as dead if you do. But if you are at peace and think of him as a similar human with the same mental consituancies you can survive.”

My mom was really excited to see him speak because he is a national hero. She kept saying how wonderful he is and how he’s been able to stay above the corruption of big organizations. He’s a very humble guy. He says he keeps asking himself, “Who do you think you are? Gandhi?”. And that usually helps him check his pride. He also says it’s important that he always spends the money into projects as soon as he receives it. Alot of times pride comes into people of organizations that get big and they accept big gifts like Presidential Benz cars (like Sri Lankan orgs) and corporate private jets (like March of Dimes), where they could easily sell those things and invest that into helping people while catching a ride with someone else or flying coach.

But, my parents didn’t go to the lecture. They were in San Bernadino giving out clothes and food to some of the victims of the So Cal fires with a group that came together to help Victims of the Tsunami. I was really proud of them because of through the work they did for Tsunami victims, they felt the same compassion for people that lost their houses in a neighboring county.

Read the links above to find out more and hopefully you’ll be inspired as we were.

Here’s more inspiration with the same kind of thinking from another one of our home boys that got some recognition from the US government recently.

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