Six Degrees of Separation and Synchronicity

"Six degrees of separation is the theory that everyone and everything is six or fewer steps away, by way of introduction, from any other person in the world, so that a chain of "a friend of a friend" statements can be made to connect any two people in a maximum of six steps."

Traveling is not always about exotic getaways, beautiful sceneries and indulgence. It makes you question things. It opens up streams of thoughts that have never been explored before.  But then there are times you just want to crawl up under the blanket and sleep for a really long time to get away from the world outside you’re trying to explore. Feeling alone in a big city full of strangers is not much fun. Trying to cross cultural borders, but not quite getting through is frustrating. Struggling to understand the cultural lingo, only to feel like a fool.  Being cheated and conned by people you trusted and thought were your “friends”. Traveling alone as a female, especially in the not so developed parts of the world can be threatening and intimidating. There were times I felt violated and disgusted.  Trust is betrayed and you become jaded with the superficiality that surrounds you. But then I just do it all again. I still maintain a certain amount of trust and optimism for strangers. I still put myself out there, sometimes in vulnerable situations. I still take the risks you have to take just to have some fun. I’ll do it all again - just to feel alive. Just to get lost wandering around soaking up all the new sights, smells, and sounds of a new country. To get to know the people – to connect with a seemingly strange and foreign culture. To find people you share a random connection with in the weirdest places and situations.  To walk the streets and find a total stranger to share a conversation, a cup of tea, or a meal with. And then it suddenly hits you that the randomness of meeting these people is not so random after all – that in some strange way, you were meant to meet. There are no random coincidences, only meaningful coincidences. Synchronicity is a strange and wonderful thing. 

"Synchronicity is the experience of two or more events as meaningfully related, whereas they are unlikely to be causally related. The subject sees it as a meaningful coincidence, although the events need not be exactly simultaneous in time. The concept of synchronicity was first described by Carl Gustav Jung, a Swiss psychologist, in the 1920s."

Today I met an artist in Bangalore who grew up in the same neighbourhood I used to grow up in. 

"The small world experiment comprised several experiments conducted by Stanley Milgram examining the average path length for social networks of people in the United States. The research was groundbreaking in that it suggested that human society is a small world type network characterized by short path lengths. The experiments are often associated with the phrase "six degrees of separation".

Thinking and Thoughts…

“Simple minded people are the happiest people” is an idea that has crossed many lips and different strokes of the tongue in the ocean of language. “Ignorance is bliss”.  ‘Making things complicated’ or the euphemism – ‘complex thinking’ leads to an over-cluttered mind and to mental and emotional suffering. 

Philosophizing and seeking to understand; human psychology and seeking to be understood -these pangs of thoughts fuel the hunger to satisfy the human need to understand and to be understood. But not all are as “lucky” to have the “luxury” of a chance at self-actualization as there are many who are still struggling to have finite needs  met or/and limitless wants met.  People that are in the place where they’re not limited by finite needs and/or limitless wants have the luxury of gaining a more sophisticated understanding of life.

Brainstorming techniques mirror the complex pattern of limitless connections that take place in the neurons in our brain when we think .Many different and seemingly unconnected random thoughts can lead to ideas that are spirited by positive, creative energy.

Meditation calms the waves and storms of thoughts to a place of serene stillness and finds peace. Zen is the calm in the eye of the storm – it’s when the tiger is about to eat you, and you use the few moments of life that you have left to gently pluck the strawberry hanging from a vine, take a bite being completely immersed in the now, savouring the exploding tastes in your mouth still being aware that the tiger is about to eat you.

Thoughts can be occupied by many things. Thoughts occupied by vanity can be amusing. It’s like a man crawling through the desert completely dehydrated, and then when he finally finds water, he reaches into his pocket, takes out his comb, dips it in water, and then combs his hair.

Perspectives shift, and paradigms glide smoothly into the infinite possibilities of the universes. Outlandish perspectives opens eyes to see a new spectrum of dimensions. Some call it the ‘enlightened ‘vision. The innocence and purity of wisdom shines through in these vibrations of thoughts.

Finding Balance

Finding the fine tip of balance to hold oddly shaped rocks which appear highly improbable and impossible to balance perfectly together in a stack. 

Rock balancing is an art form which requires patience and sensitivity to generate. 

The Tao of Charity

Most people would agree that poverty is a big problem in our world today. Let's rethink this notion. Is poverty or wealth more problematic? Which causes more problems and harm to the world?

A poor man may commit petty theft because he doesn't have enough to eat. On the other hand, a rich man has the potential to commit white collar crime, steal more money and cause more damage than all the poor people in the world put together. The worst part is, the rich man steals because he is greedy, not hungry. It is the wealthy and powerful men of this world that are destroying our planet for the sake of profit. The rich and powerful kill thousands of  innocent people without hardly lifting a finger. How much harm can a poor man really do?

Poor people suffer, and their children suffer. Millions of children die just because they are born into poverty. For most people, this is a big problem. However, isn't it better to die than to be the walking dead? To be a zombie. To be a slave to money and materialism. The wealthy may seem like they aren't suffering or anywhere close to starving, but I'm sure some of their spirits and souls are starved to death.

There's so much talk about alleviating poverty. We've been trying for ages to help the poor. Unfortunately, no amount of aid, money, or volunteers seem to be enough to even make sure that people do not starve to death. Isn't this absurd in a world where so much of food is wasted everyday? It makes you think.

Yin and Yang of World Hunger by David Revoy

Wealth causes inequalities. It is in the nature of wealth that only a few can be wealthy, since one person's wealth depends on other people's lack of it. Our economical system is like a game of musical chairs - the scarcity is created as the law of economics states that the lower the supply, the higher the demand. There are not enough chairs for everyone, and there is only one winner. We cannot all be rich. Some must lose for others to win. Some must starve so others can stuff themselves with food. This is the yin and yang of world hunger.

Wealth causes poverty, and then tries to alleviate it. It is clearly not working. Philanthropists are basically wealthy people that give money to the poor. But maybe poor people wouldn't have to suffer so much if philanthropists didn't feed the hand that bites us. You see, wealthy people feed the system - the capitalistic system which bites us when we are the weakest or poorest. Wealthy people make a lot of money, and they spend a lot of money. Without wealthy people or the working class heroes, the cruel capitalistic system would come crashing down. Charity is not only about giving, it's about not taking so much in the first place.

So now that we've established that wealth is the main problem, not poverty; let's turn the tables. Let's help to save the poor rich people instead. The UN's new goal should be to alleviate wealth! But there's something all of us can do to help eradicate wealth. What? How? Don't be greedy! Only take what you really need. Most of the problems in our world today are caused by over-consumption. Over-consumption leads to environmental destruction and the suffering of countless people and animals. And who consumes the most? Wealthy people of course. So what can you do? Live simply, so others can simply live.

A central theme in Taoist philosophy is Wu-wei - to do without doing. We can sometimes do more (and less harm) by doing less. In fact, we may cause more harm and damage running around trying to save the world. Our intentions are good, but the outcome is damaging. Aid creates dependency. Wealth begets poverty. Many people aim to be rich with the good intention of then being able to help the less fortunate, but unfortunately it's a vicious cycle. A farmer friend of mine told me once to look at the tree. It just stands there and seems like it's doing nothing, but it contributes so much to this world without hardly moving. On the other hand, humans are busy running around trying to improve and make things better, but only to cause more damage. We can be more effective and contribute much more to the world through quiet contemplation and mindful actions. This is the Tao of charity.

Help Stop Child Trafficking

Cambodia is a source country for men, women, and children who are subjected to sex trafficking, forced labour, and domestic servitude. Poverty and debt bondage results in thousands of Cambodian children being sold and trafficked in the modern slave trade every year. 

In 2010, I visited a village in the Kampong Speu province of Cambodia. I went there because the story of Vichetr Uon and his struggle to prevent child trafficking in rural Cambodia stirred something in me. Vichetr grew up in a village in rural Cambodia where many people are impoverished and are in debt bondage with loan sharks. Vichetr’s father was shot dead while trying to help the people in his village to resolve their debts with loan shark syndicates. This incident sparked the idea for Vichetr to create Sao Sary Foundation (SSF). SSF's mission is to "to identify at risk children and provide sustainable assistance to both the children and their families". Learn more about SSF here: http://ssf.org.kh/main/

SSF is located in a beautiful village where paddy fields are adorned with pretty rolling hills. The people are simple and their smiles are genuine. Still, behind those warm smiles are hearts that have become hard with suffering, fear and worry. Many people do not own their own land and work laboriously in the paddy fields for a measly wage. When they get sick because of the unsanitary conditions of their environment, they are forced to spend money they don’t even have. Loan sharks borrow money to vulnerable, naïve and desperate villagers. The loan sharks charge an unreasonably high interest and demand for as much as they wish. Many people in Kampong Speu are in debt bondage while still struggling to meet make ends meet on a daily basis. Most people will never be able to pay back the loan sharks and will forever be indebted to them. In many cases, families who cannot pay the money back have their children taken away from them and subjected to forced labour and sex trafficking. SSF is working hard to prevent child trafficking by identifying and providing assistance to the most vulnerable children and their families. SSF is engaged in various projects to help the families earn more income. Other than that, SSF has also improved the living conditions of the villagers by water and sanitation projects. SSF is well aware that in order to prevent child trafficking, they must help improve the social and economic conditions of the villagers.

The video below illustrates the story of child trafficking in Kampong Speu, Cambodia.

Being in Kampong Speu really made me realize how lucky I am. These people have done nothing wrong except for being born in the wrong place. These children may one day be subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking. There is only nothing much these children can do about their situation, but YOU can make a world of difference with very minimal effort.

Here’s what you can do:

1.   Share this article to relevant groups to tell more people about child trafficking and create an awareness of this issue.

2.   Like SSF on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/saosary/?fref=ts

3. Buy bracelets, purses and handbags made by the youth from Sao Sary Foundation. You can send an e-mail to me at bogenfuerst@gmail.com to post your order. They only cost between RM10 - 35.

4.  Donate some money to this cause. http://ssf.org.kh/main/index.php/get-involved/make-a-donate