KIVA - A Force for Good

I would like to introduce you to Kiva (http://www.kiva.com/), an organization that is helping to change the world by doing good.

First of all, a disclaimer : - I personally do not have any financial interest or business share in Kiva. I merely donate some money there to support the good work that they do.

What exactly does Kiva do?

Kiva allows you to provide interest-free loans to poor people around the world to set up small businesses so that they can provide for and support their family and/or community from the revenue that they generate.

It provides a platform for you to lend to a specific entrepreneur in the developing world and thereby empowering them to get out of poverty and be economically productive.

What you do is this - you look at the profiles of each of these entrepreneurs, who will state how much money they want to borrow and for what purpose. They will also indicate when they will repay the loan, the likely time-frame.

You decide how much you want to contribute - US$25, US$50 etc and this will be credited to the entrepreneur's account.

For example, an entrepreneur may ask for US$1,000 to launch a business to preserve the indigenous weaving traditions and provide jobs to the women in her community. You may want to loan her US$100 and this means that she will see 10% of her loan has been fulfilled. Other people will donate various amounts and when it reached 100%, you can no longer donate to this entrepreneur.

You just used your credit card or PayPal in the secured site to donate the amount that you want.

When the entrepreneur repays the loan in various amounts, the money will be automatically credited back into your account. And then, you can re-use this loan amount that is credited to your account to give another loan to another deserving entrepreneur.

Please go to Kiva's page for a detailed description of how they loan money to these entrepreneurs : - http://www.kiva.org/about/how

There is a real-time display of how much loan he had already repaid and how much the balance of the loan is.

So far, their success rate has been great as almost all of these entrepreneurs have returned the loans that they had taken out.

This is essentially micro-financing or micro-credit, like Muhammad Yunnus' Grameen Bank, who won the Noble Peace Prize in 2006 for his work to help eliminate poverty in the poorer countries.

So, do some good and be a force for positive changes in the world. These poor people in the developing countries are not looking for a hand-out - they are just looking for a hand-up, the opportunity to help themselves.

Rather than leaving your money in the bank earning a small interest, please do some good by donating whatever amount that you can. So, go to Kiva and donate generously!! http://www.kiva.com/

And the merits that you accumulated will be great indeed...

Olympic Dreams And Hopes

Well, now that the Beijing Olympics is over, everybody is going back to their mundane lives.

After 3 weeks of living vicariously through the feats and achievements of the world's best athletes in the sporting world, marveling at their perfections and performances, life goes on. We are back to our routines of living our daily lives, waking up, going to work and all the mundane stuff.

However, please do give this thoughts some contemplation : - Did you feel inspired by all that you have seen and felt watching the Olympics? Did you not feel the commitments, the dedications and sacrifices of the participants chasing a medal in their respective sports? Did you not root for your heroes and felt the highs when they achieved the gold medal and the lows when they failed?

Think back those 3 weeks when you were really Present, caught up in the Olympics fever and the sporting spirit and fair-play that the Olympics represents. Did you not feel very alive?

Wouldn't it be good if you can bottle these feelings so that you can get access to it when you are stressed in your daily lives, challenged by problems and the burdens of living, when you felt like you really need a break?

Yes, you can. You can file away these experiences and feelings that you had felt when you were watching your Olympics heroes achieved their greatest dreams. And access them when you need it most - the feelings of exhalations, the highs and the good-will. Just close your eyes, breath deeply and access your memories...

And do not forget the Olympics spirits, the dreams and hopes that were shared with the world during that short period of time.

And finally, see if, by your action and contributions, you can share these dreams and hopes with the next generation of children, so that they will have a goal, a dream to aspire towards. Inspire them to strive for a higher goal, a meaning in their lives and to live vibrantly...

Be Well, Happy and Peaceful

May All Sentient Beings In The Ten Directions

Be Well, Happy and Peaceful

The above dedication of merits benefits all sentient beings everywhere.

Making such a dedication helps all sentient beings to live a happy and peaceful life. It is done out of compassion and love.

Sending out such good intentions to the universe will also ensure that your environment will be happy and peaceful.

And you will also find that your relationships with people and animals will be good as they can feel your vibrations of good intention emanating from you. Therefore, you will find that they will also return the same feelings and intentions towards you.

You can do the above dedication from anywhere. You can do it after saying your prayers, in church, in front of your altar or even when you are walking.

When you feel unsafe and insecure in a strange place, you can also make such dedications to ensure that evil does not touch you.

So, be well, be happy and be peaceful

Whatever You Have, Don't Have It

A lot of times, we become very attached to things to such an extend that we become identified with the things that we possessed.

We like this, we love that, we cannot live without all of these...

Stop for a moment and think - "Why am I so attached to these things?"

Are you defined by what you own, by the physical possessions that you have, by your status and title?

What if you lose all these in the blink of an eye?

You will suffer a huge blow, lose sleep obsessing about your lost and even become depressed when you cannot reconcile the fact that the thing that you love is gone.

Why is this so? It is because of your ego, the "I" within you that has developed strong attachments. The ego cannot let go...

Since the very basic law of the universe is change, there is no way you will not suffer from losing something that you possess or love in your life time.

The only way to avoid these sufferings is not to be too attached to your things. Remember, in life, everything is transient - that is the DNA of life.

Everything changes - not for better or worse as what you perceived it to be. Everything changes just because it is so. There is no changes for the better or changes for the worse - it is how you perceives these changes to be. The changes are just as the universe is.

Therefore, do not have too much attachments. Whatever you have, just do not have it....

And you will live a happier life with full awakening...

How Can I Serve?

Everyday, we are always so involved in our daily lifes, routines, challenges and problems that we just filled up the hours in our day with a lot of activities and events. At the end of the day, we feel exhausted and think, "What did I do today? What did I achieved today?"

Often, the answer would be "Not much." You were just so busy filling up the hours that you are awake with work, studies, chit-chat and other busy activities.

And so, slowly, the days turn into months and the months turn into years. And pretty soon, you will reach a time when you hit some life stage like your 40th or 50th birthday and you look back and wondered what you have done with your life.

Then, you are hit with a deep fear of not having lived the life that you have dreamed of when you were young. Where were the big dreams that you wanted for yourself? The things that you wanted to achieve for yourself?

Maybe it is to build a great home for your family. Maybe it is to do something for your community. Maybe it is to discover a new invention. Or to build a business that will provide for your family's financial independence? Or to change the world in your own small ways?

But, often we looked back with regret that we did not do anything like that. We did not live the dreams that we dreamed of when we were young? Why? Because life gets in the way....

However, perhaps it is time for you to Awaken to all that you can be. Perhaps, it is time for you to live outside of yourself. Instead of wanting and needing endlessly, perhaps you should ask : -

"How can I serve? How can I be used for a higher good? What can I be to do good for the world? God, how do you want to use me to achieve greatness for my fellow human beings?"

Once you send out your intentions to the Universe, the Ultimate Consciousness or God (however you may conceive Him to be), be opened and receptive of an answer. For an answer will certainly come when you have sent out your cry for being of service to the world. Just wait patiently, hopefully and reverently.

And when the Ultimate Consciousness answers, be courageous and take action. Plunge right in with no doubt in your heart. No hesitations or reservations and self-doubt.

This is the right thing for you - the Ultimate Consciousness will not give you a task that it does not know that you are ready for. It will know that it has prepared you for this responsibility. All your past experiences, skills and strengths have prepared you for this - so, have no fear. Just take action and Do It.

I am sure that many of the great people of today has gone through the same process. From Oprah Winfrey to Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett. All of them has asked : -

"How May I Serve? What Can I Do For the Benefit of Mankind?"

Therefore, ask yourself the same question and go forth to serve.... And discover your courageous self in the process.