The “Spirituality For Everyone” Course Multimedia info
Chapter Twelve
In Progress
12 Chapter Twelve: Turning Troubles into Triumphs (Read the full chapter)
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In 1992, I was in my second year in Los Angeles after leaving nearly a decade of Ashram life, when the Rodney King verdict was announced, and L.A. broke out into riots for nearly a week. As I drove home from my news station's Hollywood studio, gangs were running through the streets, smashing out windshields on cars and setting gas stations and other buildings on fire. Once I got back to my Santa Monica apartment, I called the station and was given permission to stay home while the violence continued, since most of my reporter friends were braving the danger to report live from the various hotspots around town. Of course, as an artist, I wanted to help bring some compassion and healing to the situation, so I called a musician who had previously composed and recorded a song about the Gulf war, and we came up with a positive message that would allow me to edit footage of the riots and also of the human spirit coming together to help clean up after all the fires. This five-minute music video showed on several news broadcasts, and was nominated for a Los Angeles Emmy Award.
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I produced this three-minute music video titled, "Line in the Sand," as part of my "Songs from the Heart" series that invited local musicians to compose and send in songs that I would edit with footage of the thankfully short Gulf War. This song was composed and sung by the same musician as the "Fire in the City" video above. Henry Iglesias (aka Cliff Wilder) was a special soul who joked with me, "What am I, the disaster musician?" Before passing, Henry recorded a song titled, "If I Were an Angel," and hopefully he is continuing to bring a positive spirit to the troubles of this world from wherever he may be. Thankfully, Henry's spirit lives on through his music and these videos that share his message of compassion and healing.
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Here you can play the twelve-minute chapter from the audiobook of Secrets of Spiritual Happiness, titled: "Finding Grace in Challenges and Blessings from Tragedy," with tips and a discussion of lessons learned after the 2001 terrorist attacks in the USA. "If we trust that this universe is in the hands of an omnipotent and omnipresent God, then we have to trust it even when things hit the fan."
12a Intro
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Listen to Chapter 1 of the Glorious Bhagavad Gita Sung in English, titled, "The Yoga of the Despondency of Arjuna," the warrior prince Arjuna is called upon to fight in a wartime battle. Seeing his friends and teachers on the other side, Arjuna becomes despondent and refuses to fight, even though it was his duty as a warrior to fight in this righteous war.
12b Seeing Troubles with a Positive Eye
12b1 Rising above suffering
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In this 2 minute clip, I sing the powerful gospel song, "Lord, Don't Move the Mountain," that asks God to "give me the strength to climb." I offered this rendition during a workshop to help bring spiritual peace and healing to the tumultuous time right after the terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001.
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Here's a longer twenty-eight minute clip from the same workshop as the song above, "Finding Blessings From Tragedy," which was offered free to the public two months after the events of 9-11-2001.
12b2 Finding blessings from tragedy
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This nine-minute reading of the Prologue from my memoir, A Modern Quest for Eternal Truth, describes the fear-inducing experience of sitting in a seriously shaking apartment building during the Los Angeles earthquake of 1994, and shares a deep spiritual contemplation and surrender that took place in that moment, which opened the door to new avenues of my life journey."
12c Recognizing That There Are No Mistakes
12d It’s Not Punishment but Guidance
12e Transforming Challenge into Ecstasy
12e1 Weathering the storms
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Watch this 22 minute documentary, "The Faces of CalWORKs" that I produced to show how San Diego's CalWORKs program was helping to lift many lives that had hit bottom due to drugs, poverty, homelessness, mental illness, domestic violence, and other trials and tribulations, into new lives filled with hope, self-respect, and independence. I interviewed each person in the film and truly saw each one as the light of God shining through their troubles, as well as through their overcoming of troubles and the good souls who helped to guide their way.
12e2 This too shall pass
