Showing posts with label meditation. Show all posts

Tuesday, 23 February 2021

Awakening with Eckhart Tolle

School of Awakening: How to Connect with the Aliveness of Nature (Part 1)

School of Awakening: Become Free from the Overthinking Mind (Part 2)

Thursday, 20 June 2019

Eckhart Tolle interviewed

This really is balm for the soul in deeply troubled times.

Appearing on the Rubin Report?Is Eckhart Tolle a white supremacist, mysogynistic, sexist, fascist nazi?

No doubt some arseholes will think that.

Everything and everyone I hold in high esteem seem to be targeted with such epithets.

The Essence of Mindfulness & ALL Spirituality | Eckhart Tolle | Rubin Report

The Rubin Report

Dave Rubin of The Rubin Report talks Eckhart Tolle (Author, ‘The Power of Now’ & ‘A New Earth’ ) about his background and experience with anxiety and depression, the essence of mindfulness, consciousness, and all spirituality, the importance of self transcendence, and more.

Monday, 13 August 2018

NTHE and spirituality

We have been hearing a lot from Margo with her interviews with Guy McPherson and her Arctic ice updates.

She has referred, throughout to her spirituality.

The more I look at things (not only abrupt climate change and NTHE) but what is happening in the world also the more I have found what she has to say useful as we struggle to come to terms with reality.

I used not to believe in good and evil but have been forced to reconsider.

It is not my language exactly but I find nothing to disagree with.

Discussing evil and dark, luciferian forces

Is Earth Ascending?

A New Perspective on Heaven and Hell

As I delve deeper into this work, my own experiences become more and more amazing, especially when removing implants from people and viewing into the other dimensions to heal and align their other dimensional bodies. I was recently working with a client and I had one of those experiences. I had removed their implants and given them the shielding technique. Then while viewing the other dimensions for attacks on those bodies, I saw some amazing things on 4D and 5D. I also received clarification regarding Earth's Ascension, and Heaven and Hell.

I always start this part of the session by viewing on the highest dimension that I am guided to and then work my way down to 1D. In this particular session, when I came to 5D, I saw the Arcturians there. I know the Arcturians are from higher than the 5th dimension, but they can manifest on any dimension. They basically go where they are needed. I saw them monitoring the 5th dimension, which I also realized is the Christian Heaven. They are protecting it and keeping it ready for the Great One (what I call the soul of Earth). They will be overseeing the birth of our planet into 5D and monitoring which souls will come along. I have also received information in the past that as the Earth moves forward, there will come a point when the timelines will split. One timeline will involve the Earth moving into 5D along with the highest spiritual or awakened souls. In that timeline it will be like what is described in the Bible as the New Earth and 1,000 years of peace. The dark masters and rulers will not be able to go to that world. In the other timeline, there will be a dead planet as the soul of the Earth will have left. The dark rulers will continue to reign with their technology and artificial intelligence. In this realm, the humans who did not move into 5D will be enslaved by the Trans-humanist movement and will become robots themselves. This will be a pocket dimension from which no one will be able to escape and it will eventually self-destruct.

When I veiwed 4D, I saw much darkness, demons, earthbound spirits, black Nazi UFO's, technology, control panels, chaos and what I would describe as Hell. The message I received at this point was that the Earth IS ascending, but it cannot jump directly from 3D to 5D. In order to get to 5D, it has to go through 4D. I then thought of the Mayan Calendar and about the last age ending in 2012, at which point the Earth would move to a new reality. I believe the ascension did start then, but instead of moving immediately into the better reality, it started moving into 4D. CERN came fully online in 2009. I also believe it is playing a big part in opening up dark portals and allowing the demonic entities into this world. The world has been witnessing an ever increasing evil in ever aspect. Every form of life on the planet is under assault. It has only been getting worse. I believe it is because we are actually moving deeper into 4D. In 4D, the darkness rules...we are in Satan's domain. The rules have changed. Human rights are becoming non-existent. Blood scrifices and dark rituals are coming out in the open. Satanism and pedophilia is being openly displayed. With genetic modification, the sacredness of God's creation is being destroyed and perverted. I now understand this is all part of this dark 4th dimension. I also understand that as we pass through this realm, we must be the most discerning and wise. We must not be lured off our spiritual path. The spiritual path and our Divine connection is the ONLY thing we should be concerned with.

I've never been a Bible thumping Christian. Much of my life, I didn't even think about Jesus or consider that I was not doing what I was supposed to be doing. I never thought much about Hell. I didn't know if it existed or not. At certain times in my life, I considered myself to be an atheist. I followed the New Age Movement quite a lot and much of my work was considered New Age. But now I'm seeing how the dark forces have infiltrated everything on this planet in order to control and manipulate as many souls as possible to their side. I believe that many people following the New Age are being completely deceived. They think that everything is love and light. They don't believe there is evil and think nothing bad will befall them. Well, how do you explain Christians being beheaded because of their belief? Is that not evil? Is sacrificing innocent children for the dark ones to drink their blood not evil? Is poisoning our water and food on the entire planet not evil? The list of atrocities goes on and on. We have all been victims here. But the time is coming for us to awaken and not be victims any longer.

Going through 4D is the hardest part of this journey. This is when the darness will prevail and will be the most encompassing. This is also the time in which the dark ones will be able to influence people the most and lure them to the dark path. Many will go unknowingly, simply by living their lives and being unaware. They are asleep to the reality of this horror. If one is aligned with God, Jesus and the light forces, one can be guided through the maze ahead and cloaked and protected.

In my work, I have seen clients come into direct contact with Jesus, along with their angels, guides and their Star Family. They are not separate. They are all part of the same team. I have seen the Galactic Council many times and the various beings that meet concerning the well-being of Earth and its inhabitants. I know this sounds fantastic, but this is more real to me than what I see with my 3D eyes. The more I do this work, the more I an confirmed in what I see and experience, and the closer I come to God and Jesus on a very personal level. They are here and we can contact them. They want us to reach out. Until we do, they remain in the background.

A division of the planet is coming. We can see it happening. When the time comes to make the choice, which will you make? Consider this - by not making a choice, you have chosen the lower path by default, the one that most people will go on. Is that what you really want? Could Jesus' descent into Hell and rescuing the saints be his coming to rescue us as we move through the 4th dimension?

Margo

May 13, 2016

This is the letter from freemasonist Albert Pike that she talks about

Albert Pike’s ‘Three World War Letter’ 1871

https://safenetforum.org/t/albert-pikes-three-world-war-letter-1871/22051

The First World War must be brought about in order to permit the Illuminati to overthrow the power of the Czars in Russia and of making that country a fortress of atheistic Communism. The divergences caused by the “agentur” (agents) of the Illuminati between the British and Germanic Empires will be used to foment this war. At the end of the war, Communism will be built and used in order to destroy the other governments and in order to weaken the religions.

The Second World War must be fomented by taking advantage of the differences between the Fascists and the political Zionists. This war must be brought about so that Nazism is destroyed and that the political Zionism be strong enough to institute a sovereign state of Israel in Palestine. During the Second World War, International Communism must become strong enough in order to balance Christendom, which would be then restrained and held in check until the time when we would need it for the final social cataclysm."

The Third World War must be fomented by taking advantage of the differences caused by the “agentur” of the “Illuminati” between the political Zionists and the leaders of Islamic World. The war must be conducted in such a way that Islam and political Zionism mutually destroy each other. Meanwhile the other nations, once more divided on this issue will be constrained to fight to the point of complete physical, moral, spiritual and economical exhaustion…

We shall unleash the Nihilists and the atheists, and we shall provoke a formidable social cataclysm which in all its horror will show clearly to the nations the effect of absolute atheism, origin of savagery and of the most bloody turmoil.

Then everywhere, the citizens, obliged to defend themselves against the world minority of revolutionaries, will exterminate those destroyers of civilization, and the multitude, disillusioned with Christianity, whose deistic spirits will from that moment be without compass or direction, anxious for an ideal, but without knowing where to render its adoration, will receive the true light through the universal manifestation of the pure doctrine of Lucifer, brought finally out in the public view.

This manifestation will result from the general reactionary movement which will follow the destruction of Christianity and atheism, both conquered and exterminated at the same time.”

Here is the talk with Jordan that she cites

Here is a meditation that I found useful

White Light Meditation

Friday, 12 February 2016

Responding to abrupt climate change - a discussion with Jennifer, Pam and Dido

Jennifer Hynes in Wellington, New Zealand

Yesterday evening Jennifer Hynes gave a presentation on “embracing climate change with a humanitarian spirit”

She presented all the updates on the methane monster and abrupt climate change, especially as it relates to the Arctic. Plenty of time was left for discussion of poeple’s reactions to this

Many thanks to Kevin Hester and to Juanita McKenzie who organised the event and to others - Andrew, Pam, Dido who were indispensable in making this possible

Yesterday evening Jennifer Hynes gave a presentation on “embracing climate change with a humanitarian spirit”

She presented all the updates on the methane monster and abrupt climate change, especially as it relates to the Arctic. Plenty of time was left for discussion of poeple’s reactions to this.

Seemorerocks and Jennifer, Lower Hutt, 12 Feb, 2016

Seemorerocks joins Jennifer Hynes in conversation with Dido Dunlop, Wellingto-based Tibetan Buddhist meditation teacher and writer; and Pam Crisp, conservationist, environmental educationist, teacher of yoga and meditation practitioner

I apologise for the low volume on the sound track

See Dido's webpage, Wise Birds, HERE

Saturday, 29 November 2014

Call off the Search

I can recommend this to anyone who wants to find Silence and peace in the heart.

Poona-ji as one of the most important influences in my life and showed me that peace is found within.

"Be quiet, don't think and don't make any effort"

Call Off The Search - Sri Harilal Poonja (Papaji)

More information HERE

Fear of Death

Be The Light (1994-05-02)

Wednesday, 19 November 2014

Looking at the interconnectedness of life

Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh: only love can save us from climate change

_{Leading
spiritual teacher warns that if people cannot save themselves from
their own suffering, how can they be expected to worry about the
plight of Mother Earth}

the Guardian,

21 January, 2013

Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh, one of the world's leading spiritual teachers, is a man at great peace even as he predicts the possible collapse of civilisation within 100 years as a result of runaway climate change.

The 86-year-old Vietnamese monk, who has hundreds of thousands of followers around the world, believes the reason most people are not responding to the threat of global warming, despite overwhelming scientific evidence, is that they are unable to save themselves from their own personal suffering, never mind worry about the plight of Mother Earth.

Thay, as he is known, says it is possible to be at peace if you pierce through our false reality, which is based on the idea of life and death, to touch the ultimate dimension in Buddhist thinking, in which energy cannot be created or destroyed.

By recognising the inter-connectedness of all life, we can move beyond the idea that we are separate selves and expand our compassion and love in such a way that we take action to protect the Earth.

Look beyond fear

In Thay's new book, Fear, he writes about how people spend much of their lives worrying about getting ill, ageing and losing the things they treasure most, despite the obvious fact that one day they will have to let them all go.

When we understand that we are more than our physical bodies, that we didn't come from nothingness and will not disappear into nothingness, we are liberated from fear, he says; fearlessness is not only possible but the ultimate joy.

"Our perception of time may help," Thay told me in his modest home in Plum Village monastery near Bordeaux. "For us it is very alarming and urgent, but for Mother Earth, if she suffers she knows she has the power to heal herself even if it takes 100m years. We think our time on earth is only 100 years, which is why we are impatient. The collective karma and ignorance of our race, the collective anger and violence will lead to our destruction and we have to learn to accept that.

"And maybe Mother Earth will produce a great being sometime in the next decade ... We don't know and we cannot predict. Mother Earth is very talented. She has produced Buddhas, bodhisattvas, great beings.

"So take refuge in Mother Earth and surrender to her and ask her to heal us, to help us. And we have to accept that the worst can happen; that most of us will die as a species and many other species will die also and Mother Earth will be capable after maybe a few million years to bring us out again and this time wiser."

Confront the truth

Thay suggests that our search for fame, wealth, power and sexual gratification provides the perfect refuge for people to hide from the truth about the many challenges facing the world. Worse still, our addiction to material goods and a hectic lifestyle provides only a temporary plaster for gaping emotional and spiritual wounds, which only drives greater loneliness and unhappiness.

Thay, who has just celebrated the 70th anniversary of his ordination, reflects on the lack of action over the destruction of ecosystems and the rapid rate of biodiversity loss: "When they see the truth it is too late to act ... but they don't want to wake up because it may make them suffer. They cannot confront the truth. It is not that they don't know what is going to happen. They just don't want to think about it.

"They want to get busy in order to forget. We should not talk in terms of what they should do, what they should not do, for the sake of the future. We should talk to them in such a way that touches their hearts, that helps them to engage on the path that will bring them true happiness; the path of love and understanding, the courage to let go. When they have tasted a little bit of peace and love, they may wake up."

Thay created the Engaged Buddhism movement, which promotes the individual's active role in creating change, and his mindfulness training – an ethical roadmap – calls on practitioners to boycott products that damage the environment and to confront social injustice.

Given the difficulty of convincing those with vested interests to change their behaviour, Thay says a grassroots movement is necessary, citing the tactics used by Gandhi, but insists that this can be effective only if activists first deal with their own anger and fears, rather than projecting them onto those they see at fault.

Awakened consumers can influence how companies act

On companies that produce harmful products, he says: "They should not continue to produce these things. We don't need them. We need other kinds of products that help us to be healthier. If there is awakening in the ranks of consumers, then the producer will have to change. We can force him to change by not buying.

"Gandhi was capable of urging his people to boycott a number of things. He knew how to take care of himself during non-violent operations. He knew how to preserve energy because the struggle is long, so spiritual practice is very much needed in an attempt to help change society."

Thay, the author of more than 100 books, including the best-selling Miracle of Mindfulness, says that while it is difficult for those holding the strings of power to speak out against the destructive nature of the current economic system, for fear of being ostracised and ridiculed, we do need more leaders to have the courage to challenge the status quo.

For business and political leaders to do that, they need to cultivate compassion in order to embrace and diminish the ego, Thay says.

"You have the courage to do it [speak out] because you have compassion, because compassion is a powerful energy," he says. "With compassion you can die for other people, like the mother who can die for her child. You have the courage to say it because you are not afraid of losing anything, because you know that understanding and love is the foundation of happiness. But if you have fear of losing your status, your position, you will not have the courage to do it."

A moment of contemplation

While many people are becoming disorientated by the complexity of their lives and by the overwhelming array of choices offered by our consumer society, Thay's retreats offer a profoundly simple alternative.

Over Plum Village's three-month winter retreat, Thay repeatedly instructs the hundreds of monks, nuns and lay practitioners about switching off the non-stop noise in their heads and focusing on the core of mindfulness; the joy of breathing, of walking, of contemplation in the present moment.

Rather than searching for answers to life in the study of philosophy, or seeking adrenaline charged peak experiences, Thay suggests that true happiness can be found by touching the sacred in the very ordinary experiences of life, which we largely overlook.

How often do we fully appreciate, for example, how hard our hearts work day and night to keep us alive? He suggests it is possible to discover profound truths through concentrating on something as basic as eating a carrot, as you get the insight that the vegetable cannot exist without the support of the entire universe.

"If you truly get in touch with a piece of carrot, you get in touch with the soil, the rain, the sunshine," he says. "You get in touch with Mother Earth and eating in such a way, you feel in touch with true life, your roots, and that is meditation. If we chew every morsel of our food in that way we become grateful and when you are grateful, you are happy."

Despite meditating every day for the past seven decades, Thay believes there is still much to learn. "In Buddhism we speak of love as something limitless," he says. "The four elements of love which are loving kindness, compassion, joy and equanimity, have no frontiers.

"Buddha is thinking like that. His followers call him the perfect one but that is out of love, for the truth is you can never be perfect. But we don't need to be perfect. That is a good thing to know. If you make a little bit of progress every day, a little bit more joy and peace, that is good enough so Thay continues to practice and his insight grows deeper every day.

"There is no limit of the practice. And I think that is true of the human race. We can continue to learn generation after generation and now is time to begin to learn how to love in a non-discriminatory way because we are intelligent enough, but we are not loving enough as a species."

Thich Nhat Hanh: a life lived away from the public eye

Thay is often compared to the Dalai Lama but has largely escaped the public's gaze, deciding to live the life of a simple monk. He has avoided the trap of being surrounded by celebrities and will give interviews only to journalists who have spent time beforehand meditating with him on the basis that mindfulness needs to be experienced, rather than described.

But Thay is no wallflower and has led an extraordinary life, including a nomination for the Nobel peace prize from Martin Luther King in 1967 for his work in seeking an end to the Vietnam war. In his nomination King said: "I do not personally know of anyone more worthy of [this prize] than this gentle monk from Vietnam. His ideas for peace, if applied, would build a monument to ecumenism, to world brotherhood, to humanity".

Thay set up Plum Village 30 years ago after being exiled from his home country and has since added monasteries in Thailand, Hong Kong and the US, as well as an applied Buddhist institute in Germany. He has continued to work for peaceful solutions to conflicts around the world, including holding several retreats for Israelis and Palestinians.

In 2009 he faced conflict in his own life, when the Vietnamese authorities closed down his recently opened monastery at Bhat Nha after a campaign of harassment and violence. Thay believes the action, which sparked an outcry from the EU and other countries, was orchestrated by the Chinese following his public support for Tibet. The 400 monks and nuns were dispersed but still operate quietly within the country.

The Guardian's release of US embassy cables highlighted concern about the crackdown. One confidential cable said: "Vietnam's poor handling of the situations at the Plum Village community at the Bat Nha Pagoda and the Dong Chiem Catholic parish last week – particularly the excessive use of violence – is troublesome and indicative of a larger GVN crackdown on human rights in the run-up to the January 2011 Party Congress"

Despite all his achievements, including a recent stint as guest editor at the Times of India, Thay is modest when he looks back at his life.

"There is not much we have achieved except some peace, some contentment inside. It is already a lot," he says. "The happiest moments are when we sit down and we feel the presence of our brothers and sisters, lay and monastic, who are practicising walking and sitting mediation. That is the main achievement and other things like publishing books and setting up institutions like in Germany, they are not important.

"It is important we have a sangha [community] and the insight came that the Buddha of our time may not be an individual but it might be a sangha. If every day you practice walking and sitting meditation and generate the energy of mindfulness and concentration and peace, you are a cell in the body of the new Buddha. This is not a dream but is possible today and tomorrow. The Buddha is not something far away but in the here and in the now."

While Thay is still in good health and sharp as a pin, he is not getting any younger and may soon begin to start pulling back from the strenuous schedule that has seen him repeatedly criss-crossing the world, leading retreats and passing on his teachings. This year he travels across the US and Asia – perhaps his last major foreign trip.

Given his belief in no birth and no death, how does he feel about his own passing?

"It is very clear that Thay will not die but will continue in other people," he says.

"So there is nothing lost and we are happy because we are able to help the Buddha to renew his teaching. He is deeply misunderstood by many people so we try to make the teaching available and simple enough so that all people can make good use of that teaching and practice."

As he lifts a glass of tea to drink, he adds: "I have died already many times and you die every moment and you are reborn in every moment so that is the way we train ourselves. It is like the tea. When you pour the hot water in the tea, you drink it for the first time, and then you pour again some hot water and you drink, and after that the tea leaves are there in the pot but the flavour has gone into the tea and if you say they die it is not correct because they continue to live on in the tea, so this body is just a residue.

"It still can provide some tea flavour but one day there will be no tea flavour left and that is not death. And even the tea leaves, you can put them in the flower pot and they continue to serve so we have to look at birth and death like that. So when I see young monastics and lay people practicing, I see that is the continuation of the Buddha, my continuation."

Prompted by a letter that informed him that someone has built a temple in Hanoi to commemorate his life, Thay recently sent a letter to the Tu Hieu temple in central Vietnam, where he trained as a novice monk, making it clear he does not want a shrine built in his honour when he dies: "I said don't waste the land of the temple in order to build me a stupha. Do not put me in a small pot and put me in there. I don't want to continue like that. It is better to put the ash outside to help the trees to grow. That is a meditation."

He adds: "I recommend that they make the inscription outside on the front 'I am not in here'. And then if people do not understand, you add a second sentence 'I am not out there either' and if still they don't understand on the third and the last;

'I may be found maybe in your way of breathing or walking.'"

Guided Meditation with Thich Nhat Hanh

"I See You In Me, And Me In You." InterBeing with Thich Nhat Hanh.

Selection from a beautiful Teaching on InterBeing given in 2008 by Thich Nhat Hahn at Dharma Cloud Temple. As son is in father, and mother is in daughter, so too we are in one another. We are not separate beings. Rather we InterAre.

A Mindful Gift from Thich Nhat Hanh (Thay) to All of Us

By ELISHA GOLDSTEIN, PH.D.

http://blogs.psychcentral.com/mindfulness/2014/11/a-mindful-gift-from-thich-nhat-hanh-thay-to-all-of-us/

Last week I wrote about Thich Nhat Hanh’s brain hemorrhage landing him in the hospital. The most recent update from Plum Village shows that while his condition is still in a critical stage he has opened his eyes and even reached out to touch the attendant next to him. In continuing this time of honoring his life I wanted to share with you one of the gifts he has given me that I often share with others.

These are the short phrases he weaves into breathing or walking that helps us be more present, loving, grounded, and aware in daily life. If you don’t already, consider trying these out as an experiment in your daily life and seeing what you notice.

For example,

You may take three steps while breathing in and say “Breathing in, I calm my body” and then with the following three steps “Breathing out, I relax.” You can then shorten this to saying “calm” as you breathe in, and “relax” as you breathe out.
“Breathing in, I notice the colors all around me, breathing out, I smile.” Then shorten to “Breathing in, colors, breathing out, smile.” Even if we don’t feel like smiling, the simple act of doing a half-smile sometimes can change the tension in our faces, which in turn affects our mood.
“Breathing in, I have arrived, breathing out, I am home.” Then shorten too “Breathing in, arrived, breathing out, home.” Have you ever had the experience where you were rushing home to relax. It doesn’t make sense and isn’t effective is calming the nervous system. Sometimes reminding ourselves that we have arrived to the present moment already and that we are home can help calm an anxious mind. We can then slow down and get home a few minutes later in a more collected and relaxed state.
“Breathing in, I wash my hands, breathing out, may I use them wisely throughout the day.” Shorten to, “Breathing in, washing, breathing out, wise hands.” This practice can not only bring appreciation to one of the unsung heroes of our bodies, our hands, but also reinforce the idea of being aware of all they do during the day and being more mindful with them. This cultivation of appreciation can support us in feeling well.

These are just some examples; you can make up your own that fit for you. You can do this while walking or just sitting and breathing. And ofcourse, most important of all, don’t take my word for it, try it for yourself. If it’s not for you, cast it aside, but give it a shot. Pay attention to how you are feeling physically, emotionally, and mentally before doing it and then again after you do it for a few breaths.

No matter how many breaths Thay has left, his life has touched millions and he will never leave us.

Wednesday, 22 October 2014

Meditation on emotions

GodwinSamaratne of Nilambe, Sri Lanka was one of my most important and influential meditation teachers and here is talking about dealing with emotions – something that has never been more relevant.

The recording is from the late 1980’s

Acarya Godwin Samararatne - Handling Emotions

Thursday, 22 May 2014

Godwin Samaratne

I have been going back through old notes and found diary entries from when I was at Nilambe meditation centre near Kandy, Sri Lanka in 1987.

The head of the centre, Godwin Samaratne was one of the most important teachers that I ever had in my life – partially because he was so serene and humble so that hardly anyone has heard of him.

I would be hard-pressed to think of a single “teacher” alive today whose teachings are so relevant to the predicament that we find ourselves in.

A gentle Buddhist teaching

The following are notes that I made at the time about his teaching -

Development of focusing - he does not like the word concentration (samadhi)– implies too much effort. It should happen in a natural way.

Listening to sounds develops focusing, awareness in a natural way and in a relaxed manner. Godwin emphasises awareness of the sights and sounds of nature – listening to birds, rain, watching hills, sunsets etc). Through this one can come in a very relaxed way to anapanasati (the observation of the breath).

The right attitude to thoughts, to daydreams and to the wandering mind is that it is LL natural and OK. One should not judge oneself for this, feel guilty, or have preconceptions that are brought into meditation – Just come back to the breath, note thoughts, sensations etc..

"Choiceless awareness" (a Krishnamurti term) or bare attention, is true vipassana (insight meditation).

Often when one says "let thoughts come freely" they don't come.

Effort produces resistance – when one says "I must not think thoughts" they come thick and fast!

Meditation should be fun, "playing with the mind", Learning how the mind works is the essence of meditation.

Godwin talks of problems of meditators who take themselves too seriously, are unable to laugh at themselves, or whoare trying too hard, which produces tension, and often become aloof from other people, "superior", and cold, without compassion.

Meditation should be balanced with social action and interaction with people.