Hasta La Gadget!

(RNS) Frustrated by dangerously high tensions between Jews and Muslims in the Holy Land, 60 imams and rabbis gathered Sunday (Nov. 23) to hatch concrete plans to bridge the gulf between their communities, minus the kumbaya.

The “2014 Summit of Washington Area Imams and Rabbis,” its organizers hope, will be the first of many such gatherings of Jewish and Muslim clergy in cities across the U.S.

After prayers and a kosher-halal lunch at a Washington synagogue, the clergy resolved to limit the feel-good dialogue and spent the afternoon trading ideas both tried and novel. Among them: joint projects to feed the homeless, basketball games between Muslim and Jewish teens, Judaism 101 courses for Muslims and Islam 101 for Jews.

“Host a Seder in a mosque and hold an iftar dinner at a synagogue,” suggested Rizwan Jaka, who chairs the board at the All Dulles Area Muslim Society in Northern Virginia.

They threw out tough questions: “Do you invite people in your community who are particularly closed-minded to participate in interfaith dialogue?” asked Dan Spiro, co-founder of the Jewish-Islamic Dialogue Society. “Something to think about.”

And when Jews and Muslims meet, several imams and rabbis advised, do not sidestep the focal point of their mutual pain: the ongoing Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

Rage over the ability of both faiths to worship at Temple Mount — a site holy to Muslims and Jews, has heightened tensions with the violence culminating last week in a Palestinian attack on Jews praying in a Jerusalem synagogue that killed four worshippers and a Druze police officer.

“Discuss things from a spiritual narrative as opposed to a political narrative,” suggested Imam Sultan Abdullah of the New Africa Islamic Community Center in Washington, D.C.

Along spiritual lines, both Jews and Muslims believe they are descended from the sons of Abraham — Jews from Isaac and Muslims from Ishmael — a point both rabbis and imams repeated. In practice, they noted, similarities between the faiths abound. Both face toward the Middle East at prayer, for example, and share similar dietary laws.

“In my view we are the closest two religions in the world,” said Rabbi Gerry Serotta, executive director of the InterFaith Conference of Metropolitan Washington, who sees healing between Muslims and Jews as a blessing that will resonate.

“There is something about a Jewish-Muslim rapprochement that is very important for the rest of the world,” Serotta said. “The perception is that Jews and Muslims are irreconcilable, and when people see that we’re not, it gives them hope.”

The event was sponsored by the Greater Washington Muslim-Jewish Forum, the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding, the All Dulles Area Muslim Society and Washington Hebrew Congregation, the synagogue where the meeting was held.

Don’t let fear of cold weather cloud your vision of the perfect winter vacation. Low-season trips to spots where winter weather reigns are where it’s at, for many reasons. An off-peak destination affords budget travelers the rare chance to splurge: Luxury accommodations and flight upgrades become within reach during winter at popular destinations around the world. Plus, crowds are sparse and deals are plentiful. Here are five awesome and affordable spots to consider visiting this winter.

Iceland

For those of us in the northern hemisphere, it may seem counterintuitive to head north for the winter. However, Iceland offers thermal refuge during the coldest months of the year thanks to its many geothermally heated springs and pools. A hike through the Icelandic countryside often yields the chance to submerge in steamy hot springs. And the celebrated bath-like Blue Lagoon is, arguably, best visited on a brisk winter day, when the toasty mineral waters and blood-warming cocktails offer a welcome thaw.

Airfares to Iceland during winter are notably lower than those in summer. Icelandair, which flies from eight U.S. cities to the Nordic country and beyond, is a great choice for low-priced winter airfare. We spotted flights from New York to Reykjavik for as low as $622 round-trip in early February, via a Hacker Fare on Kayak (combining flights on Icelandair and Norwegian Air). The lowest fares we found for June and July travel started at $837 round-trip.

Iceland is also the perfect place for a winter stopover if you’re heading to Europe. Check out Icelandair’s free stopover package and take advantage of those affordable low-season airfares.

Philadelphia

Philadelphia is an ideal winter destination because so many of its top historical attractions are indoors. It doesn’t really matter how cold it is outside when you’re taking in a Matisse at the Barnes, exploring Independence Hall, or fiddling with hands-on exhibits at the newly renovated Benjamin Franklin Museum. Plus, there’ll be far fewer crowds to contend with while you’re learning about Mr. Franklin’s affinity for musical inventions and printmaking.

Not all Philadelphia properties offer clearly discounted seasonal rates. Still, it’s common to see comparatively lower prices at many hotels during winter, and it didn’t take us long to unearth a few examples: At the Hotel Monaco Philadelphia, we found rates in late December for as low as $135 per night, compared to June, when the lowest nightly rates amount to $189. At Rittenhouse 1715, nightly room rates start at $219 during January; in spring, those prices bump up to $239.

Bucharest

Bucharest made our list of 10 Places to Go While They’re Still Cheap this year. It’s almost always inexpensive to visit Bucharest, compared to other major European cities. Better yet, it’s an even more affordable place to visit during winter. From airfares to hotel rates, prices drop sharply with the temperature. This winter, you can get from JFK to Bucharest on Turkish Airlines for as little as $724 round-trip, with a stop in Istanbul. (Try a free stopover and get two cities for the flight price of one.)

Hotels are cheaper too, naturally. At Hotel Christina, the number-one rated Bucharest hotel according to TripAdvisor (our parent company), prices are the lowest all year during winter months. In February, for example, nightly rates come to €50 (about $63). In June, though, rates jump to €70 (about $87) per night. At Hotel Epoque, the best available rate in June came to €170 (about $212). In January, you can grab a room at this historical and luxurious property for as little as €128 (about $159) per night.

Banff National Park

Banff National Park is achingly beautiful in wintertime. Whether seen from the ground by sleigh, snowshoe, or dogsled or viewed from the comfort of a fire-warmed room, the park’s snow-dusted mountains and turquoise lake appear dreamlike against a pale winter sky.

Banff is full of well-known luxury properties that can cost an arm and a leg come spring and summer—but we found rates dropping by almost half during winter. For example, let’s look at the local Fairmont resorts: If you want to stay at Banff’s iconic and luxurious Fairmont Banff Spring, go soon. During winter, rates fall as low as $359 CAD (about $317) per night. Comparatively, the best available rate in July is $609 CAD (about $539). Same goes for the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise. Grab January rates starting at $299 CAD (about $265). In June? Those prices skyrocket to $559 CAD (about $495) nightly. Moreover, both properties are offering a range of deals during winter, from free nights to complimentary resort credits with your stay.

Denver

It’s rare to see a U.S. ski destination offering lower seasonal rates during winter. There’s an exception, though: Denver, Colorado. Though it isn’t exactly a ski spot itself, the Mile-High City makes an ideal base for winter sports. It’s close to Winter Park Resort and Loveland Ski Area. Plus, Rocky Mountain National Park, about an hour away, offers non-downhill activities, from hiking to snowshoeing to cross-country skiing in pristine park wilderness. Rent a car, take a few day trips, and return to Denver after the sun sets to enjoy the city’s fabulous nightlife and restaurants. The best part? You’ll save money on accommodations, and you can fly right into Denver International.

There’s a general uptick in Denver room rates when the weather gets warmer. At the Four Seasons Denver, for example, weekday winter rates start at $525 per night in January. Comparatively, weekday nights in June cost $100 more. Denver’s Magnolia Hotel offers weekday January rates from $215 per night. In June, those rates rise to $242.

Read the original story: Top Five Off-Peak Destinations for Winter 2014/2015 by Caroline Costello, who is a regular contributor to SmarterTravel.

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I have selected 75 phrases that have had a profound impact in my life throughout the years. It is my sincere hope that they will deeply inspire you to reach a higher level of awareness and lasting fulfillment in your life in all the realms. May you surrender to the ecstasy of pure being and the enrichment that comes with being conscious about your uniqueness. May you be brave enough to decide to share the inexhaustible love that your spirit contains. And may you be lucky enough to experience the potential in existence automatically.

Be in the Present Moment

1. “Don’t postpone your happiness until some perfect future date. Be happy now, tomorrow will take care of itself.” — Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

2. “The past is no more and the future is not yet: both are unnecessarily moving in directions which don’t exist. One used to exist, but no longer exists, and one has not even started to exist. The only right person is one who lives moment to moment, whose arrow is directed to the moment, who is always here and now; wherever he is, his whole consciousness, his whole being, is involved in the reality of here and in the reality of now. That is the only right direction.” — Osho

3. “Forever is composed of nows.” — Emily Dickinson

4. “To live in the memories, to live in the imagination, is to live in the non-existential. And when you are living in the non-existential, you are missing that which is existential.” — Osho

5. “The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, worry about the future, or anticipate troubles, but to live in the present moment wisely and earnestly.” — Buddha

6. “Nothing ever happened in the past that can prevent you from being present now; and if the past cannot prevent you from being present now, what power does it have?” — Eckhart Tolle

7. “It is a mistake to look too far ahead. The chain of destiny can only be grasped one link at a time.” — Winston Churchill

Say Yes to Love

8. “Let yourself be silently drawn by the stronger pull of what you really love. It will not lead you astray” — Rumi

9. “It is the possibility that keeps me going, not the guarantee.” — Nicholas Sparks

10. “There are secret forces at work leading together those who belong together. We must yield to this attraction, then we make no mistakes.” — I-Ching

11. “Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.” — Rumi

12. “Falling in love you remain a child; rising in love you mature. By and by love becomes not a relationship, it becomes a state of your being. Not that you are in love — now you are love.” — Osho

13. “Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk.” — Dalai Lama

14. “Even after all this time, the sun never says to the earth, “You owe me.” Look what happens with a love like that. It lights the whole sky.” — Hafez

15. “To love is to recognize yourself in another.” — Eckhart Tolle

16. “Of course, I love you,’ the flower said to him. ‘If you were not aware of it, it was my fault.” — Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

17. “Love doesn’t need reason. It speaks from the irrational wisdom of the heart.” — Deepak Chopra

18. “He is more myself than I am. Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same.” — Emily Brontë

19. “With our love we can change the world — If they only knew.” — George Harrison

20. “I have a very strong feeling that the opposite of love is not hate — it’s apathy. It’s not giving a damn.” — Leo Buscaglia

21. “Love loves to love love.” — James Joyce

22. “Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.” — Lao Tzu

23. “Love protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.” — Corinthians 13

Choose the Path to Take

24. “There is a plan, and your soul knows what it is.” — Deepak Chopra

25. “You should rest in reason and move in passion.” — Khalil Gibran

26. “To make the right choices in life, you have to get in touch with your soul. To do this, you need to experience solitude, which most people are afraid of, because in the silence you hear the truth and know the solutions.”– Deepak Chopra

27. “Nothing is more important than reconnecting with your bliss. Nothing is as rich. Nothing is more real.” — Deepak Chopra

28. “All the forces in the world are not as powerful as an idea whose time has come.” — Victor Hugo

29. “As you start to walk on the way, the way appears.” — Rumi

Disempower the Ego

30. “If you want to reach a state of bliss, then go beyond your ego and the internal dialogue. Make a decision to relinquish the need to control, the need to be approved, and the need to judge. Those are the three things the ego is doing all the time.” — Deepak Chopra

31. “If you identify with a mental position, then if you are wrong, your mind-based sense of self is seriously threatened with annihilation. So you as the ego cannot afford to be wrong. To be wrong is to die. Wars have been fought over this, and countless relationships have broken down.” — Eckhart Tolle

32. “Every time you are about to act, ask yourself: Do you want to be right or do you want to be happy?” — My grandpa, J.J.S.

33. “The ego relies on the familiar. It is reluctant to experience the unknown, which is the very essence of life.” — Deepak Chopra

34. “The ego seeks to divide and separate. Spirit seeks to unify and heal.” — A course in miracles

Be Open to Life

35. “Even when you think you have your life all mapped out, things happen that shape your destiny in ways you might never have imagined.” — Deepak Chopra

36. “What you seek is seeking you.” — Rumi

37. “There is nothing like a dream to create the future.” — Victor Hugo

38. “Be realistic: Plan for a miracle.” — Osho

39. “Life is a dream, realize it.” — Mother Theresa

Embrace the Unknown

40. “When in doubt, doubt the doubt!” — Deepak Chopra

41. “The seed cannot know what is going to happen, the seed has never known the flower. But do not doubt that the seed has the potentiality to become a beautiful flower.” — Osho

42. “Courage Is a love affair with the unknown.” — Osho

43. “Just when the caterpillar thought [it] was all over, it became a butterfly”. — English Proverb

Overcome Fear

44. “Why do you stay in prison, when the door is so wide open?” — Rumi

45. “Feed your dreams and starve your fears.” — Me, J.L.S.

46. “You have to drop all your defenses, only then is intimacy possible. We are all hiding a thousand and on things, not only from others but from ourselves.” — Osho

47. “If a problem is fixable, if a situation is such that you can do something about it, then there is no need to worry. If it’s not fixable, then there is no help in worrying. There is no benefit in worrying whatsoever.” — Dalai Lama

48. “The more you are motivated by love, the more fearless and free your action will be.” — Dalai Lama

49. “Fear is the cheapest room in the house. I would like to see you living in better conditions.” — Hafez

50. “If it is love you are looking for, take a knife and cut off the head of fear.” — Rumi

51. “Don’t give in to your fears. If you do, you won’t be able to talk to your heart.” — Paulo Coelho

Allow Healing

52. “The wound is the place where the Light enters you.” — Rumi

53. “I wish I could show you when you are lonely or in darkness the astonishing light of your own being.” — Hafez

54. “There is more wisdom in your body than in your deepest philosophies.” — Friedrich Nietzsche

55. “Love is the great miracle cure. Loving ourselves works miracles in our lives.” — Louise Hay

56. “There is no remedy for love but to love more.” — Henry David Thoreau

Search for Answers Within

57. “There is a voice that does not use words. Listen.” — Rumi

58. “Wherever you go you will find people lying to you, and as your awareness grows, you will notice that you also lie to yourself. Do not expect people to tell you the truth because they also lie to themselves. You have to trust yourself and choose to believe or not to believe what someone says to you.” — Miguel Ruiz

59. “Truth is not something outside to be discovered, it is something inside to be realized.” — Osho

60. “Try to realize it is all within yourself no one else can make you change, and to see you are only very small and life flows on within you and without you.” — George Harrison

61. “Happiness is your nature. It is not wrong to desire it. What is wrong is seeking it outside when it is inside.” — Ramana Maharshi

62. “There is nothing outside you.” — A course in miracles

Think Less, Feel More

63. “Don’t allow your mind to tell your heart what to do. The mind gives up easily.” — Paulo Coelho

64. “It is not a question of learning much. On the contrary. It’s a question of UNLEARNING much.” — Osho

65. “In the space of no-mind, truth descends like light.” — Osho

66. “Passion is a feeling that tells you: this is the right thing to do. Nothing can stand in my way. It doesn’t matter what anyone else says. This feeling is so good that it cannot be ignored. I’m going to follow my bliss and act upon this glorious sensation of joy.” — Wayne Dyer

67. “There is no way to happiness, happiness is the way.” — Wayne Dyer

68. “Love just happens. Nobody thinks about how to love, or when and where to love. Nobody is rational about love. Rational thought hinders love. Love is a sudden rising in the heart. Love is an unavoidable, un-obstructable longing for oneness. There is no logic in this. It is beyond logic. So do not try to be rational about love. It is like trying to give reasons for the river to flow, for the breeze to be cool and gentle, for the moon to glow, for the sky to be expansive, for the ocean to be vast and deep, or for the flower to be fragrant and beautiful. Rationalization kills the beauty and charm of these things. They are to be enjoyed, experienced, loved and felt.” — Amma

Have no Regrets

69. “One regret, dear world that I am determined not to have when I am lying on my deathbed is that I did not kiss you enough.” — Hafez

70. “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” — Mark Twain

71. “Never regret something that made you smile.” — Unknown

72. “The saddest summary of a life contains three descriptions: could have, might have, and should have.” — Louis E. Boone

73. “Life is too short, or too long, for me to allow myself the luxury of living it so badly.” — Paulo Coelho

74. “Tell him yes. Even if you are dying of fear, even if you are sorry later, because whatever you do, you will be sorry all the rest of your life if you say no.” — Gabriel García Márquez

75. “I have committed the worst of sins once can commit… I have not been happy”. — Jorge Luis Borges

Many of us hold in our hearts the desire for, or perhaps even the memory of, a Thanksgiving gathering joyfully sharing a feast of plenty with family and friends where everyone is happy like in the Norman Rockwell Thanksgiving image entitled, “Freedom from Want.” Unfortunately, reality often fails to measure up to this ideal. Some of us find ourselves dreading a family holiday gathering where we anticipate being miserably caught in a reenactment of the dysfunctions of our childhood family gatherings. Others, yearning to be with familiar faces and traditions, find themselves adrift far from home either alone or as a guest, perhaps feelings like an outsider, at someone else’s table with unfamiliar traditions.

If you anticipate a Thanksgiving that will fall short of your desires, you are sure to have that experience. This is especially true if your imaginings are focused on the menu and who will or will not be there. If, on the other hand, you focus on the spirit of thanksgiving, which is about being grateful then your focus turns inward to where you have a choice about how you experience whatever your holiday circumstances might be.

What I am suggesting here isn’t a Pollyanna approach, but rather a radical form of gratitude that just might give you a whole new and delightful experience as a powerful creator of your own experience and not the victim of circumstances or the behaviors of others. Be patient. This is a process not a one time fix it solution.

Here’s an example. Let’s say you are spending Thanksgiving with your family and dreading all their questions and judgments about what you are doing with your life because you know your truth will never garner their approval. How have you handled this in the past? Perhaps by creating your best spin on what’s going on with you in advance, or maybe by drinking too much, or physically and/or emotionally isolating yourself, or getting angry, or some other creative attempt to protect yourself from having to feel the pain of their disapproval. What if, instead of dreading their disapproval, you welcomed it as an opportunity to heal the part of you that somehow buys into their disapproval? Think of it as a tug of war that you have the power to dissolve by releasing the tension on your end of the rope.

The key to this approach is to change your own point of view on the situation. Instead of thinking they are wrong and you are being picked on, consider the possibility that this experience is absolutely perfect for you to learn some importantly needed lesson in your life. Wouldn’t it be great to be able to let them have their disapproval of you while being emotionally free of their opinions? How sweet would that be!

What I am proposing here is not easy, but it works. Here are six keys to how you can use radical transformational gratitude to be at the cause rather than at the effect of your own experience in any situation.

1. Accept the situation as it is without trying to change it. Imagine that you are establishing a brand new neural pattern in your brain (which you are) so that you can view the situation in an entirely new way, which in turn will give you a different way of experiencing it. So, before gathering with your family, pay attention to your self-talk. Play a game with yourself to identify all the ways that you experience your resistance and dread.

2. Listen to your self-talk and pay attention to your feelings. Notice your expectations (thoughts, and feelings) that are based on the belief that it’s going to be the same old awful experience as in the past.

3. Make a list of all the ways you identify in step two. For each one, create a forgiveness statement such as the three following examples:
• I forgive myself for judging myself as the black sheep of the family.
• I forgive myself for judging myself for hating my father for being so critical of me.
• I forgive myself for judging myself for judging my family for rejecting me.
Be as specific as possible in capturing the nature of the disconnect between you and your family. Notice that what you are forgiving is any judgment that you have been creating towards yourself or others. Keep this list handy during your family visit and run these forgiveness statements through your brain whenever you get caught in the old pattern.

4. Play detective with yourself to identify your emotional hook. Ask yourself some of the following questions and create and probe some of your own questions until you find a deeply resonant ‘aha’ within you indicating that you have identified your deeper truth in this situation:
• What’s my emotional payoff in the way I have been experiencing this situation?
• What is the nature of my pain and suffering in this situation?
• What do I really want to be true here and what might I do to create, promote, and allow more of what I want without making others wrong?
With each answer you get, go deeper by asking ‘what’s underneath that?’

5. Close your eyes and do the following gratitude process. One by one, call forward each person you have held responsible for your unhappiness – including yourself. Breathe deeply into your heart and imagine that you are intentionally sending love from your heart to this other person. Looking into their eyes, say ‘My happiness is not dependent upon your approval. I love you. God bless you. Peace, be still.’

6. Assume that this situation is for you and not against you and be grateful that it has presented you with the opportunity to deepen your friendship with yourself.

Notice that the unpleasant situation that you were facing was not something ‘bad’ but rather a perfect opportunity and steppingstone for you to improve your mental and emotional health and wellbeing. Now that’s something to be grateful for!

Happy holidays, everyone.

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“No Shave November” is upon us.  This Movember, show off your beard and/or mustache pride with some of these Top 10 Rdiculous Bearded Movember Gift Ideas.