the extraordinary healing power of ordinary things, shantaram, salaam bombay!, (and germs)

Are we too concerned with germs? Is advertising on tv, and in magazines causing fear to creep into our minds? Are the products on the shelves that suck out every bit of moisture from our hands leaving them dried and cracked (so that we need more products to heal our hands) really necessary? If we’re not careful, we’ll begin to feel that germs are attacking us around every corner we turn. That feeling doesn’t feel good. Germs will always be with us. It’s the fear of them that holds the real power. If it’s fear that rules, there’s a book that flows beautifully in the direction of balance called THE EXTRAORDINARY HEALING POWER of ORDINARY THINGS by Larry Dossey, M.D. Can we use the word delicious here? Because it is. Go directly to the chapter on Dirt, and don’t stop there continue to the chapter on Bugs. Now that should help, if you let it. Then, of course, there’s the rest of the book.
www.dosseydossey.com

SHANTARAM by GREGORY DAVID ROBERTS – What a book! is all I have to say. If you have an unhealthy fear of germs, there’s no way you’ll NOT come away feeling very differently about them. Well, to be fair to the book, this is a small part of it, but it’s a thread throughout a lot of its story. You can only know what that means after you’ve read it. It’s wildly entertaining, inspiring, disturbing; it’s a big story about life. And know this, somewhere along the line we get quite comfortable with the way of germs.
www.shantaram.com

The movie, SALAAM BOMBAY! “Spectacular! Excellent!” is what’s been said of it, and it’s all true. The director had “street kids” acting, along with top-notch Indian actors. Watching the “special features” simply adds more to what is already an important, entertaining, inspiring, and, yes, delicious film.

The slums of Bombay are a part of SHANTARAM AND SALAAM BOMBAY. I can’t help wondering about our sterile, antiseptic, squeaky clean way of living compared to the slums of Bombay (and other parts of the world where people live in similar conditions). Questions arise after reading SHANTARAM and watching SALAAM BOMBAY One is: How is it that these people are still alive? The other is: How is it that the hospitals in our squeaky clean part of the world are packed with sick people? The answers are complex. Or maybe not.

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