As much of the world celebrates the killing of Osama Bin Laden, we need to ask ourselves what effect this will really have on the reality of terrorism.

BY DAVID RICKEY — Yes, Bin Laden was a very evil individual who masterminded much and mentored many. However, his death will stop neither the consciousness that breeds terrorism nor the historic causes that feed that consciousness.

The decision to bury Bin Laden’s body at sea within hours of his death demonstrates, it seems to me, a level of sensitivity that counters much of the insensitivity that lies at the root of the present pandemic of terrorism (although already there is conflicting opinion and criticism for this action).

While there will always be people who express their selfish anger in acts of aggression against others, the “West” — that over-encompassing term describing what we might describe as the “more enlightened” people in Europe and America — would do well to reflect on our own actions over the past 3+ centuries that have contributed to the anger in Africa, the “Middle East” and southest Asia that underpin the terrorist argument.We have all cast stones

Eliza Griswold, in her excellent book The Tenth Parallel, catalogs the colonialist, missionary and political history of both Islam and Christianity in Africa and Southest Asia that fuels the present-day conflicts. Competition for resources coupled with an evangelistic zeal on both sides demonstrate a painfully slow evolution of consciousness that has kept us from finding peaceful ways of co-existing on this planet. From the yearning for an Islamic world order to concern for saving the souls of African “Pagans,” the human attempt to find a way of controlling others to ensure the survival of one or the other world view has led to seething resentment and ultimately senseless killing on both sides.

Look at our own national history. The capture and import of African people for slave-labor, the plundering of natural resources without concern for the people who already lived on the African continent, or the herding and killing of Indigenous people who already lived in this country that England, France and Spain claimed for their own. These are the facts to which angry people can point to justify their actions against us.

Forgiving the Unforgivable: A Soul’s Code Slideshow

As we breathe a sigh of relief at the death of Bin Laden, claiming justice being finally served, we need to look at our own actions of injustice and find ways of countering the effect of our history. Again, I see the decision to bury the body at sea as a symbolic act that could begin a more sensitive approach to world affairs — it might do much more to change our future than a continued “War on Terror” that seems to only reinforce the animosity. If we can demonstrate true concern for others, a desire to act in concord rather than continue attitudes of discord with other nations and peoples, we may be able to nurture the evolution of consciousness that seems to be taking a renewed surge in countries like Egypt, Libya, and Syria.

There is reason for optimism in the present turmoil. As America’s concern about having enough oil bumps into our concern for human rights and freedom on the public stage of media awareness, perhaps we are being forced to look deeper at our own values. There we might find more equitable ways to live together on the planet.

May the celebrations be sobered by contemplation! May this mark the end of an era and a milestone in human evolution.

David Rickey is an Episcopal priest, Soul’s Code co-founder and counselor in San Francisco who does a weekly ministry at a residence for the elderly in northern California. Follow David on Twitter.

Take down the tree. Clear up the dishes. Toss out the empty bottles. The holidays are over. There’s a lot of spiritual pain in the world. So if you’re feeling lost in life’s desolation right now know this: you’re not alone.

Sometimes, that spiritual hunger takes a very literal form. Read the sad story of Isabelle Caro, an anorexic model who spoke publicly about her issues, who has passed at 28…

…meanwhile, in another hint that all is not as it seems behind the world’s facade of beauty and wealth, the Daily Mail writes of disarray at Playboy publisher Hugh Hefner’s home.

Don’t complain about our society’s growing hollowness, though: “We’re becoming a nation of wussies,” Pennsylvania’s governor says.

Prince Andrew mouths off: this dude could (very theoretically) be the titular head of the Church of England?

Leslie Nielson is gone, but not forgotten: watch the ultimate straight-man’s best lines.

Unemployment extension: man may not live on bread alone, but it helps. Democrat Max Baucus introduced a bill that would extend unemployment benefits, again.

SOUL’S CODE — When the Indian “hugging saint”, Amma, perhaps the most-loved person on the planet, enters an ashram or a hall or a tent in her world travels, all rise. Her presence is so supernatural, so beyond celebrity or personality, the rite acknowledges a rare phenomenon: the “godhead” has touched the floor which you, too, touch.

So it was with Michael Jackson. When his feet touched a stage, his presence touched a deep energy and knowing in us all. The “godhead” touched earth. Our columnists and readers share how they were touched . . .

Vicki Woodyard — No matter how one may have felt about Michael Jackson, watching the memorial service opened one’s heart chakra to an amazing degre, not unlike the service for Princess Diana. It is easy to see why.

In the sorrowful hour that we all face sooner or later, when a loved one has left the body, we face ourselves empty and alone. Tears fall and strangely enough, we are rendered kinder than we might have thought possible. Forgiveness rains onto the hard earth of the human heart. We need this.

Our culture does not know how to mourn; there is no tribal ritual until someone as famous as a Princess Diana or a Michael Jackson or an Elvis Presley dies. Then we unite via satellite hookups to shed virtual tears together. Strangely, they plop down our living human cheeks, and this is a good thing. A good thing indeed.

I don’t know what I thought about Michael Jackson and it doesn’t matter. What does matter is that I am a human living on this earth. Whoever takes us one step closer to each other is helping to heal the planet. Our nature and our destiny are one. We are made of paradox and stardust. We rise and fall like waves and in rejoining the sea, there is somehow an exultation tied in with the tears.

Lisa ‘Dane’ McCullough — To the best of my understanding, I believe that Michael Jackson was the bearer of profound love and profound negativity/confusion for the masses.   He was a sensitive soul that played out his role on earth to  perfection even though it wasn’t our idea of how he should be. I cannot  fathom how he lived a life of so much attention, expectation, etc.

He clearly gave life his all at times and was incredibly gifted.  His passing is an invitation for each of us to assume responsibility for giving our lives our all. Perhaps now we can own more of who we are — in all  of our light and shadow. I don’t own a television and did not feel the desire or need to watch any of the events yesterday. Furthermore, I think that the timing of his and Farrah’s passing is fascinating. Her being the ‘angel’ and him being the bearer of the darkness. Even their physical appearances were polar opposites. Something big and universal got balanced when they passed.

I felt the energy shifts for days afterwards. The summer solstice and the shifting of the light played in here too. That is enough to share for now though. 

Elaine Springer — Just incredibly sad; sad that someone so beautiful and gifted suffered in so much pain. The people who knew and loved him understood him. The media and the masses never could.

Chelsea Langan — Few people will admit that they will never know what and if anything ever happened, although from a spiritual perspective, it wouldn’t even matter.  Due diligence is required on an individual basis, and everyone in judgement of others tribulations will have to deal with the due diligence forced by the judgements themselves. However, none of this compromises our connection to Source, it only makes the journey a bit more twisted.

He was no doubt the brightest soul on earth since the advent of media and technology, nothing less. He let his Energy and Love emerge and flow on Earth better than anyone, and we could all take notes!

Anita Burns — I think he was an enormously talented, yet troubled man-child. Perhaps his life became so unbearable that he unconsciously brought on his passing. Too sensitive for the onslaught of media hounds looking for anything to sell their stories or get more ratings.

These are just thoughts. I may be way off.  I got so tired of the news media feeding on his death, that I mostly turned it off.

Laurence Koike — The memorial was beautiful especially from 11-year-old Paris. A moving ceremony to honor someone.  We have memorials for people but it’s all about us and how we feel. The dead cannot really appreciate it, not in the physical sense. I say “not in the physical sense” because I believe we each live on forever in another consciousness.  The physical being passes away but the US that is the Universe lives on. We care and we feel as the living.

As far as the man or “man-child”, I agree he was a troubled person. He was exploited as a child, and exploited even in his death. Perhaps all those accusations about child molestations (alleged since we do not know the truth) was his way of controlling what he could not control.  His reaction to being ‘used’ all the time by others. What kind of psychology would you nurture if your whole life was living in a “fish bowl” (quote from MJ). 

Anita Magnoli — After watching the event, I really had an appreciation for his life.  Michael Jackson was a world-wide figure and he really brought the music industry to the next level.

He has definitely left his legacy. . .RIP MJ

Paul Kaihla — PIECES OF AN AFTERLIFE: Was it an accident of celebrity that Michael Jackson and Britney Spears performed together? Or was it an alignment of what self-help author, Caroline Myss, calls “energy anatomy” ?

Britney was Michael’s tabloid mirror-image for the millennials, both raised by parents who manufactured their kids to be fame-making and money-making widgets. Maybe Britney was most honest about it in her 2007 song, Piece of Me.

Before his children, Michael’s most beloved mate was his pet chimpanzee, Bubbles, now,  in real life, alive in an animal sanctuary.

You can forever experience Bubbles and Michael, immortalized, in the permanent collection of San Francisco’s Museum of Modern Art, in the larger-than-life porcelain sculpture that made Jeff Koons’ 1988 “banality series” so famous:

BY PAUL KAIHLA — Grief is a very private affair. But this week, it’s going very public for the loved ones of Michael Jackson and Ted Kennedy. May they rest in peace —  and for the rest of us, may we share the Dalai Lama’s brand of guidance and comfort.

The loss of a loved one is a shock to your system. It’s useful to remind yourself that you’re in trauma. A being who took up a Grand Canyon worth of space in your psyche is gone. The vacuum their loss has left leaves you confused – and reeling. So do drugs, alcohol, addictions, affairs and other escapes. You don’t need any more momentum in that direction.

You’ll keep asking yourself, “What do I do now?” Don’t even try to answer that question. You can’t.

Death is disorienting. But it’s not personal. Millions have lived through this exact moment of shock, and imprinted the very same thoughts you’re now having. You’re not going through this alone; you’re re-living something very deep in the collective experience of humanity.

Could one console and re-orient oneself with a deeper collective wisdom about loss developed across time and cultures. There are four noble truths in the Buddhist tradition. David Richo, a former Catholic priest in Kennedy’s hometown of Boston who became a psychologist and turned Zen, has come up with five:

“The Givens of Life and Things We Cannot Change”

1. Everything changes and ends
2. Suffering is part of growth
3. Things do not always go according to plan
4. Things are not always fair
5. People are not loving and loyal all the time

For more insight about loss and grieving, check out the Soul’s Code slideshow: 9 Ways to Deal with Loss.