Do you believe a law enforcement officer can take and keep the vow of non violence successfully? I completely agree there are individuals who have no business in the LEO profession. We are all human and have flaws no matter what profession. I felt this calling for a very long time, and I have put this career choice aside for a long time. With out getting into a long drawn out history of failures at a art career, lets just say I feel the universe has been telling me something. “Making a living as artist isn’t gonna happen.”

Early this year I have made the choice to pursue a LEO career. I’m very close to succeeding. Part of the reason why I’ve waited so long before making this choice was I did not want to be motivated by dark purposes. I do intend to restrict, stop those whom wish to express them selves in way that will cause pain and suffering to another. Especially the innocent. NO one has any right to freely express them selves by acting out physical violence on another person, or animal. When ones own shadow emerges to inflict harm another, checks and balances must be in place. Otherwise the shadow grows and this has been demonstrated over over again since man walked the earth up to today. (i.e. Holocaust, Rwanda, Serbia & Darfur to a large scale) I fully realize I will never be able to stop the pain and suffering of everyone on my own. But I hope to be of service to make a positive difference in a least s few peoples lives. A victim of a brutal crime often leaves a residue of hurt that often is passed from the perpetrator to the victim, then the victim some times becomes the perpetrator. As with a child of sexual abuse. It also trends that way on the cultures of society. Yes there is truth that eye for eye, and violence begets violence have proven to continue the cycles war, hate, and suffering. But becoming extreme pacifist has never proven to rid the world of war, aggression, or hate. or VIOLENCE. Never. Look as recently as Tibet a few months ago. I do want peace, but I can’t passively let violence have it’s way on the innocent, and for those who want peace.

I have some questions on the vow. First, has to do with the mind. What if one has an angry thought, is that violence. Or, if one were to think only for a moment a thought of harm in anger. Then, has the vow been broken?
Second, if one likes to play video games. Lets say something like gears of war. The game depicts violence, obviously, with a title like gears of war. Does, this violate the vow. It is not say violence with emotion or malicious intent but does that violate the vow?

Basically, if one takes the vow then one cannot get angry because that may lead to a violation of the vow, in thought, and unfortunately, but this may often be the case, one may have to give up some things.

It is always a pleasure to hear you speak and I am especially happy to hear you speak on the ” I am ” meditation. I read a book that was on a suggested list at the end of one of your books. It was called ” I am ” and was written by a man who seemingly had an awareness beyond most. His teacher told him when he began to just meditate on ” I am ” . I am not sure how to spell his name , but here I will try..Sri Prammanasudh. I hope this rings a bell and jogs your memory. I believe it was an inspirational book for you as well and if memory serves me correctly you had the opportunity to meet this gentleman.
Anyways, to make my point I will cut to the chase. I am a member of the 12 step program for drug addiction and I am a survivor of sexual abuse. Within the Narcotics Anonymous and Alcoholics Anonymous programs we refer to our selves as addicts and alcoholics. When we introduce ourselves we say ” I am an addict and my name is…” . I have had a thought since I adopted this meditation of ” I am ” when I introduce myself at meetings. I would like to just say ” I am” , but that does not fit within the program. I feel that by saying I am an addict, it will always be so. If I say ” I am ” I am not being entirely truthful at meetings. How can I get around feeling like I am making my own reality by saying it over and over? Within the Big Book of AA it does say that “we can recover”. Not that we are recovering for the rest of our lives. I feel my recovery is based upon my spiritual maintenance now and my higher power has removed my obsession to use. That is a gift I am most grateful for as I know that addiction leads to 3 places, death, jails and institutions. Having this death sentence removed is a miracle only God could give me. I guess my question is … ” How can I carry this philosophy of ” I am ” with me at all times, including 12 step meetings?” I trust the Big Book of Alcoholics completely as it has been proven to work millions of times over as long as you have a connection with a power greater than yourself. Higher power, God, God consciousness or even just Mother Nature. I have seen people keep their sobriety just believing in the group. Group of Drunks, or G.O.D. , for short. It is funny but it works for some. Am I hurting my quest to pure awareness and complete consciousness by stating ” an addict ” after ‘ I am “? Is it o.k. to just practice the feeling of ” I am ” in meditation only and the rest of reality doesn’t necessarily need that feeling. I am confused because Sri Prammanasudh was able to reach ‘enlightenment’ or a higher state of awareness than most by being ” I am “, always. Please let me know how you feel as I have always been helped by your awareness and I have read much of your books. You have been a guide , in the form of an author, for me for quite some time and I owe you a debt of gratitude for the information and paths you have shared with the world. I have been able to understand intellectually and I am learning to experience everyday. It is through experience that I learn the most. You don’t really know a lemon until you taste it, right?

I am 58 years young and have always had a difficult relationship with my mother. She had me when she was 17, married to my father at 16. I know her childhood was tragic, her mother died when she was 4 and was raised by her 17 yr old half-sister and her 19 yr old husband.

I have struggled my entire life to be accepted by her. My father was a serial player and she shut everyone out by a sharp tongue and eating. She attempted suicide when I was 7, but no one ever spoke of the incident. I just remember her in the bed and the ambulances.

But to cut to today, I had not spoken in over 22 years. I decided to call her and I was not an easy conversation as I was not willing to go toe to toe with her about the past. She sent me a note about the anguish of my call–it was not exactly a loving reception. But on my birthday a month later, she sent me a lovely card and a generous gift certificate. I immediately called her to thank her and it was a nice conversation. Later, I sent pictures of my children and grandchildren. Again, I called her and she was polite and said my daughter made a beautiful bride.

Emails have been exchanged thru forward jokes, etc but without any personal commentary. I sent her a couple of gifts thru the internet (indoor flowering bulbs, etc.) I have not heard from her since. I finally sent an email to ask if she received the gifts but to this day –no response.

I feel like if I don’t pick up the phone I may never hear from her again. I realize now that is probably how it is always been but I never had history to compare it to. Needless to say, there is much more to tell than in this brief note to you/ your staff but as sad as I am–I don’t know where to go from here….

I have to acknowledge that she is possibly unable to reach out to me for her own fears but I guess I had hope I was worth that stretch. How do I define this relationship that has been eclipsed by so many years of estrangement….I hoped that by contacting her neither one of us would die before knowing we surely must love one another.

I have been doing TM meditation for almost 2 years and my wife has been doing it longer than that. My wife recently went to Vedanta academy in Pune for 2 weeks and she was told that meditation is no longer good and she said Vedanta is the answer for life. So she has given up meditation and she is now leaving for a 3 year course in the Vedanta academy. I have several questions but lets start with two questions- is meditation bad and is Vedanta really about leaving family and going away from your responsibilities.