From the People United to…the AUM

 

When I came to Canada, 37 years ago, I was received with the National Anthem and fireworks. Yes, I arrived on Canada Day. My two sons were excited and it took them some time to understand that all the music and celebration wasn't necessarily because of our arrival.

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When I look back and see my life in this country, I remember the young woman full of energy and illusions for a better world, walking on the streets of Santiago in Chile, chanting, “The people united will never be defeated." All my being rebelled against children’s prostitution, misery, low salaries. “It’s not fair to live in poverty” I used to tell my university classmates. We were all looking for an answer and socialism seemed the right path.

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Then came September 11, not the Twin Towers but the one in Chile in 1973 when the bombs destroyed the presidential palace, the dreams for a better world and the hopes of too many Chileans.

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After all these years in Canada my dream for a better world is still in my heart, only at this time, I'm taking a different path. I want to take responsibility for each one of my actions in a mature way, without blaming my neighbor, the government or the corner store for my failures. Meditation has helped me to calm my mind and it’s the silence that guides my action.

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Nevertheless, out of habit, many times instead of starting meditating with the Aum, I say: “The people united will never be defeated.”

 

By: Camila Reimers.