He did so because the British government had chemically castrated him, humiliated him and tried him because he was gay.
For this reason there is a bitten apple on the Apple logo, in honor of Alan Turing.
Alan Turing invented computer science and using his first drawings deciphered the Enigma code – the encrypted machine that the Nazis and the German army used to communicate secret commands with each other during World War II.
Thanks to this, he saved millions of human lives and with him began the modern era of computer science.
Alan Turing’s story should remind us that Pride is not just about dancing on floats and waving a rainbow flag.
Above all, it must remind us that everyone has the right to be happy, to love everyone who wants to love and to recognize the remarkable contribution that we all can make in a society free from fear or prejudice.
It is the end of winter and spring appears timidly showing us the first blossoms, longer days and birds that build nests.
Spring marks the awakening of nature and therefore also our awakening, not only physical but also spiritual.
There is a Sanskrit word that defines spiritual awakening, but which actually means “liberation”. The word is Moksha.
According to the Indian tradition, the discovery of one’s Self is associated with that of freedom.
But why? What kind of freedom are we talking about?
First of all, let us remember that waking up our true nature means becoming aware that there is a much wider presence within ourselves than the individual we normally identify with. The Self is called Atman in Indian philosophy.
The first freedom that we should discover is to abandon identification with the body. In fact, by discovering our Self, we stop living as prisoners inside our body. Suddenly our presence, which was previously closed within the perimeter of our skin, becomes immense and limitless. We join the world. We are no longer inside our body, but it is our body that is inside us.
The second freedom is the discovery that we are not dependent on our thoughts. The Self is not a thought, but it is consciousness, the awakened space in which our thoughts appear and disappear. Liberation from thought is like liberation from a corvee, from a hellish cycle of recurring thoughts, and it gives us silence.
The third freedom consists in the discovery that our Self is free from our past, from what has happened to us of both positive and negative. Our past remains, of course, and constitutes our history, but the Self lives only in the present moment, so it is always new, original, fresh. It allows us to regenerate the source of our presence every moment.
The fourth freedom is that from the judgment of others, which too often is very heavy. Others see us, judge us and this makes us lose some of our freedom. But others cannot see our true Self, they cannot see who we really are. They only see our appearance, our body, but they cannot see our true nature. Thanks to awakening we are able to free ourselves from the gaze of others and finally to be free.
Qi Gong is an ancestral discipline born in China about 5000 years ago. It has been influenced by various philosophies, such as Taoism, Buddhism and Confucianism.
After having developed within religious and spiritual fields, Qi Gong has been contaminated by fighting techniques becoming in this way also part of martial arts.
Today, more than a thousand forms of Qi Gong are known. Actually, each teacher develops his own technique observing though the same principles and purposes: to stay healthy by keeping the body, spirit and energy in balance.
According to Chinese medicine, good health is the result of a good circulation of energy in the body. Qi Gong is considered a prevention measure.
The search for balance, the precision of intention (Yi), the fluidity of gestures represent not only a path towards self-knowledge but also the pleasure of encountering oneself. With Qi Gong, we learn to love ourselves, to open up to the universe, to live in harmony with everything around us.
In the search for balance, you will experience moments when you focus and moments when you rest. Feeling too much or what is missing, for example when you go from one foot to the other, allows you to become aware of your own fragility. When, on the other hand, you stand on two feet, well anchored to the ground, you feel then balanced, and stronger.
Working on balance brings a feeling of lightness and freedom, without forgetting that through the movements and stimulation of the meridians (energy circulation paths), organic functions improve (circulation, digestion, breathing).
The body is at the centre of the relationship with oneself, with others and with the environment. Body awareness passes through listening to your body at first, by observing muscle tone, tensions, balance, posture and the direction of movements.
Qi Gong can be considered above all as a search for energy balance and harmony between body and spirit. By paying attention to the gestures, we realize that our way of thinking also changes and we get a more peaceful look at the world.
Letting go of the burden of the past is important to your happiness.
Many people live in the past; they remember what they were, the love stories that did not go well, their failures and disappointments.
Such a burden takes away space and energy from the present, which is actually the only time you can live actively.
I read somewhere that happiness consists in enjoying good health and having a bad memory.
Actually, you should learn to let go of the past, forget about the insults received, the bad events and the mistakes, in short, all the bad memories, and learn to focus more on the present.
Photo by Ian Dooley on Unsplash
Here are some tips you could follow.
The best antidote to guilt, resentment, or anger that takes you back to the past is to devote energy to building the life you want.
Stop playing the victim and become an active protagonist of your life
Your memories change while time passes by, they may distort, and they do not really reflect what happened. Try asking a person who shared an event with you to tell you about their memory and then compare it with your memory. You will see that you and that person remember different aspects of the same fact.
Prioritize your well-being. Life is too short to spend arguing and complaining. What happened could be a source of stress and even discomfort. Continuing to feel anger at a past event drains up your energy. It is more important for your physical and mental health to live quietly than to be right at all costs.
The past, however, also brings with it good memories and lessons learned, which shape your personality.
Have a look at what Buddhism teaches: “Joy and happiness arise from letting go. Sit down and take an inventory of your life. There are things you have been hanging on to that really are not useful and deprive you of your freedom. Find the courage to let them go.”
Crisbie Coach 