emalpaiz

It has not reached Puerto Rico yet.

Contact the Embassy of the Dominican Republic in the United States or any of their Consular Offices in the U.S.A. Good Luck! Hermano Luis

Gwynn, walk your path as you understand that you should walk it. Personally I do not think that there is such a thing as the "true" or "pure" path. I do believe that everyone of us walks his/her path, and we do not have to give explanations of why we do it. But I always like to tell everyone to walk their path with Understanding, Love, and Compassion (U.L.C.). May you always find happiness! Hermano Luis Moriviví Hermitage

Welcome! Thank you for your information about your tradition. Hermano Luis Moriviví Hermitage

Many blessing to all during this and all holidays.

Hermanito Scott, I have a very high opinion of the Quakers. I have read some essays written by them that have impressed me a lot. I have not met Quakers in Puerto Rico, if I ever do I will make an effort to meet with them. Many blessings to you. Hermano Luis

Yes... freedom is wonderful...

Wonderful! Do not preach... TEACH! There is a difference. Preachings enslaves people to dogma; when we teach we liberate the mind and help to open open our minds to Understanding and our hearts to Loving-Compassion. You can always invite others to teach in you mission. Hermano Luis

I do not pretend to be an expert on Islam. I have read the Qur'an, and I am reading It again. I have met a few people who are Muslims (the nature of my work leads me to meet them), and to be honest I do not have any friends who are Muslims. I have also read different Muslim poets, mostly Sufis. I have enjoyed those poets, like I have enjoyed many Christian poets. Now there is one thing I will say about Islam: Islam is vast and very complex, in the same way that most traditional religions are vast and very complex. I do not pretend to be an expert in Christianity. I have read the Bible, my parents were Christian, my wife and children are Christians, and I love them very much. But the love that I have for my family has nothing to do with the fact that they are Christians. I simply love them. Yet there are certain Christian groups that I dislike; I personally feel that they are not true Christians. My attitude to those Christians is based on what I have observed of them. Does that authorize me to say that all of Christianity is wrong? Christianity like Islam is vast and very complex; no one person can claim that they know what is true Christianity or Islam. I have adopted the Sanatana Veda Dharma (Hinduism) as my religion. I am one among many. If you had met "traditional" Hindus, you would say: "Hermano Luis, you are not a true Hindu." The Sanatana Veda Dharma is vast and very comples. There is no one on this Earth who can say who is a true Hindu. We may pass judgement on this or that religion and its followers, but it is only a personal opinion. We can never know the vastnes and complexity of any religion and its followers. Hermano Luis Moriviví Hermitage

If we go to world history in the last 2,000 years or so, we will find that once and a while someone believed that a particular leader was terrible. It has happened many times and it will happen again and again. I do not believe in prophesy, but I believe in the capacity of human beings to do evil or to do good. Right now the world is going through difficult times. We are facing great moral, spiritual, economical, and political changes. Change is unavoidable, but this time the changes are world wide. Some cultures can adjust easily, but other cultures can not accept those changes, and react violently. Let us be calm. Evil we must resist, but we must never stop doing good. In the twentieth century the world faced Nazism and its culture of genocide, we might have to face something similar again. Let us turn to our inner strength to face this new evil. It is not a question of prophesy. Hermano Luis Moriviví Hermitage

Today the Hindu world celebrates the Sri Bhagavan Krishna Janmashtami. The Hindu world considers Sri Bhagavan Krishna an Avatar or Incanation of God. He revealed the Srimad Bhagavad Gita to the Indian prince Aryuna just before the battle at Kurukshetra. The Gita states that Sri Krishna appears in the world every time spirituality is corrupted. Who knows, He probably is preaching the Dharma somewhere in the world right now. Hermano Luis Moriviví Hermitage

I think that we as ULC minister should read and study the Qur'an. To be honest, I think that we should read from every spiritual or religious tradition. In the last couple of years I have been studying Buddhism and Chirstianity by reading from their sacred books. In the case of Buddhism I am reading from the Dhammapada and about Christianity from the Bible. Many years ago I read the Qur'an, but I think that it is time to read and study from It again. I feel that a lot of injustice is being given to Islam by believing that Muslim terrorists are the spoke persons for Islam. Islam has one voice of authority, and it is the Qur'an. Sufi teachers have insisted that the Qur'an has different levels of meaning. I think that is true of all sacred books. Hermano Luis Moriviví Hermitage

My wife and I will soon celebrat 38 years together. It has been a lifetime of growing and sharing. We have been two different persons, and at the same time we have been one. Hermano Luis

This has become my church. I can be myself here. Hermano Luis

Von, I have a libray similar to yours. Like you I have read all the books in my library and some I have studied with great interest. Your question is a very profound one with no easy answer. Most of those books have influenced people around the world in their different religions in both a positive and negative way. Take for example Islam and the Qur'an. The Qur'an was not only a religious book, it was also the corner stone of a vast culture that at one moment reached southern Europe. What is interesting is that even though Islam and Christianity became bitter enemies through the centuries, it was in Islamic libraries that many of pre-Christian books of the Western classical past were preserved. The Qur'an at one moment was a source of education and culture inspiring poets and philosohers in both East and West. It is not easy to judge those ancient books which to a certain point set the foundations of our World culture. Even though I am not a Christian, if I would refuse to read the Bible I would be turning my back on who I am as a western man. My Hispanic culture depends a lot on Christianity and the Bible. The Spanish language -- my maternal language -- was influenced not just by hispanic nuns, monks, and priests, but by the Muslims who controled Spain for some 800 years. I am not offering you an answer. I am trying to briefly show that there is no easy answer for your question. It would take years of investigation and sharing of information to understand how those sacred volumes have influenced mankind. To be honest with you, I would really enjoy participating in such a task. Hermano Luis Moriviví Hermitage

Beautiful! Lord Buddha said that the community (sangha, church) was important in the path to healing (enlightenment). Keep up the good work, Von. Hermano Luis

Be patient and always keep a heart of loving kindnes. Never turn them away. Hermano Luis

I have not seen many films in the past ten years, and I usually fall asleep seeing action films. Nevertheless a film that interested me a lot was "Elegy" (2008), staring Penelope Cruz, Ben Kingsley, Patricia Clarkson. An interesting drama about an elderly man and a beautiful young woman.

To be honest, I do not think that God ever made a deal with anyone. Those are concepts created by human beings. Hermano Luis

I do not agree. Many of the great spiritual teachers of the Sanatana Veda Dharma and other religions have never heard of the Bible, and they have been mend and women of God. They speak of God with profound wisdom. Hermano Luis

Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa (1836-1886) used to say that most people believe that only their watch gives the right time. That is the problem of many radical religionists. Hermano Luis

I speak as a non-Christian. I have read the first chapter of Genesis many times; I see it as a poem of Creation not to be taken as scientific truth. I follow a Hindu-Vedantic traditions that may be called Hindu-Gnosticism. There are many Creation stories in the Hindu traditions, none to be taken as history or science. During my college years I was influenced by a Jesuit priest, Father Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (1881-1955), who was also a Mystic and Paleontologist. The study of his works convinced me that religion and science are not contradictory. To me religion is a path to spiritual enlightenment, a path to the profound understanding of my true nature through inner discipline and meditation. Science on the other hand is an understanding of the physical world (universe) in which we live. I feel sorry for thos who insist that that science must agree with religion or who believe that their sacred book is superior to scientific knowledge. Hermano Luis Moriviví Hermitage

WolfChaser, you are in the right path. We stand for freedom of thought and ethical living. We do not put restrictions on our spiritual views. Hermano Luis Moriviví Hermitage

That was a wonderfull quote. Thank you! Hermano Luis

My favorite is "the Gospel of Thomas". I do enjoy the "Songs of Solomon" (a.k.a. "Odes of Solomon); I particularly enjoy Song 20. Hermano Luis