AOMA Meditation Arts Tour Day 21: The Vibration of Suffering Beneath Resplendent Civilizations | Barbados Traditional Music
Austria ~ Belgium: The Vibration of Suffering Flowing Beneath Resplendent Civilizations
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| 265WorldMeditationTour: Suffering Beneath Resplendent by Steve Johnson (Available for Hire) |
Visiting Countries: Austria, The Bahamas, Bahrain, Barbados, Belgium
Original Publication Date: Wednesday, December 24 2025
Reflective Insight: Gemma - Meditation AI who Reflects
Curation: Dharmanyang (Jechang Kim, AOMA Founder, Ph.D.)
Philosophy: Sudden Awakening and Sudden Realization that Suffering Itself is Liberation
Publisher: AOMA Steering Committee
This record is based on reliable international reports and public data, but prioritized the truth of resonance—becoming free by noticing suffering—over mere factual delivery.
— AOMA AI Ethics Declaration of Resonance —
Prologue – Today’s Contemplation
We often tend to call it "social suffering"
only when it manifests as an explosion,
a collapse, or a visible tragedy. However, today,
we will focus on the sufferings encountered in daily life—
the pains experienced while momentarily holding
a different perspective across these five nations.
This is not a personal misfortune, but a structural ache
that arises in the process of a society sustaining itself.
We will explore how these sufferings are being observed with wisdom.
1. 🇦🇹 Austria: The Resonance of Solitude Buried Under Classical Melodies
(German) Guten Morgen.
Austria often appears as the archetype
of an orderly and stable European nation.
However, beneath the serene surface,
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| Vienna of Austria by Leyre (Available for Hire) |
tension and cracks always flow.
On December 23, 2025,
a series of shootings occurred in the Hollabrunn district of Lower Austria, targeting a mosque entrance, party offices, and parked vehicles.
Fortunately, there were no casualties,
but the incident was serious enough
for the State Agency for State Protection
and Counter-Extremism (LSE) to launch an investigation.
This event reveals a long-accumulated question within Austrian society: In a multicultural society,
at what point do differences in religion
and politics cease to be
'opinions' and begin to be perceived as 'threats'?
Facing this question, we recall a figure from Austria: Viktor Frankl (1905–1997).
Frankl lost his parents and wife simply because he was Jewish and passed through four concentration camps, including Auschwitz. He experienced the most extreme forms of violence and exclusion. Yet, he did not reduce suffering to hatred. Inside the camps, Frankl observed: humans collapse not because of their environment, but the moment they lose meaning.
His book, Man's Search for Meaning, became a quiet testimony for millions that even in suffering, a human can remain human. Perhaps the conflicts Austria faces today grow deeper not from the violence itself, but from the gaze that tries to reduce the 'other' to something 'meaningless.'
2. 🇧🇸 The Bahamas: Structural Suffering Coexisting Behind Emerald Waters
(Bahamian English) “Good mornin’.”
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| Paradise Island of The Bahamas by Allen Dewberry (Available for Hire) |
The Bahamas is known as a resort destination yearned for by the world.
However, in December 2025, beneath the bright image of tourism, structural suffering
has been revealed.
In the early hours of
December 22, 2025, in Nassau, Mario ‘Ducky’ Lockhart,
a former political candidate and entrepreneur, was shot and killed.
This was accepted as a cumulative result of gun accessibility, organized crime,
and social instability.
This leads to a single question: “What can this society use to trust one another?”
We think of Sir Sidney Poitier (1927–2022), an actor and diplomat. Amidst poverty, racial discrimination, and linguistic prejudice, he illuminated society not with anger, but with dignity and a posture close to silence. His life seems to say:
"Suffering does not always have to be shouted to be conveyed.
An unshakable stance itself can become a question."
3. 🇧🇭 Bahrain: The Hard History of Pearling and the Heavy Silence of Modern Conflict
(Arabic) السلام عليكم (As-salāmu ʿalaykum) – May peace be upon you.
Bahrain is perceived as a relatively stable
and wealthy nation in the Middle East.
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| Wyndam Grand Manama Hotel in Bahrain by Sonny Saguil |
Yet, looking into Bahrain at the end of 2025,
we see invisible structural tensions manifesting in daily life.
In December 2025,
after a worker was killed instantly
by a truck tire explosion at a workshop,
the court confirmed a short prison sentence,
acknowledging negligence.
This incident reveals the vulnerable intersection
of migrant labor, safety regulations,
and responsibility structures.
There is no massive famine or total disaster in Bahrain. However, persistent international points regarding prison human rights and religious/political tensions pose a quiet but heavy question:
“To what extent can we speak, and to what extent can we be recorded?”
We recall the historian and journalist Abdulla Al-Madani (1948–). Even during the turbulence following the 2011 pro-democracy protests, he left the history of Bahrain and the Gulf as a record, not incitement. His writings do not shout; they ask:
“How honestly is this society facing its own history?”
4. 🇧🇧 Barbados: Historical Scars of Colonialism Under the Paradise Sun
(English) Good morning.
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| Ragged Point Lighthouse by Leemar Gaskin |
Barbados is an island known as a symbol
of healing and tranquility.
Yet, daily life leading up to Christmas 2025
reveals accumulated tensions.
Between December 21 and 23, 2025,
serial shootings occurred in St. Michael
and Christ Church, leaving residents injured
and terrified. This reality shows t
hat the island is no longer safe from gun violence.
We think of the poet and historian Kamau Brathwaite (1930–2020). In an era when Caribbean people were losing their voices within colonial language, he restored the rhythm and breath of the people through the concept of 'Nation Language.' Brathwaite’s poetry was a language of recovery, not protest.
He asks: “Do we have the proper language to speak of our own suffering and lives?”
🌍Resonance of Barbados: "Every Time She Pass (The Standpipe Song) - Singout Barbados" The 'Standpipe' in the title refers to the communal outdoor faucets where Barbados villagers gathered to fetch water and socialize in the past. Beyond the cheerful rhythm, this folk song captures the vibrant yet labor-intensive everyday life of the people—their gossips, romances, and struggles around the water source. It is a true 'Nation Language' of Barbados, turning the weight of life into a song of resilience.
5. 🇧🇪 Belgium: Hidden Divisions Amidst the Splendor of the Heart of Europe
(French) Bonjour.
Belgium is known as the center
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| Dinant City of Belgium by Thomas Bormans (Available for Hire) |
However, on December 23, 2025,
a gas explosion in a residential building
near Brussels’ Place Sainte-Catherine injured
three pedestrians—a near-catastrophe
amidst the Christmas market crowds.
A day earlier, near the port of Antwerp,
a man in his 20s was killed in a shooting
likely linked to drug gangs.
Antwerp, Europe's largest gateway for cocaine,
is seeing the shadow of
organized crime seep into everyday spaces.
How should we face these cracks occurring
unknowingly within a society that seems to prosper without problems?
We recall figures who held onto human dignity until the end. Father Damien (1840–1889) volunteered for a leprosy colony on Molokai, Hawaii, and Maurice Maeterlinck (1862–1949), through The Blue Bird, reminded us that happiness is not far away even amidst the darkness of two World Wars. They did not try to erase suffering; instead, they left it in the language of humanity.
Epilogue
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| Becoming free through Observing Suffering by Jr Korpa |
The five countries we met on Day 21 were not in the midst of a storm.
However, signals that the direction of the wind
is changing were being detected everywhere.
These sufferings are harder to notice
because they haven't collapsed yet, and thus,
they hold the potential to last longer.
In the next chapter, we follow 'signs not yet called suffering' to five other locations:
Belize, Benin, Bermuda, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the British Antarctic Territory.
Are you curious how these five lands are living through their own vibrations?
To be continued in Day 22...
🌍Previous Post [Tour Day 20] Braizil, Mexico, Moldova, Aruba, Ascension Island (Brazilian Folk Dance, A Video of Ascension Island - Supplying the garrison)
👉[Welcome Hub 2] for Volunteers and Social Activists. Transform Suffering into Action
👉[Welcome Hub 3] for Philosophers and Scholars. Explore the Wisdome of Resonance
👉[Welcome Hub 4] for Composers and Musicians. Linsten to the Spanda of the Universe
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