Ettore Grillo

BREXIT
I am Italian, and I would have preferred that Britain had not left Europe. Nevertheless, nothing is lost! I am convinced that eventually the UK will remain in Europe for two reasons: because the referendum was only consultative, and because the majority pro-Brexit was by no means overwhelming.
The referendum has left the country split in two halves: the young in favor of staying in Europe, while the older generations have voted for separation.
Obviously, in this delicate matter the opinion of young people carries greater weight, because to them belongs future!
As for me, I cannot imagine Europe without Britain. Centuries of history bind Britain to Europe; even Sicily, which is my island, has a special place in the history of England.
On the slopes of Mount Etna there is the castle of Admiral Horatio Nelson. It is worth visiting, because it is a European heritage which no referendum can wipe out.
Although I don’t do politics, I have my own ideas. For me workers are all equal. Individuals exist not nations! Everybody has entitled to work and live anywhere in the world, because Earth belongs to everyone, regardless of the country were they were born.
Ettore Grillo, author of these books:
- A Hidden Sicilian History
- The Vibrations of Words
- Travels of the Mind
www.sbpra.com/ettoregrillo

THE LANGUAGE OF MUSIC
A few days ago, I was strolling along the streets in the center of Chiclayo when I came across a long parade made up of former students of “Collegio Nacional De San Josè”, which is a school only for boys. It was established one hundred and fifty-six years ago in Chiclayo.
The school band headed the procession.
Without music the parade would have been lifeless, but the sound of the band enlivened it and drew people from every corner of the city.
What would be life without music? It surely would be gloomy. Music exists from time immemorial. According to many, life itself originates from music, or a sound, or a word.
A long time ago, I saw a movie called Close Encounters of the Third Kind. The director was Steven Spielberg. The story was this: some people had wormed their way into a secret military base where a close encounter with aliens was going to happen. After a few attempts, the aliens got in touch with the earthmen just by playing musical notes, as their language was based on music. Was it mere science fiction? We don’t know, but it is certain that music is the only non-verbal language in the universe which everybody can understand, both earthmen and extraterrestrials.
Ettore Grillo, author of these books:
- A Hidden Sicilian History
- The Vibrations of Words
- Travels of the Mind
www.sbpra.com/ettoregrillo

THE HAPPY MAN HAD NO SHIRT
Seeing the happiness of these Peruvian children who belong to poor families, I recalled a story that a long time ago I read when I attended middle school.
Once upon a time, a king ordered his servants to bring him the shirt of a man who was really happy.
Hence, the servants went all around the kingdom, but they couldn’t find a happy man; everybody had some kind of misfortune. When their hope to find a happy man was about to die, unexpectedly they found a man singing in the open air.
“This man must be really happy! Let’s go to talk with him for a while” they said.
After questioning him, they found that he was really a happy man. “Give us your shirt! We will take it to the king and he will give you a special award for that!” they said.
“Unfortunately, I don’t have any shirt,” the happy man answered, “I am so poor that I don’t own anything.”
The servants went back to the king and reported that they did found a happy man indeed, but he didn’t have a shirt.
The moral of the story is intuitive: happiness springs not from riches but from the spontaneity of the heart.
Ettore Grillo, author of these books:
- A Hidden Sicilian History
- The Vibrations of Words
- Travels of the Mind
www.sbpra.com/ettoregrillo

VEGETARIANS
During my first week in Peru, I happened to attend a meeting about vegetarian cooking. It was held at a vegan restaurant, not far from downtown Chiclayo.
The lecturer was a nutritionist who spoke only Spanish. Among other things, she emphasized the importance of two nutrients: spirulina and salvia Hispanica commonly known as chia.
Hung at the entrance of the restaurant was a board on which famous people were portrayed.
Richard Gere, Leonardo Di Caprio, Brad Pitt and all the others on the board are vegetarian, even Albert Einstein was a vegetarian.
As for me, I am not totally vegetarian, but I have reduced meat intake by ninety percent. My aim is to eliminate meat from my diet completely.
A meat-free diet is beneficial to health and shows love and respect for all living creatures.

Ettore Grillo, author of these books:
- A Hidden Sicilian History
- The Vibrations of Words
- Travels of the Mind
www.sbpra.com/ettoregrillo

THE MASTER HEALER
Now I am in the city of Pimentel (Northern Peru). It is the first time for me in South America. I spent my first day at the marketplace of Chiclayo, from then I moved to the museum of Tùcume.
Both at the marketplace and in the museum there were displayed many kinds of objects to do magic, both white and black.
According to the Peruvian witches, the work of magic must be performed only on Tuesday or Friday to be effective; if performed in different days the magic doesn’t work.
The master healer of Tùcume preserves the tradition of healing through herbs and ceremonies. They celebrate ceremonial masses using a portable altar. The objects are placed on the altar in strict order. ‘Purgatorio’, who is an ancient deity, is present in the form of a stone brought from the mountain.
The master healer cures people using his arts which date back to the ancient world of his ancestors. Is it true? Who knows!

Ettore Grillo, author of these books:
- A Hidden Sicilian History
- The Vibrations of Words
- Travels of the Mind

VITAMIN OF NATURE

In a few months I’ll be seventy years old, but unlike most people my age I don’t take any medicine. If it happens to me to catch a cold, I let it go naturally. I don’t like to take pills, antibiotics and so on to get over.
What do I do to keep fit? I take the vitamin of nature. It doesn’t cost anything, as it is a gift of God. If you want to be healthy as well, take care of yourself not to lack of the following natural vitamin: swimming in the ocean, jogging in the forest, breathing clean air, doing yoga or similar exercises in the nature whenever you can.
Ettore Grillo, author of:
- A Hidden Sicilian History
- The Vibrations of Words
- Travels of the Mind

HOW TO REMOVE THE HEX
Aunt Filippa opened the cupboard and took out a soup plate and a small cup. She put the plate on my head, asking my mother to hold it fast. Then, she poured some water into the plate and olive oil into the small cup. Finally, she dipped her finger into the small cup of olive oil and dripped some into the water.
I remained with that plate on my head for several minutes. Aunt Filippa was not convinced, and from time to time she dripped more olive oil. Then she scrutinized the shape of the drops.
The drops could take different forms. They could remain as they were, become wider, or even disappear completely. If the drop maintained the same shape it had when it was dripped, it meant that there was no hex on me. If the drop became wider, there was a real hex. Sometimes the drop disappeared completely, and that meant that there was a lot of hex. In my case, the drops disappeared, and for that reason Aunt Filippa dripped olive oil many times.
“This boy has a lot of hex,” she said, “but I’ll take it out of him. I swear!”
To do that she made special signs around the plate and said a special prayer, which she had learned from her mother on Christmas Eve. It was a secret prayer that had been handed down from generation to generation. She then concluded, saying that I was now hex free thanks to her prayer.
At the time I barely understood her method of removing the hex, but with passing time I realized that what Aunt Filippa had done probably had a scientific basis. Words, thoughts, and feelings have vibrations. Everything vibrates in the universe. It means that each kind of vibration affects both organic and inorganic matter, including the shape of the drops that Aunt Filippa used to diagnose the hex. In other words, if my body vibrations were good the drops assumed a certain shape; otherwise they got broad or sometimes disappeared.

(Excerpt from A Hidden Sicilian History)
Ettore Grillo, author of:
- A Hidden Sicilian History
- The Vibrations of Words
- Travels of the Mind

MOSCOW

Meanwhile, I started to get used to living in Moscow, and decided to visit the monuments and places of that fantastic city by myself. By taking the subway, which was not far from my apartment, I got off near Red Square. It was a place that I had seen many times on TV during the Soviet Union’s parades.
I entered the square by passing through an archway. On the opposite side of the square, I saw the breathtaking view of Saint Basil’s Cathedral. It had been built by order of Tsar Ivan Vasilyevich, also known as Ivan the Terrible, to commemorate the conquest of Kazan and Astrakhan. It is the symbol of Russian art and culture. Legend says that when the Ivan the Terrible saw the masterpiece, he was so impressed with its beauty that he ordered that the architects who had designed it should be blinded, so they could not built something similar again.
The entire Kremlin area is full of masterpieces. Even the walls and towers of the Kremlin are works of art. Not far from there is the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, which is the tallest Orthodox church in the world. It stands by the bank of the Moskva River. It was rebuilt after the fall of the Berlin Wall. It had been razed to the ground by Stalin, who had planned to build the Palace of the Soviets on its site. Stalin couldn’t carry out his plan, and now the Cathedral of Christ the Savior stands to signify that it is impossible to suppress religion, which is rooted in the human heart.

(Excerpt from A Hidden Sicilian History)
Ettore Grillo, author of:
- A Hidden Sicilian History
- The Vibrations of Words
- Travels of the Mind

CICADAS
Whoever takes a walk in the woods during the summer months cannot avoid listening to the cicadas’ loud song. These insects are scattered almost all over the world, but not everybody knows how they do live.
Cicadas spend their lives underground for four, five and some species even seventeen years. Then, after such a long time spent in the darkness, they come to light, leave their nymphal status, take on wings, and start their very short winged life singing on the branches of the trees to allure their partner.
Sometimes, I compare my life to cicadas’. I have lived underground for a long time; much longer than a cicada! Then I came to light and started flying, and I am still flying from one continent to another, to spy out new countries, different cultures, and above all to find out what is the real essence of every living creature, human beings included.

Ettore Grillo, author of:
- A Hidden Sicilian History
- The Vibrations of Words
- Travels of the Mind

OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE
PART III


Pilgrims and visitors flocked into the square in front of the new basilica. I saw people, who from their olive complexion seemed to be natives or crossbreeds, carrying litters full of flowers. Some of them laid the litters on the floor and staged devotional songs and dances. I have to say that few times in my life have I seen such beautiful scenery. After having danced and sung, the pilgrims went into the basilica with their litters covered with flowers. I followed them and entered the basilica from one of the gates. It was a round church with an altar opposite the many rows of pews, and the holy image of the Virgin Mary was over it.
I sat on one of the pews and watched the shrine from a distance. Meanwhile, other groups continued to arrive in the basilica and headed for the back of the altar. I followed them and arrived at a moving walkway below the shrine. I admired the holy image for a few seconds while the walkaway moved.
Then I went out of the new basilica. I spent all day at the Villa de Guadalupe and visited the churches and buildings scattered in the area.
The old basilica housed Juan Diego’s cloak until 1974. A museum stands not far from the small old chapel erected on the same spot where the apparition happened. There were many exhibits in the museum. I lingered in a room full of many paintings that portrayed the Virgin of Guadalupe. The painters had tried to make a copy of the original image, but none of them had been able to reproduce it perfectly. Then I stood in front of a photograph, which was an exact copy of the original and had been approved by the ecclesiastic organs. While I was admiring the copy, I heard a voice behind me.
“Who knows what the number eight symbolizes?” said a man who was leading a group and who had the air of being a professor.
Nobody in his group answered his question. “The number eight symbolizes the infinite,” I answered.
“Exactly!” said the professor. “Now look at Mary’s pink robe. There are eight four-leaf clovers on it.”
Yes, I thought, the Virgin Mary is infinite, beyond space and time. She always has been and always will be. That means that she was on the Hill of Tepeyac long before the Spanish came to Mexico, even though she was worshipped under a different name.
(Excerpt from A Hidden Sicilian History)
Ettore Grillo, author of:
- A Hidden Sicilian History
- The Vibrations of Words
- Travels of the Mind

OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE
PART II
People from all over Mexico rallied to the chapel to worship the shrine, and it is reported that many miracles occurred. Nevertheless, the natives kept calling Our Lady by the name of Tonantzin, the ancient mother goddess revered by the native population. This gave rise to the doubts of the Franciscan friars, who were convinced that the veneration of the holy image was a pagan cult.
Something similar also happened in Enna. In fact, Our Lady, who is the patron saint of Enna, replaced the ancient cult of Demeter, who was the town’s mother goddess. The celebration in honor of Our Lady happens on July second every year, the same time when the old pagan cult of Demeter was celebrated. People of Enna today still invoke the name Kore, who was Demeter’s daughter.
In my opinion, it doesn’t matter the name you give to God; what matters is the spiritual feeling that radiates from the worshipper. So you can call God Allah, Brahma, Vishnu, or Shiva without losing the purity of your heart. Jesus and the Virgin Mary are beyond time, as they existed before time, long before coming into human history. They also existed in the pagan era and were worshipped differently.
The Virgin Mary appeared to Juan Diego in the form of a crossbreed maiden, and in the same place where the Spanish had destroyed the temple dedicated to the goddess Tonantzin. That means that nobody is allowed to destroy others’ temples, even if they are considered pagan. In fact, religion and spirituality are not related to a particular cult. Over the years people have given various names to God and worshiped Him in different ways, but it doesn’t entitle anybody to resort to violence to make one religion prevail over another.
As for the holy image imprinted on Juan Diego’s cloak, it was kept for some time by the Franciscan friars until it passed under the custody of the diocesan priests. With the passing of time, possibly in good faith, the original image was retouched in some spots. For instance, the crescent on which the Virgin Mary stands was painted with silver. Apparently, nowadays the retouches have discolored naturally, while the original
image is still unaltered.


(Excerpt from A Hidden Sicilian History)
Ettore Grillo, author of:
- A Hidden Sicilian History
- The Vibrations of Words
- Travels of the Mind

OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE
PART I

It was early in the morning, but the street already swarmed with people and food vendors. After ten minutes of walking, I arrived at the side entrance of the basilica. There was a large square before the main church. Actually, there were a few churches in the area besides the basilica that houses the original cloak on which the image of Our Lady is imprinted.
The place where the basilica now stands was a holy place long before the Spanish conquered Mexico. It is called the Hill of Tepeyac. At the site there was a temple devoted to the mother goddess called Tonantzin. Later, the Spanish destroyed the temple and built a nearby chapel. But the destruction of the temple couldn’t prevent the natives from pouring into the site.
Ten years after the Spanish conquered Mexico, a local peasant named Juan Diego, who had recently converted to Christianity, had a vision said to be Our Lady in the same area, who asked for a chapel to be built in the place. Diego reported what Our Lady had requested to the Franciscan bishop, but his account left the bishop doubtful. In fact, he required proof to corroborate what the native had reported.
Juan Diego went back to the hill where the vision had happened, and asked Our Lady to give him proof that she was really the Virgin Mary. This time, Our Lady asked Juan Diego to pluck some flowers and take them to the bishop. This would prove the truthfulness of the vision.
He did as Our Lady required; he picked some roses and wrapped them with his cloak. Then he hastened away to the bishop. When he was in the presence of the bishop, he unfolded his cloak. The roses fell onto the floor, and the image of the Virgin Mary was shining on the cloak. From then on, Juan Diego’s cloak was guarded with care by the Franciscan friars, and a chapel was built in the place of the apparition.
(Excerpt from A Hidden Sicilian History)
Ettore Grillo, author of:
- A Hidden Sicilian History
- The Vibrations of Words
- Travels of the Mind

SYRACUSE
In 1953 in Syracuse, a bride and a groom had been presented with a plaster plaque portraying the Immaculate Heart of Mary. The newlyweds were very poor and went to live with the husband’s parents for some time. The plaque was hung on the wall over the headboard of the bed.
The wife, Antonia, had a difficult pregnancy and suffered with convulsions and clouded vision. One day, after a seizure and a bout of temporary blindness, Antonia opened her eyes and noticed that the plaster plaque portraying the Virgin Mary was weeping. When she called out to her relatives and told them that the effigy was weeping, nobody believed her. But later, everyone saw that the small statue really was in tears.
Tears kept flowing from the statue’s eyes for a few days and were seen by the people that flocked around Antonia’s house. Filmed sequences of the plaque showed the phenomenon. The tears were collected and sent to laboratory to be analyzed. The tests showed that they were human tears.
The Catholic Church declared the lacrimation a miracle. Now a church has been built in the area, where more than sixty years ago there were an unsurfaced square and a cluster of low houses.
I remember as soon as we arrived in Syracuse and parked our car at the end of the square, there were so many people in the square and around the house where the miracle happened that it was impossible for us to move on. As I wanted to see what was going on, my father, who was taller than average, picked me up so that I could see the happenings.
I noticed a line of detached one-story houses on the opposite side of the square and people standing and looking at those houses. Suddenly, I heard a voice that sounded like stammering.
“What happened?” I asked my father. “Why is that person stammering?”
“That man has been cured miraculously. He couldn’t walk, but now he has left his wheelchair and is walking.”
When I returned to the same place many years later, the square and the low houses didn’t exist anymore. The plaster plaque portraying Our Lady had been moved inside the new church to be exposed to the believers.
Ettore Grillo, author of:
- A Hidden Sicilian History
- The Vibrations of Words
- Travels of the Mind

THE SECRET TO A LONG LIFE

The secret to living well and longer is:
eat half,
walk double,
laugh triple,
and love without measure.
-Tibetan proverb-

Although nobody has the right recipe for a long life, I agree with this Tibetan proverb.
In Greek mythology, the Fates, three ladies dressed in white, symbolized man’s fate. The first of them, Clotho, spun the thread of life on her spindle; the second one, Lachesis, measured its length by her rod; the third, called Atropos, cut the thread of life at her will. Nobody was able to oppose them. Even almighty Zeus was powerless against them; he was unable to change the destiny of a person even if he firmly wished it.
When our time comes, there is nothing to do to send away death.
In my opinion the best way to live well is to have faith. Faith is nearly synonymous with confidence. Confidence in yourself, in your neighbor, in God.
Ettore Grillo, author of:
- A Hidden Sicilian History
- The Vibrations of Words
- Travels of the Mind

VULCANO ISLAND
If you are suffering from any kind of skin diseases, it is helpful to visit and stay for a few days in Vulcano Island. It is very near Sicily and easily reachable from Milazzo, a city in the north-east coast of Sicily.
The volcano is still active, although characterized by fumaroles and hot springs.
The island is one of the eight Aeolian Islands. According to mythology, the god of winds Aeolus lived in these islands. He kept the winds under control by locking up them in a leather bag.
Yesterday as soon as I landed on the island, I headed for a small pond which looked like quicksand. Many people smeared mud on their body. A lady told me that many years ago she had suffered from a skin disease that seemed incurable but thanks to the mud of this pond she got over. Ever since that time she comes to Vulcano for her holidays and enjoys the surreal atmosphere of this magic, mythological island.

Ettore Grillo, author of:
- A Hidden Sicilian History
- The Vibrations of Words
- Travels of the Mind

THE BLACK MADONNA OF CZESTOCHOWA

In my life I have visited quite a few Marian Sanctuaries: Syracuse, Lourdes, Fatima, and so on. Now I want to talk about the Black Madonna of Czestochowa in Poland.
According to tradition, after Jesus’ death Mary went to stay with John and brought with her among her personal belongings a small wooden table that had been made by Jesus.
Later Luke, one of the evangelists, portrayed on the small table Mary and Baby Jesus.
As time went by, Mary’s and Jesus’ faces became black, probably due to the smoke from the candles and the aging of the wood.
The small table underwent many changes of ownership, until it arrived at Jasna Gora Monastery in Czestochowa.
In 1430 the monastery was attacked by a group of heretics, the small table wrenched away from the place where it was, and the painting slashed.
Later, the painting was restored but the slashes in Mary’s face appeared again.
When I arrived at the Monastery of Jasna Gora and entered the chapel where the precious painting is kept, I saw a few crutches hung on one of the walls; obviously, they had been left there by people who had been miraculously healed.
I remained a few minutes in front of the holy image and had the sensation that Mary was suggesting a new lifestyle: think less, lucubrate less, spend more time with friends and acquaintances.
Ettore Grillo, author of:
- A Hidden Sicilian History
- The Vibrations of Words
- Travels of the Mind

THE HEART OF CHOPIN
If you go to Warsaw, don’t miss visiting the heart of Chopin in the Church of The Holy Cross.
The great composer and pianist lived in Warsaw until the age of twenty; then he moved to Paris where he remained until the end of his young life.
Not everybody knows that Chopin was scared of being buried alive; so before dying, he asked his heart to be explanted and taken to Warsaw.
After his death, the Scottish lady Jane Stirling who was a student and a friend of Chopin, built a sepulchral monument on the tomb where Chopin’s body was buried in Paris, and also paid the expenses for the funeral and the return of his sister Ludwika to Poland.
Ludwika put her brother’s heart into an urn filled with alcohol and took it to Warsaw to be buried in the Church of the Holy Cross.
When I entered that church, the melodious sound of the organ flooded the atmosphere. I took a seat near Chopin’s heart and meditated on life, love and friendship. Then I recollected a few words painted on a wall of the hostel where I was staying:
I’ve travelled,
I’ve discovered,
I’ve changed the world.

Ettore Grillo, author of:
- A Hidden Sicilian History
-The Vibrations of Words
-Travels of the Mind

RIVER

The river has emerald-green waters.
It flows calm and marks the border between life and
death.
If I could, I would have built a bridge to unite the two
worlds,
but I cannot. I am too frail, too powerless.
I am a human being and
only the gods can make up such a bridge.
For now we are separated, O my beloved brother,
and Charon keeps ferrying souls across the river.
One day a new light will guide me to you,
and we will stay together in our star, which is the same
as that from where we came.

Ettore Grillo, author of:
- A Hidden Sicilian History
-The Vibrations of Words
-Travels of the Mind

FLOWERS

My beloved brother,
when you cross the river of eternal life
may the angels strew your way with flowers.
Your heart is pure and stainless
and your soul never will die.
You are now in a faraway land
where the moon always shines
and the sun never sets.
Before long we will hold hands again,
to walk together until the end of space and time!

The poem has been excerpted from A Hidden Sicilian History
Ettore Grillo, author of:
- A Hidden Sicilian History
-The Vibrations of Words
-Travels of the Mind

THE FEAST OF THE PATRON SAINT IN ENNA
The pagan worship of the goddess Demeter and her daughter Kore was deeply rooted in Enna until the fifteen century when St. Pancras’ preaching put an end to the multiplicity of cults. At the time, besides the Gentiles and the Catholics there were many Muslim families in Enna.
In 1412 the municipality sent a delegation to Venice to buy a statue that replaced the previous one of the goddess Demeter.
As they couldn’t find an effigy portraying the Madonna alone, they bought a wooden sculpture of Maria holding the baby Jesus and shipped it to Sicily by sea.
According to the legend, when the statue arrived at the slopes of Enna, it became so heavy that it was impossible to move it. Then, the wheat reapers came from the nearby fields and put the statue on their shoulders. With them it became light, and they took it to the cathedral. Ever since that time the simulacrum of the Madonna is carried in procession on a gilded litter only by those belonging to the peasantry. People call it ‘The Golden Ship’. The bearers are around one hundred and consider a great honor to carry the Virgin Mary in procession. The fixed, numbered places under the beams that support the litter are assigned to the descendants of the reapers who first brought the statue to Enna and are passed down from generation to generation; therefore it happens that tall and short brethren carry the litter side by side, with the result that some bear much weight and others less or almost nothing. For this reason the ‘Golden Ship’ proceeds with a slanting pace and sometimes gives the impression that it is about to fall on the crowd.
On July 2, the day of the feast, the crowned wooden sculpture of Our Lady covered with gold - rings, bracelets, necklaces, and so on, preceded by the statues of St. Joseph and St. Michael the Archangel, files between two lines of people.
According to some historians, the feast of July 2 is the same as the old one of Demeter. At that time three statues were also carried in procession. Therefore what matters is the religious feeling which does not depend on the different names you may give to the divinity.
Ettore Grillo, author of:
- A Hidden Sicilian History
-The Vibrations of Words
-Travels of the Mind

TEN DAYS OUTSIDE THE WORLD
PART TWO

The course was held in an ancient Tuscan farmstead. We were about seventy participants, and had to wake up at four o’ clock in the morning when it was pitch dark. The meditation was held in the hall within half an hour.
The meals were breakfast at 6 and lunch at eleven in the morning. After lunch there was nothing to eat- except some fruit- until the next day. The teacher said that the stomach should be empty to meditate well.
During the first three days we did a kind of meditation called ‘Anapana’, which consisted in watching the air passing through our nostrils.
In the evening it was possible to ask questions to the teacher. So I went to him and asked: “ I’d like to know what is the meaning of watching my breathing.”
He didn’t seem to be taken aback by my question and answered with a kind smile. “The observation of the air passing through your nostrils leads you to see the reality as it is; there is nothing more objective than air. Furthermore watching yourself in the limited area around your nostrils and upper lip sharpens your mind to observe the body sensations.
After three days of ‘Anapana’, we were taught another kind of meditation called ‘Vipassana’, based on the observation of our body. Also this time I had the opportunity of asking the teacher about this topic. “What is for?” I asked.
“Through ‘Vipassana’ you will come across the ‘Law of Impermanence’”. “All body sensations,” he continued, “ come and go; they are impermanent so as everything in human life.”
After nine days of absolute silence and meditation, we were allowed to talk to each other.
I had been ten days outside worldly life. A really unique experience! Everybody should interrupt the chain of the events that lead them here and there like leaves swept away by the wind even for a little while and watch inside themselves, so as every authentic human being should do. So I recommend meditation to everybody who lives very busily.

Ettore Grillo, author of:
- A Hidden Sicilian History
-The Vibrations of Words
-Travels of the Mind



The Vibrations of Words

The Vibrations of Words
TEN DAYS OUTSIDE THE WORLD
PART ONE

One day while I was traveling in Indochina, I had the chance to meet a few extraordinary people who stayed at a very special meditation center for one month, where they meditated continuously. Later, although they were traveling across Thailand, they enjoyed meditating at least for two hours a day.
I was made curious by their way of living and asked them some information about the meditation course they had attended.
“We have been in a Dhamma Mediation Center,” they answered, “but you can find similar centers all over the world. It is very easy! All you have to do is to search them on the internet.”
Once back in Italy, I visited the website they had advised, and found that there was a Vipassana Meditation Center also in Italy, precisely in the countryside near Florence; so I applied for a ten days course.
As soon as I arrived, a volunteer at the reception – all Dhamma Centers are free, based on donations, and the workers and teachers are unpaid – asked me to leave my laptop, mobile phone, and books at the reception. For ten days I would be isolated from the rest of the world, in a state of absolute silence; not one word would be exchanged between me and the other participants. Men and women would attend the course in different areas…

Ettore Grillo, author of:
- A Hidden Sicilian History
-The Vibrations of Words
-Travels of the Mind

LIFE

We were sitting on our stone staircase.
What is life? I asked my siblings.
“Life is breathing,”answered Biagio. “Even trees breathe.”
“Life is a tiny bird on a small branch,”said Vincenzo.
“Unexpectedly the sprig snaps,
and the little bird flies away.”
“As for me,” replied Carolina, “life is a dream,
sometimes beautiful and often nightmarish.”
“Life is destiny!” I ended off. “It is a beautiful drawing on the sand,
and the drawer already knows when the tide will erase it .”

This poem is an excerpt from my book, A Hidden Sicilian History.

THE GIFTS OF INSULTS

One day many people were bringing presents to Prince Siddhartha Gautama Buddha, who accepted all the gifts and smiled kindly at everybody, but all of a sudden an angry man started railing at him. Instead of gifts, that intolerant person hurled insults at Prince Siddhartha Gautama Buddha.
The prince continued to smile and replied politely. “I don’t like your gifts; therefore keep them just for you, because I don’t accept your presents.”
The angry man seemed bewildered and didn’t have the strength to reply.
The moral of the story? Whenever somebody insults you, instead of retaliating, just confine yourself to saying “ I don’t like your gifts, keep them for you!”
Don’t you think that if everybody acted that way, the world would be more peaceful?
Ettore Grillo, author of a Hidden Sicilian History

A Hidden Sicilian History

THE PUMPKIN SEEDSThe Vibrations of Words
Once upon a time, in Northern India there was a woman in her forties, who wished to become a mother for a long time. It seemed that she was barren, but when the last ray of hope was about to vanish, unexpectedly she gave birth to a very beautiful baby girl.

At that time, she was the happiest woman in the world, but at the age of five years her little girl died suddenly.

She was desperate, and couldn’t accept that her beloved daughter had passed away. She cried and cried. One day, one of her neighbors advised her to go to Prince Gautama Buddha, who was a man able to perform miracles.

“ If you beseech that holy man, your daughter will come back to life!” said the neighbor.

The lady set out towards the place where Buddha lived and after two days’ walk she reached him.

Prince Gautama Buddha was sitting surrounded by many monks. Seeing her so badly upset, he felt pity.

“To perform the miracle,” said Prince Gautama to the lady, “ you need to bring me seven pumpkin seeds, but they must be taken from a house where nobody has died.”

The lady was happy and confident that she would easily get the seven pumpkin seeds, and Prince Siddhartha Gautama would perform the miracle to revive her child.

She knocked on the door of a house and asked: “Do you have pumpkin seeds?”

“Yes, of course we have a lot of pumpkin seeds,” answered a young lady on the threshold.

“Did someone die in this house?”

“Unfortunately, last year my father passed away,” she answered.

She kept going from house to house asking for pumpkin seeds, but she couldn’t find a house where nobody had died. Everyone had suffered the death of someone.

Meanwhile, the desperate lady returned to reason, and finally realized that life and death are two sides of the same coin, no one can escape the latter.

What is the moral of the story?

You are not the only one who struggles in life; whenever you feel a pain which seems unbearable, look at the others and you will see your trouble fade away.

Ettore Grillo, author of A Hidden Sicilian History

The Vibrations of Words
ONE-STAR RATING

Nowadays, more and more people buy items on the internet: books, electronics, musical instruments, cars, shoes, and so on. Usually, they read the product review before purchasing, which ranges from one-star to five-star.
If an item is rated one-star, people don’t even read the product review and skip it to look for another article with more stars.
Have you ever asked yourself if this way of judging is the right one?
Three years ago I posted a comment on Reddit, which is a social media.
My comment was about what happened at a restaurant in Houston. A family of four asked to have dinner at a distance from the table where another family with a disabled child was dining, and addressed the waiter with a few pungent words.
“Disabled children should eat in special places when they enter a restaurant!”
On hearing those words, the waiter refused to serve those intolerant customers, who left the restaurant.
The news spread quite soon, and the restaurant was praised by host of people due to the waiter’s behavior.
My voice was dissenting from those who had praised the restaurant.
In my opinion the waiter had the duty to serve the intolerant guests, although he had different ideas in his mind.
My article was misunderstood and misinterpreted.
A few anonymous people posted some tart replies. An anonymous reader bought the electronic copy of my newly published book The Vibrations of Words, and immediately posted a one-star review on Amazon.
That pseudo-review has nothing to do with the contents of the book, as it is related to my article on Reddit, but the readers don’t know that, and seeing my book on Amazon rated one-star, they pass over it.
Reality is different from appearance the Buddhists say, and I agree with them. Not everything that at first glance seems to be true is the truth.
The Vibrations of Words is a wonderful book indeed, and I recommend it to the readers. Who knows! Maybe someone, after having read it, can post a good review on Amazon to counterbalance the fake one, and give my book the luck it deserves.

Ettore Grillo, author of The Vibrations of Words

Traveling across the world, it has happened to me to eat every kind of food. I have eaten cockroaches, worms, grasshopper, frogs, raw meat, raw fish and so on, but at first glance what I was not able to eat was a balut.
What is a balut? It is a fertilized egg, that is an egg with a chick inside. It is considered a delicacy by the local people in Thailand, Vietnam and Philippines.
While I was travelling Indo-China I came across a balut twice.
The first time in Thailand. I was in Chang May, eating at a restaurant, when I saw a pile of white hard-boiled eggs in the shape of a pyramid that were kept warm by steam.
I was attracted by those eggs and ordered two of them. When I removed the eggshell, I saw some strange red veins. “This egg is not good!” I said to the waitress.
“No, it is very tasty! There is a chick inside” she replayed.
Despite her insistence, I was unable to eat that strange food and paid in vain.
A few years went by, and in Vietnam at a restaurant a waiter served me another balut. This time I wanted to try it, and little by little I ate both the chick and the egg.
Why I am writing about a balut? Because I want to draw attention to the fact that very often we humans cringe if a chick is eaten or a nest is destroyed, but we are left completely indifferent whenever thousands and thousands of migrants drown in the Mediterranean sea while trying to reach the European coasts. There are even people who love animals, but hate their neighbor. We had better observe reality as it is, regardless of our feelings of pleasure or displeasure, taste or disgust.

Ettore Grillo, author of Travels of the Mind
Travels of the Mind

THE SUFIS

Some time ago, while I was visiting the Church of St. Paul in Rome, I came across an extraordinary person that handed me a list of books.
It definitely was a chance meeting. I exchanged a few words with the stranger and then just before we parted he presented me with a piece of handwritten paper.
Once back home, I had a closer look at the gift. There were listed forty-four books that ranged from The Fourth Way by Ouspensky to Confessions by Saint Augustine, from the Holy Koran to the Song of Songs. There were also listed a few Sufi books, some by mystic poets like Rumi. Two essays about the Sufis were written by Idries Shah.
I read almost all the books in the list. As for the Sufis, my wish was to meet them in person instead of knowing them only through books.
The opportunity came during my stay in Rabat, the capital of Morocco. I went to that city to volunteer. As soon as I arrived, I tried to get information on how to find the Sufis. My host family told me that it would be impossible for a non-Muslim to enter a mosque, but perhaps the Sufis would make an exception for me. The mistress knew their meeting place and offered to accompany me.
We went to a zawiya, a Sufi lodge. I tried to cross the threshold with nonchalance, but a person at the front door stopped me. “You cannot enter the zawija!” he said.
As the lady insisted, he said that I had to talk with a certain person before being admitted. The lady called the man over the phone and arranged an appointment for the following day.
We met at a coffee bar not far from the Italian embassy. The Sufi was tall, dark and well-mannered. He was a professor at the University of Rabat.
“Why do you want to meet the Sufis?” the professor said.
“I want to know whether there is life after death. I heard that the Sufis are mystic. Maybe they know truths that ordinary human beings cannot know,” I said.
“To know the truth you must purify your heart. Everything turns on purifying your heart. Only then you can get the answer to your question; even in this life! If you invoke the name of God, little by little you will purify your heart. The core of Sufism is 'La ilaha illa Allah' (there is nothing to worship other than Allah). You hold too many gods inside your heart: money, success, fame and so on. You have to drop all these gods from your heart and worship only Allah.”
Then, he gave me a CD and asked me to call him one week later, after watching carefully it.
One week later I was admitted in the Zawija!
There were people that read books written in Arabic. As for me, a Sufi recommended that I say continuously the words La ilaha illa Allah.
“You cannot know the truth without a master. For a Sufi the master is essential. Purify your heart more and more and then you'll find your master inside you,” he said.
After a few hours we all sat on the floor to share and eat together their local dish, couscous.
I went to the zawija every Saturday for almost two months, then I left Morocco. Before leaving, one of the Sufis came close to me. “What is your name?” he asked.
“My name is Ettore.”
“My name is Torabi. Will you forget it?”
“I will not forget your name!” I answered.
“Well! Every now and then say my name in your heart and I'll say yours in mine,” he said.
Now I am faraway from Morocco. A few months have elapsed. From time to time I think of Torabi and I am sure he is thinking of me as well.
Ettore Grillo, author of A Hidden Sicilian History
A Hidden Sicilian History

THE NOBLE EIGHTFOLD PATH

1. Right Understanding
2. Right Thought
3. Right Speech
4. Right Action
5. Right Livelihood
6. Right Effort
7. Right Mindfulness
8. Right Concentration

The eightfold path is the heart of Buddhism, but it can be followed by everybody, even if they are atheists.
Once a friend of mine who was a non-believer couldn't join an esoteric society, because it was necessary to swear on the Bible to be admitted. Despite he liked esotericism very much, he refused to swear on the Bible. In fact, he had no intention of giving up his atheistic ideas. Later, he said to me that he wouldn't have raised difficulties if he had been asked to swear on Gautama Buddha's Eightfold Path which was compatible with his ideas.
Actually, the Eightfold Path is a way of living; it can help everybody to live a better life.
– Right Understanding means to understand things as they really are, not as they appear to our deluded mind. How many times we misunderstand people and situations, and mistake candles for lanterns!
– Right Thought. Our thoughts are subject to the “Law of Attraction”; the more pure they are, the more they attract pureness.
– Right Speech – Right Action – Right Livelihood are related to keeping good moral conduct.
– Right Effort indicates that we have to put an effort in our spiritual life. A little effort is needed if we want to grow as spiritual beings. Without a proper effort we live a lazy life, which clouds the mind instead of elevating the spirit.
– Right Mindfulness. This recommendation is particularly useful when a person is too sensitive to self-pride. As for me, in the past whenever somebody offended or made fun of me, my self-proud was so wounded that I easily lost my self-control and was unable to see things, people and situations as they real are. Nowadays I strive to be more mindful, without ever being clouded, whether good or bad, by life events.
– Right Concentration is also called right meditation. Whenever we meditate, we should focus our attention on one single object, without being distracted by trivial worries.

What about trying the Eightfold Path in your ordinary daily life? Is it difficult for you?

Ettore Grillo, author of A Hidden Sicilian History
A Hidden Sicilian History

CANTICLE OF THE CREATURES
Most High, all-powerful, good Lord,
Yours are the praises, the glory, and the honor, and all blessing, To You alone, Most
High, do they belong,
and no human is worthy to mention Your name.
Praise be You, my Lord, with all Your creatures,
especially Sir Brother Sun,
who is the day and through whom You give us light.
And he is beautiful and radiant with great splendor;
and bears a likeness of You, Most High One.
Praised be You, my Lord, through Sister Moon and the stars,
in heaven You formed them clear and precious and beautiful.
Praised be You, my Lord, through Brother Wind,
and through the air, cloudy and serene, and every kind of weather,
through whom You give sustenance to Your creatures.
Praised be You, my Lord, through Sister Water,
who is very useful and humble and precious and chaste.
Praised be You, my Lord, through Brother Fire,
through whom You light the night,
and he is beautiful and playful and robust and strong.
Praised be You, my Lord, through our Sister Mother Earth,
who sustains and governs us, and who produces various fruit with colored flowers and
herbs.
Praised be You, my Lord, through those who give pardon for Your love,
and bear infirmity and tribulation.
Blessed are those who endure in peace
for by You, Most High, shall they be crowned.
Praised be You, my Lord, through our Sister Bodily Death,
from whom no one living can escape.
Woe to those who die in mortal sin.
Blessed are those whom death will find in Your most holy will,
for the second death shall do them no harm.
Praise and bless my Lord and give Him thanks
and serve Him with great humility.
— St. Francis of Assisi

The Canticle of the Creatures was written by St. Francis more than eight hundred years ago, but it is still relevant. I consider St. Francis as a precious source of teachings.
In my opinion, The Canticle is an expression of gratitude for what we have, first of all life, health, sight, hearing, and so on.
In my life, I often got upset if things didn't go well. I never considered that I already had many things to enjoy, but I wanted to have more money, more friends, more amusement. If I couldn't achieve what I wanted, my mood became bad. But the more I was in bad mood, the more things went wrongly.
Rhonda Byrne, author of The Secret, says that our thoughts and feelings are subject to the “Law of Attraction”. I agree with her. If we feel sad for what we don't have, for the missed achievements, for the moneys we have lost, and so on, we attract more sadness and we will never achieve what we want. But, if we express gratitude for what we have, we'll attract more wealth and riches.
As for me, as soon as I get up in the morning, I express gratitude for being alive and still in good health. I express gratitude for having been able to overcome the many hindrances and predicaments that have marked my life. I express gratitude for being endowed with a mind and heart that look for God and the meaning of life. By expressing gratitude I can find more grateful things. Even if sometimes events take a different direction from that I expected, I continue to express gratitude to God, to everybody, and to myself.
Ettore Grillo, author of A Hidden Sicilian History
A Hidden Sicilian History

MISSED OPPORTUNITIESA Hidden Sicilian History
Some time ago, a friend of mine told me about his travel through the Sahara. What enchanted him the most was the stillness of the desert, the absolute absence of sound.
When I had the opportunity of volunteering in Rabat, the capital of Morocco, I recalled my friend's words. I wished to stay at least one day in utter silence, in the dunes.
Despite Rabat is quite far from the desert, I wanted to go to the Sahara at any cost. I got information and one Friday I took a train from Rabat to Meknes, and then a night bus to Merzouga, a town close to the desert.
I arrived in Merzouga when it was still dark. I was dozing when a man with a turban on his head awoke me. He showed me a picture of a hotel near the desert and offered to take me there.
The owner of the hotel proposed me to spend the night in a Bedouin tent in the desert. In the daytime I would remain in the hotel, which was just a few steps from the desert.
From the hotel I walked to the desert. Dune after dune I tried to find the absolute silence, but it was not possible because I was too near the town.
In the late afternoon, a camel-driver came with three camels to take a young Moroccan couple with their little child and me to the Bedouin tents.
The young lady wore a headscarf and looked like a nun. She was in an advanced state of pregnancy. The child was not more than two years old.
The camel-driver said something to the camels, which immediately crouched.
We all mounted our camels and set off towards the desert. The camel-driver led the camels on foot.
It was dusk. Our small caravan led by the camel-driver proceeded along the dunes. The lady was quite talkative and all the way turned back to me to talk about her religion. I had the impression that she tried to convert me to Islam.
When we arrived at the bivouac, it was already dark. It started raining and we remained in the camel-driver's tent to eat. The young lady cooked a delicious food. Then we went to our tents to sleep.
The following day at daybreak we set off for our hotel.
The young couple was very kind to me, and invited me to travel in their car to Marrakesh, a very ancient and beautiful city, but I declined their invitation.
I thought I was a burden to them, furthermore I had to go back to Rabat to work on my book. The young couple seemed offended by my refusal.
After I left Morocco, for some reason I remembered that meeting. What a fool I was! I had the chance to know new people, and visit more places in Morocco, instead I refused their invitation.
If I consider the missed opportunities of my life, I see that they are much more than those I seized.
Perhaps the same goes for everybody. As for me, my missed opportunities are a good lesson to me. Next time I will not waste favorable chances. I will treasure the gifts that life gives me.
Ettore Grillo, author of A Hidden Sicilian History

WHAT DOES HOLISM MEAN?

The word holism comes from the Greek olos (all, whole). Holism is based on the idea that living beings should be considered as oneness, not as a set of their component parts. A tree is made of leaves, branches, sap, and so on, but it is a unit; to be kept alive it needs all its components.
The same goes for humans. They are made of bones, muscles, brain, and mind. The soul is within the body, but it is not separated from it. They are a whole, and interact. Body ailments affect mind, and vice versa, if the mind is restless also the body suffers.
Holistic disciplines aim to cure the person as a whole. Therefore they treat not only the body but also the mind.
Yoga, acupuncture, martial arts, Thai massage are some of the many holistic remedies.
However, also outdoor exercises have a positive effect on both body and soul. Try to jog in the forest in the early morning, and you'll see how you will feel in good mental and physical shape.
Before resorting to medicines, it would be good to practice some holistic disciplines. It would benefit health and also the National Health Service, which will save a lot of money.
A Hidden Sicilian History
Ettore Grillo, author of A Hidden Sicilian History

DIFFERENT LANGUAGES


Traveling through the world it happens to me not to understand the language of the people I come across.

Once, while I was traveling in Africa a lady from Tanzania invited me to visit her village. We traveled on a truck to get there. As soon as we enter her house, her parents sang and danced of joy at the sight of her daughter, and then other families came in. They chatted all night in their language, Swahili. I couldn't catch the meaning of even a single word and remained sitting on the chair silently, but I was happy to stay with them, though I didn't understand anything.

Something similar happened to me during my travels in Russia, Japan, Korea, Morocco and many other countries.

Even in England, America and Australia whenever I sit around a table with native speakers of English, I am not able to take part in their conversation. They speak too fast. My mother language is Italian and I have never lived outside Sicily for a long time.

A few years ago while I was in Auroville (India), my wife and I went to visit some friends of her same country. They chatted in their language while I remained silent. After a while, one of the Korean ladies couldn't stand me sitting silently there. “Why don't you go take a walk! Are you not bored?”
“For me there is no problem to stay with other people without talking,” I answered. Nevertheless, I could notice that that lady was restless all the time seeing me sitting silently. So I went out to take a walk.

Sometimes even with people who speak Italian, it happens to me not to understand their talk; it is as if we spoke different languages.

My aunt Josephine, who is a great businesswoman, once said to me that if during a conversation people talked about business she was quite talkative, otherwise she had nothing to say. Obviously, her language was that of business not of frivolous words.

As for me, I cannot understand the language of those who talk about soccer, or TV shows. Every time I happen to chat about such topics I feel like I am an alien from a distant planet.

A friend of mine, who was a good lawyer, knew only the language of the decisions of the courts. Every time I came across him, he talked about case law. He couldn't understand languages different from that of jurisprudence.

In the field of religions and custom and morals everyone speaks their way, unable to understand the others' language.

There are different kinds of communication indeed: the soul language, body language, mind language, lip language, music language, and so on.

We should learn all these languages to understand our fellow human beings, their religion, cults and traditions, which may be different from ours. Ignorance very often leads us to lack of understanding.
A Hidden Sicilian History
Ettore Grillo, author of A Hidden Sicilian History

My latest post, The Broken Dandelion, dates back to two years ago. I have not written anything since then because I have been engaged in writing my third book, A Hidden Sicilian History. Now I am here again to write down something interesting in my blog.
I am in Chiang Rai (Northern Thailand), in the countryside near a hot spring, called Pong Phrabat. The spring water is hot and smells of sulfur. It is said that it has healing properties, including the treatment of skin diseases.
A small spa with about ten bathtubs has been built on the site. In the early morning my wife and I use to lower ourselves into one of the womb-shaped bathtubs and relax in the water.
Lazing in the healing water I recalled a friend of mine who suffers from a skin disease called vitiligo. It is non-contagious and not dangerous for body health, but it causes quite a few problems of aesthetic nature. It is characterized by loss of skin pigment and unsightly white blotches in the hands, face and other body parts. The renowned star Michael Jackson suffered from vitiligo. For this reason his skin lost its natural black color and turned white.
One day, surfing the internet I came across a book written by a guy who claimed to have gotten over his vitiligo. In the book you could find the rules and instructions to follow until complete healing. It was written in English. I was happy to have found a remedy for my friend, so I translated it into Italian – the language spoken by my friend - and presented him with the translated book.
“I have found this book for you!” I said.
“Thank you!” he answered, “I'll read it, but I am convinced that vililigo is incurable. In fact, I have been hospitalized in a specialist clinic of Rome, which is advanced for the treatment of skin diseases. The doctors' opinion was unanimous: there is no cure for vitiligo.”
Six months elapsed. Hence, I asked my friend if everything was OK. “Did you follow the instructions in the book I gave you?”
“Not much! As I told you vitiligo has no cure.”
“Okay, do as you like!” I said, “but allow me to tell you an old story I heard some time ago.”
“Once upon a time, in a faraway land there was a rich merchant. He was very fond of his wife and child. Nevertheless, he often moved from one country to another to sell his goods, and had to stay away from his beloved family for long periods.”
“While he was trading abroad, pillagers burst into his house. They killed his wife and abducted his child.”
“A month passed, and the merchant went back home. In the courtyard he found a little human body, which was charred and unidentifiable, but he was sure that it was his son's dead body. He picked up the little corpse, put it into a box and prayed in front of it every day.”
“Fifteen years went by. In the meanwhile, his son succeeded in escaping from his abductors and returned home one night. He knocked on the main door and besought his parent to open it, but his father was unshakable; he was convinced that his son was the charred little body that he had found in the courtyard long time ago, and now his real son seemed to him to be a robber. He didn't open the door. His son knocked and knocked until he gave up and went away.”
The moral of the tale is intuitive: we humans cling to fixed ideas, which we erroneously believe to be absolute truth. Sometimes, we had better open our mind, trying alternative ways, leaving aside prejudice and preconceived ideas.
Ettore Grillo, author of A Hidden Sicilian History
A Hidden Sicilian History

A HIDDEN SICILIAN HISTORY
BY
ETTORE GRILLO


Historical Novel Set in Sicily Ponders Life After Death

In a musty library in Enna, Sicily, a young man doing research providentially finds an ancient scroll on the floor. It appears to have slipped from a gap between two volumes about the Spanish Inquisition.

But the unexpected scroll is not about the Inquisition at all; instead it reveals a drama that was performed on the stage of Enna’s deconsecrated Church of Santa Croce ages ago.

The man decides to translate the lost manuscript from Italian into English and publish it. History flows freely from the scroll, and like a Pied Piper takes the young man back to the time of ancient feasts and processions, a time when he could learn how to remove hexes, cure roundworms in children, and envision life as it was in the local whorehouse. It also shows how societies bound together by a common thread all yearn to understand the meaning of life, and to answer the ultimate question: Is there life after death?

A Hidden Sicilian History is an intriguing historical novel that starts with an investigation of a mysterious death.

About the Author: Ettore Grillo is a retired attorney from Sicily who spends his time writing and traveling. This is his third book.

“This novel is not only a fascinating read, but it opens an imaginative doorway to a time long forgotten. Readers will find answers to eternal questions and will discover what it was like to live in ancient Italy. We are very proud to announce its release,” said Robert Fletcher, CEO of Strategic Book Publishing and Rights Agency