"I think if the business world doesn't get it, they will eventually," says Arison, 52, who claims that she had premonitions about the 2008 financial crisis, the 2005 Hurricane Katrina and the 2004 Asian tsunami. "The old world is collapsing" and a new one is taking shape in which "the spiritual and the material come together," says Arison, whose net worth Forbesestimated this year at $2.7 billion (£1.6 billion). Greed and manipulation are on their way out, she writes in Birth - When the Spiritual and the Material Come Together, which arrived on the bookshelves in Canada and the United States this week. She makes it clear, though, that her visions of events to come do not interfere with the day-to-day running of businesses like Bank Hapoalim, Israel's largest bank in which she owns a controlling share. But she did get Arison Group, her global investment and philanthropy organisation, to state that its calling is "to secure human existence" and its purpose "to bring about a higher consciousness worldwide". When her book was first published in Hebrew earlier this year, her claims of visions and previous incarnations as well as her promotion of world peace through inner harmony raised eyebrows. Motti Kirshenbaum, a TV commentator, joked that anyone had the right to hear voices. "The problem is I don't want someone who hears voices to be the owner of the bank where my money is." Arison admitted in an interview with AFP that there were "mixed reactions," but points out that the book "did become a best-seller within a few weeks. That says something". "People in the street come up to me and say it's changed their lives," says Arison, whose business empire also includes a major share in Carnival cruise lines, which her father founded. The US-born billionaire is also a philanthrophist and founded Essence of Life, which says it draws spiritual teachings from various belief systems, aims to return "human kind to its essence". Arison has not eaten meat for years, ever since she was served giraffe at a restaurant in Kenya just after she had fed the graceful animals at a ranch. She is convinced her mission was ordained by a higher power. In her book, she writes of starting her spiritual journey as a "frightened and angry child" unable to express her feelings. "Today, I believe that I do indeed have a mission in this world, a mission to lead and to guide. "For most of my life I have received messages - images and worded communications, sometimes even in an ancient language - that came to me from above," she writes. Once, sitting on the deck of her yacht during a vacation in Turkey, she saw a huge wave and thousands of people about to die. "To my horror, it turned out that my premonition was correct this time as well because two months later the tsunami hit south-east Asia. The same thing happened with hurricane Katrina and many other disasters." The visions are now getting less violent and the pain is dissipating. "I have recently been able to see the new world - the quiet, the tranquility and the freedom it will bring with it. "This is very comforting knowledge for me because I already know that what I envision eventually becomes a reality." She acknowledges, though, she won't be able to bring everyone on board. "The Ahmadinejads of the world, the bin Ladens of the world," she said in reference to the Iranian president and the fugitive Al-Qaeda leader, "will not change their ways, regardless of how hard we try to explain to them that peace begins with them." But she said she has not had any premonitions about Middle Eastern peace and insisted she did not want to discuss the politics of the region. She acknowledged that Tony Blair, in his capacity as the Middle East envoy, once tried to interest her in a project in the Palestinian territories, but declined to give further details. She says she has not invested in the territories. "Living in Israel you need security in order to do that," she said. She is upbeat though. "If we all collectively generate good energy there will be a good outcome," she said. "What I'm feeling is that we're at a crossroads. Years ago it seems like everything was dark, and horrible things were happening," she said. Now, "I do see a lighter, brighter picture."Israel's richest woman on quest for world peace
Shari Arison wants to lead the world to universal peace and inner harmony but has never invested in the Palestinian territories.
Friday 20 November 2009
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