• California Catholic reporter Mary Rose visits a California college each week and ask students about God, good, and evil. 

The following is a continuation of an earlier story today.

  • Liliana and Jenessa, both studying sociology for social work
  • Outside Pollak Library at Cal State Fullerton on January 23
  • How do you practice “mindfulness”?
  • Janessa: I think it’s just embracing positivity and if you’re going through negative situations or there’s negative people around you, there’s ways to go about it and not let that affect your life. So it’s a spirituality. To me it’s a form of spirituality.
  • Liliana: Yeah, and I feel also like, why do you want hate in your life? You might as well create peace. There’s too much hate already in the world that you live your life better when you mind your own business and you’re at peace within yourself. Like, there’s no need to be carrying hate. If someone does something bad to you, don’t go after revenge, just let them be, let life take its course. God and them will, you know, that’s their business with God or karma or whatever but don’t wish them bad because if you, it’s like I said, if you do good, good will come to you, if you wish good on people, good will always come back to you. If you give, you receive. Don’t expect to receive, but you just never know. Miracles do happen. I’m just really open-minded.
  • Janessa: Me too. Super open-minded.
  • Does practicing “mindfulness” really mean “minding your own business” and ignoring the wrongs and injustices in the world?
  • Liliana: People have different opinions, you have your own opinion, I have my own opinion. We’re all human, we’re not perfect. I’ve always been really outspoken, so I feel like if you see something going on that’s wrong and you have an opinion, you should stand up for yourself and make it known, your opinion, cause everybody’s opinion matters. But it’s just up to the person to either take it personal or not take it personal or just let it be, like, oh, that’s your opinion, cool, but I have a different opinion, do you want to hear me out, and just share it. Exchange opinions without even having like an argument or anything about it, just hearing people out, because not everybody’s the same, not everybody has the same mentality. Everybody thinks different. Everybody has different choices in life.
  • Janessa: Yeah, definitely, and I think that there’s ways to be heard without creating violence or havoc. In the past there’s been hunger strikes, going on a hunger strike or going on a strike, there’s different ways to go about it. It just depends what you want to do. Like without disrespecting others. No violence. Pretty much that, yeah, I don’t believe in violence.
  • Liliana: Religion is like a really hard topic.
  • Janessa: I never talk about religion.
  • Liliana: Because people, some people take it to the heart. And I remember in high school, I believe in the Virgin Mary and my friend, she’s Christian, she doesn’t believe in that, and I was talking about it and she was like, oh, I don’t believe in that. And I was just like, ok, cool, then I’ll stop talking about it, and then she’s like, no, no, but I want to see what you have to say about it. I heard her opinion, why they don’t believe in her and everything, and I’m like, ok, that’s cool. I believe in her, you don’t, that’s cool. We’re still friends.
  • What do you think about Pope Francis?
  • Liliana: I’m not really educated, to be honest. Oh, shoot.
  • Janessa: The pope of, I don’t even know. Where is he the pope of?
  • Liliana: Honestly, I don’t even know his name.
  • The pope of the Catholic Church.
  • Janessa: Oh, and we’re Catholic, we were Catholic. I kind of branched away from Catholicism, to be honest.
  • Liliana: I’m just not educated. Cause I’m so open-minded, like I said, I believe in God, God is everywhere to me and in every religion.
  • Do you think there’s an afterlife?
  • Liliana: Oh, yeah, I do feel like there is an afterlife. I believe that there is an afterlife because I’ve heard stories.
  • Janessa: I think that, too, and I feel like there’s unfinished business, like a lot of spirits, and a lot of dark spirits, bad. I’ve been there, seen stuff.