Recapping the Ramblings

Its over four years now and some 360 odd entries since I started putting my thoughts and feelings down if not for anything else just simply for lack of better things to do. Today upon looking back at some of my earliest blogs I realize how much have changed and how little change has affected my life in the past four years. Most impotantly it is through the writing of this blog that I am being made aware that I have four children instead of just three and that it is through the writing of this blog that I am able to recount the expereinces i have had in dealing with the Malaysian Immigration and Registery Deaprtment with regard to my children's nationality status. Many things have transpired over the four year period when this blog was set up which was soemtime in March of 2005 and this includes the departure of my late wife Nancy Buss Bahari @ Nur Syamila Bt. Abdullah in her home state of Colombia, Illinois. I never did get to see her till the end of her days something that I feel not so great about.

I am not feeling well myself of late, sore throat,tooth ache , feverish, kind things that is indicative of an oncoming fever of one kind or another which I can ill afford to have right now albeit mentally, physically or financially. But them are the breaks! My mother did tell me that there will be times like these and many of them throughout one's life so learn to roll with the dice she said. Life is like a roller coaster ride ever changing one time you are up then you are down or as the Zen master once said 'Life is like a swinging door, you breath in it swings in and you breath out it swings out, you stop breathing and you are dead", I like this saying better.

One of the changes in my life evesince my return from my sojourn overseas a period of more than 24 years is that I have come to accept the teachings of Islam with more genuine feeling and much thoghts and struggles agains all my demons have been put into this gradual drift back into the religion of my mother and her mother. I fully abmit that islam had very little appeal or as a matter of fact had an adverse effect on my life in my youngwer days especially during those years i was living a hedonistic life of an artist in the United States. I began to realize that I needed to return to my mother's religion only after I was living in Japan and raising my two children who were then two and three years of age and I was the homemaker as my wife was working full time like your average Japanese salary man, out with the birds in the early morning and home with them in the late evening. Living in Japan was not bad, as far as livng standard went but something was not right and it dawn on me when I had an incident with my preschool aged children while putting them to bed.

After all the singing and bedtime stories told my daughter was still whining incessantly in Japanese and it got to me. having lost my temper I yelled at her to shut up and go to sleep. My son who was barely three then said to me in English that all she wanted was some water (mizu). I got her the glass of water after which she fell asleep. I felt small and helpless having lost my temper at her over such a small matter simply because I did not understand her whining in Japanese asking for a drink of water. That night I decided that it was time to make a change for the whole family and decided that I wanted to raise my children where i can undrstand them and at the same time they can get to know their father's cultural past. We made our move to Kuala Terenganu on the east coast where my wife had a job teaching at one of the colleges and i got a job working as a Health and Safety Officer at the Petronas refinery site in Kerteh, Terengganu.

Perhaps it was not the right decision as far as my wife was concern, perhaps i should have remained with them in Japan where we had many good friends and were relatively comfortable with life, but the dye was cast and whether right or wrong these last four years has been a testimony. my wife who was converted to Islam is now no more and my children who has grown up in this country has yet to be recognized as its citizen and i am still living hand to mouth while putting my daughter through her last year in secondary school. What will become of us in the nex few years only Allah knows and I have fully accept my faith in Him anive as it may sound to some. My two children has a taste of what it is like to grow up among their father's kith and kin and consider themselves Muslims in upbringing. Other than these they had also had some great times while growing up in the east coast as my wife and I had always made sure they had the best of what we could afford for them in those years. We spoilt them as some of my family members were eager to point out as part of our failure on how to raise kids.

Over the years there is accusations made towards me over what had happened to my wife especially from my sister in laws who accused me of ill treating her or not taking care of her needs, like wasting her hard earned money on buying art materials and so on. One of these complains has even been written as a comment in my blog which i have kept as a reminder for myself of what can go wrong in life. Unfortunately it was written anonimously in Bahasa Malaysia which means that the writer who i strongly believe is a woman was playing it safe as all cowards do when pointing their fingers at someone. Time and again I have asserted that I am not a model of a father or husband but I loved my wife and respected her for many reasons the least of which was because she was an American or white or caucasian. When I met my wife in San Francisco she was recovering from a broken relationship that had ended with an abortion. I married my wife back then out of compassion more than any other reasons. I wanted to give her a life she had deserved and which she failed to achieve with her former relationships three out of which ended with an abortion for her. I gave my wife her two beautiful children and a taste of being a mother to them even if it was for a short term before death claimed her in the prime of her life.

I have no idea why I am reflecting these events of my life on this particular day but as Ftriday today might as well let it all out. For those who have judged me harshly and frowned upon my wife and children and yes they know who they are and for those who have the idea that they really know me I hope they realize that what I write about how good or how bad I am is beyond their comprehension and my advice is to let sleeping dogs lie. I am answerable only to my Maker, He that created me and He that will take me back to Himself or what is rightfully His that is in me. In the meantime life must go on and there is much to do and so little time left to do it. Right or wrong is a sickness of your mind, the Buddha taught, suffering is and non who suffers he was said to have declared and Nirvana Is none who attains...it. Do you know what the hell He was talking about? Do you care to know? Who untangle the tangle?

At the Friday prayer today the Imam was talking about 'Sacrifice' in view of the cominf of the Aidil Adzha the Haj performing month and he mentioned about Jihad or the struggle. The much distorted and abused and misused term 'Jihad' in islam is a far cry from what is being made to understand by those who are out to see Islam in the gutter laid to rest among the ancient antiquities. Jihad is not about out to kill non Muslims, (unless the prescribed situation is met with according to the injunctions of the law), it is not a carte blanch to declare a holy war against any tribe or nation or any non Muslim, Jihad has a far greater meaning and its meaning is aimed at the individual soul. It is the war or securing one's soul from the temptations of what the Buddha calls this world of Maya, this Illusive material world full of trappings and hidden agendas that one simply cannot imagine how intricately woven these are untill one is caught fully in one of them. Just like a drug addict with his dependance on his fix or a drunk on his liquor or a pervert on his whoring appetites. This is the greater Jihad! The bigger war that one declares within oneself against all the forces of one's egoistic tendencies that has claimed Kings and Emperors, the Pauper and the Fool alike. In Islam this situation is further exerbated by the prescence of the Shaitan and his hordes of mischief makers luring the unwary to their doom, while the Buddha in his teachings called it Mara and his hordes, the Christians their Anti-Christ and his minions who are out to claim the rights over human souls like a gamble between good and EVIL. But off course there are those who can dismiss all these as old folks tales to scare and bring one to conform to some sort of a collective beleif. The Atheist have their holidays from having to deal with the thoughts of heaven and hell... thank God!! they say. Life is here and now and not in the hereafter or heaven and hell and the rest of the doom and gloom laid in store as promised by most devinely inspired religions.
What proof? They ask. Who ever came back and brought the DVDs of this so called after life of heaven and hell? What proof? And if there is a God, why the mess? The killing fields are getting more and more of a fad these day and age, its cropping up everywhere! Attila the Hun today does not have to ride his war horse into battle nor wipe his blade dry of blood to wipe out a village he just sends in his drone and followed by a bomber, the victims knows not what hits them. The threat of Nuclear weapon as a deterrent is every nation's idea of a safety unbrella and the haves will do all it cna to discaurage the have-nots from acquiring such weapon of mass destruction. While some nations faces hunger and starvation others are out doing eachother on who can own the best circuit for an F1 event or build the tallest and grandiose building to fill the skies. Even then thaere are millions if not billions who does not give a hoot about what is happening in this so called Global day and age, life goes on for them like a clockwork.
Who untangle the tangles?

In Memory of James Richardson Logan

James Richardson Logan was a visionary lawyer who devoted his life to the cause of justice and the persuit of knowledge. A champion of the non-European communities, he was responsible for the official recognition accorded local organizations and festivals.

Logan was born on 10 April 1819at harton hall, Berwickshire, Scotland. He studied law in Edinburg and first made his name in Penang in 1840 when he represented and Indian sireh(betel leaf) planter against the East India Company.
In 1842 James and his brother founded the journal of the Indian Archipelago and Eastern Asia (270 volumes) also known as Logan's Journal. In a prophetic article - The probable Effects On the Climate Of Pinang of The Continued Destruction Of Its Hill Jungles - published in 1848, James Logan voiced his concerns about the future ecology and environment of the island.

My dear friend KuSalma who made it all happen, (as always)

James Logan took over the Penang Gazette and played a major role in persuading P&O Liners to call at Penang. His language and Etimology of the Indian Archipelago also promoted better understanding of the peoples of the Nusantara region.

Both the Logan Brothers skilfully used the press to influence the public opinion in the Straits Settlements and encouraged the agitation for the transfer of the Straits Settlements government from the Indian Office to the Colonial Office in Singapore. This much celebrated transfer in 1867 which meant direct rule for the Straits Settlements and more efficient administeration is commemorated by the naming of what is today, Transfer Road.

Unveilling of Plaque by YA Dato' John Louis O'Hara

(High Court Judge, Penang)
James Logan died on 20th,. of October 1869 after a bout of malaria, and is buried in the Old Protestant Cemetery in Georgetown.

Eulogy given by Guest of Honour: Mr. Lim Kean Chye Esq.

(Doyen of the Penang bar)

The Logan Memorial was erected by the ,ocal people who mourned his passing and regarde his death as a 'public calamity'.

The memorial espounds the virtue of Justice, Wisdom, Fortitude and Temperance.

Logan Road in the city of georgetown was also named in his Memory.

The Union Man - Mamu Latiff

Last night having problem falling back to sleep after having taken a long nap in the evening I decided to hang out at Farouk's Coffee shop where another childhood friend of mine has stationed himslef like a fixture to the premises while continuing serving the community in his own way. To most patrons to the establishment(cooffee shop) patron he is known as 'Mamu' a Penang Malay or Mamak way of saying uncle but his real name is Latiff. Looking at him especially riding his bicycle along the road one would never imagine that he was once a Union president for one of the largest industrial firm in Penang, the Eastern Smelting Company or better known among the locals as Kilang Bijeh. Hardly cleared his way across the LCE level of education he had represented the trade Union body for over twenty years and had been invited to participate in Union Meetings in the United States, Australia, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Indonesia. Looking at him in appearence one would easily mistake him for a drug addict with his long hair and skinny physical appearence.
Latiff or Mamu was at the grave and sat beside me while they were burying our mutual childhood friend Lokan and i had told him of my discourse earlier with the deceased about him turning a new leaf from a drug addict to become a good Muslim who never missed his prayer or fasting during the month of Ramadan. I had told Lokan in jest that he most probably was going to the Hindu temple (To'Kong Hindu) to pray. Lokan was hurt by my jest(in his way) and when expressed like a true anak hantu Sungai Pinang it sounded vulgar but acceptable among close friends. (Hang celaka! Hang boleh kata macma tu kat aku...).
Upon seeing Latiff i asked what was new and in all serious manner he asked me to sit at his 'office table'. Since you asked I would like to tell you that i had a dream of our late friend and he told me in the dream that he saw both of us at the funeral and appreciative. But he also told me to tell me that you have to visi his grave on the fortieth day and perform a special 'Tahlil' for him, which amounted to reading the'Fatihah' forty times. Why? I asked. Well he told me about you saying that he had been praying at a Hindu temple when he had been going to the mosque to perform his 'Solat'. Really?? I was shocked believing him with his dream story. Latiff had a good laugh and told me he had me going.
One intresting character that my friend has is that he has an impeccable memory of everythigng and anything from who is who and what had happened some fifty years ago with fine details, I enjoy this as it helped me to picture my childhood years through his recollections. Latiff's Jihad is through his work as a Union Leader and he dipense free advice to whoever turn up at the coffee shop on matters such as SOCSO claims and KWSP issues. He also plays a role as a spiriutal cum motivational guru for the young adults who frequent the shop and as I sat there shooting the breeze with him just every guy that walked into the coffeeshop would greet him with 'Mamu!' He seems to know all their names and what they do who their parents are and even their grandparents were if you dig deeper into the subject.
He is a talker and his range of subjects covers just about everything under the sun, he once sent Lim Kit Seang a translation of the Q'uran as a gift to enlighten the DAP Leader of the Oppostion Party. He was almost arrested in Australia for demonstrating with the human rights activists on behalf of the Aboriginese there while visiting the country for a different purpose. He is an admirer of Tun Mahathir Mohd. whose leadership he believes had helped to protect the Malay rights and thinks so highly of the former Prime Minister as to claim him to be a 'wali' or saintlike sent to save the Malays and UMNO, the ruling Party componnent of Barisan Nasional. He is a staunch believer in the ISA (Internal Security Act) which he believes helps to keep the country from going anarchic with all the various races taking advantage of a weak rule of law in such Multiracial Country as Malaysia. It is a 'necessary evil' to help keep check and balances. In his performance of duty as a President of one of the largest Union bodies in the country he acted strictly with 'Aqidah" or spirutal principle and commitment and through this principle had overcome many obstacles even when facing the best in the industrial management committees the country had to offer.
Latiff is no doubt another product of the Sungai Pinang gang of old that excelled through sheer brashness and devil may care attitude despite low level of education. He deals with life around him with down to earth no holds barred attitude. he remained single throughout his life till this day and claims free from womanizing. He spends most of his time at the Farouk's at night and goes home to sleep in the day time. To me he is another rare individual whose life has been colorful by its own right. He is respected by his peers, the young and the old and those who stood against him while at conference tables in dealing with union issues and these were some of then no ordinary individuals in the human resources field.

20 Years Ago Today

Introduction
On October 17, 1989, at 5:04:15 p.m. (P.d.t.), a magnitude 6.9 (moment magnitude; surface-wave magnitude, 7.1) earthquake severely shook the San Francisco and Monterey Bay regions. The epicenter was located at 37.04° N. latitude, 121.88° W. longitude near Loma Prieta peak in the Santa Cruz Mountains, approximately 14 km (9 mi) northeast of Santa Cruz and 96 km (60 mi) south-southeast of San Francisco. The earthquake occurred when the crustal rocks comprising the Pacific and North American Plates abruptly slipped as much as 2 meters (7 ft) along their common boundary-the San Andreas fault system. The rupture initiated at a depth of 18 km (11 mi) and extended 35 km (22 mi) along the fault, but it did not break the surface of the Earth .
OAKLAND, Calif. -- On Saturday, the Bay Area marked twenty years since the Loma Prieta earthquake struck, collapsing buildings and freeways, spawning several fires, killing 63 people, and leaving thousands homeless.
Fifteen seconds after the 6.9 earthquake struck along the San Andreas fault, the landscape from Monterey to San Francisco was forever changed.
San Francisco marked the exact moment the massive earthquake hit the region with a ceremony and moment of silence. In the East Bay, emergency sirens sounded in Oakland, Alameda and San Leandro, and on Coast Guard Island to mark the somber occasion.
On October 17, 1989, 42 men, women and children were killed when the Cypress Structure on Interstate 880 in Oakland collapsed.
As aftershocks shook the crumbling freeway, good samaritans and emergency workers rushed in and managed to save scores of people who were trapped in their crushed cars and trucks beneath the pancaked freeway.
The quake also collapsed a 50-foot-long section of the Bay Bridge’s upper deck, sending it crashing onto the deck below and killing 23-year-old Anamafi Moala of Berkeley when her Ford Escort plunged into the gap.
In San Francisco, the Marina District suffered the brunt of the quake. Built on landfill, the ground beneath neighborhoods liquefied, creating cracks in residents’ walls, and causing several homes to collapse and burn. Four people died, including a three-month-old boy.
In addition to remembering the tragedies the earthquake left in its wake, and the many people who helped with rescue efforts, Bay Area cities used the weekend to advocate disaster preparedness.
Organizations from Santa Cruz to San Francisco staged drills and held training sessions on earthquake emergency protocol and preparedness.
On Saturday, volunteers from San Francisco’s Neighborhood Emergency Team – a program founded by the fire department in response to the 1989 quake -- marked the anniversary by practicing freeing trapped earthquake victims at San Francisco's Marina Green.
“What we noticed 20 years ago is that the damage was contained to the Marina District -- and there were citizens who assisted us with the response,” said Erica Arteseros of the San Francisco fire department. “So what we have now are citizens are actually trained to do that. It’s not so impromptu,” she said.

Where was I?
I had just walked into my shared 'apartment' which actually was a huge room that was once used to be a part of the Sears Roebuck Department Store on Market Stree and Army. The building was since converted into the unemployment office on the ground floor facing Market Street.
I remember walking into the huge room and going up to one of the walls that had my artworks hanging along with my roomate's who was also an artist and selecting a piece off the wall to give my friend David Carlson as a birthday present. It was a litho print of a mask of 'Yamantaka', the Tibetan demon I had done while in college in Green Bay, Wisconsin. I took it off the wall and laid it on the floorv leaning against the wall and decided to take a nap.
As i was about to lay on my single bed I was startled by loud popping noises coming fron around the walls like gunshot and i got up quickly as i realized that the whole building was shaking. The loud popping shots were from the dry walls which were erected as makeshift walls to both our rooms, the walls were cracking at the seams! I dashed under the doorjam instinct telling me that I would be safe there and as I stood there a loud shot popped at my feet infront of me and a piece of 'U' shaped metal bounced of the concrete floor leaving a small crack in it, and then another a few feet away and i looked up and saw that the water piping, (or whatever piping it was) was flexing up and down like a wave and everytime it does this a pin holding the pipe to the ceilling would be shot out on to the floor. This was accompanied by a very loud roar outside some where like the rolling of a train that came to an abrupt stop.
The lights went out and i found someone standing beside me in the dark appologizing as she held me in a tight embrace. We stood there for sometime and from a room nextdoor somewhere came the voice of a child crying and then a phone ringing. The lady who was standing with me said it was her phone and took off to answer it. She came back and told me her friend had called from Tokyo and that there had been a major earhtquake and a part of the Oakland bay Bridge had fallen. It was on on TV as it happened as everyone was watching the World Series where The SF Giants were playing against the Oakland 'A's. A game my very close friend the Buddha Ron from Stinson beach was calling the game of the century for San Franciscans as the Oakland'A's were from right across the Bay.
One of the things I remember immediately after the quake was the sound of car alarms going off and dogs barking all around the building below me.I did not realize how bad the damage was to the City untill i took a walk from Army Street down Market Street all the way to the Marina Bay area. (To get a feeling of the size of the damage that took place you can just look it up on the internet, they have great shots of the event). I felt strange walking for awhile as though the road was still undulating under me as I walked. I spent the evening later talking about the quake with my friends at 191, Haight Street Apartment where my friend david lived along with nine other roomates or was it six? I met my late wife Nancy there and later we were married the same year At Green Gulch Farm in a Buddhist ceremony. According to her she was in the dentist's chair with our favorite dentist Dr, Kirkland of the University Berkley Dental School working on her teeth. She was highly sedated she said and could not tell if it was an earthquake or that she was just high. David celebrated his birthday and i handed him his'Face of Yamantaka birthday gift.
Had I been more concientious and thinking I would have carried a camera with me and taken alot of great shots of the things I saw along my walk to the Marina. But instead i did not even carried a sketchbook. Well on looking back today I dont really mind it that much anymore as what i experienced during the Loma Prieta Earthquake will always be in my mind, the fact that mother nature can carry one hell of a wallop when you least expect. To be there in itself and had a close brush with death of being run through by a celling peg that shot to the floor within inches of where i stood was a miracle. Had i taken another step away from the door jam the metal used to hold the pipe to the ceilling would have pierced right through my skull. The Loma Prieta would have been my last earthly experience living in the San francisco Bay Area if i had not followed a simple instruction about being in and earthquake situation, not that the makeshift doorjam was any protection when it comes down to it but it saved my life by instinctively following a simple rule.

The D'Home Charity Event.

The D'Home Charity Event came and went held at the Equatorial Hotel and attended by the Governor and a few other dignitaries like the chief of Police and Mr. Phua Chu Kang my favorite Comedian. I have no idea of how well the Charity event did in terms of collections from the various events presented but i know the Art works did not sell except for one piece. This I can only see as the result of lack of proper promotion of the works which were mostly done by the area's prominent Artists. The event turned into a stage show promoting a lady singer who took center stage with some oldies and thus the time that could have been used to promote an art auction and the time spent with Phua Chu Kang entertaining as it may be it took alot of time from promoting the original intention of having the Fund Raising event.
But then again it could simply be that Artworks are no more high on the agenda of purchasing list like it used to be or there is no more Art collectors worth a charitable heart out there. My friend Lee Khai did his best to put together the works of 8 Artists and the show itself is worth commendation despite being given the brush off by the main organizers, (that's how I see it), if an auction had been held proper as i had understood it the event would have made more through the sales of these Artworks but as it was I doubt that the Governor was even aware that there was an art show going on at the Event. If he had known perhaps he might have bid for any one of the artworks to show his support for the Fund raising. I highly doubt that he would have made a bid for Phua Chu Kang's Yellow Boots! Nothing personal against Gurmit Singh, he is one hell of an entertainer and what a singer! But thye event was to raise funds for the DHome mental Home in Penang not a show biz to promote stage celebraties or fading stars.
The Chinese five or six courses dinner was worth it though and the turnout was very good. I enjoyed meeting all the fammiliar faces who one sees at these kind of events where arts and cultures are involved faces like Dr. Tan Chee Kuan the bonafide art collector and enthusiast, and Cecil Rajendra the famous (infamous depending on who you are) lawyer/poet. All in all it was great to be back at the Hotel Equatorial after having spent two weeks there during the fasting month enjoying the 'Breakfast" with hotel guests. The Good Lord gives in mystertious Ways in this case it was at RM68 a dinner plate if I had to pay.

The Final Cut

My childhood buddy Lokan was laid to rest on friday morning after being in the ICU ward for a week. Never got to see him eventhough I went to the Hospital and had problem parking that i had to walk three long blocks in the rain to get there. But its the thought that counts it is said. The las t time we had coffeee together i saw it coming already, the shallow breathing and the sweat pouring out, death was already stalking him but I did not know when was the right time for him to go. Being buried on Friday is auspicious according to Islam, its the Holy day, the day of days. I am happy for my friend. I stood and watched giving a helping hand whenever needed while they washed his body and later wrapped him up with large cotton swabs and layers white cloth untill both ends were tightly tied up and that was the end of my friend, at least from this physical realm.
Perhaps it is symbolic more than anything else or perhaps having the respect we hold for the dead or it might even be mandated in the religion for the ways and means that a man is buried or given his final rites before being laid into the ground. Most of it, by reason alone would make as little sense as it is alot of waste. In some cases the burial process has become such an extravagant affair that it defies one's resources if not common sense. Islam to my understanding promotes the simplest and fastest means of putting the human physical form into the ground with the emphasis more towrds the spiritual send off than the physical. In some cultures the funeral procedure is very elaborate and not to mention costly not only to those who has to bear the cost but alos to the earth that receives the body. Again the AlMighty Ego plays a big role in making this decissions. In some cases the coffin alone is worth a King's ransom and the procession that follows the casket to the grave site becomes a symbol of wealth of the dead. Burial rites have even been put to the test of religious as well as secular laws where the dead's religious belief is in question and relatives and friends insists upon making sure that the body goes into the 'right hole'. How we cherish the dead much more than the living is apparent in most customs and traditions, perhaps this materialize out of fear more than respect for the dead.
The recent Earthquake disaster that hit Padang in Indonesia buried a whole village so much so that the authorities has decided not to retreive the bodies but the declare the site as a mass grave. Where do they all go to, those dead? Do we care?
Is the end only a beiginning or is it 'The End' of life for each and every one of us? What lies beyond or is there and after- life? Each and every religion has delved into this from the days when man began to inhabit the earth. In the Judeo,Christian and Islamic tradition there is no doubt that the human soul moves on into the next phase of its existence after death and the realm of the 'Grave' ( Alam Barzakh) is the next phase where one is determined one's place in the afterlife with the questioning of one's faith by the two Angels (Ma'laikat). Its an interview where one's understanding of one's practices and faith in life is being put to the test. As a final send off at the cemetary the Imama or any spiritual leader in the group present would lead a specail prayer for the dead and part of it is the special instructions given to assist the dead in crossing over into the next realm. Can the dead hear this? yes, in Islam the dead is present untill the last of the mourners has left the site, the recently dead will obesrve all that is taking place in his of her burial ceremonial proceedings. Excessive mourning such as loud cries and the beating of the chests is prohibited less it confuses or add on tot he fear faced by the spirit of the dead.
Nothing reminds us more than death itself of the impermanence of life, that every living thing will end up in death and that death can happen at any time or place and to anyone unannounced. Thus it is encouraged in islam for man to be a part of the party in sending off his fellow man on his final journey into the unknown so as to remind himself of his final state and to remind him of how fragile we all are. All our hankering over and accumulating of material wealth while we are alive amounts to nothing not even our own children who benifit from them or suffer on account of them can gurantee how we fare on the other side and in some cases they the children cannot even appear at our grave in our final hour on this planet. Death caps it all, it seals man's sum total of his existence in this physical realm into one moment in time and space... with the final cut.
Care to understand a little bit more about Death and Afterlife in other cultures? Read the "Egyptian Book of The Dead" or 'The Tibetan Book of the Dead."

What's Cooking around the Globe...

The Phillipines is almost drowned by a typhoon rage that later continued on to deluge Vietnam and Cambodia with rainstorm unseen before in decades, parts of Australia was covered with dust storm while the Samoan islands was swept over by a sunami, in Indonesis the city of Padang is digging through the debris salvaging lives from an earthquake. Nature is wrecking havoc left and right as climate change began to take its effect, world economy is still in turmoil as the poorer nations slip slide away into even deeper depressions and nations are still at eachother's throats at who can and who cannot own weapons of mass destruction. Can we survie the next millanium? Can we survive the next decade? With all the technical advancements and so called modernisation at out dipossal it seems we are headed for a major shakedown globally.
The spectre of Greed, Hate and Dellussions is looming in the horizon drawing humanity towards its eventual meltdown, a grand finale of Hollywood proportion, only there would be no audiences to celebrate the occasion or receive the awards. We will all be in the same barrel rolling down the hill towards our final destination with a big bang at the bottomless pit somewhere, like sinking into a black hole and to appear on the other end. I and many of my generation will most probably cease to exist by then but woe unto the future generations that of my children and theirs if this trend keeps headed in the same direction. In the Hollywood movie with Keenu Reeve entitled " The day The Earth Stood Still" an alien nation from space came by our planet in an effort to save this planet from us the Humans. In many ways the collective human mind has been preparing itself towards the inevitability of the'End of Days', just as it has been preparing itself , our collective conciousness towards getting used to the coming of weird looking creatures with ectraordinary powers, less we freak out. Movies like the Sinking of Japan, Tsunami, the 'The Day After Tomorrow have been projected into our minds of events that can happen and will happen in the course of time. The question is are we prepared to face the eventuality or what can we do to avoid these from occuring in the very near future? Do we care or are we too busy playing Gods and deities in claiming our rights and territories over others through our rash might and ego ridden insatiable, Greed, Hate and Dellusion?
Whether we look at it globally or locally the scenario is almost the same as eaxh nation and each town and village struggles to exert its existance on this planet. Each and every one assuming as Bob Dylan in one of his song's lyric quoted, "And the country I come from, has God on its side". Spirituality has declined but God has become the cause and the scapegoat of our human frailties and ailments and wherever we turn the Al-Mighty Ego rules instead of our inherent nature of Love and Compassion. As we become more and more globalized we also become less and less charitable towards our neighbors often imposing judgements upon them than lending a helping hand, pointing our fingers at them than taking a closer look at our own. Today "taking care of number one" has become our motto instead of caring for the "well being of the Whole." Our individual survival as a human, as a nation as grouping of nations has become our own stumbling blocks in meeting the challenges being hurled at us collectively albeit man made or natural occurences.
Most of us have failed to understand ourselves and life in all its glory and uniqueness all its impermanence and santience, that nothing last forever especially not the individual exisence. That we are just passing through living on borrowed times and sharing the planet with billions of souls with simmilar charateristics. When our time is up we leave never to return and what we leave behind matters not in the least to ourselves but make a great difference to our children. Leaving the world in a richer and better state is our collective dream but to achieve this we each and everyone of us has to come to understand who we are and our role in implemanting this aspiration for gnerations to come. We have to come to grips with our darker as well as our lighter sides and transcend both to claim our neutral soul states before we can return untainted by the material existence that we were graced with in this short time span we call life.