Bottom line is...The Joy of Being.

You make every effort you can to know who you are, not just your personal identity and life story but more  so than that, what is your connection to the whole? What is it that by your being here is a major contribution towards the fate of humanity, how do you serve your Lord; how do you say thank you  to that source where you original came from. Only in realizing this every minute of your day every breath you take is awareness Being 'Aware', awake! Only in coming to know who you really are that you can have the faith to take that leap of faith into venturing further to find out; this is the journey within, untangling the tangles and unravelling the mystery of who you truly are. Ride this quest with great sense of urgency and enthusiasm as it is said that only in this human form are we capable of returning to That which Is...I Am Thah I Am..
I used to listen the Eckhart Tolle's You tube talks for hours while living with my son in Dubai for seven months last year and I was taken and impressed by the man, his simplicity in skillful  means while delivering his thoughts on life. I first came upon his first book "The Power of Now" while I was travelling in Bali, Indonesia where I came upon fellow travelers from Vienna. Austria one of them had the book and loaned it to me to read,( re: earlier Blogs on Bali) .I read most of the book on the way from Ubud in Bali to the town of Bromo in Central Java ? While together we had allot of philosophical- religious discussions, my two young city slicks from Vienna and me from the muddy village used to be called Sungai Pinang, Kampung Selut. The whole place lost its original identity and appearance since the early sixties when the old atap homes were buried under red earth form the hills and as children we watched one house after another being torn down before our eyes. Well whatever...as i was saying, I got to know Eckhart Tolle by accident just as I had stumbled upon Alan Watts and Jedu Krishnamurti, I studied their thoughts most of my adult life after narrowing down all the others, the likes of my one time Teacher the Rev. Thich Nhat Hahn, the Vietnamese Monk who took the Freedom March alongside Martin Luther King and the late Katagiri Rosh, at one time the Abbot of the Minnesota Zen Center; These were some great men I have come to make my studies based upon like my Text Books of life.
At one of my 'Dokusan' or the one on one talk with the Roshi the late Katagiri Roshi told me to always remember my original intention, my original motive and stay on the track with it throughout life.'Nawaitu', or niat or hajat, what was it that set me off to become a seeker of Truth? Call it what you may, but the words of the Roshi stuck in my kind and every now and then it pops up on my mental screen to remind me of who I am. Why was I born into this world in the first place.
At one of my Dharma Talk with Thict Nhat Hahn the Vietnamese monk told me to continue on Being who I am and let life takes its course. I was his student at the Vipassana Retreat he led at the Green Gulch Green Dragon Temple, on Star Route One, Sausalito, California.We took many long walks around the Muir Woods and Muir Beach areas around Green Gulch farm.
I will relate an experience i had while I was doing the seven days Vipassan retreat because it was something that brought us close, the Monk and I.After the third or fourth days of meditation we call sittings, my mind began to rebel and i played hooky by falling asleep through one sitting. While everyone else was sitting in the Zendo i was taking a nap in my room# 7 in the Gaitan. I had a dream. I dreamt that i had given a loud 'Kia!!" or yell! and caused the side of the hills along the Muir beach area into the Paciffic Ocean. BUTA!! ( which in Japanese means Pig!) Imagine watching the whole hillside crumbling like in a major earthquake. I was scared, I told myself "Oh shit now Blanch and Paul will really get my Ass and kick me out of the Zen Community. While still in my dream it dawned on me hey you who could shtter the side of this mountain and make it crumble into the ocean and you are afraid of facing the two American wannabe Zen teachers? Shit! What am i becoming? Who am I? I woke Up.
I walked out of my room straight outside the back door to the Gaitan and to the Big 'Boncho' bell hanging from the old Cypress and I stood there paying my respects to the four winds and my homage to the bell and my apologies for what i was about to do...BONG!! I struck the bell with the five feet long piece of log that swing from the tree. BONG!! For seven time and each with complete awareness while i followed my breath with every strike.I silently chanted in my heart what the Monk had thought us when hitting the bell and that was to send out this sound to all beings in the six realms and the ten directions with the wish for their freedom in liberation from the cycles of birth life and death.I was with my full Buddhist mind at the time.
Then I went to my room and laid down for more nap feeling scared for what I had done, waiting for the retribution! A gentle knock on the door and Paul was at the door asking me if i was alright. I mumbled i was not feeling well and he said its was OK and join the group when I could and left. I was more guilt ridden by his cool and healing response. Later I left my room to join everyone at the dinning room again afraid of being torn to pieces by those who already were no at peace with my being there. But none was forthcoming and as a matter of fact a few even whispered thanks for the break, Shamsul, boy was I falling asleep!! When the sound of that bell came out of the blue I was awakened literally!!.Phew!! I told myself that was close, I thought the lady was going to give me a tongue trashing for disturbing the peace or as they called me at the Gulch 'The Disruptor!'
Later still while at the Tea Talk with the Monk, he addressed the issue at me asking if i enjoy ringing bells and I told i enjoyed it at the time and most probably enjoy it when the time presents itself again. Oh? Good now you are my 'Time keeper and we will call you 'The bell Master'', every fifteen minutes you will hit the bell and we will all stop and do some breathing.then continue. This I felt was what he meant by continuing on with Being who I am and doing what I enjoy doing..or allowing the Universe to express itself through me what it needs to in order to share in our awareness of Being who we Truly are.

"The New Earth arises as more and more peoplediscover that their main purpose in life is to being the lgiht of consciousness into this world and so use whatever they do as a vehicle for consciousness.
The joy of Beaing is the joy of being conscious."
                                               A New Earth' by Echkart Tolle   .