Who was Shamsul -Retroactive part three.

Who was Shamsul - Part three.

Life took a turn for Shamsul when his late wife fell ill with what was later diagnosed as Alzheimer with rapid dementia. She was later sent back to the United States to be cared for and Shamsul found himself having to raise and put through secondary schooling for his two children. He moved to Penang where he found employment as a Ferry Terminal Supervisor for the Jerejak Resort and SPA. He managed the terminal for almost three years before he decided to move on to a better position where he became a lecturer at the Equator Academy. This lasted for a very short time due to his inability to cope with the management of the academy . At the same time while he was working as a lecturer Shamsul started hanging out at the University Sains Malaysia, Museum and Gallery in Penang. There he met and befriended the Director of the Museum, Hasnul J. Saidon who organized and curated Sahmsul's first solo exhibition in his home town. The show entitled HUMIND was a success and well received by the local art scene.

From then on Shamsul went on to have a few solo as well group art shows establishing himself as an artist in Penang. Shamsul spent more than ten years working out of the Museum unpaid.However he earned his minimal income through giving art classes and selling his works at street markets. He also earned minimum wage as a helper at a friend's  auto air conditioning workshop selling scrap metals. To date Shamsul is still painting and doing odd jobs for his survival and with his two children are employed the burden for survival has lessen. Since 2012, Shamsul has been going off and on to an organic farm in rural Kedah State where he did volunteer work giving moral support to a fledgling farming community called SRI LOVELY or Lintang Oraganic Valley. Today this community has grown into a worldwide venture where students came from all over the world to live and study all about sustainable organic rice farming.

Such is briefly who Shamsul was and still is upon looking back at his track record of a rolling stone that had gathered very little moss worth in life. Shamsul has a strong belief that life is all about relationships and experiences and throughout his career life he had done just that; to be able to have been there and done that. For every job he had and every place he had been, the main intention was to experience and touch the lives of those who he had dealt with. Through work and various social activities, Shamsul made it a practice to discover his weaknesses and strength, through flaws and errors, accomplishments and success. He reflected his ways through the teachings of the past masters such as the Prophet of Allah, the Buddha, the life and teachings of Jesus. Lao Tzu and Chuang Tzu, the Tibetan masters such as Marpa and Milarepa, the wisdom of the Muslim saints such as The SheikhAbdul Kadir Al Jilani and Muhyideen Ibn Arabi. the great Hindu masters such as Sri Ramakrishna and Ramana Maharshi, Shamsul had made it his life long study into the human nature, his as well as others. The school of Zen Buddhism has the greatest impact upon his spiritual growth and till up to date he still sits in Zazen everyday and every chance he gets.

"Knowing others is wisdom, knowing yourself is Enlightenment."
Lao Tzu.