House of the Rising Sun - Hope Cottage.
In 1970, at the Bristow Helicopter Base in Telaga Batin, Kuala Terengganu, a British helicopter engineer handed me a guitar. With patience and a quiet smile, he taught me how to play the first song that would embed itself in the rhythm of my life: The House of the Rising Sun by The Animals. That song, that moment — it was the beginning of my lifelong journey in expressing the unspeakable through music, art, and reflection.
More than fifty years later, I find myself once again walking these same shores of Terengganu. This time, I carry not just a guitar or sketchbook, but a vision: to build a place of peace, creativity, and refuge. A simple, traditional Malay house near the beach. A home turned into an art studio and gallery. A sanctuary to teach art freely to children, host kindred spirits, and create healing spaces for those in search of refuge — especially displaced or forgotten children.
I’ve called it many names in my heart, but perhaps The House of Hope fits best. Inspired by the humble yet powerful Hope Cottage at Green Gulch Farm Zen Center — a place I once sat quietly facing the wide Pacific — I see this as a culmination of my own long journey. This house will not be mine alone. It will belong to anyone who carries the seed of healing, the brushstroke of compassion, and the courage to live with presence.
I won’t pretend it’s easy. I’ve had my share of spiritual exile and worldly missteps. I was once ceremoniously removed from a Zen community for being a "disrupter," and in hindsight, they were not wrong. I have carried both praise and shame in equal measure. I have learned what it means to fail, to fall, and to rise again. Today, I no longer cling to those stories. They are simply the winds that shaped this shore I now stand upon.
I’ve surrendered myself to the Will of my Maker — Allah SWT — whose Compassion and Mercy have seen me through every storm. I no longer doubt my path. I am His witness, His instrument. My breath is not my own, but His. My work now, my final offering, is to serve through creation, through teaching, through love.
I call upon those who walk this Earth as seekers, healers, and wanderers. You who feel this message in your heart — I ask for your hand. Help me build this House. Help me teach again. Help me make a final stand, not for myself, but for something greater.
Lao Tzu said, "The journey of a thousand li begins with the first step." This is mine. Will you walk with me?
With love and faith,
~ Cheeseburger Buddha
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