From the Bali Journal

Bali is becoming more and more a tourist destination and the human and cultural landscape of the island is rapidly changing catering to the tourism industry. It is becoming just as anywhere else , Bali rich in cultural heritage and unique religious practices is rapidly changing from a sublime rustic environment to a resort status catering to those who can afford.

Aesthetically Bali has few rivals albeit in her Artistic or lanscape environment, Balinese taste is as exquisite as that of the Japanese when it comes to architexture or sculptures, landscaping or the theatres.

The remnants of older civilizations which in Balinese case that of Hinduism has left behind a very rich historical background both physical as well as spritual that the people till this day and age still practice some of the rituals.

Large as well as smaller household temples are numerous scattered all over the Island and the natives still carry out daily rituals or pujas decoratingthe altars large and small with offerings of fruits and flowers.

The stone gaurdians of Monkey warriors are found at temple gates and they reminded me of the Monkey God Hanuman who served Sri Rama aand his consort Sita.

Sensuality and beauty goes hand in hand in Balinese works of Art depicting their women whether in the act of worshipping or dancing.

Hinduism brought with it more than just religious practices the Balinese folklores is filled with Demonic characters of Hindu origin and has been adapted into their Arts and theatres.

Balinese dancers are world reknowned and are well trained from an early age to perform what is both ritualistic as well as theatrical dances. Their costumes accentuates the sensual movements of their bodies making it almost surrealistic when viewed in performances. Balinese dances has a cetain elements of classical Hindu dance chracteristics however the Balinese dance is more subtle and delicate in appearence more akin to the Thai classical dance artform.

H&H Revisited

Faces at The Malay Art Gallery.

We call him Mamu the 'Break Dancer". Last I heard he was in love and on his way to Australia with his girlfriend, have not heard from him since.

My daughter will always be the centre of my life untill she is out of my care , now working at Cafe Cine on Chulia Lane a place belonging to the Straits Collection Group.

Suzie from Germany, a great painter in the making and a great traveller.

Above, my friend Shaparin the romanticist artist musician and globe trotter ifever and whenever he gets the chance to. Presently he is in Indonesia close to Danau Toba eating mushrooms.

Marissa Estelle, loves cats, takes after the late mother has a strong mind or her own and will be force to reckon with.

The Dubai Museum

I have not been keeping up with my blogging for the past few months simply because I really have not much to tell and also needed a break from it. I visited Kuwait again a few weeks ago and my sister was there visiting her daughter and grand children and it was good to touch base with her. I enjoyed the Friday prayers at the mosque while I was there as the sermon was in English and the Imam who lead the congregation seemed very intelligent in his delivery of the 'Kutbah." No brimstone and fiery speeches but just plain old logic and understanding.

I have also worked on a number of paintings three of which were for my son and one for his friend Steve. I was invited to join a group of International artist in producing artworks for peace at the Dubai Creek Cultural centre. My way of getting my foot into the local art community and getting to know who is who in the process. Am not holding my breath about it at the moment but who knows what good deeds may bring in the future. The show was organized by an Emirati artist Fatma Lootah who has a studio close to the location where the show was held. There was two artists from India and one from Iraq.

The Word - ALLAH - Ahmed Hulusi

For quite some time now, the Malaysian authorities have been grappling with the question related to the use of the word 'Allah' by Christians in the translation of the Bible into the Malay Language (Bahasa Malaysia), in this case, Allah is used instead of the word God as normally being used. The issue in using the word Allah is because the Christians to whom these Biblical translations were for had been using the word Allah instead of God in their practice of Christianity, due to some cultural ethnic origin, perhaps partly influenced by their Muslim neighbors. This is my assumption and I stand corrected if I am wrong.I believe it is a fluke of language influence and culture rather than intentional for any reason other than.
For whatever reason, maybe, the religiously sensitive muslims of the country rose in protest for this 'transgression' and the government was put on the spot to solve this potentially explosive issue. At the end of the day, the Malaysian High Court ruled for of allowing the use of the word 'Allah' in a weekly Catholic publication, "The Herald."Without going into too much detail on the facts of the matter, suffice it to say that the word 'Allah', which most muslims consider it to be reserved for use in Islam alone, is today, by Malaysian law, used by just about any other religion to denote or mean God synonymously.
On my flight back to Dubai from Kuwait a few hours ago I happened to sit next to a Palestinian lady who had lived 20 years of her life in Washington DC, and now resides in Jerusalem working for the UN and among the topics of our conversation I asked her of her opinion on this matter and what she said to me made me question my own predilections on the issue. She pointed out to me a few factors why Christians or any other non Muslim should not be allowed the use of the word Allah in their decimation of their beliefs or religions.
Firstly, she emphasized that to be allowed the use of the word, the Christians must acknowledge the religion of Islam and the teachings of the Prophet of Allah, which most Christians do not. Having lived in America for 20-odd years myself I agree with her as to my knowledge through experience I know that it is true and it is not simply because these Christians deny the existence of Islam or the teaching of the Prophet out of religious convictions but mostly through ignorance, simply not being aware of such existence. The development of recent events, which leads to Islamophobia, further exacerbates this situation. Thus, how can it be allowed, the word 'Allah' to be used by those who are ignorant of what it stands for or deny its very existence due to a lack of knowledge?
Secondly, Jesus to the Christians was the son of God; he was also God 'Incarnate' as the manifestation of The Christ. Allah is without sons or daughters," He was not begotten nor begotten "as mentioned in the Surah Al Ikhlas. Allah Is ...and to the Muslims Christ was...one of the prophets of Allah. If Christians are allowed to associate the word Allah with God as in the Bible, then Allah is the 'Father', (to the Son) Jesus, and Christ was Allah? To the Muslims, it is blasphemous to say the least. In this case, for the Christians to be able to use the word Allah synonymously with the word God, they would first have to abide by the Muslim understanding of this word. Abide by the teachings of the Quran and acknowledge the Prophet Muhammad as the last Rasul of Allah.
Thirdly, she pointed out that having lived among Christians in Palestine, it is a known fact that these Christians referred to God with the term Al Rab and not Allah. This is like 'The Lord' as in Al Rab-ul Alamin, Lord of the UNiverse. I have yet to meet or hear someone who can explain to me the word God and its linguistic origin, is it English? Did Jesus speak a word of English?
It is undeniably true that the "word' is not the thing and in light of this it may be arguable that to deprive one section of humanity of using the same name one uses is rather arrogant especially when the word denotes God ( for whatever the word God itself may mean... ) However, " They have not comprehended ALLAH with the comprehension due ALLAH."
The Koran, 22;74

"We know that the noun 'ALLAH is written by using the Arabic letters starting with the letter 'Alif' which stands single at the beginning while at the same time being free from all the other letters that follow it. Next to the letter 'Alif' are two other letters, the letter 'Lam', which are both connected to each other. The second of these is followed by the letter 'H'. Although it is not visible, there is also another 'Alif' which is invisible between the two last letters. When recited it can function like a short vowel giving the sound of the letter 'A'.
The first Alif corresponds to the stage of Primary Oneness (Ahadiyyat), which signifies the quality of the One, in other words, the Essence (Zat) of the one named 'Allah'. The Essence cannot be limited in any way whatsoever or be grasped by any vision, because at the level of the Essence, there is absolute freedom, which indicates that the Essence is totally independent of all attributes. In fact it is such a state of NON EXISTENCE that it cannot be defined or imagined in any way or thought by any means whatsoever. This state is symbolized by the letter 'Alif', which in essence is a straight stroke extending vertically from a dot by standing absolutely independent from all other letters in the writing of the word "Allah".
"Know Yourself"
By Ahmed Hulusi
Trans. by Ali Junayd Tari

The next step perhaps Malaysian Muslims and their Christian brothers might sit and deliberate about how to pray to God as one would to Allah once the name issue is being taken care of. Like worshipping of 'The One" (AHAD) as opposed to the 'The Holy Trinity' of the Christian faith. When you worship God there is The Father The Son and the Holy Ghost that has to be taken into account too but when you worship Allah there is only He and none other than He. The 'Allah' issue may have simmered down and shoved onto the back burner for now while more tantelizing issues like the sodomy trials and Sarawak polls occupy the minds of many concerned Muslim in Malaysia and the irreversible decission has been taken by the Supreme Court of Justice, however the fact of the matter remains that the word ALLAH is nonnegotiable especially if it is merely for political expedience or to score points with one's own followers for having won a legal fight. For those who call themselves the 'People of The Book", the Judeo, Christian and Islamic tradition, the belief in the Day of Reckoning is part and parcel of a True Believer and none escapes the Judgement in the court of Allah. Having Iman or faith in this word alone engenders liberation of the soul from every attachment that binds it to mind and body, hence of this physical realm which is Maya, Illusional, Impermanent, subject to decay and decease. In Bahasa Malaysia,the word God is tuhan, Tuhan yang kamu sembah, yang aku sembah, tuhan kamu tuhan aku! or your God, my God. You never say my ALLAH or your ALLAH.
"It is clear now that if the word 'illa', (as in La-illa-Ha'illal Lah), comes into connection with the name "ALLAH", it must always be translated as "ONLY".
From this point of view, the translation of the word ONeness into English should not be as "There no God but ALLAH", but 'There is no God, Only ALLAH."
From, MOhammad's ALLAH
By Ahmed Hulusi, Translated by Ahmed Beki.

Yes in my humble opinion it is not wrong for Christians, especially Catholics, to use the word Allah in their Bibllical references to mean God. After all, it is written in the Koran that only a Catholic woman can marry a Muslim without having to convert herself to Islam. If the koran allows for such liniency towards the Catholics, there must be a good reason why they cannot use His Name; however, bear in mind the ramifications of the use of this word, how it will affect the religion (Christianity) itself. One cannot have faith in something one has no understanding of whatsoever simply because... hence it is better perhaps NOT to.

"Whether you think you know the reality of yourself or you know Allah, say Allah and then leave all the rest! If you wish, you may continue to spend your whole life with gossiping instead!"
Ahmed Hulusi

Talking Brought Me Here....

A hunter was hunting in the forest one day and while searching for his prey he stumbled upon a human skull laying on the ground.
"What brought you here?!" he asked in surprise.
"Talking brought me here!", the bleached human skull answered.
hocked, the hunter asked again, "What brought you here?!"
"Talking brought me here!", again the skull answered.
"Wow!", the hunter exclaimed, "Wait till the chief hear of this!"
So off he ran back to the village right to the chief's hut and told the chief in all his excitement of finding a talking skull in the forest. The chief was skeptical of this and was not totally convinced thinking that the hunter was pulling his leg. He was a busy man to boot what with 52 wives and countless children nd grandchildren to mind and a village to run...but in the end he was talked into following the hunter to the forest. Along with his warriors they followed the hunter to where he had found the human skull.
Upon arriving at the place where the skull was the hunter imediately went up to it and asked, "What brought you here?!"
No answer!
Again "What brought you here?!"
No answer, just a bleached human skull laying there in the sand.
Where there was one skull in the forest before now there are two!
I might have told of this story somewhere in my five odd years of blogging, I cannot remember but it is my favourite African folk tale that I read somewhere when I was in college and every once in a while I like to bring it back to remind myself of...too much talking? Writing?
This morning I accompanied my niece and her neighbour also from Malasia shopping for the long black robes that woen wear over here in most of the the Middle Eastern Countries. My intention was to take the opportunity to check the city out while they shop. However there was not much to check out about the City of Kuwait especially on a hot dusty day and most of what you see of the locals are Indians, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis running the show from cab drivers to bank tellers, shokeepers to doctors and lawyers. Most look at me with disain curiuousity if not down right hostility as it must be hard for then figuring me out by my looks if not mannerisms. What with my deciding to keep my hair long and my beard full, now that Osama is no more it is perhaps safe to do so without getting the looks at the airports.
Shopping with the ladies turned out to be an entertaining event actually, once I realized that i can sit an oggle at all the customers who came in to try the 'black robes' and snap a few shots for my blog which otherwise would not have been possible to do so. I am not sure about other men but I find the women all wrapped up in their black robes with only the eys peeking out to be more enticing and sensual more so that those who run around in binkinis and 'G'Strings. Perhaps they left a lot of room for my imagination rather than deprive me with over exposure. How ironic sometimes things can turn out with human nature or the workings of the human mind. Suddenly these generally black cloathings became beautiful with intricate designs added to then and how these designs had evolved from the basic black robe like women's wear meant to curb sensuality. Only their eyes can reveal!
It is however sad that most these women are a little heavy in the kitchen corner of their physic but even this is ecentuated by the black satin like material rounding off these extra pounds at the right locations making one felt like reaching out and oh..well...the Gods must be crazy!!! I still maintain that the second greatest thing God created was the woman... after His creation of Life itself. I thank God for i have had my fair share of their Love and Wrath!

The thoughts of J. Krishnamurti Prt. 2

In his later years Jedu Krishnamurti saw the implications of the rise of the computer age an its remifications for the human race. He focused his talks on the persisting incapacity of the human race in dealing with the global state of affairs such as the end to global conflicts and the gloom of wars. Despite our claim to have achieved advancement in every aspect of our human endeavour Krishnamurti felt that man is still ignorant of himself, man has yet to discover his true nature or identity which is inevitable if he is to save himself and mankind as a whole. We have the tendencies to look without for our solutions to our misgivings rather than looking within for answers. We fail to utilize our greatest asset and that being the mind when confronted with challenges and we resort to looking for help from the external sources thus empowering others to make the decissions and find the solutions for us. With the introduction of the computer this has been further excerbated and a threat of complacency is eminant over the fate future generation.
Krishnamurti asked us to look deeply without fear or favours , without judgements or prejudices into our mode of thinking, our ways of dealing with whatever that the mind lay before us in our dailly affairs. He emphasizes our need to follow through each and every thought that arises in our minds and follow its course till it is fully comprehended from the beginning, the middle and the end of its course, just as the Buddha taught in his teachings of Dyana or meditation. The methods may differ to each and every spiritual or religious practices but the aim is still the same and that is to understand the processes of the human mind, to look with clarity and detached observation of how our thoughts arises and what makes them disappear. Why we think what we think and how to put an end to this ever prescence of thoughts in our conciousness or at the very least minimizing it to the best of our ability.
What is wrong with having thoughts? According to Krishnamurti, thought is of the past, thought is a product of time anything and everything that we think of is from our memories or from our past expereinces and thus of the past. Being of the past, being subject to time, thought will always be limiting and as such ideas and projections anything having dependance on thought will remain limited, of the past.
As an artist I often ask myself what of originality? How does one strive to create something not a product of the past or an imitation of what has been done before? Or as a Buddhist would ask, "What is the original Buddha nature?" Or who am I before I was conceived by my parents? The answer to these questions has to be realized not through the process of thinking or thoughts, the answers will have to be realized out of the box where thoughts operates, like one looking for answers to a Zen Koan. For example,"Has dog Buddha Nature?" or "What is the sound of one hand clapping?"
Remember, Krishnamurti would advice you, the word is not the thing! Thus deliberating out the answers through the thought processes is futile to say the least and in some Zen schools one would receive a stick on the head from a master even before one can open one's mouth to answer. So we find ourselves in a conundrum, die if you do die if you dont, not being able to think has its disadvantages, we think, how to survive with no thoughts?

The Thoughts of J. Krishnamurti.

Jedu Krishnamurti's lifelong works has been considered highly controversial by many and simply and easily understood and acceptable by some. In most of his talks Krishnamurti invited everyone present to participate in the 'Discussions' rather than listen to one man's lecture or point of views. Krihnamurti did not consider himself a spiritual 'Guru' or an exponent of any particular teaching or philosophy, he was more into taking his audiences for a Stroll through the maze of the human mind. Picking it to pieces and putting them back together in every which way like a jig saw puzzle, that often seemed impossible yet fits and makes sense. Jedu Krishnamurti offered a peek into the workings and the trappings of thoughts, the hidden truths of our reliance on it and the dangers of not recognizing our ignorance of its functions.
Throughout his life Krishnamurti tried in every which way to expose the falacies of organized religion. the education system and the institutions that deals with them, he tried to free the human mind and spirit from the bonds of 'follow the leader' mentality simply through having a thorough understanding of 'Who you are' or who am I.Through self discovery and right understanding of relationship man can eleviate himself from manyof the man made horrors such as wars and oppressions. 'You are the World', 'The world is You', he emphasized time and again and change for the better can only come through your each and every individual self realizations.
"What you are , the world Is."
For those who have studied him with greater depth and insight krishnamurti's thoughts and reflections runs a whole lot deeper in meaning than meets the eye especially when put into practice on a daily basis. From the simplest act of watching your mind in action to understanding the workings of your neurosystems in the brain in relation to these actions, you may gain an insight into the hows and whys of the human conflicts, and an insight even unto the process of death and dying itself.
"...to die...an ending to all things of memory - that is death, a death not seperable from living."
Krishnamurti spoke of Intelligence ...
" Intelligence is the capacity to discern, to understand, to distinguish, it is also the capacity to observe, to put together all that we have gathered and to act from that. That gathering, that discernment, that observation can be prejudiced; and intelligence is denied when there is prejudice. If you follow another intelligence is denied, the following of another however noble denies your own perception, denies your own observation - you are merely following somebody who will tell you what to do, what to think. If you do that, than intelligence does not exist, because in that there is not observation and therefore no inttelligence. Intelligence demands doubting, questioning, not being impressed by others, by their enthusiasm or their energy..."
Most of his thoughts and lectures were not too far from the teachings of the great teachers of old such as The Buddha, Christ and the Rishis of India, but it is the manner in which he laid them down that made Krishnamurti a man unto himself. I came to know the man sometime in the late seventies when I was at the University of Wisconsin in Green Bay. I stumbled upon a small book of his entitled "The Way of Intelligence" and the rest was history. I was hooked and from then on I made it my mission to fully understand the man and his teachings as it challenged my own intelligence. His words evoked from within me my own thoughts came alive from his words like sparks from a flintstone triggering wildfires within my mind, I was never the same after this chance encounter.
It was after my introduction to J. Krishnamurti's works that I decided to change my University course and designed my own program till I graduated with a BA degree of my own design. I remember being in a quagmire of college life with very little meaning other than the waste of time and money while not learning very much from the studio classes I was in. Krishnamurti shouted in my mind one night "Change!! Now!!" and I did the very next morning when I woke up from the dream I was having. I opted to do my studies off campus with my first trip to London and Wales in 1979. The trip further opened my eyes and my mind and art took a whole new dimension in my life, I became a full time artist living on the street as one and I still do.
"A man who is passionate about the world and the necessity for change, must be free from political activity, religious conformity and tradition - which means free from the weight of time, free from the burden of the past, free from the action of the will; this is the new human being. This only is the social, psychological, and even political revolution."
Pg.147.."The Urgency of Change"

The Mahabaratta- A Reflection

Space is a 'mind field'...While Time tells 'His-story', And God sang His song of Truth and Untruth...thus was the story told, MAHABARATTA!! You Tube has over a hundred videos of this epic Hindu story that is today still considered the longest epic ever written; the Mahabaratta! To have a good understanding of Hinduism and the socio cultural as well as political back ground that has laid the foundation for the hindu religion the Mahabaratta is still a great point of refference. Loyalty, fidelity, faith and devotion, jealousy, anger and revenge, this epic story that had led to the "Greatest War" was all about human values, human frailites and devine interventions. The Story unfolds with the conflict set upon by the ambitious and arrogant prince of the Kauravas, prince Duryodhan whose obsessive crave for power was fueled by his uncle whose sole purpose for existance was to destroy the Kuru dynasty. Relationship implies existence; and so nothing can live in isolation, to be is to be related.Our conflict is in relationship of all levels of our existence, and the understanding of this relationship, completely and extensively is the only problem that each of us have. Each of us has to start anew, afresh; for what we are the world is. This little world of our problems extended becomes the world and the problem of the world. We despair of our understanding in relation to the vast problems of the world. We do not see that it is not a problem of mass action but of awakenning of the individual to the world in which he lives and to resolve this problem of his world however limited. The mass is actually you and I and another- an abstaraction which is being exploited by the politicians or by one who has an ideology. The individual then is important, not his idea or whom he follows, his country or his beliefs. You are important, not to what ideology or nation you belong, to what color or creed; the ideology is only a projection of our conditioning. The purification of the brain is necessary. The brain is the center of all the senses: the more the senses are alert and sensitive the sharper the brain is; its the center of remembrance-the past; its the storehouse of experiences and knowledge-tradition. So its limited, conditioned. Its activites are planned, thought out, reasoned but it functions in limitation, in space-time. The complete, the whole is the mind; it is empty, totally empty and because of this emptiness the brain exist in space-time... only when the brain has cleansed itself of its conditioning, greed envy, ambition, then only can it comprehend that which is complete. LOVE is the completeness. Self critical awareness is essential . Imagination and illusion distort clear observation. Illusion will always exist, so long as the urge for the continuation of pleasure and the avoidance of pain exist; the demand for those experiences which are pleasurable to continue or be remembered; the avoidance of pain, suffering. Both these breed illusion. To wipe away illusion altogether, pleasure and sorrow must be understood, not by control or sublimation, identification or denial. To be satisfied is ugly but to be discontented breeds hatred. To be virtuous in order to gain heaven or the approval of the respectable of society, makes of life a barren field which has been ploughed over and over again but has never been sown. This doing somethingfor the sake of somehting else is in essence an intricate series of escapes from oneself, from what is. Without experiencing the essence there is no beauty. Beauty is not merely in the outward things orin the inwards thoughts, feelings and ideas,there is beauty beyond thought and feeling. Its this essence that is beauty,But this beauty has not opposite. Control in any form is harmful to total understanding. A disciplined existence is a life of conformity there is no freedom from fear. Habit destroys freedom; habits of thought, habit of drinking and so on makes for superficial and dull life. Organized religion with its beliefs dogmas and rituals denies the open entry into the vastness of mind. It is the entry that cleanses the brain of of space-time. Being cleansed the brain can then deal with space-time. Based upon Krishnamurti's teachings.