Take a step into the Real away from the Unreal; Knowing who You are.= 1

If I were to be asked for a recommendation on what kind of practice is most effective towards self discovery and attain what Hindu calls  jivan mukhti or self liberation.

Jivanmukti transforms the individual, molds his/her character so that he/she is liberated while still alive. Being free from desiring pleasures of this world and heaven is a supreme level of detachment.

 I would have to say firstly that one has to truly want to do it. One has to make the commitment wholeheartedly with the determination to go all out and all the way, one's life is dedicated towards the journey of self discovery like holding a ball of fire in your hand until it turns to ashes. The desire to know who you truly are beyond name and form, race and religion, beyond all that the mind has conditioned one to accept who one thinks one is, is like a pilgrimage towards meeting the Maker, the Creator, the Source. It is like peeling the onion layer after layer until there is nothing left to peel and what is left is the formless and the emptiness of being; one's original 'Buddha Nature', the Unborn and the Immortal.

I would next advice to take up a serious practice of meditation, it can be any form so long as one understands and most comfortable with in order to get to into a state of removal from the external influences, a state of solitary confinement of the mind and its mental states. Taming the mind is the essence of meditation where the habitual act of incessant thinking is brought to an end and the blissful state of peace and tranquility is achieved and allows for a pause where new thoughts and impressions can arise for the benefit of the practice. Creative instinct, original ideas, intuitive thoughts can only appera when there is a gap of silence or empty space is available for them to do so; meditation helps towards to achieve this stat. Today there os no excuse for not knowing how to anymore as the wisdom and knowledge of the what and how to of meditation is readily available on Internet especially on You Tube; Iqrar! Read!, as the Angel Gibrail alai i Salam commanded to Prophet to do when they first encountered. The Guru and the Roshis, the Teachers and Masters are available online for anyone interested in the art of meditation; the art of healing the chaotic mind.

Thirdly. It is imperative that one develops a sense of discipline and awareness towards performing our daily tasks and to implement all that is required for us to do albeit doing the dishes or working in the field, that we carry out our tasks with complete devotion and mindfulness. Watching the mind as we perform whatever task that is laid before us is another form of meditation; this is meditation in action. How often do we notice that the mind would try to revolt against doing something tedious like doing the dishes day in day out when the dirty dishes were not even our own. How often does the mind creeps in and whisper to us to let is slide and let someone else do our chores for us or stay in bed a little longer or walk by a beggar sitting and stretching out his or her hand for alms and the mind simply whispers, get a job. A sense of self discipline imposed upon the mind by you the owner of the mind will help for us to recognize our relationship with our own mind and body; who is the boss? A thorough understanding or the inner workings of our physical, mental and spiritual workings of ourselves would help to enhance our understanding of who we truly are as compared to who we have come to think we are. As it is we have been conditioned from the day we were born by external stimuli in the form of our parents, peers, teacher and so forth and as such who we think we are is a byproduct of conditioning and this we have to free ourselves from and it is never too late.

Self discovery is a very arduous process or so it may seem, however if we give a little attention towards wanting to get to know ourselves better we will find it often is a matter of simple commonsense. There nothing on this planet that worth knowing than our true nature or who we truly are and it may take w lifetime of research and practice or it can happen just overnight, it all depends on how vital it is an endeavor you take it to be. How urgent or important it is to get to truly know oneself in this life is it a matter worth to die for, as it is why we are are alive, why we keep making the same errors and feel the same sense of loss and drifting as we grow older. When death knocks at our door how would we like to exit this life? As one who is awakened and enlightened or one who has lived life in ignorance and darkness with a herd and slave mentality or one whose spiritual development has matured to a state liberation free from fear of even death itself. As a matter of fact most sages and great masters even look forward to death and dying as just another door towards yet another realm of existence where one can embark upon yet a new journey in a different form and circumstances totally in control of every situation that is met with; He who knows himself, knows his Maker, the Prophet of Allah is said to have said.

For those who seriously are on the road towards self discovery I would recommend a You Tube video - "Self inquiry as taught in Raja Yoga." or "Introduction to Sat Yoga Teachings; Science and Art of Self Realization. "What is Self - Enquiry. How to do it.- Ramana Maharshi and many others. There is an abundance of knowledge available and it is a matter of one's choice to make the journey, the question being one has nothing to loose but a whole lot to gain in terms of one's personal growth, to be able to live life and see the world in a whole new and unabridged perspective. To become a master of one's own destiny, create one's own perspective in the world we live, to become a Creator and not a spectator.

" When you start the reflective self inquiry, ask yourself who am I, what do I want, what is my purpose, what am I grateful for, go into the stillness of meditation you have what wisdom tradition have called revelation, revealed truth... when you have discovered the awareness of awareness, it's called, Nirvana. (Enlightenment.)" Deepak Chopra - Interview on Impact Theory - You Tube channel. I highly recommend to listen to this interview and such similar presentations  as part of one's practice towards self discovery.

To be contd. #jivanmukti #buddhanature #meditation #awareness # consciousness #rajayoga #ramanamaharshi #deepakchopra #impacttheory

   

   

Don't Sweat the small stuff...the devil is in the details

 

"Beware of Satan, for the safety of your religion. He has lost all hope that he will be able to lead you astray in big things so beware of following him in small things."...

The Prophet of Allah,(PBUH) at His last sermon.

'And the devil is in the details' as was quoted in my earlier post by the author of the novel, The Game Of Thrones.- George R.R. Martin.

This morning as I struggled against whether to get out of bed or continue my sleep when my cat, Furby, scratched the mattress as she never fails to do so every morning just before the morning call to prayer by the Muezin.

A muezzin is a man who calls muslims to prayer from the minaret of a mosque. He leads the call (adhan) to Friday service and the five daily prayers (also known as the salat) from one of the mosque's minarets.

I almost gave in to .back to sleep as my head was throbbing with the worse migraine and the rest of my body was screaming with aches and pains especially at the pit of my abdomen. Furby won and I struggled off my bed and straggled to the kitchen to check her food situation which I had always assumed why she wakes me up in the first place. After I added more or her Whiska catfood to her bowl, I decided to drift back to back without getting angry, but she was standing by the door waiting for me to let her out which means that I too will have to get out and do what I routinely do, sit and meditate while listening to the birds from all directions and watch the hills and skies light up with the sunrise. After a while as the darkness faded and the panoramic view before me came to light all my aches and pains were practically gone and I did my awareness walking exercise back and forth along the corridor. Normally the pigeons would be waiting to be fed but this morning there were no pigeon waiting, it was as though they knew I had no leftover rice to throw on the roof for them like I always do. I felt a slight guilt in my heart over this as I was trying to avoid having to confront the birds with no food if they been there; does nature knows of these things?

I tired to think of what to write about as I finally sat down facing the computer but nothing came to mind as so I drifted from one thing to another, first the Face Book, then the You Tube, then a new series on Netflix but nothing caught my attention and I felt like I was wasting my time and decided to hit the sack and take a nap. Then I saw the link that I was quoting from yesterday, the last sermon of the Prophet at Arafah which I had left still on the page and read a few of the verses and was hooked by the above verse. The verse echoed the quote that I had quoted from 'The Game of Thrones,' ..."so beware of following him in the small things... and 'the devil is in the details.' Perhaps it is merely a coincident in my perception or perhaps my mind is asking me to take a closer look at what is truly meant by both these quotes.

Jumping back to two more generations, German philologist, philosopher, cultural critic, poet and composer, Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (15 October 1844 – 25 August 1900) is quoted as having said, “Der Teufel steckt im Detail” which translates directly to “the devil is in the details.”

Here again I just stumbled upon yet another discovery that Friedrich Nietzsche had quoted this too two generations ago.

The source of the proverb 'The devil is in the details' is often attributed to the German/American architect Ludwig Mies Van Der Rohe. ... In the migration of the phrases an 's' was added - the earlier form is usually 'God is in the detail'; the later form is more commonly 'the devil is in the details'.

 It gets more interesting as I keep looking into the origin of these quotes to say the least. So I am going to keep looking into this further and see where it leads me.

An older, and slightly more common, phrase God is in the detail means that attention paid to small things has big rewards, or that details are important. The devil version of the idiom is a variation on the God phrase, though the exact origin of both is uncertain.

In my search for the meaning of, 'beware of him(the devil) in little things.' as uttered by the Prophet, I could not find any thus far and so I would have to assume my own interpretation until I come across a more accurate explanation by a more authoritative source. It is my feeling that what is meant by the Prophet (SAW) is that the Devil or Satan may not be able to posses your soul,(as a Muslim), but he can do nasty things through the insignificant small things that you take for granted and become complacent about as you go about you daily life Oh, its alright I don't need to pray or take my Wudu or wash myself, or its no big deal if I take a few fruits off the tree that belongs to my neighbor or looking at my neighbor's wife with desire does not mean I am going to get her into bed and so forth; little things accumulate to become big things. 

I don't think I am making any headway towards unraveling what the Prophet meant and so I will shelf the issue for now until I get a revelation from God; no harm in hoping for answers and who better than the Lord Himself.  #theprophetsaw #thedevilisinthedetail #godisinthedetail #friedrichwilhelmnietzsche #thegamesofthrones 

  

Celebrating Eid Mubarak at the Valley of Arafah.

 On this day Muslims all over the world celebrates the Eid Mubarak or better  known among most as Aidil al-Adha. Today in the Muslim calendar it is said that The Prophet of Allah, Muhammad (SAW), Peace be unto Him, delivered His final address to Humanity at the Field of Arafah in Makah. This is also the culmination day for the performance of the Haj for those who had performed their pilgrimage ending at Arafah. 

The occasion marks the end of Hajj Pilgrimage, the holiest place for people of Muslim faith situated in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. The festival is celebrated by sacrificing a goat by the Muslims to pay their obedience to Prophet Abraham's commitment to Allah. 

The Eid Mubarak is also commonly known as the Eid-ul Qurban or the sacrificial feast where sacrifices of cattle, goats, camels or sheep s being made by families collectively of by individuals who has the means. This sacrificial for one who has completed his or her pilgrimage is performed at the end of the journey at Arafah while those who carry it out at home or their local mosques collectively is a symbolic act to commemorate the act of the Prophet Abraham who was required by His Lord to take the life of his son as a sacrifice to verify His faith in God. To the Muslims Abraham chose Ismael His first born to His second wife, a Bedouin slave chosen as a surrogate mother when His actual wife was found to be barren. 

In the Old Testament (Genesis 16:1–16; 17:18–26; 21:1–21), Abraham’s wife Sarah was initially unable to bear children and therefore gave Abraham her maidservant Hagar to conceive an heir. Ishmael was born and brought up in Abraham’s household. Some 13 years later, however, Sarah conceived Isaac, with whom God established his covenant. Isaac became Abraham’s sole heir, and Ishmael and Hagar were banished to the desert, though God promised that Ishmael would raise up a great nation of his own.

Ishmael, commonly regarded by both Jews and Arabs as the progenitor of the Arabs, is considered a messenger and a prophet (rasūl nabī) in the Qurʾān (e.g., 19:54). Though little is said about him in the Qurʾān itself aside from his designation as a prophet, it suggests that he assisted Abraham in building Islam’s most sacred structure, the Kaaba, in Mecca (2:127). Most Islamic traditions about Ishmael come from other, extrascriptural sources, such as Hadith, tafsīr (Islamic exegesis), and qiṣaṣ al-anbiyāʾ (stories of the prophets). According to the most well-known of these traditions, after Ishmael and Hagar were banished, they settled in Mecca, near which they had found relief and water at the Well of Zamzam. Later, in nearby Minā, Abraham attempted to sacrifice Ishmael (rather than Isaac, as stated in the Old Testament), an event commemorated on Eid al-Adha and in the rituals of the hajj (pilgrimage)

This episode in the theological history of the Judeo-Christian-Islamic tradition has been bugging me every time the time of the Eid Mubarak comes around and I keep telling myself it is of no concern of mine and something best left for those whose vocation it is to delve into these matters deeply till the truth be uncovered. The question that keeps popping up in my mind has been, why would Abraham, an obedient chosen prophet of God banish his second wife and first born to die in the desert? What would drive such a man to carry out such a heinous act against a helpless woman and her child? Secondly, If Isaac were His rightful heir and so called 'real' son, would his wife Sarah who had hoped and prayed for a child of her own allowed Abraham to Isaac away and kill him on account God demanded so? No Jewish mother would sacrifice her only son not even if God had demanded it. It is simply not in her nature to give in so willingly. Perhaps I am wrong, off course I am wrong! For thousands of years since the event religious men has been juggling all the implications that had taken place and none really carry water for me albeit Biblical or otherwise. The story in truth will never be known and as the Muslim expression goes, WallahuAlam...only God knows and so let it rest at that.

Normally I would have it written off as a non essential, an irrelevant to my attention, however it is still a nagging issue sitting at the back of my mind demanding answers and it will remain as such for as long as I have not addressed th issue to its end. Why? Its simply because these minor infractions in the historical facts about the Abrahamic religions have caused untold number of human death and suffering since the time of Abraham. Wars and suppression and oppression have been waged one against another by the three religions claiming to worship the same God and till this day and age it is still unresolved or getting even worse. The Devil it seems has his work cut out for him where the destruction and demise of the children of Adam on the face of the earth is concern. The Jews, Christians and Muslims will be at each other's throat till the end of time or so it seems and all because of the revelations and interpretations  of the scriptures by those who were responsible for keeping them pure and unadulterated.

On this holy day of the Muslim calendar the Prophet of Allah, Muhammad (PBUH), delivered His final sermon before thousands who had completed performing the Haj ending at Arafah.

The sermon was repeated sentence by sentence by Safwan's brother Rabiah (RA), who had powerful voice, at the request of the Prophet and he faithfully, proclaimed to over ten thousand gathered on the occasion. Towards the end of his sermon, the Prophet asked "O people, have I faithfully delivered unto you my message?" A powerful murmur of assents "O Allah! yes!"arose from thousands of pilgrims and the vibrant words "Allahumma Na'm," rolled like thunder throughout the valley. The Prophet raised his forefinger and said: "O Allah bear witness that I have conveyed your message to your people."...

Wallahu Alam... the rest is history. 

#muhammad #arafah #abraham #isacc #eidmubarak #zamzam #ishmaeland hagar#

 

Being right back where I belong...when it all comes to an end.

Upon waking up this morning I had a realization and it came as though while I was still asleep and yet waking up from. The voice in my head as I call it, was telling me of who I am as that of a Muslim or from an Islamic perspective. I cannot recall if it came out of a dream or simply just my thoughts formulating ideas as I was waking up. It said that if asked who are you tell them that you are the manifestation of Allah's Hasma Husna or the 99 Beautiful Names of Allah or aspiring to become each and everyone of these attributes in my daily life. What is Asma Ul Husna?

The 99 names of Allah are called 'Asma Ul Husna' (Pronounce Asma Ul Husna) which in Arabic means 'The Most Beautiful Names'. These islamic names are attributes of Allah SWT by which Muslims regard God in Islam.

The first pillar of imaan (faith) in Islam is Belief in Allah. As Muslims, we believe in Allah in accordance with His beautiful names and attributes. Allah has revealed His names repeatedly in the Holy Quran primarily for us to understand who He is. Learning and memorizing the names of Allah will help us to identify the correct way to believe in Him. There is nothing more sacred and blessed than understanding the names of Allah and living by them. How do we expect to worship, love, fear and trust our Lord, The Almighty Allah, if we don’t know who He is?

Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) said, “Allah has ninety-nine names, i.e. one-hundred minus one, and whoever knows them will go to Paradise.”
(Sahih Bukhari 50:894)

My take on this is that the 99 Names of Allah are not merely for us to memorize and worship Him by, but also for us to live our lives by. I believe that man is to emulate these attributes of God through the implications of their meaning. Man is not created purely in His image alone but endowed with His Beautiful, Just and Compassionate and so forth, attributes as well. It has been my believe that the ultimate goal for man being put on this plane of existence is to discover his true nature and that is what in Islam is known as the state of Al Insan Kamil or the Perfect Man. It is indeed a tall order to accomplish by any means, however in all the years of my searching for answers and trying to make sense out my spiritual life, I keep eluding to the same conclusion but am not positive enough to admit to my personal discovery, that I am a universal spirit, perfect in all respect except for the inability to remove the veil of ignorance I have covered myself with; It is in my inherent nature to become the perfect man as it is in the nature of every single being in this universe.   

In Islamic theology, al-Insān al-Kāmil (Arabic: الإنسان الكامل‎), also rendered as Insān-i Kāmil (Persian/Urdu: انسان کامل) and İnsan-ı Kâmil (Turkish), is an honorific title to describe the prophet Muhammad. The phrase means "the person who has reached perfection", literally "the complete person".

Al-Insān al-Kāmil - Wikipedia

The stage of perfection in the Islamic theology was achieved by the Prophet of Allah and as such He is the closest a man who has arrived at being at One with the Al Mighty, just Jesus was; he was a man, just as you and I are but endowed with special abilities to lead humanity out of the darkness of ignorance. The Prophet set the example of what the virtues inherent in the 99 Names of the Lord of The Universe are and manifested it in His daily life assisted by the Archangel Gibrail as the intermediary of the Lord. All man are endowed with this gift of insights and revelations if the heart is pure and open to receive them and most who did and still does are rare and small in number, diminishing in time. Al insan-i kamil is a state of the Adi Yogi in the Hindu Theological view and the Awakened One in the Buddhist theological view. Perhaps attaining to the state being the Christ in Christianity. What all these and many others in the cosmic realm of spiritual consciousness that we know not of, have one thing in common, they have evolved into a state of absolute perfection only one step before the throne of God, (Complete and Absolute Consciousness). It is my understanding that human nature is revealed through the 99 Names of the Lord save one and the One is the final stage of the merging and absorption of the created into the Creator. Thus as a Muslim we utter, "Innalillahi wainnalillahi Rajiun!" at the moment of impending death; from Him I came, to Him I return. It has always been my intention or desire that when I die it is not to heaven nor to hell that I would end up, but to return to where I originally belong and that being one with my Lord. #asmaulhusnah #insanikamil #absoluteconsciousness # #theprophet #

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I find the healing in writing...

 After many years thanks to Face Book I was able to get in touch with an old friend, a beautiful lady full of vigor and joyfulness to be with. Elyze Stewart was one of the members living at 191 Haight Street, in San Francisco where I met my late wife Nancy who was also a resident there. I was introduced to the small community of residents through my Zen buddy David Carlson who was also staying at the old Georgian apartment building with many rooms on the corner of Octavia and Haight. I was then living on Army Street at the junction of Mission and Army. I was renting a section of a room of what used to be a Sears Roebuck Building that was abandoned and converted into apartments for artists studios. I shared a room with another artist by the name of Rory something can't remember his last name. Together we had show at the place which was part of the San Francisco Open Studio Exhibition. It was in this building that I experienced the Loma Prieta Earthquake of 1998.

San Francisco earthquake of 1989, also called Loma Prieta earthquake, major earthquake that struck the San Francisco Bay Area, California, U.S., on October 17, 1989, and caused 63 deaths, nearly 3,800 injuries, and an estimated $6 billion in property damage. It was the strongest earthquake to hit the area since the San Francisco earthquake of 1906.  

The earthquake significantly damaged the transportation system of the Bay Area. The collapse of the Cypress Street Viaduct (Nimitz Freeway) caused most of the earthquake-related deaths. The San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge was also damaged when a span of the top deck collapsed. In the aftermath, all bridges in the area underwent seismic retrofitting to make them more resistant to earthquake

Remarkably, the earthquake struck just before the start of the third game of the 1989 World Series, which was to be played in San Francisco’s Candlestick Park between the two Bay Area baseball teams, the San Francisco Giants and the Oakland Athletics. The disaster’s occurrence during a major live television broadcast meant that news of the earthquake, as well as aerial views provided by the Goodyear blimp, reached a large audience. The baseball championship, which was suspended for 10 days, would come to be known as the “Earthquake Series.”

I had just got home from work where I was working as a produce buyer for a company called Del Tomaso. I was tired and had just plopped myself into bed when I heard loud popping sounds like gunfire coming from around me.I got up as fast I could and headed for the door of my room and as I was about to step out something dropped right in front of me from the ceiling with a loud pop. I looked down and noticed that there was a small fracture in the concrete floor like it was gouged out from a powerful impact and looking up at the ceiling I noticed the pipes hanging from the ceiling were undulating like a snake moving up and down away from where I stood. I realized that the popping sounds were made by the  nail hooks that were holding the pipes up to the ceiling and they were pushed out violently as the pipe bounces up and down. I quickly moved to the main door frame and stood in the doorway and then the it all went dark. Some came and held on to me apologizing for doing so and what we heard was like the sound of a locomotive bearing down towards the building outside and then silence. A child was crying in the room next to mine and phone rang somewhere. The lights came on a few minutes after I heard the lady who was clinging on to me said, "That's my phone!" She took off and returned a few minutes later to tell me that her friend who was in Tokyo, Japan, had called her wondering if she was okay and that a section of the Bay Bridge had collapsed and that the marina was on fire and all these came from the News that the Good Year Blimp was transmitting, The Blimp was covering the Baseball World Series when the quake hit.

Instead of taking my nap I took a walk all the way to 191, Haight Street, taking the Mission Dolores Street just to see how much damage was wrought by the quake and to see how my friends were doing. It was not to bad as far as damages but some cars were still sounding off the alarm making it all seem like all hell had broken loose. I had been visiting my friend David Carlson every chance I had  as he was fun to hang out with and it so happened that it was also his birthday the day before and I took with me one of my Litho prints of a mask of Yamantaka, one of the three Demon Protectors of the Dharma in the Tibetan Vajrayana Buddhism to give it to him as a birthday present. It was when I met Nancy who was sitting in the living room looking worn out and down in the dumps. This was how I actually saw her when I first laid my eyes on my later to become wife. I was in need of someone in my life and as I was looking at her I heard my mother's voice in my head saying,"You always look for the beautiful women in the past, here try someone who you consider otherwise and see if you can find the beauty inside of her'.'I say this with all sincerity and truth as i can still see my late wife as when I first decided that I was going to have a relationship with her. It was not love at first sight, it was more of compassion at first intention; I will draw out the beauty from within this woman.

Perhaps it was an egotistical and narcissistic to view a person, but it was how I felt at the time and I have kept this feeling inside of me till now; never shared this with anyone out of my love and respect for my late wife for she turned into an angel and a mother to my children until illness claimed her life prematurely.

 Perhaps she too had perceived me with the same mixed feelings when she first laid her eyes on me, I never did found out, but we were married at the Green Dragon Zen Temple about a year later with her carrying my son inside and delivering him ten days later. The Devil is in the details as mentioned in my earlier posting quoted from the novel ''The Game of Thrones." so I will not delve too much deeper into what my relationship was like with my late wife and I would consider it water under the bridge. All I need to say is that I loved her and that I feel that I had succeeded in bringing out of her the inner beauty that I felt was trapped within as when we first met at 191, Haight Street, in San Francisco.

Even though it is considered counter productive to keep looking back at one's past according to most spiritual schools, I still find it to be a catharsis toward the healing and liberating of my splintered soul. In writing all I can record of my past especially in my relationships with others, I find solace and peace in knowing that I was only human and was never perfect, but I did my best to be present and fully committed at whatever situation I was in. I was and still am aware of my imperfections, my weaknesses and my errors as a man, However I had lived to the best of my ability a productive life. Through my reflections of what has been or could have, I find no regrets albeit for the better or worse as I in my old old age have learned that it was all charted as my destiny, my path, my consciousness that have manifested along the way to get me here, where I am. So, instead of feeling sorry and regretful, instead pf feeling remorse, I have turned it all, good and bad, right and wrong as ' grist for the mill, my compost pile out of which I grow new and wholesome thoughts and feelings about who I am. If I am asked why I spend so much of my time writing about my self, this would be one of if not the answer. #lomaprietaearthquake #1989worldseries #earthquakeseries # 

The purpose of my life as it is...

"There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people wont feel insecure around you. We were all meant to shine, like children do. It is not in just some of us, it is in everyone. And as we let our own light shine we unconsciously give other people to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fears our presence automatically liberates others." ...from the movie  Coach Carter.

I see the same world as you do, but not the same way. I do not see the world as separate from me, I am the world and it is me, nothing is separate from me and I am not separated from anything. Being as such I fear nothing as everything that happens to me is my own manifestation of what is or is not. It is only when I see this life as separate from me that I see fear and suffering, I see right and wrong, success and failures. Hence I keep reminding myself the fact that I am present in the moment in time and space at one with the whole and the whole at one within me. I am not claiming to be able to accomplish this every minute of the day or even every day of the week and sometimes I forget and l lose myself for such a long period in time that I find it hard to even remember who I truly am. Then I find myself drifting, lost in the illusion of space and time, often spending my time looking for my way back home. In most of my dreams the same scenario keeps repeating itself, I find myself looking for my way back home and in most I never did and I find myself waking up feeling like I am still lost or on the way somewhere trying to get home.

These dreams become so regular and it still does so much so that I learned something from it in order not to be too absorbed into frustration and despair by enjoying the journey of being lost itself instead of being worried about getting home. I find myself in all kinds of new environment and sometimes familiar ones with familiar faces and sometimes I would that dejavu feeling of I have been in this scene before and I wondered how I would find my way home from this scenario. No matter the outcome,I would wake up often in pain in my chest from either my high blood pressure or gastric attack . This is usually the result of the exertion that I had in running the gauntlet to get home, not running to escape from anything in particular but simply just to get home. Perhaps because I have no place to truly call my home in life is why I never find my way home or perhaps because I never truly come to a complete acceptance of my believe and faith in any one God or religion, or perhaps it is just because I enjoy the journey so much that I do not wish it to end just yet no matter how tedious or monotonous, painful or exuberant it may seem to be; my mind loves to explore.  

I woke up from my latest dream which happened just before I sat to make this post telling a close friend of mine in the dream that, "I want to go home!," and the dream ended with the same routine of me finding my way home and waking up with a chest pain and aches all over. So I did what I normally would do I sat in meditation controlling my breath and moving my energy to where it is needed. I have somewhat mastered these situations to a stage where the pains would subside almost immediately as soon as I start to breath more consciously paying attention towards where the pains were most  intense. which usually would be in the center of my chest just above the abdomen or the solar plexus area and the back of the neck just below my skull. I visualize releasing the blocked energies around these areas by gently breathing onto them until they are totally relaxed and the blood flowing smoothly and with it the pains gone. I realie too that taking a pill or two of Panadol and drinking a good amount of Maylox or Gaviscon would have solved the problem just as well, well to each his own, I am a drug addict of the different kind if I wish to indulge myself every now and then. Everything is in moderation as they say and the more natural the healing power is the more sustainable and longer the impact would last. It is through my mind that I heal my body or at least maintain it and keep it in order.  The five basic elements kept pretty much in good balance and the supply of energy producing food is well regulated and the waste  product kept a close eye on. 

My simple self developed rules in keeping body and mind in good shape has got me thus far although I have often professed that I am neither the mind nor the body, these are still my tools, my instruments, my mode of expression and transportation while in this realm of existence and thus I keep them in good form as best I can. It is in this form of mind and body that I intend to liberate my soul from the bonds of suffering and ignorance; this is my goal my mission in life. As it is I have wasted much of my time in being dependent upon the external stimulation and attachments neglecting to search deeper within for answers to the mysteries of life, death and rebirth, or afterlife as the case may be. Questions of fear and attachments, pain and pleasure, wisdom and ignorance, these are the unanswered issues that needs to still be dealt with and realized not just understood intellectually but manifested in my daily activities, in my relationship and in my spiritual growth. How far or how near am I from being liberated from the bonds of this Mayavic existence?

In order for the light within me to shine forth I have to become enlightened. This Blog kept for many years of my journey towards attaining the enlightenment of the Buddha, Sages and the Patriarchs/Matriarchs is my way of sharing with the world of what it takes to become a beacon for those lost in darkness. 

#enlightenment #buddha, #liberation #lifedeathrebirth

    

Rambling on.....

A young man announced on fb that he is ready to commit suicide, end it all as life has become too strenuous and over burdening for him. He lost his job one after another and suffers from displaced disc on his lower back which causes him constant pain. He once worked with my son and daughter, Karim and Marissa and we have met a few times. He is an intelligent and hard working young man We are indeed facing a pandemic and its is not only the virus that will bring us to our knees but the manner in which we as a collective whole manage to bring this pandemic under control is taking its toll as well. It is never certain for how long we will have to endure the pandemic and it will take a great amount perseverance and patience that we do not over react or succumb to pressures into committing foolish acts upon ourselves that would bring only regret and more suffering to ourselves as well as to others especially our loved ones. Humanity holds its strength in unity, in collective spirit, and in our collective consciousness. However most of humanity are oblivious to these nature inherent within us and more often than not most of us become victims to segregation and divisiveness through the exploitation by those in power. We have become food and fodder for the ruling minority who through our human history has made their intention to keep us being divided and thus conquered.

I feel sorry if not fear for the younger generation of my society, my country for  see only uncertainty and turmoil that lies ahead in the wake of this pandemic and it is in my opinion what is truly being intended to happen by those who had set these events in motion. Yes, I strongly believe that what is being unleashed into the human population is not a natural occurring event,m it was a premeditated scheme that perhaps had gone awry and out of control. The culprits are hiding their heads in the sand in the meantime while world is being set ablaze and human suffering is taking its toll like an aftermath of a tsunami. There is little of what can be done to stop this lava flow of a killer virus from making its way through every nook and cranny of this planet to wherever humans are found and contacts are made, for over time contacts is bound to happen as the virus is never going to disappear and as time wears on it seems further mutations are happening for the virus to become more rampant and virile. Man is facing his own self created nightmare in the form of an unseen  killer enemy and as such he cannot anyone or party to blame except himself. Is this the legacy that this generation will leave behind for those yet to come?

So how does one face all these crap shooting out from every hole in the ground and from the skies, we don't have to. We are free from all these if we know who we truly are and that it is in our nature to be able to just wade through all these mug and grime without getting our feet wet. We are by nature not even here in essence we are merely projecting what our minds are manifesting from all the crap that we are being exposed and fed with throughout our life here on this planet; we believe what we see, eat and shit. We assume everything that is happening to us to be real and that we are suffering on account of us being exposed to them. Depending on the level of your understanding of the nature of your consciousness, of which most of humanity are oblivious to, we are not affected by the exposure to what is from out there so much as the fact that we are attached to them. Our mind is such that whatever transpires before us is accepted to be undeniably real. However for those whose mind is awakened from this deep state of sleep, it is clear that we are not touched by nor affected in any way by what goes on around us if we chose not to allow it to be so. We are more like a lotus leaf or the leaf of the elephant ears, where the raindrops slides off the surface of our skin without soaking it wet.  In one of His sayings the Buddha is said to have said, " Live life as though you are plucking a lotus without wetting your fingers." I am and always will be a witness, a watcher, living on the fringe of life whether I am aware of this or not, I have always felt this separateness between who I truly am and what is before me. I am even not my body, nor am I this mind that is putting forth these thoughts. In moments of my total wakefulness or awakening, I realized I am formless and have no beginning or an end, that I am undoubtedly completely whole and unchanged. Yes, it mayseem far out to most who have not felt these feelings in their whole span of so called living, but to those who has touched or being touched by a moment of spiritual awakening, for lack of better words, it is never the same.

During my two years having spent at the Zen Buddhist monastery in California I had experienced a few moments that was not easily put in words to make any sense out of, I seldom talk of them at least not openly for I feel it sounds even ridiculous even for me to swallow. But experienced them I did and often there was at lest one person there to bear witness to what was happening. Hence , if I were to see a one thousand petaled white lotus flower were to manifest itself out of a rack of white China bowls that I had just complete washing, it is of no surprise to me except t bow in reverence and acknowledge the divine within me manifesting itself. If i had witness a night of darkness turned into a flood of light emerging like that of a full moon all around me at the edge of a forest, it did not stir any fear in me but simply a sense of awe and wonder and perform I performed my salutations to the Divine within me for emerging at the moment when I was on the verge of giving in to fear and fright. This is the firs time I am exposing my personal spiritual experiences and am still feeling not right about it, awkward maybe, but it is as good a time as any seeing that the demons are having a field day bamboozling the unwary and the simple minded. Nothing special, just lessons and how I authenticate them to myself.

   

       

There's time to be planting and time to be reaping...

 It is time for lessons to be learned and the few basic principles of life to be awakened to, there's always blessings to be grateful for and remembering this is the most fundamental of all principles; just being thankful to be alive and well is a good place to start. Then there is the sense of compassion, empathy or even just simple caring towards all sentient beings on the face of this planet no matter what size shape or color, to share Loving Kindness as our primary approach to every being; this simply means, there is no hatred. Having a charitable heart is paramount to each and everyone of us if we are to consider ourselves as human beings created in the image of The Maker. A charitable heart would mean that there is no coveting, no hoarding, no possessing of what is not rightfully ours, in short, no greed.  The Pandemic has afford most of us to reflect, to rehash, reevaluate, and reconcile in some cases with who we take ourselves to be. Having lived life for the past seventy odd years staying well within the comfort zone and in keeping with the herd mentality, thinking within the confines of what is considered to be rational to the norm, having to abide by the pandemic guidelines such as lock downs and social distancing, has brought to surface some new perspectives as to what I am all about, and what humans are capable of.

Our so called normal habits is now being turned topsy turvy, our sleeping hours has been rearranged, we even eat at different times and home cooked food is becoming a rarity cause there is a delivery service for just anything you want under the sun. Life as we know it will never be the same anymore for most of us and this is what the COVID19 pandemic has wrought upon humanity going on two years now. Our personal relationships has been put on hold as we are forced to observe social distancing and our joy of travelling and exploring is curtailed due to no border crossings and so what are we to do? I have chosen to continue on doing what I have been dong and that is looking less and less out there and going deeper into myself, it seems like the best opportunity has been presented for those who are on the journey of self discovery. I do my house chores as best i can and with better aptitude and much more awareness, even singing while doing the dishes instead of swearing at my kids for not cleaning up after themselves like I use to. Do the laundry and so on without any negative thoughts or complaints, work on an acrylic painting off and on, keep writing this Blog no matter if it is read by anyone or not; the point is to keep on doing for no apparent reason or excuse and most importantly to do it whole heartedly.

This is one form of practice in the effort to bring the mind to a more focused and less scattered state. The monkey mind as it is called is never tired of imposing itself upon you with stories of the past, present and future so much so that you find no room for you to think of what you need to think of. Like if you are an artist you will not find any inspiration to create anything that is original, coming out of your inner nature. It becomes a struggle to create anything out of the ordinary as the moment you hold the brush thoughts will flood your consciousness from out of nowhere and harass you from being spontaneous or fluid in your expression, This is where one puts practice into motion by reverting back to the saying stop!, if one remembers, or chant a verse or two besieging the power that be to intervene. Yes, there are times when the monkey mind has so much hold on you that you may need to call on your Maker to help you out and do it you have to. Personally I find that I keep forgetting how useless I am when my mind gets the better of me with thoughts and memories and especially thoughts of self aggrandizement and narc ism, when I do something a little out of the ordinary and the ego inflates. I would drift off from my immediate attention to what I am doing and loose the sense of freedom and fluidity that I had found. Under normal circumstances I would naturally lose my composure or even get annoyed or angry and give in to even being destructive than creative. When this happens I can see how my works would take a dive for the worse, like my painting would become dark and chaotic, or meaningless; dead.

Sometime in the late eighties while living in San Francisco I was working at a facility where Underground Fuel Tanks were brought in from all over the Western seaboard of the United States to be disposed off when their warranty expired. These tanks that were at one time used for the storage of all kinds of fuel, from petroleum products to farm products and various other chemicals varied in sizes. They were as large as 38 thousand gallons fuel tanks to a one hundred gallon steel drums. The whole purpose of the operation was to cut them open and clean the insides of sludge and rust before disposing them off to a recycling facility. I was in charge of the whole operation, I was the 'Yard Boss' as they called me and my job was to make sure that no one gets killed while cutting up a 12 thousand or 20 thousand gallon fuel tank that used to contain unleaded fuel that was dug out of a gas station somewhere in town. These steel tanks would have about a quarter of an inch thick plates on average depending on the sizes of the tanks and in order to clean up the insides they will have to be cut open using an acetylene torch. For safety's purposes the tanks were steamed to purge the insides of any residue of fuel or gasses and this would take an average of two to three house of running super hot steam through the tanks until no flammable fuel residue was detected. This would be finally confirm by a 'flame test' whereby the flame from the cutting torch is introduced to the steam exiting from the tank. If the tank is free of any flammable gas there would be no flame exiting from the tank hole where the steam was emitted and if there be flame shooting out with the steam, the tank was still 'hot', not ready to be cut, more steaming time was needed. Needles to say, Underground Tank cutting and disposal is a very dangerous job and demands strict attention to safety regulations.

Now the reason I am telling this episode in my life is because I enjoyed cutting the tanks even though it was my job to do so and we had a tank cutter whose job it was simply to do this. However I was very intrigued by the process whereby an acetylene torch with a handle three feet in length was used to cut a three quarter inch steel plate posted too much of a challenge for me not to take it on myself. The first instant the flame from the torch penetrates the steel plate which is about three feet from you is the most crucial as it could mean life and death; the flame could ignite any remaining residue of fuel or gas trapped inside the tank and the tank could blow up. It is like lighting a fuse to a dynamite only there is no fuse in this case. This danger was not what attracted me as crazy as I was I was not suicidal and I do take calculated risks of and when I felt there was no danger that threatened my life. What fascinated me about the tank cutting was the process itself. I had never handled an acetylene torch before I took on the job, however after learning the basics of it, I was hooked to watching the flame cut through the steel plate through my goggles. It was like watching a molten lava flow as the tip of the flame seared through the quarter inch steel plate like a hot knife through a piece of butter. The trick was to hold your concentration focused at the very point where the flame met the steel. That was the essence of meditation in action.

For almost six years of working at H&H Ship and Environmental Services on the water front of downtown San Francisco I must have cut a few thousand steel tanks of various sizes. Although I had a few close calls I was never seriously hurt and I felt myself alive and in control of what I was doing. On an average I would spend three hours or so non stop cutting up tanks for disposal. I was at the peak of my capability in carrying out my duties as a 'Yard Superintendent', my job title, I was in charge and I felt in charge. While running the yard operations for the number of years the company never had a fatal accident of any kind. One week to the day I was hired as a sweeper to the company a man had died a gruesome death when a six thousand gallon underground fuel tank he was cutting had exploded and sent his body into the air landing 75 yards from where he was standing; I took on his job. I had just been asked to leave the Zen Buddhist monastery at Green Gulch Farm in Marin County, California and the Zen Mind Beginner's Mind of Shunryu Suzuki was still very much a part of me after two years of serious practice ad soul searching. I had been able to put the Zen practice into practical manifestation taking on what was one of the most hazardous if not deadly dangerous job and turned into a profitable business for my employers.

#undergroundfueltanks #h&hshipservices #Zenmindbeginnersmind #shuryusuzukiroshi #greengulchfarm #zencenter

    

    

It is not about the needle...

 Sometimes I feel like my consciousness projects answers to my questions or doubts about what has been bothering me but could not find concrete explanation as to why I have these doubts. I am talking about getting vaccinated for the prevention of the COVID19 virus which everyone is being jubilant about getting the shots on my face book account. It is as though in getting these two shots means one has done one's duty towards the nation and humanity at large and that like them everyone should make every effort to get the same shots soonest possible. In my earlier posting on this matter I might have already mentioned how I went for my appointed time toget the first shot but was decline due to my blood pressure spiking to way above the danger level and so I am supposed to set up for another appointment in two weeks time from the date f my first appointment after getting the proper treatment needed to stabilize my blood pressure. The fact that I was not able to be inoculated the first time triggered a question in my mind even deeper as to the wisdom of getting myself doing so. I have decided since not to pursue this anymore as I had previously bee deciding against it after a whole lot of studying about the efficacy of getting vaccinated for the Corona Virus prevention.

I have listened to, read and discussed with as many sources and people on the issue and personally found that in getting vaccinated today it would really boils down to me being turned into a guinea pig for an experimental drug that is yet to be fully legalized by the USDA no less and the World Health Organization too has yet to fully endorse in black and white over the efficacy of any of the prevail lent drugs being promoted, nor the insurance companies or the medical practitioners associations has put their full confidence into the validity of these drugs. Thanks again to the Internet and the availability of numerous thoughts and discussions both pros and cons, I am able to come to my own conclusion as to where I stand on the matter at present. The worse case scenario that I have come to witness in Malaysia is the fact that government agencies and ministers responsible for making the decisions and passing the laws over the need for vaccination are in the same doubtful state as I am and even worse yet is the fact that these ministers are in cahoot with the manufacturers of these vaccines for their personal financial gains. As there is no check and balance in the Malaysian government today due to the martial law being imposed by the King of the country on advise by the Prime Minister, the cabinet has been put on hold form making any deliberation over matters pertaining to the nation as a whole. Malaysia is still one of the most corrupted nation on earth and sadly enough claiming itself to be a predominantly Muslim country, this is like being slapped in the face for Islam is strict when it comes to usury and corruptions of any kind especially when it involves the nation. The trust level I and perhaps 90% of the people in this country is at its all time lowest and so when a minister or two makes a decision the I should get vaccinated based on their say so, well I would rather be arrested then allowing myself to be taken for a ride.

I will not go into details as to who said what where the wisdom of getting vaccinated or not, however I would seriously advice those who have doubts to keep looking into what is being discussed on the Internet and to do it intelligently and come to your own decision based on what your gut feelings tells you; or off course you can join the herd and get it over with.

A Headline in one of the local News Papers Today:(Malaysiakini)

Man lodges police report over 'empty' Covid-19 vaccine syringe

A Face Book friend messaged;

AstraZeneca shots used in Malaysia, valid for travels to EU countries.

He just had his shots. Not that it would make much difference but I reminded him that he did not have the shots simply cause it would allow him t go to Europe. It is to me about more than just my body, it is not jst a matter of principle either, I feel it to be a matter of simple common sense that involves the other two reasons. At my age travelling to Europe is no more thing to hope for and anywhere else for that matter, The hassle that is involved in taking any trip anywhere today is so ridiculous especially at the airports makes travelling much less to be desired for than it used to be. Now with this added mandatory requirement like the proof that you had your vaccines, overseas travels is well best forgotten for yours truly; I have had enough travels in my days.

#vaccines #astrazeneca #worldhealthorganization #

 

Living in times of Pandemic- Population Control?

"Where the needs of the world and your talents cross, there lies your vocation. "- Aristotle.

David Rockefeller: "We are on the verge of a global transformation.  All we need is the right major crisis."

Bill Maher: "I'm pro-choice, I'm for assisted suicide, I'm for regular suicide, I'm for whatever gets the freeway moving — that's what I'm for.  It's too crowded, the planet is too crowded and we need to promote death."

Prince Philip: "In the event that I am reincarnated, I would like to return as a deadly virus, in order to contribute something to solve overpopulation."

Mikhail Gorbachev: "The ecological crisis, in short, is the population crisis.  Cut the population by 90% and there aren't enough people left to do a great deal of ecological damage."

Henry A.  Kissinger: "Depopulation should be the highest priority of foreign policy towards the Third World, because the U.S. economy will require large and increasing amounts of minerals from abroad, especially from less developed countries."

George Soros: "I admit that I have always harbored an exaggerated view of self-importance―to put it bluntly, I fancied myself as some kind of god or an economic reformer like Keynes or, even better, a scientist like Einstein."

The above quotes are just to remind me of those who hold sway to the running of this planet, the narcissistic mentality of destruction.

I keep finding myself drifting into melancholic moods and time and again approaching the point of depression and I cannot understand why. I have all that a man at my age could have asked for and then some, food, lodging, computer, watched over by two great kids as I watch over them and every morning waking up to the sounds of cat,birds and the green hills around me, now what more do I need? Yet i get these feelings inside of a sense of sadness that creeps up on me when least expected and rain on my parade on the best of days. However as i keep looking for answers to each and every little detail to this phenomena I am beginning to see the cause and the solution that is needed to heal this malady. Firstly not to take it too seriously, life is not to be tkae too seriously. My past and my future is not to be taken too seriously, the state of the world and humanity at large is not to be taken too seriously; nothing is to be taken as a cancer case. If anything is worth taking with a little seriousness is death, the ultimate goal in life; to die with consciousness, with pride and dignity intact and with the Love of The Lord in my Heart. If i can accomplish this I would consider my life well lived.

I visualize peace and tranquility to be in the image of the back view of a person sitting in meditation facing a rising or setting sun. I see the celar blue empty sky as the vastness of this feeling of peace and tranquility, all encompassing, complete and perfect, not wanting or needing. I hear the hum of the mantra Om within permeating without  like the humming of a generator creating energy that sustains the universe; these are among the perceptions I would have when I sit and visualize what peace and tranquility is. As fleeting and impermanent as these moments of realizations may come and go, I keep trying to prolong them as best I can keeping the intrusion of the thinking mind,(the thinker) into disrupting and upsetting these peaceful and healing moments. 

This morning I received another memes on my messenger from my friend and senior in high school mentioned earlier in my previous post, Adnan Othman and this time it was about Sholat or prayer according the Prophet in the times of a pandemic. I could have avoided this bit of information had I ignored the message till later after I had made my Blog posting but I watched the video and read the message and now am stuck with recollecting my thoughts on the matter. Islam encourages man to pray collectively in congregations and to observe closely the protocols involved in performing these prayers like the Friday prayers. On top of the cleanliness of one's cloths and performing the ablutions before entering the mosque, one is to stand next to fellow worshipers as close as shoulder to shoulder thus leaving no space or gap in between and this called the 'Saf'. In the spiritual sense it is said this is to ensure that 'shaitan', the devil cannot squeeze himself into the space in between two worshipers. Somewhere in the Quran I believe it is reminded that Satan is everywhere in all shapes and forms even in your blood as viruses,perhaps. Its intention is to disrupt and deviate one's consciousness from the worship of God to drifting into the illusory realm of this material existence. I the performance of the sholat one is expected to be in absolute attention and awareness of being in presence before the Lord and this absolute consciousness is what is called Kushuk or absorption, becoming merged into the Lord's Presence, becoming one with God. In essence when one is in prayer one ceases to exist as a personal entity, only the Divine is present until when one gives the final Salam or Peace salutation as an indication of the departing or taking leave from the Presence.

COVID19 social distancing requirement has thrown the Muslim Ummah a curve ball when performing their congregational prayers, especially of Fridays and this is what the video sent by messenger to me was all about. The prophet of Allah had allot to say on this matter and not all are being observed by today's Imams and religious leaders for fear of the law, or of losing their jobs more so than the pandemic.itself. As a matter of fact even Satan does not create a fear among modern day Ulama and Imams than the Pandemic and its fallout effect. I am positive that most of our modern day Ulama are fully aware of the power of collective consciousness and thus why the performance of congregational prayers is made mandatory for Friday Prayers. Being barred from performing this by the government if one were to look from the spiritual is indeed not a wise move. No doubt there will be risks of close proximity and contacts but if the practice of cleanliness as demanded by the religious laws is fully and conscientiously carried out by all, as should be, then the chances are there should be no problem in this issue. However, people are people and not all are as conscientious and the Devil is always in the details as said earlier, anything can happen.

#ulama #imams #satan #allah #quran #pandemic #davidrockefeller #billmaher #princephilip #mikhailgorbachev #henrikissinger