Back at the Farm to Ease my soul.

My own hut, the first night went without any incident except I had a hard time falling asleep. Too much thoughts rambling in my head or worked to hard the whole day since I arrived. 

The 'Boys' are out there doing their thing in the hot sun

My good friend Captain Zakaria, the man who knows no defeat and a man worth to be working with.

Ammar and his proud parents . He just had his pp clipped. The Malays calls it 'Bersunat', I asked to take a picture of the victim but he refused to allow me.

Having lunch with a group from Sabah who arrived the night before.

Moin? 

With Jessica and Iluk

Standing tall and doing the dishes

Another love of my life.

3 Years in Sendai 24 - Kyoto prt 4

We each differ in what captivates our attention and fancy especially when framed through the lens of the camera. Does it tells us of who we are or help in any way spell out our taste and biases? Perhaps to some extent it does and for me it has always been temples and natural surroundings man created but in sync with nature. The vermilion red color of the temple structures in Japanese temples  stands in stark contrast against their landscape and immediate vicinity however the very fact of this strong contrast the whole scene becomes  powerful.

The Dragon at the water trough and the 'Amulets' or good luck charms with all kinds of wishes written by those who visit the temple site adds to the temple charm and creates a simply Japanese feeling about these sites. In Japan Buddhism married Shintoism and the two influenced the Japanese mind in all walks of life. The Japanese version of Chan  Buddhism of China or the original Dhyana Buddhism of India is called Zen . 

Primarily the practice of Zen Buddhism involves a good amount of "Sitting Meditation" or as known in Japanese as ZaZen. As Japanese are known to be passionate in all that they do Zazen became a major practice among the Japanese warrior class or the Samurais and the artists whose works involved a whole lot of  being in the now.

The Japanese tea ceremony, or chanoyu (hot water for tea in Japanese), came about when Japan adopted both Chinese practices of drinking powdered green tea and Zen Buddhist beliefs.  In the 1500s, Sen No Rikkyu incorporated the ideas of simplicity and that each meeting should be special and unique into the tea ceremonies.  The traditional Japanese tea ceremony became more than just drinking tea; it is a spiritual experience that embodies harmony, respect, purity and tranquility.

Diospyros kaki, better known as the Japanese persimmon, kaki persimmon (kaki [柿]) or Asian persimmon in North America, is the most widely cultivated species of theDiospyros genus. Although its first published botanical description was not until 1780,^[1][2] the kaki is among the oldest plants in cultivation, known for its use in China for more than 2000 years. In some rural Chinese communities, the kaki fruit is seen as having a great mystical power that can be harnessed to solve headaches, back pains and foot ache. - Wikepedia

During my visit to Kyoto the Kaki fruits were in season and their colors set against the grey autumn skies and leafless tree branches was a sight to behold. It was lie the Kami Sama was doing his best to create the heart of the Japanese garden. for those with hearts to see.

In Japan a tōrō (灯籠 or 灯篭, 灯楼 light basket, light tower^?)^{[note 1]} is a traditional lantern made of stone, wood, or metal. Like many other elements of Japanese traditional architecture, it originated in China, however extant specimen in that country are very rare, and in Korea they are not as common as in Japan.^[1]In Japan, tōrō were originally used only in Buddhist temples, where they lined and illuminated paths. Lit lanterns were then considered an offering to Buddha.^[2] During the Heian period (794-1185), however, they started being used also in Shinto shrines and private homes.^[3]

In Japanese tradition a tea house ordinarily refers to a private structure designed for holding Japanese tea ceremonies. This structure and specifically the room in it where the tea ceremony takes place is called chashitsu (茶室^?, literally "tea room"). The architectural space called chashitsu was created for aesthetic and intellectual fulfillment.

 Any survey of the history of Japanese gardens must admit two qualifications to every description and interpretation of a garden. The first pertains to the ephemeral nature of a garden. Plants and trees grow and die; water levels rise and fall, and rocks can be added, subtracted, or repositioned.

The second qualification concerns the degree to which these gardens reflect religious or philosophical attitudes. Many of the gardens are located in Zen temples, and this has led many modern interpreters to see them as direct expressions of Zen thought. This is not invalid so long as one understands that modern Zen may not correspond in all of its facets to the Zen of the past. It is also important to distinguish between contemplation and meditation. Japanese gardens are certainly meant to reward contemplation, but the practice and the goals of Zen meditation do not depend on the passive observation of external stimuli. Thecreation and maintenance of a garden can be seen as a Zen activity, since labor is one of the principal paths to enlightenment, but the final product--if any garden can actually be considered "final"--is not an object of Zen meditation.

A kaisandō (開山堂 kaisan-dō^?), also termed the Founder's Hall, is a temple structure in a Japanese Buddhist monastery complex or other temple where an image (or images) of the founding abbot and other significant teachers and Buddha ancestors are kept,^[1] along with a memorial slab (J. ihai). Sometimes also referred to as the Patriarch Hall (J. soshido) or Reflection Hall (J. Eishitsu), this building holds memorial services yearly on the anniversary of the death of the founding abbot.^{[2]-Wikipedia}

The pagoda of Tō-ji stands 54.8 m high, and is the tallest wooden tower in Japan. It dates from the Edo period, when it was rebuilt by order of the third TokugawaShogun, Iemitsu. The pagoda has been, and continues to be, a symbol of Kyoto. Entrance into the pagoda itself is permitted only a few days a year. - Wikipedia

Yes! We Love Kyoto! Neh?

Taking it all in and Letting it all hang out - I Love Lucy!

The question I have been confronted with and stumbled upon answers of, were 'Consciousness' and the question of religious faith, like does God even exist, or is this all there is to it and how does one goes about proving what is or what is not real in these matters. Science and religion are are coming into tandem with what is the actual nature of reality and the answer is yet vague and often shady to say the least with a whole lot of postulations and nothing concrete and tangible to behold for the common man. The primary questions of, "Who am I or what is this so called life or existence and how do it all connects into one whole state of Unity and Complete is still in the realm of the individual consciousness something only the individual mind can conceive based upon its own conditioning, the rest is just still under observation and deliberation by the scientific and philosophical minds with each claiming its own theory to be the right one. If I were Lucy as in Luc Besson's movie with the same title i would have had no problem accepting the fact that i have hardly used a fraction of my brain capacity to untangle the tangle but I am me and therein lies the problem, I am who I think I am, still! Trapped in space and time with thoughts and ideas but nowhere, no how to to truly express my true nature.
How does my mind take in all these? The hours of listening to Deepak Chopra and Alan Watts, to Steven Dawkins and S.Hawkins. and many others now available on You Tube has got my mind numbed with unanswered questions more so than arriving at any plausible conclusion as to the nature of truth or reality.. So i borrowed a translation of the Quran from my friend Rsshid the Portrait artist and am getting into it again to see if i can discover some truth that have eluded me in my previous readings of this Great Book of revelations. Thus fat while still in the second 'Surah called the Al-Bukharah or the Heifer, i am discovering the same things as i had before no much new or revealing enough that would shock my mind into any kind of awakening other than reminders of my lacking in faith and action. I have searched everywhere and anywhere for some form of understanding in who or what this is all about but till this date i am still lost in the mass of information that has done nothing but add clutter to my already messed up mind. However one thing I have noticed is that in my pursuit of self discovery I am loosing my close friends left and right or is it perhaps i have carried this 'Beggar Bowl'. trip too far?   You learn soon enough the no one likes a needy character no matter his justifications especially your close family and relatives, they would rather see you making it big is society like the rest of them. As the saying goes, "Monet talks and bullshit walks!" Aah So! Such Is!
So mote it be, if i am to achieve my dreams while loosing my relationship to others that i care for what can i say, one cannot have the cake and eat it too? The ancients had warned of such a fate for those who approach ultimate consciousness or reality, that they will walk alone deprived of those who once they cared for or who cared for them, as the heart is a lonely hunter and the hunter has a lonely heart? Ironic that it seems in loosing most of my relatives and acquaintances  I am at the same time having almost 2000 hits to this entries in my blog which means accordingly i have the same amount of friends out there in the world keeping in touch with me daily. Even my hand phone has finally given up functioning and it has lasted for so long since 2008 and LG given to me by my son in Dubai. yes I am feeling like I am slowly being eroded of all connections with the immediate environment i am in and something is in the making setting for my next venture?
As much as i would like to take up the challenge, I am also tied to making an all out effort in completing my Sendai Journal entries as i go along just in case it is up for publication in the future. It has been my hope for this to happen as it was part of the plan in mylife to get my works published in one form or another but it seems I have been meeting up with snags every time i approach some possibility.None the less it is imperative that i do something with all these documentations of my journey in the east and West, if nothing else for the reflections of my own children or grand children if I ever have nay to speak of.. Talk of my kids, I think i have lost three already as they have drifted away living their own lives and only one left still hanging out with me. So all in all I must say that whatever it is that I have been working on is self fulfilling with me left free and unattached practically to take that leap of faith; time to Hit the Road Jack!

3 Years in Sendai - 23 - Kyoto pt. 2

With my primary intention of  being in Kyoto squared away that being the fact that i got my four pieces of foam boards covered with the Japan Times News paper cuttings of every article related to the Environmental issues of the whole whole year globally safely installed in the convention center in the care of an NGO group from Washington DC, I was free to check out Kyoto.

True to my taste I ventured alone the next few days seeking out the historic remnants of the cultural city of Kyoto which  I had envisioned in so many of my dreams in the past even before i eve thought of being in Japan itself.  It was like venturing into mini- museums of cultural history of a city that was in its hay day the center of the Japanese cultural world. 

I was transported in time and space, my mind drifted from the present into the past as I walked into every small homes  that was well preserved as if it was still being in use with all the utensils and various household items still on display transporting my spirit into history like i was there when these things were being used. 

The Japanese to me were the most meticulous people in their everyday life creating objects for their basic usage like they were pieces of art works. Their lives must have been a mixture of hardship and a sense of  satisfaction when one saw the amount of time and dedication spent to produce items that were utilized in their homes. 

I tried very hard to imagine what it must have been like in the winter months for these people having to keep the house warm and to make sure that the supply of food is readily available and  how did they spend their time while trapped in their homes during long period of cold and  wet seasons.

Considering that that the Japanese today are the world's leading producers of washing machines and various other electrical appliances  when looking back at how they had fared in their past it is a wonder; how have they evolved from these  wooden stoves to an electrical rice cooker. 

Wood and bamboo played a vital roll in the implementation of household items and fortunately these were readily available so much so the the Japanese had mastered the technique of using these materials in the best possible ways. The paper screen sliding doors were to me symbolic of Japanese aesthetic touch that reminds man of the transitoryness of all life and how fragile we all are behind our walls.

3 Years in Sendai-22 - Kyoto! - pt1

One of most memorable moments in japan was my short three days visit to Kyoto to attend the COP3 Convention on Climate Change or Global Warming. organized by the United Nations. The trip was sponsored by the Director of the Kawaijyuku Bunri or the Prep. School where my wife was teaching in Sendai. I tried to get the Japan Times News Paper to sponsor me but was turned down  even when my idea was to present articles related to the Climate and environmental issues that had appeared in the News Paper throughout the year which i had been collecting and safe keeping. I was also turned down flat  by the Malaysian Embassy in Tokyo that would not even entertain meeting me to discuss my plan. My wife's boss took me seriously enough to foot the bill for my whole three days trip to the convention.

Aremd with my camera, my sketchbooks and four panels of Newspaper Articles covering a years worth of environmentally related issues I took the 'Max Yamabiko' bullet train from Sendai all the way to Kyoto. My idea was that i was gong to bring into consciousness of the issues that were affecting the Global warming through these articles that inlcuded statements made by the then President of the United States Bill Clinton with regard toh ow important it was that we dealt with the agenda.

I was there as a loner, not a member of any HGO or representing any country as my own would not give a hoot at the the time, but i was there bright and early with my messages.

I had always considered myself an environmental activist of the peaceful kind and as such i was bound and determined to make my self heard one way or another and I did.

Initially i settled for the wayside display of my Newspaper Articles and watched the crowd browse as they walk by, people from all over the world. Most I noticed walked by with not so much as a glance too busy chatting of great it must have been to be in Kyoto. But some stopped to glance at what was pasted on the board and perhaps an idea or two might have taken shape in their minds in the process. At least I had hoped that they would have had some form of understanding of what they were up against.

It was heartworming to notice the mixture of people who  walked by and I felt great to have been a part of something that I had a great interest in even if i was not an invited guest. I a way i was glad to had been just an onlooker standing on the fringe as i knew back then that i could have made a scene if had been able to talk about the Climate and other related issues and they would have to shut me up or throw me out. .

And security was tight as there were dignitaries from various countries attending the COP3 Climate Change Convention and I was careful not to over expose myself as I had no business of being there.. 

One of my wife's Japanese student who was from Kyoto assisted me while i was there and so i had is easy getting situated where lodgings and so forth was concern.

As for my News Articles was concern, they made it into the Convention Hall without me as I met a fellow from Washington DC who asked if he could used the display for his booth in the convention. So my job was made easy and my effrort paid off as my Newspaper articles were displayed at he Washington DC NGO representative booth no less.

Here were the two young frined I hd made and who made it possible for me to see through my intention at the Kyoto COP3 Convention in 1997.

That was me in essence the Elegant Zen Monk begging along the street of Kyoto!

And the other me flirting with the Geishas! I know i was a Japanese in my previous life no doubt!

And that was me the tourist meeting another fellow tourist, sightseeing in Kyoto.