It is Time to Ramble! -On Faith or Fortune.

 This day and age there many wannabe crusaders for their religious faith and some have gathered fans who follow and praise their efforts with enthusiasm in videos made for You Tube and other media forms. There are many authentic Gurus and Teachers self claimed or otherwise who spread positive and healing messages through their podcasts and video presentations such as Sadhguru Jagidev, Mooji, Ekart Tolle and not to mention personages such as the Dalai Lama and the recently demised Rev. Thich Naght Hahn and one of my favorite Swami Sarvapriyananda of the New York Vedanta Society. Then there are those whose thoughts and ideas are relayed posthumously by videos put together by their adepts and fans, like Alan Watts, J.Krishnamurti and the great Hindu saints like Sri Ramana Maharshi, Sri Ramakrishna, Papaji and Nisargatdata Maharaj to name a few. Most of these past and present 'Teachers' so far as I know have rarely if not ever condemn another man's faith or religion in order to promote their own, their teachings are inclusive of other faiths and tolerant towards any differences that may exist between their thoughts and views.

Religious faith is the most personal of human traits and no matter one's faith and belief, it is one's own understanding and perception of that faith. For someone else to make any judgment or commendations or even comments upon one's faith is like allowing for another to pull one by the nose this way or that according to what they perceive to be the truth; this is a weakness of one's faith in what one believe to be the truth. Truth, like reality is not fathomable by the average mind and by nature it is relative and in accordance to one's own personal understanding of the nature of things albeit spiritual or material. An awakened or enlightened mind will behold truth and reality in a more in-depth manner than an average mind clouded by the conditioning of the world of Maya or Illusory world. It is those who are limited in their perception or lacking in a complete transcendent view of the whole that creates a negative stir in spiritual development of humanity, armed with a limited knowledge of the truth, knwledge picked up here and there randomly, they become sanctimonious in their views and accusations towards other faiths. One such individual I came upon in YouTube is Robert Spencer whose views of Islam and especially of the Prophet of Allah is like a vendetta almost as though the Prophet Muhammad had done him wrong in some some unforgiving way. This man thrives upon his lambasting of the Muslim Messenger of God like he knew the Man personally and even in the end writes books questioning the Prophet's very existence in history. One wonders what drives a man to such hatred if it is not fame and fortune or perhaps of being a Zionist Jew.

There are many others like him who seek fame and fortune through their ability to spin and sell thoughts and ideas that feeds the spiritually needy, those who have difficulty in doing their own research and come to their own self realized conclusion and those who needs a punching bag or a boogie man to expunge their own devils or ignorance. You Tube channel has many such characters who overnight has become unshakable authorities on the rights and wrong of religions albeit Judaism, Christianity or Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and many others. These I call minions of the Ungodly or the slaves of the Antichrist/ Dajaal and Satan as they seek to run a wedge through between religions and faiths with their twisting and spinning of false flags to gather a following on the Internet. The devil has his job cut out with these people carrying out their active sowing of seeds of doubts and disbelieve among those who are weak and ill informed of their own faith. My word of advice to those who are easily swayed by such minions is to do one's own footwork and research like one's own life depends on it. Wake up! Do not be easily fooled by those who claim to know the truth simply because they are able to quote a verse or two and cite an authority here and there all of which today is readily available at the finger tips if one is diligent enough to look for in the Internet. Taking quotes and information out of context is a favorite mode of operation by those wannabe our modern day evangelists and that may be for any religious cause, Islam, Christian and the rest. Accusing the Prophet of Islam of polygamy in the times of 'jahiliah' or ignorance of the Arab Beduins is fine but what about the modern day Mormon and the likes of, "Thye Prophet' Warren Buffet?

When you attack any faith or religion it is like you are attacking humanity itself. You are not doing anyone any favor but yourself, not the faith you are in and most of all not God. The Prophet of Islam is said to have said that, be aware that the finger that is pointing with accusation at another has four other fingers pointing right back at himself. It is my intuition that the motive behind most of these religious or spiritual attacks is caused by cultural as well as belief systems that sees religions as a threat towards their own collective existence, like the Nazism or the White Supremacists, or the Jewish Zionists Movement, or Al Qaeda for that matter and a host of other groups that is anti-religious faith, each looking for ways and means to disrupt and if not dismantle the human spiritual unity through religions. No religion is perfect as no man is just so, however throughout the ages man has come to depend upon religious faith and dogma to keep humanity from a  mass psychosis and chaos. The fear of hell and retribution in the afterlife. rightfully so or otherwise has kept many a civilization from tearing itself apart. Unfortunately if not fearfully so, man today are becoming immune towards this fear or as the Buddhist calls it karmic retribution. Greed, Hate and Ignorance has practically overruled such fear and sanctioned the right to free will and enterprise' do as thou will! 

Humanity is in dire need of a healing process through whatever means and not negative thoughts and ideas simply to create a divisive environment of conflict between existing religions, the days of the Jihad and Crusade are buried in history or should be so. Any thought of creating a schism between faith aught to be dismiss as an attempt to add on to humanity's ills and ailments and this is evil. Even if one has no knowledge or believe in the existence of evil in its manifested form such as revealed by religions throughout the world, evil still exist as what Carl Jung would call.The Shadow in human psychic identity and the Native Americans warn us of the Trickster and Buddhism warn us of Mara and the religion of the Book warn us of the Anti Christ or Dajaal. To deny of these negative energies in whatever forms they may manifest in our lives is like denying that man has any soul or consciousness, incapable of discerning between right and wrong, good and evil, even after eating of the fruit from the tree of knowledge in Genesis, man is still blind to ever see the truth of his existence and much less to recognize the Divine in himself. Man will end as food and fodder for the enemies of his Creator; the Antichrist and Satan, (i.e. if one is a believer or one has faith.) As it is written with every episode of the X-Files, "The Truth Is Out There!" And as it is revealed with every spiritual practice, "The Truth is Within You!" You claim to have free will, the choice is yours to seek, within or without. #antichrist,#dajaal,#whitesupremacist,# robertspencer,#zionistjew,#xfiles,sadguru,#swamisarvapriyananda,#nisargadatamaharaj,#papaji,#theshadow,#thetrickster,#isis        

 

Food Shortage =Soylent Green Syndrome?

i Received a message from my friend Jerry Sule from Green Bay, Wisconsin, a video posted by Ultra Dante, Another Food Processing Plant erupts in flames in Wisconsin. Believe we are approaching 100 such coincidences since 2021, the article went on to add. 

Ultra Dante 

@RealDante12

·

20 Jun

Another Food Processing Plant Erupts In Flames, this time in Wisconsin. Is this another conspiracy theory or is it a real case to be concern about now that Jerry has posted the video in my mind. I used to work for a meat packing house in Green Bay and later in Milwaukee after I was fired from the Green Bay Meats and Cold Storage for a total of over 3 years, that's another painful reminder of my life story but quite an interesting event none the less. Now who and why would anyone or group would want to run around torching our food production plants especially in this day and age when we are facing a global shortage of food? If this be true, if thus far 98 food related production plants has been razed to the ground all over the United States, then it is a case for concern as some of these Plants are major producers, however if it is a coincidental occurrences we can sleep better and hope the number of losses will not exceed the fear factor. Thank you Jerry Sule for updating the latest case for concern to my consciousness.

Are we approaching the 'Soylent Green' scenario where food shortage is concern?

soylent (uncountable) An undesirable, lackluster, and artificial foodstuff, as a substitute for real meat.

It comes in various colors, the best of which is the titular Soylent Green. The company bills their new green variety as more nutritious, having been manufactured from oceanic plankton, but by the end we know the truth. Soylent Green is people!16 Feb 2022

The definition of soylent green is the food that 40 million hungry people in New York survived on in the award-winning science fiction movie Soylent Green.

I am just playing around with this macabre idea as a possibility as I am much concern about the lack of importance given to our food supply not half as much as our war supplies. No doubt food prices are sky rocketing in my country for whatever reason and yet most people are still accepting the fact as though this trend will make a U-turn on its own sometime in the near future. I have always been an advocate for the food production in agriculture and Malaysia has fall prey to vast tracts of land being turned into palm oil plantations which is considered a lucrative venture however only to the few. Rubber and other plantations has also been focused upon as a source of economic income and these too has claimed vast tracts of agriculture land. The growing of food such as fruits and vegetables has taken a back stage to  these crops and Malaysia imports most of her food from neighboring countries.

We are running short on chickens and beef too and not too many people are keen on being involved in these activities where raising chickens and cattle, goats and pigs are not the calling of today's youth. So we will sit and wait till all hell breaks loose and the food shortages will become a reality and cannibalism as in the movie, Soylent Green becomes a reality. I do pray not to be around when this happens but my children if they too are not too deep in the sleep of denial hopefully will wake up to the reality that is slowly but surely enfolding the country as a whole. We are in this country of Malaysia governed by a failed system whereby corruption is at its highest and the people are too wrapped up into their own self serving modes as to realize the iceberg is not too far off from the ship. We will always rest assured that we got all that we need as far as resources is concern and will never run out of food. Incidentally, we are also at the top there when it comes to food wastage! 

Where war and violence has failed perhaps hunger might do the trick, When humanity finds that food and water is in very short supply there wil be hell to pay and even the fear of God will not the chaos and anarchy that will be unleashed upon humanity. Who stands to benefit from such a catastrophe? Your guess is as good as mine and at the end of the day the few will sleep soundly in their protective bunkers while the rest of man will be at each other's throats! Pray that this too is just another doomsday conspiracy theory to be taken with a grain of salt. There are still numerous food related Plants still in good running state and loosing a few more will most probably not be that much of a concern, #ultradante,#wisconsinfoodplant,#soylentgreen,#  

 

Contemplation on Death..

  In light of loosing a teacher or two of my spiritual practice over the years, I have have had my own bouts with impending feeling of death approaching around the corner. Yesterday I spent a good deal of my time alone facing what seemed like a panic attack with death as the main source of aggravation. I tried to fall asleep after taking some painkillers but to no avail and I tried to walk it off as a physical exercise still not effective, then I sat on my bed and meditated and as my mind quieted down but the fearful feeling of death still on my mind, I began to pray to the Lord, Allah (SWT), God, Brahman, Jehovah, Elohim... The Great Spirit, surrendering my heart and soul in the event that I am about the exhale my last breath; I totally surrendered my whole being I said unto His hands for safe keeping. ...Innallilahi, wainnalillahi rajiun...from You I came to You I return, Aamin! What followed, I felt the fear and 'panic attack receding, physical and mental and I found peace as I laid back and fell asleep. after a short while I woke up from my nap felt much better like a nightmare has been lifted from my consciousness.

The body is still up to par with the rhythm of the flow of life, rising and falling with every shifts in the dimensions and energies flowing with the least of obstruction or hindrances. This body of mine has seen many a rough ride as so this mind that have lived through for the past seventy odd years is still getting its mileage in. Although I welcome my physical death, I value every minute and every breath I take like it is my last. I 'd like to expire with grace like the old oak tree that had survived numerous freezing cold winters of Wisconsin. I'like to die with the grace and dignity of the homeless man sleeping under the overpass in a cardboard box. I'd like to die knowingly that the moment of my death is Now! at this moment...I am aware that I am dead. I feel in my heart, that I will die twice in this lifetime and the first one has already taken place, an event that had changed the course my life. The event had involved my Teacher and friend DSennis Junpo Kelly and it took place in the small town of Corte Madeira, in Main County, Ca. The event has been told several times in the past in this Blog, a time in my life when I was on the verge of ending up as a homeless n the streets of San Francisco. A time when I entered the Zen Buddhist Practice at Green Gulch Farm. On the night of the New Year's Eve sometime in 1983-4, I came to face to face with death, the doctor in Marin County Hospital called it pleurisy.

I fear the unknown more than death itself, like what really happens and how does one cope the whole process of transition from one state or dimension into another, what will my consciousness be like or am I truly;No  More! Gone, gone, gone beyond the concept of the word gone...!! Will it be transmigration from one spirit realm to another as processed by the laws of Karma. Is it heaven or hell according to the religions of the Faith, of Islam or Christianity or Judaism abiding according to the laws of Moses and Jesus and Mohammad from the Lord. The Lord thy God is a Jealous God, have ye no God other then He. The Historical Buddha was not a God but his teachings had made allot of sense to me for my spiritual growth. Has humanity followed His Way even in the most very basic of understanding, we would have seen less suffering in this world of ours. The Four Noble Truth  is of the essence in Buddha's teachings, the Path toward the Liberation of sentient beings from suffering; life is suffering. Know this to be true, accept it as the goal in life to seek the truth of this life and what is the cause of suffering. Why even the most richest most successful and the most spiritually free faces suffering of one nature or other. Hence the historical Buddha who was a Prince by the name of Gautama, took upon himself to unravel this mystery of life, death and rebirth, 

Ignorance is the main cause of suffering, it is the cause of all fears in man for ignorance is a blinder like those placed on a horse pulling a carriage, ignorance keeps the mind imprisoned. Not knowing is one thing, not wanting to know is something else; the truth, the Real, the infinite possibilities, is a whole different matter. The refusal to know what is real and what is the point of beginning of our dual thinking mind that have led us here in this world of Maya, of illusions and delusions; we are trapped within out own self created net or box, the black and white box, the good and bad box, the right and wrong box. Getting out of this box is our jihad in this life, the Buddha Shakyamuni took it upon Himself to walk this Path towards self discovery asking the simple question of .Who Am I? Liberation from this realm of existence is through fully awakening to the answer.The Buddha is said to have said,"Suffering is, none who suffers, Enlightenment is, but none who attain it."      

 

Tribute to a friend and teacher - Dennis Junpo Kelly.

 Found out that my first Zen Teacher, Junpo Dennis Kelly had passed away sometime on May 12th. 2021, Dennis was born the 14th. of April 1942. I met Dennis through his mother Mrs. Rosella Kelly of Green Bay Wisconsin. We were both members of the Print Making Club at the University of Wisconsin at Green Bay. She must have been in her sixties back then and me in my thirties and she was a very outspoken and tough no nonsense elderly lady who one evening changed the direction of my life. I know I have written of this episode of my life a few times at least in the past postings of this lengthy blog, but it is worth it today to share again this event in light of discovering the passing away of my first Zen Teacher, Dennis Junpo Kelly. Dennis was the eldest of Rosella's children and the most controversial in character. 

Jun Po Denis Kelly began his Buddhist practice at Zen Center San Francisco in the early ’70s, later becoming a student of Eido Shimano Roshi in New York and subsequently a monk. He received his Zen Master recognition in 1992. Interested in bringing his Zen lineage (Rinzai tradition) into American culture without the Japanese cultural bindings, Jun Po left the monastery and founded the lay Buddhist Hollow Bones order, of which he is abbot. A yoga instructor as well, he traces his lineage to BKS Iyengar and Pattabhi Jois. He established the Hollow Bones seven-day Zen retreats for the Mankind Project.

Latest information I had of Mrs. Kelly is;-

Rosella R Kelly, aged 97,lives in 119 Union St Apt 107, River Falls, WI 

Although the exact date has now become a blur in my consciousness, however the episode that took place between Rosella and I is always still vivid in my mind. We were both standing side by side cleaning our copper plates, polishing them till the shine which was part of the printmaking process. While wrapped in what I was doing I felt an elbow jabbed into my side from my elderly neighbor who said out of the blue, "Sam, I think it is time for you to move on from this place and situation you are in! You can go and join my son Dennis in New York where he has just been ordained as a Zen priest. I understood and accepted her insight into my life's situation back then where I was becoming an alcoholic and a drug addict abusing my relationship to a very fine lady who was a member of the University faculty. I agreed and in the same evening decided to make preparations to leave for New York.

My destination was to be; 

Location
Location	223 Beecher Lake Road, Livingston Manor, New York 12758-6000
Country	United States
Architecture
Founder	Soen Nakagawa Roshi & Eido Tai Shimano Roshi
Completed	July 4, 1976
Website
http://www.daibosatsu.org

Dai Bosatsu Zendo Kongo-ji zendo

Dai Bosatsu Zendo Kongo-ji, or International Dai Bosatsu Zendo Kongo-ji, is a Rinzai monastery and retreat center located in the Catskill Mountains of upstate New York. Maintained by the Zen Studies Society, Dai Bosatsu Zendo Kongo-ji 

However this plan did not fan out because later that night I had a call from Rosella informing me of the change of my destination. Instead of New York I was to go to San Francisco because her son Dennis had decided to open his own Zendo or meditation hall in the West Coast instead of the East. Thus with yet another stroke from her my future was changed and I headed for the West Coast to meet her son Dennis, the ordained Rinzai Zen Monk. Dennis who was deeply involved with the Flower Power People at one time and had spen three years of his life at the San Quantin State Penitentiary for drug trafficking and who later explored Sri Lanka and India in search of truth and reality through Yoga and other meditation practices and returned to the US to join the Zen Buddhist school in New York.

When I first laid my eyes on Dennis he impressed me immediately as one who had that air of determination and commitment and willing to take on any challenge in pursuit of whatever he had laid his mind to accomplish. His appearance alone was awesome to behold especially when he was he was dressed up in the simple Japanese outfit of loose pants and the cross over top. Dennis was ball of energy it seems and was always in motion doing something and making things happen according to his plan. With the help of his younger brother Patrick we set up the Kanzeon Zen-Yoga Center at 20, Magnolia Blvd. in Corte Madeira. The Zendo was made out of two abandoned classrooms that Dennis had rented and converted into his scholl for the teaching of Zen meditation and his Hatha Yoga or as he called it Guerrilla Yoga classes. Dennis was a student of the Ashtanga Yoga, with BKS Ieyengar a famous Yoga teacher for his strenuous yoga techniques. 

Ashtanga Yoga is an eight-limbed path towards achieving the state of Yoga, also known as Samadhi. The definition of Ashtanga Yoga is found in the Yoga Sutras of Patañjali, an ancient text on the theory and practice of Yoga thought to have been compiled in about 200 CE by Sage Patañjali

Dennis was also a Shakuhachi player or was practicing to become one as the flute is known to be a difficult instrument to master.

A shakuhachi is a Japanese and ancient Chinese longitudinal, end-blown flute that is made of bamboo. The bamboo end-blown flute now known as the 'shakuhachi' was developed in Japan in the 16th century and is called the fuke shakuhachi. Wikipedia

Although our relationship was brief due to unforseen circumstances I held a great respect towards my teacher and friend and will forever hold him in high esteem as an accomplished individual who was able to turn his life from crime to spirituality serving many who in his later life benefited from his teachings. Rest in peace my friend.

#junpokelly,#daibosatsuzendo,#

 

In Loving Memory of Thich Naht Hahn, -Thay

 Peace! Peace! Peace! Ommm Shanti, Shanti, Shanti...Shalom! Asalamualaikum, Peace be with you! 

I call out to my self through the voices of others, teachers, gurus, Roshis and Rishis, mentors and guides, the old fisherman and the voice of the computer nerd; they all call out to me to share their take on life and I listen and I watch and I learn and I assimilate and I put to the test, I put it to practice and in the end it all does not really matter as I come to the conclusion of this my final phase of the journey; I am still groping in the dark for answers. Do I hear the calls, do I read the signs, take heed the warnings? The journey has been about this issues of what have I learned and or have to unlearn letting go of that which has become obsolete in my vocabulary of everyday life and move on. Thoughts and ideas, dreams and visions, imaginations and perceptions, these are my tools of expression in sharing and being a part of this realm of existence, the physical external realm of manifestations; I am not these. ...I am transcendent, I am detached from being identified with any form of thought and bodily actions, I am merely the watcher, the witness the observer and I pay attention to these phenomena with bare attention., detached/unattached involvement..wu wei., like plucking the lotus without wetting my fingers...

It is easier said than done, this spiritual act of detachment from the physical world, it takes  a whole lot of understanding the nature of consciousness itself and it is no piece of cake. It is a lifelong journey for most and only a handful gets the blessing or Grace to become awakened in one lifetime or within this  lifetime before the curtain is drawn. In a manner of speaking living this life is a gamble and those whose learn the ropes and rules of game gets ahead and some gets it into their head and exploit this Grace, this Gift and  squander it, enough is never enough...I'm guilty of this as the next man if not more so;Greed! Desire of more and more and never finding the point of satisfaction where enough is more than enough, greed is a very deep rooted karmic illness along with hate and ignorance. I am aware of my weaknesses and my human errors, my transgressions if not for them I would not be where I am at today. I played my fiddle and sang my songs and I ate when hungry and slept when sleepy and otherwise I sit and watch the grass grow, this too is who I am....and breathing in, I know I am breathing in...breathing out, I know that I am breathing out...stop breathing I know I am dead...this too is part of who I am...playing yet another role in my ongoing dream and knowing that it is time to quit...take a break! Go Lay down and take a nap... Ommm Shanti, Shanti, hi.

Thich Nhat Hanh, a Vietnamese Buddhist monk who was one of the world's most influential Zen masters, spreading messages of mindfulness, compassion and nonviolence, died on Saturday at his home in the Tu Hieu Temple in Hue, Vietnam. He was 95. The death was announced by Plum Village, his organization of monasteries.29 Jan 2022

A prolific author, poet, teacher and peace activist, Thich Nhat Hanh was exiled from Vietnam after opposing the war in the 1960s and became a leading voice in a movement he called “engaged Buddhism,” the application of Buddhist principles to political and social reform.

Thich Nhat Hanh dismissed the idea of death. “Birth and death are only notions,” he wrote in his book “No Death, No Fear.” “They are not real.”

He added: “The Buddha taught that there is no birth; there is no death; there is no coming; there is no going; there is no same; there is no different; there is no permanent self; there is no annihilation. We only think there is.”

And he said: “Do not try to find the solution with your thinking mind. Nonthinking is the secret of success. And that is why the time when we are not working, that time can be very productive, if we know how to focus on the moment.”

I was twice at a Vipassana  retreat with the late Rev.  Thich Naht Hanh when he visited Green Gulch Farm Zen Community sometime in the 80s. We sat and talked one on one on several occasions and mostly talking about the fate of the Vietnamese refugees who landed along the East Coast of the Malay Peninsula and particularly those camped at the Island of Bidong off the coast of Terengganu. 

When I rang the 'Big Bell' while there were over 70 people sitting in meditation inside the meditation hall, Thay decided that I be elected as the 'bell master', during the lecture periods where I kept time of 15 mins and ring the bell so everyone with the focus back to their breath, stops their wandering  mind and become present in the moment. It was a form of punishment for ringing the wrong bell at the wrong time during a Vipassan retreat. When I apologized to Thay when having a one on one meeting, he said to not worry too much about what the consequences of my actions would be, but to keep being who I am as I am.

I truly enjoyed the Mindfulness walking trips we often took with the small Vietnamese monk in his saffron robes leading the path from the Green Dragon Zendo area to the Beach at Muir Beach. The sound of flip flops as feet moved over wet muddy path was the only sound that filled the air and one feels like  we were truly in Buddha land. His teaching were simple and his insight into spiritual matters reaches far deep into the essence of what is Engaged/Active Buddhism. Thich Naht Hahn embodied the Bodhisatva virtue of the infinite wisdom and compassion, that of Mnajushri and Avalokiteshvara Bodhisatva,Mahasatva, with the ability to deliver his teachings with skillful means of the Bodhisatva Samanthabadra and he has attained the status of a chakravati

In Buddhism, a chakravarti is the secular counterpart of a Buddha. The term applies to temporal as well as spiritual kingship and leadership, particularly in Buddhism and Jainism

#thichnahthanh,#buddhism,#bodhisatva,#vaipassana

 

The Ramblings goes on..taking a stroll on the spiritual path.

 And a new year begin according to the Muslim calendar and here we are on the morning of Aidil Fitri, Hari Raya Puasa, listening to some unheard of language from the music of Cafe de Anatolia, this  where I at 4 in the morning am writing notes to myself of what had happened, what is going to happen and what on this morning of the Aidil Adzhar where MUslims all over the planet celiberate in the worship of the One True Lord of Mercy and Compassion, Allah Subahanahu Wataala, Lord of the Universe; there no God, only Allah! and Muhammad is His Messenger. My prayers goes out to all those who are suffering in any form of discomfort or pain, to all those on the run for their lives to escape wars and tyranny, my prayers goes out to those whose children cry of hunger to sleep tonight wherever they be, may they find peace and comfort in their hearts even if for one day...my prayers goes out to the lost and confused, they who are oblivious to the fact that life is impermanent and that this realm of our existence, this physical, material realm of mental formations , the realm of Maya, the realm of illusions; only the Divine, Eternal, All Embracing Complete Consciousness is Permanent and Immortal, call it God in you may.

All except one of the kittens are sick, refusing to eat like they have stomach flu or have been poisoned  from eating one of the plants outside. I try to remain detached from being sucked into feeling sad or helpless as I see then growing skinnier by the day and listless. It must be hard on my daughter who adores every one of them and spends much money and attention on their well being. Yes I am still working out my 'cat karma' from the past, still cleaning cat poop and pee and cat buff. But I am beginning to also feel the anguish and the helplessness of Furby, the female mama cat as she look at me wishing there is something I could do to save her kittens. This morning she growled and scratched my hand out of the blue, while I was patting her which she never did before and I felt the anger in her accusing me it is all my fault. Perhaps it is, perhaps it was a mistake to have brought her home to begin with, perhaps, perhaps...letting go is never easy no matter the cause or the reason especially when you have grown attached to the feeling of love for something or someone. It is when the Love feeling becomes an obsession, a need, that is when the trouble begins. As Bob Marley sang out, "Every need has an ego to feed!" From wanting, desiring, from clinging wanting more, (out of life); desire is the cause of suffering, Shakyamuni Budha had expounded and if we look into each and every religion, the same truth is being shared.

How to detach yourself from your actions, how to not become, attached or identified with the whole process of doing something, like lifting a cup to have a drink; how to simply become action. There is not actor, nor percipience, no shadow or witness to the act; the sense of 'you', cease to exist. Call it what you may, personality, ego, human being...nada! not a trace of the doer!...Buddha on His last Breath uttered, it is said," I, Am No more! Even the 'Self' is becomes void.  

" Ma, take this badge off of mee...

I cant' use it anymore, it's getting dark too dark for me to see..ITaking a stroll on. feel like I;m knocking on heVEN'S DOOR...knock knock knockin on heaven;s door..."  

 Remember the song? My son just played it out loud on his consol, it took mto a whole new dimension of past nostalgic thoughts and memories; I was a devotee of Bob Dylan at one time in my life...and now the call for the Maghrib prayer is in the air from two different sources, one is the State Mosque on Jalan Ayer Hitam...and Dylan floats away from my mind... thoughts comes and goes like clouds in an empty sky, most of the time according to what triggers them into coming into being and what makes them float away. Clouds are the impermanent feature of a vast empty space of a blue sky. Where clouds are mental formations, the blue sky is consciousness itself. We are being lured into believing that the clouds are the real manifestation of who we truly are and thus we are said to live in a world of Maya or illusions. a world of fleeting clouds; the unreal. 

Om, Asato Ma Sadgamaya

Om, deliver us from the Unreal to the Real.  

From ignorance lead me to truth.

Tamasoma Jyotirgamaya,

May the Light of Wisdom remove the darkness of ignorance.

Amrutham Gamaya,

From Death lead me to Immortality.

                                                        Pavamana Mantra.

To remove the clouds of ignorance from our mental formations we need to learn to seek the 'silence of the mind'...in short learn to meditate, learn to become quiet inside and out. learn to become at peace within and without, well balnced with complete acceptance of whatever happens...right and wrong is a sickness of the mind, the Buddha is said to have said some 2600 years ago. To learn to become at one with, body, mind and spirit all in precise alignment and well balanced four physical elements that primarily constructs the human form. Earth, wind, fire and water...and consciousness. It is to slowly become aware the nature of being itself, how far or how near, how closed am I to my own divine consciousness, my Atman ...who am I? What is the real? What is the false? How do I keep being on track in making my concious choices so that I do not sway too far to one side or the other and cause a discord in my psyche...how ell can I maintain the discipline in keeping my silence mind for good silenced.

 This is my life study, has always been, this has been the focus of all my experiences and actions throughout my life; this is what it would take to be able to attain silence of the the mind; mind watching, I call it. Watch it rise, hanf around and disappear to be replace by another and another...watch what triggers it to arise and why I keep hanging on to it longer than most and what happened to it when I shift my thought process or change the channel in the middle of the program? How do I keep track of what arises and what falls and how do I make sense out of mosts the non-sense that arises in a moment, a day a year, a lifetime? Thoughts runs in a circular track often repeating itself with prercorded events and experiences, peaceful or traumatic encounters in the past, buried fears and shame all these will flow in a circular motion like record disc rotating on the player with a needle moving along each groove evoking the sound of music. There comes a time when I know what arises is  just a replay or  reset of the same  sound being raised in my mind and learn  to dismiss them without causing any attachment in the process. In other words I learn to let them go... letting go is never easy but it is one of the surest way to en-lighten your mind. ..after all what is enlightenment but to simply become light, not dark and heavy or grave-like.    

 

With a new car my ...I celebrate Aidil Fitri...The last day of the Fasting Month.. The Eve of Hari Raya Posa!

Forgot to suck my tummy in! What would Ben Rongen say!

On the 27th. day of the Fasting Month I visited the Museum Gallery Tuanku Fauziah,(MGTF) - University Sains Malaysia,(USM) driving my new car that was two days old to get there. It has been a long time since I visited the Galleri and I was pleasantly surprised to find a printmaking exhibition was going on and two of my works were selected for the show. While I was there I was also introduced to a group intern students by my friend the Director, Hasnol J. Saidon who asked me to give them brief talk about art and I did. I talked about,  'What is 'originality' entails in the creative process of creating an art piece and how to attain this 'original idea.' I introduced them to the art of 'Meditation'.

Two pieces of my Monoprints which donated to the Museum years ago was selected to be among the collective works of printmaking techniques represented at the exhibition. Monoprint technique has always been my favorite medium of epression as an artist apart from sketching and drawing. I preferred it more so than painting, however to do it one has to have a printing press or a printmaking studio.

One of my watercolor and ink sketches of random faces which I entitled,'Faces of Destiny'  was well received when I posted it on Facebook. It is interesting to note that most of those who like or commented my art posts on fb are not artists themselves. Overtime I noticed this trend and removed most of the so called artist fb friends I have as I was supporting them through my like and comments but not getting any reciprocal from them at all when I post my works; I decided to clean up my fb space to allow for more space and less distractions.

This sketch I did a portrait of one of my Chinese artist friends 'Ip Seng' was done in Balik Pulau during the Fasting of 7/2012 and I posted it on fb a few days ago just to share my style of sketching a portrait when I felt like doing so and this sketch captured the character well. I have no idea why this sketch insist on appearing on this post, it was not planned in other words, it appeared by mistake, my inability to work with the computer after all these years and after over 2000 blog entries made...I still type with one finger.

A sketch done the same time in the same sketchbook of  7/2012 of the Malay fisherman's jetty which I also posted on fb which was also well received by my non artist fb friends. This sketching reminded me of my dear friend who passed away a few months back. This evening on the final day of the fasting month I visited the Malay Fishermen's Jetty and celebrated the Raya Eve mostly listening to Mamu Non,.. berating over the poor handling of the announcing the actual Raya date throwing the whole Malay Muslim nation into a very traumatic and chaotic state of minds....,who to blame! in these day and age of modern technologies ...Salam Aidil Fitri...Selamat hari Raya! We talked about our departed frind, Arwah Lee Bakoi.

#hariraya,#aidilfitri,#fastingmonth,#printmaking,#mgtfusm#