Time to ponder!

Kahlil Gibran's Little Book of Secrets, 2019
Kahlil Gibran, Neil Douglas-Klotz (Editor)

(first published 1932)

That is it. There is no secret. Like every seed we sprout, each extracting our own energies, in different shapes, forms and sizes, build our leaves and flowers, but have to face the sun to get our nourishments. We may take different routes like that, but lest we forget, all roads lead to Rome.

Secrets? There are none. The answers are all within us. The problem is that the more answers we seek, the more questions pop up.

Khalil Gibran, a Lebanese Christian from the Eastern Christian Church, landed in the USA after spending a fair amount of formative years in Lebanon. Exposed to either side of the hemisphere, his outlook on life is quite profound. Here is an example of his thoughts and invitation to think.

A clergyman who preaches the dangers of sin and the need to follow the spiritual path meets a dying man during his travels. He was about to help him but was warned by the man about saving him. For he was Satan. Nursing him back to health would mean saving Satan. On the other hand, what work is there for the preacher if Satan stops his evil? The preacher would be out of a job. What evangelism is there any more? There is no Satan to spew his venom. In a way, both depend on each other to prosper. Without sin, there is no need for salvation. Without the poor, there is no one for the rich to flaunt. Without the slave staying dumb, the master cannot continue squeezing the noose on the poor.

Another point to ponder...

"Maybe a funeral among human beings is a wedding feast among the angels." Whilst man mourns the loss of one of his kind, the angels have a new member. Akin to the birth, the ushers smile when the entree (baby) cries. At death, the exiting member is happily relieved of his worldly pain, but the mourners wail in pain, unable to bear the separation.

N.B.

Kahlil Gibran (Arabic: جبران خليل جبران ) was a Lebanese-American artist, poet, and writer.
Born in the town of Bsharri in modern-day Lebanon (then part of Ottoman Mount Lebanon), as a young man, he emigrated with his family to the United States, where he studied art and began his literary career. In the Arab world, Gibran is regarded as a literary and political rebel. His romantic style was at the heart of a renaissance in modern Arabic literature, especially prose poetry, breaking away from the classical school. In Lebanon, he is still celebrated as a literary hero.
He is chiefly known in the English-speaking world for his 1923 book The Prophet, an early example of inspirational fiction, including a series of philosophical essays written in poetic English prose. The book sold well despite a cool critical reception, gaining popularity in the 1930s and again, especially in the 1960s counterculture.
Gibran is the third best-selling poet of all time, behind Shakespeare and Lao-Tzu.

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The secret of happy living?

Ikigai, Discover your Reason for Being

Justin Barnes (2019)

Modern living has become complicated. From a community which used to live simply using age-tested traditions, we had evolved to one that simply lived for the moment, fulfilling the hedonistic desires of senses of the individual self. They thought they could live long lives enjoying the gift of life indefinitely unlike their forefathers because they knew the sciences and they had the armamentarium of modern medicine as a shield.

Unfortunately, life proved to be empty despite the vast knowledge and precise know-how that they had discovered over the leaps and bounds of various industrial and scientific revolutions. They started looking for answers to fill this void. They wanted long modern lives but not aches, encumbrances and the emptiness associated with it.

They look around, and they saw the Okinawans who were happy and led extremely long lives. They postulated that probably it is their moai - the safety net of lifelong friends and support groups at various levels to aid in their social, financial, health and spiritual needs. 

Beyond all these, the researches posit that the individual mindset is of paramount importance. One should find contentment in whatever situation he is embroiled. Like Sisyphus, they should find happiness in whatever mundane position they are stuck in. After a certain level of attainment in life, one should do things for the joy of doing it. It should not be a chore. Only then, the drive would be there to delve into the nitty-gritty, fine-tuning and turning it into an art form. A simple example of this would be the case of a ramen maker. He would spend years and years learning and perfecting the craft of making the dish from scratch and ensuring that it is flawless in every aspect.

One strategy is to aim for small joys; not grand targets. The importance of early to rise and shine cannot be overstated. Physical activities mobilise and energise the day ahead. Prudent plant-based food consumption and stopping eating when one is 80% full cannot be overstated. 

One cannot be fixated with beauty. He must learn to appreciate blemishes and find beauty in the perfectly imperfect. Every imperfection has a tale to tell. Learn to relish the simple pleasures in life. 

The mystery of human existence lies not just about staying alive but also in finding something to live for. We just tune in and tune out. 

Talking about leading purposeful, happy lives, I am reminded of what my Tamil Language teacher taught us way back during POL classes. I have to admit that I only remember two verses of the 109 of the Avvaiyyar's Aathichoodi. In Tamil schools, these verses from the foundation of inculcating good values, discipline and doing good deeds. Students are expected to memorise these verses. Like writing lines, they were used as punishment. On the other hand, competitions are held to pick out students with flawless pronunciation. 

Like that it goes on with almost every alphabet of the Tamil language.

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Gun, Oil and Drugs - the GOD Complex!

Population Control: How Corporate Owners Are Killing Us
Jim Marrs (2015)

It may have sounded like rumblings of an old man who had lived too long to be amiable to the wranglings of the modern world, or it may scream of the rebel yell of a conspiracy theorist who is explaining about that is wrong with the world today.

In America and in the world as a whole, entire populations have been culled for profit and control. Elites have used the so-called GOD syndicate—Guns, Oil, and Drugs—as well as toxic air, water, food, and medicines, and of course, the unhealthy financial system on which the whole master plan depends—to reduce the world’s population. This is due to the belief of the global elite that the basis of all the world’s problems is overpopulation—just too many people using the Earth’s limited resources.
The conspiracy theory angle starts with the story of the American Stonehenge, which was unveiled in 1980, in the state of Georgia by anonymous donors. The inscription gracing the four mammoth slab of Georgia Guidestone, written in eight different languages, among other things mentions the need to maintain the world population at 500 million. In 1980, the world population had already capped at 4.4 billion. How on Earth are the people behind the Georgia Guidestone going to have their mission accomplished if not for the mass killing of the masses?

We were taught that economic growth and population growth are inversely related to each other; overpopulation is linked to poverty and famine. On the hand, the equation is not so straight forward. It has to be weighed against productivity, migration policies, access to medical, savings and educational facilities as well as civil society and good governance.

Modern statistics teaches us that for a society to continue, there needs to be a constant population growth of at least 2.1. By biological design, to create more thinking brain and exponential technological advancements, couples have to have more than two children. Exponential population growth, however, is a recent phenomenon, spurred by the industrial revolution and later progress in the medical field after the second World War. 

The neutrality of population growth with respect to economic development came into disrepute again in the 1990s, when tigers of East Asian sprang their fangs. Despite their vast population, instead of being a burden to the country, they became a market for their products, which consecutively steamrolled the economy.

Georgia Guidance

The premise of the book is that there is a cabal which wants to control the whole world and control its resources. First, it needs to eliminate the population, damage the environment, acquire all its natural resources, its fauna and flora, influencing the economy, usurping industries, destroying mom-and-pop businesses and replacing them with multinational conglomerate owned enterprises which would terrorise to control price, seed and quality.

The water would be polluted with toxic fumes and chemicals. The land will be laden with heavy metals and polluting hydrocarbons. Big pharma will sell medicine for the diseases that they create. And the data which are reported by dishonest scientists who sell away humanity for personal glory. New non-existent disorders are plucked out of thin air, like social anxiety disorder which was formerly referred to as just shyness and female sexual dysfunction syndrome. The society is drugged to receive fake news, to be numbed and be herded to the slaughter.

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Do you want to know the truth?

The eyes, window to the soul!

Just the other day, my home cat went missing. It was a good eight hours before he was to be seen again. Typically, he is confined to the confines of the house. His urges to explore had drastically reduced after he was neutered. On the occasional instances that he ventures outside the house, he can be seen gazing at the flying birds, moving cars and aimless stares into oblivion whilst rustling his hairy ears to focus.

He returned unceremoniously with his catwalk just aloof to all the excitement that happened in the household during his disappearance. I wondered what he must have been up to. I just wished that I could somehow read his mind to know exactly what he experienced and what were the adventures and misadventures that he experienced. I wanted to know whether he was a hero, a valiant cat who saved a fellow feline kind or was he just a scaredy cat who ran away at the first sight of danger.

Oh, maybe I should just let things be as it is.

Perhaps, the company of strays that he kept may not go well with the high breed that he is from. The occupants of the house might look at him different if his friends were diseased tick-carrying ones. What if he had consumed something so obnoxious that he had not never eaten? Are the householders still going to hold his face close to theirs if he, in his curiosity, held his close to something so repulsive?

Like that many things in this world or our lives are filled with mysteries and secrets. Sometimes, we better let some things stay buried oblivious to our knowledge. Things may not look as sweet if the bitter truth is laid bare. The high standing accorded to certain people may not seem worth it, even though that individual may genuinely make a concerted effort to amend past mistakes. There is always a second chance. Just knock, the doors shall open....

Solitude, my lonely friend!

One of the most significant drawbacks in the manning of a human-crewed mission to Mars is the mental strength (or rather lack of) of astronauts in being able to stay sane over extremely protracted times in solitary confinements. After all, can one stay for 4 years in the company of the same boring company?

They say that Man is a social animal and he needs friends and company to live. Deprive him of the ability to interact with his fellow kind and be sure that he would hit the loony bin. They fight, they laugh, they cry together, they loathe each other, but they need each other to survive! So say the scientists. A man needs to compete with each other or emulate each other to come out with a newer protocol for the next generation to improve so that they can continue surviving as the most dominant species on the planet. Perhaps,  they would remain as the only species as they annihilate other 'less' intelligent ones. Once they have done that, they would step into an intra-special attack of their own kind and ride majestically into Armageddon!

On the other hand, look at the lives of some of the greatest men who had imparted some of the highest wisdom to mankind. Jesus Christ and Abraham allegedly ventured out in the wilderness to be in isolation to come out with a recipe for people to live. Buddha embarked on a journey of self-discovery just to discover so many secrets of the world, including advanced Molecular Physics! Sigmund Freud valued his daily long walks to think out his theories of the mind. Nietzsche stayed in the wild to explore many unanswered questions about life. Heidegger also advocated solitude by spending time in the countryside or even the graveyards to appreciate life!

Through the art of introspection, the key to the secrets of our being had been explored. With the pleasure of the company of the fellow kind, what do we get? Merrymaking, drunkenness and the after effects of temporary insanity, the post stupor morose over spilt milk, the hangover of the morning-after, desire to get even, war, chaos and utmost misery. Is it a plot to keep our minds numbed and docile whilst the master planner sharpen their steely knives to put forth their secret agendas?

So you think you know everything?

In our everyday life, we see many who walk around with an aura around them exuding confidence as though they know all the answers to all of mankind's age old secret of the universe. Unfortunately, things in life are not so black or white, they always come in various shades of grey to complicate things.

If you think you have covered all angles in dealing with a problem, then you would receive a knock on the head on a yet another angle that missed your scrutiny. If you think you have to move with the times and embrace modernity, then again you will be disappointed with equally dismal outcomes. Then you would tell yourself, 'Old is Gold'!

The dichotomy of choices are driving everyone nuts. If only you could turn back time... Then you would tumble upon a new sets of hurdles to cross.

At least, the people who go with their noses and shoulders up in the air shower confidence to the masses and hopefully provide yet another path to tread upon those who are lost for direction after hitting a brick wall.

Listen, do you want to know a secret?

Tariq Ramadan, a liberal Islamist, once asked the Dalai Lama, "Why do you recite your chants at 4 o'clock in the morning?". The wise one replied, "It is for my self discipline!"
That, I think, my dear friend, lies the secret of mankind. The secret of all secrets is now out in the open. The rationale for people to do what they do as somewhat ritualistic, obsessive and compulsive like is actually to instill self discipline in one self. The purpose of prayer is not to request the Creator for wealth, health, happiness and protection for a pain free life and after life but rather to instill this human value so that he can think out rationally his next course of action so as to ensure he leads the path of least resistance. The quiet ambience in which one partakes his meditation and prayers must be the cornerstone for his to rationally think out his actions and act accordingly without rash.
The ritual of allocating one day in a week for spiritual work, faithfully doing seemingly repetitive actions several times a day, sitting in a literally in a spine and leg breaking postures are all for the sole purpose of self discipline.
"Self discipline for what?" you may ask....
Self discipline to do what you are suppose to do on earth - a butcher, baker or tin-can man. Whatever you may do to maintain that equilibrium on the big jigsaw puzzle that is a fragment of events of the butterfly effect of life.
But remember, too much of self discipline can also be self detrimental. As Buddha (before Enlightenment) was finding for the ultimate truth to relieve Man of the tortuous repetitive cycle of life, he discovered that meditation was the way to go. He dwelled into high level spiritual form of meditation where one can control autonomic nervous system of body where Hone can go into  a vegetative state without food and water for days. If not for a young girl who fed him forcibly, he would have been history without leaving a mark!

N.B. Did you know that the trace of Buddha had disappeared from face of India, no thanks to the attacking Hindu and Muslim kingdoms? It took archaeologists of the colonial masters from 1860 to 1890 to locate his birthplace as Lumbini and Kapilavastu where his father's Shakya kingdom palace used to be. They pinpointed it to be located in Nepal. 

The Eye in the Sky will get you!

Just the other day, I visited my long lost schoolmate for Raya. There he was in his bungalow with 2 Porsche parked majestically in his posh porch (Cayenne and a 911) with a 24 hour security guard stationed in front of his house which was already sitting in a guarded community housing estate. Understandably, his sensitive position as a high flying executive in his line of work warrants such an arrangement.
After living and working in the US for more than 10 years as well as living flamboyantly in the fast lane, he returned home to settle down. And here he was sitting down with me and other old schoolmates.
I noticed that he had become quite private in his outlook. He does not have many friends. He does not have a Facebook account for fear of intrusion of daily activities! Eh, does he have more that he needs to hide? Maybe...
Later, we were discussing about his toys - his Porsches and their performance! He had apparently hit 240km/h on the highway! When asked about speeding tickets, he answered to the affirmative. The worse part, however, was when a summons was sent to his house with an ensuing digitalized 'mugshot' photo-shoot depicting him and another temptress who was not his wife driving along in SUV. And he was supposed to be in a meeting, not enroute to Port Dickson where the shot was taken. Now we understood the privacy and secrecy!
With the advent of internet, Google and the World Wide Web, nothing seem to be sacred or secret anymore. The tentacles of the web will spread its stuff like what spiders do into all nooks and corners to expose everyone's secret lives. Just like how MCA's feeble attempt to draw youngster into its wing fell flat on its face. Everyone went agog when a bevy of beauties claiming to be party members paraded shamelessly to the assembly to entice the roving eyes to join the party something like how the mice followed the Piped Piper of Hamelin.
Leave it to the Netizens, a few days later, the full expose of the said members were out in the open, complete with pictures to match. As predicted, these beauties ranged from lingerie models to pit stop babes! Go ahead, try to make out who is who. They are look alike to me! All straight hair and manga inspired heroine's eyes!