'' . . . a click into my life . . . ''

Sunday, January 31, 2010

We Reap What We Sow

A woman planted a flower seed in her garden. She carefully weeded and watered the soil until a robust plant grew. But no flower appeared.

She thought of digging up the plant, but finally decided: 'My business is to look after the plant; it is for nature to produce the flower.' The weeks came and went. She cared for the plant and forgot all about the lack of flower. Then one morning, she smelled a delicate fragrance. She followed the scent and - oh joy! There in front of her was a gorgeous flower!

We reap what we sow - but not ncessarily where we sow. Every thought, word and action eventually returns to us. When we lay down good causes by thinking good thoughts and acting on them, blessings return to us - love, prosperity, health and kindness, etc. But actions resulting from thoughts of selfishness, greed, ignorance, malice and so on also have consequences. They set up a chain reaction which eventually returns to hurt us.

The human heart has the seeds of love and the seeds of hate in equal measure, but we seem to be watering the seeds of hate more.

Satish Kumar


Peace out.

Saturday, January 30, 2010

The Nature of Compassion

Having gone beyond the mind made opposites, you become like a deep lake. The outer situation of your life and whatever happens there is the surface of the lake. Sometimes calm, sometimes windy and rough, according to the cycles and seasons. Deep down, however, the lake is always undisturbed. You are the whole lake, not just the surface, and you are in touch with your own depth, which remains absolutely still. You dont resist change by mentally clinging to any situation. Your inner peace does not depend on it. You abide in Being - unchanging, timeless, deathless - and you are no longer dependent for fulfillment or happiness on the outer world of constantly fluctuating forms. You can enjoy them, play with them, create new forms, appreciate the beauty of it all. But there will be no need to attack yourself to any of it.

Compassion is the awareness of a deep bond between yourself and all creations. But there are two sides to compassion, two sides to this bond. On the one hand, since you are still physical body, you share the vulnerability and mortality of your physical form with every other human and with every living being. Next time you say, "I have nothing in common with this person," remember that you have a great deal in common: A few years from now - two years or seventy years, it doesnt make much difference - both of you will have become rotting corpses, then piles of dust, then nothing at all. This is a sobering and humbling realization that leaves little room for pride. Is this a negative thought? No, it is a fact. Why close your eyes to it? In that sense, there is total equality between you and every other creature.

Ricky.

Friday, January 29, 2010

Faith

Faith is trust in an idea even when there is no logical proof. It is often believed to be misguide because it does not depend on sensory evidence.

However, faith has accomplished wonders and continues to do so. Without it, no one would ever take risk or try anything original. To have faith that we can do something, even if there is no logical proof, empowers us to do it.

Faith is not just for esoteric types; Max Planck was one of many scientists who understand the value of faith. 'Anybody who has been seriously engaged in scientific work of any kind', he wrote, 'realise that over the entrance to the gates of the temple of science are written the words: Ye must have faith. It is a quality which the scientist cannot dispense with.'

Faith lies at the heart not only of science but also of spirituality. With faith, we allow ourselves to be guided by our intuition, do our best to lay down positive 'causes' each moment, and trust that the right effects will follow according to Universal Law.

Peace out.

Thursday, January 28, 2010

The Secret of Life

Long ago, four senior gods met to decide where to hide the great secret of life. They knew they needed a safe place because if humans ever found it they couldnt be trusted to use it constructively.

The first god suggested hiding it at the top of a high mountain, but they soon realised that humans would eventually climb to the top and find it.

The second suggested that the bottom of the deepest ocean would be better, but agreed with the others that humans would eventually explore the depths and discover it.

The third suggested the centre of the Earth, but they realised that humans would one day dig deep enough to find it.

Finally, the wisest god spoke. 'There's only one place to hide the great secret of the universe - within the human heart. They'll never think of looking for it there.'


We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.

T.S. Elliot


Love, Ricky.

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Creative Thinking

Creative thinking is not a talent, it is a skill that can be learnt. It empowers people by adding strength to their natural abilities which improves teamwork, productivity and where appropriate profits.

We all operate in two contrasting modes, which might be called open and closed. The open mode is more relaxed, more receptive, more exploratory, more democratic, more playful and more humorous. The closed mode is the tighter, more rigid, more hierarchical, more tunnel-visioned. Most people, unfortunately spend most of their time in the closed mode. Not that the closed mode cannot be helpful. If you are leaping a ravine, the moment of takeoff is a bad time for considering alternative strategies. When you charge the enemy machine-gun post, don't waste energy trying to see the funny side of it. Do it in the "closed" mode. But the moment the action is over, try to return to the "open" mode—to open your mind again to all the feedback from our action that enables us to tell whether the action has been successful, or whether further action is need to improve on what we have done. In other words, we must return to the open mode, because in that mode we are the most aware, most receptive, most creative, and therefore at our most intelligent.

Thus, for all human development, no matter what form it takes, must be outside the rules. Otherwise, we would never have anything new.

"I roamed the countryside searching for the answers to things I did not understand. Why shells existed on the tops of mountains along with the imprints of coral and plant and seaweed usually found in the sea. Why the thunder lasts a longer time than that which causes it and why immediately on its creation the lightening becomes visible to the eye while thunder requires time to travel. How the various circles of water form around the spot which has been struck by a stone and why a bird sustains itself in the air. These questions and other strange phenomena engaged my thought throughout my life."

Leonardo da Vinci


Ciao.

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Life Is Impermanent

The universe is constantly in a state of change. The only certainty in life is uncertainty. Nothing lasts forever, yet we humans waste a great deal of energy fearing and resisting change.

Change is constant. People and things come into our lives then leave. Some changes are necessary; others inevitable. Resistance is futile and brings only suffering. We find peace only when we embrace uncertainty and welcome change. Flexibility is not weakness, but strenght, which is why a tree which sways in the storm is the most likely to survive.

I have no idea what changes tomorrow will bring, or how my life will unfold. But I will move forward, with love, into the unknown with open arms and an open heart. So really, to grow we must be open to change. Evolution is beautiful — and seamless — when we open ourselves up to the universe. When the season is right, our dreams will blossom in such a way that it will exceed even our most beautiful fantasies.

Peace out.

Monday, January 25, 2010

Peace of Mind

Everyone is looking for peace of mind, and we dont have to look far. Peace is our natural state. At our very core lies the endless peace that comes from our spiritual selves. Our aim is to get in touch with it so we can maintain unity with our Source.

However, our inner peace is easily drowned out by the part of us that is willing to trade peace against its will to be heard - the ego. Only when we lay the ego aside do we find peace. Its been there all along. We have just taken our attention elsewhere.

Every day, each of us has drozens of opportunities to choose peace. All it takes is a shift in awareness and a change in our way of thinking. Its never far away. Reach for it and its yours.

Peace is all around us - in the world and in nature - and within us - in our bodies and our spirits. Once we learn to touch this peace, we will be healed and transformed.

Thich Nhat Hahn


Peace, Ricky.

Sunday, January 24, 2010

Dealing with Complacency

We have seen people in our life, or celebrities or athletes, who reach a level of success and then stop. They start to get comfortable, and they lose what got them there in the first place. Comfort can be one of the most disastrous emotions a body could have. What happens when a person gets too comfortables? He stops growing, stops working, stops creating added value. You dont want to get too comfortable. If you feel really comfortable, chances are you have stopped growing. Ray Kroc, the founder of McDonald's, was once asked if he were to give one piece of advice to someone to guarantee a long life of success, what would it be? He said to simply remember this:

When you are green you grow; when you ripen, you rot.

You can take any experience and make it an opportunity for growth, or you can take it and make it an invitation to decay. You can see retirement as the beginning of a richer life, or you can see it as the end of your working life. You can see success as a springboard to greater things, or you can see it as a resting place. And if its a resting place, chances are you wont keep it for long.

One kind of complacency comes from comparison. I used to think I was doing well because I was doing well compared with people I knew. Thats a big mistake. Maybe it just means your friends arent doing very well. We need to learn to judge ourselves by our goals instead of by what our peers seem to be doing. Didnt you do that as a kid? Didnt you say, "Johnny did this, why cant I?" You mother probably said, "Well, I dont care what Johnny does," and she was right. Thus, care about what you are capable of. Care about what you create and what you want to do. Work from a set of dynamic, evolving, enabling goals that will help you do what you want, not what someone else has done. There will always be someone who has more than you or has less. None of that matters. We need to judge ourselves by our goals and nothing else.

Ciao.

Saturday, January 23, 2010

Heaven and Hell

A mighty king asked a learned philosopher to explain the meaning of heaven and hell.

'You!' replied the philosopher with an angry tone, 'do you really expect me to be able to explain something so profound to a stupid, power-crazy, self-centred fool like you?'

The king was incensed. 'Why you...' he exploded with rage, 'I could have you executed for this, how dare you, you...!'

'That', said the philosopher, smiling, 'is hell.'

The king took a deep breath and prostrated himself. He thanked the philosopher for his wisdom. 'And that,' said the latter smiling, 'is heaven.'

Legend has it the king instantly became enlightened.


What is heaven? What is hell then? We are responsible for our own heaven and hell. We create them by the way we think and act. When we align our thoughts with the highest ideas, tension is released and we feel good. The body is flooded with natural opiates, endorphins, which are one hundred times stronger than morphine. This is heaven. On the other hand, when we fill our minds with negative thoughts, we lose touch with creative intelligence, tension rises, the bloodstream is flooded with stress hormones (cortisol and adrenalin), digestion suffers, muscles tighten and we feel bad. This is hell. If you frequently find yourself in the hell state, examine your state of conciousness. What you are resisting? What adjustments must you make? For the heaven to be, good luck. Peace and love.

Ricky.

Friday, January 22, 2010

The Art of Listening

Have you ever felt when you're talking to someone but you feel that person is not completely listening to you? Or the opposite way. Instead of you, the mind is doing the listening. When listening to another person, dont just listen with your mind, listen with your whole body. That takes attention away from thinking and creates a still space that enables you to truly listen without the mind interfering. You are giving the other person space, space to be. It is the most precious gift you can give. Most people dont know how to listen because the major part of their attention is taken up by thinking. They pay more attention to that than to what the person is saying, and none at all to what really matters, the Being of the other person underneath the words and the mind. Of course, you cannot feel someone elses Being except through your own. This is the beginning of the realisation of oneness, which is love. At the deepest level of Being, you are one with all that is.

Most human relationships consist mainly of minds interacting with each other, not of human beings communicating, being in communion. No relationship can thrive in that way, and that is why there is so much conflict in relationships. When the mind is running your life, conflict, strife, and problems are inevitable. Being in touch with your inner body creates a clear space of no mind within which the relationship can flower.

"You cannot truly listen to anyone and do anything else at the same time."

M. Scott Peck


Peace out.

Thursday, January 21, 2010

The Umbilical Brothers

The Umbilical Brothers are an Australian comedy duo, David Collins and Shane Dundas. Their performances combine mime with ordinary dialogue and vocal sound effects. They use puppetry, slapstick, mimicry and audience participation, and make scant use of props and lighting. Here are some of their videos, enjoy.

Bathroom


Digital Glitch


20 Cents Mate!


For more information, visit :-
http://www.facebook.com/UmbilicalBrothers
http://www.umbilicalbrothers.com/

Have fun, Ricky.

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Approval-Seeking Behaviour

I used to concern who others even my parent expected me to be. But then, I started to realise, to whom I needed myself to be. Not others, simply me. Its perfectly nature to want to be liked and accepted, but it becomes a problem if we constantly edit ourselves to win others approval. Approval-seeking behaviour has some short term benefits like it can help avoid arguments but has long term consequences. We are unlikely to feel good about ourselves if we continually pander to others.

Concern ourselves less with other people's opinions. Others dont necessarily see things our way or know whats best for us. Make our own decisions and honour our own values. Others expectations are not our concern. We didnt create them, and we dont own them. If they dont like what we do, thats their problem.

Strangely, many of us are obsessed with trying to make sure we behave in a manner we think our fellow human beings find acceptable. We dont have to follow suit. Value our uniqueness. When we live our own truth, the sense of freedom is invigorating.

Ciao.

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

The Ant In A Water Barrel

A man found an ant sheltering in a water barrel that a family relied on for its water. 'What are you doing in this water barrel?' shouted the man. He removed it and placed it on the ground in the hot sun. Thats intolerance.

Later, it crawled back into the barrel. A second person saw it and said, 'Its a hot day, even for ants. Stay as long as you wish.' Thats tolerance.

A third person smiled, said nothing, and instinctively fed it a handful of sugar. Thats love.

Which type of reactions would you be? We can perform a random act of kindness for anyone, anytime, anywhere. Pay for someone elses meal, carry their bag, let them go before we in a queue. A single thoughful act can change lives.

'You cant go a hundred yards in this world without seeing someone whose conditions you can make better.'

David Crosby.


Peace out.

Monday, January 18, 2010

Health is Wholeness

Health means wholeness in every aspect of our being, physical, mental, emotion and spiritual. The terms 'health', 'to heal' and 'holy' all come from ancient words meaning 'whole'. Health is spiritual condition. It has its origins in the invisible energy feild from which atoms are formed. Good health is a by-product of good habits, physical and mental. When we give our bodies what they need, including plenty of loving attention, we increase the flow of life giving energy. It is no accident that happy, positive, emotionally well balanced people tend to be healthier and live longer.

Mind and body are one. Doctors used to believe that they were seperated, but todays enlightened practitioners admit this was wrong and are changing their entire approach to medicine. The body is energy in vibration, and energy is weakened by wrong thinking, depression, fear, worry and enxiety, hatred, meanness and repressed emotions. Research shows conclusively that our thoughts can make us ill and keep us well.

The common cold is a good example of how the mind can weaken the immune system and make us more inclined to illness. Colds are generally believed to be caused by microbes, and that we are merely passive 'hosts' to these organisms. However, we have some control over whether the microbes actually take hold. In one experiment, volunteers gathered in a room were exposed to cold germs. Some became ill, while others stayed well. The researchers dicovered that those who resisted the germs were the happiest with their lives and belived they were responsible for themselves. Similar experiments have produced indentical results.

We have heard miracles happened when patients recovered from cancer, aids... etc. In fact, medicine is used only to cure our bodies, but not our mind. It is our responsibilities, to keep our mind healthy in order to achieve the wholeness of health.

Ricky.

Sunday, January 17, 2010

Promises?

'I promise Ill...'. We sometimes do make promises with others. But, do we expect the outcome will be exactly same with the promise which we have made? Perhaps, we will never know. Dont make promises that we cant keep in the present. Once a promise is made, keep it, but only make promises we can honour in the present, the only moment over which we have any control. Other promises may limit our options in the future, causing us to feel trapped. We cant know now how we will see things in the future, when we have grown in awareness. Instead, keep our mind open and receptive to the stream of present moment that await us.

Avoid phrases such as, 'Ill always...', 'Ill never...', And , 'as long as I live Ill...' Circumstances change, and so do people. How can we know that will be best in ten years time, or even next year or next month? Be present.

Ciao, Ricky.

Saturday, January 16, 2010

Writings On an Orphanage Wall

People are often unreasonable, illogical and self centred.
Love them anyway.

If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives.
Do good anyway.

If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies.
Succeed anyway.

What you spend years building, someone may destroy overnight.
Build anyway.

If you find senerity and happiness, people may be jealous.
Be happy anyway.

The good you do will be forgotten tomorrow.
Do it anyway.

Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough.
Give your best anyway.

You see, in the final analysis, it is all between you and You.
It was never between you and them anyway.

Mother Teresa


Peace out.

Friday, January 15, 2010

Giving and Recieving

The law of giving and recieving leads to prosperity. Yes, it happens all the time in my life. Especially when it comes to relationship between dogs and my family. One example, I remembered, I brought home a puppy named, Lucky. I, a 9 year old kid, couldnt affort a place for him to stay but a meat bun as daily meal. He lived behide my grandma's house, a narrow shaded place. I knew he could easily get wet by the heavy rain, but my stubborn grandma refused to let him stay inside. Sigh~ Still, Im greatful, Lucky didnt run away. We had fun together most of the time..., showering in the rain, having a little adventure in the palm field, swimming in the lake, chasing each other, sharing meat buns... He was there for me, brighthened my lonely childhood. I recieced happiness from him, although, I had nothing to give but a little meat bun. Until now, my family and I still share the unfinished food to wild dogs.

When we give, at first we appear to have less than before, but this is wrong. Giving is a cause, it sets up a chain of events which lead to the giver recieving something in return, but this doesnt necessarily happen immediately, from the same person or in the same form. Be careful though, if you give only to get, with a conciousness of selfishness and greed, all you will get back from others is their selfishness and greed. Recieving is equally as important as giving, and is nothing to feel guilty about. If you dont allow others to give to you, you are denying them an opportunity to contribute to the flow of prosperity. However, this doesnt mean grabbing everything you can. Sometimes its right to say no and let others recieve. Consider each case on its merits and be guided by your own will.

“If you give a man a fish, he eats for a day. If you teach a man to fish, he eats for a lifetime”.


Ricky.

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Play Dough

One of the coolest things about reality is that you can shape your life any way you want. It’s like cosmic play dough. I believe, every single person does own his very unique and dreamed play dough. I do. However, under certain circumstances, poeple might try to reshape my play dough. Not for long, I change it back conciousnessly. For those people who are trying to change others (kids, lovers, partners...), listen please!

You cant change others because you are not in charge of their thoughts. Nor can you control them. You can influence them, you can even take away their liberty, but you are never sure what they are thinking. They have their own thoughts and they are not yours to control. Other people only change when they want to. They think for themselves and make their own decisions. And whose business is it anyway? Not yours! Once you accept this, you remove many of the difficulties you may have had dealing with others. They are not going to change for you unless they want to. Few will measure up to your ideals and why should they? Do you always measure up to theirs?

Accept people as they are. Be happy for others to be themselves. Seek to empower others. Help them to be themselves and fulfill their own aspirations, even if they are not what you would choose. Who are you to know what is the best for them?

The beginning of love is to let those we love be perfectly themselves, and not to twist them to fit our own image. Otherwise we love only the reflection of ourselveswe find in them.

Thomas Merton


Ciao.

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

The Traveller and the Monk

One day a traveller was walking along a road. As he walked he noticed a monk working in the fields beside the road. The traveller turned to the monk and asked, 'Excuse me, do you mind if I ask you a question?'

'Not at all,' replied the monk.

'Im travelling from the village in the mountains to the village in the valley and I was wondering if you knew what it is like in the village in the valley?'

'What was your experience of the village in the mountains?' asked the monk.

'Awful,' replied the traveller. 'I found the people most unfriendly. I was never made to feel part of the village no matter how hard I tried. The villagers dont take kindly to strangers. So tell me, what can I expect in the village in the valley?'

'Im sorry,' said the monk, 'I think your experience will be much the same there.' The traveller thanked him despondently and walked on.

Later that day another traveller was walking down the same road and he also came upon the monk.

'Im going to the village in the valley,' said the second traveller. 'Do you know what is it like?'

'I do,' replied the monk, 'but first tell me, where have you come from?'

'Ive come from the village in the mountains.'

'And how was that?'

'Wonderful! I felt very much at home. Everyone was so helpful, the children laughed with me and people were kind and generous. Im sad to have left there. And what of the village in the valley?' he asked again.

'I think you will find it much the same,' replied the monk. 'Good day to you.'

'Thank you,' the traveller replied. He smiled, and continued on his way.

People with positive attitude see the world differently, they enjoy the best life has to offer, not because more good things come their way, but because they see the good in whatever comes their way. They also create better circumstances for themselves. How do you feel when you approach a situation with a positive attitude compared with when you approach it from a negative point of view? As long as we have the ability to think for ourselves, we can choose our attitude. We can establish causes intended to bring specific results. This is how we cocreate with creative intellegence, our circumstances and experiences in life.

Cheer, Ricky.

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Why are we here?

Sometimes I wonder, why am I here? What am I doing? Why are we living as a human being on this beautiful planet? In short we dont really know. We know the universe is orderly and expanding, has purpose and direction, and is presided over by an organising intelligence. So, where do we fit in? Why do fragments of spirit take human form? What contribution do we make to unfold the universe? Really, we cant see the whole picture at this stage in our evolution, but who knows, perhaps 1 day we will. We are like droplets in an ocean. How can a droplet possibly understand the purpose of the ocean?

As we are given birth, we are the unique gifts to the world. How are we going to make these gifts as valuable as they can be? Start by clarifying our life purposes. Have a vision of how the world could be and our parts in it. What is the big idea in our life, the theme that holds it all together? We are all aware of our purpose at some level, although it may be hidden in the depths of the subconscious waiting to be discovered. Look within. The biggest clues are our talents and our interests. If we are not clear about what these are, there is a third clue. What we were good at and most enjoyed as a child. When we express our purpose in our daily life, a great deal changes. We experience a greater feeling of fulfillment and well being. We have more energy. We feel more loving towards ourselves, others and the world.

'How does one seek union with God?'
'The harder you seek, the more distance you create between God and you.'
'So what does one do about distance?'
'Understand that it isnt there.'
'Does that mean that God and I are one?'
'Not one. Not two.'
'How is that possible?'
'The sun and its light, the ocean and the wave, the singer and his song - not one. Not two.'

Anthony de Mello


Peace out.

Monday, January 11, 2010

Past? Future? Present Indeed

Last night my friend and I were chatting online. We talked about the past, the days we kept promises. The future, the days we will have when we get our own jobs, families, dreams, vacations... etc. But, we would never realise the present when we were having conversation, the moment we were sharing stories, the joy we had, and the silent and peaceful night, not until the day we chat again. Notice how easily our awareness wanders away from the present moment. Observe how much of the time we find ourselves thinking about the past and how much we think about the future. We will be surprised at the results.

Wake up to the present. The future is promised to no one, so live each day as well as we can. Have goals and ambitions by all means, but remember we can only work towards achieving them in the present. Keep bringing our thoughts back to the now. Pay attention to where we are and what we are doing. Appreciate what we have right here, right now. This is how we live in the present moment, not too difficult, is it?

Yesterday is but a dream and tomorrow is only a vision.
But today well lived makes every yesterday a dream of happiness.
And every tomorrow a vision of hope.

Traditional Indian Poem


Live with the present.

Ricky.

Sunday, January 10, 2010

The Busy Mind

Just as when a lake is still it reflects the surrounding beauty of hill and sky, so also does our mind when perfectly calm reflects the beauty, harmony, perfection and order of Divine.

When we become completely still, our mind becomes attuned to the Infinite Mind, after which nothing else matters.

Henry Thomas Hamblin

The busy mind may be compared to a muddy pond. When agitated, mud rises from the bottom, the water becomes cloudy and light barely penetrates beneath the surface. When the pond still, the mud settles, the sun shines through and the pond becomes visible right to the bottom. Similary, when we think too much, mind twisted, run out of ideas, are like overeating. It brings a kind of mental indigestion which creates needless anxiety and stress. Compared to a busy mind, we prefer our mind to stay still and calm. Let the thoughts settle down. Then we are receptive to an inflow of spiritual energy which inspires. Here is my basic idea of relaxing the busy mind. Before you start, put away whatever things that you are doing, settle yourself in a comfort zone (any where as long as you feel its comfortable), put your headphone on (preferable), take a deep breath, close your eyes and start listening. Enjoy.

PS - Pause the background music before you start.




Peace & Love

Saturday, January 9, 2010

Self Acceptance

Self acceptance means acknowledging what you are - a spiritual being in human form - and respecting all aspects of yourself. Self acceptance does not mean giving up on yourself. If there is something you want to change, that can be changed and is worth changing, change it. Do it lovingly. Otherwise, joyfully make the most of what you have got! Knowing youself yet? Take a pen and paper and complete these statements :-

1. Ten things I like about myself right now are...
2. Five things that really mark me out as unique are...
3. Three things I often fail to notice or appreciate about myself are...
4. Three things about myself I wouldnt want to change...
5. The main reason Im glad Im me is...

Here is my result :-

1. - Im a human being with intelligence
    - Im greatful to be alive
    - I have family and friends
    - Im male
    - Im educated (thank you mum and dad)
    - I dont smoke
    - Im at peace
    - Im determined
    - Im free to be myself
    - I have internet connection :)

2. - Im the only Ricky Tan Shin Chuan in this world (hopefully, haha I dont know)
    - Im not talkative (dont know why...)
    - Im a good listener
    - I enjoy silence very much (especially during midnight)
    - I have crayon Shin Chan's eyebrows (people say so haha)

3. - Im who I am
    - I could be joyfull sometimes but I stepped back
    - I have love in myself

4. - determination that I have
    - enjoying silence
    - Im who I am

5. - being myself, living out my purpose and fulfilling my purpose to the universe.

How about yours? Hopefully, you will have fun doing it and find out more about yourself.

Ciao.

Friday, January 8, 2010

The Power to Choose

Life is like a water molecule in a grown up tree. It starts to travel from the roots toward the very end of the leafs to be evaporated. During the process, there are tons of obsticles which they have to go through. The most obvious one is choosing the right path. There are plenty of  brunches to choose from, some will lead them to the leafs to perform evaporation but some wont. In our life, we always reach a point that we have to make a choice. Choices between foods, fency sport cars, courses, cellphones...etc. I do, sometimes I just get fustrated because there are too many choices! And end it up mindless. Anyway, when you think about it, what exactly control us and enpower us to choose?

Everything starts from choices. Choices imply consciousness. Without it we have no choice. Choice begins the moment when we disidentify from the mind and its conditioned patterns, the moment we become present. Confusing? Have a look at this example, Im heading to Shushi King for dinner. I settle myself near the moving table for the dishes. Although there are many to choose from, but I always grap the similar one that I have before. Even it is similar, at least it is familiar. The mind, conditioned as it is by the past, always seeks to recreate what it knows and is familiar with. You see, the mind always adheres to the known. The unknown is dangerous because it has no control over it. Thats why the mind dislikes and ignores the present moment and heads for the past. Present moment awareness creates a gap in the stream of mind. Therefore, nothing truly new and creative can come into this world except through that gap, that clear space of infinite possibility. From now on, choose wisely, differently and conciousnessly.

Love Ricky.

Thursday, January 7, 2010

The Real Happiness

Most of us think we know what makes us happy, but do we? We chase after money and status. We think these will do the trick, but if we knew what really makes us happy, we would crave a little. Why? Because happiness comes from within. I recieved an e-mail from an unknown company, titled 'Change your life forever!' It stated there, 'Win a new home, a car, a dream holiday... blah blah blah, and cash money too!' Well, if I won these handsome prizes, I probably would be happy. Wouldnt I? At first, maybe I would, possibly for a few months until my offered prizes ended. The effects would be temporary. Lets put another example here. If a car makes you happy, then you are happy for a reason. If you are happy for a reason, then you are actually miserable, because that reason can be taken away at any moment. Your car could be stolen. Your car could crash. If your reason is gone, so too is your happiness. That isnt real happiness.

So, what is real happiness? There is no way to happiness cause happiness is the way. If you believe that your happiness depends on getting to somewhere else or achieving your goals, you are wrong. When you have reach your destination, you will find out that after a short period of enjoyment, you are back where you started. Not happier than before and starting to search for new happiness. You see, the achievements take place in the future, but happiness can only exist in the present. Choose worthwhile goals and take pleasure from achieving them but dont allow your happiness to depend on achieving them. Instead, enjoy the process. If you succeed, great! If you dont, great! You have had fun trying, grown as a person and probably done some good along the way. Start enjoying every moment you are having now and be happy with it.

Peace out.

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

The best way to hold on is to let go...

Headache, having a really bad headache now... because I didnt sleep well last night. I was awake until 4 am in the morning, thinking of postgraduate programmes (in Australia) that my university offered. Shall I accept or not. This is a 3 years programme. It is a difficult decision that I have to make. And it sounds easy as well but not for me. From the very beginning, I always want to move out from my own country to others. The reasons are personal. And I dont want to stuck forever in my own country, I mean the world is huge. There are people who are waiting to meet, places to visit, cultures to experience, food to taste... and many more. You see, I like travelling. But, apart from what I like to do, there are things that I have to let go. Family. My family is small and isnt close with my relatives here. Not to mention neighbours. Life is simple here but complicated. My mum doesnt socialise much like my sister. And my sister will back to study soon. Then, what is left obviously is my parent. They are the only concern for me. They are getting older. If I make my move to Australia, honestly, Ill hardly come back to Malaysia. It will take 5 years? maybe 8 years, Im afraid. Thinking of living without them makes me worry. Thinking of being away from them... I miss them already. Its hard for me. When I think deeply, being away is not permenant, and just temporary. I have my dream to catch, my life to live, and my future too. I go out to create my life, not to search conditions to fit my life. Yet, Im still thinking whether or not to take the opportunites.

Anyway, after I woke up, washed my face and I started to draw. Unfortunately, I havent done the painting yet. And I cant show you here just yet. So, I just give you some basic ideas that how the sketch looks like. Hope you can visualise it. The sketch is about a young man holding many different colours, different saiz balloons. Some of them are floating in the air, some of them already in flaccid form. The man is tearing and his hands is bleeding. He is scared of getting the new balloons around him, because the old one he is having will be gone later. Results, some balloons are slowly losing the floating ability and become flaccid. Can you see it? Actually, the balloons indicate the things that connecting to you. Family, friends, your lover, job, home... etc. You have to let them go sometimes, when they still have the ability to float, to do the things they want to do. To fly away as far as they can until the very end. However, balloons will lose out the air as time goes by. By the time they are flaccid, no matter how you want them to fly, they wont anymore. Im not saying it is over after you let go. Its the beginning to grap the new one. I will upload the final painting after it is done.

Thats all from today, ciao.

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Failure

Failure, is an unlikely word to have in our life. Most people have been programmed to fear this thing call failure. Yet, we can sometimes think of times when we wanted 1 thing but got different one, we have all failed a test, suffered through a relationship that didnt work out, put together a working plan but it went away. Its frustrated, isnt it? For once, I did. Now, I treat failures as trials. Sometimes, when you flip through newspapers, people always succeed in getting some sort of results, awards, price, labels... etc. Actually, these succeesfull people are not people who dont fail, but simply people who know that if they try something and it doesnt give them what they want, they have had learning experience. They use what they have learned and try something else to prodoce better results. However, people who fear failure create thoughts of what if it didnt work out. This is what limits the chances and possibilities that could lead to succees. So, are you afraid of failure? How about, how do you feel about learning? Which one sounds nicer?

I bet you have heard of Thomas Edison. This was the story of him crating a light bulb. After he had tried 9999 times to perfect the light bulb and failed, someone asked him, "Are you going to have 10000 failures?" He answered, "I didnt fail. I just dicover another way to invent the electric light bulb." And now we have, lights. You see, if Thomas Edison gave up trying, what would we probably had now? In reality, believing in failure creates negative emotions, they affect our thinking process and you eventually get down of yourselves. If, you knew that you wouldnt fail, what whould you attempt to do? Results? Everthing was perfect! Thats it! Wouldnt be better to try things off? Isnt that the only way to grow through learning?

Now, my friends, who have been suffering from failure, stand up. And start to realise that there is no such thing as failure. There are only results. You always produce results. No matter how the outcomes will be. You will never fail. If its not the one you desire, just change your actions, and you will produce a new result.

"Our doubts are traitors, And make us lose the good we oft might win, By fearing to attempt." William Shakespeare

Cheer and peace out.

Monday, January 4, 2010

Sunset

Just before heading out for dinner, I was stunned by this sunset appeared after a few minutes rain. The sky was seperated by 2 major colours, reddish orange and icy blue. I mean the contrast was huge. This kind of phenomena seldom appear at my hometown. Too bad, I was rushing for dinner and no time taking out my camera to capture that beautiful view. And ended it up using my phone camera to capture it. Luckily, the texture of the picture isnt that bad. Still can see where the little moon (right corner) is. From the photo, I see 2 elements are westling against each other, fire and water. Generally, fire and water do not mix. However, these two totally opposite elements are eventually merged, and resulting this artistic looking picture.

This picture reminds me one of the book that I read few months ago, The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle. It says there is no such things as good or bad but the higher good beyond them, or I shall say beyond hapiness and unhapiness, there is peace. People always (automatically) judge certain conditions to be good or bad. Example, if we are likely to judge a person, there are 2 possibilities we could see here, good or bad. From this judgement, we produce a gap between ourselves and the person. Whether it is a big gap or small, it doesnt matter. Then, the gaps would limit the possible things that could happen between us. Thats not cool. As conditions exist, they are neither good nor bad. They are as they are. And when we live in complete acceptance of them, there is no good or bad in our life anymore. I believe, there is only higher good, peace.

So, who are the good people and bad people in your life? Someone? Or no one? Anyway, enjoy the picture here. Hope that you could see the beautiful view that I saw.

Good night.

Sunday, January 3, 2010

Love

I just finished a movie named 'A Love To Hide'. The story revolves around a gay male couple who must keep their love a secret for fear of persecution. Their lives are further complicated by the appearance of a young Jewish woman seeking refuge and the return of one of the men's brothers from prison. The resulting tale is one of love, trust, fear, and betrayal. The couple die at the end of the movie. Really sad and I almost cried. Why do people treat those gays and lesbians like one kind? Like the main actor Jean in the movie is forced to take a surgery (they cut off some parts of his brain) in order to erase the memories of love between Philippe and him. Because of that surgery, Jean die. And Jeans partner Philippe is reported committing suiside (actually some military men kill him and throw him off from the building). Thats so cruel!

I mean it is love. Love, thats all they need, all of us need, we share our love through many ways, family, frieds, men, women, animals, living and non-living things. Different people choose different paths. Who actually cares? If you do, ask yourself why you do. People live, people die, in between we always search for what we want and what will make us happy. Love keep us happy although some would suffer about it, love fullfills our loneliness and washes away all our sadness. Love is like the candle light in the dark, trying to light up every single candle, trying to reach as far as it could to brighthen up every dark corner, it gives us hope as well. Isnt it amazing? For me it is. I know people nowadays are quite open with the homosexual issue, but still, some people are trying to deny it. Besides, it is just love, purely love, whats the big deal? They only use different paths to share their love. So, deal with it. And start sharing our love with them, eventually they will share theirs.

Really, love is what makes a family. And thats really it.

Ricky.

Saturday, January 2, 2010

Yet To Be Done

Today I continued to finish up my lovely blog. Ive been searching all those useful widgets and gargets to add on to my blog just now. Oh gosh! Guess what, there were plenty of them to choose from... music, videos, games, news, clocks... etc. At first, I thought the gargets needed to create by myself (actually they can be made but I dont have the skills yet) and I didnt know I can eventually get them from some websites. Pretty dumb huh... So, I started to choose which garget would be nice to put on my blog, 1 by 1, I tried. Argh! Some of the nice gargets that I selected didnt work! And those werent that nice for my blog worked! Its rediculous. I dunno why. Maybe it just reflects to the real world, people say that normal looking guys usually pair up with pretty girls and same goes for girls. Is this really true? For me, it is just a theory. No one actually is borned to be ugly looking. It is unique, I shall say. If you mention that that person is ugly looking. Then, how do you define a person with an ugly looking face? The answer is you cant. Get it? And lets see, what kind of face do I have? Hmm... an artistic face? Maybe. (ha ha ha)

Anyway, where was I just know? Oh, those rediculous gargets. After few hours of testing and experimenting, I finally fed up. Maybe, today wasnt the day to do the editing. Every single garget that I put, I just didnt feel right about it. Nevermind, I still have time to figure it out. No rushing. When the right time comes, everthing will work well.

Ciao.

Friday, January 1, 2010

New Year, New Blog, New Life.

Happy New Year! Actually, Ive been thinking to start my own blog for ages but I dunno when and where to begin. Its quite confused (as always) for me to choose a right path cause Im a very picky person. Before this, I did open accounts on Friendster and Myspace but I deactivated them. Reasons? I didnt have time to manage them at that moment. Facebook is very popular now as far as I know. I tried to explore and it just didnt suit me (sorry Facebook) So, I end it up here, Blogger.

Sometimes, people do ask me why I didnt create a blog from the beginning to update the stuff that my friends wanted to know. Ermm, I just didnt feel right to start. Over a couple of months, it was the toughest time for me to get over it. All the stress, depression, confusion and the choices which I had to make. Maybe people see me as a well grown up person and live with a happy life. Unfortunately not. At that time, I felt like a patient with a broken leg and a broken crutch. Everything was on my own. Nothing went exactly as my mind though. I was alone. Then, all those sad memories started to get in. Those 13 years of unhappy childhood that I had. And I suffered for 7 monthes. It was painful. I didnt tell anyone about this even my family members. I didnt want them to worry about me. So, I kept it well.

I spent time thinking, just pure thinking why I become like this... What is wrong with me... etc. And then something crossed my mind. It sounds crazy but my mind spoke to me. ''Hey, you cant be like this for the rest of your life.'' Then, I realised, yes, I still have a lot of stuff need to do. I still young not an elderly person that waiting to die. So, I got myself up and thinking again. But this time not the negative things. I asked myself, what do I need now? What I need to do to make me feel happy? And I wanna do the things that I enjoy the most and happy. Thats why I left my original course, medicine. And choose arts. Art let me express myself. I like to take photographs although my skills are not so good like those experts. I like to draw, to draw my feelings and emotions, to draw things that hit my mind. And I feel better this way. Free and happy.

Here I am, taking the course of graphic design and technology. In these coming years, I wish that I can successfully finish my course and start travelling. Well, it is not just a wish. Ill accomplish it. Maybe, some of you will think it is too late. Hey, you know what, its never late than ever. Thats all from me for my very first post. Sorry for my grammer mistakes. Have a nice day.

Peace out.