If the moon could dream

If the moon could dream,
the moon would dream
that you and me
filled would be

with unconditional love

It has been all along
in the moon its song
of fine white light
the song of the night...

 

Somehow the night carries something magical. The darkness brings a silence. Our work is finished, our activities come to an end, some time to use for our own growth. I think the whole universe, (including the moon 😂) is wanting us to appreciate the joy that lies in loving each other unconditionally. No "what's in it for me", no suspicion, no revenge, just unconditional love. Wise men of the past have discovered this giant truth, but were unable to communicate to the rest of the world. Now with the internet so much more becomes possible and more and more people get access to the wisdom of the ages and learn to discover that altruism, kindness, unconditional love are here since a long time and that these are the main source of true happiness. The more we get of them, the more heavenly feelings we get.

 

Precious

(inspired by Prem Rawat)

To be rich is to have something precious 
and to have a lot of it.

Isn't our breath among the most precious things we have
and don't we have a lot of it?

Isn't our time among the most precious things we have
and don't we have a lot of it?

Isn't the sunlight among the most precious things we have
and don't we have a lot of it?

How about eyesight?
How about peaceful sleep?
How about flowers?
How about the colours in the sky?
How about water?

And then, kindness
Weren't we born with a heart full of it?
Don't we get filled with peace if we let our kindness flow?
Perhaps the most precious still, is our kindness,
sitting in our hearts.
The more we let it flow,
The more peace comes in
The more we let it flow,
The more new kindness comes in
The more we let it flow,
The richer we get
Contentment will be ours and is
contentment, peace and kindness not what makes us truly rich? 

Growing goodness

"The time is coming when all men will see that the gift of God to the soul is not a vaunting, overpowering excluding sanctity, but a sweet natural goodness, like thine and mine, and that so invites thine and mine to be and to grow." <quote of Ralph Waldo Emerson>

The above quote is something that really touches our heart.
It was written more than a hundred years ago and slowly,
slowly it is becoming true as if it had been a prophecy.

Still so many people think that God is somewhere far from here
but more and more people manage to get inspired
to get in-spirit by allowing the ever present huge divine wisdom
to trickle into their mind, their hearts and their souls.

Just the last weekend was a fantastic illustration.
With a group large group of lecturers and students from USM
interactive modules for instilling moral values to junior highschool students
had been prepared over a period of many months, using the best possible evidence
for interactive and effective communication with young people.

Yesterday and the day before has been the moment of truth.
The long prepared modules have been delivered and
they have been delivered successfully.
The young adolescents not only loved the modules but
I am sure they will have learned lessons from them for life.

And the people delivering the modules, devoting their weekend to help others
were among the most blessed and happy I have seen for long.

All of us want to help and we feel that it makes our soul genuinely grow.
This growth of our soul and our own goodness is an inexhaustible source of peace of mind
and true, true happiness.

The time is coming when all humans will be aware of this
And our world will be a wonderful place to live.

Treasure

An old Chinese tale:

There was a man in China whose son had committed a crime and was very likely to be sent to prison. That was a great shame to the family and the night before the trial the father brought one of the family treasures, a very rare and big gem, to the judge. He told the judge: "This gem belongs to our family since many generations. It is a very rare and precious treasure. I want to give it to you." The old judge responded: "This is indeed a huge treasure. Your most precious treasure. My own most precious treasure it my integrity. So if I accept this gem, both of us will lose our most precious treasure."

What is our own most precious treasure?

Sometimes

Sometimes you meet
- senior lecturers who behave like my ex-standard four teacher
- doctors who behave like bulldogs
- and I am sure you can make a whole list yourself

At these times such people may make
- your blood boil
- you flush with anger
- and I am sure you can make a whole list yourself

But then it may be good
- to stop and think
- to start pity these people experiencing the natural disaster of twisted personalities
- to take a deep breath
- to consider the beauty of creation

and subsequently
- send them unconditional love...
 ...
:)

Virtue

There is no virtuous deed that does not make the soul happy.
There is no vicious deed that does not make the soul suffer.

The soul is perfectly just.
We can try to quiet the soul
But never for too long

We were made to love ourselves when we help others
We were made to hate ourselves for selfishness.
I want to end here with a small rhyme:

Once we are aware that we find
only in altruism true peace of mind
we will live with total  focus on that
and leave the selfishness for the mad

A diamond bird

A diamond bird
Flaps its diamond wings
A thousand rainbows
Dance on the white sand
The blue sea dizzy

A diamond bird
Lands on my shoulder
I grab its feet
A look in my eyes
A whisper

A diamond bird
A thousand rainbows
I 'd like to possess
But set it free
And all of nature smiles with me

(Aufie Zophy)


I wrote this poem while thinking about my children.
They are more precious than diamonds,
but somehow we have to set them free.

A story

A story I do not want to forget.
I first want to write how I came to hear the story: on the plane I sat next to a man who recommended me to listen to Prem Rawat. I searched his name on the internet and found a few videos, one of which was only 5 minutes. I listened and this was the wonderful story he told:

Long time ago in China there was an archer who was very talented. 

One day the archer displayed his skills in front of the public.

Most of the ones who were there were standing in awe since time after time the arrows landed exactly where they were supposed to land. One man among the public however kept saying: "it is just practice, it is only practice". The archer who was quite proud of his skills, could hear and was quite irritated by the comments. He went to talk to man and delivered another perfect shot, asking the man: can you do this?The man answered he couldn't but he asked the archer: can you do this? while he was showing his own skill. The man was selling oil and he managed to pour oil from a large container into a bottle with an extremely narrow and long neck, very fast without spoiling a drop. The archer admitted that he could not do that and it was indeed practice that was most important to become good at something. 

Then Prem went on the ask what do we practice on a daily basis. Do we practice complaining or negative thinking. If we do, we will become excellent at it over time. Or do we practice kindness and positive thinking. If we do, we will become excellent at it over time.

Wonderful story, isn't it?😀

Standing low

The most beautiful appearance
of the moon is early at night
when it stands low in the sky
A big pinkish orangey ball

The most beautiful appearance
Of the sun is at twilight
When it stands low
Just above the horizon

How about us?

Aufie Zophy

 The higher we rise, the bigger our angle of view,
the higher we rise, the brighter we may shine

But don't our most beatuiful colours show
...if we step down
and LOOK UP from a low position
to the others no matter who they are,
no matter what they do?

...if we stoop down
to reach out a helping hand
to the others no matter who they are
no matter what they do?

Small things.

Sometimes big things tend to hit us.
We tend to tilt and often fall over.
It hurts, it makes tears welling up.
It is hard and cold on the floor.

But it are often small things
that tend to give us strength;
the strenght to get up and start walking again;
the strength to get ourselves together and face it.

The small things in life provide us often
strength to sail through the biggest storms;
strength that will help us to keep standing,
no matter how hard the big thing hits again...

Education=bringing out

Education

A very interesting word, education.
It is very interesting indeed.
It comes from the Latin: ex-ducere, which means to bring out.
Not to put in, but to bring out.

To bring out the best out of the interior of our students.
Not to push in, not to spoon-feed lots and lots of knowledge

To bring out the inherent curiosity for things
To bring out the inquisitive mind of our students
To bring out a level of enthusiasm that resides deep within
To bring out the spirit, to inspire
To bring out a deep seated sense of responsibility
To bring out the highest aspirations
To bring out the ambitions,
To bring out the ideals
To bring out a sense of purpose

Oh, how nice education would be if only all our teachers and professors
would know the true meaning of education.

(inspired by a book of Napoleon Hill)

Moments of simple happiness

The cool sea breeze blows near the end of a warm day
The darkness is setting in slowly while I talk to a friend
My son drops by and says hello to my friend
We stand there a few moments, saying nothing,
mesmerized by the beauty of the scene

Moments of simple happiness
Valuable beyond many things

The safety of the port

I read today in a book by Napoleon Hill:
A ship is safe in the port but the ship was not made to be in the port.

I think there is so much wisdom in the above quote.
Sometimes our ship gets damaged in the storms of life.
Then we need to keep the ship in the port to make some repairs.
But so many among us tend to cherish the safety of the port so much,
that way after all repairs are done, we tend to stay there for much too long.

Ships are made to be at sea.
Whenever at sea, the risk of more storms is there.
But through our previous experience we may have learned to navigate through quite some storms.
Life is meant to be lived to its fullest. By doing so, surely we have to take some risks and we will meet some storms. Our ship of life will get some damage and we  many have to come back to the port for some emotional repair. But then we step straight back into the risky business of living a life to its fullest. We learn to navigate better, to avoid more storms and if storms happen to navigate straight through them.

Never stay in the safety of the port for too long
Ships are meant to be at sea
Life is meant to be at least a bit risky;
dare to take the risk that is necessary to achieve your dreams.

One year

One year of posting reflections on this blog.
200 reflections.

I look back on this activity with quite some satisfaction.
I did not get a million visitor. The total page views up to now is just above 7000 (this is excluding own page views). Statistically speaking, this is not a whole lot and I would sincerely like to see this be a few multiples of that number.

Whatever happens, these 7000 page views have happened. Some may have frowned, some may have shaken their head, but I very truly hope that some have gained a grain of inspiration, a speck of motivation or a few cents of valuable insights through these pages.

As for myself, I have enjoyed the process. It was RW Emerson who stated that man is only half himself, the other half being his or her expression. I think there lies so much truth in that. If we manage to express our deepest thoughts and feelings, it a source of peace of mind and joy.

Unscrambling hope

  Epoh And Evol

Epoh, Poeh, Peho
O yes we get it scrambled
Evol, Voel, Velo,
O yes we get it scrambled
Hope and love
O yes we get it often scrambled

Let us unscramble it today
Let us put in effort and time
To get at least these two unscrambled
Hope and love unscrambled

There is so much hope
There is hope that one day
We will have a truly caring society
With no one left behind, all get love

There is hope that one day
Bullying will stop
In all its forms
It will be replaced by love

There is hope that one day
Peace will be there for everyone
A borderless world
Without armies, only love

There is hope that one day
Zionists and Talibans are shaking hands
That they will see the true message
Of our Creator, which is love

There is hope that one day
Kindness will be on all our minds
More than money and power
And above all that, love

There is hope that one day
Hunger will be something of the past
All will have enough of food and drink
Through labours of love

There is hope that one day
We will all drive electrical cars
With engines getting free energy
Obtained from turbines fed by wind

There is hope that one day
All of us will be united
Caring for the common good
Serving each other according to our talents

There is hope that on a daily basis
All of us will be able to hug the trees
The most magnificent trees
The most beautiful flowers

O, yes, there is so much hope
There is so much love
Let's unscramble them today

Aufie Zophy

Free

The clichés that are heard quite often include:
The best things in life are free.

Generally I do not like too much clichés but this one I like very much.
Staying in a hotel, all staff were trained to be super friendly.
While for some it shows that it was an ordered thing to do,
many manage to (at least appear to) be genuinely friendly.

If they truly manage to be genuinely friendly, I think they must enjoy the job very much.
I tried to answer their friendliness with equal friendliness from my heart and the above mentioned cliché was becoming so obviously true. The best things in life include definitely genuine friendliness among people and it is absolutely free.

The more we are aware of this, the more beautiful our lives may become.
Enjoy today a tiny bit or better still, a very large chunk of giving away some free friendliness

For an old lady

Making bread is a fun activity.
Have you ever kneaded a bread by hand?
Fun, a bit like a boxing ball, just softer and more fun!
As a kid, I loved it whenever my mom was baking her own bread.
Not that I liked to eat the bread so much, it was just the process of making it.

Actually this reflection is not so much about baking of bread.
It is about what happened after my mother baked the bread.
Many a time, she asked me to bring one of the breads to her auntie.
She had an eighty-over year old auntie living about 8 km from our house.
The auntie had lived a tumultuous life full of excitement and challenges
but now she was old and alone in her house.
She had this old stove, next to which she was sitting most of the time.

Soon after the breads were out of the oven, I was on my way with my bicycle to bring one to auntie (we called her tante keutje). When I arrived, she, with her small curved body got up from the chair and what I could see on her face was one of the most beautiful smiles. She was visibly happy. She offered me lemonade and sweets and asked me lots of questions. She laughed at my answers. What I remember was that she was visibly happy. I am not sure how much my mother had intended to teach me affability for the elderly through this sending of bread to an auntie but she certainly did. I cherish the moments I entered the house with the bread and the huge smile of the old lady.

My mom had so many superb and non-traditional ways to teach us empathy, compassion and all the good values she practiced herself. I want to say thank you, mom, for teaching me how to appreciate the smile of old ladies. They sure are beautiful to see, they bring us peace of mind and sprinkle bit of true happiness in our heart.

The one in the next seat

Recently I have been traveling quite frequently by plane
Each time I sit down, I silently hope that the seat next to me will be empty.
These seats in economy class are really close to each other;
people are sitting in each others' personal space.

But more often than not the seat next to you get filled.
Most of the time I keep myself busy with reading or dozing off.
The person next to me does usually the same.

So many flights have gone smoothly without me saying even a word
beyond hello to the person sitting next to me.

Yesterday was a bit different. Next to me sat a young guy traveling alone. He was clearly a Caucasian and after I had done the usual part of reading and we got a drink, I asked him whether it was his first visit to Kelantan, the place where I stay and where we were going to. He replied with a smile and told me he was nervous since he was on the way to meet the parents of his girlfriend for the first time. I could see the level of excitement, mixed with a certain level of fear. I remembered vividly the first time I met the family of my own wife.

I had a really nice and enjoyable time talking to that stranger next to me on the plane.
When we landed my wife and I shared a bit of his nervousness and when we walked out we recognized the girlfriend and her parents as he had described while he was still waiting for his luggage. Later on the parking lot, we saw him with the family, talking happily to each other, except the father of the girl who still looked a bit worried for his daughter. I hope his inter-racial relationship works out fine for him as it has worked out for me.

If I had not started a conversation, I would have missed all the excitement.
My next flight I will start a conversation with the one sitting next to me if the seat is not empty...

From the mountain

Actually the meaning of my last name is "from the red mountain"
but that is not what this reflection is about :)


"we do not see the world as it is, but as we are"

I think the above quote is really so worthy of a deep reflection
Are we looking at the world from within 4 walls?
Are we seeing the world from our garden?
Or do we on and off manage to go the top of spiritual life
to see life from the highest levels possible?

Can you imagine how different you see the world from a mountain top than from deep within your kitchen?
Can you imagine how differently we can see life if we manage to rise to a certain spiritual calmness, a certain spiritual height that is often achieved to silent reflection.

Let us be aware that we see the world not as it is
but as we are, from where we stand
from where we stand physically
from where we stand intellectually
from where we stand emotionally
from where we stand spiritually....

This reflection is inspired by a chapter in book by Robin Sharma, titled leadership wisdom from the monk who sold his Ferrari. (wondeful book, fully recommended to read)

Ocean of truth

I was just reading a Sufi text that compared the Truth with an ocean.

If we look at the ocean, we can only see that part within our visual field.
But the ocean is almost endlessly bigger than that.
An almost uncountable number shores and coast lines
A vastness of expansion and depth

I tend to agree that our current understanding of the world
our understanding of life
our understanding of the universe
our understanding of quantum physics
our understanding of spirituality
our understanding of everything
reaches the size of a few drops in the ocean of Truth.

If we mange to look beneath the surface
a miraculous world opens up
but still we see with our limited vision and intellect
just a few drops.
No matter how high we deem our own understanding
we should never cease to explore the ocean of Truth
with an open and humble mind

Asking

I remember reading the story of the University of Washington receiving a huge donation from a lady living in Chicago. When the University of Chicago people heard about this, they were a bit upset and contacted the lady to ask why she donated so much money to the University of Washington and not to them. The simple answer of the lady was: because they asked for it.

Asking for what we want seems to many of us so difficult.
As children we have not too many problems with that but
gradually after a few disappointments, we prefer not to ask
rather than run the risk of getting a no.

If we manage to put our ego a bit aside, a no is not really bad
If we do not ask, we are certain not to get what we wanted
If we ask and we get a no, we are still certain not to get it
So basically, logically nothing really changed, except
that we may be a bit emotionally upset for being refused something.

So next time we want something,
it may be worth to consider:
Does the potential emotional upset of a no
weigh up against the benefits of a potential yes.

If our egos are on the biggish side, 
the anguish of potential 'no's
may prohibit us to ask for what we want...

A wish of peace

If there is a disagreement
wishing someone peace
sometimes can work wonders.

The power of peace
for an open mind
should not be underestimated.

If my wife is angry about something
and I wish her peace
A smile comes often on.

Initially it did not work that well
but with time she knows
that the wish comes from my heart

And when she opens her mind,
lets the peace in,
she cannot but smile....

Don't believe it?
Try it!
Next time anyone is angry with you.

Living ideals

More then ever I want to make a positive difference in this world
I had my youth ideals
I have never truly lost them
Through the many years, they have been polished a bit
But I still want so much to make a positive difference

Let us all think about what our ideals were
perhaps when we were 15 or 18 years old!
If it looks like we have lost them,
do the necessary thinking to revive them.
If each makes on a daily basis a small positive difference,
the sum may become huge

Still in time

We are late to eradicate hunger
.   but if we start today, we may be still in time
.   to save many brothers and sisters from starvation

We are late to start a kindness revolution
.   but if we start today, we may be still in time
.   to save many bothers and sisters from a heartbreak

We are late to create world peace
.   but if we start today, we may be still in time
.   to save many brothers and sisters from senseless destruction

We are late, we are very late to make the world a better place
.   but it is never too late to make a positive change
.   let us start today...

A cup of enthusiasm

The sun rose

The warmth of the morning sun was touching my heart
Flying rays of energy were inspiring my soul
I drank a cup of enthusiasm for breakfast,
freshly plucked from the most beautiful tree in my garden

Opportunities

Every  single day, we are given opportunities to do good
Opportunities to make a positive difference in someone's life
Opportunities to be kind to someone who did not expect it
Opportunities...

So many times we just walk by
too busy with our nitty gritty worries
to see the opportunities or to act on them
And yet,
It is my firm belief that the more of these opportunities we take up
the more peace of mind we get.

This makes me sometimes really wonder.
If someone has a large amount of money in the bank
how many opportunities, that someone lets go on a daily basis
just by keeping the money in the bank

The magic of twillight

Softly engulfed in pastel orange hues
purplish small clouds were drawn
on the sky's canvas above the wavy sea

I entered the pleasantly warm sea water;
was floating on the breaking waves
while the magic colour play continued

There is truly magic in twilight.
Beauty...
Peace...

The best thing

It is good to stop on and off and think for a while
Think for a while what was the best thing that happened to me in the past 24h.

When I think about the best thing of my most recent past 24h
I become very grateful to our God for the meeting with my son
He stays in Penang and we spent most of the past 24h together
It started with a wonderful lunch at Nandos, we were wandering through Queensbay shopping mall, had an ice-cream. We had a swim together, rested for a while, talked a bit and then had dinner with more family.

I love my family. I am attached to them.
I know by being attached to the them I may expose myself to future suffering
but no matter what, the joy of being closely attached to my family may be well worth the suffering

I disagree with the principle of detachment to avoid suffering.
Being detached deprives us of the joy and makes us perhaps suffer beforehand
I have a little cluster family and love to be in the cluster.
  

Winds of wisdom

The winds of wisdom

Let the winds of wisdom 

Fill my heart with a flow of love

Let them feed the flame of my soul

Let them blow from the east

From the west and south and north

From every side and from above

Let the warm winds of wisdom

Whistle their wonderful song in my ears

Let them blow, let them flow

Let them touch my skin, reach deep into my lungs

Penetrate my mind and move my spirit.

Let the winds of wisdom blow and flow.

(Aufie Zophy)

Light

Please, God, let the small flame inside of me
which is my soul, be my guiding light today.
Let it connect to the immense love and to the endless wisdom
in which we live and bathe every day.

I want to focus today
on love, unconditional love
on giving unconditional love

I want to focus to today
on understanding, trying to understand,
trying to understand whomever I meet

I want to focus on peace
on honesty, on random kindness
on anything my soul guides me to do...

love, unconditional love, understanding
peace, honesty, kindness
SOUL

Peace

Peace

Peace is more than the absence of war.
Peace within is perhaps more important
Peace within is perhaps even possible in the middle of external war

Peace of mind is such an essential component of happiness
that happiness without it is maybe not true happiness at all

I have a small poem about peace here:

Wave of peace

Peace

I dream
of a wave of peace

A giant wave
Reaching beyond the fences
Moving deep inside

A wonderful wave
Drenching all the minds
Pentrating deep in hearts
Changing souls forever

A tsunami
Devastating all walls of greed
Destructive to violent thoughts
Ripping apart perversion
Erasing arrogance

A wave of peace, streaming
envelopping the world
Softening hearts
Wisening leaders

Just peace
Dare to dream with me
Let us all pray together

Let's dream and believe
In a wave of peace

An awesome wave of peace

How can I serve

In Kelantan, the weekend is on Friday and Saturday.
Last Thursday I was a bit tired after a week of hard work.
The next two days would be days of on call which usually means not too much of rest.

It was about 9.30 pm when a friend of my wife called her.
His little nephew of three months old had been vomiting and irritable for the past few hours.
My wife passed the phone to me since I am a paediatrician.
I thought of sending them to the emergency department of my hospital but then the request came whether they could bring the child to my house for me to see the child.
Quickly some excuses propped up in my mind but equally quickly as from heaven the phrase:
'how can I serve' was there right taking the front line in my thinking brain.
So I agreed for them to come over to the house. At 10.15 they arrived. As by magic, the child had stopped crying and was now alert and looked well. I did a physical examination and besides very mild signs of dehydration, I found the child to be OK. I reassured the parents and the uncle of the child and give them directions on how to make some oral rehydration solution.
The smiles I got from the adults but more so the smile from the child were priceless.
 I felt so good that I had not sent them to A&E.

These 4 small words (how can I serve) propped up in my mind on exactly the right time.
Somewhere deep inside I strongly believe that these words offer a key to true peace of mind and happiness. Before I went to the hospital for my weekend duty, I repeated the 4 words a few times in my mind and surely peace of mind and happiness were mine.

Next time we feel a bit tired and a friend or family member still asks us a favour, it may be a such a good idea to to let these four small words do their wonderful job:

How can I serve?

Don't fall in love with the road

Religion is meant to be a way to bring us closer to our God.
The purpose is to help us to love our God.
This is an enjoyable journey.

Somehow, many people get a bit confused
and instead of using the road (our religion)
to get to love and get closer to our God
they fall in love with the road.


We are supposed to ride the highway to our destination
Not to fall in love with the highway and stop and get stuck to admire it
or even to go back and enjoy the sights gone by

We are supposed to use the highway
If we fall in love with it, we may detest people using other roads
Any form of hatred will slow us down tremendously.

The roads are here for us, not we are here for the road
We may be here for our God, but not for the road.


Some religious leaders and teachers want just to be seen,
position themselves in the middle of the road
and cause jams with their messages of fear and hatred.

Other religious teachers are at the side of the road,
providing us with fuel and helping us to upgrade our cars,
they spread the messages of love and kindness and help 
us to move a bit faster to our lovely destination. 


The way is here for us to use, to get a bit closer to our God
Let us not get stuck along the way, falling in love with the road.

The soul of the sea

This morning I stopped by at the beach.
I stopped only for a very few minutes,
but long enough to draw a few very deep breaths.

Inhaling all the beauty of the morning sun,
the morning sun reflecting in the wavy sea
I inhaled the iodium, the oxygen.

But more important still,
I inhaled the energy, the power, the soul.
The soul of the sea was in my lungs

It diffused into my being
it stayed there and gave me courage
I enjoyed its energy as it brightened my day.

Calling

Today is a working day in Kelantan, the place where I work.
Yes, Sundays are working days here every week.
Our weekends are Friday and Saturday.

When I was just now reflecting on my day,
I became very grateful for my my work.
I love the work I do.
I think my work is my calling

When I was 5 years old, I wanted to be a doctor already
When I was 12 years old I wanted to do exactly what I do today

It has taken a lot of sacrifice to get here but it has been worth it, I think
Quite some time ago I wrote the following small poem on "calling"


Calling 

A calling can be so strong
It makes us move away
A calling can be so strong

We move away for long
From our loved ones
We move away for long

We miss our loved ones
But our calling is so strong
We miss our loved ones

Our calling can be strong
Following our calling can hurt
But it can be oh so strong.

Following our calling can hurt
But isn't it our soul's desire?
It may be worth the hurt

Aufie Zophy

Imagine

Imagine

Imagine you were rich
Traveling in first class
setting up a fund in your name
more money you amass
rising extremely fast to fame


Hold the image, hold on to it
enjoy the feeling of being rich
Abundance all around
keep feeling deeply rich

Rich in money, rich in thoughts
a wealth of character, a wealth of friends
Hold on to the image and feel it
-----------
Imagination does not cost money
Imagination is not tiring
It just can bring on a good feeling

Actually the world is abundant
We can live our imagination
Dare to dream and keep the dream alive
Dare to have ideals and keep them alive

The way up

So many times in our lives we have choices to make.
Follow the herd or take a different stance
Follow the easiest path or choose the more challenging one
Give in to desire or resist giving in now
A small lie or the truth

Actually quite some time ago I wrote a small poem on this.
It is titled our choice:

Walking on a hot and scorching day

We meet a splitting of the way

A way downwards looking shady, some trees are there

A way upwards, sandy without trees, just looking bare

Somewhere deep inside we know
The downwards shady path goes low
And down that place, there is no tree
Just heat and sweat and more ennui

Somewhere deep inside we are aware
That the way up, though initially a little bare
Will bring us to a place with lots of shade and big relief
It is God’s way, so I believe

Shall we choose the way below with instant pleasure?
Leading down to a place of heat, we cannot measure
Or shall we make little effort on the upper way?
And enjoy shade and breeze day by day 

Aufie Zophy (the author name I use)

Support

Today I was speaking with parents of a preterm baby.
They were very young parents.

I was going on about the need for expressed breast milk,
the risk of infection and suddenly realized that the messages did not sink in.

What they needed was support.
Perhaps they did not get the support from home.
Perhaps they did not get support from friends.
But that was what they needed.
They needed support more than information.

So I tried to change my tone; my intention changed.
It changed from empathetic informing to compassionate support.

The situation became almost instantly less tense.
I think that we parted as friends.
I don't think my information was conveyed successfully,
but I think we had meant something for each other
and isn't that what really counts?

The silent river

The silent river
feeds water in abundance
to the restless sea
(Aufie Zophy)

I love the above Haiku.

looks like giving brings peace
receiving leaves one thirsty for ever more...

Hell

In so many sects gullible young people are threatened with hell fire if they do not as the preacher preaches. Please my brothers and sisters, do not believe a preacher who is talking half of the time about hell and most of the other half about paradise. Do not fall for such hypocrisy.

No preacher will ever have any say in 
who or why someone will go to hell.
If he has to resort to such threats to make his message powerful,
the true power of his message is highly likely to be minuscule.

Sadly these things happen not only in small sects but also in big religions.
If a preacher starts talking about hell, we can safely conclude that we have to take the rest of what he says with a huge grain of salt.

Harmony

I am dreaming of harmony
Harmony in the world
Harmony in my country
Harmony in my city
Harmony in my family
Harmony within my heart

For now it still just a dream
One day, I hope, reality.

Prayer

 Prayer to many people is one way talk to God, done in order to please God.
Truth is that we cannot please God.
It sounds like supreme arrogance if we believe that God
could be affected in any way by any of our actions.
Only God can affect us, only God can please us.

Prayer is a gift of God to us that allows us to be a bit closer to God.
It is essentially something we do for ourselves.

If we pray quietly with  our heart and mind and soul,
it has a wonderful effect on our lives.
It brings peace, bliss, love in our lives.
Not that God is suddenly sending these things to us from somewhere far away.
We are continuously literally bathing in peace, love and bliss
All we have to do is open our hearts and open our souls,
let it all flow in and act.

Prayer is meant to help us tune in, tune in to the love and peace that is around us at all time.
If I read Al Fatihah (part of the Muslim prayer) and think deeply about the meaning, one cannot but feel but more peaceful, loving and blissful after it.
If one reads our Father (Christian prayer), the meaning of the words in it are amazingly similar and if one thinks deep about the meaning , one cannot feel but more peaceful, loving and blissful
I am sure the same goes for the prayers in other religions.

Let us upgrade our prayers from just reciting mindlessly something we learned by heart many years ago, to giving some deep thoughts about the meaning of these words we have memorized, let the meaning soak into our hearts and souls and let it change us for the better.

Every day

Every day, every day can be a beautiful day.
every day, every day

Everyday counts a full 1440 minutes
An infinite number of things can happen in 1440 minutes
An infinite number of thoughts can cross our minds
An infinite number of good deeds
An infinite number of inspiring words can be spoken

Isn't it a sin, that so many people
waste so many days?

Searching

I once read this wonderful quote:

If you go searching for love
you may be loveless.
If you 're loveless
you will never find love.
Only the loving find love
and they never have to search for it.

At first sight the above may be a bit difficult to understand.
When thinking a bit deeper, it becomes so logical

Equality is not equity

Are we all equal?
Surely not.
Do we want all to be equal
Surely not

We can work for equity, which implies fairness and justice.
equality is not always fair and just as illustrated in the image below:



Some leaders like to talk about equality for the staff, as an excuse not to give privileges to the higher ranking staff. Often these bosses themselves have a long list of privileges themselves they tend to enjoy on a daily basis.

Whenever I encounter such a situation, I think about the quote from the famous book, animal farm:
"All animals are equal except the pigs"The animals had taken over the farm after chasing away the farmer who was abusing them. Everyone seemed to be united and the slogan was that all animals were equal. The pigs who had led the revolution took on a leadership position. Soon they claimed privileges not very different from what the farmer was doing and after they had become actually worse than the farmer, the slogan was changed: all animals are equal except the pigs.

When I hear leaders of today denying people privileges in the name of equality while hanging on their own privileges like a fool, that phrase keeps propping up in my mind. Thank God we are not equal. We are all so different. Too often equality is confused with equity which is a very different thing.

Wise people tend to be full of doubt, because they know the truth is so complex
Dumb people are sure of what they think and are extremely loud and tend to take on the leadership positions.

The world is changing fast however. Sooner rather than later the service to humanity of the wise will be so obviously great that the dumb will have no choice but to follow.

A restful mind

the sounds of the sea
are softly soothing my soul;
I try to stop the thoughts train
just for awhile;I close my eyes;
a healing energy flows though me;
a dose of liveliness
is injected in my tired heart;

the train of thoughts
seems a bit impatient to start back:
But I pray for silence
I pray for peace
and only one word
keeps propping up
in my restful mind:

Kindness