The eye

People say:
Beauty is in the eye 
of the beholder
But sometimes I feel
it is really in the things
 
I wonder:
Is there an eye
of any beholder
that 'd not find beauty
in the overwhelming elegance
of the wondrous shells
I found today
on the beach

Roots for everyone's heart

Roots For Everyone's Heart - (Aufie Zophy)

There is a tree
A wonderful tree
The tree of kindness
It is the fastest growing tree
In this world, God bless

There is a tree
The wonderful kindness tree
Taking deep roots forever to last
In a million people's heart
Spouting and growing enormously fast

There is a tree
That wonderful kindness tree
It grows so fast, that soon enough
The whole wide world on sea and earth
will be filled with comfort and love

There is a tree
That wonderful tree of kindness
Roots spreading in another million hearts
spouting and growing reaching high and wide
And then in another million hearts it starts

And then another two million
And five million more to come
A billion hearts soon will follow
I already smell its wonderful blossom
Roots in everyone's heart will show

Oh, it is growing so fast, this tree
let's sit and enjoy in its amazing shadow
And just let the roots in your heart grow!

Aufie Zophy

U-turn

This morning a busy clinic (polyclinic, follow up of the sick new-borns)
At about 1 pm it had finished.
A clinic, if done well is always a bit tiring but also satisfying.
I started my car to go for lunch and drove out of the parking space

That time, my telephone rings.
One of my neighbors: Doctor, are you in the hospital?
Me: No, actually I just left the hospital.
Neighbor: My uncle is admitted to the ward after a traffic accident. He fractured his ribs and is
.     in real pain. We asked the ward doctor, but did not understand why they do not give more
.     medication.
Me: I just left the hospital. After this I 'll be back and have teaching. Will you be in the ward
.     at 4 PM? I will be free then to drop by in the ward
Neighbor: OK, Doctor, I will be there.

Immediately after closing the telephone conversation, I thought: if the man is in pain and I will go and see him only 3 hours from now, what kind of animal am I? I immediately made a u-turn and parked back my car, went to the ward, sought clarification from the ward doctor, called the anesthesiologist who was very nice and came within a very short time. The anesthesiologist explained  the situation in very clear words to the wife, brother and nephew of the patient. She also agreed to increase the pain control gradually while monitoring the side effects closely.

Oh my God. I was so happy to have made that U-turn. I think it was You reminding me about my own values and principles at just the right time. Thanks so much.

A wonderful key

One of the most wonderful keys
to good living is perhaps comprised
in the following very short reflection:

People like sincerity and integrity. 
If we manage to be sincere and have integrity, 
happiness will be never far away. 

Every falsehood brings a thousand times more stress than comfort.
Falsehood brings a thousand times more stress than comfort
Yes, a thousand times more stress than comfort.

Pest, falsehood is pest, sincerity is health



.. 

Dangerous Harmony

Living in total harmony is dangerous
Dangerous to the huge alcohol industry
They may go bankrupt

Living in total harmony is dangerous
Dangerous to the enormous drug cartels
They may crumble down to nothing

Living in total harmony is dangerous
To some religious leaders preaching doom and hell
They thrive on creating discord and hatred

Living in total harmony is dangerous
Dangerous for some politicians
They get votes by creating illusions of threats

Living in total harmony is dangerous
Dangerous for our own (pre)judgements
Let us live in total harmony anyway

Let us live in complete harmony anyway
Let us live in all encompassing harmony anyway
Let us choose total harmony anyway.

Harmony, make it total
Make it complete
Make it all encompassing

The alcohol and drug industry can stop destroying lives
Let the people there convert their business to charity

Let the preachers of doom and wicked politicians alone
They can become real volunteers operating in anonymity

Choose total harmony anyway...

(inspired by a text from Osho)

Common

Each human is unique
No one is exactly like us, even not if we have twin or triplet brothers or sisters.
We can choose to focus on all our differences

But as humans we do have so many things in common.
We can choose to focus on what we have in common.

Recently I encountered clocks that turn counterclockwise
the numbers are arranged counterclockwise and everything seems inverted
There was some religious and astronomical explanation given on the why.
That is now a good example of focusing on the wrong thing.

Until recently the whole world has used clocks turning clockwise.
Everyone has been used to it and no one was ever having a doubt what is clockwise and what is counterclockwise. Turning counterclockwise is not worse or better than turning clockwise. It just had been a worldwide convention that clocks turn clockwise and if anyone in the whole world said clockwise, anyone else would know how something was turning

Now religious leaders come to tell that it should be turning the other way.
That creates yet another difference for the followers, they can be proud of.
Our clocks turn like that and the other people's clock turn differently.
Our clocks follow the true teachings and the others are wrong.
To be right while others are wrong is very much on the mind of our leaders.
That is why they feel so useful.

I think it is easy for any common sense person, that how our clocks or watches are turning, does not carry a dime of importance to the world or to our God.
So often I hope that one day we can really give up on finding all the differences between our cultures and the cultures of others soooo important.
So often I hope that one day we can really be aware that what we feel and think in common is what tends to really matter.

There are principles and values that are common to all people, no matter where we live.
Let us get focused on these. There is nothing wrong in appreciating our cultures and rites, practicing them conscientiously. But our culture and our rites do not make us superior or inferior to anyone else.

Just good

Just be good, my friends!
Just do good, my friends!
The answer to the question,
"what makes us happy?"
is that simple, just be good, just do good.

Giving an excessive tip to person who surely is not wealthy;
trying to inspire a friend not to give up;
stroking a cat over the head until it purrs that it's a pleasure;
laughing together with a child for no good reason.

Just be good, my friends
Just do good, my friends

I invite you, my friends
to write  in the comments
a few examples of when
you were just good,
you just did good
It will inspire others,
It will help speed up
the upcoming inevitable kindness revolution

Suffering 1.01

Suffering
All of us have been suffering to a certain extent
If you say, you didn't, you may be not most truthful to yourself at this moment.

But why do we have to suffer?
Why can the world not be without it?

Some people believe that suffering is brought about by human errors
Somehow we were given a big freedom at birth
and through our errors, we have created suffering for our self.
... that is only partly true.
Some suffering is indeed self-inflicted to a certain degree
A good example is the person seeking relief in alcohol abuse
Sure the person started with a level of suffering, but the abuse of alcohol makes it worse.

Other more delicate examples of self inflicted suffering may lay in the wrong use of our mind.
Pessimism, negativity, unnecessary worries, unfounded fears may all lead to unnecessary suffering.

But definitely not all suffering is self inflicted. Did a child choose something wrong or think in a wrong way if it gets a malignancy? The answer is no. The loss of a loved one. Even though some diseases such as stomach ulcers may be related to stress and wrong living and a lot of diseases are related to unhealthy life style, still a lot of disease are not .

When in 2010, only 7 months apart, I fractured my vertebra and my shoulder, I underwent a great deal of suffering. But a bad part of my suffering came about through my lack of acceptance, especially after the second fracture.

Sometimes we suffer for prolonged times, because we cannot accept. I truly suffered after the death of my mother. I suffered a long time. True enough I was missing her madly. But during prayerful reflection, I received some insight that alleviated this type of suffering. Rather than focusing on the absence of my mother now, I was trying to focus on the wonderful, the many fantastic moments we had enjoyed together. The bitterness of missing made gradually place for the gratitude of having had.
The way we accept difficulties may play an important role in the degree and the way we experience some types of suffering.

Suffering cannot be avoided. All of us do suffer to a certain extent in our lives. We do not enjoy it. Some suffering can be prevented by our way of living. Some can be prevented by our way of thinking. The unpreventable suffering can be altered sometimes by the way we accept it.

I am not an expert on suffering. But the above is based and originated/built up from a prayerful reflection I had written down in 1992.

I wish you a life with minimal suffering. If suffering comes anyhow, realizing that it often makes us wiser and stronger, can give some relief. The song, "what doesn't kill you, makes you stronger" has some truth in it.

The Eagle

The firm wind caresses
each of my brown eagle feathers
The softness of the fresh air
kisses my white eagle cheeks

Below, the long nipah leaves
wave me a warmhearted welcome
The ripples on the shallow river
greet me with a thousand lights

I soar, i flap once and soar a lot more
Steering a bit to the left and to the right
I reach the beach and the shore,
Turquoise and blue, a lovely sight

A lone unshaven man stands
close to the breaking waves
His arms spread, his eyes closed,
his face towards the winds of the sea

I sincerely wonder:
what kind of poetry can a man write,

If he has never seen the world
Through the eyes of an eagle
If he has never floated above the world
High in the skies like me, the eagle

Street children

I came back from Manila.
I was for four days visiting the oldest University in Asia,
The University Santo Tomas.
A wonderful place.

On the way from and to the airport,
we saw some "street children" selling things near the traffic lights
The sight was really touching my heart

Is there something we can do for these children?
Somehow they need warmth of caring persons
Somehow they need education.

If you have good ideas
If you are willing to support a project for educating
the street children of Manila,
please do comment below.

All ideas are welcome.

VVIPs

My family,
My wife,
my two sons,
The VVIPs of my heart...

Do you believe?

Do you believe in a God?
Do you believe in one God?
Do you believe that you do NOT know
 the exact nature of that God?
Or do you believe you know?

Our ancestors believed there was a God
One God. They believed.
They believed they did not know the exact nature of God
So they searched to know more
They searched for Truth

Do you believe our ancestors found the complete and final truth?
Do you believe that between them then and now
quite a number of people have lived who would twist the truth
if they could themselves benefit from it?

Our ancestors have discovered wonderful truths
Not complete and final truths but wonderful truths
In the process they taught us some wonderful prayers
If we sincerely search for truth in our life
we do not have to start from scratch

If we sincerely search for truth
We need knowledge
We do need critical interpretation
We need rational thinking
We need silence and contemplation
We need to connect
We need spirituality

If we are serious in our search
our search will never end.
We will search all traditions
We will distill essentials and try to separate
essentials from corrupted elements that may have crept in
throughout the ages

Sometimes we adopt blindly beliefs from scholars
Sometimes we have done this for decades
If we did this, we may never get back to a sincere search for truth
A search may reveal truths that do not match exactly
what was stamped into our minds by our teachers
This may be much too painful, to go on searching
And that is why searchers for Truth are not liked in many places

Do you believe?
Do you search?
Do you experience?

With Globalization, more people start to search sincerely
Sincere searching will solidify belief in our God
It will weaken the importance of rituals
It will strengthen the kindness, love and wisdom
It will diminish extremism
It will bring people from all races and cultures much closer together

Live a life of love

I want to make a positive difference in the world
I want a happy family life.
I want to perform so many random acts of kindness

.       I want to do this today

I want health, perfect health and harmony
I want to be a source of inspiration
I want to write, write, write

.       I want to live a life of love

I want to be grateful today
for the many blessings in my life
I want to live a life of love

Enough

I just saw an amazing video.
a lady was talking about the biggest problem in the world:
So many people feel they are not enough.
You are enough
I am enough
We are enough

So true.
If we feel not enough, we will never be happy.
So convince yourself now that you are enough
Write it on a note you hang above your desk
Write it on the mirror in your bathroom
I am enough
You are enough
We are enough

I think that lady made so much sense.
Feeling to be enough is soooo important.

Only if we are aware

Life is a miracle
A wonderful tree thrills my eyes
It is a miracle
A magnificant song enters my ears
It is a miracle
A delicious soup amuses my tongue
It is a miracle
The warm sunlight cuddles my skin
It is a miracle
The smell of sweet lavender reaches my brain
It is a miracle

My feet touch the grass while I walk
It is a miracle
An original thought crosses my mind
It is a miracle
A lovely gesture moves my heart
It is a miracle
A heart felt prayer hugs my soul
It is a miracle
Oh yes, life is a miracle
But only if we are aware
of the miracle

Aufie Zophy

Wishing

Wishing someone something wonderful
has something extra-ordinary

I read recently:
the moment you read this
I am wishing something wonderful
to happen to you in the next 24 hours

This touched me and had a strange effect on me
I hope it touches you too:

I wish something wonderful for you
in the next 24 hours. :)

No worries about the world

Tonight I witnessed a completely compassionate doctor-patient relationship.
My niece, Jannah, needs an operation for the heart.
The surgeon from Italy came to explain everything about the operation.
He did it in a very compassionate way.
His medical officer translated the whole story in a very compassionate way.
The parents of Jannah were aware of all risks but at the same time very confident.

After i had witnessed the whole event,
I thought for awhile about compassion in this world
There is soooo much of it.
We do not need to worry too much for the world of tomorrow
Compassion is almost everywhere and
almost everywhere it is on the increase

I am so confident.
We are moving to a more compassionate world.
Compassion and kindness increase exponentially
I can't wait for us to reach the inflection point
Once we reach that, we can only dream
what a nice world it will be.

Soft And Lovely Mood

Deep inside my heart and mind
a soft and lovely mood, I find
it warms and lights a gentle spark
my soul no longer in the dark
A flame of gold, a superb light
A lovely fire, sweet and bright

Humble, gentle, passionately kind
Smooth simplicity endlessly refined
Slow and tender, flames increase
Fueled by truth and love and peace
I can see so clearly, feel so good
It started with a soft and lovely mood

Aufie Zophy