Lollipop

Does happiness affect your productivity?

Science says it does.
Shawn Achor at Harvard, has done experiments with children
Four year old children performed twice as fast in a task required thinking
when they were primed by happy thoughts.

Now here comes the real interesting part: an experiment with doctors!
The doctors were given a manuscript based on which they had to make a diagnosis.
Half of them were given a lollipop to make them happy before they were given the task.
And guess what! Yes they arrived at the correct diagnosis twice as fast as the others.

So, please, if you have a spouse who is a doctor,
make them happy before they go to their clinic.
If you have a relative sitting for an exam,
make them happy just before the exam

A simple lollipop may do :)

Here is a link to a video of Shawn in you-tube

Generosity

A beggar
It could be a lazy fellow

She passes by

She thinks and regrets,
Returns
Gives a penny

Feels OK for a while
Was it enough?
Returns and gives some more

Feels OK for a while
Thinks about her salary
returns,

Gives a bit of her time
A small talk, a pat on the back
Feels OK now for long.

Silence 1.01

Silence

Contemplation, searching for my soul 
Silence encompassing all 
Alone but not in solitude 
Silence giving fortitude 

My ego-thoughts trying to prop up 
Silence makes them stop 
Soul is what I’m searching for 
Silence, silence I adore 

Connecting to my soul 
Silence winning after all 
Thoughts connect with high above 
Silence fills my soul with love 

Conscience conquering my mind 
Silence makes it look so kind 
Soul and conscience hand in hand 
Silent wish to never end 

Grateful heart joins in 
Silence makes it all akin 
Thanking God for this silent contemplation 
Thanks for silence, thanks again

Aufie Zophy

Note:

Above is perhaps one of my ten best poems. I had written it and a few weeks later I found that a therapist from New York had put it up on her website. Initially I was a bit confused if this was to be called plagiarism or not. She had not contacted me, not asked my permission. On the other hand she had put the author name, I use, under the poem of Aufie Zophy. 

I made up my mind to not put any copyright on whatever I publish online. I think we get ideas and talents from our Creator to be shared with the whole world. What is created in our mind, is not solely ours, it still belongs to our Creator and is there to be shared with each and everybody. So, I decided to be proud instead of upset about anyone sharing poems on their website written by Aufie Zophy (me). If I now google 'Aufie Zophy' on the web, I find more than 600 websites that have used my poems. Somehow it makes me happy even though the vast majority never sought permission to share these poems. I think the warmest feeling I got when I read a website that related about an event with children who recited one of my poems on peace and considered as one of the highlights of the event. :) . Some poems have been put on music :)

The above poem is written in 2010, the year I started to write poems in English and put them up on the website PoemHunter. I have received quite a number of good comments about this particular poem and I still like it as a poem among my 10 best. In the mean time I have written and published on PoemHunter about 220 poems (or sometimes I prefer to call them attempts at poetry, rather than poems). Please visit the website to read more of them: http://www.poemhunter.com/aufie-zophy/ (simple and safe link)

How can I serve

the more we deliver service
to humanity, i.e. to our fellow human beings
the more peace of mind

If we make selfless service
one of our main aims in life,
our life may be full of peace
and happiness

Surely not all of us
actually perhaps none of us,
is always in a situation
where we can serve,
where we can lend a helping hand.
I think all of us go through
times when we are the ones needing help.

Whenever we are in a position that allows us to serve
in a position that allows us to give a helping hand,
we should do so.

If more people would be continuously aware of the
good feelings and the great peace that is brought about
by rendering selfless service,
less people would have to wait a long time to receive the help they need.

:) 

Being humble

How many times do we say:
This guy does not know what an X is?
X standing for whatever the subject or object of our interest.

How much more psychologically sound would it be to say:
This guy's perception of X is quite different from mine.

True experts tend to be aware of a level of grayness of most matters
and even if they are very convinced of their own truths,
they always maintain a certain level of doubt and humility

Doubt does not always feel comfortable.
Nevertheless, it is quite often preferred since
certainty is often too close madness.
 --------------
If you enjoyed this,
You may also like the poem hard is the fall
and the essay: humility

Soooo different.

We were all born with a heart full of love
As babies we were generous with our smiles
People were loving us back

Somehow along the way
we got a few bad experiences
We gave love and our ego somehow got hurt in the process
Our ego got hurt, but not our heart, not our soul.

Our ego told us the huge lie:
Better be stingy with your love
so, I the ego does not get hurt.

Somehow along the way
we got a bit wiser as well.
We try to find soul and heart in most situations
and become a bit less ego dependent

But the big lie of our ego
Better be stingy with your love
persists.

NO matter how people react,
if we just decide to share the abundant love in our heart
if we manage to share it and do not care too much if it comes back or not.
It will give us so much soul happiness.

It is sitting so abundantly in our heart.
Let us share and care for our family, friends and strangers alike
if we get a cold shoulder, it is affecting not our soul
It affects the soul of the one giving the cold shoulder in a negative way.
His ego may get a false boost but we do not have to allow it to affect our own ego

Give love,
It sits abundantly in our heart.
If people react negatively because they themselves lack love,
Still give love
We have an abundance to share
Not long after we start to persistently to give the love,
our live will be sooooooooooo different.

Let us give up today
the lie of our ego to be stingy with the abundant love in our heart
let us start to live
the truth of our soul to share, share, share the abundant love in our heart
We will never regret it if we persist
and soon our live will be
soooooooooooo different.

The ones who are negative or do not respond
are the ones who  need our love most
So just keep giving from the abundance of your heart
Soon they will respond so differently and
our life will be soooooooooo different

Before I close my eyes

Today is almost gone

Soon I will go to bed

and close my eyes

I want to, before I do so,

say a warm word of thanks

a word of thanks

to our God,

a word of thanks

to my family

to my friends

to my staff

A very warm thanks

for all  the love that came my way

Thanks

The extra step (sonnet)

Every now and then, we feel satisfied

So satisfied with what we feel and do

We have a good heart and are often kind

Occasionally some charity too.

But my God, my good Creator, today

I want to take at least one extra step 

Or an extra mile on that golden way  

Please God help me to run an added lap 

If every day, a few new steps we take

One more small kindness and a loving phrase 

An enormous difference we would make

Towards a better world in many ways

Let’s commit each day to a little more

Soon harmony will reign on every shore


-------------------------------------------------------
Note:
Sonnets are poems of 14 verses with rhymes
ababcdcdefefgg
each verse contains 10 spoken syllables

I have written three other sonnets (under author name of Aufie Zophy):
My first attempt: The golden key (perhaps the one I still like best)
My second attempt: The song of heaven
My third attempt: The most beautiful poem
I think my first three attempts are more worthy of the name sonnet,
since they contain a bit of a message of romantic love, dedicated to 
my lovely wife, to whom I am married this year for 25 years...

 

Rituals and scriptures

Religious teachings can truly inspire
as long as we do not allow the preachers of hatred
to putrefy our loving hearts, 'cause hatred is like toxic waste,
that kills all the magnificent flowers in the garden of the mind.
Hatred, always coming from the ego of the preacher,
never coming from a majestic omnipotent Creator.
Hatred is trying to lure our hearts into condemnation,
misjudgement, arrogance, a false feeling of superiority.

Enjoy religion but do not hate

Rituals can help us to get closer to the Divine
As long as we do not make them a purpose in themselves.
Blindly following rituals, may flood and oxidize the wires of our mind.
Rusty wires may prohibit everyone of us to tune into the music,
into the divine melodies containing fantastic truths
into the roaring cry of nature
to render selfless service to all humans
and to become truly humble.

Enjoy rituals but do not allow an absurd focus on them
to blind or deafen you from the music of God

Holy scriptures are great guides to human life,
As long as we do not allow the books to petrify
into large rocks inside the stomach of our soul.
Large rocks may obstruct all further nurture
from the manna of divine wisdom
from the nectar of unconditional love
that is found throughout human nature
in the spirit of all humanity and the spirit from above.

Holy scriptures, Rituals, Religious teachings
are great tools for humanity to use
As long as they do not become tricks that are abused
to please our ego and silence our soul

Invisible Thread

Inside our heart
there is some blood
being pushed
under high pressure

Inside our heart
there is septation
valves and
parts of muscles

Inside our heart
there is also
this invisible thread
of love and kindness

That thread that allows us to appreciate
the charm of a pulchritudinous woman,
the appeal of an exquisite bird,
the allure of a statuesque tree

That invisible thread
that allows us to see
not only with with our eyes
but with compassion and empathy

That invisible thread that softens our voice
when anger inside boils
That invisible thread that allows us to give
when our hands want to take

That invisible thread that makes us soft
when we wanted to be tough
That invisible thread that takes away the fear
when we talk try to talk to our God.

That invisible thread
worth more than gold
Thanks, my God,
for this fine invisible thread
that sits inside our heart.

A fable

A man was blind
‘cause he kept his eyes closed all the time
He had not seen any light
He did not believe in light

A man was deaf
‘cause he kept his ears closed all the time
He had not heard any sound
He did not believe in sound

Another man
Kept his mind closed all the time
He had not received any wisdom
He did not believe in wisdom

Another man
Kept his heart closed all the time
He had not felt love
He did not believe in love

Another man
Was not aware of the beauty of his soul
He had not experienced God
He did not believe in God

And then it happened that

The blind man opened his eyes
The deaf man opened his ears
The other men opened their minds and hearts
Connected to their beautiful souls
And all became believers
And the world leaped to harmony

Aufie Zophy

Building on blocks of old

Did you know that Zeno of Citium more than 200 years BC founded the stoicism.
A philosophy with a strong belief in virtue and contemplation
Did you know that around the same time Pyrrho founded Pyrrhonims, one of the foundations of skepticism, a stream in philosophy that stressed the uncertainty of everything.
In the sixth century, an emperor ordered the closing of all "pagan" philosophical schools since there were perceived at odds with Christian doctrine.
How many of us have tried to read the republic of Plato and some of the wisdom of Socrates?
A lot of thoughts and arguments have been brought forward by these intellectuals of more than 2000 years ago. A rich culture of philosophy. 

Sometimes I wonder how our world would be different from how it is now, if our schools would replace two hours of teaching history or add maths or other subjects with the philosophy of Plato?

The greed of the business men blinded by money and luxury
The vice of politicians and bankers throughout the world
The ignorance of lawyers and sometimes doctors alike...
Would all of the above have been softened if our educational system would pay a bit more attention to wisdom and a bit less to some of the absurdly glorified history of our individual nations winning absurd battles through the most atrocious of atrocities.

I somehow believe that the teaching of philosophy and all the thoughts and opinions that have originated from deep thinkers of old times  could benefit our youth. It could stimulate them to search for truth in this world of materialism. How did we become so materialistic? How many people search sincerely for truth and experience some ecstatic joy if they discover a certain wise axiom? How many of us are enthusiastic truth seekers?

I personally have found some joy in reading Emerson. His texts are not easy to read. They are heavy but by reading a few pages now and then, my mind has been stimulated to think, to search further. I think his essay, circles really contains some huge wisdom about this seeking of truth. Extremism has tried to contain our natural hunger for expanding our horizons of knowledge and spiritual growth. The most atrocious extremists of the past (I think of Spanish inquisition) and even of the present may have been successful in slowing down the growth of humanity and this world into a world of soul and virtue, but they have never been and will never be able to stop it. 

Unity

A wave is to the ocean
as a human is to God.
(heard in a talk by M. Beckwith)

I think this illustrates so nicely the principle of unity.
We all belong to and are intrinsically connected to God and to each other.
If there is no ocean, there are no waves.
If one wave changes direction, it will interfere with all other waves
If the wave after a long journey breaks on the shore, it goes back to the ocean.

One small poem:

Tears Of A Wave - Poem by Aufie Zophy

In a big ocean, not far from the shore
A small wave couldn’t take it anymore
It broke out in panicky tears
Another wave inquired about the worst of its fears

'All waves are breaking on the coast line
We are so near, it is no longer fine.
What is about to happen is awful, can’t you see?
Soon, nothing will be left of us, nothing of me.'

The answer of the companion was this:
'My dear friend, you seem not to know what reality is.
We are just a part of the ocean and forever we will be
Realising this you should not worry for you or for me.'

Flowers of kindness

Flowers of kindness

A small flower in the desert of greed

Sheds some fragrance, sheds a seed.

Two little flowers in the desert of need

Each a bit of fragrance, each gives a seed

Four small flowers growing among weed

Fragrance increases, and yet another seed

Flowers, eight and sixteen and soon thirty two

More and more fragrance and more seeds too.

Sixty four, two fifty six, more than a thousand soon

no more place for weed, crumbling greed and needs,

A million flowers each shed fragrance and seeds

The desert of greed and need and weed recedes

Small acts of kindness, the fragrance will spread

Greed and stress, no more; peace of mind instead

Awareness growing, weed by weed reaches death

Equality an illusion, inequality has no solution

as long as we wait for big shots' contribution

What we really need now is a kindness revolution

It won't be the crooks, the ones who now lead the greed

It won't be the sand in the desert that alleviates the need

Small acts of kindness are fragrance and seed

A billion flowers of kindness, it's easy to see.

A true revolution on its way, as fast as can be.

It depends not on presidents, but on you and on me

Aufie Zophy

Inequality as in the OXFAM report: half the world's wealth is in the hands of 62 individuals.
If 7 billion others maintain it as their biggest dream to belong to the 62 or even to become number 63, greed will just keep spinning out of control. If we manage to put kindness first, that is the only solution. We do not have to give up our longing for wealth, we just have to long for kindness a little bit more than we long for wealth.
Let us make the kindness revolution a reality. Let the crooks suffocate in their crookedness. We can lead by example. We do not need titles or power, just starting to lead the kindness revolution by example :)

A loving heart

If we meet someone with a loving heart,
Does that not count as a miracle?

 Let's just think about what a loving heart means?
How did it grow from almost nothing?
How many years of evolution?
So untouchable and so unseeable
and yet so real and so immeasurable valuable!
And yet so many of us take a loving heart for granted.

Today I want to be grateful, so very grateful
for all these wonderful people in my life
who have shared with me a bit of that tremendously amazing love
and that tremendously amazing kindness
that sits in each of our hearts.

And I pray and hope
that I manage to share myself
with many people tomorrow
a bit of that amazing and love and kindness
that sits in my own heart.

A matter of focus

I just heard in a whatsapp video an amazing story.
I think it is such a good story, that I want to share it:

A worker comes out of the factory.
He pushes a wheelbarrow with a small package in it.
The security guard stops him and says:
What is in your wheelbarrow?
The man answers 'a box'.
The guard: I can see that this is a box. What is in the box?
The worker: Sawdust. The sawdust is swept from the floor and thrown away. I need some sawdust, so I want to bring it home in this box.
The guard: Well, open the box.
True enough the box was full with sawdust and the guard lets the man go home.

Exactly the same thing happens on the second day
Exactly the same thing happens on the third and fourth day.
On the fifth day. the man pushes again his wheelbarrow with a small package in it.
The guard asks the same questions and finds again that the box is full of sawdust.
The guard says to the man: 'I have this very strong feeling that you are stealing something. But I don't know what. I promise not to report you, but please tell me what you are stealing. '
The worker responds: I am stealing wheelbarrows.

Sometimes we get so focused on the small things, that we completely miss the bigger picture :)

Get ready

Get ready
Get ready for beauty
Get ready, Man
Get ready, M'am
Get ready boys and girls

Beauty is in the sky
Beauty on the water, under the water
On the ground, in the ground, under it
In your soul, in your heart, in your mind
It is in the eyes, on the face
Beauty is everywhere
Get ready for a beautiful day

Get ready
Get ready for wisdom
Get ready, Man
Get ready, M'am
Get ready, boys and girls

Wisdom is in the sky
It is everywhere on the rise
It lies in the random kind act
In the books, in your smile
On the net, in the work we do
In the prayers we say.
Wisdom is on the rise

Get ready,
Get ready for kindness and love
Get ready, Man
Get ready, M'am
Get ready boys and girls

Kindness is coming
It is in a bullet train, an unstoppable TGV
Millions on board already
Gathering momentum, Exponential increases
The train moves at dazzling speed
With open doors, sucking in more and more people
Soon a billion will be on board
Then it will take only seconds
To envelop the whole wide world.

Get ready for a beauty revolt
Get ready for a wisdom revolution
Get ready for a huge kindness revolution.


Aufie Zophy, Bachok,2012