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

Space and light and rain

I loved the spouting coconut
It got a special place
I loved the casuarina shoot
It got a special place

The coconut and casuarina shoot
Shared a common garden
The sunlight shone for both
And so did nourishing rain

One grew a thousand leaves
Tiny needle shaped and small akin
One grew a few giant leaves
Majestically waving in the wind

Phenomenal beauty of the casuarina
Its oxygen was shared for free
In perfect harmony with the loveliness
Of the superb amazing coconut tree.

So different, my two cherished trees
And yet loved by God so much the same.
A fully fulfilled potential each
‘cause someone cared, each in a special place

The huge diversity of each of us
Is to be celebrated in every way
But all deserve the care and rights
To reach their full potential day by day

So let's give to all children dear
equal space and 'light' and 'rain'
full potential for each to achieve
Diverse, but how we all would gain!

Home

Few years back my mentee, a postgraduate student married
I wished him sincerely to become the second best husband,
the second best father in the world.

You may ask: why the second best?
Here is the answer:

I want to be the best father in the  world
I want to be the best husband in the world,
the best brother, the best uncle in the world
I want to have a home full of fun
full of love, full of harmony
full of inspiration.

Kindness revolution

The kindness revolution
An exponential chain of increasing acts of kindness
randomly performed by an ever increasingly rapid increasing number of people

It is just around the corner
The crooks will feel only shame
Politicians may be the last to jump on board
But no-one will be opting out in the end

Peace and happiness
are to be found in kindness

Soon everyone will be aware of that
and all will join the....

KINDNESS REVOLUTION

A small poem: 

Tired at night, I went to sleep
I slept tremendously deep
I slept a very long time

I woke up in October of 2110
and some history books of then
were laying in that room of mine

How exciting it was, how queer
to read the history of the coming years
I was in for quite a surprise

The heroes of the 2010's history books
were labelled as what they were, just crooks
Heroes in 2110 were nobody else than the wise

There were some wise people, so clever
who brought to us kindness and wisdom forever
these were the heroes of 2110

Among the heroes, prophets and thinkers were found
poets of wisdom, their names all around
Sages and wise ones from way back,2010

In 2110, from what I could read
there was no longer hunger, no more greed
thanks to the poets sharing wonderful words

I prayed to go back to the time when I had started to sleep
I wanted to share that news, so good, so profound and deep
I was happy to wake up in the now, my prayers were heard

So here I share the wonderful news at last
That greed and hunger will soon be a thing of the past
it all 'll have started in 2016 during spring

History books of the future mention a kindness revolution
Starting in May 2016, affecting all subsequent evolution
Isn't that a wonderful thing?

Herbs

I love herbs and spices
I know many herbs have a positive effect on health
I know many herbs can have also a toxic effect on our body.

Not everything that is natural is good for us.
Foxglove is a beautiful flower. It contains chemicals that can have helped heart patients a lot.
In the right dosage, these chemicals are truly beneficial. But if you find foxglove in a field and go and consume it, these same chemicals may cause you to die. The dose is all-important.

This is true for most natural products. Green tea taken in moderation is good for health. Taken in exessive amounts, there are well-documented cases of liver failure.

The wisdom I want to share here is that before you go on and take the advice of those selling herbs for granted, do your own search and do ask your doctor about the potential benefits and harms that such natural products may cause.

Many herbs are sold only for profit, with those selling not caring too much about the science behind it. I know some of the sellers truly believe in the benefit of what they sell, but they may not have enough understanding of science and how the body functions, for you to just take their convictions and explanations at face value.

The body is very complex. Eating natural food is so much better than the extensively processed foods. But do eat most things in moderation. If it comes to supplements, and the so called herbs, do be careful.

Proper research is NOT the testimony of a few (often heavily rewarded) users.
Proper research is NOT the "expert" opinion of someone who has direct financial gains from selling the herbs.

Herbs are natural!
Not everything natural is good for our health!
All mushrooms are natural, some are toxic.
So is it with herbs!!

The first leaf

The living fresh greenness
of the first leaf of spring
Sure a perfect sign she is
of the most wonderful thing:

Soon the whole crown of the tree
will be covered with a luscious bed
of fresh, green leaves for all to see
How much nicer can it ever get?

The amazing moment
of the first bud of a flower bed
unfolding into a full rose
a sign of a wonderful thing:

Soon the full flower bed
will unfold into a feast
of adorable  colours
countless flowers in their full glory

and so is too the living fresh kindness
of the first humane act done today
sure a perfect sign it is
of the most wonderful way:

Soon the whole wide world
will be engulfed in a kindness sea
Quick go and spread the word
Nothing better could happen for you and me :)

Glorious opportunity

Yesterday it was Martin Luther King Jr. day in the USA

Here is a wonderful quote of this extremely brilliant man

a defender of non-violence, an activist with a real passion

with a dream:

"We have before us the glorious opportunity to inject a new dimension of love into the veins of our civilization," Martin Luther King, Jr.

and one more:
"Darkness cannot drive out darkness. Only light can do that. Hatred cannot drive out hatred. Only love can do that" Martin Luther King, Jr.

Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that. "
- Martin Luther King - See more at: http://www.mlkonline.net/enemies.html#sthash.Rty9EVAJ.dpuf

Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that. "
- Martin Luther King - See more at: http://www.mlkonline.net/enemies.html#sthash.Rty9EVAJ.dpuf

Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that. "
- Martin Luther King - See more at: http://www.mlkonline.net/enemies.html#sthash.Rty9EVAJ.dpuf

Have you read his speeches. 

If not, please go and read.

I have a dream. Perhaps the most wonderful speech ever given by any member of mankind

His Nobel price acceptance speech. A gem

The speech before the night of his murder. Superb.

Take a few minutes to read it. 

Sooo uplifting, so beautiful, so inspirational.

here is a link to his speeches: 

http://www.mlkonline.net/speeches.html

I will share here a little (crazy) secret  of my own mind:

In my wildest dreams, I want to give in my life a speech with an impact like his ones. 

In my wildest dreams, I want to have an impact on the love in the world as he had.

I know these are extreme dreams, but somehow these dreams remain alive in me :)

A little comfort

11.30 pm.
I just came back from the hospital.
Counseling parents of a baby with multiple abnormalities at birth.
Sad. So sad to talk about all the problems that the baby faces.
So sad to see the parents holding back the tears.

Tomorrow the father has to leave for a mission with the army
The mother stays in the hospital to be near to the baby.
She was staying a special room for people accompanying patients provided by the hospital.
I know these rooms are not the most comfortable to spend the night.
So I tried to get the mother a bed in our facility for mother and baby, rooming in.
I guess I was lucky, a bed was available for the mother.

There was no smile, but the expression of deep sadness on the face of the mom, showed some relief, at least she will spend the night in a more comfortable place.

Sometimes as doctors all we can do is trying to make it a tiny bit more comfortable..
And just a little comfort in the most difficult of situations can make a difference, worthwhile pursuing.
....

Saying yes

There have been many people asking for help.
Some were genuine
Others were not

Looking back now
The only times I regret
was when I said no.

I do not regret helping the genuine ones
I do not regret helping the cheaters
I do regret when I said no.

Surely sometimes we have no choice but to say no
Sometimes we are not in a position to help
But if we can help, I really think we better say yes :))

Scenarios

If we reminisce about the future,
the future of any aspect of our life
be it work, be it family, be it our community,

many of the potential scenarios for the future seem to be bleak


However there are most of the time an equal or even larger number of lofty scenarios
that are also possible and have also the potential to become true.

While we cannot ignore the bleak scenarios, it may be a good idea
to keep our focus on one of our favorite rosy scenarios.

This will allow us to work positively towards them
If we keep our minds set on what we really want,
our mind will detect opportunities that are sometimes
lying in half hidden corners.

Our mind will focus on the good outcome
and this will arm us with the "sharpest" weapons to fight the doom bringers
I mean her sharp in a very figurative way, 'cause I am a strong believer in non-violence.

So keep our mind focused on what we want.

Keeping our focus on what we want
will increase our chances of getting it tremendously.

The big aim

The workplace is a place where many of us spend close to half of our waking hours.
How important, it is to make the work place a place of joy and happiness and satisfaction.

If we manage to achieve this for us and our colleagues, the chances are great that we will have a smooth running workplace.

Surely some rules need to be observed.
But these rules need to serve the people in the work place
and not the people in the workplace to serve the rules.

Outcomes need to be achieved. 

Leaders need to inspire the people to achieve these outcomes
while enjoying the workplace, where they spend so much time

Many more things can be achieved when people feel they can be creative and actively involved in developing their own talents to contribute the common success of the workplace.

The big aim is to achieve great things, but one of these great things is surely happiness and job satisfaction.

Rat race

I just read
a poem about a mother of 11
dying alone and lonely.

The crazy rat race of greed and desire
makes us forget the true values of life.
Let us get quickly out of the rat race
or risk to remain rats forever.

The above is what my emotions provoked in my mind as initial reaction to the story.
I think the story is a great reminder for all grown up children,

Nature

Today I read again (a part of) Emerson's essay on nature.
Emerson was a great observer and here is a wonderful quote of the essay:

"In the presence of nature, a wild delight runs through the man, in spite of real sorrows."
Isn't this beautiful and so real? Haven't you experienced this too? 

Here is the beginning of the first chapter (the one after the introduction):

"To go into solitude, a man needs to retire as much from his chamber as from society. I am not solitary whilst I read and write, though nobody is with me. But if a man would be alone, let him look at the stars. The rays that come from those heavenly worlds, will separate between him and what he touches. One might think the atmosphere was made transparent with this design, to give man, in the heavenly bodies, the perpetual presence of the sublime. Seen in the streets of cities, how great they are! If the stars should appear one night in a thousand years, how would men believe and adore; and preserve for many generations the remembrance of the city of God which had been shown! But every night come out these envoys of beauty, and light the universe with their admonishing smile.

The stars awaken a certain reverence, because though always present, they are inaccessible; but all natural objects make a kindred impression, when the mind is open to their influence."

I love to read Emerson. Somehow he strikes a chord with my own way of thinking, with my own connection to the nature and the universe. Every time I read or reread one of his essays or addresses, I discover some new truths, some new ideas in them. His writing style is not easy to understand, at least not for a person with English as second or third language like me. But upon rereading the same thing often a hidden truth comes clear. 

The first paragraph of his introduction this essay is also something that contains some superb wisdom: 

" Our age is retrospective. It builds the sepulchres of the fathers. It writes biographies, histories, and criticism. The foregoing generations beheld God and nature face to face; we, through their eyes. Why should not we also enjoy an original relation to the universe? Why should not we have a poetry and philosophy of insight and not of tradition, and a religion by revelation to us, and not the history of theirs? Embosomed for a season in nature, whose floods of life stream around and through us, and invite us by the powers they supply, to action proportioned to nature, why should we grope among the dry bones of the past, or put the living generation into masquerade out of its faded wardrobe? The sun shines to-day also. There is more wool and flax in the fields. There are new lands, new men, new thoughts. Let us demand our own works and laws and worship."

Ignoring the wisdom of our ancestors would be something that pushes us back into the stone age, but ignoring our own conscience and insights and poetry would limit our own development and progress so much, it would be like neglecting the purpose that our Creator gave to  our own lives. 

The essays of this very clever philosopher are freely available online.

In our head

Are you tired?
Are you tired right now?

Thinking about being tired can make us tired.

If you feel tired, try to take a deep breath and say silently:
I am full of energy
I am full of energy
I am so full of energy that I will do what I am doing right now,
not only in a good way,
but in the most excellent way possible

I do not deny that sometimes we are genuinely tired,
but even then with a deep breath and a small self talk
we can get amazing boosts of energy!

I am so full of energy now,
that I will read another ten soul sprinkles :)

Why is it so difficult

(inspired by M. Williams)

Why is it so difficult to forgive and forget?
Somehow the ego has been hurt
and somewhere it feels good to us to hold on to this hurt.
If we release the  hurt, it looks like we lose the right to something.
As long we hold on to the hurt, we have the imaginary right for revenge
As we hold on to the hurt we have the right to complain,
and receive the pity of other friends who are close to us.
The right to hate, to be angry.

Now, is the right to revenge, to complain, to receive pity, to be angry,
is this right a game of the soul or a game of the ego?

If we give up the hurt, if we find it in our heart to truly forgive and forget,
we 'll give up all these nasty ego-rights and privileges.
The ego is not too happy about that and calls out: "NO".

The hatred, the complaints, the revenge hinder our own progress, our own growth.
The ego does not care too much, as long as it can have its own perceived dominion.
The hurt we cling onto has the potential to make the culprit feel guilty
If the culprit does not feel guilty, we can search revenge and make him or her feel sorry.
Our ego feels superior, feels good if it can make someone feel worse than itself.

Hatred never heals. it continues as a negative emotion to damage our peace, our own happiness.
So is with revenge, and the right to complain.

What does our soul want?
It is time, high time to sit quietly, think about all our grudges, all our anger
Have a small fight between soul and ego and then,... let go, just let go of the right
to all these nasty things, let go and forgive, let go and forget.
Start anew and experience the friendship.
Start anew and get true peace of mind,
that very essential component of happiness.

Have you with your whole heart and soul ever forgiven?
How did that feel at a soul level? at a heart level?
If you are like other people, it will make you feel great, relieved, filled with peace of mind.

The negative emotions burn our skin, our mind, our heart and soul.
I wrote a small poem about this for my two sons:
dont-touch-it (You can click on this previous post in the blog or read it below)

 

Have you seen a fire?
I mean a big one with high flames?
Any human touching it
Will suffer intense and lasting pain

Such is the law of nature
Nothing else could happen or be
Touching flames causes pain
Isn't that easy to see?

Hatred is also like fire
It burns upon every touch
Pain is intense and lasting
Excruciating destruction, so much

Such is the law of nature
Nothing else could happen or be
Touching hatred causes pain
It is not difficult to see

And so is also anger
A blaze of uncontrolled heat
You touch it and bad burns
Are the only outcome to meet

Such is the law of nature
Nothing else could happen or be
Touching anger causes pain
It is not difficult to see

Lies of any nature or kind
Like smouldering ashes so hot
Touch lies and you suffer
Lies may seem OK but they're not

Such is the law of nature
Nothing else could happen or be
Touching lies causes pain
It may not be easy to see

Honesty love and kindness
Are like a cool breeze on a hot day
My boys, these laws of nature
Are here forever to stay

Light

If everyday in this promising new year,
we manage each to give to at least one person a little light,
I think we will have all a wonderful year.

The beauty of giving light,
is that we do not lose anything in giving it.
Lighting a candle of a friend,
makes two lights, it just doubles.

Imagine the doubling every day.
Can you see the enormous effect by year end?
2 to the power 365 is exactly
75153362648762663292463379097258784876021841565066235862633311089030688803667470 190838367948312598497021919232
that is how many lights we can expect if we double up each day!!!

I wish you a fantastic 2016

Powerless, evil or good?

Scary Perfect World

So many people deny the existence of God
Based on the misery and cruelty displayed on TV
If He would be good, power He would have not
If He would have power, how evil He'd be?

The answer lies according to me
in imagining a perfect world.
How scary would it be
to live in a perfect world!

By whatever we 'd do or act.
It'd become less perfect

Creativity, motivation,
lending a hand to a person in need
Charity, helpfulness, inspiration
all suddenly absolutely obsolete.

Can any of us imagine how dull it would be
to live if all was perfectly nice.
Animalistic indulgence for you and me
In an extremely boring paradise.

Somehow we were given the power of creativity,
we were allowed to co-create something nice
Somehow God gave us power to think with positivity
to love and help and self-sacrifice

These things give us perfect peace of mind
We get that feeling of happiness, so great
Through being loving, helping and kind
Admit it, that is just how we were made

Aufie Zophy

--------------------------------------------------------------------
 
I love the world.
I think a perfect world would be extremely scary...
We may not understand everything
But if God would have made a perfect world
We would be just puppies.

I believe in God
God is good
God is forgiving
God is all powerful
Our mind is too small
to understand all things happening


Some time ago, I wrote a reflection on a perfect world. I think it was the third reflection listed on this blog. It was posted sometime in April 2014. Today I read a poem on PoemHunter and this inspired to write on the very same topic the above 'rhyme'

Down

Down syndrome
Today I met parents with a young child with Down syndrome
I went on to explain to them as good as I could what it was all about.
An extra piece of genetic material that really disturbed the development
of almost every part of his body.
This includes his brain which will never be able to function like yours and mine.
And yet these children can walk and talk and be very affectionate.
They can give a lot of love and are  generally happy
the more love they receive the better they may be able to function in this world.

I find it always hard to explain Down syndrome to parents who just got a baby diagnosed with it.

In the afternoon I had a session with students and a student presented a case of Down syndrome (another child).  I went on to ask them why it was so common here, in Kelantan.
The answer was because mothers go and deliver here until they are close to and above 40.
And the second part of the answer is that these babies tend not to get diagnosed antenatally and do not get aborted.
The case of antenatal diagnosis of Down syndrome and abortion seems another very hard aspect about Down syndrome. It is easy to condemn abortion but the issue is really much more complex than simply be against or for abortion. Surely our children with Down syndrome have a place in our society, they are happy children deserving all of our care. If on the other hand I try to think form a parents' point of view my mind seems to understand, at least a bit, the parents choosing abortion as well. My heart seems to say: "no mind, you have gone nuts", my mind seems to answer: "no heart, you do not think" ...
A huge ethical issue!

Written In The Sand

It is written in the sand

The purpose of our life

Millions of grains of sand

If the sea‘d have erased it from the shore

The grains will have whispered it to the drops

And waves, the braking waves will sing

The purpose of our life

If the heat of day erased it from the surf

Evaporating mist ‘ll carry it to clouds

Where they will paint it in amazing skies

The purpose of our life

The clouds will rain and 

Diamond beads will ornament the rose

The rose’s scent will tell it

The purpose of our life

But if we fail to find it

In the sand or song of waves

In the clouds or scent of roses

The purpose of our life

We may have to make it quiet 

And look deep within our heart

Where it will be dancing all around

The purpose of our life.

If we do not find it in our hearts,

We may have to return to sand

It is written in the sand.

Aufie Zophy

What scholars say...

Religion has been helping communities to get connected, to perform charity and to stick to certain good principles of living. It was meant to bring us humans a bit closer to our Deity.

Sad to say that religion has been abused in the past too.
Sometimes willfully, sometimes through well meaning misinterpretations.

It is good to remember at all times that even our very well trained scholars are still human.
No human is infallible and each human is bound to mistakes.

As I teach my medical students, we doctors have to keep up the highest standards and try to make no mistakes. But we are intrinsically human and mistakes do happen. There is no doctor who practices medicine and who can claim he has never made any mistakes.

So is it with scholars as well. If doctors make mistakes it affects the body, if scholars make mistakes, it affects the mind and soul. But if doctors propose therapies that sound strange or not right to us, we will start to think for ourselves or ask a second opinion and perhaps will manage to avoid ingesting the wrong drug. So we can do too with strange sounding advice from scholars. Actually what enters our minds and hearts and souls may affect us more than any medicine and we should guard the input with our own critical thinking and scrutiny very much.

Does it feel right, does it make the world a bit better? Simple reality check questions can help us to decide whether or not to absorb the advice or knowledge that the scholar(s) want to share.

One recent blatant example in Malaysia. A scholar (or a group of them) declared in the news that it would be un-islamic to wish merry Christmas to our Christian friends. This at least to me seems such an obvious illustration of the fallibility of scholars. Many other scholars have contradicted these statements but damage has been done. The most gullible of followers have absorbed the fallacy and stopped giving any wishes to their friends of other religion(s). If religious scholars create widening of gaps, increases in distance, incipience of fear or hatred, they very most likely show off their own human fallibility.

It is of extreme importance that whatever messages coming our way, to scrutinize them with simple reality check questions.

World peace is possible, it is not an illusion.
Let us believe in world peace and not allow any divisive thoughts,
no matter where they come from, enter our minds, hearts and soul.
If all people on earth want peace and believe in it, pray for it,
world peace will be ours in the not too distant future....

PS:
:) the last paragraph and perhaps the whole essay may be my own fallacy.
Always perform a reality check before absorbing any thought.

Wonderful drops

Look at these wonderful drops

They are separate and yet one.

They are big and yet so small.

They contain wisdom

and wisdom contains them

Aren't they wonderful drops?

No matter what

We all yearn for love.

Love is our yearning.

And our heart is filled with love

Love is our heart's filling.

A baby's heart overflows with love

love for you, and the baby smiles

The baby's yearning for love,

is immediately fulfilled by whoever sees the smile

As we grow up, our hearts still overflow with love

We give it away and our yearning is fulfilled.

What prohibits us to look deep in our hearts?

to see that massive mountain of love sitting there

take out a giant scoop of it for everyone

a giant scoop for everyone we meet

What prohibits this? 

Is it the fear? Fear of what?

Is it greed? Greed for what? 

is it worry? Worry about what? 

No matter what, take out a large scoop of love

Give it away, Smile, give way, give away

Find beauty in nature, in a flower, in a person. 

Tell the flower it is beauty, tell that person.

Or no, better still, stop talking, 

Listen to the flower, listen to that person.

Listen with a heart full of love, overflowing

Spilling love on everything and everyone. 

Oh boy, Oh girl,
Oh man, Oh lady

love, love love,
no matter what.

Silence

An almost perfect silence

embraces my body, heart and soul

A whispering fountain of sparks

illuminates my inner thoughts

Herbs of love are sprinkled

on the plainness of my hungry ego

A perfect silence,

light and love

A new me emerges

Aufie Zophy

Pilgrimage

Pilgrimages tend to be filled with rituals and symbolism.
We really need to manage these two very well.
Only if we do succeed in dealing a proper way with these two,
we can get to a much higher spiritual level performing pilgrimages.

I have experienced the power of collective faith and surely some people do benefit from it.
The huge corrupted commercialization of pilgrimages however has taken away a lot.

Yes, pilgrimages tend to be filled with symbolism and rituals.
While symbolism and rituals are meant to take the mind of the believer to a level closer to the Truth, and thus are good things if applied correctly, it does not always happen like that.  Too many of the rituals and symbols in religion have become a purpose in themselves and do not serve as they were meant to be: a stepping stone towards a higher level. If we make symbols and rituals all important and purposes by themselves, they become tools of degradation towards extremism and blind faith.

Please think.
What is the most essential message of religion?
Isn't it meant to be a tool for humans to rise to a higher level of spirituality.
How can we rise if elements of hatred and arrogance are impregnated in our teachings?
How can we rise if we become slaves to symbols and rituals?
How can we rise if we are made afraid to doubt and think?

I am so sure humanity is on the rise in terms of love and wisdom.
I wish that organized religion would put these two very high their priority list.

Aligning

You have discovered the love of God.
So did he and she
and I

All of us have discovered the love of God.

Some of us deny it because they do not believe in God,
but we all have experienced at one or another moment
that huge LOVE

It is amazing that we were created in such a way,
that we had no other choice but to LOVE.
Those who failed to love their children,
would almost never have children surviving until an age
where there could procreate and their unloving nature would die with their offspring.

Only the loving would pass on their genes to next generations to come.
That is how God built love into humans
That is what God did to share this wonderful quality of Himself with humans
Humans are born very immaturely, we cannot walk, we are completely dependent
Only if we receive LOVE we will survive

Things that are good for us, make us feel good
In the long past history of humans, sugar was a necessity to build up our energy
and eating sugar makes us feel good and salt was also a necessity for our health.
That is why eating these things that are necessity but used to be scarce, feels really  good.
Only by making it abundantly available, we take to much of it and it becomes damaging.
That is on the physical plane

Love is not on the physical plane. But it was a necessity for our existence.
And it makes us feel really good. No one can deny that loving our children does not make us feel really good.

Because we love our children we really want them to be happy.
And we think they will be happy if they become the absolute number one.
We teach them to win and beat their classmates, to be better, to be the best
We teach them to compete, to be greedy, because we think that this will make them happy.
If we want to be loving parents we have to push our children up and make them succeed
in a world full of competition. That is what our parents told us, that is what the media portray, that is what the movies and soaps tell us. But it is not reality.

While being number one makes us feel good, it has an extremely bitter aftertaste if we had to be unfair and UNLOVING to so many others to achieve it.

Our own history and God Himself has created us in such a way that the greatest good is LOVE.
Nothing makes us feel as good as truly loving our children.
Nothing makes us feel as good as truly loving the needy and help them
Nothing makes us feel as good as performing that random act of kindness and see the chain reaction that follows.

So here is where the world goes wrong.
We love our children and know that this love is what counts most for us in our lives.
But do we teach our children to love, love, love?
Do we teach them the thing that counts most in our own life?
No, we think they will be happy if they compete, they become greedy...
Do we teach our children to help, help, help?
Dow er teach our children to be kind first?

The problem is that we have a wrong perception of happiness.
We have confused for far too long comfort and happiness.
We want our children to be happy but sometimes create greedy monsters who refuse to share in the process. Does that make them happy?

It is high time we align with the love of God,
the greatest gift of God that He has planted in all our hearts and souls
through a meticulous process of creation that took a ages and ages.

When will we realize the truth about happiness?
It is not in the accumulation of super grades, super wealth, super power.
It is in the accumulation of super love, super helpfulness, super kindness.
If we truly love our children, this will be the true priorities we teach

It is the Divine quality, the endless grace of our God,
that was planted by Him into our hearts and souls
the spark that gives us light, that gives us peace that
gives us ease, that gives us beauty, that gives us creativity
and everything else we could ever want.

Letting shine

I came across the following quote of Marianne Williamson:
"We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some us; it's in everyone. And as we let our light shine, we give unconsciously to other people the opportunity to do the same. As we are liberated from our fear, our presence automatically liberates others" 

I love this!
We are meant to shine but are so often afraid to do so.
We were born with heart full of love but are so often afraid to love
Giving the love and kindness, of which our hearts are full,
and continuously replenished,
'll make us shine beyond a strong spotlight.
We will become the sun in some other people's life.

Let us make up our mind to shine a bit today
and as such liberate others to shine too... 

Challenges

Challenges seem to come equally frequent
to good people as to bad people.
True.

Some people feel that good people even get more challenges.
May be true, may be wrong.

Looks like the bad guys can enjoy good health
as much as the good ones.
True.

The big difference shows when it comes to peace of mind.
Bad guys do not have as much peace of mind as good ones.
Vice destroys / deprives us of peace of mind
Virtue generates it


We were all made to survive.
Our body, our mind, our senses
Challenges in life do not depend on vice or virtue

But on top of that we were made human
And that little extra does make a big difference
If we manage to be humane
Peace of mind will be ours.
Peace of mind may be among the biggest treasures we can gather here on earth.

Sonnet

A sonnet is a special form of poetry
Its most classical requirements include:
1. It counts 14 verses
2. The rhyme scheme is ababcdcdefefgg
3. Every verse counts exactly 10 syllables (spoken)

Here is a humble attempt to write one:

The Most Beautiful Poem

How I wish I would have the special words

To write the very most fantastic verse

I would pen it down with feathers of birds

write the nicest poem in the universe

I would dip the colourful plume in ink

That is magic and wonderfully blue

Using gothic letters of which I think

Anyone could see they were made for you

And this world would be full with jealous eyes

They would all be envying you so much

All people ‘d turn their heads towards the skies

Wish a poem was written for them as such

But this one was for you and you alone

It ‘d be on earth, the most beautiful poem

Aufie Zophy

If you like sonnets, please read also my other attempts at writing sonnets, by clicking on the following (safe links) : 

The song of heaven  

The golden key 

Descartes wrong on page one?

I have quite a bit of interest in philosophy.
I read an article praising Descartes as one of the greatest thinkers of all time.
So I decided I want to read some of his works.

On page one of his first meditation, he seems to make such a huge mistake in thinking that I have stopped reading the work there and then. He writes that in the world vice is rewarded more than virtue.

Here Descartes seems to reason like a pure materialist who has not a notion of the great rewards of peace mind and bliss one experiences after a virtuous deed and the complete lack thereof after vice. What kind of success, what kind of reward is material wealth without having peace of mind of the experience of happiness. I think RW Emerson has so nicely described the opposite of Descartes statement and Emerson makes so much more sense in his essay, Compensation

Then he goes on that virtue greatly depends on the fear of God and the belief in an afterlife. How many atheist humanitarians have proven this wrong. I am not an atheist and my own belief in God is strong, but we cannot deny that among the most noble and most virtuous deeds done in this world, some of them are done on pure humanitarian grounds by people without any belief whatsoever in God and in afterlife.

Maybe I should have been a bit more persistent in reading the rest of his work, but I have given up on reading any more words of this so called great philosopher. I did not reach the all famous Je pense, donc je suis, I think, thus I am in his second meditation. Right now I do not feel the need.

Oneness

Can we grasp the unity concept with our mind?
Many gurus and mystics talk about us being all one.
and yet we are separate.

Separate but connected.

I think the easiest way we can feel the connection is at the emotional level.
Let us say I meet you for the first time.
You are carrying ten shopping bags.
One bag drops.
I bent over and pick it up for you.
You smile and look genuinely happy.
Can I feel any different than genuinely happy too?

Aurat, oh aurat

Reading the Quran, we encounter Bismillahi Rahmani Rahim, 
up to a 114 times in the whole Book. 

This means that Allah is the most gracious and forgiving.

If I search for the aurat, I seem to find only a small passage 

talking about a veil and nothing else. 

I think all polemics and the whole enormous huge focus of Muslims on the aurat, 

which is really a part of the cultural aspects of the religion, 

is completely out of proportion if one compares 
with how much we focus on the essentials. 

If only one tenth of words spent on polemics around the aurat, 

if only one tenth as many articles and signboards would stress 

the the enormous grace and forgiving nature of our Creator, 

I think we would have more people getting 

closer to the true practice of gratefulness, 

a bit closer to the huge love for  our Creator

if we manage to be truly grateful for His enormous grace and mercy.

Free Will

"My first act of free will
will be to believe in free will"
William James

The above quote is from one of the fathers of modern psychology.

We were blessed with free will.
We can choose to stop our car, let the other car go first and feel good about it.
We can choose to say hello to the cleaner, and feel good about it
We can choose to be honest and feel good about it
We can choose to be active and feel good about it
We can choose to do what is right

We can even choose our thoughts
and by doing so even alter our feelings.

If we keep an image of benevolence in our mind
we slowly become like that

We can change our present by choosing the right thoughts
by choosing the right actions
In doing so, we invariably change our future.

There are tremendous number of things we cannot change
But there are also a tremendous number of things we can change...

Feel good

I felt bad
I felt like hiding
Then I decided to do the right thing
I felt good

The right thing
may be tough
may be weird
may be crazy
but as long as it is the right thing
it will take away all bad feelings
and we will feel good.

We have the right to feel good
We have the right to do the right thing
No matter how tough, weird or crazy it may appear.

Bachok 8 AM

The morning sun shone
the sweet warmth of the rays
magnified their exquisite beauty
and the sky's lovely tenderness
was dancing in the soft light

I inhaled the beauty
and it went straight to my heart
I tasted the tenderness
and it went straight to my heart
I absorbed the warmth
and it went straight to my heart

Aufie Zophy

Listen

Listen
listen carefully
listen to your soul
you may hear the melody of kindness
you may hear the melody of honesty
the melody of humbleness
the melody of caring
all melodies of truth
one by one, so nice
beautiful melodies
worth listening.
Listen

Aufie Zophy

Tough love

Choosing to love
is not always easy
but always it is
the single best choice.




I love you :)

Revenge

There is a saying that revenge tends to taste sweet: sweet revenge.
I disagree completely with that.
Revenge is never sweet, always sour. 

Once we take it in the mouth, it may appear sweet, but 
after having swallowed it, only bitterness remains.

We do have principles and values, values to keep up
People who keep a different set of values hurt us.
We can just not afford to give up our own values to seek revenge.


A value extremely dear is kindness.
Let us say a person is nasty to us.
Then we let go of our kindness and become nasty back to that person.
This means we condone nastiness.
This mean we approve of the person's nasty behaviour and start to mimic that behaviour.

The nasty person will feel right and encouraged to more nasty things.
Let us not step down to the level of the one who is nasty to us.
Keep up our value of kindness and the nasty one will be embarrassed.

So is with dishonesty and honesty
Greed and goodwill
and so on and on.


Let us keep up our values, no matter what.
A very good way to make a real positive change in this world
is to answer nastiness with kindness.
Revenge is never really sweet.
Once we take it in the mouth, it may appear sweet, but
after having swallowed it, only bitterness remains.