Archive for November, 2006

Catch-up

Thursday, November 30th, 2006

Cool. There are actually people reading the blog, and from all over the world. I apologise that I have not been updating it much lately, but I have been staggering a bit under my load. Too bogged down to blog ;)

I have been receiving e-mails from readers, which are very cool. How they stumbled over to the site, and really enjoyed it. And I see quite a few people marking it as a “favourite” on their browser too, which is good. Hope you return ;)

If you want to leave a comment, please note that I have had to block all comments containing links. Draconian, I know, and apologise, but I had no choice, spam was drowning me. Think of all the time wasted with e-mail and now mobile phone spam. There really should be a severe punishment for such people.

And now we find ourselves sliding towards the end of the year. In some ways, it is similar to last year, in that I never managed to quite get a grip on it, or kick myself into proper shape, mentally, physically, and spiritually. But if I look back, I can see a lot of ways in which I progressed, and areas where I have developed my life. So I suppose I should be satisfied with that.

I started fight class, and enjoyed it even more than I feared it. Had to take a break due to this old body being injured too easily, but will be back again first thing next year. One hell of a way to release frustrations!

The bass playing has really moved along well, I am confident of being able to lay down a storming, grooving, earth shaker for any song. Started dabbling with 6 string too, my total collection of guitars is now 5 beauties ;) . Apologies to all for some of the dodgy vocals on the tracks, but the only way to learn is to try.

Haven’t spent enough time taking photos, but also haven’t spent enough time in exciting new places. That will change in December, when I am in Mozambique, a country rebuilding itself after being ripped apart by civil war for decades. Even better, I will largely be underwater. I snorkelled again in Mauritius and was struck by how much I have always loved being underwater, so am currently getting into it again with an Advanced diving course. I plan to take some spectacular underwater shots in Mozambique, if my blasted housing arrives from Canon before I sue them.

The one thing that I have neglected this year, is my writing. Although I have been doing a bit of it with my blog. That was part of the reason that I started it, to get the writing parts of my brain back in form. When you don’t use a part of your mind, it starts to atrophy, and my writing was being overshadowed by my number crunching. Next year I am going to sit down and finish book two, and I know I will love it when I get back into it. Writing is my favourite thing to do.

I am pleased when people comment that they enjoy reading what is on the site, because it is laid out in a logical manner that they are easily able to understand. It is easy to write in a complicated style that makes you seem clever, the challenge is in laying down complex truths in a manner that anyone can understand.

Apart from my holiday, this December I also move into my apartment, first place that I have owned and not rented. It is going to be good to have a base. With that, and the job going well, I feel really well placed for next year, and determined to make the most of it. This life is really an amazing opportunity, when you break it down into what it really is.

A chance for your soul to interact with the universe around it, learn about the universe and itself. Communicate with other beings at higher and lower stages of development, all made of the same divine spirit matter. To be alive, is something so spectacularly profound, and the meaning of it passes us by every day…

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POTENTIAL

Monday, November 6th, 2006

I was at a yoga class presented by a world famous teacher. I didn’t have very high expectations of the class, as I suspected the teacher might be a bit of a twit. This suspicion was due to posters of him in loincloths. But I was pleasantly surprised, he was just an older hippy-ish kind of guy, and his class was very enjoyable and worthwhile, there was a lot one could learn from him.

What stuck in my mind was what he said at the outset of the class – that yoga is a means to maximize our potential as human being. And that is exactly what it is. The word Yoga is “Yoke”, and refers to the union between yourself and the Divine. This union is what you uncover as you go into yoga. This simple statement about maximizing our potential had an impact on me, as it reminded me succinctly about why I do yoga.

potential

Put another way, it is just a way of understanding your Self, of getting to know yourself very, very well. For example, some people may think I am self centered. I am, definitely. But it is more accurately described as Self centered. My path is Raja Yoga, and the aim of Raja Yoga is to explore your own Mind and Being. If you understand your Self deeply, you understand everything. And if you understand everything, only then you can really help those around you and play a strong role in society, as a direct result from being self centered.

What is so important about Yoga and regular meditation, is that it keeps bringing one back to the gradual process of growing yourself, bettering yourself. And as you realize that you are growing, you cannot help but realize how much further there is to go. By focusing on your current condition, and starting to understand it, you understand where your position is, and what is possible for you, as a human being, to achieve. And then your life becomes built upon what you can see as your future potential, and gradually inching towards that. For once you see the image of yourself in your mind, and start living towards it, you start to become it.

What makes it so difficult doing this, is that we are in a society where that is not how the vast majority of people live their lives. Living to grow into a better, more developed being, is not a concept that can even be understood by most people, and some apparently sophisticated people would write it off due to their misheld cynicism about the nature of life.

It also makes it difficult to relate to others, as you realize that their pursuits of careers, and relationships, and even love, are not what your life is about, and seems rather senseless to you. People making effort to drive themselves into an illusion, or to cement a state of being that makes them feel comfortable, instead of examining the underlying concepts.

But, ultimately, we have no choice. Because once you start to walk the path, there is no turning back. You can attempt to busy yourself with partying or a new relationship or hobby, but all too quickly you know it is not what you are about.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t say you should avoid these things. They are a part of life, but that is just how they should be seen, as an experience that shapes and lifts you. We should have relationships, and love deeply, but at the same time we should realize that it is an experience as fleeting and beautiful as walking along a beach and viewing a sunset over the water. We can not grab onto it and hold on and make it last forever, the most we can hope for is to enjoy it and be able to watch it disappear. And this applies to our families, our jobs, our health, everything.

The art is in enjoying it, living it, without being attached to any of it.

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