Questions and Intentions...

I believe...
that tragedy is the revealer of true love...
that comedy opened my eyes to the reality that life is just an illusion...
and that drama is a constant reminder that I am a human being...

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Sometimes, so many things happen in our lives and they happen too fast for us to take it all in and savor the moment. Sometimes, nothing exciting ever happens and we think our lives are boring. Sometimes, some things happen but we're too busy to notice. Life just passed us by and we didn't even know it. How did I get here, you ask? Whatever happened during the last so and so years of my life? How come I'm still here when everybody else has moved on?

So many questions. Not one single answer. Or at least, not the kind of answer you want to hear.

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Things happen for a reason, or do they? Could it be that things just happen by chance for no reason at all and it's up to us to make something out of it? Like, if life gives you lemon, make lemonade? When life gave you the lemon, was there a predefined reason that you must make a lemonade out of it or was that up to you?

These were some random thoughts and questions from over a year ago and to this day, I'm still wondering the same things and still asking the same questions.

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I am tired from work. I can't wait to go Home!

May The Force Be With You

With the release of the new star wars DVD and on the exploration of the cosmic energy theory, here's a crazy idea: Intention is not a state-of-mind, a thought process, or even strong feeling or desire. Rather, it's a "FORCE" abundant in the universe waiting to be called, invoked, and used to achieve one's goals or simply, to get what one wants (from D.W. Dyer's new book, the Power of Intention; this is not an exact quote from the book).

Richard Bach's book, Out Of My Mind: The Discovery of Saunders-Vixen, had almost the same idea but presented differently. Bach's book is a fictional story about a pilot who found himself discovering solutions to some of the problems of his Piper Club airplane in the form of a vision of a woman who gave him the solution to each problem as if the woman was tutoring him. I read this book so many years ago and I hadn't read it again even for this article. But the biggest lesson I learned from the book which stuck to mind was that actually, nothing is invented. Every solution, every learning, every knowledge, every technology, has always existed in the universe awaiting to be discovered.

Bach's idea coupled with Dyer's may mean that by "intending" it, anyone of us can be the discoverer of things yet to be discovered like a car that runs completely on electrity without any need for gas, a space ship that can travel to the farthest planet in earth-years rather than in light-years, those star wars droids (maybe I can have my own R2D2 **wink**), a podracer maybe? How about some complex food mixtures or suplements that prevent or slow down aging? I bet, even if those foods taste disgusting, they'd be selling like hotcakes! HAHA!

How about this, "It is my intention to attract one million dollars! May the force bring it to me!" I'll let you know if it works.

Hehe...
May the force be with you!
(waves hand)

Here Comes The Sun

The sun is up!

After 9 days of continuous downpour, the sun decided to show up again today. Thank God! I love the rain but it gets really gloomy when it's all you see for days. You begin to long for the sky to clear up and for the sun to come out and warm the air outside so you can go out for walk, take in a breath of fresh air, and take pleasure in watching the beautiful trees and the changing colors of their leaves as the fall season makes a grand entrance.

It's a great day today! The sky is clear and the air is warmer (although it's still cold out there at 66 deg F, at least it's not 49 deg F). Outside, the colors of the trees are beginning to change. I see a lot of bright purple, yellow, orange, and red leaves all around. What a breathtaking view! And even though it's gotten really cold outside, it's still a great time to go out for a walk and feel the warmth of the sun against my face.

This will be my second fall season in Seattle. Last year, when I didn't have a car yet, I walked to work everyday so I was able to really enjoy and take in all the beauty that was all around me. This year, I already have a car so I don't really have to walk during these very cold months anymore. But I don't think I can resist the stunning sight that gives so much pleasure to the mind and the senses. Such beauty that only comes from nature needs to be savored, experienced, and lived!

When I saw that the sun was out this morning, I decided to leave my car at home and walk to work. It was a glorious 10-minute walk; a great way to start a great day!

Farmaid 2004

I was greatly moved by the Farmaid 2004 concert at the White River Amphitheater in Auburn, WA which I attended last Satuday with some friends. Founded 20 years ago by a group of American musicians, including Willie Nelson and Niel Young, Farmaid's aim is to help American Families keep their farms by raising enough money every year to help support the family farms. Proceeds of the Farmaid concert are used to operate the Farmaid hotlines (1-800-FARM-AID) that provide immediate help to family-owned farms in crisis. It also provides financial assisstance for families to keep their farm going.

The concert is not only conducted for entertainment and for fund-raising purposes, it is also used as venue for creating awareness on the problems facing family-owned farms accross the United States and Canada. It's also a campaign to support family farmers by encouraging people to buy food from family farms instead of from large, corporate food manufacturers. In a way, it's also a campaign against corporate greed! But some people will argue that corporate food manufacturers are but an inevitable sign of progress.

So, is this concert then, a campaign against progress? Ah, the million-dollar question!

I don't believe so. Neither do the founders of Farmaid. As Neil Young himself said, progress is good only if it helps people improve their way of living. We do not have to pay for progress with people's lives, heritage, and culture. "It doesn't have to be that way," he said. And I agree. Whether it's happening here in the US or in my home country, the Philippines, or anywhere in the world! It doesn't have to be that way. With this in mind, I'd like to invite every concerned Filipino to help our own country preserve our heritage and our culture by visiting the following links:

Fund Drive to help save the Ifugao Rice Terraces:
http://www.inq7.net/reg/2004/jun/19/reg_3-1.htm

Philippines Faces an Uphill Battle to Save The Rice Terraces:
http://www.thingsasian.com/goto_article/article.2124.html

Check out these images of the magnificent Banawe Rice Terraces

Let's all do our share even if it's as little as helping creating awareness for what needs to be done. Please feel free to copy this message and forward it to your friends/families/anyone through email or any other means.

As for the concert itself, among the artists that performed were Willie Nelson, Neil Young, Dave Matthews, John Mellencamp, Lucinda Williams, Steve Earle, Marc Broussard, Trick Poney, Blue Merle, Kitty Jerry, Tegan and Sara, and Jerry Lee Lewis. As you can probably guess, the only reason I bought the tickets was because of Dave, Niel, and Willie. As it turned out, it was one of the most beautiful and touching concerts I've ever seen. I'll definitely watch it again next year even if Dave isn't performing.

Me, My Thoughts, and I!

“Transformation is the ability and willingness to live beyond your form.”

Form = the physical me. The ‘bodily’ me along with all my physiological properties like my brown skin, black hair, red blood cells, bones, kidneys, and all the other visible parts of me. All these make up only 01% of my entire being.

Formless dimension of me = the bigger part of me. The real me that cannot be seen, heard, touched, or sensed by my form or other people’s forms. This part of me includes my thoughts, feelings, state of mind, and higher consciousness. This part makes up 99% of my entire being.

Whoooaaa, what?!

When I was younger I always thought there has to be more to life than what I was seeing or experiencing back then. In the same way, somehow in the back of my mind, I always thought there has got to be more to me than what other people around me or even I can see or sense with the five physical senses. I just wasn’t sure what to call it until I read Dr. Dyer’s book, You Will See It When You Believe It, seven years ago. He called it our “formless dimension.”

It’s an amazing discovery which still blows my mind to this day. Our “formless dimensions” didn’t seem as real as being able to see, taste, touch, hear, or smell. But what about the ability to dream, love, get hurt, be happy, be afraid, or be sad? These are not physical events even though they are sometimes manifested physically by crying, laughing or screaming. But they are very real. Perhaps even more real than any of the five physical senses. And I believe these "formless dimensions" make us real and alive more than do any of the five physical senses.

While our physical appearances aid in distinguishing us from one another, I believe that it’s our “formless dimension” that makes us truly unique beings who/that are different and separate not only from other human beings but also from all other creatures that walk this earth (or universe, maybe?). And since our formless dimension makes up the bigger part of our selves, isn’t only fitting to say that the best way to transform our lives (or ourselves?) is by transforming our thought process?

“You are a soul with a body rather than a body with a soul. You are not a human being having a spiritual experience, but rather a spiritual being having a human experience. “

This knowledge blows my mind because it seems so simple but it's so hard to comprehend let alone live up to. Or maybe it's not so hard to do if we've been trained to live our lives by and through our thoughts from birth rather than by and through our physical forms.

It seems in a way science did screw up our spirituality by insisting that only those that can be perceived by the five physical senses are real.

“I think, therefore I am!” Rene Descartes said it best!

Welcome to my blog

Hi!

The weather is changing pretty fast out here in Seattle. Summer went by so fast and I didn't even notice that it's almost over. That's what happens when you live life the fast way like what my friends and I did during these past summer months. It was like there wasn't going to be any tomorrow. We were out most of the time, taking advantage of all the sunny days and weekends. We probably explored most of the the Pacific Northwest in 3 months flat! We've been to places even many Washingtonians who've lived here for years have never been to. It was fun while it lasted and now fall is beginning to reclaim the weather. Not too long from now, we'd be finding ourselves homebound for most of the following few months. Oh well, a good long rest will be very much welcome. It would be nice to recharge and get ready for next year's "lakwatsahan" again. But maybe next year we'd explore places outside the Pacific Northwest (except for the Gorge which is likely going to become an annual event! Wait for my Gorge story soon!).

I'm still trying to decide whether to post old writings from years and years ago which nobody has read before (or so I think) or post my most recent writings. But whatever I decide for my first entry, I hope I won't disappoint my readers!

Take care all and please do check back later.