Walking the Walk

What made Martin Luther King Jr. such an effective leader was not how he gave speeches or how he organized his marches or how he communicated with other political figures.  It was how he lived his life.  He lived it exactly how he preached it.

During a speech he gave in September 1962, a young, white man jumped the stage and struck Dr. King in the face, knocking him backwards and face down.  And then the attacker continued to deliver more blows to King's body while he was still down.  Before King's supporters had the chance to grab the young attacker, Kind called out, "Don't touch him.  Don't touch him.  We have to pray for him."  The attacker was a 6'2", 200 lbs man who towered over King's 5'7" frame.  King never sought to hit back.  At one point, he actually stood still with his arms at his sides, waiting to be struck on the other cheek.  The gesture effectively stopped attacker's anger and he gave himself up.

Hocus Pocus...This is not Bogus!

When I was about 15 years old, I put on a magic show for my younger bothers and sisters.  I checked out a book from the library and used stuff around the house for props.  It was crude but I maintained the intended illusions of all the magic tricks in the book.  My siblings loved it.  That was magic for me, a recipe with step-by-step instructions...sort of a one-size-fits-all approach.

Real magic doesn't work like that.  The step-by-step approach actually hinders real magic.  I think there is famous story about Enlightenment involving Buddha and his disciples.  Fearing loss of Buddha's wisdom, his disciples asked him what was his secret to Enlightenment.  Buddha acknowledged his disciples' question by smiling but he did not say a word.  He knew everyone would try to copy his way of reaching Enlightenment rather than finding their own way.  That would be counterproductive because it would take them much longer to reach Enlightenment.

Sam

Crystal child 7215

Primary gift:  Great Sensitivity (Emotional and Sensory)

Secondary gift:  Physical strength

Aptitude:  Music and Arts


Animal Spirit:  Stag

Spiritual parents:  Mercury and the Great Compassion

Achilles point:  Great pain (a correlation of Great Sensitivity)

Lesson to learn:  All things must change.  Not all change is painful.  Love can never be lost.  All gain and loss is illusory.  

Defense mechanism:  Retreat within own castle walls.  Deny all new experiences to minimize loss and pain.

Best method against defense:  Patience, Love, Compassion

Thanksgiving 2011

No doubt 2011 shall be remembered as the most thankful of all Thanksgiving...so far.  This year has been tumultuous, passion-filled, and best of all, eye-opening.

We live in a world of magic, but only now do I see it.  V.A. used to tell me if Hogwarts were a real school, she would drop everything and become its first student.  She didn't know her wish was within her grasp her whole life.  J.K. Rowling knows this too.  The fictional world of Harry Potter is not so far-off from the real magic that each of us can command.  We only need to believe.

Each of us can cast spells over others, conjures never-seen-before creations from nothing, or stays young forever.  Our potential is limitless.  In our real magical world, you don't need to be born into a family of wizards and witches to have powers.  You only need to believe.

The path that has led me up to this point in my life has recently turned vertical and accelerated to supersonic speed.  It is like when Harry Potter first heard that he was actually a wizard.  An entire world hidden from him previously was suddenly revealed to him.  I still need lots of training before I can control this power, of course, but at least now I know real magic exists.

Everyone of us have this privilege, but getting to this point will be unique for each of us.  My path was guided by faith, the Holy Spirit, and love.  Yours may comprise of different ingredients or the same ingredients but in different proportions.  Whichever be the case, you have to believe it wholeheartedly before you can get that invitation to attend Hogwarts. 

A New Currency

When God charged me the task of protecting and healing traumatized children, I envisioned a charity Pediatric clinic.  Like all other instructions that He had given me, I KNOW with certainty that it will be a reality but the old me still worried about how I could ever finance this project.  This last Sunday during church, He let me know what I had been worried over the last month would be a non-issue when the time comes to build that clinic.

Wouldn't be radical if we change our currency from cash to credits of compassion.  Let's call it "CreCo".  In a world of CreCo, the only way to obtain goods and services is to have a positive balance of CreCo in your account.  How do you get rich in a world using CreCo?  You do everything out of love or for the sake of removing fear.  In the world of CreCo, people would line up around the block to help build my clinic.

Jesus...The King of Comedy

Why do we like comedians like Jay Leno, Bill Maher, and Jon Stewart so much? Because they show the absurdities of our fears. The authority figures we so fear and revere are shown to be just another human being with flaws and imperfections.

A kindred spirit of mine, whom I shall called the Monkey King, is about as irreverent as they come. He told me the other day that if a spiritual leader wouldn't come down from his perch to give you a hug, then he ain't s***.  OK, I'm paraphrasing here...but it doesn't change the fact that he's right.

Today I thought of how Jesus must have been when he was alive...not how they described him in the Scriptures, but how he really was. He definitely wasn't the type of guy that sits in the White House surrounded by hundreds of secret service men. Nor was he type that sits in the Vatican in gilded robes surrounded by Cardinals from the four corners the Earth. He wasn't even the type of guy that have disciples who follow him around and call him “Master”...that all started with Peter...

He was a guy that would sit among his the audience. He had no pulpit, no stage, nor throne. He was the kind of guy that gives you a hug when you feel alone, rock you when you hurt, and makes you laugh when you have the blues. In a world of gloomy perceptions, His positive attitude was the sun. He was the flame that drew in the moths. People didn't flock to Him because He was strong or powerful or rich. They flocked to Him because of one simple reason.  He loved them.

You may think I am being irreverent by using this kind of tone while talking about Jesus. Amen, I say to you, “reverence” is a word that needs to be deleted from your vocabulary. Reverence created division and distance. Reverence put one man above another. Reverence is a paper crown. It is as illusory as the position of authority that it supposes to regard.

There is no real “authority” on Earth.  God is the only authority.  Even God doesn't want your reverence. He only wants your love.

Don't do as I Say...

This morning the track was wet, the sky stormy, and the wind biting. The normal morning crowd was nowhere to be seen, probably rather being inside tucked between warm sheets than being outside, damp and cold. As the rain pellets hammered my face and my feet soaked to the bone, I thought the rain and everything that it brought was simply...glorious. As a kid in Vietnam I remember playing in the rain for hours, but here in the U.S. people duck for shelter even before the first drop falls like they are all allergic to rain water. I talk often about the concept of perception, but it never fails to amaze me when I actually experience it.

A wise man told me that there aren't 7 billion people on Earth, but actually there are 7 billion worlds or 7 billion realities...and they are all perfect.  Your reality is as significant as the reality of the Dalai Lama.  But don't take my word for it.  Word is cheap.  What you are reading from this page is cheap.  Go out and experience the life you want to have.

Choosing one path means abandoning others - if you try to follow every possible path you will end up following none. - Paulo Coelho

You Can't Handle the Truth!

It's been over 20 years since I saw A Few Good Men, but I will never forget a line from that movie. No, it's not Jack Nicholson's “You can't handle the truth!” grunt. It's what Corporal Dawson said to Private Downey when asked why they were dishonourably discharged when all they did was following orders, which had led to the death of their bunk-mate William Santiago. Dawson answered, “We were to supposed to fight for people who can't fight for themselves. We were supposed to fight for Willy.”

Everyone of us has a William Santiago in his or her life. He is the weakness that needs your strength, the ignorance that needs your intelligence, and the apathy that needs your compassion. Sometimes he is someone that you actually encounter in your life, but most of the time he lives inside you. This is the kind of ironic symmetry that I just KNOW God loves. All of the answers we need to know about things outside ourselves are found within ourselves.

This is why meditation is such an important part of life. It is the Christmas present under the tree that God leaves for us everyday. If you've ever seen a kid who just discovered how a light switch works, you know the wonderful feeling of discovering something by yourself. Why would God ever want to deprive us of this wonderful feeling by actually telling us what to do? It is so much more fun for us to find the answers ourselves.

My College Roommate

My roomate in college came from a small Texas town of 5000 inhabitants.  He was born there, got baptized there, and received all of his sacraments there from the same pastor.  He graduated 2nd in his class of 40, all of whom he knew since Kindergarten.  And he was the only person on his school golf "team".

He came to the University to study Actuarial Science because he was always good at math.  He had 15 credit hours of Advanced Placement classes even before stepping foot on to the University ground...saving himself a whole semester worth of tuition.  He had a 5-year plan, a 10-year plan, a 20-year plan, and a 30-year plan.  I was sure he had a 40 and a 50-year plan too, but he hesitated to tell me for fear I might think him weird.

Everything in his plan was calculated for the lowest risk of failure and the highest probability of success.  His daily schedule was planned to the minutes, including bathroom breaks and snack time.  This is a kind of guy that would get upset if someone serves him steak instead of his usual tuna fish sandwich on Sunday.  If I were to ask him to try my Vietnamese egg rolls, he would respectfully declined.  He would still be happy for me that I could enjoy them, but he just couldn't accept them because they were not within his comfort zone.

It would be easy to classify my roommate as "inflexible" or "too rigid".  But after reflecting on my own preferences, maybe someone out there is looking at me and think I'm "too rigid and inflexible".

On a quest of being One with All, I often come across the question of tolerance.  What does it take to be considered as an "open-minded person"?  How far must I stretch the limits of my tolerance for beliefs that are not consistent with my own?  Should I attend a Christian church on Sunday, a Buddhist temple on Saturday, and a Muslim mosque on Friday before I can called myself "open-minded"?

As souls, I have no doubt that we can do many things our physical bodies can not.  But even with as great as the capacity of a soul is, I don't think we can adopt the preferences of everyone in the world and make them our own.  Not only would that be very hard to do, it would also be unnecessary.  It would be like forcing a stomach acid-producing cell to do the job of an eye retinal cell, or that of a nerve cell.  Although every cell in our body has the same set of DNA, each cell only expresses what is needed from that genetic blueprint for that particular body.   Our relationship with God is not unlike the cell's relationship with the whole organism, or the study of foot reflexology and auricular acupuncture to the study of whole body acupuncture.  Each is a microcosm reflecting the truth of its parent macrocosm, but each microcosm is inherently different from the next.

So whenever I come across a belief that challenges the limits of my tolerance, I remember the lesson I learned from my college roommate.  Although the world is rich in wonderful diversities, I can only accept what is inside my comfort zone.  

So Simple It's Scary

Life, from a certain point of view, can be extremely complicated.  Everyday, each of us has to juggle work, school, family, romance, kids, etc.  But in church today, Father Ezuma had a very simple message.  Just show up.

By simply being where we need to be, God will take care of all of the details.  It's no difference than doing a play, but this play requires no preparation from our part.  You just need to be at the right spot on stage.  God will give you all the directions and feed you all your lines.

Life can literally be this simple.  Enter from stage left.  Listen to God's directions.  When your lines are all done, exit stage right.  No worries, no planning, no expectations, no disappointments.  You just have to show up and listen.

The Measure of a Man...or Woman

What is "marriageable" material?  Status?  Money?  Education?  A nice 6-pack abdomen, perhaps?  The list can stretch quite far.  What seems to be more important nowadays is not what one has but what one hasn't.

What one shouldn't have is a "history".  Prior marriages, divorces, and kids are some of the big items.   They don't conform to the social norms.  And to be outside the social norms is to be a social pariah.  A beggar on the street corner must have done something wrong to deserve that fate.  A mother giving birth to a mentally retarded child must have been negligent somehow.  A deaf-mute must have been terrible in the a past life and karma is now coming back to haunt her.  Maybe...maybe not.

The funny thing about "social norms" is that when you are in it, you don't learn anything.  In terms of spiritual growth, to be outside the social norms is to be blessed with opportunities for growth.  What better lesson to learn about hunger and lack of shelter than to be homeless?  What better lesson to learn about compassion and unconditional love than to be blessed with a handicapped child?  And only the most resilient and intelligent of souls can break past the physical handicap of being a deaf-mute to go on and become a historical figure.

To live outside the social norms is never easy.  It is a life full of disapproving looks, criticisms, and harsh judgements...in the beginning.   But the funny thing about social norms is that what is considered "unacceptable" today usually become "acceptable" tomorrow.  And who makes them acceptable?  It is the people who live outside the social norms.  After all, that is why God had chosen these individuals in the first place.  Not only do they have to be strong enough to endure the fight, but eventually they also have to be the beacon for the rest of the world.

10/10/10

The entry of 11/11/11 prompted a reflection on 10/10/10.  My best friend was able to dig up an email that revealed what I did a year, a month, minus a day ago.

It so happened that it was the same day that we held a 50-day mass service for V.  All the siblings made an effort to be in Houston that weekend...including N., who up to this point had gotten 2 other messages addressed to me from God.  It also so happened that N. sat next to me during the service, which was perfect because when she got God's message during the service she only had to whisper in my ear what she had just heard.  And it also happened to be right at the moment that I was asking God how I should leave Dubai when N. whispered the answer to me.

I had two options: should I wait 16 months to honor my contract with the hospital in Dubai or should I make a run for it and skip out in the middle of the night?  I had thought about a third option, which was to let hospital administration know about my intention of leaving my contract early, but I had a feeling that they would intentionally block all my exits and make my exit as expensive as possible once they learn about my intention.  God put all of my concerns to rest with his answer.  He told me I would be home within 3 weeks.

In reality it took me 3 months to get out of Dubai, because it took that long to tie up all the loose ends before I can get on the plane without worries that Dubai passport control could stop me.  Every red mark that is on a person's financial statement, employment record, driving record, or parking record would show up on the computer at a desk of a Passport Control officer.  It is Dubai's unique way of controlling their ex-pat population.  All retribution must be made before an ex-pat can leave the country.

But like all of God's messages, it was exactly what I needed to hear at the moment that I heard it.  The 3-week deadline stoked a fire in me and lifted me partially out of my depression.  I needed a purpose and focus.  God was giving me baby-steps back on the road to recovery.

11/11/11

With a date like 11/11/11, there is no way that I will let it pass without blogging about it.  In fact, there is no way that I will let it pass without making it an event worthy of my long term memory.

There must be a lot of people with the same intentions as mine, because today was PERFECT!  The temperature, the sun, the trees, the lake, the soft breeze...all were, for a lack of a better word, PERFECT.  And we all know that weather is an emotional reflection of the collective psyche.  A smart woman I know said, "The fact that many people believe 11/11/11 is a special/lucky day will make it so...Why can't we all believe that everyday is a good day!"

While I was still kneeling with the ring in my hand, a man standing across the lake from us took our picture.  The picture captured the moment perfectly...as if he has waiting all morning for me to make my move.  He was of the same mind as mine.  He just knew what I was about to do and thought it would be nice to help me out by photographing us because there was only 2 of us and a tripod.

Ever since 2 weeks ago when Samantha challenged me to surprise her, I thought about how to propose to her whenever I had a chance to daydream.  I knew she does not care for "things", so going out to "buy something nice" would not work.  The other dilemma is that she didn't care much for tradition...including the tradition of an engagement ring.  And if she were to want one, she would not be able to show off her engagement ring like other brides because this marriage has to be hush-hushed until at least after her graduation.

Slowly the idea of the mandala began to form.  A mandala would remind us of our spiritual root.  A mandala using the chakra symbols would also accentuate our eastern philosophy about health and medicine.  It would be a labor of love instead of a swipe of a credit card.  And it would be an ideal way to display the ring in her room.

The 7 symbols of the 7 chakras were ideal elements to use in the repetitive patterns of the mandala.  The basic geometric shapes that make up the symbols also has their individual philosophical meaning.  The 7 colors of the chakras are also the same ones from the diffracted light spectrum normally seen in rainbows, which would make this mandala very pleasing to the eye.  But more than just being aesthetically pleasing, each color is emotionally charged and is associated with each specific chakra according to its type of energy.  In other words, this mandala will have layers upon layers of meaning...something that Samantha loves to explore.

No matter how certain a guy is of the girl's answer, he would be lying if he tells you he is not nervous before proposing.  No matter how many contingencies he prepares for, he always thinks there is something missing.  No matter how much time he spends preparing, he always feels he is rushed on the morning of the day of proposal.

To carry all of my stuff this morning, I found a LARGE duffel bag, the kind that US soldiers use for their 2-year tour in Iraq.  In the bag, I had my trumpet, sheet music, trumpet mouth piece and accessories, camera, tripod, picnic blanket, water, yogurt, the framed mandala, umbrella, towels, cell phone, charger, jacket, and extra clothes.  I made sure I carried the ring in my pants pocket.

The plan was simple enough.  Take pictures with a time-delayed camera on a tripod.  And when she stands on a right spot, switch the camera to video mode, and pretend to take a picture.  Then act like I just dropped something on the ground, kneel down to pick it up, and  stay kneeling while showing her the ring.  It was a good plan, but it could have been executed a lot "smoother" :D

November 11, 2011 will certainly be remembered for a very long time...not only for its unique numerical symmetry...but also for the day that Samantha says "yes".

The good stress?

After 2 weeks of preparing for exams, worrying about exams, and then actually taking those exams, my body is officially twisted in knots...or in TCM terms "stagnated Qi to the hilt".  But after the emptying of the hand yang ming organ this morning, I had observable evidence that my Qi is flowing again!

I took the last midterm exam last night, which explains why my Liver Qi is no longer stagnated.  But the "stress" of completing the mandala is still there.  It's been there for almost 2 weeks now.  Why isn't this stress causing Liver Qi stagnation?  Because this "stress" originates from the desire of my own creative soul.  It could be labeled as a "good stress" because this creative energy forces the body, mind, and soul to work together.

The more common form of stress puts us under a burden of compliance to an external demand.  We take tests to satisfy demands of teachers.  We work according to the rules of our employers.  We observe curfews according to the wishes of our parents.  All are demands from an external source.  All can potentially create an impression of obstructed freedom that lead to us being "stressed out".

Note:  This blog was actually completed on Nov 9th, 2011

Boomerang

Do you ever wonder about the path that you take to work or to school each day?  You might pass a particular street corner in the morning.  And it is unlikely that you would pass that same corner again until later that afternoon or that evening.  And if you do it is likely to be from the opposite direction.  Well today, I passed by the same corner 4 times...just to answer a prayer.

It started with seeing a panhandler who I've never seen before.  Without his "Hungry...please  help" sign, he could have passed for any corporate executive on a weekend drive in his baseball cap and polo shirt.  Some might even say that he's too well-nourished to be hungry...but the eyes gave him away.  There was no doubt that he was hungry.  I knew I had to give him something but hesitated a little too long because by the time I reached for my wallet the light had turned green.

I told myself, "I'll give him something when I see him again."  But it was a lie to justify my hesitation.  I might never see him again.

I had planned to study after dropping off Sam at the babysitter's, but there was a gnawing feeling that I needed to be home.  I suddenly realized I needed to wait in person at home for a delivery.  So I headed for home.

When I approached that same corner again, I knew God had just given me a second chance to make good on my promise.  During the first the u-turn, God told me to give him xx.xx amount.  Of course, when I looked in my wallet I had that exact amount.  Normally I never  know how much I have exactly in my wallet.

So why is this event worth blogging?  People give money to panhandlers all the time.  But it is a milestone for me because I think I could almost hear the prayers of this hungry man.  This is how God answers our prayers...by letting us hear prayers from one another.  God has answered many of my prayers through interventions from complete strangers...which never failed to amaze me and to bring me closer to the Him.  After all, isn't this what life is all about?