A slice of truth

"Are we all the same in a mirror image?  Is this the real life of what is?", asked my little brother.  

"Will you say a foolish thought is foolish simply because the majority ruled it as such?...Does truth lose it bearing if all is given light to?", he queried.     

Here's an attempt to answer his questions.

photo from www.brahmakumaris.org

Everything I see with my eyes is real
Not true
The reality I know is an illusion
In essence, I am just a point


A soul
a being of light
A spirit
I am energy



The body
is simply a tool for me to express
It is like a cellphone
And I am the sim


In fact, everyone's a sim
Only in different cases
Each one with different roles
Just as there are simple phones and androids


Essentially at the core we are all the same
The differences I see is not real
If we remove the cases
We are all dots


Beings of light
With everything we need
Peace, power, purity
love and happiness



The world is a stage
With the sun and the moon as lights
This is where I act out my role
Just as in a play, one day the curtains will close


This is not my home
But I have attached my heart to it
Because I've been here for a long time
I thought I am of the earth


Gradually, my battery has diminished
And so has my power
I thought I am of dust
So I grab only the visible



I thought that the goal
Is to become bigger and taller than the the skyscrapers
So I scramble for hats on my head and strings of relations
I will do anything to accumulate stickers and stamps


But I am a spirit
When I leave 
I leave the hats, strings, stickers and stamps
Only the good and bad credits remain


The world now has become a graveyard
The material and the differences hold the spotlight
People suffer because of anger
Greed, ego, lust, attachment



We have to remember
Who we truly are
We are beings of light
Stars from the abode light 
Who have come down here simply to  play our parts


We are here to express
Our truest selves
One which is filled with beauty and goodness
Up there we can only shine
Down here we can love, care and celebrate


Deep down
We are all the same
In essence we are all good
Even the seemingly foolish & meanest of us
We have simply forgotten


Please remember

Tanya Diaz: an eavesdropper's perspective

I don't know her personally.  In fact, we've never uttered more than 5 words to each other- hi, hello, bye and om shanti.

You see, I've worked with her on several programs organized by the meditation group I am part of.  I would often help in the events and she's usually one of our guest artists.

I don't even know that she's a rocker until I watched The Voice Philippines.  Since, we teach and practice om shanti (I am a peaceful soul), we'd often ask her to sing mellow hymns and she willingly obliges.

We've dragged her to small youth cafes, mall events to peace concerts.  She never asks for anything in return and we have nothing to give her but a box of toli (sweets).  She always receives it with a huge smile and the sincerest gratitude as though she is given a huge fee.

She's really just happy to sing and she shares her talent so generously.

I applaud people like her who give without strings.  They say that there's no bigger heart than that of a volunteer.

Of late, I have watched Tanya Diaz' feature in The Voice and I feel that they are not entirely showing what she stands for.  Yes, she's doing it to honor her kuya.  It's true that her family is her stronghold but who is she as a person apart from these?  Is this path something she dreams about?  Is she singing for herself too? 

I checked out her previous performances in the show and only a picture of a tough punk comes to mind.  

Well, recently they have been showing her gentle side,too. However, the image they paint of her doesn't tug the heart.

I hope that The Voice crew weave her story and her journey more adequately.  The show after all, is not just a singing competition.  If it is, why do people need to vote? It is also a popularity contest.  For the past seasons, it's often not the one with the best vocal prowess who wins but the one with the most heartwrenching story.

I don't know Tanya Diaz personally but I've worked with her off-camera and she's not only an exceptional artist but she is a girl on fire, with a big heart to boot.

Bamboo articulates it best during his knockout rounds decision, "Yung apoy niya nakakahawa lang talaga.  Siya talaga. She's something really special. At siya yung parang mark sa akin." (Her fire is really contagious. She's the one...She's the benchmark for me.)

I hope people get to see that, too.

Unplugged

*My friends find it amusing that I enjoy camping out in a farm-   far away from the comforts of the city.

*They don't believe that wild pigs can be petted (sometimes),

that it's possible to survive at night with only the light of the 
moon, stars and the handy-dandy flashlight,

*and that people there actually carry sword around (their belts) 
like they carry cellphones.

They protest, "What about animal rights?!", when they saw me ride a carabao. They don't know it actually hauls more than       

200 kilos of produce.

*They find harvesting, 

carrying buckets of water or loads of coconuts

*or making fire for nearly an hour too tasking.

It's really fun! Of course, the facilities can always be upgraded but for now I like it as is- rough and rugged.


I'll do this more often this year! 


*Photos by Nory San Juan