And the world falls away

Only Us by Dear Evan Hansen

I've been playing this song over and over in the last couple of months.

It calms me.  It reminds me to simply hold on to My One True Anchor and let the world fall away.

Since the start of the year, a lot of unexpected things happened.  At the moment, the city I'm in declared a state of calamity.  Many are worried and afraid.  

I cannot go with the world.  

People's heads are heavy with whys and what if's.  Their hearts are burdened with what-about-us and what-will-happen-now.  

I cannot blame them.

In a snap, the world as we know it has changed.  There is a pandemic and the world is put on a standstill.  Many are sick, some of us cannot work and most of us are ill-prepared for this calamity.

We have to adapt- right here right now.  It's hard.

So, I step away from the world from time to time.  

I meditate. 

I press the pause button in my mind and stop the charades of questions and speculations.  I tell my mind to be quiet so I can enter my inner space of calm.  Then, I connect to the Source of Peace. 

May I invite you, to do the same.  Turn off the news for awhile.  Log out from social media for an hour or so.  Stop the endless chatter in your head.

Go back to what anchors you.  It may be prayer, yoga, salah or even music.  Let the world fall away for at least a minute or two.  

I assure you, if you do this every single day you'll find your calm in the midst of the chaos.

Let the world fall away.

meditation by Release Your Wings

    

Save the cheerleader, Save the world

I’ve always been haunted by that line from the tv series “Heroes”.

“Is it possible for an ordinary person to really change the world?”, I often ask myself.

BK Jayanti Kirpalani, UE-Middle East Director of Brahma Kumaris explains in this interview at COP21, Paris that it is indeed possible.

video from Climate Home

She asserts that everything starts with the individual.  She links what’s happening in the world to an internal dissonance in human beings.  

At the moment, the consumerism we are seeing even in the developing world sometimes is really as if there’s hundreds of planets that we can take from and we can’t- there’s a limit.  And so when you turn inwards and connect with the happiness and joy that’s within,  then your lifestyle becomes a very simple one and so you don’t need so much from outside but there’s a spirit of generosity and care which you share with others.

The interviewer, surprise with Kirpalani’s stand asks, “Is that the message that you bring to COP21 which is actually a negotiation between governments of states. So, you are trying to give a novel message which is more about personal evolution right?"

Definitely, because we believe that everything starts with the individual and if even a minority group has a powerful voice then they are able to impact the leaders and the majority and so there can then be worldwide change.

"You are speaking about the personal development and the personal action on our self.  In just one sentence, what would you recommend to any human being on earth?"

“Make a conscious choice knowing that your decision about what you buy, what you eat, what you wear, what you do is going to have an impact on your carbon footprint and is going to set a trend and an example for others to follow also.”     

If you want to hear more from BK Jayanti, you are warmly invited to this event.

He came to work with no pants

  

“Wala na akong mga pantalon, kaya nakabahag ako ngayon”, (“I don’t have pants anymore that’s why I’m wearing a loin cloth”) Rigor said when he reported for work post-typhoon Nona.  

He quickly glanced at his buttoned-down Hawaiian shirt and bahag (loin cloth) and let out a hearty chuckle.

I was expecting him to ask me for pants or money to buy one but he didn’t.  He simply happily worked the whole day in his bahag (loin cloth).

On the other hand, Lino reported that the roof of their house was blown off by the wind.  

“How are you and your family?”, I asked.

“Naglagay po muna ako ng trapal habang wala pang pampagawa ng bubong.”, (“I just put a plastic cover in place of a roof since I don’t have money to have it fixed right now.”, he answered).  Then, he immediately went back to his task as though it’s perfectly ok to have a house with no roof.  Like Rigor, he did not ask me for anything nor did I hear a single complaint from him.

Then, I went to where my father was working.

How many trees were down?, I asked him.

“More than a thousand”, he replied.   

“Looks like, we won’t harvest any rambutan this year”, I commented.

“We’ll plant again.”, he reassured me.

“How long will it take to bear fruit?, I asked.

“In 2 1/2 to 3 years.”, he answered.

“That’s a looong time.”, I gasped.  

“Well, if you think that way then you’ll never farm.  Just plant, dear.  Before you know it, they’re all big trees."

Rigor, Lino & Papa- they’ve just gone through the worst storm to ever hit the farm (and El Nino before that) and they simply stood up, brushed off the dust and moved on.

While I was busy asking questions, they were planting again- pants or no pants. 

meditation by Release Your Wings

P.S.  PAOT  Disaster Risk Reduction and Response is collecting donations for those affected by Typhoon Nona and Onyok in Samar, Mindoro and Sorsogon.

May you be a calamansi tree

This is my New Year’s wish for you! 

You see, I just came from the family’s farm in Oriental Mindoro, which was gravely devastated by Typhoon Nona.

The tall and mighty Durian trees whose top can only be reached by a giant or 10 people stacked on top of each other had fallen ( in this case- on Lolo’s house ). Breathe, no one was harmed.

The flamboyant rambutan trees with numerous branches and thick leaves were uprooted.  In fact, all of our mature rambutan trees had met their bitter end (85% of the lot).  Only the young ones survived (15%).

The ever-abundant lansones trees had been cropped of its foliage.  My father said given time to heal and the right amount of care ( and organic fertilizer ), they might  still bear fruit.

On the other hand, the short and thin calamansi trees stood tall as though nothing happened- with branches and leaves intact.  I was told that the calamansi trees were able to weather the storm because of its roots.

You see, each calamansi tree has a major root which runs straight and deep into the soil making it firmly anchored to the ground. Thus, no amount of rain or wind can shake it.

I wish for your roots to run deep and for your spirit to be firmly anchored to the truth just like the calamansi tree.  So even when the fiercest storms come, you remain steadfast and strong.     

meditation from Release Your Wings

P.S.  For those who want to help, you may get in touch with Fr. Caloy through his facebook page or mobile number 0919-8406493.  His parish Nabuslot in Pinamalayan, Oriental Mindoro is one of the rural areas severely affected by the storm.  In fact, they still don't have electricity though it's nearly a month since typhoon Nona.

   

I met Professor X

"The plum blossom is a common subject in Chinese painting because it symbolizes resilience.  In China, this tree blooms even in the coldest of winters.", explains 63 year old Professor Esguerra.

I feel that he has a close affinity to it because it is very symbolic of his life.

"I was abandoned at the hospital (PGH) when I was 4 days old," he opens up.

"Fortunately, a kind couple adopted me.  However, I was barely out of highschool when my mother contacted epilepsy which lead to brain damage.  My father, on the other hand, was a simple government employee.  To help him make both ends meet, I chose to be a working student".

"I pursued college in UP Los Banos.  I was almost in my last year of veterinary medicine when my father got Alzheimers.  I had to take a full time job and study at night.  However, the only UP school which offered night classes at that time was UP Manila.  So, I shifted."

He details the difficulty of juggling work and study but he finally graduated, sent all his other siblings to school and got married.  

Still, life continues to test him.

His wife died before they even get a chance to build a family (a former student related this).  Many years later, the family's ancestral home was forcibly taken away from him. 

Other challenges came up but he remains optimistic, "Everything is just a matter of perspective".

In fact, he says that he's more productive when he has problems.  "I don't face it squarely initially because at that point I'm emotional and vulnerable.  Instead, I focus my attention to art and study.  That's my coping mechanism.  I only look at my problems when I'm stable."

"In life, no one is exempted from pain. You know, it's that thing which builds character", he advises.

He concludes, "Venus Raj's answer to the Miss Universe question should have been, The major problem doesn't matter, what matters is my reaction to the major problem."


P.S.  In case you still couldn't figure out why I call him Professor X,  it's because he simply keeps on flying over the many Xs (a.k.a. obstacles) in his life. 

                                          meditation from youtube

This too shall pass

I can emphatically deliver this line while looking out to nowhere (for more dramatic effect) or I can excitedly exclaim, "What's my present?!".

My meditation teacher says, "After the storm there's a gift".  Experience tells me that it's true.  So, everytime I am facing a challenge, I am more cheerful than gloomy.  "Why do I feel that you are happy that you are going through this?", asked a friend after I shared to her.

Why not?  I often come out stronger and better after an upheaval.  For me, it's always been a gift.

Just like the gloomy sky. The dark clouds will cover the sun and the clear bright sky but it will soon pass, leaving the horizon more radiant than ever before.

I always look forward to the brighter sky and am not just waiting for the dark clouds to disappear.