Vacuum State

Self Worth Nett Worth

noreply@blogger.com (jupilier) — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 08:27:00 +0000

This is a slogan of a training company, which I think is rather unfair and ungrateful to schools. It also has a very limited understanding of what being 'rich' is. While being rich mean having an abundance of desirable qualities and elements in general terms, it is common for many people to equate 'being rich' with one who merely has lots of money.

Even restricting our definition of 'being rich' into the narrow scope of money, schools actually do teach us how to make them. For instance, good language abilities enable me to communicate effectively with others and read up on the fine details of product specifications and commercial laws. Ultimately, having good language skills help me to make money.

Other subjects like maths, science, history and geography are obviously useful tools to make money with, and there are the more subtle ones that I have found even more useful. For instance, even the dreaded non-phonetic Chinese ideograms have helped to improve my pattern recognition abilities, alongside with the more congenial art lessons; and after all, business is but about recognising patterns and striking the opportunities at the right time! And what better way to be trained in precise timing than by learning music? Besides, music is also inherently highly structured and intuitive, which is among the traits of successful businessmen.

So schools do teach us how to make money, and it is just a matter putting all the skills together. More amazingly, schools not only teaches us how to make money but also the moral duties to society, family and self. It teaches us to serve society and that money is but the fuel to our lifestyles, not the source.

In highly urbanised cities, where its people are further and further removed from nature, it is easy to believe that money is the source of life. Yet, money is merely an invention by human beings to store value. The plants don't have money. The animals and the entire nature don't have money; and they live (until they are destroyed by humans). Nature, after all, is eternally regenerative and abundant. As Buckminster Fuller puts it, we are all multi-millionaires by the measures of what nature has already given us.

So why do business 'gurus' say that schools do not impart the skills to become 'rich'? It could be their own myopia that being rich is just merely having money and their own shortcoming of not recognising the business skills that are implicit in all the subjects in school. Perhaps they didn't really understand those subjects when they were in school and have missed the essence in their own education! If not, then they could be using those silly slogans to whip up the feeling of inadequacy among the audience. That is, break their confidence, make them feel that they need something that is missing in their education and that they have to get it fast in order to make money. In other words, they are selling fear. Sadly, that's also a way to ~~become rich~~ make money - by selling fear.

I have this video of Chris Gardner, the real life character in the movie "In the Pursuit of Happiness". He certainly did not attend any 'how to get rich" classes, but he got there to make lots of money and lots of good morals too! There is another post about him in this blog. For more of him, click here.

Finally, look around you and find out if those well-rounded fabulously ones needed a business guru?

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Fat Hope

noreply@blogger.com (jupilier) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 03:35:00 +0000

"My son loves his slimmer mummy more!" so the ad says.

Can this possibly be so?

In the story, the little boy merely said that his mum looked more beautiful when she was slimmer, not that he now loves her any less. Besides, children are still pure. They love their mum regardless.

Slimming clinics should not taint the innocence of children and exploit the fears of anorexic mothers, or women in general, just to get more customers. I wonder what the Media Development Authority say about unethical claims like these.

How to create a New Self

noreply@blogger.com (jupilier) — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 08:51:00 +0000

This is a video from fora.tv of Dr Deepak Chopra talking about 'consciousness' as part of introducing his new book, "Reinventing the body and ressurecting the soul - How to create a New Self". For the full programme of the talk, click here.

There is something I am fully taken in by the talk, it is when he told the audience to ask themselves every morning to check if they are in touch with their soul:

1. Is it fun?

2. Is it easy?

3. Am I getting results?

If there is a 'no' for any of the question, then you are not in touch with your soul.

Summary of the Full Talk

01.Introduction

02.What is Consciousness?

03.Perception and Consciousness

04.You Are Not in the Body the Body is in You

05.Continuity and Discontinuity

06.Five Attributes of Discontinuity

07.Five Breakthroughs for the Body

08.Five Breakthroughs for the Soul

Q1: Is Love an Element of Evolution?

Q2: Staying Centered with World Chaos

Q3: Spiritual Guides

Q4: Positive Thinking

Q5: Michael Jackson's Death

Q6: Medicine / Healthcare

Q7: Purpose of Dreams

Q8: Role of Pleasure and Pain in Consciousness

Q9: Music and Healing

Q10: What Happens to the Soul After Death?

Q11: Business Philosophy

Q12: Celebrity Clientele

Q13: Being Comatose and the Soul

Q14: God Is a Woman

Q15: Inspirations

Q16: Recreational Drugs

Q17: Being Unaffected by Negativity

Q18: Personal Religious Practices

Q19: Grandchildren and World View

Q20: Anti-aging Science

Q21: Do you do for Fun?

Holistic Sunday

noreply@blogger.com (jupilier) — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 06:31:00 +0000

Date: 24 October 2009 (Sunday)

A 'holistic day' for me...

1000h-1300h: The Holistic Fair

Woke up early to go to Fort Canning for the Body Mind Soul Fair, also known here as the 'Holistic Fair'. Once a year, such a fair is organised gathering holistic healers, meditation groups, tarot card readers, innovative health products,...etc. Of course discretion is needed when choosing what services to engage. Personally, I would raise a red flag on 'gurus' that display:

1. Personality Cult

It is not uncommon for gurus to allow their followers to paint a glorious and larger than life picture of themselves. Some of these unquestioning followers work as unpaid volunteers to the guru. Remember you are there to listen to the song and not to worship the singer.

2. Nerve

A guru would be one who is peaceful and calm. I would be uncomfortable with one with a nervous twitch and volunteer their unsolicited opinions about people around them. (Who asked for your opinion anyway?)

3. Magic

When they demonstrate 'magic' to capture your belief.

4. Exclusivity

That only through him, through their method or their product/service can you achieve a higher consciousness.

5. Content

Strip away the robes, long beard, batik sarongs,...etc and check if there is any content left. For instance, I had heard of a guru telling someone that she was on the right path. Is there such a thing as a 'right path'? Everyone is surely on their own (unique) path, but there is no 'right' or 'wrong' paths. I know of a drug addict and trafficker who had served time in jail, but after that created an enterprise ark to help, train, hire and counsel ex-offenders. Is his path more 'right' than my less dramatic path?

However, there is sub-conscious evolution and conscious evolution. For the latter, we need awareness to consciously lead the path of self elevation of consciousness (salvation).

6. Money

Follow the money. Is there a large donation required at some point?

7. Sex

Follow the sex. Sex sells - even in the 'spiritual business'! For instance, if the yoga school is more into sexy tight fitting fashionable gear and emphasize more on looking good than the true meaning of union of body and soul, then something is amiss.

1400h-1730h: Tao

This is an excerpt of a talk on "What is religion?" by a Tao master. This post is written as a first person account for readability reasons only and is not an ad-verbatim record of the speaker. Any distortions or omissions are mine and most likely accidental and definitely without malicious intent. As such, please do not quote from this post.

Life is short, so what is the meaning? Buddha asked if the animal has meaning. The animal like everything here has value, so it has meaning to itself. Hence we can't judge.

So what is your value? None one else can tell you except yourself.

What is religion and what is philosophy?

'Philosophy' is a recent name. In ancient times, they are merely wisdom derived from life. Before the existence of 'religion', there was still meaning. From mere survival, mankind has started worshipping nature, mystics and even devil spirits. It is only when mankind's consciousness is reasonably developed then would it be able to grasp the concept of mysticism. Such practices were meant to alleviate sufferings.

Then came prophets who (perhaps not intentionally) the concept of religion. So the difference between a religion and a philosophy is that the former has a prophet. [ My note: However, according to Wikipedia, the difference between religion and philosophy is that the former essentially involves some beliefs and faith. ]

Religion led the world before science. There arise different religions due to different cultures and geography. Contemporary religion is more scientific and less ritualistic. There are attempts now by the contemporary religions to offer scientific explanations. This is perhaps to cater for the younger generations (brought up more in sciences) who are generally less religious.

But science has developed very fast. It is also important to note that science do not operate in a vacuum devoid of the natural laws. On the other hand, traditional religions are too old fashion and could not explain science using the natural laws.

Philosophy is between religion and science. It is mostly derived from Love and is also not completely scientific. There is also a difference between Western (Greek) philosophy and the Eastern (Chinese) philosophy.

Greek philosophy is propounded from idealistic thoughts of what life should be, whilst Chinese philosophy is based on the natural laws of being (Tao).

What is the difference between Buddhism and Tao?

Before Buddha, there was no Buddhism. During Buddha's time, it was known as Buddha's teachings or teaching for enlightenment. Enlightenment is to realise one's true nature.

Tao is basically true nature reasoning. It is 'the way'.

Is there any meaning to ancestor worship?

Traditionally, there has always been 'ancestor worship', but they are punctuated with the arrival of Western relgions. There is still a relationship between our ancestors and us, if they (the ancestors) have not reincarnated yet. So they are still able to help us.

[I asked: So what if they are reincarnated?]

Then they wouldn't recognise the relationship anymore.

Are religious people better off than atheists?

Traditionally, people merely prayed for peace and protection. Nowadays, there is less need to pray for those reasons, so we pray for guidance. Atheists have no religions, so they have to find their guidance elsewhere, as they don't follow religious morals/ethics and may lack clarity.

[My note: Having no religion, is a religion itself.]

How does destiny come about?

Some destinies can be read. Those have forms. There are also those that are formless, like our consciousness. Charity work with evil hearts will not work, because it is the 'cause' that will lead to 'destiny'.

Why are there rituals?

All religions have rituals. They are a submission to a higher power.

Can Christians cultivate Tao?

If you ask your pastor, he'll probably say 'no'. Conversely, if you ask him if you are a Tao cultivator and he would like to be a Christian, he'll probably say 'yes'.

So it depends on you. Why do you want to cultivate Tao? Is it because the words in Tao are meaningful to you, is it the experience or is it your quest for enlightenment?

Jesus asked his followers to seek the Truth. A Tao cultivator also seeks the Truth. Christianity, in Chinese, is translated into 'Saviour's Teachings'. So Christians are disciples of the Saviour. Likewise, in different times and places in history, there were Mohammed, Buddha and others who were to save their people from ignorance. This can be done only by seeking the Truth.

Is there any difference between a Tao cultivator and non-cultivator?

A cultivator becomes more peaceful, calm and harmonised over time. It is the process of letting you find your true nature.

I don't belief in Jesus, Buddha, Mohammed or any of those Prophets/Saviours, but I believe in myself. Is that ok?

Ok, as long as you don't fall down. Religion is not a crutch that you must have throughout your life. You can also believe in money. Nothing wrong about that, but that will be limiting. For instance, money alone cannot buy you happiness or good health.

Without a religion, you can still reach enlightenment. One can be free from the perception of God and from the (perceived) God's control. When Buddha attain enlightenment, he was free from any limitations and perception of God.

Am I free from Cause and Effect if I don't believe in it?

Try giving a tight slap to someone and you will see if there is an effect. Cause and Effect is scientific. It is one of the Universal Law. You believe this more as you get older and witness people getting what they sowed. Hence the explanation for why some people are born pretty, ugly, rich, poor,...etc.

What is 'split personality'? Is that good or bad?

Some people have not just two, but multiple personalities. But there is a difference, if it is different personalities within one soul or multiple souls. Many of us behave different in different environments. One behaviour in society, another in your religious organisation, another in the family,...etc. Some people work so long in the jobs that they bring their workplace behaviour into the family. So which one are you? So don't get yourself to become too complicated.

Famous actors and singers have the problem to remember their true self. As they get famous they are more and more afraid to lose their fame, as deep down they feel that they are merely an ordinary person going on a ride.

Where split personalities is due to possession, the the person can speak in different voice, sometimes voice of a different gender, a different language.

A person will a split personality leads a contradictory life. It can be stressful.

It was an enlightening talk of about 3 hours. It overran, so I had to rush down for my next appointment with a friend from the Eckangkar religion.

For other posts on Tao, click here.

1800h-1900h: Discussion with an Eckangkar initiate

I first heard about Eckangkar by chance, amid a conversation about 'soul travel' with my Muslim friend. He told me a friend of his can do that and that friend is from 'Eckangkar'.

After that, nothing else happened, until about two months later, another friend called me out of the blue to meet up for a drink. During our meeting, this friend wanted me to read his character and behaviour based on his date of birth. (I have learned to do that through the 'Power of Numbers' course I attended recently. For more, click here.) As I was doing his reading, he whipped out a small booklet from Eckangkar. I told him I have heard it before and had visited their website but had not taken the effort to visit them.

"How about visiting them now? They have a "Hu" chanting session today (Sunday), " he said. And so off we went. It was on that day that I attended the first "Hu" chant. After that session, I didn't go back. Before I left for that day, an Eckist asked me to block a certain Sunday off, as they will be having a seminar and will be delighted if I can attend. So I dutifully put it on my calendar on my mobile.

Again a few months lapsed and then one day, my mobile calendar beeped and showed that the Eck seminar was to happen the next day. But I didn't even have any confirmation nor the details yet and had to ask the Eck guy to confirm the time and place of the event.

The next day on the way to the seminar, I had a stray thought that during the seminar, my Muslim friend whom had first told me about Eckangkar, will call me during the seminar and I will tell him that I am at an Eckangkar seminar to surprise him. Curiously, he did call during the seminar and I did tell him exactly that!!!

During the seminar, I bought a book about "Spiritual Dreaming", I had been journaling my dreams and would like to find out more about the significance of dreams. In it, it suggested some exercises, among which is to chant 'Hu' before the sleep to better connect with the dream. I have been doing that and indeed, it seems to work. ( I have some posts about dreams. Click here.)

Curiously, there is also a gentle and comfortable resonance through the body when I chant 'Hu'. I can also hear the different frequencies that comes out from the single chant of 'Hu'. Very strange!

Also incidentally, just today, during the Tao session, I just told another Tao cultivator that I have plans to fast once a week to let my stomach rest. Then surprise surprise, when I met my Eck friend in this appointment, he told me exactly that!

During the conversation, I asked him about Eckangkar's opinion towards vegetarianism and the act of taking away life. My Eck friend then replied that we can never kill the soul of an animal, because the soul is eternal. Also, we must depart from the emotional aspect of killing the animal. However, if one is to kill an animal, he is stopping the animal in its incarnation to experience its life on Earth. This will have an impact on one's karma. The more evolved the life form is, the bigger the karmic debt. But, it is not necessary to be vegetarian as an Eckist.

It has been a series of coincidents in my meeting of Eckangkar. However, I believe nothing in life is coincident. We call it co-incidents because we cannot explain it. I mentioned these 'coincidents' just as a matter of curiosity. It is not to elevate that my meeting with Eckangkar is the only thing special in my life, nor are they the only coincidents. In fact, when our minds are still, we will begin to notice more of such 'coincidents'. So keep your eyes open! :)

The one hour passed very fast and soon I had to rush to the next appointment, which was a talk on Light and Sound meditation, which sounded very similar to Eck.

1900h-2100h: Talk on meditation on Light and Sound

I managed to sneak into the seminar hall minutes after the talk started. Actually, it was more like a course preview. The speaker did not describe the process to get into the meditation per-se and there was no practice during the talk.

I have two disagreements with the talk.

1. That in this meditation, the meditator is supposed to abstain (among other things) from spiritual healing because it would be an interference to one's karma.

I find this an overly simplistic explanation about karma. The 'ecosystem' of karma is far more wide reaching, complex and involves an immense number of actions, people and beings. How can it be reduced to a one-to-one action-reaction? Which in this case simply involved healer and person to be healed? The speaker said that allowing ourselves to receive spiritual healing means interfering with our karmic debt. (You can read about Reiki healing here.)

"So how about medical healing?" I asked.

"That is still an interference, but a smaller one to the karmic debt!" the speaker replied.

Who is he as a single human being to judge if it is an interference or an act of compassion? This resignation to the fate of karma is one of the reasons why some poor communities are left to rot, because the richer ones in their community abandoned them to suffer.

This is counter-intuitive! How can turning a blind eye to poverty go with the universal flow of Love? The heart instinctly jumps up to help and yet corrupted beliefs stopped it from doing so!

I believe that if we put Love first, everything else will be sorted. Also, we must learn to be human first. If we cannot live our life as a loving human being, what chance do we have to live our divinity?

2. That after meditation, we should do a Self Analysis on our negative characters like: anger, lust, greed,...etc.

Meditation brings us peace and tranquility. When we are peaceful and tranquil, there are no negative characteristic traits in that moment. That is, when there is light, the shadows disappear. So why bother analysing the shadows? Over time and over repeated meditation, our negative characteristics will gently fade away without our notice. There is no need to re-visit them and remind ourselves of them. It wouldn't help, as you cannot remove any shadows by focusing on shadows. In fact, if you continue to focus on your negative traits, they will grow. The thoughts that you feed more will grow and truimph over the ones that you don't feed. So, focus on the light. Just meditate and then enjoy the peace.

But shadows do have their purpose! It makes us realise the divine aspects in ourselves that we have forgotten. Similarly shadows make a photograph beautiful, without shadows there will be no picture to take, as there is only light.

I voiced my opinion to the speaker and he replied that perhaps their method does not suit me. To me, it is a refusal to reassess what he believes in, in clearer light.

It was a long day! I didn't plan it like that, but it just turned out impromptu like this. I had some 'high' moments and 'low' moments.

However, here are my (harsh) opinions...

I think that gurus should be more responsible and think carefully before they start a 'spiritual group'. If they are half-baked themselves, where will they lead their followers? What value will they add to their students' spiritual journey?

I suspect there is a lot of ego going around, and in some cases, it has a lot to do with money! *sigh*

Perception

noreply@blogger.com (jupilier) — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 12:47:00 +0000

We have heard many times from spiritual gurus and motivational speakers that happiness comes from within and that even our perception of the world outside comes from within. To give you more comfort over all these verbose, we have scientists now giving a more rigorous treatment to that perception do indeed comes from within.

Here is the first one about perception of sound:

The next talk about the perception of colours:

And lastly, about how the brain works:

So, it's all in our mind! :)

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Doubt

noreply@blogger.com (jupilier) — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 08:13:00 +0000

Date: 9 Oct 2009

Time: 7pm

Place: The Buddhist Library

The highly acclaimed movie "Doubt" was screened this Friday.

Summary:

In 1964 a Catholic elementary school has just admitted its first Black student, a 12-year-old boy transferred from public school. The principal, a rigid disciplinarian nun, and the liberal parish priest are both concerned for the boy's welfare in a predominantly Irish/Italian school. The nun becomes convinced that the priest has, or is planning to have, an improper relationship with the child and is determined to force him to leave the school. A third compassionate person is the boy's mother, who has another point of view. The fourth person is a young teacher who is concerned but confused by the conflict between the nun and the priest.

I particularly like these two sermons by Father Flynn.

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So if you are in 'doubt' or 'uncertainty' now, do not despair.

And, do not gossip, for you cannot collect the feathers carried by the winds of gossip back.

And this is the doubt and gossip...
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In Sickness and In Health - Painful Again!

noreply@blogger.com (jupilier) — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 04:15:00 +0000

I am in pain again! I have checked my blog and learned that the last time I had this excruciating sciatic pain was thirteen months ago. Then, I took to painkillers.

This time, I identified the problem and took action early, doing the exercise below twice a day.

Oh yes, positive thinking also helped. At the bottom of it, all dis-eases are psychosomatic. Proud to say, I overcame that without the help of painkillers and drugs. Many thanks also to the author of the wonderful video.

Echoes of the Freelance Pathway

noreply@blogger.com (jupilier) — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 01:15:00 +0000

I woke up yesterday, the 3rd Oct 2009, to a rude surprise that my old friend Donald Stadler, had a heart attack and passed away on the way to work in the morning in London. He was only 50. That must have happened around 9.30am in London and 5.30pm Singapore Time on the 2nd October 2009. Curiously around that time, I heard Donald saying, "...wonder what happened to Michael's loan..." It was a clear message, but I didn't think much of it other than perhaps he was curious and concern about me. I do have many experiences of telepathy and this I thought was just another one.

Donald was an American whom I have met during my freelance days in Holland in 1993. We lost contact some years later and then only re-established communications about a month ago. Then, he told me he had just known that he had lost his job and it was hard to find work in London. I was hoping to meet him in London sometime November, when I find time to travel to Europe.

Life is fragile. If we do not take care of our minds, our bodies deteriorate. Donald was a single child. His father died when he was very young and he was raised only by his mother. He was often lonely and I suspect was also depressive as a result. During our stint in Rotterdam in the winter of 1992, we spent considerable time chatting in Chinese restaurants after work about how cool Compuserve emails were (as the Internet has just started to hit the masses) and how China will become an economic power in 20 years time. Fast forward (gosh!) 17 years, and we were right on both counts. The Internet is pervasive and the People's Republic of China just celebrated its 60th National Day gloriously as an economic power while the US is seriously bogged down in a financial meltdown.

I enjoyed those chats we had. Donald was a good conversationist and also one of the few Caucasian friend who was adventurous enough to eat what was to them 'exotic' Chinese dishes of strange animal parts.

Donald's sudden departure reminds me to live everyday as if it is my last (or first), and not put life on 'hold'. Problems and troubles will always be there, but they are not part of us, if we don't allow them to be. The soul is inherently peaceful and I should like to remind myself about that and enjoy life's every moment to the fullest.

May also you rest in peace Donald. Farewell!

Bucky Group - The Pursuit of Happiness

noreply@blogger.com (jupilier) — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 02:04:00 +0000

This movie was in the cinemas in the year 2006. Those who had seen it before said it was still as touching watching it over again at the Bucky Group.

This is the trailer:

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For the movie proper, click the Playlist.

Now here is the documentary of the real Chris Gardner:

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There wasn't time for group discussions after the movie, as Joo Hock's Hair Salon has to start.

In the main movie, in the scene outside the child care centre, Chris Gardner corrected the mis-spelling of happiness on the wall (spelt as "happyness"). He said, it is not 'y', but 'i'. Incidentally, it sounded like not "why", but "I" (happiness is inside me).

Here's a public talk by Chris Gardner:

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Since the Bucky Group didn't have time to discuss about the movie the last session, I would suggest we do so this week. There should be lots to reflect on. There would be more if you are about to be booted out of your apartment!!! Or if you are a man who hasn't broken the cycle of not being with your children! :)

Passive Anger

noreply@blogger.com (jupilier) — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 05:13:00 +0000

Do you recognise this? Anger can be covert.

The Hungry Ghost Getai

noreply@blogger.com (jupilier) — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 01:28:00 +0000

The Chinese Seventh Month Getai (concert) season this year is coming to a close tomorrow on the 19th September 2009. I had a very entertaining and fascinating evening attending one at Loyang Tua Pek Kong.

This temple is an epitome of religious harmony in Singapore. Besides being a Taoist temple, it also houses a Hindu Temple and a Malay Kramat (shrine).

The Hindu Temple. Chinese devotees pray here too!

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Here is the Malay Kramat next to the Hindu shrine.

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Besides opening the getai to the public for free, the temple also provide food for everyone. A big thank you to all the volunteers here seen dishing out the bowls of soup.

This is the Baobei sisters. The stage is very posh for a getai. Artistes enter the stage from beneath, via an elevator platform.

This is Karen Lim - the Getai Queen. She has 153 getai engagements in 2008. That is more about 5.5 getais to sing at every night! She is a live wire and dances non-stop during her performances. This is a rare sight to see her seated.

This is a 9 year old Malay kid who did a Michael Jackson dance. Here while bantering with the MCs Liu Lingling from Singapore and Lan Tian from Taiwan, he cheekily put on his mask, just like Michael Jackson used to.

Mai Ke, an Indian singer from Penang sang in Mandarin, Hokkien and Cantonese. He is also a Michael Jackson impersonator.

Oh! Now we have three impersonators! In case you can't recognise them, two of them are the MCs.

This is Hei Mao (Black Cats) from Malaysia. A three girl and two boy sing-and-dance group. Amazing feat stacking themselves and swing themselves around while singing.

Hong Kong singer - Bai Mei Hui

Taiwanese artiste - Yaya

This is Fang Fang, our Malaysian 'Yau Shu Rong' (a famous female vocalist from Taiwan in the 1960s). At 58 years old, she still look great. She had ever said that she will continue to sing even when hit 60!

Singapore artiste - Xie Sheng Zi

This is so Singaporean. Dishing out fans with campaign slogans - about getting help for gambling addicts! This is to pre-empt gamblers getting into doldrums when the casinos are opened next year.

They also issued tissue papers with the same slogans. Luckily they distributed the tissue pads in the middle of the show. If they are distributed in the beginning, they will be used to reserve the seats!! *LOL*

Indeed seat reservation is a serious problem in some getais, as touts sell reserved seat enbloc and sell them for a few dollars each.

It was already near midnight, but devotees are still offering prayers at the temple.

I enjoyed myself thoroughly in an evening of street culture and entertainment. A bit rough on the edges at times, particularly of those double meaning jokes banter between the emcee and the artistes, but such is the spontaneity of street culture.

Particularly, the Loyang Tua Pek Kong getai is uniquely Singaporean in that there was so much diversity among the artistes from different countries, different religions and races. The temple premises itself houses a Hindu temple and a Muslim shrine.

I think that is because Singapore is a confluence of two 'rivers' from the East and the West. Incidentally, this also goes for Singapore's ecosystem. For instance, there are about 60 known species of mangroves in the world and Singapore is home to 50 plus of them. Read here. For the coral reefs, the Great Barrier Reef which is about 6,000 times the size of Singapore has about 400 plus species and Singapore has 200 plus. Read here.

For a small island of 660 square kms, there are just so many races and nationalities in Singapore. Some come as professionals to work and others to study.

Perhaps this is Singapore's destiny, given its limitation of land size, it has learn to be open, adapt and innovate to prosper.

Notable artistes from other getais:

Taiwanese artiste, Hou Hou

He is known for his drags and ability to sing in both male and female pitches.

Taiwanese artiste, Kai Li

Here's a video clip of 17 year old pole dancer Lim Zi Yee. Amazing how she can sing while up at the pole.
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There are more and more younger artistes coming on stage over the last two years. The youngest who is only 5 years old.

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For more video clips, click here

For more pixs, click here.
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In my getai blog post on Vacuum State Travel in 2007, I wrote:

In the near future, they may have to continue to innovate and use newer entertainment technologies. May be there will be fireworks, pyrotechnics, more electronic music, more techno beats, holographic displays, large LCD screens for those in the far end from the stage, or even simulcasts on Youtube.

Well, at the getai at Loyang Tua Pek Kong, pyrotechnics are already used. There are already many video clips on YouTube, though we haven't have simulcasts yet. Techno beats have already come together with rap and Michael Jackson gigs. Younger artistes have also leveraged on the Internet and have facebook profile pages to communicate with their fans.

Looking back, getais in Singapore have come a long way. Below is a pix (taken in the year 2004) of what getais used to be.

Read previous post on getai, click here
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The Scent of the Green Papaya

noreply@blogger.com (jupilier) — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 04:33:00 +0000

Screened at the Buddhist Library, Singapore.

The Scent of Green Papaya is a Vietnamese-language film produced in France by Lazennec Production, and directed by Vietnamese-French director Tran Anh Hung.

The film won the Caméra d'Or prize at the 1993 Cannes Film Festival, a César Award for Best Debut at the French annual film award ceremony, and was shortlisted for the 1993 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Although set in Vietnam, the film was shot entirely on a soundstage in Boulogne, France.

This is a beautiful art movie with crisp clear sounds and cinematography. Good movie to watch to exercise mindfulness and enjoy the serenity of the intricate and aesthetic details.

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Rich Son Poor Son

noreply@blogger.com (jupilier) — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 09:08:00 +0000

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The story outline:
Four elderly ladies were having a get together meal in Malaysia. They chatted about how well the children were doing in their careers.
Three of the ladies' children spoke that their children were doing well. They worked as partners in an accountancy firm, a law firm and a medical clinic. They earned a lot of money, held significant equities in the company, bought new houses, etc...
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When the 4th lady was asked how her son wasdoing ( in career context ), she replied that he was good and that he was coming to take her out. Then her son came with his wife and children to drive her to a mountain resort for holiday.
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The video ends with the message - love of the family is life's greatest blessing.

Tao - What is masculinity?

noreply@blogger.com (jupilier) — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 02:29:00 +0000

18 Aug 2009, Singapore

This is an excerpt of a talk on "What is masculinity?" by a Tao master. This post is written as a first person account for readability reasons only and is not an ad-verbatim record of the speaker. Any distortions or omissions are mine and most likely accidental and definitely without malicious intent. As such, please do not quote from this post.

What is 'self'? There are professors in university that have amassed a lot of knowledge but are yet to understand what is 'self'.

Tonight, we are going to discuss about what is meant by being male. Masculinity as dictated by the natural law and not dictated by culture. For instance, there are tribes in parts of Asia that allow their men to kill their womenfolk if the latter are found to have dishonoured the family. In their culture, if a man cannot control his women, then he is no longer considered a man.

[The master then asked a member of the audience to describe what he thinks are the roles of a man.]

Member of audience:

According to the ancient Greeks, a man has to responsiblity of solving problems and to protect the home and offer safety...etc.

[He then continued to list nine points of morality and virtues that a man should attain.]

[Back to the master...]

This Greek philosophy is an idealistic perception of masculinity. How do we achieve all these nine points? If you cannot achieve all the nine points, does it mean that you are less of a man? How about a mentally retarded male? Can he achieve all the 9 points?

If not, does it mean that he is less of a man?

Not many men can achieve those nine points and score distinctions in them.

The Natural Law embraces the imperfection of men. For if we are perfect, we will not be in the present physical existence and dimension. Within the Natural Law, we can check our 'lack' and work on those. That is also why people who are seeking their spiritual path go to different religions that resonates with them.

We have to distinguish between the idealism we read from books and our everyday reality. There is lack and we want to move towards 'full'.

We live in a world of complementary needs. While the typhoon has wrecked havoc in Taiwan recently, it must also be recognised that there will not be rain without wind (convection currents). What men lack in their character traits, they would look towards women to fulfill these lacks. For instance the physical strength of men longs to be complemented by the tenderness of women. Conversely, women like the strength and confidence of men, and longed for men's protection.

There are some more evolved people that have already attained the strengths of both the masculine and feminine traits. They are balanced individuals - self-sufficient, and therefore have no desires for marriage.

Imbalance causes circulation. So what is your imbalance? What is your 'lack'?

Similarly, as a leader, you must have certain strengths that your followers lack. Otherwise, they wouldn't follow you. A leader therefore has to be an honourable and good man.

So show your qualities. When a man show his masculine qualities, he gets admiration and respect from women. Know your weaknesses, otherwise they will surface and cover your qualities.

However, there are also women in leadership. This is because they are brought up in an environment conducive for leadership and also they are born in certain dates and has a lot of 'yang' energy in them.

The Chinese Bazi calculates your character and behaviour based on your birth dates. From there, you can understand your strengths and weaknesses better. Then you can adjust and balance yourself ('learning'). Charitable work can also cleanse undesirable characteristic traits.

I'll tell you the story of the owner of a famous biscuit factory in Singapore. This man came to Singapore to escape the ravages of poverty in China. When he got his first job, he told his employer that he was willing to sell himself as a slave for 40,000 dollars, so that he can feed his family back in China. The employer refused and instead paid him 40 dollars a month.

Despite the meagre salary, he endeavoured, saves and invests, and eventually built the biscuit empire that he has now.

Then when China opened up their market, he was already old, but decided to open a new factory there after a feasibility study. Some people were surprised and asked him why he decided so as he was already very wealthy and advanced in age. He then told them that it was not about the money, but that once the factory was opened, six thousand people will have jobs and income to feed their family.

At his age, he won't need to set up the factory by himself, but he knew that he can help these new workers by a mere a nod - of approval to go ahead with the investment in China.

So we need to know that we can be in instances when a mere nod from us can already help many.

Men's roles are in the society and women roles are mostly domestic. The latter requiring the refinement of feminity.

There are also masculine women around. This can have something to do with past life karma. There are also more and more 'neutrals' (balanced masculine and feminine traits) around.

There are also gays.

Let me tell you a story from a movie I have watched.

There were these two US soldiers in the Vietnam War amid the impending gore and pains of war, who could face death anytime and they did not know when they could be killed. So one of the soldier asked the other one if he could do him a favour if he was killed first. He then gave him a photo of a girl and said that should he die first, to please take care of the girl for him. He said that this was a very special girl.

Eventually, the soldier was killed and the other soldier carried out his promise to find the girl and to take care of her. He managed to locate the girl and found that she was a singer in a pub. He then went to the pub regularly to listen to her singing and observe what she does. Then finally, one day, he approached her and revealed that he was the friend of the soldier who died in Vietnam.

Soon the girl and him became good friends. He found her to be a very understanding person and congenial. Soon he developed an interest and then special feelings for her. Then one day, he asked if she would marry him. She paused, but then agree to marry,... and so they did.

On the wedding night, when disrobed, he was astonished to find out that the girl was actually a MAN!!! Angry, he yelled at her for cheating him, but She refuted that she did not ask for the marriage.

In anguish, he left the 'girl' and went far away. In distance from the 'girl', he found himself in an extreme state of confusion. He was shocked to find that he actually longed for her company. He knew that he was not gay, but couldn't understand why he was longing for this 'girl'. Against a much troubled mind, he decided to go back to the 'girl'.

On meeting 'her', he realised that it was not the flesh that had attracted him to her, but the need for the complementary soul mate that attracted him.

Audience: But there are gays who have sex...

Yes, there are. From my conversations with some gays, they have told me that there are broadly three categories of gays:

One who are like prostitutes and are promiscuous.

The Second category, the live like normal 'male-female' couple (they have sex).

The Third category, live complementary lives to each other and do not have sex.

[end of story]

So do men and women have equality?

It depends on which area. Each gender has their own strengths and weaknesses and contribute to the society and family. For instance, usually women are better at teaching the child, however , if it turns out that the man can do better, then let him do it. Let him do what he does best. So it is not a question of equality or not, but the role best suited for that person.

[end of seminar]

Read about other Tao talks, click here

Inner Engineering - Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev

noreply@blogger.com (jupilier) — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 08:03:00 +0000

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Date: 24 Aug 2009

Time: 7.30pm

Place: Suntec Convention Hall, Ballroom 2, Singapore

From Wikipedia

Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev is an Indian yogi and mystic. He is the founder of Isha Foundation which administers yoga centers around the world, including India and the United States.

Jagadish Vasudev was born in Mysore, Karnataka. At the age of twenty-five on September 23 1982, he had a deep spiritual experience, and subsequently established Isha Foundation, a non-religious, not-for-profit, public service organization, which addresses all aspects of human wellbeing. The Isha Yoga Center near Coimbatore was founded in 1992, and hosts a series of programs intended to heighten self-awareness through the ancient practice of yoga. These programs are offered to people ranging from the highly educated to the illiterate, from corporate leaders to prisoners.

Sadhguru spoke in four panels at the 2007 World Economic Forum, addressing issues ranging from diplomacy to economic development, education and the environment. In 2006, he addressed the World Economic Forum, the Tällberg Forum in Sweden, and the Australian Leadership Retreat. He has also served as a delegate to the United Nations Millennium Peace Summit and the World Peace Congress. He is the only speaker to have been invited to the World Economic Forum three years in a row.

Sadhguru has had interviews with the BBC, Bloomberg, CNBC, CNNfn, and Newsweek International.

He was a delegate to the United Nations Millennium World Peace Summit - and a participant at the World Economic Forum in 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009. Read more

[I think there must be at least 2,000 attendees for the evening.]

Sadhguru arrived and sang a lovely mantra. Then immediately he greeted, "Good morning". *silence* "I said 'good morning'", he repeated. The crowd not prepared for the first greeting quickly responded with "Good morning".

Note: This is written as first person for ease of reading. It is not an ad-verbatim recording of his speech. Any errors and omissions are mine and most likely accidental.

I thought you already have trouble with me. *laughters* Not now. May be by the end of the evening, you may have trouble with me. Not yet! *more laughters*.

This is the first time I am addressing an audience in Singapore, so I let you decide what you want to talk about. What shall we talk about?

From the floor: How did you become spiritual?

Oh, you want a story? *grins* How did I become spiritual? So you want to know what works for me and perhaps it'll work for you. :)

For the beginning, I started the same way as everyone of you - from the womb. However, as a child, my memory is a little different from others. At the age of 3-4 months, I could remember many things I see and hear of everyone around me. Most people cannot remember anything of themselves or surroundings, when they are earlier than 4 years old. I could tell my mother, who were around with her on certain occassions, what colour sari they wore and what gossips they spoke.

By the time I was 4-5 years old, my thought process became a 'certain way' and now it is more of the same. Either I am still a child or that I have never grown up.

I grow up with a lot of scepticism. I am a serious sceptic.

I don't come from a particularly religious family, but you know we do the usual stuff. They are just there (religion-wise). One day, my parents brought me to the temple. I asked a lot of questions just outside the temple that they couldn't answer me, so I never went in. Then, I was only 4-5 years old.

I was not very involved in school. Well, I was very involved with friends. I have no problems with that. But I was not academic, because I didn't think that I should listen to anyone if they are saying things that does not matter very much to them. I mean if it doesn't really mean much to them, why should I be listening? I can listen if it mean a lot to them, even if they speak nonsense that mean a lot to them, I'll listen. So, I didn't listen.

As a child, I spend time in nature, perhaps because I don't find questions in nature. In other stuff, I have a lot of questions. Sometimes when I asked questions, people get angry. Why do people get angry or insulted? Because they don't have the answers or they have vested interest.

I have a billion questions, so I started reading the works of Western philosophers. When I was 14 years old, I read Marx. But none of the books answered my questions. Instead, they multiplied my questions.

After school, I went into business and became very successful. Many people were surprised that I became so successful. When you are young and successful, eventually you even think that all the planets of the solar system revolved around you and not the sun. I then refused to listened to anything others say.

In Mysore city in Tamil Nadu, there is a little hill that everyone goes there. If you fall in love, you go there. If you fall out of love, you go there. If you have nothing to do, you go there. One day, I decided to go there to practise some yoga. I have practised yoga since the age of 11. After that, I sat on a rock for a while. After some time, I felt as if I was somebody else. I was then not sure who that person sitting on the rock was, and where was I. Where I was felt like I was everywhere around the person sitting on the rock. It was 'me' everywhere.

I sat there, what I thought was 10-15 minutes, but was surprised that 4.5 hours had passed and I was in tears that have by now drenched my clothes. Every cell in my body was bursting in ecstasy. I was drenched in a different blissfulness. I thought, may be I was going off my rockers! I mean I have never been religious then and grown up on Western philosophies. The thought of me being spiritual was out of the question.

When I told people what happened to me, the first reaction I got was, "Have you been drinking?" or "What have you been smoking?"

But the experience I had was too beautiful to be annoyed by these remarks and I didn't want to lose it.

Then, time seems to pass very fast. What was to me 1-2 minutes, hours have passed. It felt like I have just turned my head and a lot of time has passed. It's strange. I mean I was aware of what is going on around me. One day, I thought only 15 minutes have lapsed when 13 days have passed. I have never prayed nor bowed to anyone or any god, but here we had people falling on my feet. And when I look at people, their entire life exploded in me. Oh! By the way, if you meet me you will not have any privacy left! *laughters*

I didn't know what it was, but I didn't want to miss it.

Six weeks later, my wild youth evaporated. My whole body got re-aligned. My eyes, voice, gait...etc. People around noticed that. I too noticed that. Something was happening. Lifetimes of memories passed in front of me. So I went traveling alone to figure out what was actually happening.

Some of you here will think, "it is not fair, I have meditated for 25 years and nothing like this happened, but you go sit on a rock and everything happened." *laughters*

It is not a matter of how long... Why has not life revealed itself to you? It is because you have identified yourself with everything that you are not. Identification with your race, nationality, religion, gender, you body...etc.

My mother is very dedicated. She has 4 children. As she is so dedicated, it was not necessary to express love. It is just there. No need to say it. But one day, she told me she loves me. Then, I asked if I am the child of the next house, will she still say she loves me? She was surprised, hurt and then in tears, and she left the room. When she came back she came and touched my feet. I was only 13!

I question everything. I question everything that most people accept. If your intelligence is not entangled with anything, it is very easy to be spiritual. A prejudice can't see and reveal reality in life. Your intelligence will become fret.

Some people may say, "I am very broadminded, I am not prejudice." Ok, you have broad prejudice then. *laughters*

I'll tell you a joke...

Only a joke, don't take it too seriously...

There is this man who died and went to the gates of heaven. At the gates god asked him to spell "Love", which the man had problems initially, like spelling it as "Lu..", er "Lvo...", but finally got it right "LOVE". Then god ask him to take over the gates for a while as he is busy for a bit and do the same to demand the person coming in to spell a word.

The man agreed and stood guard at the gates. After a while, his wife appeared. "Why are you here?" he asked.

The wife said, "Well, I crashed the car on the way back from the funeral and now here I am. Can you let me through the heavenly gate please?"

Which the man quickly said, "Spell 'Czechoslovakia'"!!! *LOL*

[I guess the moral of the story is to depict hidden prejudices that we have in us.]

[Sadhguru reached out to a glass of water...]

If I say "this is my glass", it is ok. But I can't say, this (the glass) is me. It is too much. It can be yours, but cannot be you. Same with, "This is my food", I eat it, but it is not me. It may accumulate as my body, but my body is not me. The food can be yours, but cannot be you.

Same goes to other aspects of your life. Your husband/wife, house, car, race, religion...etc, is not you. If you identify with these aspects, then you have lost your intelligence.

Let me tell you a story...

You know Talani Raman? ["Yes" from the audience.]

There is this Emperor Krishna Deva Nair who was given away when he was 18 months old to another woman who is also a mother of a boy a few months older than him. This woman treated both the babies as her own and breastfed them. The boys grew up, the older one of them did not use his resources properly and ended a poor man, the other (Krishna) became an emperor.

One day, the older brother went to see the younger brother Krishna who is now an emperor. On reaching his palace, he met many intelligent and capable people serving his government. He was impressed, but thought that if he has the same clever people working for him, he too can be emperor. When he eventually met up with Emperor Krishna, he was particularly impressed with Talani Raman, the court jester.

So he wanted to ask the Emperor to give him Talani. The Emperor thought it was a good idea and spoke to Talani. Talani suggested that it would be better to offer him his elder brother. So the Emperor told his older brother that he would instead offer Talani's elder brother to serve him. His older brother was delighted! Having Talani's older brother must even be better, since he is older and probably better.

So arrangement was made to hand over Talani's older brother to him the next day. When the next day came, Emperor Krishna's older brother was surprised to find Talani presenting him a cow!

"Why are you giving me a cow?" he asked.

"Because that is my brother, we drank milk from the same mother", Talani replied.

[The moral of the story...]

So you see, we mustn't exercise repetitive intelligence. This is how karma works. What we get is due entirely to our own doing.

One day I was walking around in the primary school and met a young boy 8-9 years old. He asked, "Is life true or a dream?"

"Wow!" I thought, this coming from a 8-9 year old.

So I replied, "Life is true, but it is a dream." *Laughters*

I'll tell you another story...

There is this young woman who went to bed and started to dream. In her dream, she saw a hunky young man approaching her when she was asleep. Then he got nearer and nearer, and she got a bit apprehensive and began trembling. Then she asked, "What are you going to do?"

Which the hunky young man smiled and replied, "Well lady, it is YOUR dream...(tell me)". *Laughters*

It is like your life. Life is a dream, but at least manage it properly such that you get what you want. You must learn how to manage your mind such that you get what you want. For instance, this microphone. It is useful to me only if it takes instructions from me. If it says things by itself, then it is not a useful instrument to me.

Similarly, what most people are experiencing is that they are handling their life by chance. It is like closing your eyes and running across the highway. You may be lucky and got over the other side safely. Perhaps there were no cars near enough to knock you down or some cars have avoided you. But if you are going to do that over and over again, we'll know where to find you.

A few years ago, I was in Mangalore to visit a friend of mine who is 75 years old but still practising as a medical doctor. I was quite impressed that he is still doing so at his age. At his clinic I saw a poster saying that he has an antidote for all snake venom. "How can this be?" I thought. As far as I know, there is one type of venom that attacks your nervous system and the other that can cause cardiac arrest. The antidote can't be the same! So I confronted him with the question and he replied, "You see, 90% of the time, the snake bites are not poisonous, so it'll work 90% of the time!" *Laughters*

Well 90% is good enough.

But if you are living your life by chance, then it can be as good as flipping a coin. So you take a coin, flip it and make your decisions and actions. If you do this, you have a 50% chance of success. If so, there are only two careers for you that you can get away with: an astrologer or a weatherman.

So is your life working by intent or by accident?

If it is by accident, then it is an anxious mess, even if it is working.

You don't feel well when you are anxious.

If you feel well, you are happy even when you are ill.

When the mind is pleasant, you call it peace.

When the mind is very pleasant, you call it joy.

When you feel pleasant emotionally, you call it love.

When you feel very pleasant life energy, you call it bliss.

... and so on.

You are pleasant when you are successful.

So address pleasantness directly.

Now I have a question. Where do you see me now? Where from?

[I was a little confused and turned my head directly to see him instead of the giant screen in the ballroom. Many others did, and when asked we pointed to him, to indicated that's where see him and not the projection screen.]

Hmmm... here? *rolls his eyes and smile*

I am a mystic! *laughters*

You see me here? Or you see me inside you?

You know about this isn't it. It is the light that shines on me, reaches your eye, and the retina sends the signals to your brain to see 'me'.

So where do you see me now?

Audience: Inside?

Yes, you see me inside. Whatever you think happens outside actually happens inside you.

Have you actually experienced anything outside of you?

Audience: No.

So you are the source of experience within you.

Experience by chance is therefore very fragile. If anything can make you happy, like somebody said something you don't like to you that made you happy. Or somebody said something to you and you are not happy. Or somebody should have said something to you but he didn't say it and you are not happy. *Laughters*

So we get very stressed up and you have what you called "Stress Management" these days.

When I heard the term, I was wondering why you want to manage stress. You want to manage something precious to us, like our money, our assets...etc, but 'stress'??!! Then I figured out that it is because many people has already come to accept that their life is stressful and stress is here to stay. And they don't know how to manage their system.

Nobody in your life will happen the way you want 100% of the time. It is imposssible. That is not a problem, but if you are not happening the way you want, then it is a problem.

This is because your five senses are not reliable.

When it gets dark, it is the night for you, but for the owl, it is 'good morning'. If you are to argue with the owl, who is right?

Some in the audience: Both.

Both? If you say both, it is either you are in the diplomatic corp or that you have a successful marriage! *LOL*

Nature open your senses for the purpose of your survival. If survival is all you want, then it is enough, otherwise it is inadequate. But this doesn't happen for human beings. You see, once survival is taken care of, then it is no 'big deal'. A human does not stop at 'survival', unlike a tiger. A tiger hunts and eats and lives. He doesn't ask if he is a great tiger or aspire to be one.

Human beings have the freedom to be anything he wants. Humans are suffering from the freedom he has. Only when survival is taken care of, human beings start to find expressions. He may feel that he is still no good. Compare to someone else, he may feel that he has done well, but by himself, he doesn't know. So human beings are suffering from his own freedom, and that is truly a 'tragedy'.

I'll tell you a joke about 'tragedy'.

President George W Bush in his public relations seem to be in kindergartens when there are problems. In this instance he was in a class and asking the children to make sentences with the word 'tragedy'.

One of the kids came up and said, I have a friend, he was on the road, a car came and killed him. The president said, "No, this is an accident, not a tragedy."

Next another kid said that a bus full of people went out of control and fell off the cliff killing everyone in it. The president said, "No, this is a great loss, not a tragedy."

Then another kid came up and said, "The President is in Air Force 1 and it got shot by a missile. This can't be an accident, it is not a great loss and therefore it must be a tragedy." *LOL*

It is sad to live life and let everything happen pass you and you miss them. That is, to miss the grandeur. Many people are more into their psychological reality than their existential reality. When we create value, we live life blissfully. So pay attention and experience.

People who worship the most suffer most. I have observed people coming out of temples to see if they are more joyful. The moment some of them are out, they are back to their usual self. And in the case of temples in India, some shoes would have gone missing and they will already be cursing the thieves and so on. Then I observe that the people coming out from restaurants seem to find more joy! So you have the humble dosai bringing more joy to people more than from god! If that is so, something is not right.

Let's do an experiment. Just an experiment:

How many of you here believe in god, put up your hands.

[Most people in the audience put up their hands.]

Now, how many people here believe that they have two hands, put up one hand.

[More people put up their hands.]

So, do you know you have two hands or believe you have two hands?

Audience: ...know. *grins*

So for your hands you 'know', for god, you only 'believe'. Do you 'know' there is god, or do you 'believe' there is god?

[Audience's minds now thrown in disarray.]

Why don't you just say there are some things you 'know' and some things you 'don't know'?

That way you make it simple. Otherwise, for things you 'don't know' and you say you 'believe', then you 'assume'. This is also culturally convenient.

So we have belief system. If we start from young, we can make you belief anything. Can't we ask questions?

I as in Nashville (USA) and I was using 'him' when I referred to god, when a woman stood up and asked, "Why are you using 'him' to refer to god? Do you think god is a man? God can be a woman too you know?" I told her it is just a joke I was telling, but she said no, I still shouldn't use the masculine pronoun.

You know this wouldn't happen in India. We have the man god, woman god, cow god...etc. Everybody is happy. *LOL*

You know (the late) Idi Amin? From Uganda? He said that god is black. That is ok, if he sees it that way, then god is black. It'll appeal to the Southern States in the US where there are many blacks.

[Said in jest...]

You see god came to India nine times He wanted to come here himself. For other places, he sent only his son. Here he goes hands-on and yet he fails!! *LOL*

I'll tell you a story...

Two young energetic boys are constantly in trouble. You know when boys are energetic, they get into trouble. People have been talking about them and the parents are embarassed. They don't know how to fix them. With kids, we never know how to fix them. We can only weigh it out with them.

So the parents brought the boy to the parish to see the priest. The priest paced up and down the hall with a bit of drama. It works better with religion if you have drama. *grins* Then the priest thought, if he tells the child that god is in him, the child will be more lifted and feel better about himself and perhaps not get into trouble. You know, people without kids usually have ideas about how to fix kids!!! *LOL*

So he brought the boy to a room alone with him and pointed at the boy's chest and said, "You know, god is in YOU." This appeared to have stunned the boy so much, he quickly ran out of the room and out of the church, then to his friend and said, "Look, we are in real trouble now!!! They have lost their god and think that we have it with us!!!" *LOL*

We have religions that meant well, but they soon fracture humanity. We struggle with what is sacred and what is ridiculous. It becomes such that we are told that we can't change our thoughts. But thoughts are meant to be fluid. It is your dream, so dream with freedom. Express the process and then die one day. It is not about capability but willingness to go outside your comfort and convenience. There is the science and technology for this inner well-being - this Inner Engineering.

Do you want to be the creator or the creation? It is all up to you.

Let me ask you sir, "What did you eat today?" (pointing to someone in the audience).

That someone in the audience: Fish.

Fish. You ate fish and you converted it to a human being. *Laughters* Isn't that great. Charles Darwin (its 200 years annivesary) says it takes thousands of years for evolution and you did it instantly. How did it happen in you? But did you do it consciously? You didn't isn't it? It all happens automatically.

Questions:

Question: About previous births...

Reply: Experience you are NOW. Stories can entertain but not liberate you. Who am I? The more you know, the better you can live. Do you exist? Yes. Turn inward, beyond body and mind. Everything exists because this one (you) exists. It is time to pay attention.

When we were born, we already know about survival. We know all about survival. Let's say if we put a baby in the forest and he is hungry and got hold of something, he will put it in the mouth, not in his ass! But not for the ability to write. That has to be learned. Same as to know yourself. If you are willing to spend 28-30 hours of focused time, you will be able to learn about looking inwards. It is easy if you know how and are looking at the right direction.

For instance, it will be difficult to watch sunrise, if you face west. However if you face east, it is easy to see sunrise. Or the case of a traveler asking for the way to the ashram and got a reply 34,000 miles, at which he replied, "I thought it is nearby here?" Then the local man said, "Yes, if you turn around and head that direction, is is 4miles".

Question: I am a nasty sort of person. I have seen magicians perform magic...etc. My question is, why do you look the way you are? Why do you keep your beard and dress like that? Instead of shaving and showing us your beautiful face. *Roaring laughter from the audience*

Reply: (Pointing to his beard) It grows on every man and you remove it. Why? Do you know why you remove it? *Laughters from audience* You don't know and you ask me?

As for clothings, I am wearing stitched clothings now, because I am overseas. Normally, I wear unstitched clothings in India. When the body is well exercised, the mind is well exercised and the energy well exercised, then you would like to be in a certain way, like you will prefer loose clothings, not tight fitting ones...etc.

I have not performed magic did I? When it comes to magic, it will be very impressive to pull a rabbit from the hat, but if I drink this glass of water and it becomes me, you won't be impressed.

Question: Are there no limitations what humans can achieve?

Reply: What do you mean by 'limitations'? Is it to beat the 9.8seconds (for 100 metre sprint) or...?

The questioner replied, "Physical limits".

Reply: Physicality has a limit. Any thing physical has a boundary. It is not boundless. That which is boundless is not physical. However, realise the immensity of humans. Not 1% of abilities has entered into our consciousness. Sometimes people look at me and ask me how can do certain things. "Are you superhuman?" they asked. It is not that I am superhuman, it is that being human is super!! *applause*

I'll tell you a story:

There is a man who went into the forest to meditate. There he saw a fox with no legs. What is more surprising is that this fox doesn't seem to be starving. It looked well fed. Then one day, when the man was meditating, he heard the roar of a lion. Fearful, he scramped and climbed up a tree. Then he saw the lion approaching the fox and drop it a piece of meat, then it left, and the fox ate the meat.

The next day, the lion came again with a piece of meat and dropped it to the fox, who again consumed the meat. This went on for day after day. So the man understood that this was how the legless fox kept itself alive.

Then the man began to ponder if there could be a message behind the scenes he witnessed. There must be a message. Perhaps it says that I can be taken care of in nature no matter what. So the man contented with the message, continued to meditate in the forest without worrying about who is going to feed him or take care of him. He went on to meditate and starve, but he didn't care as he believed something will happen to help him.

Then one day a yogi saw him and asked why he is starving himself and meditating, which he related that he saw fox being taken care of by the generous lion and that there must be something similar in nature that will take care of him. After listening to his story, the yogi replied, "You witness the lion and the fox, but why do you rather be the crippl fox, than the generious lion?"

Miracles

Everything is a miracle. For instance, you put filth into the ground and then a mango tree grows to produce sweet mango. Yet there was no sweetness in the filth you put into the ground. Can you treat the filth and the mango as the same?

Yet another way is to think that 'nothing is a miracle', as everything has a cause and effect. When we understand how the filth helped to give sweet mangoes, then it no longer is a miracle. So, we have called anything we don't understand as a miracle.

Can we say that (holding a bud of flower) that we understand everything about this? Yes?

We can say that. At the same time, we can also say that we cannot finish studying and understanding this. That is the beauty of it all.

So we are human and divine at the same time.

Question: Do you mean to say that we should not visit temples?

Reply: Did I say anything like that at all?

By that I mean you refer to Indian temples. Temples in its original form are not meant for prayers. Temples are supposed to be energy centres. You are supposed to go there quiet and sit there for a while.

There is a whole science and technology involved in making a place divine, like making a stone divine...etc. This process is called 'consecration'.

God is your making. It is whatever you can relate to. God is not the goal. Liberation is the goal.

It is the moment you love someone that the someone becomes beautiful, not you love someone because that someone is beautiful.

Belief evolves. Belief is reality. If you are denied many days without water, anything that nutures the you, is god. The more consciously you make it, the better you exist here.

For the videocast of the talk, click here

---end of talk----

Experiencing Inner Power and Protection - by Didi Nirmala

noreply@blogger.com (jupilier) — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 03:05:00 +0000

Date: 20 Aug 2009

Time: 7.30 pm

Place: Peninsula-Excelsior Hotel, Singapore

Speaker: Didi Nirmala, Brahma Kumaris

This talk is written as the first person for better readability. It is not an ad-verbatim recording of the talk.

When we listen to the world news today, there are a lot of sad news. So we ask ourselves, "Are we protected?". How do we fortify ourselves? How do we feel stable? How can we still feel powerful?

There is less safety in our life. Life has become more complicated. There are more problems in our society. We have the financial crisis, many people lose their jobs, their investments (money) and don't know what to do. We are also afraid to travel with the H1N1 epidemic. Diseases are also on the increase. There can also be accidents on the roadways. It used to be that neighbours invading one's country, but now you have terrorists inflicting damages in their own country. So, you may not be safe in your own country. There are also natural calamities. This has caused some problems for the minister in Taiwan. There are also cases of fathers abusing their children and children being kidnapped to be sold for prostitution.

So we don't know where we are going. Are we human beings or devilish beings? It is said that dogs only bark at other dogs, but dogs don't eat dogs.

We need inner power to face these difficulties. If we don't have the inner power, we get angry, because we feel powerless or helpless. So how is it that some people are more tolerant?

We need the inner power for inner protection. We know about external power. People with external power have trained themselves to prepare for the position. There are many courses for those.

Inner strength by the result of meditation and wisdom. I have to help myself. Do something about issues and challenges, and not blame. If we focus on our negative aspects and don't love ourselves, we cannot expect others to love us. So we have to develop techniques to see our positive sides. Start loving ourselves. Society puts people down and this has resulted in people having a lack of self-esteem. If you have self-esteem, it doesn't matter what others say about you.

Self development is as important as physical development.

[ 5 minute meditation break ]

Who am I?

How can I empower myself?

For the physical body, I know how to, but how about my mind?

Sometimes, it appears that I am not under my own control.

My sense organs are not under my control. I don't want to eat something, but I end up eating them. I don't want to get angry, worry...etc, but end up doing so.

How do I stay in control?

I can by connecting myself to the source of energy. Same as the cables, light bulbs, etc in this room. They need to connect to the power station.

Otherwise, if you are among happy people, you are happy. Then if you are among sad people, you become sad. You can't rely on others to be happy.

There is someone who said that he has no time to meditate. Then he said that he will give five minutes to meditate before he goes to work. Then he kept coming for more as he enjoys it. As you meditate your efficiency improves with your power to discern and you become more loving and get more cooperation. So even work becomes easier.

Question: When you first begin, it is very hard to control your thoughts and the mind starts to wonder. How can we avoid this wandering?

Reply: Meditation is not to stop thinking, but thinking in the correct direction. For starters, you may like to prepare to be relaxed before the meditation and use commentary CDs to guide you.

Question: It is said that 2012 is the end of the world. What do you of that and what do you think we should do?

Reply: Whether the world is coming to an end or not, we must all be ever-ready to die. You never know when is your time. There is no guarantee that you will live tomorrow.

Question: There are many techniques of meditation. Many do with eyes closed. Your technique is an open eye technique. How important is it to do it with eyes open? How important is it to keep the eyes open?

Reply: There are many techniques with different focus and philosophy. With eyes shut you are more restricted, as you need to be sitting down somewhere to meditate. With open eyes, you can meditate anytime.

Inevitable Surprises - Peter Schwartz

noreply@blogger.com (jupilier) — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 05:32:00 +0000

Date: 6th August 2009

Time: 5.30pm

Place: National University of Singapore, Bukit Timah Campus, Singapore.

Introduction from the host:

(From Wikipedia):Schwartz was born in 1946 to Klara and Benjamin Schwartz, Hungarian Jews who had been in concentration camps and were living in a displaced persons camp in Stuttgart, Germany.[1] The family soon moved to Norway, where they lived until he was five. At this point, they emigrated to America, and found a new home in Camden, New Jersey. Schwartz grew up there, attending school with such future stars as Steven Spielberg. He won a National Merit scholarship, and was able to attend Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) on full scholarship. He will serve as RPI's May commencement speaker for the class of 2009.

For more, read http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Schwartz_(futurist)

Note: This is written as first person for ease of reading. It is not an ad-verbatim recording of his speech. Any errors and omissions are mine and most likely accidental.

Thanks for the great introduction. I have done many talks all over the world and this is by far the best introduction of myself that I have received. :)

Singapore is a special place to me. My first time in Singapore was back in 1967. Today I would like to view the world from the perspectives of different cultures, sub-cultures and age groups, to see if we can catch some signals and early warnings and see if we can paddle faster than water.

Let me first of all make clear that I do not know what is ahead or around the next bend. What I do is to present you some of my findings and then later come up with some (surprise surprise) scenarios. We have only one hour for the presentation followed by 30 minutes of Q & A, but there is more than one-hour worth of information I would like to relay, so there will be parts of the slides that I'll just fly through and some parts we spend a bit more time on.

It is said that "He who predicts the future lies even if he knows the truth" or another Chinese saying that goes, "He who lives by the crystal ball, die from broken glass".

Let's start with the Short Term Shocks.

The current financial crisis has some structural problems.

We moved from Hedging to Speculation to Ponzi - that's what is described as the Minsky Movement from 2003 to 2007.

From Wikipedia: A Minsky moment is the point in a credit cycle or business cycle when investors have cash flow problems due to spiraling debt they have incurred in order to finance speculative investments. At this point, a major selloff begins due to the fact that no counterparty can be found to bid at the high asking prices previously quoted, leading to a sudden and precipitous collapse in market clearing asset prices and a sharp drop in market liquidity.

We have seen a global economy over-leveraged. For a while it worked well. The US borrows and loves consuming more and more, while on the other hand China saves and lend and produces the goods to be consumed by the US. It seems to be a symbiotic relationship and it all works well, but this is beginning to stop with the US unable to consume as they used to. And even if we believe this relationship works, we still have the task to bring it back to work the same way as they used to.

So question is, "How quickly can it unwind?"

The US debt is 4 times its income. Can we de-leverage?

The Greenspan fallacy is that bankers have incentive to make the banking system work. But these are perverse incentives and there was also a lack of transparency leading to the securitization of debt that led to the final collapse.

The Indian and Chinese economies, despite their large populations, have relatively small consumption. So, there'll be modest economic growth for sometime to come. There may be another financial crisis come autumn and then there will be a need for another financial stimulus package.

Now the world has learned that trade, development and finance must work together.

In this crisis, we also see the practice of globalisation under challenge, as we see the crisis from some over-valued local assets in America spread across the world rapidly.

Food shocks:

There will be large price perturbation and huge price movements for food. A prime example would be the price of rice. Prices will be hedged and we may see the same thing as what has happened to oil.

Demographics:

There has been some moderation over the projections of the world population. It will continue to grow and peak at 8.5 billion people by the year 2050. Many countries are having lesser and lesser babies, even in countries where the Pope has sway, like Italy and Spain, the birth rates have fallen drastically well below natural replacement rates.

More and more people will move to cities. Half the world population already live in cities in 2009, which incidentally is a good thing for the environment, leaving the countryside and environment less disturbed. This will happened for the industrialised world as well as (surprisingly) for the developing countries, except for the Middle East and the US (due to immigration).

The future will also see the end to retirement. That isn't surprising if you consider that the concept of retirement is a relatively new idea. Up till the 1930s, there wasn't retirement, pensions...etc. In the near future, people will have longer lives. People of my generation in developed countries may live up to at least 120 years, and this is no exaggeration. Also note that I said, "at least 120 years", which means it is possible to live 150 years, as anti-ageing pills get perfected and more commonly available.

For those of you who are below 30 years old now, if you do take care of yourself well, your lifespans will be measured in centuries and not decades. *Roaring Laughters* I am not kidding here. You may live till 200 or 300 years old. So choose your spouse carefully, you may end up living that long with them.

For guys like me in the 60s, the body has taken so much abuse, it wouldn't be able to extend its life like you younger ones can. We can only make it to 120-150 years old.

[My note: In that case, a 70 year old of the near future will be considered a 'youngster', and his mates may call him out for a game of football or skydive. Just like what many youngters of today do.]

[Chart shown of violence vs age group composition]

The chart shows that countries with a younger population have more violent crime. That's how it is, where you have younger men (oh, by the way, it is only the men, women are alright in this respect), you get more violence. This is irrespective of economies.

Society:

Religion will become an increasingly profound influence in society. Women will become more dominant. There will be more and more women in universities, holding high positions in businesses and governments. Look at the hall today, there are already more women here in law school sitting right here. This will happen everywhere, except the Middle East. They will face a decline in their competitive edge without the participation of their womenfolk, and this might force them to change.

Climate Change:

There will be more and more extreme weather. If there is a global warming in the weather, that will melt the ice on the Himalayas, that is the source of all major rivers in Asia. Bangladesh - forget it! It'll be gone. 160 million people there will be looking for a new place to live, probably China and India, which they will not be much welcome.

I just came back from Cambodia, the lake Tonle Sap, will have severe effects on their ecosystem. The Three-Gorge dams in China will have significant effects on the lower reaches of the Mekong river, affecting Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand.

Singapore may find itself building dikes like the Dutch has very soon, as the sea level rises.

The problem is that despite the availability of alternative energy sources, the efficient energies are still from coal and therefore they are the bulk of the world energy source. The US and China are now stuck with coal. Which makes the return of nuclear energy as a popular energy source. There could be a shift in the concept of having small nuclear power stations on barges and anchored in the sea. This could well happen in Singapore where land is scarce.

So we will see the additional energy demands satisfied by nuclear and renewable energies. By the year 2020, all cars in Singapore could be electric.

Science and Technology:

There will be an increase in new scientific tools and computing power, and the use of artificial intelligence. There will be increase in the discovery of scientific anomalies, there will be an increase in the number of scientists and increase in funding for the sciences.

Regenerative Medicine:

We will see the shift to the new paradigm of regenerative medicine. We will clone our own kidneys, hearts and other body parts while we are healthy and use them when our original ones stop working properly. There will no longer be the need to buy transplants from others.

There will also be the trigger to use the natural healing process of the body.

There will be human enhancements: mechanical, biological and chemical.

There will be synthesized biology - taking cells and modify them into something else useful for us. Algae will be used to generate electricity. (Already happening now.)

Geo-economics:

There will be a triumph of knowledge over natural resources. In knowledge, there is no limit to growth. In the digital economy, more and more things will be FREE. New business models will be invented to gather revenue. It'll be more akin to giving you the razor free, but selling you the razor blades.

Private NGOs and foundations will be increasingly influential over government and national foreign policies. Look at the Gates Foundation, Soros Foundation, Larry Page, Sergy Brin, Pierre Omidyar...etc. The Gates foundation alone wield about USD50billion!!!

There will be a re-balancing of the power of global finance, as China owns more and more of the US treasury bonds. It'll not be from London or New York, but more of Singapore, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Tokyo. It's very simple, the one who pay the bills calls the shots.

Scenarios:

It will be a knowledge driven world. There will be an increase in interconnectivity and therefore more shock prone. There will be a challenge between "Interests and alliances" (more China) vs "Laws and Institutions" (more American). It will be likely to be in Singapore's interests to ally with the US than China, as it is more structured by laws and institutions. Besides China has a history of dominance in the region and expecting tributes to be paid to them and this is not what you would like to do.

There will be a continuous need to attract talent. Just like what Singapore is doing.

Strong authoritarian society will not be sustainable. The penetration of information will undermine them.

Question time:

Question: Over the risks of Nuclear Power generation.

Reply: We can manage the risks of nuclear power generation but it is more difficult to manage global climate change.

Question: You mention about the dominance of women in the future and the violence of young men. Putting the two together, will you see the world becoming gentler and kinder with less wars and violence?

Reply: The likes of Golda Meir and Margaret Thatchers of this world are not your gentle sweethearts. *drawing a thunderous laughter from the audience* They are one of the most ferocious warriors the world has ever seen. With more woman leaders, the world will certainly be different, but I don't think that just because of that, there'll be less wars and violence.

How to design a reliable banking system...

noreply@blogger.com (jupilier) — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 03:21:00 +0000

Sending money across countries should be easy, and normally so. Not unless you are unlucky and run into a snag like I had in the last two weeks. What was supposed to be a simple transfer became a painfully long nine-day drag and still with no money arriving at the other end.

As Murphy's Law has it, if things can go wrong, they will! And it can't choose a worse time than this, as the money had to reach some businesses quickly or they will go bust. Employees will be laid off and families will be affected.

Understandably, the bank will not reveal what went wrong, but based on my discussions with them and my twenty odd years experience as a IT and management consultant for banks in major international banking centres, this was probably what happened:

1. When the bank staff entered the transfer details on screen:

The beneficiary account details was too long and exceeded the field space provided. As a result, the account details got truncated.

2. When sent to the beneficiary bank, they didn't know what to make out of the truncated data (beneficiary account details) and the transaction just sat there.

Diagnostic tedium:

1. The banking software that facilitated the transfer should have a longer field size. If this field size is exceeded, the bank staff must not be able to press the 'send' button.

2. So granted that the software is poorly designed and failed to prevent it to be sent, there should then be automatic error handling to auto-correct the beneficiary account details before proceeding to 'send'.

3. If it failed to implement corrective actions for 1 and 2, then the transaction with truncated data should be flagged in the transaction log when it reaches the beneficiary bank. I suspect, there is such a log, but the operator sitting in front of the screen was probably 'sleeping'.

Moral of the story:

What started as a 'minor' mistake of poor user-interface design and error handling, can result in business going bust, employees being laid-off and families spiralling down into a financial grind.

So in whatever you do, even the seemingly mundane ones, do them mindfully, for the ripple effects whether big or small,always travel a long way. It is harder to see this in the cold and impersonal Internet and mobile phone age, but nevertheless the impacts on humans, other life forms and the environment remains unchanged from the ages of old.

Rule of Thumb:

Put love first in whatever you do. When you do that, everything falls in place. In this instance, if the designer had done so, he would have captured the user requirements more comprehensively. He would then not just see the entry fields as just a place to handle account data, but an opportunity to serve and help the end user send money to a chosen destination on time.

The operator sitting in front of the transaction log screen, admittedly a mundane role, will get his drive from being able to serve his clients so that many others will be happy and sing praises for him. If he treats it as a 'job', then it would be mundane and possibly fall 'asleep' like many others.

Conclusion:

While it is important to get the technology right during software development, quite often, a disproportionate amount of time is spent on the aesthetics of the screen, the programming language to use, the server to use, the communications protocol to adopt...etc, compared with the user requirements.

In the end, any system will be a system to serve others. If it doesn't serve others, then it would have fallen short of its purpose.If the designer of the banking software could cut his mind across time and space, he would be able to take delight that I would be able to send the money on time and save some people from going bust and families away from financial hardships.

PS. I cancelled the old transfer and re-sent a new one today. The bank branch manager offered to lend me the money personallly to re-send, as re-calling the money will take too long. I was touched! So, even in a critical fallout like this, pleasant things do happen. In darkness, there is light; and in light there is darkness. Perhaps such events occur so that we have opportunities to exercise compassion. :)

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The Futurists - Critical Thinking

noreply@blogger.com (jupilier) — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 04:31:00 +0000

Date: 1st July 2009

Place: Hair Affair, The Adelphi, Singapore.

The Futurists Group, aka Acceleration Aware Singapore, is an informal group that gathers once a week to discuss a pre-selected subject and how that subject will evolve to be in future. It is an open group and anyone can join in. I think it is a group that needs an outlet to express its intellect, quite decadent in a way considering that the time and minds spent here would not add much to save the poor and starving. And I am guilty! :)

Discussion:

Critical Thinking is the evaluation of competing account of the same situation. How a particular discipline deals with this problem is not necessarily focused on the problem. We need an inter-disciplinary approach and agreement to understand the problem.

In the PhD offered by the Minerva School, it covers how we can deal with entrepreneurship, media and academia. Such education is not adequate in today's society.

To analyse media, we need a critical approach. Critical thinking will lead you to possibility thinking. That much of what we observe is relative, depending on our orientation, classification and identification with the issue. There is no right or wrong in critical thinking, but 'stronger' or 'weaker' interpretation of the subject. A stronger interpretation is one that is more comprehensive and covers more elements.

For instance, Freud's Interpretation of Dreams uses a free association within a given context to eventually derive a latent dream thought, with internally cohesive fragments.

Me: Actually it is basically like Relational Database Design. :)

Dominant myths translates society beliefs relative to the society and culture. Dominant myths defines society.

Objectivity can be seen as a process or a task to understand subjectivity.

Me: I think 'critical thinking' is 'non-dogmatic thinking'. That means we accept that knowledge and opinions are never 'crystal clear' and are in a permanent state of flux. However, we can achieve a better understanding of the subject matter through critical thinking. Ironically, critical thinking is more stable than dogmatic thinking, for the former embraces a belief that no knowledge or argument is permanently corrrect, whilst dogmas are demolished once contradictions are established.

With the information ecology, it arises the need for more critical thinking. With the advent of information technology and the Internet, we can get vast volumes of information with ease. However, it is precisely this ease to obtain vast volume of information that we do not have the time to go through them all that we have become more selective. We put out harsher filters and tighter jargons.

Go back a thousand years, we probably did not need critical thinking. Go back 150 years, and it would probably have been similar. Then, information is scarce and the pace of life is much slower. Just watch some of the older TV series, like West Wing and they were using pagers in their episodes. Nowadays, news get reported first on twitter before the mainstream media catches the events.

What will happen when we reach 'Singularity'? At that point, we can upload modules of information and skills into our brains. How would 'critical thinking' be then? In such a state, surely critical thinking will leap many orders of magnitude in complexity and sophistication. Then it could be difficult to fathom the thoughts of a technology aided brain, by mine which is unaided. That is, if I am still around then and that if 'Singularity' is achievable.

My Note:

The Minerva School is embarking on 'inter-disciplinary' approach to their PhD coursework on 'Critical Thinking'. I think that it is a misnomer to accept that there is a naturally occurring thing as a discipline. I would rather treat all issues as one. All issues exists in one universe operating with common generalised principles. So, it would be more fruitful to start with the universe, than to assume that there are these (human-defined) disciplines that ultimately would be empirically fractious on their own.

Other Futurists posts:

Bucky's Vision of the Future, click here

China, click here

Survivalism, click here

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Cat's Play - Come back!

noreply@blogger.com (jupilier) — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 09:31:00 +0000

Two days ago, we were much saddened when we found Greygri, our grey cat laying dead by the main road. We brought the body back and buried it in our garden. Then curiously during the night, we heard the little cat door flapped, as if Greygri was back! Next morning, in a bizarre turn of events, we even noticed that the cat food was consumed and the dish moved! Then, as we were standing there, to our astonishment, Greygri came through the door. We were stunned!!!! “HUH? Wasn't Greygri supposed to be dead?” I thought. Then did we realised that we had buried the wrong cat!!! .

Also two days ago, an old and good friend whom I have tried contacting many times since the year 2000, but to no avail, turned up online on LinkedIn.com!!! I had earlier assumed that he is 'no longer with us'. Anyway, he revealed that he had just came out of prison after 8 years, allegedly being framed for a crime he didn't commit. While he was doing time, he studied and achieved a first class honours degree and continued halfway into a PhD. Now out on good behaviour, he has enrolled in an engineering degree. He has also got an application for a patent pending for an online user authentication algorithm; and also waiting to test a concept he has, that would generate energy from a renewable source.

I admire his strength living through all those years in prison and having attained those academic and intellectual achievements. He must have gone through immense agony though. I told him that the past is now behind him and he ought to endeavour to live in the present. That he says he will.

For other posts about Cat's Play, read here

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5 Steps To Intellectualise Your Hair Salon

noreply@blogger.com (jupilier) — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 07:56:00 +0000

Photo: The strange 'spaceship' that runs Singapore

There is this strange 'spaceship' that sits on this grand old building in this straight-jacket country. Down from this 'spaceship' lies a salon very true to its name that hosts affairs of many subjects. There in Salon "Hair Affair", the proprietors would reveal that they are from the same father and same mother and tell guests that they are even willing to ~~die~~ dye for them.

Photo: Joo Hock

The intellectualisation of this salon happens much by accident. It started 14 years ago when one of the proprietor, Joo Hock, was looking for the 'meaning of life'. He eventually wrote on a piece of paper, "Dear God, Need Help! Please help!" Then he put it under his pillow.

After a few days, a friend called and told him about a "Money and You" (business training) programme. Actually, he was not interested, but this friend persisted and told him that he had already booked a place for him.

When the day came, he attended the programme and it absolutely blew his mind away, upon the introduction of the life and philiosophy of Buckminster Fuller (Bucky). Joo Hock was very impressed with Bucky's teachings and even more impressed that Bucky actually had a spiritual belief in 'a force more powerful than men', despite being a highly scientific person. This is the genesis of the intellectualisation of "Hair Affair".

Photo: Buckminster Fuller & the Geodesic Dome

So, these are the essential steps:

1. Choose a Belief

Choose a belief that resonates with you. Something that you can put your full heart and soul to it. In Joo Hock's case, it is the visions and works of Buckminster Fuller. Today, fourteen years later, his 'Bucky Group' is still going strong!

Photo: Acceleration Aware Singapore (aka "The Futurist Group")

2. Be Inclusive

Your belief should be all inclusive, regardless of race, religion, gender, nationality, caste or creed. Here, Bucky is a safe icon to adopt. The Bucky Group embraces all and include people from varied and contrasting backgrounds.

Photo: MSN Live with friends from Atlanta

3. Give

Hair Affair extended the free use of their premises further, to other interest groups like the Writers' Group, the Futurist Group and the French Language Interest Group, every week. Be sincere in giving. Thanks to the Internet, the Salon even connects to some of their members out of Singapore, like in Atlanta in the USA sometimes.

4. Allow

Allow diverse views and opinions. It is not necessary to agree all the time. There is also much to learn from disagreements. That way you also allow spontaneity in the Salon.

Photo: Walk in the Sungei Buloh Bird Sanctuary in Singapore

5. Fun

Most of all, there must be fun to perpetuate the flow of intellect. Besides mere talk, we also take walks in nature, trips to farms and plantations in Malaysia, screen movies, gather for BBQs, karaoke nights,...etc. There is also a plan to put up a musical about the life of Bucky.

Try this in your salon! It need not be a hair salon. It just need to be a place of passion and intellect.

For the record, Hair Affair is not underground, but a salon in the basement of The Adelphi Mall. :)

Read about the Bucky Group, click here

Read about the Futurist Group, click here

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The Futurists - Bucky's Vision

noreply@blogger.com (jupilier) — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 02:35:00 +0000

Date: 24th June 2009

Time: 7.30pm to 10pm

Place: The lecture room next to Hair Affair, The Adelphi Mall, Singapore.

Buckminster Fuller is the visionary in the 60s of the future. In between, there is a gap. Tonight, we are going to discuss about the difference between the Bucky's vision of the future versus Singularity, which is what is contemporary.

Steffan believes that 'Singularity' will be achieved in the next 10 years. Singularity is based largely on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the accelerating computing power based on Moore's Law (that processing power will double every 18 months). AI will be developed and progressed to a stage where the human can't keep up with it anymore. It'll be beyond the human scale.

Joo Hock said that Bucky illustrates this rapid exponential progress in "the chronological rate of acquisition of the basic inventory of cosmic absolutes - the 92 elements" (page 243, Critical Path). In that Bucky plotted a graph of time vs the number of elements discovered. It started with very few, the first one being arsenic in 1250 AD in Italy. The rate of isolation of elements started slowly, then accelerated rapidly around and after 1810AD.

Also in the transportation sector, the adoption of new modes of transport accelerated - initially with the sail boat, steam ship,... to spaceship.

Now we have reduced travel time, we require less resources by combining different elements to gather new alloys that give more strength per given weight.

Bucky questioned if humankind have a function on Earth. Do we have a function?

He discovered that whatever something that happens here, there is a complementary phase somewhere else.

Then when Einstein discovered E=mc2, he realises this is bringing things back to order. That there is an order, because the mind generalises. So Bucky propounded a set of generalised principles that applies consistently in the universe.

From there he developed artifacts that illustrates those generalised principles. He then developed the Dymaxion Map, Dymaxion Car, Dymaxion House, the Geodesic Dome, the World Game...etc.

Bucky asked how we can work for the entire humanity without ecological damages and without disadvantages to anyone.

Joo Hock: Can AI asks questions instead of answering questions?

Replies: AI is no different from the evolved intelligence of humans. Can machines ask an original question? Bucky thinks not, but there again, may be he changed his mind later because he said, "only the impossible happens".

The top 10 jobs 20 years ago does not exist today. Similarly, the top 10 jobs in 20 years' time does not exist today. Some of the top jobs of the future could be:

Reputation Managers
Consultant, but run by a computerised network (similar to crowd sourcing)

Common to these two jobs will be a term called "Ping Quotient", which is a measure of your responsiveness to other people's requests for engagement, your propensity and ability to reach out to others in a network .

So what is Bucky's vision for humanity in the future?

Will it be like "Cloud 9" - cities floating in the sky?

Bucky has a vision of the use of technology on every front in our life.

He conceived the idea of tetrahedral cities submerged in the sea.

He derives the generalised principles from how nature works. From the principles, he created artifacts. For instance, he demostrated that a chain with many links have many degrees of freedom of movements. Then as the links are reduced to 3 links, it stopped having the freedom to move. Then, Bucky realised that a triangle is a basic structure. from a triangle, he proceeded to discover the tetrahedron as the basic structure, and so on.

So science is putting our experiences in order.

Bucky's 10 Anticipatory Design Leadership qualities:

Think comprehensively
Anticipate the future
Respect gestation rates
Envision the best possible future
Be a trimtab
Take individual initiative
Ask the obvious and "naive" questions
Do more with less
Seek to reform the environment, not man
Solve problems through action

Bucky also spoke about the illusion of 'ownership' - that ultimately, we don't really own anything. Indigenous tribes were perplexed with European colonisers of land ownership. To them, it is impossible to own the land. To them, the land owns them. And so they got cheated by being asked to sign a treaty to give the land away to their colonisers.

So from an ownership model, we proceed to a service (rental) model. We are here to use something, then put it back.

A dangling comment:

We have been discussing about 'Good' and 'Evil'. In between, there is 'indifference'. For instance, a cockroach is probably indifferent. :)

Steffan feels that Bucky is the futurist of his time. Then, humanity needed structures for housing, transportation...etc. There was little said about organising information. Perhaps now Kurtzweil (author of "Singularity") is the futurist of this era, as he works extensively with 'information'.

Bucky's books:

Cosmography: A Posthumous Scenario for the Future of Humanity

From amazon.com: Fuller's last work, nearly finished when he died in 1983, is composed of short sweeps--for Fuller--of afterthought, and some additions, to the main themes of his previous books. As always, Fuller spikes his science with anthropology and sociology, as he did in Critical Path (1981) and Syngergetics I and II (1971-1979), but for hardcore Fuller fans the heart of this book will be the long chapter called "Cosmic Conceptioning." This section includes a note Fuller wrote to himself, at his wife's hospital bed, on "spheric experiences" of the structure of gases--a raw example of Fuller's special "geometry of thinking." (It is dated 1983 and signed "with thanks to God, the eternal sum of all truths.") "History of Structure," on the other hand, reads like a guest-lecture speech, summarizing the future world millenium according to Fuller. While obtuse wording, such as "omninteraccelerating cosmic concept" can seem to mock his brilliant insights into the grand geometry of structures, topology, chemistry, metallurgy and, perhaps, society, nearly a decade after his death, Fuller is still ahead of the parade.

Critical Path

From amazon.co.uk: Critical Path is R. Buckminster Fuller's masterwork - the summing up of a lifetime's thought and concern - as urgent and relevant as it was upon its first publication over 20 years ago. Critical Path details how humanity found itself in its current situation - at the limits of the planet's natural resources and facing political, economic, environmental, and ethical crises. Fuller's analysis has been proven correct in many areas since then and his options for the survival of mankind are as compelling as ever. Critical Path is an essential text for any student of humanity.

The Whole Earth Catalog

From Wikipedia: The Whole Earth Catalog was an American counterculture catalog that granted "Access to Tools" published by Stewart Brand between 1968 and 1972, and occasionally thereafter, until 1998. Apple Inc. founder and entrepreneur Steve Jobs has described the Catalog as the conceptual forerunner of the World Wide Web.

Andrew Kirk in Counterculture Green notes that the Whole Earth Catalog was preceded by the "Whole Earth Truck Store". This store was conceived of as the "first phase" of his Whole Earth idea and was "an alternative library" and an "abbreviated version of Brand's earlier hope to tour the country with educational fairs. The truck was a store but was also a lending library and mobile microeducation fair." It was created in his 1963 Dodge Truck. In 1968, Brand and his wife Lois went "on a commune road trip" with the truck. The "Truck Store" finally settled in its permanent location in Menlo Park, California.

Brand's intent with the catalog was to provide education and "access to tools" so a reader could "find his own inspiration, shape his own environment, and share his adventure with whoever is interested." The Catalog's development and marketing were driven by an energetic group of founders, primarily Stewart Brand, whose family was also involved with the project. Its outsize pages measured 11x14 inches (28x36 cm). Later editions were more than an inch thick. The early editions were published by the Portola Institute, headed by Richard Raymond. In 1972, the catalog won the National Book Award, the first time a catalog had ever won such an award.

Brand's publishing efforts were suffused with an awareness of the importance of ecology, both as a field of study and as an influence upon the future of humankind and emerging human awareness.

The catalogs disseminated many ideas now associated with the 1960s and 1970s, particularly those of the counterculture and the environmental movements. Later editions and related publications edited by Brand popularized many innovative ideas during the 1970s–1990s. Read more

An Autobiographical Monologue/Scenario

From geni.org

An excellent primer written in plain English.

Documented and edited by Robert Snyder. Amiable prophet of the future, "the planet's friendly genius," R. Buckminster Fuller is, at 84, the best-known living American thinker. (Order)

Architect, author, designer, cosmogonist, scientist, inventor, philosopher, and not the least, astronaut aboard the "beautiful little spaceship Earth." The torrent of ideas and inventions that flow from his active brain have widened our vision of man and nature and reshaped our view of the universe.

Based on Robert Snyder's films The World of Buckminster Fuller and Primer of the Universe, Buckminster Fuller: An Autobiographical Monologue/Scenario make skillful use of stills and text from the films as well as from Fuller family photographs and letters and the Fuller archives. Snyder has succeeded in capturing in the camera's lens the flesh and blood figure of the man beyond the myth, "warts and all." In this book, Bucky speaks for himself.

An Anthology for the New Millenium

From Amazon.com: In 1927 R. Buckminster Fuller stood on the shore of Lake Michigan contemplating suicide. Suddenly he asked himself, "Could I use myself as a scientific `guinea pig'... on behalf of all humanity?" Fuller decided at that moment to "make the world work for one hundred percent of humanity, in the shortest possible time, through spontaneous cooperation, without ecological offense or the disadvantage of anyone." From this auspicious beginning, Fuller quickly rose to fame as one of the 20th century's most brilliant inventors, architects and "poets of technology." Believing that "mankind has the capability through proper planning and use of natural resources to forever house himself," he devised the geodesic dome--a model of which now looms over Disney's Epcot Center--an architectural wonder designed to conserve both space and energy. Fuller's foresight that advances in transportation and communication would make the world a smaller place culturally led him to famously describe the global village as "Spaceship Earth." He also introduced the world to the now commonplace idea of synergy. In order to acquaint a new generation with Fuller, his former architectural partner, Zung, gathers selections from 20 of Fuller's 23 writings on topics ranging from education and environment to engineering and the Lord's Prayer. Admirers of Fuller--such as actress Valerie Harper, author Arthur C. Clarke and entrepreneur Steve Forbes--introduce each selection. Zung's anthology traces the development of Fuller's intellectual life and provides an excellent introduction for a new generation to the life and work of this brilliant thinker. Read more

Your Private Sky:

From Amazon.com: Buckminster Fuller's talents bridged architecture, engineering, and industrial design, and his interest in prefabricated units, constructed from industrial materials, marked his designs as among the most inventive of the 20th century. In their economy and conservation of energy, his works far exceeded anything envisioned by International Style architects of his time. This volume, the result of an exhibition held at five European design museums, consists primarily of archival documentation from the Buckminster Fuller Institute. Each chapter examines a design, beginning with a brief descriptive paragraph and including substantial excerpts from Fuller's lectures, manuscripts, and publications in addition to sketches, photographs, patent application drawings, and engineering drawings. The result is engaging, visually stunning, and highly informative if at times also confusing, overwrought, and breathless. Regrettably, there is some ambiguity as to which caption describes which illustration. Nevertheless, this book well complements Inventions: The Patented Works of R. Buckminster Fuller (St. Martin's, 1983). For architecture and design collections.

-Paul Glassman, New York Sch. of Interior Design Lib.

Topic for next week: "Critical Thinking".

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Vacuum State - Coming Up

noreply@blogger.com (jupilier) — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 00:45:00 +0000

Sorry I have been busy with many activities and hadn't had the time to post here as much as I wanted.

Here is a glimpse of what is coming up:

The Futurist

Buckminster Fuller's view of the future
Critical Thinking
Artificial Intelligence Drives

Bucky Group

Bucky Basics - the generalised principles, the artifacts, Bucky's products like the Dymaxion car, Dymaxion house, ...etc.

The Power of Numbers

More about my recent experience reading for people: the accuracy and the need for coaching and encouragement

Neurofeedback

About using the brain's own waves to train and improve itself.

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Thanks for visiting Vacuum State. Do feel free to leave your comment, suggestions or criticisms.

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Caravan Himalaya

noreply@blogger.com (jupilier) — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 15:41:00 +0000

Guest Writer: Tiger Ng

Movie: Caravan (Himalaya)

Screened at the Buddhist Library.

Review

This movie is simple, no “big-shot” movie stars, no over-budgeted advertising trick! What Eric Valli used in this movie are the breathtaking views of the Himalayas, the courageous caravan, and the completely non-professional cast (real chiefs, lamas and local villagers) which provide the film with a sense of “authenticity” that is not found in the “money-hunting” Hollywood products.

“Himalaya” delivers a strong message that revolves around power, leadership ability, tradition, and change. A simple question: “When superstition, tradition and culture collide with our own conscience, what would you have done best to avoid conflict?” Probably we can make use of what is uttered by one of the main character in the film, Norbu: "When two paths open up before you, choose the hardest one." Talking about this, Bhante Dhammaratana (The Buddhist Library Spiritual Advisor) has opined that one should always take the hardest path. [This is my own view: there’s no easy way or short-cut in everything we do in our life (be it spiritual or secular). Obstacles in fact serve as our “spiritual teacher” that makes us matured over the course of time].

Indeed, “Himalaya” reflects what is really happening in our modern society today: struggle between old and new, as well as between god-fearing society and self-reliant upstarts. How do you challenge the tradition and belief systems that have been practised for thousands if not hundreds of years? Especially when things happen in accord to what is “prophesised” by those so-called superstitious predictions…

Well, to relate this subject to what is taught by the Buddha, we may want to reflect upon the Kalama’s Sutta. Following is an excerpt from the Kalama Sutta: “It is fitting for you to be perplexed, O Kālāmas, it is fitting for you to be in doubt. Doubt has arisen in you about a perplexing matter. Come, Kālāmas. Do not go by oral tradition, by lineage of teaching, by hearsay, by a collection of texts, by logic, by inferential reasoning, by reasoned cogitation, by the acceptance of a view after pondering it, by the seeming competence of a speaker, or because you think, ‘The ascetic is our teacher.’ But when you know for yourselves, ‘These things are unwholesome; these things are blameable; these things are censured by the wise; these things, if undertaken and practiced, lead to harm and suffering,’ then you should abandon them.”

My principle is simple. I always respect the ancient belief system, even though some of them seem to me rather superstitious. They have survived for such a long time, there must be some reasons for them to exist until now. Some of them are simple innocent belief [for example, whenever someone has urgent toilet business, but there’s no nearby toilet can be found, he would have to settle his “business” at a nearby tree. Before doing this, we were always told during our childhood time that we must ask for “permission” from whatever “things” residing at that tree to allow us to proceed with our urgent business. For me, although this might sound superstitious, but it is a form of respect for all the living (and non-living) things in this world, who knows there might be a tree Deva at particular tree?]. However, if the practice of such belief systems become an obsession and start to disrupt my daily life, and could probably lead to the unwholesome consequences, I would not tolerate them, will try to challenge and clear the “clouds”.

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Michael Jackson's Life & Character by his Birth Date

noreply@blogger.com (jupilier) — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 06:24:00 +0000

This is a reading of Michael Jackson's Character and Behaviour based on his date of birth using the "Power of Numbers" calculations. For more about the "Power of Numbers", read here.

--------reading starts------------

Strong survival instincts and like to control wealth and prosperity. family oriented, creative and artistic. well mannered and have a high taste in life. Not one who takes on cheap things. Will do well in education, artistic works and religion. A popular figure in society.

Proud in nature and doesn’t like taking on simple jobs. Not one who listen to others' instructions especially one's superiors, but one who look after one's subordinates well.

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Very expressive and always busy and stressed. Suited to be in sales or entertainment because of the love to express and can take the consequential pressure. Will end up alone.

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A good planner and is well organized. Will plan alone and that is why can plan well. However, lack ability to execute.

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Believe in own principles strongly and that will lead to wealth/money. Can be seen as stubbornly sticking to own principles and disregard other people’s urging to the contrary, yet finally achieving what was set out. Must travel out of the country of your birth to make more money.

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Aggressively looking for businesses and opportunities, but end up in vain.

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A risk taker, and ventures/business/career will be successful. Have windfall luck.

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Have the charisma to talk and attract many people around, more so, from the opposite sex. A friendly person.

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A planner who believes strongly in own principles. Eventually lead to preset goal. One who plans with motives in mind.

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Have many obstacles in life

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When it comes to money, one who believes only in own principles. There are obstacles making money. But ironically by being too careful can lead to being cheated.

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One who makes money in service-oriented work or situations that require expressions, like sales or entertainment. Wants to be rewarded by money before doing something.

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Major health hazard/operation. (Metaphysical) Metal element cutting through the body.

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Talent: Very creative

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Outward impression: Have a 'no-nonsense' look.

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Subconscious: Very aggressive/fast.

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Old age: No money, but at least 2 properties.

--------end of reading-----------

Is your behaviour and character (and hence destiny) sealed upon your first breath at birth?

Find that out! Get a FREE summary reading by emailing me your name, date of birth and gender. The reading will be done manually by myself (not generated by a computer).

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