It's like a breath of fresh air::~

(:
It's kinda long::~
But it's really refreshing & meaningful::~


Learn to carry a candle to remove
                         the darkness...

from my yoga sensei, Beth::~

I dont like flipping through daily newspapers,
TV or internet as there is more gloomy news
than good ones.
When I do that, I make sure I do the minimum,
just to stay informed with
the latest social development.
But whatever I read or hear,
I am not quiet sure as
how true and reliable they are.
Because if I were to take seriously of all that,
then, it feels as if
we are heading toward
the doomsday in any time soon.
Every day, everywhere,
the media is so busy to stir up insecurity,
provoke fear and manipulate power that
which only increases the chain reactions of
panic and tension in public.
We human beings cant thrive too well
when functioning from
fear, insecurity and threats.
Under constant tensions and threats,
we are likely to become
more defensive and destructive
than positive and optimistic.


The sole purpose of the media is just to
provoke all kinds of
fears, worries and insecurities
in us as much as they can.
The 99% of what they are reporting,
circulating is all about
problems and corruptions here,
tragedy and disasters there,
if not gossiping about
the celebrities' latest affairs
or their yo-yo weights.
The media just loves to offer us with a perpetual drip,
drip of scary stuff.
They have the scoop on the latest threat;
and they're graciously letting us know,
offering advice, warning us, blah-blah-blah.


What do they get in return?
They get to control us by playing our psychic and survival instincts,
so that they can sell their agendas on behalf of
the institutional powers they are representing;
so that they get to manipulate us into buying whatever
the dominant market forces might want to sell.
Isn't that a great pity
to play the helpless puppets in their string?
Isn't that a waste of our time,
precious life just to sit around
feeling worried and scared all the time,
instead of going out to see what else life has to offer?
Is our life meant to do nothing but just to
defend and prepare against any possible odds in life,
like accidents, diseases, tragedy, robbery and cheats
that which might or might not happen to us?
I dont think so.
As Mark Twain said, 98% of our fears never come true.

Life meant to sustain itself to live, not to annihilate.
It was never meant to be
continual disaster and tragedy of one kind and another.
When we open our eyes and hearts,
there are so much goodness and beauty
than those ugly things
that the media not are reporting to us.
Why are they doing that?
It's the game of control they play;
gloomy news attracts more attention
and it is easier to control people
through fear rather than hope.
They are out to increase their power
and control
by constantly reminding us with
what is lacking
and what we need to have more,
rather than what we already have are enough
and thereby need to share more with others,
together to elevate the qualities of our lives
and uplift our spirit to soar towards
the highest and noblest causes.


It is our natural desire to be happy and well,
and we deserve just that,
to enjoy
and to become the best we meant to be in life.
While some say, there are so much evil,
injustice and wrongdoings rampant
in the world out there,
and the global economic crisis
is yet to hit our shore,
how can we just sit and relax and take it easy?
Then, what do they suggest instead?
Up and down,
wail and cry every time some bomb knocks off
people in somewhere far off country,
or go crazy together with volatile stock market?
Or keep up with whatever they suggest,
by buying this and that,
by upgrading this and that,
so that we can feel safe and secure,
or work 24/7 not to get hit by retrenchment?
I really don't believe that is the way
to counter life's darkness
that which will be always there
as a part of package offered in
the school of life we all have enrolled.

It is written in the Pantanjali Yoga Sutra that,
when the negative feelings restrict us,
the opposite should be cultivated.
Why not inculcate the better habit
of carrying a candle
whenever you see darkness is looming?
By nature, we are resilient beings,
not much physically compared to the rest of mammals,
but mentally and spiritually we are enormously strong.
We are much more magnanimous beings than we know of,
capable of gaining full enlightenment
in this life time like 
the Buddha,Jesus, Socrates, Mother Teresa,
Gandhi, Nelson Mandela,
and many others who walked on the earth as we do.
What is common in them?
They all went against
what their social conventions tried to sell it to them.
They didn't buy into it,
neither fought;
but simply acted accordingly
what they felt right in their heart;
they didn't toil or struggle
to standoff against the giant odds in their society.
Instead they simply lived
and did their own thing regardless of
what others or authorities might say.
They carried a candle to lighten up their life
and others regardless of the wind or tornado.
Why can't we?


How?
Be watchful of negative energy,
bad people and
all other kinds of basic do's and don'ts
to keep your family and you safe and healthy.
But don’t become neurotic or go hysterical
until you have to sleep
with an electrical bat
just in the case a thief comes in at night
(my boy's school friend who lives in a bungalow
with bullet proof doors does that). O.o


Your very focus on the negative things in life,
in fact, can backfire you like a powerful magnet,
as we attract what we put our attention the most.
Be vigilant
but don't forget to breathe and be serene.
In challenging times like this,
where goodness, kindness, and optimism
seem so scarce to come by...

Soooo...

Lighten up, yall~!

Be happy and radiate that to others::~


;)