Yin Yang Balance

Have you ever felt really drained of energy and tired after you walked past someone, or walked past a crowd of people, or after being in a crowded bus/train?  In the past month, I have only come to realize why that was so.  That question has been bugging me for quite a few years now and I only realized what the answer was just about a month ago.  Its the balancing of the Yin and Yang, or in layman's term the balancing exchange of energies during interaction.

Yin energy, contrary to what many would believe, is negative energy.  Well, not all of that is true.  It is a category of energy that includes negative/heavy/low vibrational energy, it is also the possession of having more Yin energy that makes one feel tired and sleepy, otherwise we would not need any sleep (and we all know that sleep is essential to survival).  Yin energy also includes the smooth flowing and soft energies such as feminine energy (no relation to Females).  Forms can also be considered Yin if they are more flowing/smooth/curvy, such as the female body.

Yang energy, on the other hand, is quite the opposite of what Yin energy is.  It is hard/energetic/strong/high vibrational.  A form is Yang when it has hard/sharp angle/s, such as a square or a triangle.  Which is also one of the reason why the inclusion of triangular objects in your home makes the area feel as if it is more energetic.

Therefore, for people who have a higher spiritual attainment, they will have more Yang energy when they are out and about.  Which is also one of the reasons why we feel so at ease and happy when we are amongst people who gives you good vibes (ie. they are on the same frequency as you and vibrate at the same frequency as you).  So when someone who has higher vibrational energy walks past or interact with something/someone/people of lower vibrational energy, an exchange of energy takes place to balance the energy in that area.  If this person has sufficient Yang energy to give, all will be in balance and everyone leaves the area happy.  If this person is overwhelmed by the influx of the Yin energy (ie. the person now has more Yin energy than Yang energy after the exchange has taken place), this individual will feel tired/drained and would feel like a good nap would do him/her a lot of good.

But fret NOT!!!  There is no cure for this, but much good can come out of this.  This exchange means that the individual of higher vibration should feel happy that the balancing has taken place (regardless of whether he/she is feeling drained/tired).  Because, he/she is feeding the masses their energy of light and love that they have stored up.  The next time this happens, make a wish inside your heart that may that energy that was taken be used to raise the vibrational frequency of whomever has gotten it.  Your energy will be replenished the next time you fall asleep and wake up, the Angels and unseen spirits will help recharge you, even Mother Earth Gaia herself will help recharge you!!

Love should feel free

I saw this picture and I thought I must share this here.  I feel that many times people mistake love for possession and dominance.  You don't own someone when you love someone. You allow the person whom you love to grow the way they feel it is best for them; even to the point that if they feel they need to leave you, you would still allow it.  Love is not possession, the person you love does not need to be around you for you to love him/her.  In the ideal sense, LOVE is like the love GOD/Buddha/Allah/Jesus/etc have for all of us (regardless of whether you follow their teaching or not, they love each equally).  They do not place any conditions on their love for us, and neither do they expect us to return their love.  THAT is true love !!

Letting go of negative emotions

For the longest time I have a problem in letting go of my negative emotions. I can keep them under control, but it keeps coming up over and over again like a bad dream, or someone suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.  Freudian theory says that repressed emotions will always find a way to express itself, somehow. Ferenczi's Trauma Theory says that trauma is "a fixation of the innervations predominating at the moment of the concussion (of the shock)." "The innervations dominant at the moment of trauma become permanently retained as morbid symptoms and indicate that undischarged parts of the affective impulses are still active in the unconscious". Together they are both talking about the same thing. The energy within that was interrupted from being fully expressed will always find a way to be expressed.  Therefore, repressed anger will eventually erupt like a volcano.

For many years, I have always thought that the best way to keep these negative emotions at bay was to accept it and come to terms with it. Understand what causes it, why it arises, then with understanding and acceptance it should go away. SO NOT HAPPENING !!! I misunderstood the Buddhist teachings. What I was doing was still repressing the negative emotions, denying its existence, assuming that it will go away with time. When Buddha said to nip the cause and the effect ceases, he was right. Our perception was the cause of the negative emotion, we created that emotion. If we stop creating that emotion, then it would not have existed. I did not change my thinking/perception, I understood the cause, and then I repressed the emotion.

So what should I do now that I already have that emotion?  It would not die unless I release that energy; and if I do, depending on what that negative emotion is, all hell might just break loose upon my "peaceful life".  A calm exterior, but a turmoil within.  But I found the key to releasing it, through mindfulness and observation. It works !!  I took my anger, I allowed myself to fully experience that episode of anger but at the same time as I am experiencing the anger I took note of what effect the anger had on my physical body, my mental thoughts, and the outwardly manifestation of behavior (but still not acting out my anger towards anyone, or anything).  For example, as I am going through the episode, I would note that my breathing increased, the rate of breathing increased as well, my heart would pump faster, my body temperature rises, muscles tighten up, heart hurts, and started having angry thoughts that supported the manifestation of the anger.  After it passes, and it will fairly quickly, I felt this HUGE relief coming over me.  Depending on what triggered the episode, it may come back, but each time it returns I go through the same process.  So I allowed myself to experience the full effects that the anger episode brought out, but without having to act it out. I let the locked up energy dissipate by allowing it passage.  

Of course it does not solve the problem why I got angry in the first place, but it sure helps to release it responsibly. I am pretty sure it works the same for all the other negative emotions too.  Most definitely, a change in personal perception (Buddha's way) is still the best method to eradicate negative emotions totally.

The Art of Not Being Offended

I take no credit for this post here as the entire post is a cut and paste from this site. I find it very interesting and so I thought I'd share the information.

There is an ancient and well-kept secret to happiness which the Great Ones have known for centuries. They rarely talk about it, but they use it all the time, and it is fundamental to good mental health. This secret is called The Fine Art of Not Being Offended. In order to truly be a master of this art, one must be able to see that every statement, action and reaction of another human being is the sum result of their total life experience to date.

In other words, the majority of people in our world say and do what they do from their own set of fears, conclusions, defenses and attempts to survive. Most of it, even when aimed directly at us, has nothing to do with us. Usually, it has more to do with all the other times, and in particular the first few times, that this person experienced a similar situation, usually when they were young.

Yes, this is psychodynamic. But let’s face it, we live in a world where psychodynamics are what make the world go around. An individual who wishes to live successfully in the world as a spiritual person really needs to understand that psychology is as spiritual as prayer. In fact, the word psychology literally means the study of the soul.
All of that said, almost nothing is personal.

Even with our closest loved ones, our beloved partners, our children and our friends. We are all swimming in the projections and filters of each other’s life experiences and often we are just the stand-ins, the chess pieces of life to which our loved ones have their own built-in reactions. This is not to dehumanize life or take away the intimacy from our relationships, but mainly for us to know that almost every time we get offended, we are actually just in a misunderstanding.

A true embodiment of this idea actually allows for more intimacy and less suffering throughout all of our relationships. When we know that we are just the one who happens to be standing in the right place at the right psychodynamic time for someone to say or do what they are doing—we don’t have to take life personally. If it weren’t us, it would likely be someone else.

This frees us to be a little more detached from the reactions of people around us. How often do we react to a statement of another by being offended rather than seeing that the other might actually be hurting? In fact, every time we get offended, it is actually an opportunity to extend kindness to one who may be suffering—even if they themselves do not appear that way on the surface. All anger, all acting out, all harshness, all criticism, is in truth a form of suffering. When we provide no Velcro for it to stick, something changes in the world. We do not even have to say a thing. In fact, it is usually better not to say a thing.

People who are suffering on the inside, but not showing it on the outside, are usually not keen on someone pointing out to them that they are suffering. We do not have to be our loved one’s therapist. We need only understand the situation and move on. In the least, we ourselves experience less suffering and at best, we have a chance to make the world a better place.

This is also not to be confused with allowing ourselves to be hurt, neglected or taken advantage of. True compassion does not allow harm to ourselves either. But when we know that nothing is personal, a magical thing happens. Many of the seeming abusers of the world start to leave our lives. Once we are conscious, so-called abuse can only happen if we believe what the other is saying. When we know nothing is personal, we also do not end up feeling abused. We can say, “Thank you for sharing,” and move on. We are not hooked by what another does or says, since we know it is not about us.

When we know that our inherent worth is not determined by what another says, does or believes, we can take the world a little less seriously. And if necessary, we can just walk away without creating more misery for ourselves or having to convince the other person that we are good and worthy people.

The great challenge of our world is to live a life of contentment, regardless of what other people do, say, think or believe. The fine art of not being offended is one of the many skills for being a practical mystic. Though it may take a lifetime of practice, it is truly one of the best kept secrets for living a happy life.

By Dr. Jodi Prinzivalli

Dreaming of the new world.....

"When dreaming of new earth let go of all your preconceived ideas. If you want to dream of instant manifestation, do it! If you envision yourself flying, do it! If you see yourself walking through walls, do it! If you see spaceships from everywhere visiting earth or you leaving here to go visit those places – do it! If you see yourself with avatar abilities for you and each person on new earth do it! Dream your wildest dream!" -- Bill Ballard

 What would you do if you were given the opportunity to be part of remaking the world that we live in?  How would you want the world to be like?  How would you want to be like?  Would you still want to be limited by all the scarcity that you see all around us today?

My dream of the new world :-

For the world :

   May peace prevail throughout the lands

   Let safety and security dominate all who live on Earth, no longer would anyone 

     need to fear for their safety or security anymore.

   May everyone regard all others (humans and otherwise) regard all with respect

     reverence, love, compassion, trust and kindness.

   May there be no more scarcity of resources but abundance for all.  No longer will

     there be a need for any competition for resources, or survival of the fittest.  There

     will always be enough for everyone.

   Let greed and selfishness be a thing of the past.

   Let also the need for domination over others dissipate and disappear like smoke 

     in an open field, forever.

   May everyone also forever smell fresh no matter what physical condition they may

     be in.

For myself, I wish :

   I will have the capacity to give love and compassion like the Buddha, or GOD.

   To have a healthy body that will have an above average aesthetic appeal

   To have a healthy body that will be  free from all sickness and ailment

   To have the ability to fly and teleport over long distances (even interstellar). I

      will have no problems traveling through space without any form of protection.

   I will have the ability to move things with my thought (lift very heavy weight even)

   May I have the ability to manifest anything physical (the object may have properties

      beyond just physical properties) with a mere thought, at will.

   Although I will still have a mouth to speak, but I will be able to communicate with

      anyone telepathically with anyone at will, and over any distance and time.

   To never have the need to eat or drink for nutritional intake to stay alive.

   To never have the need to breathe air to stay alive.

   In order to stay alive, all I need is to breathe in the prana/cosmic energy that 

     surrounds  us, and even then I would not need a constant feed; just as and 

     when as needed. Prana/cosmic energy shall be my sustenance (although I will

     still have a nose for olfactory purposes).

   May I also never have the need to defecate, perspire, nor shower to keep clean 

     anymore.  All forms of dirt and filth will just fall off me like how water falls off 

     a duck's back.  Sweat have no more use on me anymore because I would not 

     heat up during rigorous activities.  Defecation will serve no purpose anymore 

     because I would breathe out any waste as harmless air/gas (assuming there is

     still a need for waste output, otherwise no more waste output will be most preferable).

   May I not be affected by heat and cold anymore.  I may still feel temperature

     differences but it will no longer affect me like it affects me in this present 

     3D form.

   Also, to have a body free of anymore lower vibrations accumulated from all

     previous experiences.

There, I have finally put my dream of the future into words.  What would your dreams be?

Ho'oponopono mantra

In recent days I have come to learn of a very powerful and beautiful mantra that was the product of tribal Hawaii.

(the picture came from this site. If you are interested, a quick visit to the site will tell you more about the mantra.)

I was skeptical at first, but weeks later I tried it on a set of 6 eggs I bought from the supermarket. I spoke the words given above 6 times, with a sincere heart, while holding onto the pack of eggs with both hands, still sitting comfortable in its plastic crate.  The effect was amazing!  The moment I picked up one of the eggs in my left hand, I felt it vibrating very very strongly, like as if I was holding a shard of crystal.  I was floored, and surprised, at the same time.  Who knew those few words could have such a powerful effect.  Which is one of the reasons I am sharing the information.  This means that anyone could use the same method to empower/bless the food that you eat.

Encouraged by the results, I tried it on my body lying on the bed, just before I was going to sleep.  I thought about my body and how much wear and tear it had gone through, all those aches and pains I am feeling from the parts of my body; and thought that I really needed to give thanks to my body for supporting me through thick and thin all these years.  This time, with a calm mind and sincere heart, I said those words 6 times.  Again, the feeling that followed after that felt like a reply from my body that "we have heard your thanks and accepted it, and we will support you til the end of your days."  I felt this tingly sensation echoing throughout my body.  The tingling was especially strong in those areas which had a problem. This tingling sensation felt similar to same feeling I had when I first started meditating (breathing in the prana, or cosmic energy. It has been said that our bodies ache because the flow of prana in that part of the body has been blocked. Meditation clears it up gradually, hence the tingling, which is similar to the feeling of getting pins and needles in your leg when it has remained in a restrictive position for too long).

Right or Wrong action ?

In all of our lives, we are obsessed and preoccupied with always doing the right action/s. But is there really a RIGHT or a WRONG?

An action is just an action on its own, it has no value on its own but an effect after the performance of the action. The culturally, or socially, accepted effect of the action would then cause the action to be labelled as a RIGHT action, but the unacceptable effect of an action will cause the action to be labelled as a WRONG action. Therefore RIGHT and WRONG are only labels we put on something in comparison to another, they are only relative, and there cannot be one without the other. Such as there can be no WRONGs when there is nothing RIGHT.

Let me cite a more grounded example given by Geshe Michael Roach. He gave the example of an Aspirin. We all know that an Aspirin can be used to "kill" a headache. So to someone who took an Aspirin after experiencing a headache to have the pain go away, he/she labels the Aspirin as GOOD medicine for curing headache. To another person who took the Aspirin after experiencing a headache but received no similar relieve in the pain he/she would label it as BAD medicine for curing headache. BUT without the perspective of either person, an Aspirin is just an Aspirin. It is neither GOOD nor BAD.

We are NOT alone !

Here are 3 pictures I took while on a trip into the highlands to experience nature. Notice the little specs of things in the picture ?  I can assure you they are NOT dust specs, or water droplets on the lens. At first I thought they were too (and was about to delete the pictures), but later on I realized what I was looking at. I checked my camera lens when I first saw them, and I can assure you they were clean. Those little things are devic energy (ie. presences of devas). Zoom into the pictures and take a closer look at those little things. You will find that each of them have much more definition than what a blurr spec of dust or water droplet will provide.

Do they not remind you of floating "seedlings" in the movie Avatar? Do a little googling on the web for the term "energy ball" and you will find some more pictures of what is shown here. Would this be enough proof that our eyes have limited perceptive powers, and that we are truly not as alone as we think we are? You decide for yourself! Enjoy the pictures.....

Water Blessing

I learnt this from a group that is into spiritual healing as well. I thought this might be useful to share. Take note that I am not the creator of this procedure, I really have no idea who the original creator of it is, but bless him whoever he is for bringing this to us.

Quantum Undulation Healing Method Theory:

1. First, get a glass of drinking water, show your appreciation sincerely to the water.

2. Say to the water your mind/body conditions that's troubling you and ask the water to heal you. When you do so, the structure and undulation of the water is changing. Your sincere thought creates the healing vibration (wave) that changes both the water in the glass and the water in your body. You are now in-tune to the same healing frequency with the water in front of you.

3. Drink half glass of water. Because of your sincere praying, the undulation frequency of the water has been changed by your intention. Now your body is tuned to the healing frequency. The water you drink in has the same frequency as the remaining half in the glass.

4. Begin following the instructions. 5. Drink the remaining half glass of water. The healing frequency is enhanced for the water and for your body because 70% of your body is water . All the frequency of water in your body will be changed now. You are now in a higher vibration which means it's easier to make your wishes come true! Bless all of you!

Instructions:

1. Get a glass of drinking water. Hold the glass with two hands and sincerely say to the water six times: “Pure water, thank you, I love you so much!” Drink half a glass with great respect.

2. Imagine the light of the healing Quantum Undulation get into the half glass water. Imagine there is a beam of light shooting into the glass, then repeat the instructions:

A. Repeat six times sicerely to the water: “Thank you for purifying my body mind and soul .”

B. Repeat six times: “ Thank you for healing my body mind and soul.”

C. Repeat six times: “Thank you for cleansing and healing of our Earth.”

Drink the half glass of water slowly with great respect. Try to feel the cool sensation of this pure water entering your body, purifying every cell in your body. The End.

In addition to this I have also tried another "prayer", in a manner of speaking, or another personal blessing, or wish, or whatever you might want to call it.

I say this 6 times when I am showering, or in any pool of water (like if you were at the waterfall or a stream)

“Pure water, thank you, I love you so much!”

Then I say the following:

"Thank you for healing and purifying the Earth. Please also help heal, purify, and cleanse all that come into contact with you in mind, body, and spirit. Thank you very much."

Try it everyday if you can, or whenever you remember, or get the chance to. All it takes is a few minutes. I don't know if it would have any effect. But if it does, all the better. If not, all I have lost is a few minutes of my time. But I know that if I really believe it will work, it will work. All things are created from the "heart".

Not my fault. Not my problem.

I suddenly realized the reason why I tend to avoid “messes” that was not created by me, and can be quite defensive about them. The society and culture here (in this case Singapore) has inculcated into us a culture of “finger pointing” and the “blame trap”. When things go wrong, our instinctive reaction would be “who did that?” This happens not only in the work environment, but also at home; especially so at home between parents and their child. Instead of trying to work together with whoever was responsible for the “mess” to try and fix things, or do some damage control; we enter the “blame deflection mode”. This culture is taught to the kids at a very young age, and thus is carried into the very society we live in and it became a culture. As such, when things go wrong at home, if it was not the child’s vault, they tend to adopt an avoidant attitude and not wanting much to do with the whole matter; with the child thinking that it was not their fault and the responsible person should fix the problem. We forget that we are a team, or a family, and should stand together as a unit to fix the mess. Something goes wrong in the household, it may not be my fault, but I will ultimately be affected by any fallout that resulted from the mess. I grew up in such a household, and was the victim of such conditioning. I was learning through observation what my parents were doing, and modeled them accordingly.

The problem here is that such attitudes do not get confined to the household. It carries into the society. That’s probably one of the reasons why it is “everyone for themselves” out in the corporate world, and why the corporate world is so “cold”. We forget that fallout from such “messes” tend to spill over into the entire company, regardless of the size of the “mess”.

Now that I know I was conditioned this way, I can now try to change this attitude. Hopefully, in bringing this to light, others will also see that problem too (if they had one to begin with).

I want a dog. Not anymore!!!

As a child, I have always wanted to own a pet dog, or a cat. Something warm, fuzzy, and alive that I could play with, and snuggle up to. At that time, I thought it would be really nice to have a cat or a dog as a close buddy, and to experience the kind of unconditional love they would give me. As an adult now, and having the opportunity to take care of my sister's dog for a time period; I realized that it was probably a good thing that I had not owned a pet.

Don't get me wrong here, its not the having to feed it, and cleaning up after it thing that put me off. It just was not everything that I had imagined it would be like.My sister's dog, while I had him, looked up to me as its owner. I fed him, cleaned him, and he loved me back, kept me company, etc. But I did not feel the same thing I thought I would have felt when I have a pet. It felt like I was only doing what was necessary to take care of it, and be responsible for it. I did not get the warm fuzzy feeling that I thought that I would. Why?

After over 2 decades, I finally understood the reason behind it. When I see an animal I do not own, I want to cuddle it, pet it, hug it, play with it. I love it, and want it to be my friend. That is what friends do, they enjoy each others company, take comfort in each other, and love each other. When I own that "friend" the social dynamics change. Friends are what friends are, you don't own "friends". When that friend becomes your property, you take on a dual relationship, and that is why the social dynamics of this social relationship change.

I am not saying that everyone out there is like that, its just how I feel I am like. Yes, I still love most animals (I am reserving some wiggle room here for a small population of animals that may be out there which are just down right repulsive to even consider hugging it). But I only want them to be my friend, I do not want to own them anymore.

Man ! (refering to human beings)

I saw this and I thought I would share.

Food preparation tip....

I thought maybe it would be very appropriate to share an important food preparation tip for the forth coming festivities at this time of the year. I read about this tip from the Art of Dharma blog. They aren't the only one who had talked about this, I had heard about the same thing from several other sources in the past as well (one other source is from Reverend Jing Kung, and another source would be from a chef at a vegetarian restaurant).

What they are all saying is that when we prepare food for consumption, we pass on our energy into the food we are preparing. As the Art of Dharma blog puts it :-

"If a woman could see the sparks of light going forth from her fingertips when she is cooking, and the energy that goes into the food she handles, she would realize how much of herself she imbues into the meals that she prepares for her family and friends."

Basically, what this is saying is as we prepare the food, we bless/enchant the food with our energy. So, if you feel sad, upset, angry, or any gamut of negative emotions at all, that goes into the food that you prepare. And those who ingested the food also took in all that energy. That energy is like a form of slow acting "poison" to all of us. I don't think there is any need to explain what does poison do to our physical body. But I can offer an example that poisonous emotion such as hate can cause cancer (You can either choose to believe it, or not. There is no scientific proof to this claim, only theoretical proof. Negative emotions causes stress, stress causes the release of hormones into our body. Long term exposure to these hormones can wreck havoc with our immune system. That is a scientifically proven fact. It is also known that stress causes our bodies both inside and outside to age prematurely. Oxidation is a form of aging, and the health community has been harking over the taking of anti-oxidants to help slow or prevent the oxidation of any carcinogens or free radicals that are already in the body. And we know that carcinogens can trigger cancer given the right conditions, therefore prolonged exposure to negative emotions can possibly lead to cancer, or some other type of stress related illness.)

Conversely, if during preparation of the food, you were feeling happy, blessed, loved, or any form of positive and healthy emotion, you are essentially blessing the food with positive energy for the recipients of your dishes. Those who ingest the food will also feel better, not to mention it will also be tastier.

In short, dear readers, when you do prepare food for others or yourself, do it with a light heart. Do it with much love, respect, happiness, peace, and compassion, so that those who come to eat your food would feel it too and be touched by it.

Do we really know what "LOVE" is ?

Let me share a short story here, which for all intensive purposes maybe a true story that happened many years ago, before any readers of this blog was even born.

In a distant land, nestled within the cradle of a range of mountains, rests an idyllic agrarian village that seemed many times removed from the outside world. The houses were mostly made out of rocks, mud, sticks, and hay. The village was by no means small, and quite highly populated. At the base of the closest mountain sits a building that was more grand than the rest of the village. The building was made out of timber and stones, with white clay used as plaster for the walls. It was taller and more ornately designed and decorated than any other building in the village. This was the village temple dedicated to the Earth Spirit that was said to roam the area. In this temple lived the priest who takes care of the temple, who offers comfort and advise to all the visitors and devotees. Much peace can be felt from within the walls of this temple. In fact this temple was built to cater to those villagers or visitors who find it too hard and arduous a climb up to the Grand Temple of the Earth Spirit that was at the end of a long winding path that starts right behind the temple.

The path to the Grand Temple was a winding long path to walk/climb, yet many devotees make that journey once a year on a specific time period of the year to visit it. To those who make that journey, they are rewarded with a beautiful view of the land. A sweeping view of the village and all the activities that happens within it; and a view of the surrounding mountain range as far as the eye could see. The special feast for the eye came in the form of a Grand Temple built out entirely of marble and timber, complete with brightly colored clay roofing tiles. A marble wall fenced the main temple itself. Auspicious celestial animals, and cloud symbols adorn the wall as carvings. The temple was easily several houses tall with huge pillars made out of great tree trunks as main supports for the Grand Temple. The floor was paved with huge slabs of white marble. The walls of the temple were also made out of white marble with carvings very similar to the marble wall outside the temple. In the grand hall of the temple stands the statue of the purported Earth Spirit who wonders amongst the people to bring peace, and love to all. Perhaps this building was built in appreciation to this very spirit for bringing many many generations of peace to all who lived in the village. Yet, no one lives within the walls of this Grand Temple, but the entire building remains spotlessly clean, as if it had a cleaning crew who does the cleaning everyday. Perhaps, this is another of the Spirit's manifestation of his divine powers.

Every year the path to the Grand Temple would be decorated with streamers and lanterns in celebration that it is yet time again to pay the temple a visit with offerings. Like every other year, the path would be packed with people streaming up slowly from the village. The village temple would be packed as well with many devotees and visitors. This year a lonely old man who is dressed like any other villager, wanders up the path towards the Grand Temple with his gnarled staff for support. We walks very slowly as if he had to drag his foot up the path one at a time reluctantly. His face showed an expression of sadness and reluctance. He would let out a sigh every few steps of the way, not because he was tired. Everyone else hurried around him on their way up the temple. There he sees many mothers with kids in tow making their way up to the temple. Kids would skip happily up the path, while many grown ups would bring some offerings to the temple. When this old man had reached the mouth of the temple compound, he stopped for a very long while. He turned around to survey the beautiful scenery before him, and spied the devotees streaming up the path towards the temple. He flashed a half smile with an expression of content showing on his face, but his eyes was starting to water up. As devotees streamed passed him, everyone would greet him with a smile and a half bow to show respect to an elderly. Some would even come shake his hand. The longer the old man stood at the entrance to the compound, the more he seemed reluctant to enter. He kept shaking his head from time to time with teary eyes at all that was going on around as he spied the entire scene. Finally, he turned towards the temple to take his last step into the temple.

As the old man entered the compound the Grand Temple, all the people that was around him disappeared. The temple was suddenly enveloped in a light mist. His tattered old clothes was suddenly transformed into into grand ornately decorated robes in gold. His head was suddenly adorned with some head gear that looked fit of the emperor of china himself. The only thing that remained the same was the gnarled staff still in his hands. His whole body is now covered with a faint golden aura that emanates peace and compassion. The Grand Temple looked even grander now, decorated in all manners of precious gems and gold trimmings, just devoid of any other devotees. Still standing in the same spot as he took his last step, he gripped his staff tightly and looked down as the first earth rumbling was heard. Tears were now streaming out from his eyes uncontrollably.

A terrible and devastating earthquake has just gripped the idyllic village town. Falling stones from the mountain side would fall and crush some devotees on the path, the buildings in the village all topple one by one burying all that were unable to get out. Some of the buildings were crushed by the huge boulders that toppled off the mountain face. After the thunderous roar from the angry earth, came the loud wails and cries of the survivors of the quake. As the last of the stone fell to the ground, the Earth Spirit turned to rush out of the temple compound to see what had happened to the people whom he had loved and cherished for such a longtime. As he peered through the mist covered surrounding to the valley below, he cried even louder as if to try and drown out the loud wails of the survivors. "Why did this happened? You were supposed to be here to protect us! Why?! .... sob...." As he heard those words, he sobbed even more uncontrollably. A disembodied voice then spoke to the Earth Spirit, "You know it needed to happen." The Earth Spirit then replied, "but they could have all been saved from this suffering if I had not left the location. I only needed to be present! It wasn't that hard to be just THERE!" Again the voice said "In order for these people to ascend further, it has to happen, and you know it." "Even though that maybe so, it still hurts a lot, and does not make it any better." "Be comforted to know that even though it may cause you pain, but you have saved many times more souls than you could have by remaining there. You loved them enough to leave them and let it all happened, so they could all become better. See past your hurt and rejoice at their ascension." With much sadness, the Earth Spirit departed from that plane of existence.


I shall let you the reader decipher what you think the moral behind the story is. Thank you very much for reading this far, and I hope it was as much therapeutic and enlightening for you as it was for me.