"Death" my old friend, it has been a longtime....

I was messing around with my Tarot cards to try and establish a sort of a link with it. You see, each card has its own meaning, by definition, and the meaning established by the owner of the cards. So what I was trying to do with each card was to look at each card to see what each of them meant to me personally. When it was the turn of the death I started crying because I missed Death, my dear old good friend. I cried because I have not seen him/her for a very very long time. So those were tears of joy. Happy to see a dear old friend again. But what I did not get were :-

1. How come Death is my dear old friend? Has this got anything to do with the past life when Anubis was consoling me as I spied a city being destroyed?

2. When most people fear Death and are apprehensive with this card; how come I feel the opposite? I felt so comfortable with him/her, even though his cloak was not made out the most comfortable material yet I didn't mind. I didn't mind him putting his bony hands and arms around my shoulder to hug me. I didn't mind how he looked. I could see and feel the joy in his "eyes" when he saw me too, and I felt the same way. The way he looked I thought I would at least have some sort of fear or apprehension, but instead I felt none of that but the total opposite of it happened. The best way I could describe it was two dear old friend who saw each other after being apart for a very long time.

Maybe what all that was trying to tell me were :-

1. All things are impermanent, they are all transitory. Nothing remains the same forever, everything changes from minute to minute, second to second, micro-second to micro-second, etc. Embrace it!

2. Death is not the end. Death can be the beginning. Death is transformation. Death transforms what is old into the new, like the Phoenix rising out of the ashes of its old body.

But most of all, Death is inevitable, it happens to all things. All things born to this material plane will eventually die. It is only a question of time. But with "death" a new life springs forth from its remains. The body turns to dust, the dust can then be used to nourish a new life, food for a new seed, or nourishment for another life. Death, you truly are a dear old friend.

Why can't my eyes see myself ?

This was the question that was asked in a conversation with a friend.

Me : What do you think the answer is ?
Friend :When I ask myself that question all I see is this lone white flower in a field.

Me :What do you think it means ?
Friend :Drawing a blank here.

Me :What do you think will happen if that flower can see itself ?
Friend :Too absorbed with marveling its own beauty.

Me :So do you see what it all means ?
Friend :No, not really.

The flower's beauty exists, because those who see it would exclaim its beauty. If the flower could see itself as being so beautiful, it might cease to become as beautiful anymore due to neglect (too busy marveling at its own beauty and forgetting that "beauty" is only relative, and can only be conferred upon by others, not the self. As a result, neglecting its responsibility to be a beautiful flower for all to admire and appreciate).

In other words, we cannot see ourselves, because it serves to remind us that we are not important when compared to everyone and everything else around us. It is everyone and everything around us that gives our existence meaning. "I" exist because "you" and everything around me exist.

How do I know when I am being stupid ? (edited)

I was talking to a friend over online chat (real life friend tho, not virtual), and we started talking about preventing bad things from happening in life, and taking steps to prevent it. Living by the code of "prevention is better than cure." My reaction to that was, I used to be like that, always wanting to see the future so that I can know all the bad things that is going to happen and move around it. It is also one of the biggest reasons why I was so interested in the occult, tarot cards, and divination. As I understood the law of cause and effect, and about karma, that sort of just went by the way side. I told her that we cannot hope to be able to foresee all consequences and control the outcomes, so that the outcomes is as anticipated, or as desired.

As mere humans, we cannot see past our present lifetime, some of us cannot see past our nose. Our journey (soul journey) into this world has been planned since before the day we were born. We planned it together with our guardian angel/s, so that we will have enough resources to go through what we need to go through to learn what we need to learn. We created our own trials and tribulations in order to gain wisdom, so the next time something bad happens instead of saying "why me?" maybe we should ask "what do I take away from all this?" Always remember we are like Avatars in an MMORPG (basically, a character in a Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game, like World of Warcraft). Dying is like deleting that character online, and being born is like starting a new character. The controller playing the game still lives no matter what happens.

When you understand that completely, you begin to see the wisdom of letting things go and go with the flow of things. Things happen for a reason. Past karmic debts need to be repaid in full. So when someone slights you, or does something that pisses you off, tell yourself that its karmic debt being repaid, and "I should be thankful !"

"Does that mean that I should go ahead and do stupid things and let stupid things happen to me ?" That is a loaded question. If you need to do something, even though its going to be stupid but it "needs" to be done anyways, and you at the same time are fully aware of the stupid consequences that will happen, then do it. BUT if you don't know that, then you would not know that it is stupid anyways, and would not be aware of its consequences either. So the choice is still up to you at that point.

Then the big question, "how would I know that I am being stupid?" To that I say, you are stupid when you don't know what you are doing; you are not when you know that its stupid and aware of the consequences, but still do it anyways. However, this does not mean that you should go ahead and do all the stupid things anyways knowing that it is going to have stupid consequences. It also depends on your intentions. For example, know that banging your head against the wall will give you a bump on your head, and hurt like hell, but still going ahead to do it is still just being plain stupid. A positive example here would be a story heard from Reverend Jing Kung.

Lets call this random monk Reverend Kong (this is a fictitious name, he does not exist. Any similarity will just be a coincidence). He is one of the monks residing in this big ornate temple. A lay follower, call him Lenny (again a fictitious name who does not exist in real life. Any similarity will just be a coincidence) usually visits the monk every once in a while to ask for financial assistance. Now, the monk knew full well that he was being scammed, every time Lenny visits him. But he allowed it to happen anyways. He hopes that in so doing, one day Lenny's conscience would spur him into realizing his follies, and repent on his own accord. Everyone around the monk would definitely say the monk was just too dumb to say "No!" But that is not being stupid, it is called being compassionate and having great patience. If giving some money away will save Lenny's soul, bring Lenny wisdom, lighten Reverend Kong's karmic debt, and enlighten Lenny eventually at the same time; that is a worthy sacrifice.

Soul Journey (edited)

Your soul journey is a plan you have made before the time of your birth that maps out the trials and tribulations that you will have to go through in order to become more enlightened, or ascend to a higher spiritual level. Below are some information that goes into some details about it, I hope that it would help you on your journey/s.

(Note: I got the information below from this website and thought I would share it. The entire information is available there on the page if you would like to read it in its entirety. I clipped the parts which I thought were interesting to me.)

The more contact you make with your soul, the more the soul will infuse your personality. What are the advantages?

• Your soul mission becomes clear.
• You commit to your soul mission and take the first steps toward living it.
• Your soul takes you in hand, guides, and trains you.
• Ideas for action arise from your soul; they prove true and reliable.
• These ideas are conveyed by a quiet inner voice, an intuition, or a strong urge to act.
• As well, there are clues for what to do which you learn to recognize and follow.
• You are guided to situations, information, and people who help you fulfill your mission.
• When you complete one mission, you will be guided to the next.
• You are amazed! Your soul knows things you have no way of knowing.
• Your life becomes an adventure; you are taking steps into the unknown.
• You become humble; you depend on guidance from your soul.
• You become strong; if you are asked to do something that challenges you, help is present.
• Increasingly, your soul directs your life.
• You meet your soul group; you carry a piece of the puzzle for work you will do together.
• You implement a small part of a great plan that lives in the mind of the Spiritual Hierarchy, the Masters of Wisdom who oversee the wellbeing of our planet.
• You are grateful.

How do you know you are in contact with your soul, and not with an astral entity posing as your soul?

• Ideas from your soul arise quietly and work when you act upon them.
• If there is fanfare or strong emotion, it is not your soul.
• Your soul leads you one step at a time, so you learn and your commitment is tested.
• If you are given the big, overall picture it is not your soul.
• If your free will is compromised; if something wants to impose on you actions that don't seem right, it is not your soul.
• If you are urged to hurry, to act immediately it is not your soul.
• If you do not have the financial resources to enact the plan, it is not from your soul.
• If your personality is inflated or is enticed with money, power, or sex it is not your soul.
• If your mission makes you humble, loving, pure, harmonious it is from your soul.
• If it relieves the pain and distress of your fellow man it is from your soul.
• If it teaches and brings understanding to your fellow man it is from your soul.

What keeps you committed to your soul mission?

• You strengthen your will and intention to live your soul mission.
• You gain the freedom to persist and complete your mission.
• You commit to a daily meditation practice and a life that includes silence and solitude.
• You realize a much sought after peaceful emotional and mental life.
• Your health improves because you get regular exercise, eat a proper diet, and sleep soundly.
• You can distinguish between the demands of your soul and of your personality.
• More and more, your soul guides your life.
• You develop an inquiring mind.
• You keep yourself well-informed about world events.
• You learn to stay emotionally detached as world events unfold.
• You are able to concentrate and easily ward off distractions.
• You achieve the ability to march to the beat of your own drum.
• You are willing to be of service.
• Your life fills with Love.

What holds you back or leads you off track?

• A stress filled, frenzied life
• Lack of solitude and quiet time
• Addiction to drugs, alcohol, food, sex, power
• Family members, especially a spouse or partner, who do not support your soul mission
• Friends who think you are crazy
• Laziness, unwillingness to make the life changes your mission requires
• Fear of the unknown
• Being easily distracted
• Inability to concentrate
• Unhealthy body/ emotions/ mind
• Noise (emotional and mental junk food):
  • Turn off your TV and radio, except for programs that inform and nurture you.
  • Turn off angry, discordant music.
  • Turn off music with inane lyrics that manipulate your mind
  • Turn off computer and video games.
  • Turn off background noise when possible.
• Mass gatherings where emotions are ramped up, like sports events or rock concerts; these are feeding grounds for astral entities; they can attack you.
• Astral entities posing as your soul or as a Master
• Doubting that your soul mission is real and that the Masters exist
• Mood swings
• Discouragement/giving up easily
• The need to conform
• Money problems
• Failure to meditate

Manage your wastages

I believe that everyone of us is put on this earth with a little bag of "prosperity". This little bag of resources is what we will be using on our soul journey this time round. You can neither have more, nor less, it is all a carefully calculated amount for your use on this trip, to some extent.

Buddhist teachings have a similar philosophy. They believe that everyone is born with a little bag of resources called "fu(2) bao(4)" in Mandarin. The amount of this little bag of resources is predestined by what you have accumulated, and your Karma from your past life/s.

In layman's terms, we can look at it as a storage bank of resources of sorts. The amount of money we have now, or will have in the future, and all our material wealth comes from this storage vault. Because this resource is very limited, hence it is very precious to all of us. When we are frugal with it, we are only taking out what we need to use. When we are generous, we give some of what we have to others, as a result we gain more (as a result of good merits accrued), and are also saving what we gave away for our own future to use at a later date. When we squander it, we are taking more out of it than we need; not only does this mean we are shrinking our own pool or resources, but we also pay out more from the bag in the end.

For example, when we order food to eat at any eating establishments, at a buffet, or even at home; we should always finish all on our plates. If we left over any food, all the effort that goes into making what was left over, including those who made it, or grew it, will be paid for from our little bank vault. That makes our little bag of resources shrink even faster.

In light of the above information, lets not waste any more resources, and leave no more morsel of food on our plates.

Enneagram

I just bought this book “The Everything Enneagram Book” by Susan Reynolds. Some years ago when I was working at Boeing, the resident psychologist used Enneagram in our group to help everyone understand each other better. As a result, when I chanced upon this book at the bookstore I thought to myself that I just simply have to get it. And it has shown me further insights into some things, which I had thought to be the case for a while now.

The book claims that our personality is a result of wounding. As a child is growing up, he/she learns from his/her parents and the environment what works, what does not, and what hurts. This learning formulates the child’s Ego, and hence his/her personality eventually. The Ego is what Freud describes as the balancing force between the Id and the Ego. This has been described a little in a recent previous post. This is also the basis for Erikson’s Stages of Psychosocial Development. He states that as a child grows up to become an adult, he/she goes through 8 stages of challenges which the person would confront and hopefully master. For more information on this please visit here.

The book also says that there are nine different Enneatypes, or broad categories of personality (for reasons of brevity, those interested more about the Enneatypes should try googling for “Enneagram” or get a book about it to know more about the different Enneatypes). These 9 different types can be further generalized as having 3 main centers of intelligence – Affective, Theoretical, and Effective. (Note: I take no credit for the snips immediately following this paragraph, they are taken directly from the book)

• Affective center : To achieve healthy, perfect union with others, the universe, and with spirit; to understand the stages of human development that create maturity and wholeness.
• Theoretical center : To develop creative vision and open you up to the real meaning of life; to be fully conscious of the true nature of self and others.
• Effective center : to motivate and energize you to actively live your life as it was intended-according to your true purpose and vision; to actively create and complete the work you are meant to do.

These were the abilities afforded us by nature, but unfortunately the book goes on to lament that we “limp along married to the illusion” that we are just fine. And that most of our problems are generated externally. Thus, we inappropriately use these centers of intelligence to as follows (Note: I take no credit for the snips immediately following this paragraph, they are taken directly from the book) :-

• Affective : To manipulate your-and others’-way of feeling, including emotions within relationships
• Theoretical : To think, plot, and make intellectual decisions limited to our narrowly defined universe.
• Effective : To protect and preserve our physical body and achieve our basic needs, no matter the cost to others.

These “perversions” has such a knell of truth about them that I cannot help but want to share this information. Long time readers of this blog will probably remember a few previous postings along this same line of thought. It feels eerie and scary, but it is the truth.

A mirror of our inner world

A good friend once told me in a casual conversation that our exterior world (world around us) is actually a mirror of our inner world. What that is saying is that the way we perceive the world around us is a reflection of the way we think, or the way we are, internally (our inner self). I have been reminded by this little morsel of truth not once but definitely more than twice. Reverend Jing Kung when he was explaining the meaning of the Surangama Sutra, and the Lotus Sutra has said it more than once in both of the recordings. Before some readers cry religious connotations here, let me reassure you it is not. Just think back about how you are feeling and look around you. I can give some example of my personal experiences. When I feel stressed, for example when mugging for the final exams, my room is a reflection of how I am feeling inside. I have stacks of papers, and textbooks, and reference books stacked hastily in all corners of my room. My desk is a mess, like a mini hurricane Katrina just visited. When I am enjoying my term breaks, my room is neat and tidy. When I feel depressed, the whole world is against me. When I feel betrayed, I prefer to sit in a darkened room (the world is dark), and I feel alone.

To expand this a little further, I cannot help but bring up the father of Psychoanalysis – Sigmund Freud. Freudian psychology talks a lot about the Id, Ego, and the Superego. The Id is our portion of the mind that operates on the “pleasure principle”. The Superego is the moralistic component of the psyche. And the Ego is the component that tries to balance the drives of the Id and the moralistic principals of the Superego. When the Ego is either overburdened, or threatened by its tasks, it employs defensive mechanisms such as Repression, Reaction Formation, Projection, Sublimation, Rationalisation, and Conversion. Below is an explanation of provided in the textbook for my psychology course (Buskist, William., Carlson, Neil R. & Martin G Neil. (2007) Psychology (3^rd ed) Massachusetts, USA : Peason Education Limited)

Repression is responsible for actively keeping threatening or anxiety-provoking memories from our conscious awareness. For example, a person may have witnessed a brutal murder but cannot recall it later because of the uncomfortable emotions it would arouse.

Reaction Formation involves replacing an anxiety-provoking idea with its opposite. For example, a person who is aroused and fascinated by pornographic material becomes a crusader against pornography. The crusader will often study the salacious material to see just how vile it is so that they can better educate other about its harmful nature.

Projection involves denial of one’s own unacceptable desires and the discovery of evidence of these desires in the behavior of other people. For example, a man who is experiencing a great deal of hostility may perceive the world as being full of people who are hostile to him.

Sublimation is the diversion of psychic energy from an unacceptable drive to an acceptable one. For example, a person may feel strong sexual desire but find its outlet unacceptable because of internalized prohibitions. As a result, finds another outlet such as artistic or other creative activities.

Rationalization is the process of inventing an acceptable reason for a behavior that is really being performed for another, less acceptable reason. For example, a man who feels guilty about his real reason for purchasing a pornographic magazine may say, “I don’t buy the magazine for the pictures. I buy it to read the interesting and enlightening articles it contains.”

Conversion is the provision of an outlet for intrapsychic conflict in the form of a physical symptom. The conflict is transformed into blindness, deafness, paralysis, or numbness. For example, a person might develop blindness so that they will no longer be able to see a situation that arouses a strong, painful intrapsychic conflict. (This is also known as somatoform disorder)

When we see someone exhibiting a behavior that irks us, it is quite possibly a behavior that we ourselves have which we are trying to exorcise; or it could be also be a trigger for one of our denials.

A denial is something that causes us anxiety which we have not given ourselves enough time to deal with it (Repression in my opinion). For example, maybe your favorite aunt passed away 5 years ago which you did not get to see her at her death bed, you heard that she was asking for you before she left this world. You just could not get a flight out to her in time. One fine day, a friend brings you some delicious strawberry cheesecake for you and you start sobbing uncontrollably. Your favorite aunt makes the best strawberry cheesecake you have ever tasted. As a result, you might hate your friend for it, or love her to pieces for it, depending on the situation.

These are what Freud terms as transference. We transfer our negative/positive feelings about a behavior which we have, or might have, in ourselves onto someone else. Counter-transference happens when the person whom those feelings are transferred onto reacted to that feeling. So the next time you experience something like this, remember to thank that person for bringing that into light, so that you may now be able to set aside some time to reflect on it.

The need for control

All of us grew up with parents (or guardians in some cases) around us to take care of our basic needs, and disciplining us when we do something wrong. As babies they feed us, and hold us to allow us to feel loved. Honestly, babies are so cute, who in their right mind could do anything else but love, cuddle, and take care of them. Come to think of it, that is a baby’s most powerful, and only weapon of defense. As a baby we can do no wrong, that is as long as the parental units still think that you cannot understand their language properly yet. Little or no attempt will be made at disciplining.

Things get a little bit different as the baby grows up, starts to walk, and talk. When the baby can start answering simple questions in somewhat coherent sentences, that’s when things start to change. Parents begin their disciplinary phase. They try to teach the still maturing baby what is right, and what is wrong, the best way they know how. Unfortunately for some, the baby grew up and learns our way of life and what is morality; but the parents remain stuck in that disciplinarian mind set.

We grow up with this need to control ingrained into all of us. We are taught as babies to behave in a certain way by the adults who take care of us. As such, when it is our turn to take care of other babies we impart that same set of skills to them (this is the same reason research has shown that children who were abused tend to abuse their own children later). Social learning theory tells us that babies learn through observation. They learn how to interact with us through the way we interact with him/her, as well as with the way we interact with others around him/her (ie. Interaction with other family members or friends). Through the babies’ observation, they learn about our need to control.

We discipline the baby in order to try and control his/her behavior. When he behaves counter to our expectations, he either gets a lecture, or is disciplined. When he behaves in an expected manner he gets lavished with praises, and sometimes rewards. Even though, we do not explicitly teach the baby how to control, he/she is smart enough to learn that we are trying to control their behavior, and that in order for him/her to be able to control other’s behavior that is the same thing they should do. Have you ever noticed that if a baby likes you he often shares his toys with you, and when he doesn’t like you he snatches his toy away from you when you try to touch it. That is his/her meager attempt at trying to communicate, as well as controlling his/her immediate environment.

We grow up learning the need to control. As parents/guardians, we need to control the behavioral output of our babies, whether if it was to toilet train them, or to have them behave according to our expectations so that it would be easier to care for them. As working adults, we have an incessant need to control our environment, so that they can function according to our demands, and produce the expected output. Is there any wonder why so many of us are depressed, or suffer a myriad of other psychological disorders resulting from the inability to control some outcomes? Can we all not see that this is not something we have any control over? Furthermore, sadly for some of us, we simply refuse to grow out of the disciplinary phase and still insist on disciplining, or “mothering”, our children who is already a young adult or beyond; again our need to control our offspring so that they become what we think they should be. Again, can we all not understand that trying to exert control over our offspring’s destinies is an exercise in futility?

It is very unfortunate that we have to inculcate into our infants the need for control. This little piece of information was brought to light by Reverend Jing Kung as he was expounding on the Lotus Sutra. I was very much surprised when I heard about it. But what he said does have a ring of truth to what is happening in our society. We teach our children the need to control. Our children then grow up with the need to control their environment. In school, there is the need to control what grades they get. At work, there is the need to obtain the desired outcome by trying to control the input variables. Some examples of this include but are not limited to the marketing strategies to increase sales, the clever wording of unfavorable information to make it palatable to everyone, or limiting the release of information (whether through omission or other means) to make it sound more convincing to its audience. What all this is saying is that our society today is based very much on the need to control. This need to control is borne out of the craving for personal gains (ie. Greed and selfishness).

What if, we can bring up our kids and teach them how to treat everyone around them with respect, and teach them that what we want is not that important if it is done so at the expense of another’s suffering; and to do so without ever having to resort to disciplining them (remember kids learn through observation, and interaction). Can you imagine what the society would be like if it were all made up of these people, when the kids have all grown up? Well, I can’t but one thing is for sure though; if such a society does exist, then it will definitely experience a lot less problems than what our society is experiencing currently.

Atlantis : Part 2

Lemuria and Atlantis were two of the original continents that existed on earth. Inhabitants on Earth at that time lived to about 30,000 years old, and consisted of Extra Terrestrials from neighboring stars such as Alpha Centauri, and Sirius. Both civilization were very advance in their technologies; they are able to harness energy from crystals to propel vehicles through the air of the atmosphere, as well as through space. Lemuria was a more peace loving nation and believed that other lesser developed beings should be left to their own pace of development. While Atlantis were the more domineering nation believing that all lesser races should be conquered (and thus the descriptions of conquest described in some of Plato's works). This disagreement began a thermonuclear war (which explains the melted remnants at the foot of the pyramids and locations mentioned in Part 1) that ended with both Lemuria and Atlantis as the casualties of this aforementioned war. Earth itself would experience the aftermath of this war for a very long time to come.

Lemuria was the first to sink beneath the waves overnight after 15,000 years. Only 20,000 Lemurian managed to escaped into the safety of their new home under Mount Shasta. Some of them choosing to remain with the still sleeping inhabitants that were ignorant of their impending demise. Most of those that remain were members of the priesthood who chose to extend their powers of prayers, chants, and songs, so that the dying Lemurians would feel no fear, and to help with the deep scarring in their etheric bodies. These brave and compassionate folks would pray, chant, and sing, til the water covered them, perishing along with the soundly sleeping masses. After Lemuria went under, shortly it was followed by Atlantis.

(Note : The above blurb is a greatly summarized version of how Lemuria and Atlantis perished under the waves of the Pacific Ocean. For a more detailed reading please visit this site.)

Some of us, whether we know it or not, are part of this story, whether we like it or not, or believe it or not. We carry within us memories of our past lives, even though we are not aware of it. These memories contain habits of our previous lifetimes, hence we sometimes are still acting out our old habits in this lifetime. As the saying goes "Old habits die hard."

Atlantis : Part 1

This time, I would like to write about Atlantis. In part, to honour what little time Reverent Jing Kung has on earth. During a short 15minutes speech at an event held last year in December, he talked very briefly about lost continent of Atlantis, and how it used to have clean power, and technology so advance that we could probably only see them in the movies today. This topic is sort of right up my alley. I've been fascinated by Atlantis ever since I first heard of it as a child.

But, before I go any further, a little disclaimer here. All information you find in this article, and its follow-up, are information that can be found on the web. Some quite recent (2 years old), while others are quite a bit older. As I do not have the links or references handy at the time of writing, I will provide links where it is possible. Please understand that I am typing out all this information from what I remembered reading over the years. Some of the sites are from occult related sites, religion related, while others are some real news, historical accounts, etc.

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Most of us have heard of the lost continent of Atlantis. Many stories and movies, in the history of mankind, used Atlantis as a backdrop at one time or another. Despite many archeological evidences unearthed to prove the existence of such a place, sadly it has still been resigned to being just a Myth or a legend. Or is it ?

Plato certainly did not think so. He gave a very detailed account of Atlantis (here). He was able to describe the structure of Atlantis, and the tools that people use in Atlantis. Tools that exist in our lifetime only through the fantastic wonder of cinemagic. For them, it is as real as the bed that we sleep on every night.

Reverend Jing Kung's exposition on possession of clean energy of Atlantis serves of confirm serveral reports garnished off the internet. Atlantis had 13 power grid locations around the world (check here). Egypt was one of them, and the greatest discovery of this century is the discovery of an underwater pyramid in Japan (here). This power grid enables Atlanteans then the ability to cover vast distance by air (yes you read that correctly, air travel was possible in ancient Greece when Plato was alive, around 330B.C.). Rumour has it that Atlanteans use crystals as their source of power. And this power is CLEAN, no pollution whatsoever.

It was purported that the Atlanteans were the great stone building civilisation that we have read about in our current history books. These people possessed methodology of stone building far more advanced than what we are capable of today. The Machu Pichu of the Ancient Incans, the stepped pyramids of the Aztec and Mayan, The Great Pyramids of Egypt, and of course the most recent discovery of the underwater pyramid of the coast of Japan. All of them still baffle experts to some extent how the stones were transported and built with primitive tools. They can present their own ideas on how these structures were built, but we may never know the whole truth unless we were present then. However, a glimmer of hope exists in our time line that may help unlock some these ancient mysteries - Edward Leedskalnin's Coral Castle in Florida (see here). He claimed to have harnessed the magnetic energies of Earth in the construction of the castle. The most amazing thing of all was that he spent 30 years constructing the entire structure ALONE in the secrecy of night. The most unfortunate part of all was that he carried all those secrets to his grave. Thus, was lost an opportunity for mankind to progress beyond our current known boundaries.

Meritocracy = Competition = Selfishness

As far as I can remember, when I was little, for some unknown reason I have always have this disdain for competition. The question that has always remained in my mind, even when I was going through school, was always "why do I always have to be compared with someone else?" And "why do I need to be better than other people?" The answer that was always given to me was that in order to get ahead in life we need to be better than the others around us. You need to be better than the others in your studies, than it will be easier for you to find a job because you are better then the others, then you will earn more than the others, and thus have a better life than the others. Being the top was the key, generally speaking. Unfortunately, there was one caveat. Only ONE can be the top. NOT everyone can be ON TOP, there is ONLY ONE.

Taking being the TOP out of the consideration for the moment, you'd still have to relatively better than others to make it. The heat is on to be near the top of the pile, so you can get better grades, get the interview that would land you the job, and hopefully make good money to have a good life. Meritocracy is a double edged sword. It is a good thing because it can facilitate many things in the society, and best of all it promotes racial/gender equality. For example, people can be hired for a job based on their merits and capabilities and not based on their race, nationality, or gender. However, it also encourages competition.

Competition, is not exactly a bad thing either, depending on how you look at it. As mentioned before, competition can facilitate meritocracy, but it can also hamper mankind's progress as human beings. Competition can bring out the ugly side of all of us, or the best side. Some will stop at nothing to remain on top, and some will resort to anything to climb to the top. Yet for the few enlightened ones, these will realize being near or at the top would mean nothing to them if they have to trample on others to get up there. These are the few precious ones who realizes that competition promotes selfishness. In competition, one always has the mindset that "I have to be better than the rest to win." In most cases, people would do almost anything to win in a competition. I am not saying that people want win regardless of the things they have to do to get it, but the definition of being selfish is thinking of nothing but one's self. Thus, being in any competition to win would put one in the selfish mindset. Unfortunately for some, it would start their downward spiral into the dark side.

Competition in school is something that almost everyone can identify with. Your grades in school are decided not by how much you know, but how well your cohorts are doing in relation to you. No where is this more prevalent than in the grand national exams in Singapore such as the GCE 'O Levels, the GCE' A Levels, and most prominently in most prestigious universities around the world. Even the entrance exams like the SATs, TOEFLs, and other similar exams are graded based on the bell curve. Some students have also outright stated that they would do almost anything to get better grades.

No doubt, schools are tailored to help students to better adapt to living in the society as adults. It should be quite obvious to all that our society has been built on selfishness and greed (for example, everyone wants to be better than the person next to them, and they want to make more money to be able to live better, and enjoy more. Therefore the never ending spiral to accumulate enough wealth to achieve their goal/s). Our society has lost its way in humanity in our pursuit to enrich ourselves materialistically, neglecting our other aspects of humanity. Realize now that we as a society have lost our genuine concern for our other fellow human being's well-being, and our responsibilities to our families by virtue of the titles bestowed upon us in a family (for example, a working mother will never be able to fulfill her responsibilities as a mother satisfactorily. This eventually affects the society with ill behaved brats.). Sometimes, it is through no fault of ours (survival reasons), and at other times it is a choice. It is time I feel that we should all wake up and realize this little truth on what we have become in our daily pursuit of a better life in the society. It is not always bad, but the biggest question of all that we should always consider - when will more be enough ?