Spiritual teachers, sound shamans, crystal healers, general healers, no idea how much rubbish there is also in Asia. They come from Europe or America and start estabilishing themselves in China, Thailand, Indonesia…they even succed in opening retreat or healing centers with the sole scope to earn money and live their life. They are very clever and organize lots of workshop using the words: WISDOM – ENERGY – MEDITATION – RELAXING – CREATIVITY – SECRET – CONSCIOUSNESS – SUBTLE – POWER – HEALING- DIVINE SELF – EXPERIENCE TO EVOLVE – MIRACLE – CREATION.
Be careful. And be smart.
Here in Hong Kong they plan saturdays 7 hours workshop for 1.111 HKD and will promise to make you familiar with the keys to success and power, an easy guide to create your own life and improve it in all kinds of aspects.
Be smart and be alert.
They will tell that gratitude is the attitude and that money in this materialistic society is not leading to anything. On the other hand they will charge you a lot of money for a workshop and for 1 hour session (here in HK 800 HKD) of consultation, healing or astrology.
They will come up with some secret code or secret book that will want to teach you about, recalling some master or knowledge from the ancient times. Sometimes they dont live in Hong Kong and travel here in the weekend just to collect the money of their students. But once they go back home their students (are you or have you already been one of them??) are left in a transitive happy mood which will last only for some hours, then it will vanish and again there will be the need to go back to another workshop, and another and another. But the reality of life and the true joy cannot depend upon a workshop or a weekend seminar. It depends only on you.
It is not too difficult today to reach balance. Just following these simple advices from Laotsi – the Chinese primordial master- will make it even simpler. We are reaching a point in society where we dont miss anything material nor spiritual, everything is so clearly disclosed in front of our eyes and the minds work much more open than before (but if you get meditative you go faster) . Now if desires are kept on a low level it will happen something incredible that there are no words to explain it. i dont even know how to write it. But this is the key for any kind of policy today. the only requirements are the right men. They have to be brave and cool; they have to belong to some sort of another race, another kind of personality which is different and it is not really easy to find, but they exist for sure. Because now we have everything and everyOne on this planet. It’s Amazing.
Laotsi’s proposal is really interesting and original, it’s not just something empty or meaningless or old. It’s so modern and can meet a win-to-win elaboration. Very smart application. Very new and so useful.
If those who are excellent find no preferment,
the people will cease to contend for promotion.
If goods that are hard to obtain are not favored,
the people will cease to turn robbers or bandits.
If things much desired are kept under cover,
disturbance will cease in the minds of the people.
There is a big amount of historical and literary material in China, which reinforces humility in the human character. The two primordial masters Laoze & Confucius have left behind outstanding moral teachings which are precious example for the whole mankind. On one hand humility is one of the most regarded quality in a person especially when flowing directly from the within matrix of pure love. This is why on the other hand thise quality is just myth in modern China. Why is it only myth?
The within matrix of pure love, also known as kundalini, has not been awakened in the whole Chinese population yet. Moreover there is no translation in Chinese for the word “awareness” which means people cannot include it in their chat or speeches or writings, thus cannot at least communicate about it.
Despite of the nice job done by the primordial masters in acient times it seems that seeds have been possibly planted but after centuries…where is the blossoming? A nation fully based, in its own educational and social system, on these two qualities should litterally flourish without having especially its young people struggling.
When humility is there innocence is automatically there permeating all the fibers of the political and economical net. So walking in the street becomes a real pleasure for watching the coolest advertisments on the walls, whose only aim is to instill great high feelings into the eyes/mind.
Self confidence and determination are the natural result of an humble personality, not just smiling or being nice and dharmic.
Mostly a tribute to flickr either because i am writing this post between home (where my pics are stored) and office and because soft copies of the pictures are only available from the last five years. I didnt follow a meaningful order, just browsing in my memory:
1. Aragonese Castle, Italy
A unique place with an awsome history connected also to Michelangelo Buonarroti’s life. It shall deserve a rich post asap. (image by me)
Even though Hong Kong and Genoa Italy aquariums are two of the biggest and most beautiful, i still loved Frisco one. why? Because you walk under real tunnels of the Bay Area!
3. Pan de Azucar in Rio de Janeiro, Brazilby flickr
A combination of spirituality and cable car is the most thrilling experience for me!
4. Big Buddha, Lantau Island
This other combination of spirtuality&cable-car is really close to my home and I could potentially get the experience every weekend. Last month with a friend from Vancouver we went up for two consecutive days just for tasting the feeling to fly higher and higher into the mountains and have the majestic Buddha waiting for us on the other side! You may also want to enjoy a more accurate post about it soon. (image by me)
5. Jamaican beach
It was a lovely family tour during my stay in US. Bathing in the warm Caribbean waters every morning and chatting with the locals on the beach all day long until evening. We also met a direct friend of Bob Marley living upon discographic projects and hand making palm leaves hats for tourists. Most hospitable place. (photo flickr – my dad keeps all the real pics)
6. Havana de Cuba downtown
Harmony of colors and extreme relaxation and freedom in the streets. On our fly-route back from India e Moscow with my friend Maneesha, we took loads of pictures and then… lost the camera. Ahahahh. I just remember we were in ecstasy for the whole day spent there. A most welcoming taxi driver strolled us everywhere and gave us contact number in case we’ll be back. If anybody interested. (photo flickr)
7. Parque Chicaque, Colombia
The most vivid nature, the real “selva Colombiana”. An amazing day trekking in thejungle, few of us, completely absorbed by beauty and silence in the country Garden of the world. There is an Indian story about Shri Vishnu, He had to leave India because in trouble and went seeking refuge with Garuda precisely in Colombia, chosen because it was the only place on Earth so much rich in plants and fruits.
8. Faraglioni, Italy
Did you know it’s the Zen Garden of Italy? Have a look, it’s my home. Really.
9. Beihai park in Beijin, China
A remarkable park to understand the lifestyle of old emperors. Many of them have written lovely poems to their own mothers, whose words are often engraved on marble pillars around.
10. Elephanta caves, India
I was speechless here I was totally stunned by the grandness of majestic Lords Brahma, Shiva, Vishnu.
I just realized there are more than 10 spectacular places i’ve seen but for now i will just confine into the maryadas of this TAG. And yes you have been tagged too!Which one are your most spectacular visits… 5, 10, 15 you number them. And leave me a message below when you have done the post, and please tag more people. Let’s travel all together! Do you know something shocking about travelling? I know it cause my sis is a travel agent in Italy. Last week she spoke over the phone that Italians are so crazy about traveling and holiday that despite of the economy struggle they are paying rates for their vacation even if it’s just for few days!
Educational process which can be serious or light depending on the time. Indeed living abroad is certainly not a joke but a processas long as your stay in that place. People talk alot about differences and try many different ways to frame them and give them a real meaning which would be sustainable for the ongoing race towards peace and harmony.
There are cultures offering a peculiar background in their history nd development which can enrich a massive educational process of this type. They are characterized by strong conditionings and ideas which with no doubt help people to find better levels of understanding for great tansformation.
During this ongoing process along the way people realize alot of stuff and refine some valuable tools in their own self .
How can you miss your theatrical part in life, i mean the comic or dramatic aspect of your character which gives so much meaning to every day! otherwise we will be like fish in a box. In these financial cities where everything and everyone is on a schedule you can enjoy some theatre
very much at the theatre where you pay the ticket and assist to the show
very little during interaction cause most of the people act moreless monotonely so they give the impression to do all the same things at the same way.
Well, there are countries where people are so serious about theatre that they act 70% of their time in norml dailylife. They conversate transforming their voices intentionally like they were possessed or performing acts in any place when get along together; for example you cannot understand when an Italian is talking seriously or he is joking. Such a skill he has got. Innate. Humoristic and tossed with charm and kindness. It’s just pure life. you can’t get this sense in a materialistic society where businesslike minds guide every profit out. But if you really seek for this side, a comic side is also there and it will make you laugh. I start believeing that this is why we have big cities: to make people laughing about it and about themselves.
With Rabindranath Tagore awsome encouragement to revive the cultural aspects of India, the art of Sadir or Sadiatam (today known as bharatnayam dance) and the art of Kathakali (music and drama) were estabilished with more prestige and underwent significnt development. It is no surprise that these arts grew, in the South of india, under the influence and the presence of ancient civilazations such as Greece, Rome, Egypt and Syria. the artists at that time used to performe everywhere without need for a stage. Any outdoor setting would have been perfect as far as there were some people rady to watch them. And this is exactly what I have been experienced last weekend in this Chinese hub of stock market & cutures. isnt it unbelievable? i still get goose bumps if i go back to those moments on Sunday.
i was lucky to the extent to performe Indian dance two meters from the crowd, on rugs placed directly on concrete floor, with genuine Indian instruments and curtains as background just like in the ancient times but in a hyper modern city like Hong Kong is. it was too much of a blast! I wish all passionate dancers to get this marvelous experience which mad me gain not only money but also so much dignity and real understanding of the meaning of dancing. A meaning going straight to the root of the heart. the focus is different: when the heart is dancing, you are jumping in the flow and everything is still and perfect.
Tonight we had our usual dancing class in Soho, in a new stage center of a very exclusive and stylish club house. This part of the city is a real meltin pot of modern and old, trendy and old fashioned, hills and plane roads, plenty of narrow streets which i had to cross before reaching the MTR=underground train on the main street “at the feet of the mount”.
this one was the starting point, the gallery of Mr. Tagore the grandson of the most legendary and auspicious Nobel of India. Work in progress inside, it was close and they are installing a new exhibition.
Soho is always busy and crowded and at night time it represents the drink/chat place for many people workin and living in the dowtown. However some streets are very quite and almost deserted with just one shop still shining.
We ‘ll look up so many interesting details and neon lights, fashionable items and cute little shops for foodies, lifestyle, wellness and beauty. A collection of colors and ideas
Somebody is still working on the street….and somebody is still shopping at almost midnite (…i got a beautiful “casacca” with geometrical designs). one of the best fun for me is bargaining in Chinese with these local folks: sometimes running into a sweet uncle or a screamy auntie, sometimes into a young girl. i always wish that these people will go to the foundation of the economy in their own country and at the most important meaning for exchanging goods.
Late at night you can meet the usual auntie who cleans up all the road of its cartoons, pack and pile them up diligently and carry them to some receptacle-place. Or simply she cleanse the city of the daily wasted plastic bags. She is the one who knows Mother earth problems and tribulations better than anybody else and better than any philosopher and wiseman.
Finally you can also get a floreal taxi to the MTR if you dont want to walk anymore. The driver can be a close relative of the auntie above. He very possibly enjoys drinking and smoking with his friends if not on due and very possibly does care very little in his central nervous sytem about the cycles and messages of Mother earth. But he knows how to drive well in the city jungle and will bring you to destination.
It is an ancient yet extremely modern concept. Thoughtless is the state of the person who is always focused and happy, whose creativity constantly flows with brilliance and purity, no space for misinterpretations, sadness, stupidity and other kinds of imbalances. This concept is related to a positive and healthy state of mind, very close to the ideal lifestyle which we want to create nowadays in our urban and no urban environments. Hence, it is a concept valid and fully adaptable to the toys manufacture.
Focus: to transmit feelings of joy, lightness, fun, simplicity.
Design: preference of rounded shapes, elements & inspirations from the nature, fresh character and great characters.
Toy materials: soft materials, attractive to the hands, really easy to handle and carry, not harsh, sometimes not hard at all, fabrics, an examplary line where the child can have complete control on it and does not have to ask the parents to do something (like changing batteries, push the button ecc).
Example of toy:From the idea of Sensitive Floor, developed by IO Agency last year: an interactive video projection designed specifically to be walked on. ~~~~> Brought to toy industry in form of a….
… scene – projector which creates, on the wall, a touch sensitive playing platform. Scenes can include:
a. interactive art scenes
b. learning games
c. story telling sequences
two examples of scenes:
1. A spiral is projected and a small elephant has to be accompanied by one finger along the spiral path from the outside to the inside extreme.
2. Moving sea Waves are projected with floating jellyfish. When a jelly is fully covered by the hand it will disappear but another jelly will appear in another corner of the sea scenario.
How to use it: the projector can be placed on a cabinet, and images will appear on the wall or furniture cabinet in front of it.
Last morning i saw these pics of a serious earthquake happened in Italy and I realized how simple and humble those people are: it s read in their faces, it s so amazing. Like another life now. Another life starting again. Somtimes we live several lives in the same lifespan and we face so many things and transformations. People start not to recognize us anymore because changes have to be strong in some cases. The Italian area where earth was shaken is surrounded by Maiella, a wonderful motherly mountain very rich in Bhoomi devi tattwa. One time I saw a wonderful documentary made by sahaj yogis about this mountain and its historical and spiritual meaning. The essence of us people is shaken too. Now we say “let’s do it globally” and that economy is going under repair and that the world needs to be fixed, all these talks we are listening in these days. Here in Hong Kong now everybody is going for fundraising more than ever before. HR at my office asked me to teach the Bollywood dance in Slumdog Milionarie because they want to perform it in another charity event next month. Art, money, globalization, all mixed up sometimes nicely sometimes just in confusion. This fenomeno of globalization is interesting because it is just like the earthquake going to kick onto the essence and the vulnerability of the humans. You see their real faces and understand what they are for. For example, the trend of incredible India is so unveiling (can I use this term). Here in China you will find people who are born and lived and worked here all their life and suddenly they get to know to India better and they start becoming like Indians: they take to yoga or Indian appealing styles and all of a sudden forget that they were Chinese and stay for a long while ignorant about understanding their own background and essence. It’s too fascinating. Future is gonna be bright and shocking.
Just some because it would be too many detailes and stuff to tell and describe, but i can list the most recent happenings linked to them.
I have to start with the word India because the background of this great country is going to play a fundamental role in the future of my life. i like it and did not expect to find this India-connection six years ago for example. But yes i recall that one time when i was very young, maybe around seven, i found an Indian holy book in my mother’s bookcase and read with a certain interest something which i dont remember anymore and in a language which was not Italian. After that i forgot it and went back to my toys and stuff i suppose. Last night a friend from India who lives in Hong Kong organized an after rugby (a big international sportive event in town) dinner at the indian recreation centre in town and I went in my usual ethnic outfit hindo-chinese from the head to the knees and western from the knees to the feet. Here in HK we are an huge mix of population, in many many places you sit down with a moltitude of people who had traveled and worked in more than two places and had to adapt quickly to new things and contexts, in most of the cases they grew up with parents from two countries and things like that. There is always a small light switching on automatically when getting together with these kind of folks. It’s something in the genes i suppose, we are united from diversified experiences and familiar with geographical changes.
Indians today always ask me why i wear the manglasutra, a precious gift from my husband on our first trip together in India. When i was on an Airindia flight two weeks ago i read an article advocating the ever stronger choice of the arranged marriage among these families. I found myself in the middle of a gorgeous Punjabi arranged wedding, being friend with the bride’s elder sister. I ll make a reportage soon about this incredible experience under the auspicious words of Guru Nanak. Arranged marriage is surely a big effect of the globalization in my life, since as many hindu spouse i had to turn around the fire and move the tiny rice hills with the toe. Magic.
But my husband has a Chinese, not Indian, background: another huge golden door opens in front of me. and while yesterday we were discussing at the recreation center the affinities between Italians and Indians, they are showering from somewhere new affinities and connections: on one side between Italians and Chinese on another side between Chinese & Indians. I ve explored …15% until now, good and bad. Attitudes, clubbing styles, food. It depends on your mind and what you want to do with your life now. Globalization is all pervading and everlasting. Will keep it updated…
We are definitely getting closer now and do not need to sit down together for a dinner to feel this closeness. It is just happening, some people may still not be aware but this beautiful & colorful train is spinning to such a velocity where even the stars are collaborating. We are now able to feel the universe with all its problems and all its wonders! One of the most excellent training to this ability was certainly given by Mahatma Gandhi and the creation of the Sevagram Ashram during his lifetime. “People, he felt, should not tolerate each other and their differences, but learn to respect, understand, accept and appreciate each other.” – writes Arun Gandhi grandson.
It is exactly what it is in town for example where people are no more tolerating each other because they now want to connect and embibe the goodness of other cultures: it is a different process which can transform oneself into a new personality sometimes very different from before.
Mughal emperors were fond of gardens and beauty. The design of their architecture is mostly brilliant and peaceful. They were known for four major types of garden: palace, terraced, waterfront and tomb gardens. There is a garden, now in ruin, across the river from the Taj Mahal which is known as “Moonlight Garden“. Quoted by Rabindranath Tagore.
Yet one solitary tear
Would hang on the cheek of time
In the form
Of this white and gleaming Taj Mahal
Well, it was built as a mirror image in order to allow the court to enjoy the reflection of the glooming marble artwork during the evenings of full moon. Water is one of the central element to refresh the air and it is used in form of cascades and fountains, often flowing thru channels and pools just like in the Taj Mahal. A classical Mughal garden includes symmetrical design and lots of water.
Iran is the sacred area on the planet where Mughal design originated. Infact the same word Paradise is the Persian pairi (around) and daeza (wall). Garden flowers are depicted thru words in fabulous Persian poetries and in the sacred Koran. Flowers are also engraved in the marble inlay that today represents the Gardens of Paradise as symbolized in the sacred book. In 2001 the Bradford Mughal garden was inaugurated in North England to reflect the cultural diversity of the area next to Cartwright Hall, which disposes of contemporary South Asian art exhibits.
I hope both of you will take up that work, righting the wrongs that you see and working to give others the chances you’ve had. Not just because you have an obligation to give something back to this country that has given our family so much—although you do have that obligation. But because you have an obligation to yourself. Because it is only when you hitch your wagon to something larger than yourself that you will realize your true potential.
These are the things I want for you—to grow up in a world with no limits on your dreams and no achievements beyond your reach, and to grow into compassionate, committed women who will help build that world. And I want every child to have the same chances to learn and dream and grow and thrive that you girls have. That’s why I’ve taken our family on this great adventure.
I am so proud of both of you. I love you more than you can ever know. And I am grateful every day for your patience, poise, grace, and humor as we prepare to start our new life together in the White House.
As it happened to us a couple of weeks ago: 9 splendid hours here where there is so much to do, to see, to enjoy, to relax. Of the nine hours about six spent at the Toy shop from where we left with two enormous bags filled with wooden made gifts and six cartoon boxes of table and card games: Carcassonne, Verflixxt, Lego 3 in 1, two Memory, Labyrinth, Genial, Mistigri. Last Saturday our friends had to spend the nite over because at 4 a.m. we were still playing!
Anyway why the Airport in Munich is super?
There are numerous spots at all floors where you can help yourself with hot/cold tea (3 styles/flavours) and coffe and milk .
You can shop for chocolate, jam, tea and all other kinds of goods.
If you like toys that shop is really great and we found their prices (especially LEGO) more convenient than in Hong Kong.
Central areas where to relax on sofas or play card or plug in your laptop although connection is not available at each spot.
(image by me)
Well, there are countries where people are so serious about theatre that they act 70% of their time in norml dailylife. They conversate transforming their voices intentionally like they were possessed or performing acts in any place when get along together; for example you cannot understand when an Italian is talking seriously or he is joking. Such a skill he has got. Innate. Humoristic and tossed with charm and kindness. It’s just pure life. you can’t get this sense in a materialistic society where businesslike minds guide every profit out. But if you really seek for this side, a comic side is also there and it will make you laugh. I start believeing that this is why we have big cities: to make people laughing about it and about themselves.
