Today people are confused about supporting each other or on a larger scale. But supporting is very important and it is just like love, that without it everything is so dry and useless. The confusion is once again propagating from medias or other false sources as individuals or organizations. People think that sharing some activities, or giving some time or money is equal to support. That for example traveling to a place or sponsoring a child faraway or visiting a website with a badge from home is nourishing support. They cannot go deeper down to the meaning of this action or feeling i should say. We decide to start a school and we get so enthusiastic & caring, we almost believe this must be a long lasting project for the benefits of all and then after several years the school have to be closed. This is an example on educational level which could apply to any other fields. Real support is too subtle and cannot be totally understood or expressed, it is a quality which can flow from one person to the other and everybody will feel and derive enormous benefits from that.
My brothers from Italy published here the recordering of a raga freshly composed by a santoor musician from India, with his son. Here’s the explanation of the raga given by himself on stage few days ago. It is not really a surprise that artists of such a calibre are now exhibiting in this land in the middle of the Mediterraneo. Italy is a great receptacle of musical understanding and a fast absorber of beautiful divine melodies.
The Concierto de Aranjuez was described by its same own author as capturing “the fragrance of magnolias, the singing of birds and the gushing of fountains” at Royal Palace of Aranjuez which is the place in Spain to which it has been inspired. it was premiered by Orchestra Filarmonica de Barcelona in 1940. In the below more contemporary version by violin it is executed by the Japanise artist Ikuko Kawai. You will surely notice her gestures, the way she is flowing with the notes and the passionate expressions on her face as she was one with the violin and the Latino melody itself (which was actually created for guitar by Rodriguo).
It is one of the plenty wonderful examples of integration of goodness of cultures you can also find wherever you live; there are many people who are so lucky to have lived in different places for enough time to absorb its characteristics at various levels, other have also absorbed it thru their parents traits which can be from diverse cultures. They naturally live an inside (r)evolution of their personality in a lifetime so enriching and unique that emits a beautiful fragrance in whatever interest they express. That is what the performance below is talking about.
Here I am again reporting first hand experience from one of the most crowdie and culturally varied places in the world, the Asian center for affair and finance, where the professionals keeps monitoring worldwide economical situation and the standard man/woman stays at office until eight or nine every day. I live in a local neighborhood close to the northwestern boarder with the mainland and every evening I see streams of children in kurtas and punjabis from Arabia or India in the street; they live here with their family and go to local schools too; their mothers buying potatoes and greens at the market when I am also there. Simply colorful and so beautiful.
Now it will begin a reportage from last Thursday and Friday: in a period of time of 48 hours a scary universe discloses to my eyes in one block! I just want to share it with you; there is even some comic side in it! In no order: 1. I go for throwing the strawberries leaves in a basket placed behind the girl who is sitted at the reception in the dance studio: she literally jumps off the chair for two times thinking that some kind of monster maybe is moving towards the basket. 2. Here it follows the scary adventure as it has been told by a friend who is looking for an Indian shop at the upper floor of one of the most ethnic and multicultural mansion in Hong Kong downtown: “ I see all these black men an I am with the direction written on a paper. They are kind and they really want to help me, but I am too scared and I am running in the building with them following me saying: don’t run, we just want to tell you where the place is”. I know this mansion very well being situated not far from my workplace: it is probably the only corner in the all city where you can literally spot bunches of faces from everywhere. It sounds so exciting, here I know the Indian uncle upstairs, he fixed my ghagra for an extremely cheap price, I come here alone to buy Coconut oil, bangles and Bollywood movies: some shoppers are really familiar to me. Moreover I use to do money exchange here when I need non Chinese currencies; they have some of the best conversions, even better than at the bank sometimes.
3. While walking towards the train in the metro suddenly somebody gently hugs me half from the back, I just turn my face to see and smile: it’s the same friend I met in the morning and she’s going: aren’t you scared? 4. At night I am making tea in the kitchen of the Yoga ashram of the city and a lady comes in “wow how do you do that? I could not be able to do it, and you know why, because I am really scared to turn on the fire”.
Now when Friday night arrives and I have been the receptacle of all these “scared of” testimonials I feel really shocked. In the kitchen I was just turning on the fire of the stove with an electrical gas lighter, a skill which requires a simple coordination of both your hands.
It’s true that the news are simply disgusting, everybody is saying so; the economy collapsed. Few weeks ago a colleague visited my desk for asking something about a product or a deadline but it was only an excuse to chat and soften+discharge his scary feelings about the fact that another company like ours had just fired more than 50 people the same day.
Do you know the joke from a 4 years old who is praying: “And forgive us our trash baskets as we forgive those who put trash in our baskets.”?
Bombs are exploding in our cities, children are being assaulted and violated, families being displaced and attacked…there is so much trash accumulated in all our baskets and so many others who attempt to make it worst. But this is not a good reason to live our days with the stable feeling of “being afraid of this and that”. I mean we are divine. The divinity within us has to take full control so that all these stupid ideas are automatically blown away.
This is the train of life: chuk chuk chuk…. Rail chalee hai Jeevan ki
Hasna rona, jagna sona, khona pana sathie hai dukh-sukh
chuk chuk chuk
raat aur din is rail ke dibbey
Aur sanson ka engine hai
Umar hai is gadhi ke pahiye aur chita station hai
Jaisey do patri hai vaisey saatha chaley duck-suck
Chuk chuk chuk….
Pap aur punya ki gathri bandhey satya
Nagar ko jana hai
Jeevan nagari chodh kar hamko Nirmal Nagari aana hai
The mother of our songs, the mother of our seed, bore us in the begining of things and so she is the mother of all types of men, the mother of all nations.
She is mother of the thunder, the mother of the streams, the mother of the trees and of all things. She is the mother of the world and of the older brothers, the stone-people. She is the mother of the fruits of the earth and of all things. She is the mother of our youngest brothers, the French and the strangers. She is the mother of our dance paraphernalia, of all temples and she is the only mother we possess. She alone is mother of the fire and the Sun and the Milky Way. . . . She is the mother of the rain and the only mother we possess. And she has left us a token in all the temples . . . a token in the form of songs and dances.
She has no cult, and no prayers are really directed to her, but when the fields are sown and the priests chant their incantations the Kagaba say, ‘And then we think of the one and only mother of the growing things, of the mother of all things.’
One prayer was recorded: ‘Our mother of the growing fields, our mother of the streams, will have pity upon us. For whom do we belong? Whose seeds are we? To our mother alone do we belong.’
Here is a short extract from Bhaja Govindam by poet Adi Shankaracharya. One of the Holy names of Shri Krishna, who has extensive control on the ability of the humankind to be collective, is Govinda.
Worship Govinda who is supreme bliss, who is the protector of the world, who made his advent in the world as Gopála through his lilá, who is the protector of the race (of Yádavas) and of cows, who made the cowherds happy by lifting up through his lilá the Govardhana mountain were the gopès used to play, whose name “Govinda” is uttered clearly by the cows (or scriptures), who has may names, and who is beyond the reach of the ignorant. Worship Govinda who is supreme bliss, who was present in each of the different groups of gopis, who appears in different forms, who is one and nondual, whose beautiful form was covered by the dust raised always by the hooves of the cows, whose blissful nature is realized by sraddhá and bhakti, who is unimaginable, whose existence is known to the wise, and whose greatness is like that of the gem cintámaïi
two favorite directions to watch: mother earth or the planets in the sky. And what happened Monday nite? something awsome . In Hong Kong we dont get stars because the lights are too strong and want to be themselves the citystars. Anyway we did not miss this gift from the Sky yesterday.
In what’s called a planetary conjunction, the two planets —the brightest in the night sky — will appear extremely close, separated by only the width of a finger held at arm’s length. They won’t be this close together and well-placed for evening viewing again until May 2013.
In fact, some astronomers think a similar alignment of the planets on June 17 in the year 2 BC is behind biblical accounts of the Star of Bethlehem present during Christ’s birth. The bright planets would have appeared so close together they could have been taken as a single shining star.
It is been a week now that i am shivering at moments and crying rivers having incredible tears into my eyes no matter where i am located, if at my desk at office, if on the bus, if at home doing something. As soon as the attention is on America the emotions come flowing strong. This is Michelle Obama the way she talked about her brother, the parents, the daughters and the husband. Importance of family, of bounding and connecting beyond diversities. Importance of finding common points to share and on which to build up the oneness of a country. So boundlessly inspiring!
Before coming to stay in HK, exactly 3 years ago, I did not know anything about this city and never was attracted by learning more about it. After having had a two years experience in NY between 1999 and 2002 first thought was: well, it’s gonna be the same, maybe few more Chinese faces but the level of integration and internationalism will be moreless as in NY. And since i already got the experience for me it will be super easy and smooth. Poor little girl! How wrong she was!
Listening to the keynotes addressed by Obama’s wife I immediately get the feeling of what an ardent desire for integration of a place, whether a country or a city, is. And Hong Kong is strongly lacking this feeling in the deep of the heart of her people. This city seems to have an extremely long journey for integration ahead. Integration now here sounds like a cute little bell of the size of the ones used to tie around a cat’s neck, whose jingling is too weak and imperceptible. Instead thru Michelle Obama’s message integration looks resounding like festive fireworks on a busy night where everybody attention is only waiting to turn in that direction. But the little cat walking along the sidewalks in Hong Kong: who will listen to it?
4th of November: they share the same date & i love this coincidence very much. So Obama said “This election has never been about me. It’s about you.” This is so deeply to be understood by as many people as possible that the change happens from within. That it is true (again from his speech) that America does not shine for her University or college, or for having the biggest army on earth but for he inner Spirit, the collectvity of the spirits of each and every American. I always felt good in America. As he also said “It is not a country as collection of races and people but a whole united state and forever will be the United States of America”. When i was living in New York and not only then, also when went just for visiting friends, i always felt this spirit which will always shine.
And now it is Diwali. The Indians of America know the meaning of this festivity very well but as long as your own spirit will awaken, rise and shine you will have known the importance of its meaning too.
A man who takes no thought for the distant future is sure to be beset by worries close at hand.
I suppose I should give up hope. I have yet to meet the man who is as fond of virtue as he is of beauty in women.
There is nothing I can do with a man who is not constantly saying, “What am I to do? What am I to do? “
Men spending all day together merely to indulge themselves in acts of petty cleverness without ever touching on the subject of morality in their conversation are sure to be in difficulty!
The gentleman has morality as his basic stuff and by observing the rites puts it into practice, by being modest gives it expression, and by being trustworthy in word brings it to completion. Such is a gentleman indeed!
The gentleman is troubled by his own lack of ability, not by the failure of others to appreciate him.
What the gentleman seeks, he seeks within himself; what the small man seeks, he seeks in others.
The gentleman is concious of his own superiority without being contentious, and comes together with other gentlemen without forming cliques.
The gentleman does not recommend a man on account of what he says, neither does he dismiss what is said on account of the speaker.
Digital painting is going towards the direction close to the human result, 80% already so close maybe. tech is unlimited, its application always depends on the people, their skills, their knowledge, if they are high then you can make very difficult drawings.
This conversation started after watching director Miyazaki at this Summer Venice Film Festival talking about his passion for the hand drawing animations.
Well it is possible that Miyazaki does not have a complete knowledge of all the tech available now, that is probably the reason why he perfers the pencil. How about the feeling? the different emotions and actions which can be transmitted by hand or by digital painting? Exactly the same feeling, because now we use the computer screen just like the paper and the pen like a pencil on it. The innovation is also studying how to formulate touch screen brushes which will give the same effect of an oil painting for example. Wow!! The problem will be the printing at one point. Infact on a canvas you have a certain texture and dimension and to reproduce it exactly from the computer is not easy at the moment. Who knows? Now we are working on it.
Today is Typhoon signal number 9 in Hong Kong so we are at home since morning, we can’t go out. We watched The Forbidden Kingdom. The main idea of this movie is that people continue to exist and come back and forth from one dimension to another. Even before i ve been wached many others movies with this concept inside. Reincarnation is something really cool. I saw that this movie has been realized by a Chinese and Western cooperation. The main character who fight the enemy into 2 lives is a western actor but most of the movie takes place in the Chinese countryside and Imperial ancient buildings with plenty of special effects too.
Going back to the reincarnation, a concept dear to the Eastern countries I got the feeling that also in America and Europe people are starting to take it in consideration. Myself i feel like i always knew that the spirit is eternal and does reincarnate, I did not have to read books about it or ask too many questions, I just feel that it is obvious and I am sorry i cannot give any explanation to whom is in search.
Here in China a lot a lot of people practise different forms of Buddhism and they are the ones who believe in reincarnation. Also the Chinese who are devotees of Kwan Yin talk about reincarnation. It’s fascinating. My late Chinese grandmother told one time for example that my husband is a very old soul which had traveled long time before reaching China and that he was born also in Africa in his second past life. There is book in teh Chinese tradition which is not easy to understand and actually is currently used only by the fortuntellers. This book can tell you about your past lives. So we can see that since thousands of years Chinese have talked about reincarnation.
When i am in Europe it is different and people start to talk more about should i believe or should i not believe, which is a distrctive way of thinking because when we believe in ideas then we become an idea ourselves and the mind is not wide open and clean. When we dont believe in idea maybe it is better but we keep searching for something all the time.
How do people approach “reincarnation” in your country?
Emotions should not be confused with romanticism or extreme feelings or behaviours which bring the person into a constant low-level-mood. In Europe emotions are a frequent object of discussions and works since the kindergarden at a scholastic level. All the teachers are required to introduce in their plan some activities focused on the importance of letting the children express their emotional side. Sometimes it is not considered how deep the activity degree is but it should include good food for the emotional side. Good for the emotional side. Well, many teachers do not really know what it is good and what it is bad for the emotional side of the children simply becuase they themselves did not have 100% positive experience in their emotional life, so the first thing is that a teacher should be a greatly aware and sensible person, self realized and spiritually oriented in order to nourish the immature emotions of a kid and watch them grow.
In China the educational system, and simultaneously the family system, is still at sunrise level . Although Chinese families are among the strongest in the world, this strenght surely does not come out of open awareness and emotional intelligence. Sorry, not at all. But the future may be more prosperous and clear and hopefully many more families and children will get the benefit of an healthy emotional life.
Guys of my age for example here have the problem that they have to sustain the family, both economically and emotional. The parents of the modern China have had very difficult moments in the past years and as everybody knows the economical side is now starting to move on. As a consequence the slice of the population over 50ies / 60ies face dramatic situations deep into their inner intimacy, into their inner self. This is one of the main reason why on a spiritual level there is so much conditioning and ritualism until to the most serious illness. No difference either in mainland China and in Hong Kong or Macau. I’am convinced the Chinese emotional side is weak everywhere you go. I touched it with my hands, or better with my heart (moreover i am merried to a Chinese) and i am ready to post more about this delicate matter which should be a founding stone of the modern Chinese essence. Stay tuned if you are interested. Luv, r.
