From A Driven Purpose To A Purpose Driven

"I came here alone; many years down the road, I'll leave with a good friend - myself."

This statement didn't come forth overnight. This simple statement took me my whole life to understand.

My understanding of the reasons of my existence here with her and to understand my journey with her had been peppered with notions being told to one of self discovery.

Whether it was an obstacle and an adversity or a blessing and a miracle, I've learnt to know the entity living within a little more. I've chosen not to ignore her little decisions or the bold actions that she chose and to observe the various consequences in the surroundings thus resulted. I realised that there were never wrong actions or decisions but they were meaningful causes that lead to results that I had to learn from.

She has had her moments of egoism and was driven by various life purposes; however, her heart remained empty. She couldn't fathom the meaning of love and joy as she wanted to experience it - permanently.

I watched her experiment, I watched her ask around, I watched her read, I watched her meditate, I watched her cry, I watched her contemplate, I watched her frown when she was floundering around in search of answers, I watched her marvel at the small incremental steps made with positive results, I watched her wonder if she could find her answers within her short noisy life... Then, I watched her worry if she is ever good enough to return to God.

I watched her being surrounded by friends. They come and they go. Some inspired and stayed; some taught and expired - when both know within their higher selves that both have done their dues. That was still not enough.

She found that that she is so limited, trapped within this body.

We are like twins, me being the limited half and she had to learn to know me and live with me. We have to evolve together nonetheless.

We finally made a pact. Since both of us are so limited, we decided to merge and allow this cohesive entity to be a conduit of God to channel blessings to others and to make ourselves useful. No matter what happens - good or bad, blessings or curses - we decided to allow all will to be done by God. He will use us as tools for the higher purposes of His will. That will remove our limitations, for God will be in control and no longer our limited selves.

This is our constant prayer to Him, "Dear God, please use me as Your tool for Your higher purpose. Whatever that comes my way, it is Your will that is to be done - not mine. Let my purpose here solely be Your conduit for all things in Your will to be done and said. Let this be my purpose driven."

My heart and my brain. My intellectual reasoning self and my spiritual self to return to the Source.

"I came here alone; many years down the road, I'll leave with a good friend - myself."

Do You Know Me?

It's just the strangest thing
I've seen your face somewhere
And early evening dream
A past life love affair
Do you know me...at all?
Do you know me...at all?

In all my reverie
I thought I felt us there
A feather in my hand
A flower in your hair
Do you know me...at all?
Do you know me...at all?

- John Mayer, Battle Studies

One of my favourite Philosophies by the Buddha - The Noble Eightfold Path

The Noble Eightfold Path describes the way to the end of suffering, as it was laid out by Siddhartha Gautama. It is a practical guideline to ethical and mental development with the goal of freeing the individual from attachments and delusions; and it finally leads to understanding the truth about all things. Together with the Four Noble Truths it constitutes the gist of Buddhism. Great emphasis is put on the practical aspect, because it is only through practice that one can attain a higher level of existence and finally reach Nirvana. The eight aspects of the path are not to be understood as a sequence of single steps, instead they are highly interdependent principles that have to be seen in relationship with each other.

Wisdom

1. Right View

Right view is the beginning and the end of the path, it simply means to see and to understand things as they really are and to realise the Four Noble Truth. As such, right view is the cognitive aspect of wisdom. It means to see things through, to grasp the impermanent and imperfect nature of worldly objects and ideas, and to understand the law of karma and karmic conditioning. Right view is not necessarily an intellectual capacity, just as wisdom is not just a matter of intelligence. Instead, right view is attained, sustained, and enhanced through all capacities of mind. It begins with the intuitive insight that all beings are subject to suffering and it ends with complete understanding of the true nature of all things. Since our view of the world forms our thoughts and our actions, right view yields right thoughts and right actions.

2. Right Intention

While right view refers to the cognitive aspect of wisdom, right intention refers to the volitional aspect, i.e. the kind of mental energy that controls our actions. Right intention can be described best as commitment to ethical and mental self-improvement. Buddha distinguishes three types of right intentions: 1. the intention of renunciation, which means resistance to the pull of desire, 2. the intention of good will, meaning resistance to feelings of anger and aversion, and 3. the intention of harmlessness, meaning not to think or act cruelly, violently, or aggressively, and to develop compassion.

Ethical Conduct

3. Right Speech

Right speech is the first principle of ethical conduct in the eightfold path. Ethical conduct is viewed as a guideline to moral discipline, which supports the other principles of the path. This aspect is not self-sufficient, however, essential, because mental purification can only be achieved through the cultivation of ethical conduct. The importance of speech in the context of Buddhist ethics is obvious: words can break or save lives, make enemies or friends, start war or create peace. Buddha explained right speech as follows: 1. to abstain from false speech, especially not to tell deliberate lies and not to speak deceitfully, 2. to abstain from slanderous speech and not to use words maliciously against others, 3. to abstain from harsh words that offend or hurt others, and 4. to abstain from idle chatter that lacks purpose or depth. Positively phrased, this means to tell the truth, to speak friendly, warm, and gently and to talk only when necessary.

4. Right Action

The second ethical principle, right action, involves the body as natural means of expression, as it refers to deeds that involve bodily actions. Unwholesome actions lead to unsound states of mind, while wholesome actions lead to sound states of mind. Again, the principle is explained in terms of abstinence: right action means 1. to abstain from harming sentient beings, especially to abstain from taking life (including suicide) and doing harm intentionally or delinquently, 2. to abstain from taking what is not given, which includes stealing, robbery, fraud, deceitfulness, and dishonesty, and 3. to abstain from sexual misconduct. Positively formulated, right action means to act kindly and compassionately, to be honest, to respect the belongings of others, and to keep sexual relationships harmless to others. Further details regarding the concrete meaning of right action can be found in the Precepts.

5. Right Livelihood

Right livelihood means that one should earn one's living in a righteous way and that wealth should be gained legally and peacefully. The Buddha mentions four specific activities that harm other beings and that one should avoid for this reason: 1. dealing in weapons, 2. dealing in living beings (including raising animals for slaughter as well as slave trade and prostitution), 3. working in meat production and butchery, and 4. selling intoxicants and poisons, such as alcohol and drugs. Furthermore any other occupation that would violate the principles of right speech and right action should be avoided.

Mental Development

6. Right Effort

Right effort can be seen as a prerequisite for the other principles of the path. Without effort, which is in itself an act of will, nothing can be achieved, whereas misguided effort distracts the mind from its task, and confusion will be the consequence. Mental energy is the force behind right effort; it can occur in either wholesome or unwholesome states. The same type of energy that fuels desire, envy, aggression, and violence can on the other side fuel self-discipline, honesty, benevolence, and kindness. Right effort is detailed in four types of endeavours that rank in ascending order of perfection: 1. to prevent the arising of unarisen unwholesome states, 2. to abandon unwholesome states that have already arisen, 3. to arouse wholesome states that have not yet arisen, and 4. to maintain and perfect wholesome states already arisen.

7. Right Mindfulness

Right mindfulness is the controlled and perfected faculty of cognition. It is the mental ability to see things as they are, with clear consciousness. Usually, the cognitive process begins with an impression induced by perception, or by a thought, but then it does not stay with the mere impression. Instead, we almost always conceptualise sense impressions and thoughts immediately. We interpret them and set them in relation to other thoughts and experiences, which naturally go beyond the facticity of the original impression. The mind then posits concepts, joins concepts into constructs, and weaves those constructs into complex interpretative schemes. All this happens only half consciously, and as a result we often see things obscured. Right mindfulness is anchored in clear perception and it penetrates impressions without getting carried away. Right mindfulness enables us to be aware of the process of conceptualisation in a way that we actively observe and control the way our thoughts go. Buddha accounted for this as the four foundations of mindfulness: 1. contemplation of the body, 2. contemplation of feeling (repulsive, attractive, or neutral), 3. contemplation of the state of mind, and 4. contemplation of the phenomena.

8. Right Concentration

The eighth principle of the path, right concentration, refers to the development of a mental force that occurs in natural consciousness, although at a relatively low level of intensity, namely concentration. Concentration in this context is described as one-pointedness of mind, meaning a state where all mental faculties are unified and directed onto one particular object. Right concentration for the purpose of the eightfold path means wholesome concentration, i.e. concentration on wholesome thoughts and actions. The Buddhist method of choice to develop right concentration is through the practice of meditation. The meditating mind focuses on a selected object. It first directs itself onto it, then sustains concentration, and finally intensifies concentration step by step. Through this practice it becomes natural to apply elevated levels concentration also in everyday situations.

Content taken from www.thebigview.com/buddhism

Driver drive faster and make a good run
Down the Springfield Line under the shining sun.

Fly like an aeroplane, don't pull up short
Till you brake for Grand Central Station, New York.

For there in the middle of that waiting-hall
Should be standing the one that I love best of all.

If he's not there to meet me when I get to town,
I'll stand on the side-walk with tears rolling down.

For he is the one that I love to look on,
The acme of kindness and perfection.

He presses my hand and he says he loves me,
Which I find an admirable peculiarity.

The woods are bright green on both sides of the line;
The trees have their loves though they're different from mine.

But the poor fat banker in the sun-parlor car
Has no one to love except his cigar.

If I were the Head of the Church or the State,
I'd powder my nose and just tell them to wait.

For love's more important and powerful than
Even a priest or a politician.

W. H. Auden, May 1939

Fond Memories From One Of My Old Emails

Brought a smile to my face when I read this again...For those who are born in the 70s and 80s in Singapore... These are fond memories......

1. You grew up watching He-man, MASK, Transformers, Silver Hawk
and Mickey Mouse. Not forgetting Ninja Turtles, My Little Pony and Smurfs too.

2. You grew up brushing your teeth with a mug in Primary school
during recess time. You would squat by a drain with all your classmates
beside you, and brush your teeth with a coloured mug.The teachers also reminded
you that you must brush each side 10 times.

3. You know what SBC stands for.

4. You paid 40 cents for Chocolate or Strawberry MILK every week
in class.

5. You watched a very popular Malay dubbed Japanese drama on RTM1

about schoolgirls who possess powerful skills in volleyball called
Meoro Attack.

6. You found your friends with pagers and handphone in your
secondary school really cool.

7. SBS buses used to be non-airconditioned. The bus seats were

made of wood and the cushion was red. The big red bell gave a loud BEEP!
when pressed. There were colourful tickets for TIBS buses. The
conductor would check for tickets by using a machine that punched a hole in the

ticket.

8. Envelopes were given to us to donate to Sharity Elephant fund every
Children's Day.

9. You've probably read Young Generation magazine.You know who's
Vinny The Little Vampire and Acai The Constable.

10. You were there when they first introduced MRT here. You went
for the first ride with your parents and you would kneel on the seat to
see the scenery.

11. A movie ticket used to cost only $3.50 each.

12. Girls were fascinated by Strawberry Short Cake and Barbie
Dolls.

13. You learned to laugh like The Count in Sesame Street.

14. You longed to buy tit bits called Kaka (20 cents per pack), and

Ding Dang (50 cents per box). Both had a toy in it and new ones were introduced
every week. Oh yes, we also remember the 15 cents animal crackers and the ring
pops, where the lollipop was in the diamond on the ring. Talk about BLING back then, we had it all.

15. You watched TV2 (also known as Channel 10) cartoons because
Channel 5 never had enough cartoons for you.

16. Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, The Three Investigators, Famous Five
and Secret Seven by Enid Blyton were probably the thickest story books you ever

thought you have read. There were also Seniors, Sweet Valley High and Malory Towers .

17. KFC used to be a high class restaurant that served food in warm white
plates and let you use metal forks and knives.

18. The most vulgar thing you said was "asshole" and "idiot" and probably THE

MOST EXTREME WAS 'super white'... you just couldn't bring yourself to
say the hokkien relative.

19. "Catching" was the IN thing to play and "twist" as the magic word.

20. Your English and Maths workbooks were made of some poor quality

paper that was smooth and yellow. And would make a hole if you erased too hard

with an ink eraser (that was hard and blue).

21. CDIS were your best friend.

22. The only computer lessons in school involved funny pixellised characters in 16 colours walking about trying to teach you mathematics.

23. Water bottles were slung around your neck and having that was a must
everywhere you go.

24. Boys loved to play soccer with small plastic balls in the

basketball court.

25. Teng-teng, five stones, chapteh, hentam bola, pepsi cola 1-2-3, hopscotch and zero point a.k.a. "ye-ye"
were all the rage with the girls and boys.

26. Science was fun with the balsam and the angsana being the most important

plants of our lives; guppies and swordtail being the most important
fishes; cabomba and hydrilla the most important pond plants.

27. Who can forget Ahmad, Bala, Sumei and John, eternalized in
our minds from the textbooks. Even Mr Wollie & Mr. Yakki. What abt Miss

Lala??? And Zaki and Tini in Malay Textbooks?

28. We carry out experiments on our own to get ourself badges for
being a Young Zoologist/Botanist etc.

29. On every eve of Children's Day and National Day you either get pins or

pens with 'Happy Children's Day 1993' or dumb files with 'Happy
National Day 198x'.

30. In Primary six you had to play buddy for the younger kids
like big sister and brother.

31. You wore BM2000, BATA, or Pallas shoes.

32. Your form teacher taught you most subjects like Mathematics, Science, English and maybe even PE.

33. The worksheets and exam papers were made of brown rough paper of poor
quality that smelt funny.

34. You went to school in slippers and a raincoat when it rained,

and you had find a dry spot in the school to sit down, dry your feet, and
wear your dry and warm socks and shoes.

35. School dismissal time was normally around 1 pm.

36. There would be spelling tests and mental sums to do almost everyday.

37. Your friends considered you lucky - and rich - if your parents

gave you $2 or more for pocket money everyday.

38. Mr. Wee Kim Wee's picture graced the school's hall.

39. You freaked out when the teacher tells you to line up according to height and hold hands with the corresponding boy or girl.

40. Boys liked to catch fighting spiders in small thorny bushes.

41. Collecting and battling erasers was a pastime for boys.

42. Autograph books were loaded with "Best Wishes", "Forget Me

Not", and small poems like "Bird fly high, hard to catch. Friends like you, hard
to forget".

43. Class monitors and prefects loved to say "You talk somemore,
I write your name ah!" and would pretend to write the names of the loud mouths on the board.

44. There were at least 40 people in one class.

45. Large, colourful schoolbags were carried.

50. You brought every single book to school, even though there
was one thing called the timetable.

51. You would tie big text-books that won't fit in your school bag with a coloured "book band" to carry them to school.

Love

One of the important elements that is effectively missing in the world today is the element of love. Although the word "love" is seen, heard and used practically everywhere in our lives, the feeling of animosity in our surroundings seem to be gaining in prominence. Wars, terrorism... and nearer to our hearts - the increasing number of divorces worldwide.

It effectively led me to ask myself constantly, why is it so hard for us to love? Do we even know how to love? Are we able to understand what is love to comprehend the feelings that we experience is one of love? Or do we simply confuse love and lust (erotic love)?

Thinking about this topic at the most basic level, I cannot fathom how two people who promise - profess? - the love, commitment and promise of eternal unity in this lifetime can somehow spin the feeling of love to one of hate and, at times, of vindictive nature.

It led me to think that perhaps the word "love" has fallen into a category that we use without having a single clue of what it is and how it is supposed to be felt when love really dwell upon us. The word is certainly used so frivolously at times that I wonder if it is used to ensnare the other party to commit.

I ask: How does one feel when one is feeling in love? Is the feeling of love one of love or lust? Why would the feeling of love turn to a feeling of hate at such high proportions in the world? Are the feelings of love and hate belong to two sides of the same coin (Osho)? Would love be so strong for the person that it becomes unconditional? Is our ability to love able to reach that epic of proportion of being unconditional? Is this earthly love between two people not permanent? Since one will have to eventually deal with the loss of the other through death anyway, so do we boldly prepare for the loss with grace right from the beginning?

Love and hate being on the two sides of the same coin is probably one that is easiest to understand for me. I would not be able to feel the extremities of love without feeling the other side of the spectrum. The sweetness of a ripened mango cannot be comprehended and appreciated without tasting the sourness of an unripened one.

On erotic love, the book on the philosophies of Socrates, edited by Robert Van de Weyer, wrote: For Socrates, love in the spiritual sense is also erotic. He describes in the most vivid terms the madness of being in love with another person, in which that person appears supremely beautiful. And he explains this as the first step on a path that leads to the perfect divine beauty beyond the heavens.

That paragraph intrigued me for years. I've been asking that same question as I, for one, is not one that fuse erotic love and spiritual love together. However, over the years, it seems necessary. The binding of two human beings at the beginning of totally different upbringings, backgrounds, baggages, principles, values, habits, ideals, hopes and dreams would be necessary with that of lust or erotic love.

Socrates explains why erotic madness is the form that interest him most is that of falling in love with another person. "The beauty perceived in the object of love is a sign of perfect divine beauty; thus, erotic madness can become the soul's first steps on a path that leads upwards to God."

So to start with erotic love is the most enticing and exciting part of the blossoming of love. The excitement and joy of pursuit; the exploration of the object of interest that renders one mind's out of sync with the world, is the one of the most addictive and exhilarating experiences. However, in reality, erotic love does not last forever. Some people I know would pursue new objects of interest to keep feeling the stages of erotic love. So I could conclude that it is suffice to say that erotic love is not the grand plan of things. The progression to understand and be aware that this lust eventually may run its course; therefore, spiritual love must take its place. Without spiritual love taking over, we would probably be searching for the next erotic love to build.

Then the next question is - what is spiritual love? I have yet to find an answer to that as I am neither one without flaws nor one that has the perfect notion of love. But I feel that spiritual love (that leads to unconditional love) can be worked on by two people who are in erotic love. The harmonious and tremendous energy between two parties that could agree and work out evolutionary ideals like trust, respect, responsibility, accountability, empathy and eventually, unconditional love. The strength of two people in love is probably the best partnership that one can tap on and evolve towards highest good.

It finally leaves me with the final question of how to find the one person to build all these upon? Can it happen at an age when so many relationships are crumbling around me?

I started asking myself if it is possible to start with self love and self preservation? Then we are able to attract a kindred spirit with the same notion and aspirations towards spiritual love? Can we start from being in love with one self, to be selfish - without being narcissistic? Selflessness comes next in natural progression? Can I treat myself as well as I treat the person when I am feeling that initial erotic love? What are my intentions when I treat someone else better than I treat myself?

Osho once said,"In being selfish, you will find all the altruism that you have been seeking and seeking and not finding...we have been told to love thy neighbour... you are loving the neighbour and you know nothing of love...and the neighbour who is loving you also knows nothing of love...such insanity is happening in the world...people are loving each other who know nothing of love...it is like beggars begging from each other... thinking the other party is an emperor... but when truth manifests... anger, violence and hatred entail...they don't know what love is...then you [sic] think you've [sic] been cheated...the beggar trying to prove that he is an emperor... the absurdity of it! You have to begin with yourself...".

The Oxford dictionary's definition of "selfish" is "concerned chiefly with one's own personal profit or pleasure". I have been asking myself the very same question over the past few years. To love is not a case of one's feelings when one is feeling in erotic lust. To have the ability to experience the power of self love and a great sense of self preservation take precedence before I can even talk about loving someone else or on a greater scale, the world. To many, the statement stems from selfishness; to me, the statement gravitates towards selflessness. I need to have something in abundance and the spillover is the amount that I am able to share. The current mental state of confusion in so many people deemed to be in love but have only the capacity to be in lust. They are not able to give more, not because they do not want to, it's simply because they do not have the capacity to.

With self-love, the needle that toggles to and fro in the heart remains stoic and centred, in spite of the upheavals, in our sometimes torrid and sometimes emotionally arid conditions with our erotic lovers. Our functionality, proper state of mind and spirit will not be affected or wavered by the torrents of jealousy or insecurities created by any erotic partners who have no intentions to progress to being our spiritual lovers. However, when the right erotic partner comes along and over time progresses to be our spiritual lover, all the negative torrents will stop flowing forth. Thus, the self-love must manifest its full glory first for us to bask in the wondrous after effects of love with a partner.

We are all searching for the perfect partner to manifest that perfect love... such little do we know that this love has to be seeked within ourselves before the right partner can even be found...

Connie

Dear Connie,

It's been such a long time, how are you? I saw your teacher scolding you for colouring the sky cyan the other day before I left. Are you feeling alright now?

I'm so sorry I've to leave for a period of time and you didn't have someone to talk to about your confusion on why you were scolded - for you really saw the sky in that beautiful hue vividly in your dream just a night ago. I would be sad if I were scolded for expressing something that I witnessed too. Yes, and you saw daddy in the sky smiling you too... and you did not have time to draw him in as you were made to stand.

You want to make the world that you have woken up into as beautiful as the one you saw in your dream - and make daddy proud. You have pictured yourself in the dream, twenty-seven years from now, all happy and beautiful.

You are scared that the image is going to be a just a fragment of your imagination as you do not have the ability to make it happen. You are afraid that you are not going to grow up into the lady that you keep dreaming about, for you don't see yourself growing up to be the lady in your dream when you look in the mirror. ... You feel very much alone with no one to help you since daddy is gone. I understand that.

When you wake up and you will find this letter placed next to your pillow. You will read this letter as you sit on your tiny bed, the morning sun will pour blessings and warmth on you through the window above you. I want you to close your eyes and count to ten.

Yes, do it now... One... two... three... four... five... six... seven... eight... nine... ten...

Feel the warmth and the glow pouring in... filling you with love...

I want you to remember this happiness that you are feeling right now. You are being one with the elements, being loved and looked after by the one that has left you this letter. I want you to remember this each time you feel sad or scared. You are not alone and you are always being protected.

Connie, the very moment you decided that you want to be that beautiful someone in your head - when you were four - things are already in the works to help you get there. And because you want to be someone as great as the one that you have dreamt of... The journey to get there will not be easy. The training that life will give you to get you there will be a tumultuous.

If I dare say, losing daddy is part of that challenges to help you get there. Life works in strange ways, doesn't it? To lose people or things that we love dearly is to teach us on the simple concept of learning to let go. Connie, you will be losing more people you think that you love, for freedom is to be able to let go when the time is right. To live the experience now, not hold on to it or fear that you lose it, is freedom in its own right. Losing daddy now is only one of the many loses that you will need to battle.

At times when things look so dark and scary... I want you stare at the darkness and challenge the darkness to see how much darker can it get, for no darkness last forever. And when you do not allow yourself to wallow in pain but come out of it better, then you are one step closer to your goals.

Your dreams will come true, Connie. You may stumble and fall sideways at times... but remember that when you cry in your sleep, you are never alone in your path to perfection.

I know that because I am you.

Always loving you,

Eswari