Few learnings from the visit to Philippines

This post is not directly related to the how to's of building a family homestead but I feel this will be helpful to one's thinking or mindset while building one.

After spending more than a year in Japan, I visited Philippines again to attend a very important wedding of my cousin. Initially, I thought that it was going to be a rather simple trip- meeting relatives, meeting friends, eating lots of mangoes, and drowning myself in coconut juice- but it  turned out to be a significant part of my journey of awakening.

The moment I stepped out of NAIA Terminal 1, instead of my relatives, the first one to greet me was a small girl asking me for alms. Since I was born and raised in the Metro Manila, this was a common encounter but after having lived in Japan for a year, experiencing this again had a deeper effect to me. I thought I was prepared to experience life in Manila again but I was gravely mistaken. Traffic, worsened. Population, increased. Street children, still present. Cars, increasing in number. Noise and Air Pollution, uncontrolled. 

It seems I am painting a bad picture of the Philippines, but I am only speaking about my experience in Manila. I contemplated deeply as to how I can accept this environment after living a relatively peaceful life in Japan for a year. As I rode the car to our house, I looked around, looked deeply into the faces and eyes of the people walking, standing, passengers, and children. Observing the surface, most of them seemed tired and grumpy but as I looked longer and deeply there is a strong sense of happiness and "in the present moment" satisfaction. There is suffering, no doubt, on the physical level because of the weather, pollution, hard work, and work stress. Many people here live day by day. After paying for food for their family, costs for transportation, and other living expenses, they are only left with very little. While struggling with these needs, they have to survive the harsh environment of the concrete jungle. As the day ends, many are simply grateful and happy that they survived the day. The circumstances helped them realise the happiness of the moment- simply existing is bliss in itself. 

Living for more than a year in Japan, I have noticed that many become accustomed to the safety of the environment and exactness of schedule such that I hear complains from very simple matters such as late trains, rainy weather, and honking of car horns. I even sometimes catch myself say some of these simple complains. Due to the privileges and conveniences of living in Japan, people become more concerned of "work" instead of "living".

I can't exactly remember what this saying is but it goes something like this-

"You may find the path to enlightenment faster while living in the city than secluding yourself in the mountains."

If you find your peace within despite being surrounded by chaos and madness, then wherever you go,  this peace will remain with you. 

Ironically, I found peace as I visited a mall in Manila with my relatives. I was surrounded by crowds of people, noise machines, dashing cars, wifi signals, and boosted bass music. Within these, I suddenly felt at peace. Rather, I felt that there is peace within all of these. Within the spaces of the sounds, the visions, and the sensations, there is silence. I felt as if I was simply observing all of these happenings around me without being identified or attached to the surroundings. I knew that this will have a tremendous effect on me as to how I experience life. The feeling quickly faded away as I get engulfed again by the chaos around me. I was happy knowing that there is indeed this state of consciousness where you feel at peace with your surrounding and that it was possible no matter the situation.

As I return to Japan to continue building the family homestead, I now carry this experience and I am confident that even if suffering or hardships come knocking on life's doorsteps, there is peace. This peace is not hidden within, as most will mislead us, but laid in front of us like the cosmos. As we look above, we immediately notice and place our focus on the stars but not the spaces between the stars. Without the space these stars will not exist. Such is finding peace in every moment. We instantly notice the problem, the noise, the image, the feeling and not the silence in the moment. These are based on the teachings of Eckhart Tolle.

I am grateful that before being fully immersed with my activities I had the opportunity to be back in an environment where peace seemed impossible to find. Finding the needle in the haystack seemed futile but as long I am the magnet that attracts the needle, I can find it. A simple law of attraction.

I apologize for the random ramblings!

Next post will be more on the practical side.

Clouds climbing the slopes of Mt. Banahaw (Lucban, Quezon)

"Ainu neonan Ainu"

(Ainu language, Human who is Human)

Synchronicity and its workings in our lives

As we traverse through our daily lives, we encounter people, experience events, and observe our surrounding. These may simply occur without any significance for us as we get used in the dryness of our everyday routine. But as we place more effort to be aware at some level of our surroundings and our encounters, a simple coincidence will turn to synchronized events.

Paulo Coelho, one my favorite authors, wrote in his book "The Alchemist"

"when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it"

In my experience this is particularly true when the "want" is in accord with the holistic good workings in this world. Despite knowing and truly wanting to achieve this goal in life, failures, setbacks, and detours inevitably happened along the way. I got frustrated, depressed and almost gave up on this search for the land.  I always thought that having a "good" or "decent" goal in life is sufficient to have some sense of existence. I realized that this "help" or "guidance" coming from the universe or from anybody may not always be positive in our experience. You may have forgotten to bring your homework and then went back home to get it and as you go to school, an accident has already occurred just minutes before. If you had not forgotten that homework, you may have been part of the accident. There are many cases similar to this occurring to many people. We always interpret these negative experiences as a way of nature to antagonize us but this is not so.

Looking back to our search for the land and trying to start a family homestead, there were many instances when I had to start from scratch again.  I spent at least 9 months looking for land in the southern part of Hokkaido. Assabu, Nanae, Kami-no-Kuni, Mori, Shikabe, Hakodate- these are just some of the towns I looked into. There is a vast difference among towns as to how the local folks relate to outsiders. Some were very kind and welcoming while most are suspicious of outsiders. There was this one  old guy who was very helpful and he was excited that there was this new young guy trying to look for land in their area. He guided through all the lands that he thought was for sale and we actually almost decided on one. It was quite strange that whenever we almost come to a decision on a land, there was always something that stops us from buying the land. Usually, there is a problem with the owner of the land, the land is mortgaged at a high interest rate, the owner passed away without properly passing down the land, the owner is missing, and the list goes on and on. 

An abandoned land in Assabu area due to unpaid loans

Another abandoned land in Kami-no-Kuni due to unpaid loans

As I was going through all the rejections and failures, I thought that maybe this is not where I should be looking into. So, I went East, to Tokachi area. I was again met with disappointment as the feeling of the area did not fit with what I envision. I went farther north to the Kamikawa Area. The scenery was beautiful with the rolling grassed hills and the Tokachi Mountains peeking through the hills- it was stunning. I again almost decided on a piece of land in that area. As we were about to finalize the deal, a neighboring farmer passed by and talked to us. He mentioned about the widespread heavy pesticide use in that area and I did NOT want to raise my future family in that kind of area. So, again, I am back to zero. 

Previous prospective land in Kami-furano with a great view of the Tokachi mountains but surrounding farmers use heavy dosage of chemicals

Previous prospective land in Northern Hokkaido but the surrounding farms use heavy dosage of chemicals

I contemplated again and decided to look again in Southern Hokkaido. I heard somewhere before that only the wisest turn the same stone twice but in this case it seemed foolish, for the search ended in failure. At this point, instead of considering the place, I was already thinking that what I am doing may be wrong. This may not be the purpose that I must do in life. I was slowly letting go of the ropes and give up and that was when my father flipped his laptop then searched again. He then told me to look in this land for sale just posted two weeks ago. The land is near the city but just far away enough in the quiet mountains, a river flowing beside it, just right size of the area, tractor and excavator included, and just EXACTLY within our budget! The farmer has not tilled the land for quite a while and decided to sell the land this year.

We went immediately to the area and I fell in love instantly with the land. It was just how I imagined it to be and it came with all the goodies that a single person needs to start growing food. At this point everything went very smoothly. The land had a clean title, the owner gave us a hefty discount, and there were no hiccups during the exchange of title.

I am still now in a state of amazement as to how things unfolded in front of me subtly at first then suddenly boldly revealing how everything came to this point. All those disappointments, failures, depressions, and frustrations were simply reminders or as how "The Alchemist" say "omens." I almost mistook these obstacles as a warning to stop pursuing what I need to pursue when in reality, I was being led to a better path. Each disappointments and failures were essential to meld together all events to reach this present state. Everything was synchronized as we try to find our land for our family homestead. If only I had been more alert and conscious of the reminders or omens being laid upon me, I would have avoided the frustrations and negative emotions but I cannot be thankful enough that the guidance remained even with my initial negligence.

To put icing on the cake, the community nearby called Miruto, has an active community that tries to attract more people to come to their town. I met a few of the townsfolk and they were just lovely and happy. A community welcome to changes and new innovations is a rare find in the countryside.

So what's going to happen from now on our land? Exciting stuff. Lots of exciting stuff.

"Whatever you seek, pilgrim, you are already carrying with you. You keep losing it with every step you take, and are finding nothing new."

 -Parable of Two Brothers, Anastasia