tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-86849764767034046792024-02-19T23:50:51.863+09:00Building My Kin's DomainCelebrating God's creations through co-creation.Ekashihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04045285200621688349noreply@blogger.comBlogger37125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8684976476703404679.post-2586702148899092312018-02-18T18:18:00.002+09:002018-02-18T18:18:46.766+09:00From Seed to Seed<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hello there, good neighbors!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My bean plant started as a seed, but before it was received by the good earth, many things were first done. I prepared the place where it is to be planted on the garden beds. I made the soil nice and fluffy so that the seed can be planted firmly in the ground. If the ground is too hard, the seed will have trouble germinating and may end up rotting. If the soil is cultivated too much, the beneficial organisms will die. The soil will have to be just right so that a good germination is achieved while maintaining the beneficial organisms happy. It is similar to our lives. Before receiving anything in life, no matter how we desire it, if we are not ready to receive it, then it will not arrive. Should it arrive prematurely, surely, we will be faced with many suffering and we will inevitably lose it or them. Many also expect to only receive without even making the effort and discipline to prepare themselves. So, just do it right, not too much, not too less.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After germinating, I watched out for the birds and other animals aiming for the sprouting beans. The beans are very succulent and sweet at this stage and the animals love them. So, if you have some spare seeds, sow for the ants, for the crows, for the pigeons, and for you. Sharing is the key. If you have less to share then simply find a way for them to look on other plants. I planted some sunflowers around the area and that seemed to work just fine in attracting the birds.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">During its growth, I made sure that the weeds are kept at bay, making sure that they do not overpower the beans. All the soil preparation we have done may lead to a waste if we allow the weeds to overgrow. We don't have to remove everything and leave the soil bare and seem lifeless. We just have to make sure that the beans are having a sufficient lead against the weeds. Similar to our lives, once we have received the blessing in our lives, it is essential to be disciplined and guard ourselves from anything that may lead us astray. I have an example in a life situation. Many of us desire of a partner in our lives and during the early stages of our relationship, we are passionate with our feelings, just like a sprouting bean. But as time passes by, if we are not careful, we look away, and take that person for granted, and soon enough, the bird will take them away. It is also the same when we want to change something within us. In the beginning, we are passionate and dedicated to the change we want to do, but as time progresses, we allow temptations to choke us out and soon, the beans will be overpowered by the weeds. The weeds are not specifically bad, but it is us who allow these to grow out of control. The weeds are there to remind us of what we want to see growing in the garden. Do you want to grow the beans or the weeds? For me, it was as clear as a bright sunny day in summer. I wanted to grow the beans so I disciplined myself in trying to control the weeds.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We can control many things in our life, but climate is not one of them. When it rains, it rains. When the wind blows, it blows hard. During rainy days, I am thankful that the rain is wetting the soil. I know I have prepared my garden well so I am not afraid of the garden being flooded with water. When the wind blows, I know the beans will not break or bend because I know I planted and took care of them well and trust that they can take that much wind. Similar to our life, if we have prepared the garden of our minds well, then when the rains come, we know that it is for our own growth and we, in fact, should be happy. When the winds challenge us, we have to trust that the efforts we have done to tend our ownselves will prove their strength and will not bend our faith. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Time passed by and the beans flowered, bees visited, and the harvest time arrived. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Oh, how glorious it felt when I was harvesting the beans! All those hardwork, finally paid off! When I planted them, I did not imagine reaching up to harvesting the beans. I simply focused on taking care of them, and before I knew it, I was removing the beans from the pods and drying them. Similar to our lives, when we want to be a good person, or have any goals, if we continue focusing on the end goal, one way or another, we may end up tiring ourselves out and giving in. I personally believe that focusing on what is in front of you, while making sure you are rooted on a firm ground, will lead you to where you should be. Keep your faith strong, your discipline firm, and your practice constant. One day you will be amazed where you are without even noticing it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The miraculous thing about planting beans or any other plant in fact, is that from one seed, if taken care of properly, will produce hundreds or even thousandfold more seeds! If we focus on tending on the improvement of ourselves for the better, one day, we will see that the effect of our efforts will reach great distances! What is amazing is that we may not even be aware of the scale of what we are doing. From one small seed, hundred more seeds emerged and spread to greater area. This is the miracle of Life, the miracle of Creations. When you planted something that is Truly Good, and surrounded it with Love, it can only give birth to something even Better, Greater, and More!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">From seed to seed, we connect our lives and our fates. It is definitely a long way, but look at this bean! It started as a seed, now it begins as a seed again. As with our Good intentions and deeds, it will someday return as Good and will repeat the circle for eternity.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">These are some of the varieties of beans I planted, aren't they pretty?</span></div>
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Ekashihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04045285200621688349noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8684976476703404679.post-2944426923656434202017-12-15T14:15:00.001+09:002017-12-30T15:56:01.951+09:00How do we deal with the sadness we feel? My few insights on depression<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I am sending my warmest greeting from the cold Hokkaido winter to everyone! The time that the bright sun is shining is getting shorter as winter solstice is arriving. This season does affect all our moods but this also means that the holidays are just around the corner! Maybe this is the reason why these holidays were set on literally the darkest days of the year, so that we can illuminate the days with our warm feelings and harmoniously live the long dark nights and contemplate. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I have just returned from my trip to the Philippines and it was one of my most educational trip I had so far. I am very happy to be reunited, even if it's just a week, with my love and talk with my mentors and good friends. I made sure to be able to have a conversation with them about one of the direst issues that affects people of a wide spectrum of ages- depression.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The sector of scientific medicine has already confirmed this mental health issue but many are still unaware or are still in denial of this real illness. Causes still vary and the exact source still seem to be shrouded in mystery but I may have found one of the possible sources. Allow me to share my opinion on this issue and I would like to approach this with utmost care of my words and expression. I know some of my friends have gone through this and may even be going through this currently. Some of you may even have loved ones who are going through this and are still struggling with its consequences. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So, before I start sharing my actual insights, I would like for you to take three deep breaths and simply read in silence. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Breathe In, Breathe Out</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I deeply regard this as one of the issues that has affected my life because it has affected the lives of my loved ones. I would like to approach this the way an awakened person, the way a Buddha, would approach this- through deep inward reflection.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Depression is a suffering that all of us has gone through in some point of our lives. It may have been caused by an event in our lives that has caused deep sadness such as a loved one passing away, or some misfortune in our business, or even as simply as failing a simple written exam. The depth and intensity varies among all of us but the feeling of sadness is there and the time we spend on the feeling of sadness causes the depression to deepen. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">For us to be able to solve a problem, we first have to accept that it exists. One thing I noticed is that depression is not openly talked about. It is as if some people are still in denial it exists and some perceive it as simply a "drama" in life or is simply an illusory problem. We cannot solve any problem if we did not accept that the problem exists. Acceptance that the issue exists is the very first key in understanding depression. Depression is real, it is not an illusion. The consequences of depression are real, people are getting disconnected from their loved ones, cutting their interaction with friends, stopped going to school, and in very saddening cases, taking their own lives. We can feel its effect all around us and it is very real. The illusion here is that there is no solution. Those who have dwelled in depression and unfortunately took their own lives may have thought that there was no other way out, that solutions are an illusion. Please believe me that there are solutions and many of us are simply unequipped with the proper tools to handle our feelings.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Give yourself some time to recognize and accept that the problem exists. Do not turn away from it, do not run away, do not pretend it does not exist. It is there, and as with any problems in life, it has a solution. We can never solve any problem if we cannot look at it directly, so this very first step is essential. This allows us to have a clearer view of the problem. It can help if you can find a quiet place where you can feel your feelings and have time to recognize them. You can take a stroll in a quiet forest or sit in a quiet park. Many have difficulty recognizing their feelings because there is too much distortion and distraction around. Social networking sites are easily reachable within our pockets, television, radio, loud music, loud people, are everywhere to distract us from our problems. Unfortunately, if this continues, we are one day surprised that the feeling has already lingered too long and has now grown far too big for us to handle. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So, give yourself some time to be with yourself. Give yourself the opportunity to be connected with the most important person in your life, your own self. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Now that we have accepted and recognized its existence, we can now delve in deeper and explore its possible causes. Many events in our lives happen without our control. Even some sad moments in our lives are beyond of what we can do but luckily there are a few things that we have control on, our feelings and our actions. One of the reasons why our world is very chaotic is because many people are not able to understand their feelings and have control over their actions. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Have you had experiences when you lashed out or shouted at someone because you felt angry? Did you feel that you were in control of your anger or were you controlled by your anger? When you are irritated or disagree with someone do you react violently and use hurtful words? When you are sad or suffering or your heart is in pain, do you simply cry and let it devour you or do you do something to relieve the suffering? And if you indeed do something about it, does this solve the problem or are you simple propagating more suffering? This is my insight on some people who unfortunately choose suicide as their solution to their suffering. I am deeply saddened to think that these people who have undergone tremendous suffering perceive suicide as the endpoint of their suffering when in reality, the suffering propagates to their loved ones who care deeply for them. One of the main reasons of this world's problems, I believe, is our inability to understand our feeling and control our actions. Even with our logic and our scientific tools, people still allow their feelings to control their actions and cause tremendous suffering.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">When we recognize our feelings, we are one step closer into understanding them and we are now aware of what actions will follow. When we are angry, we now know that we are angry, and can now think clearly of what actions are possible to handle this anger. When we are sad, we now know that we are sad, and can now think of ways how to handle this sadness. When we are sad, should we dwell in the sadness? This is where one of the teaching of Buddha comes in handy, the teaching of impermanence. Accodring to him, nothing in this life is permanent, but this doesn't mean that we should be sad. This simply means that if we are sad at this point in our life, it means that it is not permanent, and happiness will soon come our way. When we are happy, we will cherish more our moments of happiness because we know that there will always be sad moments in the future. Should we be scared then if we are happy? Absolutely not! In fact, we should even be happier when we are happy because we know that this moment is only for happiness! If we are sad, we now know that happiness will soon arrive, so now, we can be happy! Without the polarity of up and down or left or right, the wheel of life cannot move forward. When we are talking with our loved one or any person in fact, we know that they or us are impermanent so we cherish more our moment with them and leave our smart phones behind and give our full presence to them. The greatest gift we can give and receive to any one is our full presence. If we have any friends who are depressed, our presence is our greatest gift. If we are depressed, the greatest gift we can give to our friend who is with us is our "graceful receiving" as what Fred Rogers mentioned in one of his interviews. Whether or not we can understand or agree with what they are saying, just simply being there is the greatest gift we can give and receive. If we understand this, we can now sincerely reach out to someone if we are suffering or reach out to someone who is suffering. We can be honest with our own self and speak honestly of what we truly feel. If we can truly convey our feelings without any aggression, then we can also accept sincere words and actions from those who truly wanted to help.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I have mentioned earlier about the ubiquitous distortion and distraction with the present age of convenience and digital interactions. I truly believe that one of the major sources of depression is the feeling of disconnection despite the convenient world of internet connection. We seem to have been disconnected with our own self and with our Creator that we have started questioning our purpose in life. We are now spending more time trying to figure out why do we exist than simply enjoying living harmoniously with the beautiful creations. In order to fill this void of disconnection, we drown ourselves with information from the news, instagram, twitter, facebook, and many others. We seek fulfillness from artificial ephemeral objects yet we still feel disconnected. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I believe that all of us are not disconnected from our own Being and our Creator. We are simply masking the connection, creating the illusion of disconnection. One of the ways we can remove this mask is by being more in touch with our own being by providing time of silence for reflection and reverence. Instead of binge watching dramas and movies, which only creates more chaos within us, we should find more time to be silent and be in touch with nature. I truly believe that if we have trouble trying to unmask our connection, nature can help us be in touch with our center. I also believe that this is why the indigenous people enjoyed living with nature without spending too much time pondering on their existence. In the bible, God provided Adam and Eve the Earth as a paradise to enjoy life and creations. The moment that they dissected life and tried to know its functions, they felt disconnected. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We are here to live in peace, harmony, and love with all of the creations!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Don't worry too much on those feelings of anger or sadness, for these too shall pass and know that you have control over them. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I am praying everyday and sending my intentions, that all of us will someday be a loving neighbor for one another and truly live a Heaven on this Earth.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">(Photo taken on my family homestead on December 14, 2017, the day after I arrived from the Philippines) </span></div>
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<br />Ekashihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04045285200621688349noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8684976476703404679.post-85205525587780663052017-10-19T23:34:00.005+09:002017-10-19T23:34:59.088+09:00Do we really have to make an impact or make a difference?<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's been a while since my last post. The homestead has been quite busy lately with construction and farm works. As what my farmer friends commonly say "there's always something to do everyday," and there actually is something that needs to be done each and every day. For tonight, unlike other nights when I just go to bed early, I was moved to write on an issue that has been instilled on the minds and hearts of our generation, and that is "making a difference".</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">About nine years ago, I was able to go to one of the most prestigious college in the Philippines, the University of the Philippines Los Baños. This school is known in the Philippines as one of the top schools to go to when one wishes to learn Agriculture Sciences. I remember the Dean telling us that we are the "cream of the crop," that we were among the best of the best. That time I did not believe a word he said, and until now, honestly, I still do not. We were told that we will make a great impact on our nation, that the University has produced hundreds, maybe even thousands of scientists that helped push Philippines to greater heights. Many of the students, especially the competitive ones, were all fired up and inspired. I wasn't. Even at that time, I knew that there was something wrong.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I would like to point out that making a difference to the community or nation is not entirely a bad thing, when done in the proper order. What I found lacking when I was in the University is that there is no building of the being, the individual, the core values, and the rooting. Without rooting of oneself to a solid ground, when we try to impact the society first hand, it will be susceptible to fail due to our egos muddying our perspective. What I found mostly common in our generation is that we choose to shout out our movements, focus on publication materials, taking the perfect shots, and we try our best to portray ourselves as someone who we are not. Maybe in the beginning we had virtuous ideals, but along the way, we get strayed from where we truly want to go to because we are not rooted properly. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I questioned the statement that we should do something to impact our society. Currently, I know that actions and efforts done humbly, quietly, and slowly, are the true steps to improving the society. Prior to that, we must first make an impact on our own selves. You want to make a difference to the society? Well, do something to change your own self first. If I can't discipline my own self, how can I even dare to imagine changing the society? If I can't choose the right thing, when no one is around, how can I sincerely do the right thing for everyone? Recently, I am humbled by my actions here in this small piece of land in the mountains. Last year, I felt that my steps are too small, too silent for anyone to hear. I almost lost my will to push through, but I did try to push trhough. I moved forward slowly, with the guidance of my family and friends. Slowly, amazing, good people came to this town. I didn't make any loud statements, they simply arrived, and when they did arrive, I was very happy, and helped them with all I could, no matter how small. I trust that this was the result of all of our small efforts to improve our own selves. So, I threw away the idea of changing the society or the world. I focused on my own self, on my own land. This does not mean that I do not care for others or ignore their needs, it simply means that I am rooting myself properly so that when the time comes that they need help, I can help them sincerely and know that my intentions are not shrouded by my ego. I will know that I need not shout out my achievements or the things I did to help them. I can share some ideas for educational purposes but not to improve my self-esteem. I do not need to boost my self-esteem any longer because I know where my ground lies. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Forcing oneself to make a difference or an impact to the society, or comparing oneself to others who are making an impact, is one of the sources of unhappiness that may lead to depression. When I was in the University, we were told to offer ourselves to the nation and make a difference. But I strongly believe that prior to serving others, we should learn first how to overcome our demons, our egos, and be sincerely grateful for the experience of living. We should learn first how to appreciate what is directly in our grasp, and that is our own self. Appreciation means taking care of our own health, giving time for us to contemplate on nature, forgiving our mistakes, choosing the right choice, and understanding our own self.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here on this land, nature may seem harsh. It's inconvenient, the winter is cold, not many people visit, most of the time I am silent, there are far too many insects, wild animals appear, and countless more challenges but what I do appreciate is that I have time for myself. I have time to reflect on my past actions, time to appreciate the warmth of the sun during winter and the cool breeze during summer, time to know when bad thoughts arise, time to know how to handle them, and time to learn how to truly live. Yes, maybe someday I can do some sort of impact to the society but I am sure of one thing- I have added one more person to this world who is changing himself for the better, and that is the biggest impact that I can currently do, and all of us can do it! Imagine that, all of us, changing our own self to be better humans, more loving, understanding, forgiving, humble, happy, and content. We will not need to make conscious effort to impact the society because each individual is rooted properly to Love.</span></div>
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<br />Ekashihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04045285200621688349noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8684976476703404679.post-61459849062359998492017-09-12T07:57:00.000+09:002017-09-12T07:57:07.773+09:00The Beautiful Community in the Eastern Hills of Iwamizawa City, Hokkaido, Japan<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Rainy days such as today give me time to sit, focus, and regroup my thoughts and activities to be done. I am happy to be able to write again after weeks of busyness here in the land. I have planted strawberries and garlic for next year's humble income and prepared the shiitake logs.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB6jYu5Z4EUcugPr8qbOMdhHmSAPInxooX-Kya0ies1mcvZfN5sV955Wo7qsImU7GvFWfQ3xbWxVq2U7rMyb5TsDtFXpaizJsLWl1hnoEI8n6fQyO5OJDCArA70OuRiTG6NYqlbUPrDwQ/s1600/IMG_4326.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB6jYu5Z4EUcugPr8qbOMdhHmSAPInxooX-Kya0ies1mcvZfN5sV955Wo7qsImU7GvFWfQ3xbWxVq2U7rMyb5TsDtFXpaizJsLWl1hnoEI8n6fQyO5OJDCArA70OuRiTG6NYqlbUPrDwQ/s640/IMG_4326.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Strawberry seedling mulched with straw</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6zEsNAOAbgQ2f3dSmADix1RT8indIzh6D5gZ_RAi6uGjjWgvuzw-h1dH0jSUx_bjGtiyS5dwdU4H9EOdpD-zlr_YeF5U8_aNWCxMTp6Yi99YM4gbe5PgJQf5zdTyyNKvN2AAwub0rb1Y/s1600/IMG_4329.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6zEsNAOAbgQ2f3dSmADix1RT8indIzh6D5gZ_RAi6uGjjWgvuzw-h1dH0jSUx_bjGtiyS5dwdU4H9EOdpD-zlr_YeF5U8_aNWCxMTp6Yi99YM4gbe5PgJQf5zdTyyNKvN2AAwub0rb1Y/s640/IMG_4329.JPG" width="360" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBH-H7_ofrARsPv9U9iK16AzgzfxsYIHX00X_nxLAZIqwf6EIyOyiLGY07G2jPfUJm1Bfjxqd0WxLsxPEhjT7bA_oibx1JDhT-zDIZX2MAZift6hPfu6DIMtBYe0ruIAhhy0n-s2YjuQs/s1600/IMG_4337.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBH-H7_ofrARsPv9U9iK16AzgzfxsYIHX00X_nxLAZIqwf6EIyOyiLGY07G2jPfUJm1Bfjxqd0WxLsxPEhjT7bA_oibx1JDhT-zDIZX2MAZift6hPfu6DIMtBYe0ruIAhhy0n-s2YjuQs/s320/IMG_4337.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Shiitake fungi spreading beautifully on the logs</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am finally done with some of the biggest field jobs that I have to do for this year so now, I can move on to finishing my tiny house! But, before that, I have time to write on this blog.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have searched far and wide in Hokkaido and in other parts of Japan for a place where we can settle and start the homestead but many were not very welcome. Many were doubtful of our intentions and did not provide any full help. There are thousands of hectares of unused farmlands that are left abandoned and sadly, many towns leave them as they are. Many government officials that we have encountered looked at it as troublesome and thought that it is not worth the effort to fix the documents of the land. When we were already desperate, we encountered this land here. I was not expecting any help from the community because of my previous experiences but once I approached the local office, the people were welcoming and helpful. The current local community developers, who are now my good friends, invited me to events in the community to get to know them better. I met the local farmers and artists living in the town. Many of the people who live in this town are builders and DIYers(do-it-yourself builders).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I met this farmer who owns a big orchard, though they are not growing organically, they help the people who move in to this town by providing part-time jobs. Last year, I was saved financially by helping in their farm. The best thing was, they told us to work in our own time. We can decide for ourselves what time or day do we want to work. I was able to work on my land on sunny days and work on theirs on rainy days. They also gave me advice on the climate on this area, places where I can buy cheap materials, and showed me some available lands.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I also met this old guy who also grows shiitake mushrooms in this community. This guy is like my grandfather! He visits me regularly to check on my shiitake and provides me with helpful advice. He showed me all the ropes around growing shiitake and other wild vegetables. Even though I will be growing the same mushroom, which makes me a potential competitor, he still shared with me all his mistakes, his successes, and showed me the beauty of doing things small-scale.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There are also local people who moved in to this community recently and are helpful in all ways! They tell me what available materials that I can procure, such as tiles, firewood, bathroom, windows, and many more! It's almost as if I don't have to spend much money on materials. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Many of these people who have moved and are starting to move in to this community are people who have built things for themselves. Who chose to do it with their own hands rather than paying somebody else. Many of these people have evidently suffered in their lives and are now reaping the harvests of their hard work. I can feel that this community will become brighter and warmer by the year. Though not all of them are aware of the things that I am aware of, I'm sure we are all guided to gather here on this community. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There is this wonderful Japanese phrase that are commonly uttered here "住めば都" (Sumeba Miyako). It translates as "as you live(in that place) it becomes your home". This is true in its entirety. I was a foreigner, an outsider, but the land accepted me, the people accepted me, and I can definitely say that this is my home now. No amount of missile from North Korea will make me leave this place for this is the place where the next of my kin will be born. This is the place where I shall see them grow along with the children of my friends who are moving in to this place. This is the place where we can show that there is no need for fancy slogans, forceful gatherings, or egoistic "alternative" lifestyle facade to gather people in a community. The attraction of people in this community may have been started by a family, quietly, patiently living in this small town. Through their mindful silence of satisfaction, joy, and hard work, the people slowly arrived and now I have also arrived.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I will not say "Come move in here" or "This is the best place in the world". This place is the one that I can Love with my whole self and I can help make this the best place for people like us. This place is the one that I can put my effort in to fostering and beautifying not because I want more people to come but to simply revive the beauty of this Yezo (land in Ainu language). As this place beautifies and energizes, people with the same wavelength come.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Maybe someday, I can be like the farmer and the old guy who helped me and be an Angel for other people. I am sure that the small and humble steps we are making are making thunderous sounds in the Universe.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Someday from one, there will be two, and three and four people on this land</span></div>
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Ekashihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04045285200621688349noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8684976476703404679.post-53195711466575970762017-07-11T15:44:00.000+09:002017-07-11T15:44:02.906+09:00The Five Steps to True Societal Change<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It has been almost two months since my last post, and that was the birthday of my Co-creator. Everything is bursting with life, the freezing winter seems so distant, and all beings are frolicking in the summer heat and rain. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Blue skies, lush green vegetation, harmonious chirps of birds, buzzing bees</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have been very busy planting, hand weeding, and building the tiny house that I haven't created the energy to write a new post. I am blessed to have visitors coming in the homestead every week and bringing good news and new opportunities to make life brighter and more meaningful. Having to do several tasks within a short span of season takes a lot of energy and requires concentration so that I can provide my full presence with each activity. But, as I lack practice on mindfulness, my energy gets drained and I lose focus and concentration. As my energy gets drained the results of any activity becomes poorer and I had to redo several tasks. I am reminded again that to be able to be there for others, one has to be there for oneself, first and foremost. I was focused on simply doing tasks and forgot to get back inside, to my own healing. My body feels tired and sluggish as I continue to ignore its plea to rest. Fortunately, I found a time to rest and sit and contemplate and appreciate. Now, I am writing this new post on Awareness.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When I visited my Co-Creator in the Philippines, in one of our meaningful conversations, a deep insight has arose within me and I immediately shared it with her and now, I am sharing it here. In the Philippines, I will bluntly say that suffering can be seen everywhere and it is not being concealed in any fancy masks. In Japan, suffering is masked with convenience, social welfare supports, and being protected by strong sense of maintaining the status quo.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have found out, through deep looking, that true societal change can be attained in five simple steps. If any of the steps is overlooked, the movement or action that we will do for the community or society may cause more suffering.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The first step is awareness of your own suffering. You are aware that you are afflicted. You are humble enough to accept that you are suffering and it is caused by inner and outer factors. You are aware of your own greed, your own inclinations, and your own mistakes. Many people gets stuck in this awareness that they tend to blame themselves and result to depression. The key to overcome this step is to simply be aware and not attached to your afflictions. Look at your afflictions and tell them "Hello dear afflictions, I know you are there. You are there but you are not who I really am." This is one of the ways Thich Nhat Hanh has taught us how to deal with feelings and mental perceptions. You do not ignore your afflictions and pretend they do not exist. Pride is the one blinding us from our afflictions and as we ignore them, they grow bigger and root deeper that these affliction seem so natural to us. So, simply accept their existence within you and give them your full presence.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The second step is awareness of the suffering of others. Some people skip the first step and immediately focus on the suffering of others. This may seem virtuous at first glance but behind it lies a dangerous trap. If one only looks at the suffering of others, we may have the tendency to feel more superior or more "blessed" than others. We may overlook the fact that all of us inter-are and are connected. We may be trapped in the notion that their suffering is more than ours. We must first be aware of our own suffering to have a true and realistic view of the suffering of others. To be truly empathic of others suffering, we must be deeply in touch with our own suffering first so that we would not judge others immediately. If we are truly in touch with our own suffering, when we see a person making mistakes, we would not think "That person is a bad person and he or she must be punished". Rather, we would think "He or she is suffering like I am. His or her actions are reflections of the sufferings he or she has gone through." We should not think beyond this for now. We shouldn't think immediately of what we can do for others. We should first think of what we should do within ourselves, what we should do to overcome our afflictions.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The third step is making actions and efforts to face your suffering. If you are suffering with pride, then try to focus your energies on your feelings and balance your pride with humility. If you are suffering with greed, then balance it with discipline and generosity. If you are suffering with loneliness, balance it with the openness to meet new people and friends. If you are suffering in a relationship, don't allow pride to hinder your openness. When you are suffering or hurt by your partner, the very first person you talk to is your partner. Tell them that you are hurt and tell them to help you overcome this. Ask them the reason why they have caused you suffering. To be able to relieve the suffering of the one you love, you must be able to overcome your suffering as well even if this was caused by the very people you love.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The fourth step is to re-evaluate yourself. Look again deeply within you and observe if there are any hints of self-satisfaction in the movement or action that you are about to do for others. This fourth step is overlooked by many and jump to making action in the community or the country. Many people are doing something in the mask of doing it for others when in reality the action stems from the sense of self-satisfaction or self-righteousness. This action usually results in phrases such as "At least I am doing something, what are you doing?" "I am sacrificing myself for others, how about you?". When phrases such as these are being uttered by people who are trying to incite societal change, they are likely trapped in their ego. When one is truly in touch with one's own suffering and other's suffering and the action springs from true intention of healing, the actions will be silent, without proclamation, but strong and steady with each step. Without this fourth step, the action will be ephemeral and will cause greater distortion and suffering. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The fifth step is the actual Doing with Being. You are now in touch with yourself and with others, and you have balanced yourself and re-evaluated yourself. You can now do the action or the movement for others, community, or country without being strayed by your ego. You are now Doing while Being. You are no longer sacrificing yourself because you know your completeness and you have an Eternal Source of energy. You no longer give something in expense of your own because you are completely aware and you feel that their suffering is your own and their happiness is your own. You will not be brought down by naysayers and you know you need not feed their energies because you know that silence with compassionate action is the loudest form of change. You work under the beautiful shade of humility, without acknowledgement, without fame, because you know that the false light of good deed in fame is a deed cloaked in self-righteousness and self-satisfaction. Your action, no matter how small, will reverberate throughout the cosmos and bring change within each person you encounter and will soon bring everlasting societal change. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Try to go into the first step first before proclaiming your actions. Maybe some of us are lost somewhere within the four steps. I have been lost somewhere as well and I am now doing something in a small spot in this beautiful earth, silently planting, hand weeding, and dancing with the butterflies and await patiently and eagerly for the arrival of good tidings.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>I am doing this not because you are wrong, or they are wrong, but I am doing this because I am happy and with this energy, I can water the seeds of happiness within you.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>(Photo of a Cosmos in Ginhawa Cafe in the Philippines)</b></span></div>
<br />Ekashihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04045285200621688349noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8684976476703404679.post-49040615321694290042017-04-22T17:07:00.000+09:002017-04-22T17:07:45.983+09:00What is our purpose in life? Is there even a purpose?<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One of the greatest challenges that adults and youth face in this era is the loss of sense of existence.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Why do we exist?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What is our purpose?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I do not know what I want to do in my life.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Is there even any meaning to life?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Am I on the right path?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">These may be some of the thoughts visiting our minds during one of our silent moments.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Many people choose to ignore their longing for answers of these questions by being more busy with work or studies, going to loud gatherings, drugs, and sex to name a few. What's more saddening is that some people are so tied to their escape plan that they themselves are not aware that they are suffering because of their ignorance to these questions.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There are also those who are aware of these questions and spend many of their days searching for answers. I myself went through this. I also spent many hours reading philosophical and spiritual books, trying to understand how these "enlightened" people reached their states. I tried to understand everything through logic and reasoning, with my intellectual mind. I found myself spending more time reading and contemplating, than doing and immersing myself in the journey. When I got so fed up with all of the thinking and reasoning, that's where the light at the end of the tunnel appeared.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here's what I found out. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The specific questions actually don't matter. If they do visit your mind, simply welcome them, say something like this to your thoughts.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Hello existential questions, I welcome you. I will embrace you. What are your questions? I may not be able to answer them but I will listen to your questions."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Embrace these questions with happiness and love. You should never shun them out nor ignore them. Instead, embrace them with your loving energies and mindfulness. Simply listen. By listening to your thoughts, without judging them or rejecting them, you are already aware of them. You are already one step closer to realizing the source of these questions.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So I tried doing these and the questions seemed to visit me less and less until they don't visit me any longer because what I found out is that these questions are simply stepping stones of our growth in consciousness. Yes, we need to embrace them and listen to them at some point of our lives, maybe right now you are going through this. But, as I found out myself, there will come a time when you naturally will let go of these questions. People who travel the seas in the past look at the northern star as their guidance. They constantly look at the star while they travel but once they reached their destination, they stop looking at the star. Our questions are like the northern star. They guide us in our life, telling us that we should start moving on and grow, and we should be thankful that these questions exist.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Wherever you are in your life, that is where you are supposed to be so far in your journey. Whatever your purpose or your meaning in this lifetime is, let it be. Let it manifest naturally, and simply enjoy your journey.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Whatever you are doing right now in your life, try to find happiness from it. The essential point is, you are happy, the people around you are happy, and our beautiful surrounding is not compromised. Through that journey, you may or may not find your purpose. I cannot tell you what you may find, but we can be sure that you have increased the joy in this world.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So far, we have tried to rationalize everything in our life through our intellectual mind but not with pure and sincere feelings welling up from the depths of our Goodness.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Don't think too deeply as to where you are in life right now. Try to feel whether you are happy, making others happy, and participating in keeping this Earth beautiful.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yes, we all face problems- from simple, such as school exams, to complicated, such as international wars. Most of these problems arose from our overthinking and losing our sights on what is genuine happiness. We have tried to solve our problems through our intellectual minds for too long. By no means should we surrender ourselves to our whimsical desires and emotions arising from our ego. In fact, we should use our intellectual capacity as tools to support the greater purpose dictated by feelings that arise from Goodness.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Within you exists all the diverse energies from stars of this Universe, you are already that which contains everything and you deserve to be happy. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Within you is Darkness, but there is also Light.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Within you is Sadness, but there is also Joy.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Within you is Anger, but there is also Understanding.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Within you is Sin, but there is also Forgiveness.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Feel these opposing forces stirring within you. When these opposing forces are in imbalance, questions start to visit us. But, let these questions visit! We can never remain balanced but, since we already know that everything exists within us, we can balance our darkness, sadness, anger, sin, and other negative feelings. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Currently, I also have these feelings within me but as soon as they arise, the opposing feelings arises and balance them for me. Having a Space of Love helps me balance these dark feelings and thoughts. Having a refuge when you are too skewed to the negative side is a great way to cope with them. Personally, my refuge is my Space and it can be anything or anyone- family, friends, favorite mountain to climb, forest, book. It can help greatly if you choose the people you interact with. Choose those who can help you turn towards the light rather than feed your negative feelings. If you're angry at politics, stop watching the news, stop interacting with ranting people. These never solved anything but increase aggression. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You are not escaping from your feeling, in fact, now that you are aware of the feeling, understood its source, you now know how to interact with this feeling and try to cope with it and result to your well-being.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Please understand that wherever you are right now is not only a result of one situation or event in your life. You are there because countless of coincidences occurred, whether they be good or bad, it does not matter anymore for you are already existing. What matters is how you feel where you are right now and what actions you are to do.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You do not need to know what your specific purpose in life. You simply have to trust that there is one greater purpose and do good and foster joy and happiness. Wherever you are being pulled into right now is part of this greater purpose.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">BASICALLY, SIMPLY BE.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Exist right now, immerse yourself right now.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Be happy, share happiness, beautify the surroundings.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The answer that I have found is to create a Space of Love.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yours may be anything but I secretly pray that we carry the same aspirations.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The snow has melted, the land may seem bare but in the my eyes, the flowers are already blooming.</span></div>
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Ekashihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04045285200621688349noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8684976476703404679.post-22132940233018281512017-04-18T07:25:00.001+09:002017-04-18T07:27:25.794+09:00The Space of Love: A paradise here on Earth<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The spring season has awakened new forces within me. It's as if all the pent up energy gathered in the winter is now bursting, as with the life around me! Buds are coming to life, shoots are springing forth, hibernating animals are awakening, people are now outside more often- ah, the beauty of spring! Everyday is filled with immersion to Life and, though the sun is setting later in the evening, time seems not enough with the amount of work that needs to be done in the homestead.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Within this bustle of spring, a strong rain, such as today, visits us and bestowing me some quality time to pause and reflect again on what I have been doing so far.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In this season, farmers here in Hokkaido are all so busy with the plantings, land preparations, fixing structure, repairing machines, and all other matters that are needed in farming. There are moments when I get caught in their rhythm and that feeling of "I have to be as busy as them" arises. In these moments, my actions are misguided, the results of these actions are poor, I am drained of energy, and most importantly, I am not inspired by Love. In these moments, I am reminded by my Land, that what I am doing, my purpose is different. I am not living to force the land to produce food for money, I am not living to slave myself off to the system, I am here to create a family homestead, a Space of Love for my family and my co-creator.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">What exactly is a Space of Love? Why am I not calling this a farm or a retreat place?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The Space of Love is a term set forth by Anastasia in the Ringing Cedars of Russia Series written by Vladimir Megre based on his encounter with her. The Space of Love is a land where your family line, your ancestors and descendants, will exist eternally and harmoniously enveloped in the bosoms of Love. Living in the Space means you are to build a house in your land with your own hands, grow food with Love, enjoy the Creations, and give birth to a fully-fledged human. Amidst all these Co-creation, true joy will be felt not only by you and your family, but also the Creations all around. Many of the problems so far in the history, in our community, and within ourselves arise from the fact that we were born without being a fully-fledged human. Physically, we may be functional, but mentally and spiritually, we are tremendously lacking. We are lost, we do not know were we belong and what is our purpose, we think we are disconnected with the Source, when in fact we always are. The Space of Love remedies all of these issues. Within the Space, we are always in direct connection with the Creations, thus the Creator. We are not swayed by dogmas or needless philosophies because everyday, every moment, we are in communication with Oneness. We are mindful, we are always in the present moment because as we step out of the house, we are immediately surrounded by Love, fruit trees planted in Love, flowering trees and shrubs planted with Love perfume the air with ethers beneficial for us, grasses and herbs tended with care and Love heal our bodies, trees that filter and protect our Space from destructive energies, and most importantly, we are surrounded by people who sincerely Loves us and co-creates with us. A child born in this Space absorbs all of these and becomes a person worthy of carrying the crown of a Creator. In fact, we are all worthy, only if we are aware that we are worthy. We are not meant to destroy, we are meant to Create, to foster, and to bring joy from all of these.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">What I and many other people around the globe are doing is not a farm, we are not looking at the land as a money making machine. We are also not making a retreat house where you only visit from time to time. We are building a Space where our family will live every moment in resplendent Love. We are trying to understand each plant, each grass, each sapling, each tree, each animal that visits us. We know that the Land will provide for us, will reflect the same Love if we pour into it same Love and effort. By no means we are lazy, for we know that whatever we put into the land, it will return thousandfold to us. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Of course, land these days cost a fortune and not everyone can immediately build their own Kin's Domain. It's as if a system was made purposely to create this hurdle for those who want to build their Space of Love. This is currently one of the hurdles that I am contemplating on but I know for certain that this will be overcome in proper time. In all honesty, I still do not know the answer but I am sure it will manifest in this lifetime.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In the meantime, those of us who are fortunate enough to have their own land, must continue to build and put in more inspired effort to build a paradise here on Earth so that more people can see and be enveloped in our Spaces of Love.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">My current physically present Co-creator. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">No matter how lifeless it may seem during the winter, in the eyes of a Creator, Life is always stirring within. Manifestation takes time, but it is already there.</span></div>
<br />Ekashihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04045285200621688349noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8684976476703404679.post-48429727358953322942017-03-17T20:19:00.003+09:002017-03-17T20:22:59.144+09:00The Story of MamtaShe stopped to take a breath and looked behind her as the grand view unfolded.<br />
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"It was not at easy path, but the view is worth all the effort." She told herself.<br />
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She remembered one of her Spiritual Ancestors teaching her "Mamta, you must always follow the narrow path step by step, after so, you will come to a broad path. This is the trustworthy main path."<br />
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Many have told her not to set out into the mountain. The locals called the mountain "Hepenki-nupuri". Hepenki means Source and the locals believed that whenever one reaches the top of the mountain, he or she goes back to the Source and can never return to the human realm.<br />
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"You are always looking at Hepenki-nupuri, Mamta, do you wish to go back to the Source?" her mother asked her.<br />
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"Totto, why is everyone afraid to go back to the Source?" she replied.<br />
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"Mamta, we are not afraid of the Source, it's just that once you reach the Source, you may not want to go back here again. If everyone goes back to the Source, who would be here to take care of the plants and animals?"<br />
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"But Totto, I heard from Ekashi that a few people have climbed back down after reaching the Source."<br />
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"Oh, that Ekashi! Yes, Mamta, a few, three, as far as I know, but countless of people have already climbed and never returned!"<br />
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"Totto, allow me to speak to Ekashi, only he can give permission to any townsfolk to climb the mountain."<br />
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"Oh Mamta, why? We are living so peacefully down here, so why go on about this?"<br />
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"Totto, you once told me, we are blessed here, that God gave us all of these."<br />
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"Yes, I did tell you that."<br />
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"But you also told me that many are still suffering, many are not able to live like us."<br />
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"Yes, I did tell you that as well."<br />
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"Then maybe when I reach the Source, I can know why and help them!"<br />
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"Mamta, you are not the first one to have thought of that. There are many others, but they faltered once they reached the Source."<br />
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"How do you know that, Totto?"<br />
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"Because they never returned."<br />
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Here she was, only a few steps before reaching the Peak where the Source lies. Before taking those few steps, she sat upon a rock and breathed. She saw her village, the nearby towns, the sea, other mountains, and thought, "I can now understand a little why somebody would want to stay here forever. If the view here is this beautiful, how much more if I reached the top?"<br />
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As she was resting, she reminisced her journey and how she met a few people coming down from the mountain.<br />
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The first person she met was a man who showed her how to penetrate the Soul of the World. She did not remember his name but he told her that he was a student of a man living in the desert.<br />
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"Why are you climbing back down? Isn't the Source a wonderful place?" she asked the man.<br />
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"It is, but that's not where my treasure lies." answered the man.<br />
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"Why go up, then?"<br />
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"To see the view of course, many said that the view up there is beautiful."<br />
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"You can penetrate the Soul of the World and practically go anywhere you like without going through the difficult climb, why go through the trouble of climbing up and down?" she asked.<br />
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"To someday meet you." he answered.<br />
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"Why do you want to meet me?"<br />
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"Because the omens told me so."<br />
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"Why would the omens tell you that?"<br />
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"That is for you to decide. I met you, I taught you the way to penetrate the Soul of the World. Now, I am climbing down to go back to where my treasure is."<br />
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"Will I be able to turn myself into a wind someday?"<br />
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"You already can. You can even turn silver into gold. But that is not your Personal Legend is it, Mamta?"<br />
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With those words, the man continued to climb down. A strong wind followed his path and he disappeared instantly.<br />
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She met the second person when she was struggling to find food. She was walking through the rocky part of the mountain where food was scarce. As she was about to collapse, two hands caught her and helped her take a seat upon a rock.<br />
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"Thank you" she said to the man.<br />
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"You're welcome, my child." he replied.<br />
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She noticed his palms had marks of wound, as if a sharp object had pierced through them.<br />
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"What happened to your palms?" she asked.<br />
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"Oh, a lot of things happened." he answered.<br />
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"Did the Source do that to you?"<br />
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"Oh no, no, no! My brothers and sisters did this to me."<br />
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"Why would they do that to you?"<br />
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"It's not their fault, they were not aware of the Source's greatness. My brothers and sisters are quite lost. It's alright, that's why the Source sent me again."<br />
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"Why would the Source send you again? Can you not live with the Source in peace and paradise?"<br />
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"You see, I cannot live permanently with the Source knowing that my brothers and sisters are still lost. I chose to climb back down so that I can bring them all with me again up there."<br />
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"Do they know that your coming back again to pick them up?"<br />
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"Yes, they do know, but exactly when I would come back, they do not know. Many people wrote what I taught before I decided to climb up the mountain but many also changed some of my words to fit their own agendas."<br />
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"If the people knew that you are coming back down again, why aren't they preparing to climb up with you?" she asked.<br />
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"Well, deciding to climb up the mountain requires tremendous courage and trust. Many seem to lack that, rather, many are unaware that they have that courage within themselves. They fear the Source. They fear judgement. I am from the Source, we all are, and let me tell you, it is pure bliss! They are too attached to what they have that they cannot let go and climb up to the Source. They do not know that we can all climb up and back down again and know that the Source provided all of these."<br />
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"So what are you going to do if they decided not to join you in climbing up?"<br />
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"Well, that is something that I cannot imagine. I Love them so much, that I trust that all of them will. All of my brothers and sisters will decide to join me and climb up to the Source so that I can show them how simple it is. Then we can all climb back down and start anew."<br />
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"Where do you get your complete trust to your brothers and sisters?" she asked.<br />
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"From the Source."<br />
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"I hope I can join you when you climb up again with everyone" she said to the man.<br />
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"You know what, I'll wait for you down there so that we can all climb up together."<br />
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"Thank you." she said to the man.<br />
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"Here are some bread, you're hungry, right?" said the man as he handed five loaves to her.<br />
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She met the third person as she was passing through a rocky cliff. As the man walked through the cliff, flowers bloomed instantly, sprouts emerged through the rocks, and the birds flew near him.<br />
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"Hello, would you like some bread?" she offered to the man.<br />
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"Oh, why thank you dear, but I already received five loaves from a man a while ago." he answered.<br />
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"Did you also reach the Source?" she asked.<br />
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"Yes, I did."<br />
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"Are you going back to invite the people to climb up with you?"<br />
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"Yes, I will."<br />
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"Are you not afraid of what people will do to you when you try to invite them?" she asked.<br />
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"Why would I be afraid?" he replied.<br />
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"When the man I met before tried to invite people to climb up with him, his brothers and sisters, crucified him." she replied.<br />
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"Is he not climbing down again to invite them again?" he asked.<br />
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"Yes, he is. I don't understand why though. How much Love can one person carry?" she replied.<br />
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"My dear, the man you met a while ago is a man who has seen suffering, understood it, identified its source, and knows the path to well-being. When you have fully experienced all of this, you will do the same, mark my words."<br />
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"How can I experience all of those things?" she asked.<br />
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"Through mediation and deep looking. But, you can also continue to climb up and ask the Source. I shall not hinder your self-discovery."<br />
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"When I reach the Source, can I ask the Source anything? Will the Source answer?" she asked.<br />
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"That will be your experience, I can only tell you one thing, prior to reaching the Source, you will have to meet one more person. All of us, even the man you met a while ago, have met that person before we reached the Source."<br />
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"Will that person stop me from reaching the Source?" she asked.<br />
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"No, but many have stopped their own selves to reaching the Source when they met this person." he answered.<br />
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"But I want reach the Source. I want to find a way to help other people experience happiness the way we experience it in our village." she said to the man.<br />
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"Go ahead, I am also climbing back down to share the same. I'll wait for you down there, along with the man you met a while ago. Let's climb up together." he said as he smiled and continued to climb down.<br />
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After reminiscing all the people she had met, she stood up, took a few steps, and looked over the top. There she saw, sitting on top of the rock, a woman. As the woman turned her face towards her, she saw her own self. She stood up and walked slowly towards her. She stopped when the distance between she and her were only few steps.<br />
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"Hey! You finally made it!" she said.<br />
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Mamta was silent.<br />
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"Helloo, are you there? Don't space out on me now! I have been waiting for so long!"<br />
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After finally pulling herself together, Mamta spoke, "Who are you?"<br />
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"Well, duh, I'm you of course!"<br />
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"Did the other people also meet you?" she asked<br />
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"No, they met their own selves."<br />
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"Who are you, really?" she asked.<br />
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"Well, to put it simply, I am you, taken all the good parts out. I am your darkness, greed, lust, pride, envy, sloth, you name it!"<br />
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"Are you going to stop me from reaching the Source?" she asked.<br />
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"No, but I'm here to tell you there is no Source. So, it's meaningless to say that I'm going to stop you from reaching the Source when there is in fact, no Source to be reached!"<br />
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"But all of the people I met along the way has told me about the Source." she replied<br />
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"Well, I'm here to tell you there ain't no Source. Look around, do you see anything else besides me?"<br />
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Indeed there was nothing around but the majestic view and the woman standing in front of her.<br />
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"See? You climbed up for nothing pal! But you know what, have a seat, let's talk."<br />
<br />
She sat down with her and she started to speak.<br />
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"You see, I exist in everyone's heart. I am in all the details. You can say that I am really a powerful being. I am within the bombs that people created. I am within the disease that people created. I am within the drugs that people created. I am within the laws and regulations that people created. In fact, I am even within the institutions you call "Religion" that speak of the Source. It's so easy to sneak into everything. I can start small like being envy of another child's toy or I can go big and enslave all people! Man, I am so powerful."<br />
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"What do you get from all of that?" she asked.<br />
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"Nothing, I get nothing, but the people, ohh, they get too much satisfaction from that. They get satisfaction from killing other people, from making other people suffer. They get satisfaction by raping the land, their brothers and sisters. They get satisfaction from stealing from each other. They get satisfaction from pulling their brothers and sisters down. While I get nothing from it, they enjoy doing it too much."<br />
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"Are they aware of it?" she asked.<br />
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"Many people are. They decorate their actions with words such as "practicality", "research", "development", "progress", "modernization", "Word of God" oh man, oh man! These people are so in love with these words that they dedicate their whole lives into these words. They make a fool out of themselves, actually, a bigger fool because they already know it and they still choose to do it! They know it's poison, yet they still ingest it."<br />
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"Is there no other way to stop this?" she asked.<br />
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"Now, why would I tell you the answer to that? Even I can't do anything about it, the people themselves are doing it by themselves! I just have to sit back, relax and watch them destroy themselves."<br />
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"What would happen if they actually destroyed themselves? You would cease to exist." she said.<br />
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"Well, whether I continue to exist or not is not important. The end point is the same anyway."<br />
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"You are sad, you are sad because whichever direction humans will go, you, us, will cease to exist." she said.<br />
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"Now, where did that come from? Why are you sympathising with me? I am your darkness, remember? I created all this suffering"<br />
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"When you cease to exist, I will also cease to exist, that is why you are sad. You did not create all of these, you were created by us. We are all Creators and we even have the capability to create darkness, you, even. Should we continue this path, we will be eventually destroyed by the being we created and all will cease to exist. That is why you are sad." she said.<br />
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"Stop this nonsense."<br />
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"I am correct, aren't I?" she said.<br />
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"Stop."<br />
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"Please, come to me. I shall embrace you. We will exist together- in harmony." she said to her.<br />
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"Darkness, my ego, you are also a part of me, you shan't cease to exist."<br />
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"I shall balance you within me."<br />
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"If you have greed, I can balance you with generosity."<br />
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"If you have lust, I can balance you with purity."<br />
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"If you have pride, I can balance you with humility."<br />
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"If you have hate, I can balance you with Love." she told her as she embraced her. Tears were rolling down her cheeks as she merged within her and created equanimity and grace.<br />
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"I'm going to climb back down" she told herself.<br />
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"But you haven't met the Source yet." she heard a voice within her.<br />
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"Don't worry, I already have." she replied.<br />
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"I told you, I'm not the Source."<br />
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"Yes, you are not, but both of us together, we are the Source." she replied with a smile as the flowers around her bloomed, seeds sprouted through the rocks, springs welled-up at the peak of the mountain, and countless colorful birds flew all around.<br />
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"Let's go back down. I'm going to share my answer to the three people I met." she told herself carrying a garden hoe and some seeds within her hands.<br />
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<br />Ekashihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04045285200621688349noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8684976476703404679.post-25448681240272197622017-03-10T20:40:00.002+09:002017-03-10T20:41:14.752+09:00Answering some of your questions<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I went back again to the Philippines before the planting season starts in Hokkaido. I have a few reasons why I decided to go back to the Philippines but all those goals were changed as my stay went by. I met new friends, reconnected with people I met years before, and discovering new connections that further deepened my understanding as to why I experienced all of what I experienced.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">One of the highlights of my stay was giving a short lecture on how Anastasia has influenced my life and how I am now building my own Family Domain or Space of Love. I was able to share my insights and experiences to a class of approximately 30 students. Prior to the lecture, while I was waiting in the office of my Professor, I saw a stack of papers that I later found out was their exam. One of the questions that intrigued me the most was about what is their biggest question in their life right now. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Their answers were equally interesting! Most of the questions were about their existence and their purpose in life. Even after my lecture, many still gave the same question as their written comment.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I am so happy to be able to be asked with these questions,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>What is the purpose of life? </b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Why do I exist?</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>What should I do next?</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It seems as though looking at them from the outside, these questions seem covered by a thick layer of ego that prevents them from facing these directly. I am happy that the very loving Professor asked them what is their biggest question in their life right now because if these questions remained unanswered, it will creep in their spirit, weaken their will, and continue to live in the illusion of being lost. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I am honored because I can now give my own answers to these questions. I have read many philosophical and spiritual books but the answer that I will provide is not the ultimate answer. I can only share my own experience and tell how I found my "treasure" as Paulo Coelho beautifully portrays it, where my heart lies. Just as Buddha mentioned, my fingers are pointing towards the moon, look at the moon, not my finger. It's like studying for an exam, you don't study the answers for the exam, you study how to find the answers on the exam. I will now share how I experienced it, but you will have your own experience, certainly, and trust yourself to it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">One of the roots as to why we question our existence is because of our concept of god. We are told to believe in God, that God is this, God is that. The problem is, most of the people that tell us what God is, have not truly experienced what they are saying. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Yes, there are scriptures, you can read them, but make sure to contemplate on them and confirm it yourself. Scriptures were written and can be changed to fit one's own selfish agenda so trust yourself to your own experience, your own insight, and your own understanding. God is not many things that you think God is. God can only be experienced through deep looking and fervent contemplation. Once you experience God, Oneness, you will not be able to explain it. Before we say you will surrender everything to God's will, make sure that you have no concept of God first. Surrender means experiencing every moment, every second, every encounter and pouring all of yourself to it. You do not discriminate whether this is good or this is bad. I contemplated and meditated on this for quite a long time but I experienced and felt the Oneness with my surrounding once or twice so far in my lifetime while I was touching the grass on my land.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I felt that true surrender can only be done once you have removed all your concepts of God. You have to empty the cup first for it to be filled again. Once you have thrown away all your concepts of God, then the pure, experience of Oneness can be felt and you truly surrender because you will know that there is no believing, there is only trust. I trust in what I felt, what I experienced and that can never be destroyed by any troubles or challenges. Belief can someday bring doubt, but knowing and experiencing will result to unbreakable trust. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Because of my experience, I can surrender myself completely. I have now surrendered to where the next omen will bring me. Now, whether a good or bad thing happens, I now look at it as something to experience. We cannot control everything that happens outside but what we can control is how we perceive things and as our perception changes, so does our surrounding.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">BASICALLY, go ahead and surrender yourself and trust to your experience of how God works in your life. Don't surrender to other's concept. Do not walk blindly. Open your eyes and look into the signs. Many are only fearful of opening their eyes because it might blind them for their eyes have been closed for so long that the darkness may feel more comfortable. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Many are also looking outside, seeking answers. Many try to escape from facing their inner demons and go out traveling, watch t.v., drink alcohol, party, and many more. Many try to find answers when in fact it is already in their pockets they are just too busy looking into other people's pocket. You can look into other people's pocket and find nothing. The answer that I have found may not be similar to yours but the place where I searched for it, which is inward, is similar to yours. Many people have become lazy and try blaming others, looking outside, and simply accepting that they still lack something within when in fact, their answer is just covered by a very thick pile of ego. The ego has covered the truth within them and their attitude towards it adds more cover on the truth. The truth is like a grass trying to grow on the cracks on the cement. It thrives to seek the light yet we continue to pour cement over it. We are still fortunate that the truth wants to seek the light for if it stops, we would become barren, lifeless, landscape of cold concrete.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Purpose</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">After that "experience" when I touched the grass on my land, I realized what my purpose is in this life or my existence. The purpose is not to question what your purpose is but to simply experience life and be happy. Create, enjoy the present moment, experience the wonders of Creations, bring new birth in this life, these are what makes me happy. What makes you happy, as long as this brings true happiness to others, to your environment, then do that. You exist here to experience this life and be happy and help others be happy. The better question to ask is "what are the steps I need to take to be happy and to make others happy?"</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I find that being mindful of the present moment, experiencing life as it is, is a great way to derive happiness from any problems. Most of our stress and problems arise from our overthinking of situations that have not happened yet but we imagined them out of fear and fear multiplies the scale of this thought. Also, you can only share happiness once you are overflowing with happiness. You cannot be truly happy if you are sacrificing your mental, spiritual, and physical health to make other happy. This is not true happiness because if others see you hurting yourself just to make them happy, it will cause them unhappiness. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Your purpose is not to change the world, your purpose is to change yourself and become truly happy. When one has truly overcome and embraced the ego, found true happiness, then we can naturally help others be happy without forcefully doing it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This is part one of my answers or insights from my sharing in the Philippines, please wait for part two!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Photo of The Galaxy Farm Farm Away of NuWave Farmers in the University of the Philippines Los Banos</span></div>
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<br />Ekashihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04045285200621688349noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8684976476703404679.post-14839227554265725782017-02-26T10:50:00.000+09:002017-02-26T10:50:34.117+09:00Living every moment worthy of our existence<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The days are getting warmer, the sun sheds its light longer by the day. Spring is just a few weeks away! I can feel the energy welling up from within me. All the energy accumulated during winter is now anticipating the gates of spring to open and release its living forces!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The building of the tiny house is progressing steadily, there are some small problems here and there but they are not something to get stuck on.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg75ubhQasEll3wRNWMZkXbznaZRCcSXbEARX0QmuU7Orw7Y0klFVY3_TnNRUPSL-CSp9OCACbFOGf2btzCjpV0I3Z5f5I3bS92KvSybBkUAyXKsYy2tRaV1tB9e9eBhXXqWGj53ksCzd0/s1600/IMG_2761.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg75ubhQasEll3wRNWMZkXbznaZRCcSXbEARX0QmuU7Orw7Y0klFVY3_TnNRUPSL-CSp9OCACbFOGf2btzCjpV0I3Z5f5I3bS92KvSybBkUAyXKsYy2tRaV1tB9e9eBhXXqWGj53ksCzd0/s640/IMG_2761.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After placing the insulation(glass wool), I also spread a layer of vinyl to make the walls water proof. Before placing the finishing wall, I placed another layer of plywood. Let me state again that I am no pro! I am simply doing things by following a book and thinking by myself.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am now working on the bunk beds and the dining area. I will create a separate post for those parts.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While I was progressing on my tiny house, during the silent nights and the breaks during work, I experience moments where I cannot express anything in words. I am simply filled with deep satisfaction of experiencing life as I am experiencing it. There is no deep philosophising of life, society, culture or anything. I am simply happy, well, and satisfied with what I am experiencing. It was as if I was embraced in the bosom of nature and felt no agitation or any negative feelings or thoughts. It has been a while since I experienced this and feeling it again gave me a little more boost to build my kin's domain. Recently, there were turbulences within me that I cannot divulge here but the silence brought me messages that can only be felt, not heard. I felt again that our Creator made this world originally so that we can experience Co-creation and Joy- simple as that. Our dogmas and philosophising are not needed as long as we are connected to the Oneness with the Creator. I thought that Life, as we thought we knew it, is not something that should be given too much hard thinking if we can only feel what the Creator is calling us to do. Simply Co-create and live in Joy. Co-creation means giving birth to a fully-fledged human in a space created with pure Love and out of this creation, Joy is felt by all that perceives it. Live in paradise as what the Divine dream wished for us. No matter where we are in our lives right now, be Joyful, try to focus your attention on what brings happiness to you and to others. This is an important first step to our liberation. You don't have to have a specific plan on what you are going to do in life, as long as you carry the strong foundation on what your purpose is, your specific mission in life will unfold naturally.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">From overthinking and too much contemplation, I now feel that I am leading towards simply enjoying what I am experiencing. Live every moment joyfully, with high spirits, as how our Parent-Creator dreams for us to live. I encountered the Hawaiian word "Aloha", and the historian Serge Kahili King describes its meaning as a "...joyful sharing of life energy in the present". May we emit this energy in our everyday lives amidst the chaos and troubles. May our lives be the proof that there is Joy, Goodness, and Love in this world and all it takes is a confident step towards the bosom of Nature. May you be filled and overflow with life force so that those around you can receive it and share it. May the nutriments that go inside our bodies be helpful in preserving and improving our bodies and not lead us to hastened decay. Lastly, may you be blessed with an extra strength to defy the dark forces tempting to lead you astray again. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I may not be able to post another one for a while now. I am giving less time online and more time on those presently around me. I will be back with better posts and I am hoping to start a youtube channel where I will share the events in the family domain.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Aloha!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Love and Peace,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ekashi</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Sun is roaring with gentle rays as the promises of spring arrives.</span></div>
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Ekashihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04045285200621688349noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8684976476703404679.post-86294240024919932702017-02-13T17:49:00.001+09:002017-02-13T17:49:46.593+09:00Making Everyday a Valentine's day<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Allow me to ride the bandwagon of Valentine's day so that we can all get out of its misrepresentation of Love and get off from that bandwagon.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Love, as we are all aware of, is a tremendous energy, a driving force. Love is very sensitive to lies and deceptions and it leaves as its purity is tainted. Love then is turned into senseless drama, misguided passion, and reckless decisions.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The true energy of Love is one that aspires to Co-create, spread goodness, give birth to inspired actions, make one closer to Oneness. Unfortunately, the current construct of society and media has turned it into a perversion of romance and selfishness.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">True love is not fickle and requires effort and a good soil to grow. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">True love is a seed that sprouts and grows only into True Love. Think of it as planting an apple seed. Once you plant an apple seed, only an apple plant will sprout not an orange, or anything else. Like a seed, True Love will never sprout into hate, lust, passion, and others that it is not.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">True love may sprout but it requires effort and deep looking and understanding. Even on a sprout growing slowly and bound by the laws of nature, our efforts and understanding will nurture its growth. True love is not lazy and is not indifferent. It requires practice such as the mantras that Thich Nhat Hanh shared with us. You may practice this with anyone, anytime, and anywhere when the situation permits.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">These are the five mantras that Nhat Hanh encourages us to practice. Before saying these mantras, calm yourself first, breathe, and dwell in the present moment and focus all your being to the one in front of you.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1. "Darling, I am here for you."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2. "Darling, I know you are there and it makes me happy."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3. "Darling, I know you suffer and I am here for you."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">4. "Darling, I am suffering and I need your help."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">5. "Darling, this is a happy moment."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(source: http://tnhaudio.org/tag/four-mantras/)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Practice these to your loved ones everyday. Find time to appreciate them and show them True Love.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">True Love like a seed, needs a good soil to grow. This soil is similar to your faith, or where your faith is grounded upon. Faith, I believe, is not a matter of Religion. It is a matter of an individual's complete trust to his or her experience of the truth. If a person has experienced God, then by all means, place your complete trust on God and let it not be shaken by struggles. Faith crumbles once it is founded on simply what others say or what a book says. Faith must come from our own experience and our own direct feeling of the truth. True love, as I have mentioned does not dwell in lies and deception. If your Love is grounded on such faith, it will also crumble with your faith and will cause you great suffering. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Maybe we can practice True Love everyday. Not only on our object of romantic love but also on our family, friends, society, plants, animals, earth, stars, on all Beings of this Universe!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Let's celebrate Love everyday!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Even a simple rainbow can be an object of our Love. All it takes is to feel sincerely happy that it is there.</span></div>
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<br />Ekashihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04045285200621688349noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8684976476703404679.post-40857401486061113912017-02-10T12:03:00.000+09:002017-02-10T12:04:43.781+09:00My Visit to the Philippines and the Candlelights that Illuminated my Way<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I visited the Philippines with a few objectives. One is to pursue a business that can help both Filipino farmers and Japanese health conscious consumers. Second, meet important people in my life. Third, share my thoughts, feelings, and aspirations to a larger audience.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Before visiting the Philippines, I prepared myself to stay grounded and be still despite the rampant aggression and chaos. As I stepped outside of the plane, I felt it, not the aggression, not the chaos, not the hopelessness, but I felt the light, the hope, the aspirations, the life force, the happiness. Yes, there was chaos and aggression and dark energies but my eyes and soul was immediately focused and attracted to the positive energies that a few people carry. The smiles and the laughter that I am hearing were sincere, were hopeful of a better future. Maybe it is I who have changed and now I see everything in new light or maybe Philippines is indeed changing. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I usually utter the phrase "Malayo pa ang tao (Humans are still far)". Far from what? From the truth, from Goodness, from the Oneness, from the Source, from God. My visit here in the Philippines led me to trust otherwise.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">There are amazing people hiding like mushrooms hiding under the shade, humbly spreading their roots under the fallen leaves, but they are spreading millions and millions of spores and further spreading their network. I met people who are starting their gardens, people who have read Anastasia and are now looking for land, those who are spreading the awakening of people, those who are sincerely trying to change their community in their own ways. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I have also seen the University changing. I have always seen education institutions as dogmatic and closed to new traditions but when I visited my alma matter, I felt the complete opposite! The institution allowed me to share about Co-creation, about Family Homesteads, about Anastasia, about Kin's Domain, Spaces of Love- words that have subconsciously never been allowed to be heard in the institution! Professors, farmers, gardeners, retiring overseas worker, students- the audience was a mixture of beautiful people from different roots but carrying the same core. I had a talk with my past thesis adviser, who is now a director of the institution, and I was pleasantly surprised as to how the vision for the institution is slowly changing. There is definitely something significant going on here.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">When I finished all of my business in the University, I went back home using our public transportation. Many are already aware of the situation of the roads and transportation in the urban area. The Philippines is losing time, money, and energy everyday just because of the situation of traffic. I rode the provincial bus going back to our house in the city and the situation remained the same. The roads were congested, people were crossing the road without care for the rules, and there were countless private vehicles. I saw people desperately trying to get ahead of one another, pushing, shoving their way through the traffic of both vehicles and people. Once you see an image like this, the common reaction would be to get stressed and wallow in the darkness or give up and accept this as hopeless. I thought that this would be a great opportunity to practice deep looking and listening. What I experienced was something that can only be explained once you felt it. I felt that many are suffering from an affliction that they themselves are not aware of. It's like you have a disease and you do not know it so you don't go to the doctor to get yourself healed. Like a tumor that has spread all over your body yet you do not feel or you ignore the symptoms. Many people are unaware because of their surroundings, the way they were raised, their experiences, the media, and their own choices. Layer after layer of suffering has covered the seeds of truth within us. The image is grim and bleak and if you allow yourself to succumb to it, your light and hope may also fail you but when I witnessed these images again, I immersed myself to beautiful images and my attention was directed immediately to the small candlelights within my reach. I saw the children, carrying tremendous potential to change the community, sleeping beside their mothers who are placing all of their love to their children. I saw people who are trying to change themselves and improve despite the great economic hurdle that must be overcome. I saw people cleaning the streets, picking up trash, no matter how ubiquitous the plastic rubbish covered the streets. I saw in the faces of some people the living force that exudes through their will. The dire situation of the city can either further darken the character or it can steel the mind and heart of an individual and become an unwavering light.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It is always easier to give up and let the darkness consume us but it takes greater courage, faith, and trust to be the candlelight that illuminates the expanding darkness. These people that I met are flickering candlelights who have the limitless potential to become stars that can brighten the the sleeping universe. Their humble lights attracted my light-seeking spirit and allowed me to meet them and obtain a deep insight to the situation in the Philippines. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">There is goodness. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">There is goodness, just look for the candlelight. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We are all wading through darkness with our eyes closed. We just have to open our eyes to be guided by the humble light radiated by these people.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A new mission has sprouted within me but there are proper steps and infinite doors or ways to be a light in this world. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I think I will be saying "Malayo pa ang tao (Humans are still far)" less for now.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">"She is waiting, for an unimaginable long time, for us to return to her bosom and live in paradise. All it takes is one confident, mindful step of trust to the door opened by Mother Nature."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">(Photo of Mount Makiling taken at People's Park in Tagaytay, Cavite, Philippines)</span></div>
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<br />Ekashihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04045285200621688349noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8684976476703404679.post-57714522446315757042017-01-30T20:10:00.001+09:002017-01-31T20:38:44.915+09:00Should we put a conscious effort to search for a life partner or a soulmate?<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Hello, friends!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I am able to contemplate on this topic as the silence of the winter allows my heart to listen and fully encounter the answer hidden within us.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">All of us have felt this at some point in our lives. There is a deep longing for someone. No matter how busy we become, how noisy the surroundings may be, there is this feeling that we have to share this life with someone. I think that this is completely natural. In all aspects of this Universe, there is a balance between two opposites that creates a harmonious Oneness. Warmth is to cold, left is to right, high is to low, strong is to weak, sky is to earth, light is to darkness, good is to bad, and the list goes on. Without the other, the other cannot exist. This is one of the teachings of Buddhism called the Co-arising and inter-being. The same with the humans. We are capable of unlimited creations yet, without the co-creative energy from our "opposite" or our partner, our creations are limited. It is ironic, yet I think this is true. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So, now you may be thinking, I am now without a partner, so, should I look for one? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">My answer is both yes and no.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Yes, you should have that feeling of seeking, and no, you should not feed that feeling. That longing should be there but you should not seek. That feeling is a crucial element in our growth. If we allow that feeling to consume us, our actions will become desperate and may result to misdirected passion and imaginations. We should, rather, use that feeling of longing and turn it upon itself. Use it as an inspiration to improve yourself, do what you aspire to do in your life. Do not let that longing stop you and wait for that person to arrive before doing your greater purpose in life. Most of us get caught in the past and trap ourselves in the longing for the future. I have encountered many couples who are guided by the light and have shared with me their encounters and all of them met their partners as they were pursuing what they felt was their calling in life. Life allows situations to happen only when all conditions are present. One of the most important conditions is that we must first and foremost have a sincere trust to the workings of this Universe or others may say that one must trust God completely. We must trust that the person we are longing for already exists and we simply have to trust that our paths will cross and that time, we will surely know. Similar to what the alchemist has been following in Paulo Coelho's book, the Alchemist, we must also be sensitive and alert for omens being spread around by the Universe.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In my experience, the more I put conscious effort in searching, the more I lose sight of that person. The more I travel far, the more I lose. I finally realized to surrender everything to God and to the Universe, by surrender, I mean trust my whole self, purpose, and faith to the Greater Workings of this Universe. It is actually very simple, I just have to do what I have to do, enjoy my purpose, be the person I want to be with. I have encountered many people and I am now confident that the way I perceive the person is already guided by the Light. Trust the Middle Way, do not pursue someone, but do not be lazy and do nothing. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Simply put, be conscious of your longing but place your efforts in your purpose as an unlimited Creation. He or she already exists and they are also longing for you. You are both building yourself, calming your energies, reinforcing your foundations, so that when you meet, you will not be burned by your emotions and passions.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So just relax, enjoy the ride, as long as you and that person carry the same faith and aspirations in life, both of your paths will cross when Life allows it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>The omens for the arrival of your partner may come in many forms. For me, the arrival of this creature in my life is one such omen. She teaches me about patience, understanding, commitment, and compassion.</b></span></div>
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Ekashihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04045285200621688349noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8684976476703404679.post-50300408133593188362017-01-19T17:00:00.001+09:002017-01-19T17:00:37.894+09:00Your Soil-Mind and Soil-Heart<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Everyday, as we step out of our dens, it is there. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Where our homes rest upon, where our deceased loved ones lay, where our food grows, where the trees grow, where we spend our whole life, the soil is there.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The soil accepts and receives whatever is given to it. Whether good or bad, it does not discriminate. It is honest. Provide it with organic matter and fertilizers, take good care of it so that it does not erode, allow biological diversity on it, then the soil will return the efforts you have given to it. Provide it with harmful substances, leave it bare with no vegetation, overuse it, then it will turn on you, such as the historic dust bowl. It is one of the most honest beings I can imagine.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Let us consider our hearts and minds as the soil. It is delicate in such a way that whatever we feed into it, it will give it back. Feed it with hatred, greed, intemperance, and other negative nutriments, and it will provide you back with the same energy. Feed it with love, peace, joy, and understanding, then it shall provide you back with more of the same energy. Be mindful of your soil-mind. Be alert as to what nutriments is being added into it. The soil-mind needs balance- plentiful positive or plentiful negative will result to misdirected passion and to misguided decisions. The soil carries millions of seeds, good and bad, and it is in our control what seeds will we allow to germinate. Then again, even if we allow bad seeds to germinate, as long as we are alert enough and carry out our practice, we can return the balance.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Know when to rest your soil-mind. Soils need a fallow (rest) period to replenish its vigor, so is the mind. Let it rest, let it rest. Do not cultivate it, do not plow it, let it stay and settle. The seasons will tell you when to start again. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Trust that the soil is part of a diverse, all-encompassing Mother Earth. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Your mind and hearts are also part of One massive Whole and these are not yours alone. These belong to no one yet these are everyone's. Take full care of your soil-mind/heart for it is always part of your ancestors and descendants, just as how we should give utter importance to the lands from our ancestors. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"This year again the motherly terra gave us the food for the life. If it were not for the soil, or if the soil was poor, or if we did not have the skill to make use of the soil, could we exist now? Our life is worth living because the soil is there. The soil covers everything of our life. When we thank the soil with our whole heart and with our enthusiasm, it will accept our heart beyond any human knowledge. The soil lived in the past, is succeeded in the present, and bears all the possibility in the future." </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is written by Shoko Sugano. I encountered this quote when I visited a Soil Museum in Furano. I couldn't agree more with what she said.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Earth and all the Cosmos is the largest Bible we can read and these can teach us the Truth of Creation. Through the Creations we can be in touch more with the Creator. Why not start with the soil?</span></div>
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Ekashihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04045285200621688349noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8684976476703404679.post-3817439721905509012017-01-15T11:10:00.001+09:002017-01-15T19:59:34.335+09:00My New Partner<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh178Yp8MaRtIVso-mxiTzgVAFujKfYUiY7CDZaQiG7ojMlT14Sxk3mrKsJ8VPj6Xc_GhPisW9EiIx3-6whyphenhyphenyseFrhKSEHGV93Ge0NwnBN8jA30z5NDcliogd2ykbfzYdJIfE_z-Smk-I/s1600/IMG_2572.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh178Yp8MaRtIVso-mxiTzgVAFujKfYUiY7CDZaQiG7ojMlT14Sxk3mrKsJ8VPj6Xc_GhPisW9EiIx3-6whyphenhyphenyseFrhKSEHGV93Ge0NwnBN8jA30z5NDcliogd2ykbfzYdJIfE_z-Smk-I/s640/IMG_2572.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Her name is Mapp. Double P. It's actually an Ainu word meaning "to Love" and it's also the same name as the place where my land is. She's the first dog I ever took care of personally and I am very happy I chose her(or maybe she chose me?). She's an Ainu dog, a breed that has been with the indigenous people of Hokkaido for a very long time and has good hunting instincts, resistance to frigid temperatures, disease, and venomous animals.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Even though she's a dog, I learned many things from her about partnership and building a relationship. I can summarize what I learned in three points.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A relationship is something you choose and commit on</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">When I chose her, it's not just simply because she was cute or sturdy, but I chose her as my long-time partner and this goes beyond simply sticking together in good times but also wading it out through difficult times. Both of us have to adjust to each other and accept each other's rhythms and find the middle way. Maybe that is why the Buddha has taught us the middle way. Do not be too passionate, and do not be too lazy. Do not be too attached, and do not be too detached. A commitment is only possible when you do not strain too much on holding on but also do not let go. You simply have to have a strong foundation and trust and a deep knowing that what can happen will happen and what should happen, will. But, it is also important to know that your effort and will can also have an effect to the relationship. Your commitment together is the wheel and both of you are on the wheel. Sometimes, you are above, sometimes you are below, but as you go up and down, you move forward. Once you have committed to each other, make sure that this commitment is based on faith, grounded on your divine aspirations, and guided by both families. If this is not the case, then better think again about pursuing your commitment.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The initial spark you both had is just an infinitesimal part of True Love</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Do not misunderstand the spark you had with someone is the sign of True Love. Yes, you may be attracted to each other but attraction is just the icing on the cake. There are many layers that you have not seen, many layers yet unknown and this will crush your expectations of that person. The question is, are you open, understanding, and calm enough to face these. True Love, according to Buddha (from Thich Nhat Hanh's explanation) has four elements- loving kindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity or inclusiveness. Loving kindness is the capacity to make the other person happy. Compassion is the capacity to not only feel his or her suffering but also relieve the other person's suffering. Joy is the capacity to make the other person experience joy. Inclusiveness is the all-embracing aspect of love. This includes loving the negatives and helping him or her improve, loving not only him or her but also the people around you, loving all the moments even if it's unpleasant. Practicing all these elements of True love needs patience and effort and that's what brings grace in cultivating this Love. It's not just a shallow attraction, this Love undergoes the pleasantness of summer and the cold of winter with the purpose of shooting upward, deepening inward, and sharing it's fruit with everyone.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Leave it all to God</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I seldom speak of God because usually when one speaks of God, an image is instantly thought up of in the human mind. When I speak of God, I mean the Creator, the Natural Laws, the Universe's Workings. Leave it all to the God. You do what you have to do, do what you can but first and foremost, have a strong foundation of faith and trust to the Greater Source. There is nothing demeaning in accepting the fact that you surrender everything to God. Yes, we are in a way Creators as well but the Natures's Laws are based on one Divine Working that makes everything perform in one perfect harmony. Even Love is something that works in the dimension of Nature. Love attracts, it springs up within us, grows, and when left without care, withers. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">When you leave everything to God, you are not being lazy and unmindful, in fact, it is opposite. You are removing your ego, your expectations, your pride, and you are now courageous to step up and trust the path in front of you. You become more mindful of your steps because you always ask the question "Is this the Will of God?". You are now not moved by simple emotional outbursts of infatuation, loneliness, and longing. You are guided by the stronger force that leads you away from these superficial emotions that often lead to misguided decisions. You continue to build yourself, make yourself more worthy of the perfectness of Creations, and make yourself the best of who you are so that when God presents you with your partner, you are ready to ride the wheel of Life with that person. The Creations are perfect but among these, one stands above the rest and that is your partner, so is it not rational that he or she be worthy of a person worthy of being called a Creator?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So, leave it all to God. No more pride, no more expectations, no more unnecessary dramas, no more tension.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This partnership has taught me a lot and I'm sure more learnings will arise as we proceed on with life. </span></div>
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<br />Ekashihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04045285200621688349noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8684976476703404679.post-38746420680797598022017-01-15T09:59:00.001+09:002017-01-15T09:59:29.106+09:00Shipping container tiny house part 2: Ceiling and flooring installation<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hello my friends! It's been a while since my last update on the building of tiny house. The progress has been slow because of the holidays and continuous snowing and very cold temperatures. I was able to finish the ceiling and almost finish the flooring.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After removing all the ceiling, the rotten plywood, and the deteriorated insulation, I inspected the ceiling for any leaks and rotten framing. There were some leaks here and there but the framing was not rotten. I placed ten centimeters thick glass wool as insulation.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After the glass wool, I had some spare styrofoam insulation so I placed that as well under the glass wool.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After placing all the insulation, I installed a layer of waterproof sheet (vinyl sheet) so that any moisture from the inside of the room will no go into the roof and make the wood rot. The next essential point is to enable good ventilation within the room so that fresh air can enter and any excess moisture will be moving out of the room.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After the vinyl sheet is the plywood to cover everything up. I am considering of placing another layer of a ceiling material on top of the plywood to have a better interior feel but for now, this will do. Placing a 12mm plywood by yourself is no easy task. It's quite heavy and bulky and to place it properly squared makes it a difficult task. The trick I used is to find a 2 by 2 wood or any long piece of wood then use it as sort of a foot for the plywood so while fixing the position, it wouldn't fall. Then, after finding the square, simply screw it in place. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After the ceiling, I decided to work on the flooring. Usually, the next step is the walling but since the shipping container is slightly not levelled, I decided to fix the flooring first. I levelled the framing using a simple carpenter's level. I first framed the whole container, then started installing the inner frames. I used some metal straps to strengthen the floor. In between the frames, I placed ten centimeters thick glass wool insulation. Then, finally on top, I placed a plywood. Above this plywood I will place again a flooring to make the interior look better.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'm not sure if I can finish everything by March but in this pacing, I think it's probable that I will. I have to make sure that this tiny house will be airtight so as to store all heat more efficiently and hopefully maintain a cool temperature during summer. Now, onto the walls and kitchen!</span></div>
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Ekashihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04045285200621688349noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8684976476703404679.post-66086730038241106042017-01-01T17:26:00.001+09:002017-01-01T17:26:55.643+09:00Changing the world one hectare at a time<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It was not a difficult decision to make the very first post for 2017 to be about the importance of one hectare of land. I have read this amazing series of books called the Ringing Cedars of Russia by Vladimir Megre. The following contents of this post will revolve mainly around that book so there may be some spoilers on some parts of the books.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Why give so much importance on a piece of hectare of land? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Centuries, maybe even millennia, have passed when humans were still connected and in harmony with their lands. The land provided them with food, clothing, shelter, and all their other needs. People gave their love to the land and the land reflected it back to them such as the Sun has continuously reflected back to Earth our Love. Somewhere, at some point in history, people were enticed to be separated from their lands, do other jobs, forget the coolness of the soil, the tenderness of the grass, and the refreshing spring water. At some point in history, people were made to believe that to have a "civilized" sense of existence, we must graze down the forests, create cold, lifeless structures, and create a network of roads. Many children in this current era are born with all these technocratic creations already available, and many are made to think that this is how we should live. We have forgotten who we are. We have lost our sense of self because the moment we are born, most of us are fed as slaves to the system. This is the current reality. In the history of the human race, an immeasurable amount of blood has been spilled on quarrels of land. Taking away the land from the people equates to losing their freedom. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Why is this so? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Anastasia (the main character in Megre's book) makes everything clear as to how a hectare of land is essential to the growth and creation of a fully-fledged human.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A hectare of land has an area of 10,000 square meters(imagine about 24 basketball courts). This hectare of land is the start of everything. On this piece of land, the humans become true co-creators in all of its facets.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A hectare of land produces more than enough food for the family and provides a surplus for selling. Being able to produce your own food needs implies far deeper than simply satisfying the physical needs. Being able to grow your own food means you no longer take part in the decaying food system offered by system. You are able to touch, to feel, and to appreciate the food you are eating. You are aware of what goes into the soil, what amount of care is given to your food. As a parent, it is of utter importance that you are aware of what you feed to your children. Garbage in, garbage out. If you feed your child unmindfully, this will not only affect the physical growth of the child, but also the psychological side as well. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I can only imagine the happiness when the day comes that I am able to have children and feed them the fruit from the tree that I planted on the day they were born. This connection is unbreakable. You planted the fruit trees with all the loving thoughts for your children and wife, then you take care of it with all the love you can give. Finally, the fruits will be harvested full of Love and offer it to your family. This, I feel, is the true connection among generations.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On this land, you build your own house. You breathe the air, the pollens that your land provides. You are always at home and feel the protective energy from it. In every moment, you are in touch with the Creations and the Creations can give you all the insights and teachings they can give. The shelter will be built with only loving intentions for your family, for the creations and for the future co-creations. You are always surrounded by the light you radiate as your land reflects it back to you. You live in the Kingdom of the Creations by the Creator. You are always in the Presence of the Creator's shelter. Your home is no longer just the place where you sleep, your home is the whole land itself. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On this land, you will be able to raise your child as a Creator. The child will always be directly in touch with the Creations and he or she will obtain direct insight from these. As you work on your own land, you will be able to teach the child the deep connections of Nature. The child will no longer be bound by the four corners of the classroom, the illusory grading system, the corrupted history, and the false social system. Instead, the child will be free, free to be creative, to explore, to fail, to see reality, the Creations as they should be seen. You will co-create with the children, produce the food with them, cook the food with them, and eat with them. The importance of life, their purpose, the beauty and grace of the Creations will be amplified through the child's eyes.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Place for the raising of consciousness</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On this land, you and your family will be able to raise your consciousness and be in direct communication with the Creator through the Creations. In my experience, just by simply mindfully observing the plants and animals in my land, I am able to attain insights that I have never attained before. The food that you produce and eat, the shelter you have built, and ethers you breathe- all are coming from the land that you have offered your Love, and this will surely help you be more aware and conscious of your Being. The effect is not only on you and your family but also with your friends and visitors. They will be able to feel your love and energy and hopefully spark something within them to pursue the same course of lifestyle as well.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">These are just a few points of the importance of the hectare that the Books share and there are much more that I have missed and I feel that you yourself must read.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sadly, the reality is not so friendly. Lands these days are expensive and to build a homestead, it takes money and a lot of time. Right now, I am in the process of trying to find the answer as to how to make things quicker for other people.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hopefully, I will be able to find the answer soon and help people co-create more hectares of Love. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Let us help each other out!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am waiting for you, let us Co-create!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Let's plant trees! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Let's build a house! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Let's Co-create!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Happy New Year!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>"Conjoint Creation and Joy for All from its Contemplation"</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>(Co-creation, Vladimir Megre)</b></span></div>
<br />Ekashihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04045285200621688349noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8684976476703404679.post-7039998136963901582016-12-29T11:25:00.000+09:002016-12-29T11:25:26.483+09:00End of the year contemplations: Connection through Creations, Timeless form of Gratitude, and Doors to Happiness<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">These are some of my contemplations as the Gregorian Calendar year ends. I chose these because these were the ones that left strong emotions and gave deep insights in my life. All of these things that I shall write are born out of my experience and observations through the lenses of my soul.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Connection through Creations</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As with many people, I carry a mobile device that allows me to send a message anywhere, anytime, and to anyone instantly. When I receive one, I can choose to reply immediately or later because I know that I can send one instantly anyway. The problem is, along those lines, the effort, the emotions, the thoughts lose importance and weight. Convenience has taken over our intention of giving proper time and effort to convey what we have to convey. In some cases, since we have already taken for granted the depth of communication, we worry over not being able to communicate for a short while. We worry over being "disconnected" with anyone and this happens most often with our current partner or family. I even experienced this anxiety of not being able to communicate or talk with someone even though I badly wanted to talk with her. I was frustrated with the distance and difference in the rhythm of work and lifestyle. I felt "disconnected" at one point but I realized immediately that this "disconnection" is illusory.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The concept that we are connected through electronic devices and social networking services is illusory. Our true connection lies more deeply, deeper than the deepest part of the ocean. Our true connection goes beyond the farthest star yet it is so close, we need only close our eyes and breathe.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I simply have to touch the ground where I am standing and I am already connected with that person. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I simply have to breathe in air and I am already breathing the same ethers as that person. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I simply have to drink water and I am already drinking the same water as that person.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Within me is the cosmos from which the Earth was made, and the same is true for that person.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is our true connection. Through the Creations we are bound together yet our Creativity is boundless.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Timeless form of Gratitude</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Most often, we say thank you once we receive something. We feel gratitude only after something happened, whether it be good or bad. This is one form of gratitude that we feel almost every day. This year, I have countless things that I have to be grateful for. I am grateful for all the experiences, all the people I met, all the Love I received, all the happiness people shared with me, all the pains and suffering I went through, all the things that did not happen. There is also a gratitude that is directed towards the future. We are grateful for the blessings, the good tidings that will come next year. Even the bad things that may happen, we are still grateful for them for they will lead to better things. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Feelings of gratitude born from the past and future are all well and good but there is another form of gratitude that goes beyond the past and the future. This gratitude is a gratitude that is not directed to anyone or anything. You are not merely thankful for the things that have happened or will happen. You are no longer expecting anything, you are no longer bound to the past. You are simply thankful. The gratitude becomes so vast and empty that you can only smile and utter nothing. I experienced this feeling once while I was working the field. I took a break and sought shelter from the strong sun and sat on a piece of log lying nearby. There was a big fir tree in front of me and I looked at it. It's the same tree that I have been looking at for months but somehow that day, that moment, it looked different. There was a certain energy it was releasing or maybe I was the one directing it towards the tree and it is simply reflecting it. I do not really know. I cannot define it clearly in words but I caught myself smiling, and tears were running down my cheeks. I felt so happy, there was a deep gratitude that I cannot explain. I was not grateful to anyone or anybody, I did not even know what I was thankful for. I was just filled with utter gratitude and joy that I cannot stop myself from smiling. I just tried to put it in words as "timeless gratitude" but these actually do not suffice as a worthy definition of the experience. There is no explanation enough to express what I felt and I think it needs to be experienced rather than explained.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Doors to Happiness</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There is no door to happiness. You can drop all your luggage, cancel all your travel plans, and stop yourself from walking further.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There is no door to happiness. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The road you are standing on, the path you are on right now IS happiness. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There is no seeking needed. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There is no soul-searching needed. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The more you seek, the more you are losing. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Many trust the teaching that you should be happy for what you have because many people do not have it such as food, shelter, and clothing. This is true and we should indeed trust this teaching but I will also add something to it. Be happy for what you do not have. Many people carry burdens that need not be carried. This is true for many politicians and big businesses. They have too much that the happiness brought by material wealth is overburdened by the stress and fear that go with it. They indeed have material wealth but they also have the fear of losing it. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">True happiness in my experience is a balance of what you have and what you do not have. Standing in the middle of the path, the good and the bad is equilibrated and you experience Peace and Happiness. You are no longer happy just for those things you have but you are also happy for what you do not have. Through the clarity and pureness of your perspective, you become more aware of what you need to let go and what you need to hold, then you attain balance. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is the road of happiness, and through co-arising, the road of happiness is also the road of peace, joy, and love. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Amen.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw7fv1_XjbTrl32KPKMawBGGrDTA0qLuEj2iQisIDOB7zT0OCLLg84fSWJnyTiALKey26FDdEWRN0FmvFyIyv6EiG4UkiE0v58sp42Mc5Y4kdr6661fkEmiRYgDwTDoqbxMFarOdQhEP4/s1600/IMG_1846.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw7fv1_XjbTrl32KPKMawBGGrDTA0qLuEj2iQisIDOB7zT0OCLLg84fSWJnyTiALKey26FDdEWRN0FmvFyIyv6EiG4UkiE0v58sp42Mc5Y4kdr6661fkEmiRYgDwTDoqbxMFarOdQhEP4/s640/IMG_1846.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Live your Life as if you are carrying a baby in your arms- not too tight for the baby might suffocate, not too loose for the baby might fall." </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(Photo taken at Teshikaga Town, Hokkaido, Japan)</span></div>
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Ekashihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04045285200621688349noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8684976476703404679.post-82521239280742827412016-12-07T18:57:00.000+09:002016-12-07T18:57:02.219+09:00Shipping Container Tiny House Part 1: Reasons for building a tiny house, Container inspection, Condensation Problems<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Winter Project Number 1 will now commence! As soon as I got back from my pilgrimage to Nara, I immediately went to our land to make some inspections on the shipping container that I will convert into a tiny house. Before anything else, I would like to share the reasons why I decided to build a tiny house.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>What is a tiny house?</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">First of all, what is a tiny house? Simply put, a tiny house is a house smaller than the normal houses and usually these tiny houses are built on trailers and renovated shipping containers. There is already a tiny house movement going on around the world. Since the tiny house is built</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> on trailers or shipping containers, they usually require no city permit to build no building tax. This is also an alternative lifestyle to minimize waste, consumerism, and move towards a more ecological and sustainable lifestyle. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Living in a big house requires a lot of energy!</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Cooling, heating, lighting, and regular maintenance of a large house requires a lot of energy. I am now living in a house for one family and the amount of wood I am using to heat the house is more than I anticipated. The house also has poor insulation so all the heat simply dissipates away to the roof and walls! A tiny house requires smaller energy for heating and with proper insulation, heating the house will be more efficient. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Live in my own Land!</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Building my dream house will require meticulous designing and since I have no professional experience in building a house, it will take a lot of time. So, in the meantime, I wanted to live in a tiny house while slowly building my dream house. I am still renting a house in a nearby house so I had to drive back and forth to my land. I wanted to live in my own land as soon as possible so as soon as I wake up, I can immediately see how my land looks. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Future Guest, Volunteer, Staff House</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When I was looking for a land, I volunteered at different farms and lived in different conditions. I experienced some living quarters with no toilet, no bathroom, no heating, no privacy, and some have one of these or a combination of these. It was a great experience for me to be grateful for whatever I have right now and I realized that living is really supposed to be very simple. So, for my future guests, volunteer, or staff, I wanted to provide a better living quarters than what I have experienced. So, after I finished building my dream house, I can allow volunteers and guests to live in this tiny house and experience living simply with all the needed facilities. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Shipping Container Inspection</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The shipping container is a nominal one (8ft wide, 8 ft 6 in high, 20 ft long; 2.44m wide, 2.59m high, 6.1m long). How the heck can we live in such a small space?! Well, the answer is, we can. With compact design, less possessions, and creative thinking, we can. The shipping container has about 2 to 3 inches of insulation(glass wool). There was already an electric connection from the grid which saved me a lot of work! This was used as a place to rest by the previous owner.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHnfIJWw05YrcXa5o2y_6XRpJW_I9JbRMBZBKBPPSrPe-iiSnz3TtfvVc2hx6gaOJ3OyUZE8ivBU9-5J1qXVqVWLHHksEw3-UnBpXOT4ow_bxCe4fhtkF6X-lAdX5Ng3CxLLvYTNCRIb0/s1600/IMG_2398.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHnfIJWw05YrcXa5o2y_6XRpJW_I9JbRMBZBKBPPSrPe-iiSnz3TtfvVc2hx6gaOJ3OyUZE8ivBU9-5J1qXVqVWLHHksEw3-UnBpXOT4ow_bxCe4fhtkF6X-lAdX5Ng3CxLLvYTNCRIb0/s640/IMG_2398.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Emptying this place is going to be a big job!</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Upon further inspection of the container, I noticed a wet spot on the ceiling with some rotten wood around it. I was worried that there may be a leak on the roof so I removed the ceiling on the part where the ceiling was rotting and lo and behold, rat poop rained all over!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixyXNmEwy1mroY4PuG1XQ7xA4EWhIcXhCbQ-ursUQavPFBjZCzgrJa11SdXXI80SaeCW8dUmBg24NwYhsf9_N0n3NRRMJ2j4HbcO3Kqxv-zy7-QZJ_JdOvXAJt-wgdf4VnbYarmU57w9w/s1600/IMG_2405.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixyXNmEwy1mroY4PuG1XQ7xA4EWhIcXhCbQ-ursUQavPFBjZCzgrJa11SdXXI80SaeCW8dUmBg24NwYhsf9_N0n3NRRMJ2j4HbcO3Kqxv-zy7-QZJ_JdOvXAJt-wgdf4VnbYarmU57w9w/s640/IMG_2405.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Glass wool with sprinkles of rat poop</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The glass wool was a perfect haven for field mice- it's warm, fluffly, and humid. So, the number of job increased! I now have to remove the ceiling, replace the insulation, and rewire the electric connections! I looked closely at the walls too and noticed some wet spots as well. When there are wet spots on the wall, one highly possible problem is condensation.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Condensation Problems</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Imagine a cold glass of water in a warm room. You will start to notice droplets of water forming on the surface of the glass, this is condensation. When warm air and cold air meets on a surface, the difference in the temperature causes the water vapor to condense on the surface. In tropical countries this is not a big problem because there is no big difference in room and outside temperature but in cold climates, during winter, because the house is heated and the outside air is cold, the wall becomes the condensation surface. This problem occurs especially when there is no insulation on the walls. Insulation acts as a barrier between the warm air inside and the cold air outside. Venting, or air exchange between inside and and outside is also critical to prevent condensation.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9SRC2GdQ6RxTh_lMXrxq0rMr0IDSswz479U0wJ3UeuO2X8TD9LYQGDuvqDC96vUsNeAxDE0ZtXY5F0jfw3mSMVYu4h7ugMnIaAPZIJMcCInAD0OS0kOnO8_6dbaMyYmsGt-YyfJhS4EM/s1600/IMG_2411.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9SRC2GdQ6RxTh_lMXrxq0rMr0IDSswz479U0wJ3UeuO2X8TD9LYQGDuvqDC96vUsNeAxDE0ZtXY5F0jfw3mSMVYu4h7ugMnIaAPZIJMcCInAD0OS0kOnO8_6dbaMyYmsGt-YyfJhS4EM/s640/IMG_2411.JPG" width="480" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Wet walls due to condensation on the metal container walls</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Condensation on walls becomes a problem when the wood starts to rot. This becomes a habitat for insects and pests such as rats. Molds also grow resulting to poor air quality. The number of job again increased! I have to remove the rotten wall panels, place a proper insulation, and reframe the walls and panels.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A few days into this project and I can already see the project taking longer than planned. I learned from a carpenter that after planning a building project, multiply the amount of time and budget by 1.5 times and this will be a good estimate. Along the way, for sure there will be unexpected problems that will cost time and money. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now, onto deconstruction!</span></div>
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Ekashihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04045285200621688349noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8684976476703404679.post-56720881648589858732016-12-01T18:37:00.001+09:002016-12-02T08:03:51.098+09:00A Letter to my Co-Creator<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">To my Dearest Co-Creator,</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I pray this message reaches you in high spirits and in Love and Peace. I am writing this </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">letter publicly so that you and everyone whose hearts are both open and slowly opening </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">will be able to read this and bring joy to their hearts.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Presently, you are physically not in my presence but I still wanted to write this in the Present moment for two reasons. Firstly, my heart was simply moved to write one and secondly, I wanted to share this feeling to everyone who is currently seeking their co-creators or even those who have found them.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I wanted you to know that I have finally found the land- the land where we shall co-create a bright family in the Presence of Creations. I am now starting to build the homestead, clearing the land, planting trees, and right now, I am slowly renovating a shipping container into a tiny house. I know building this homestead will take time and money, but I also have that figured out! Right now, I am earning some money from the company my family owns, but to slowly be financially independent, I will be growing mushrooms on logs. I have many things planned so that the money comes in naturally while we would enjoy working on our own land and building the homestead.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Besides building the homestead, I am also building myself one mindful step at a time. Each moment, I try to live mindfully so that I am always aware that within me, my ancestors and my future descendants are living already. Each food, sights, sounds, and air that go inside my body, I am aware that even my ancestors, my descendants are feeling these as well. I am now more mindful of each nutriment that I take in. Sometimes, though, I eat unhealthy foods, listen to music that waters seeds of aggression within me, but I am trying my best to slowly do away with these. I am sure though, that everyday, I grow mindfully one step at a time.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Maybe right now, you are somewhere building yourself as well. Maybe right now, you are caught up in the conditioned world and still unaware of my Presence. Maybe right now, you are going through great suffering in your life. Maybe right now, you are very happy with what you are doing. Maybe right now, you are slowly awakening, finding your way through the dark, guided by a small light. Maybe right now, you are just under my nose and I am not noticing! (give me a big kick at the knee if that's the case!) All these assumptions are not actually needed because I am sure that with each day, each moment, we are moving forward and flowing with the great unfolding of Life! Paths that need to merge will merge. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I am not in a hurry to meet you but surely, I am very excited! I simply wanted you to know that I am doing fine and slowly building this homestead. Although I do have one request. Can you please arrive sooner? lol! I want you to see how the place is changing, I want us to design where to plant trees together, I want us to build the house together! There are many things that we can co-create as this place is being built. So, maybe you can arrive a day earlier than the day we are supposed to meet? lol!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Take your time, love yourself, build yourself, be at peace with yourself first. Love the people around you, love your family, love everyone! So that when we start this co-creation, we can love more people! You are doing well in Life. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I am both waiting and moving on in Life. Many may say waiting is not good, but I think there is an error in this. Waiting is good as long as you are moving on and doing what you love in Life as well. Waiting idly and constantly worrying is not good.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It took eons for this beautiful Earth to manifest, so waiting eons for you to manifest while doing what I love is not a bad idea at all!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">See you soon!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">With all the Love, Peace, and Joy,</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Satoshi</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The Stars have aligned for this beautiful Creation to manifest and soon, the stars will again align for another Co-Creation to happen</span></div>
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Ekashihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04045285200621688349noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8684976476703404679.post-35789430293306358122016-11-28T19:22:00.000+09:002016-11-28T19:22:00.330+09:00Winter Projects! No hibernation for me I guess.<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The snow has settled and is not showing any signs of
melting. Surely, this is the start of winter! I have forgotten how cold the
winter is here in Hokkaido. I enjoyed summer and autumn too much while the
temperature suddenly dropped below zero and snow piled up to blanket the sleepy
terrain.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Now that winter has begun, what are you going to do in
your land?" This may be one of the questions that I have heard of
frequently. Well, the answer is, I will do what I can do. Winter Hibernation is
still a luxury for me who has not yet built my own home in my own land. I have
several winter projects that I have in my checklist that I have to do before
spring arrives! Here are some of them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5-dpDm9J6IYEmQ2sOHhXftFunVn8XHFO0szVG_jju8-aA8mchaSBKOxnzCVGitUH0ENMUYWv_q5SULnOvExkkFbY2SjXm_els4OYwnntP627kUNRWgvsavgoOJhfAL0MtgFC74EfFrZQ/s1600/IMG_2250.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5-dpDm9J6IYEmQ2sOHhXftFunVn8XHFO0szVG_jju8-aA8mchaSBKOxnzCVGitUH0ENMUYWv_q5SULnOvExkkFbY2SjXm_els4OYwnntP627kUNRWgvsavgoOJhfAL0MtgFC74EfFrZQ/s640/IMG_2250.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Winter scenery at the homestead</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Tiny House Winter Project<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Since the July of this year, I have been living in a rented
house in a nearby town while going back and forth to my land. I am deeply
thankful that they are renting this house to me almost for free but I really
hope to live in my own land and build my own house. Building a house needs
meticulous designing and I want to build slowly but surely while having fun.
So, before starting to build a house, I will reconstruct this shipping container into a
Tiny House. During this winter, I will design a compact but cozy tiny house,
remove the inner walls and floors of the container, and renovate the inside. I
hope to finish by spring so that I can move in to my own land starting next
year!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaWXI5krw5i-DJjZvL1cNj6qvvaGVjG5SiY02j7NAYOpEin46oq3BzQZb_ia3stxP6CcnIOWakliwAh5FelonEqTNQHv3vfrxGxqVZbdddGP3_4l8p2NRyvQ-NmrNE5cO1ynL_JESx5Nw/s1600/DSC_0016_R.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaWXI5krw5i-DJjZvL1cNj6qvvaGVjG5SiY02j7NAYOpEin46oq3BzQZb_ia3stxP6CcnIOWakliwAh5FelonEqTNQHv3vfrxGxqVZbdddGP3_4l8p2NRyvQ-NmrNE5cO1ynL_JESx5Nw/s640/DSC_0016_R.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Shipping container to be converted to a Tiny House (Photo taken during summer)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Article or research paper on Food Production and Consumption
in Iwamizawa, Hokkaido<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Last month, I went to a lecture of Helena Norberg-hodge on
localization of food and businesses. This greatly intrigued me as to how
self-sufficient is the community I live in when it comes to food. How much food
is produced? How much of this is consumed here? How much food enters this
community? What are the hidden costs of the cheapness of other products? What
are the effects of large businesses on small, local businesses? These are some
of the questions that I will try to answer and share to the local people to
shed light to this dilemma.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Cutting logs for mushroom production<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Before spring arrives, trees for mushroom production must be
felled during winter while all the sap is in the roots. I will cut the tree and
make sure to leave a bud for it to regenarate or I will replant again in
spring. This is the most laborious job but winter is the only timing for this
job, plus I get to learn the contours of the land and the species of trees in my forest
without being afraid of encountering any bears.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Future Projects Possible in Philippines during winter<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This winter, I will find time to visit Philippines and talk
to my friends and professors regarding what type of project or movement can I
help with when it's winter here in Hokkaido. I'm sure there are still many
people who I can help through their spiritual growth and through them, I can
also grow. I can also do workshops on some gardening methods, building
techniques or any new alternative idea that I tried and tested in Hokkaido and
modify it to fit the climate and culture of the Philippines<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Honestly, before winter finally set in, I went through some
inner turbulences but finally, after a five-day pilgrimage to Nara, Japan, I
have finally found my center again and I am now very excited to start on these
projects!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This winter and the coming spring, there will be great changes
in my life and in the Homestead! Slowly, the place is being prepared for the
building of home, then of the family.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The fire accepts both my good and my bad. There is no discrimination. When all is burnt, when none is left, from the emptiness, true insight is born. </span></div>
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Ekashihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04045285200621688349noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8684976476703404679.post-7848159305218031762016-10-27T14:08:00.001+09:002016-10-27T14:08:59.871+09:00A Contemplation on a Quiet Autumn Day: Where should we be now?<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Before winter sets in, I have been moving and working as if I am a bear who is about to hibernate. Though, I know that I have to stop sometimes, I was lost for a moment and tried to busy myself with work. Today, I was able to stop, light a fire on the wood stove, and slowly contemplate and face my inner turbulences.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The question that recently I am asking myself and also hearing from other people is "Am I where I should be right now?" This question stems from deep anxiety and fear that we are not fulfilled with where we are now. We think that we are currently not doing enough to be satisfied with life. This is commonly referred to as the "quarter life crisis".</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I also asked myself this question a quite a few times. I have seen people who are quite far ahead in life and doing what I wanted to do. I have seen people of my age doing something beyond my abilities. Once you start comparing yourself with others, that is when anxiety kicks in and slowly, fear creeps through our system. Once we start looking at another's plate, we tend to look at our own and compare it with them.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I tried to face this side of mine a number of times but no matter how hard I try to "fight" it, the anxiety and fear still lingers. Recently, I have found the answer. After fighting this "demon" inside me, I realized that this demon is only feeding on my focus and stubbornness to deny it. From the very beginning there is no demon to fight. Fighting it solves nothing. A demon stops being a demon once you embrace it with love and acceptance.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is how I tried to face this anxiety.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Recognize and accept that you carry this feeling</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The very first step is acceptance and recognizing that you have this anxiety. This not only applies on anxiety but on other feelings such as loneliness, insecurities, fear, envy, and others as well. Do not deny that you are anxious of something. Accept it. Recognize that this feeling lingers within you. Because you now recognize this feeling, you can look into it directly. You no longer deny its existence. This first step is very important because without properly identifying this feeling, this will continue to take over our lives and decisions. Before you actually get to know anyone, your first see their face, hear their voice, and know their name. You first get to recognize them before actually getting to know them deeper.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Look deeply into this feeling and learn its roots</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After being able to recognize and accept the existence of this feeling, you can now look into it deeply face to face. By looking deeply, we can learn more about this feeling.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Why are you here?"</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Where did you come from?"</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Why do you exist?"</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">These are some questions you can ask yourself and to this feeling to know more about it. As you learn more about it, you will know where this feeling came from. Did this anxiety come from comparing yourself with others? Is this what I really want to do with my life? Did this hate come from your past experience? You don't have to deny anything. Simply ask yourself these questions and whatever answer arises, accept it. This is the origin of your suffering, embrace it! You have now recognized your anxiety, and looked deeply into it and realized its origin.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Finding the solution to face this feeling</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now that you have learned and understood the origin of this anxiety, you can now come up with a solution that will help remove this suffering. Maybe you need to put more focus on what you are doing. Maybe, instead of comparing what you are doing with others, you can learn from what others are doing and apply it to your life and improve upon it. Maybe you need to avoid seeing these things so what you have to do is filter your social networks or even completely remove it. Only after deep looking can a true and proper solution arise. Do not hurry, give it time. Look deeply as much as you can so you can be sure as to what action you must do. Maybe you do not even have to do anything and this feeling will dissipate. The essential step is to be able to look into it and embrace it as a friend and not as an enemy. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Stepping forward or backward</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So the question is are you stepping forward or backward? You may ask this question yourself but it is important to know that step is a step. Whether it is forward or backward, that's not important. The important thing is you are aware of each step you take. There is no forward or backward, you simply are where you should be. In this moment, you do not have to be anywhere. You simply have to be there. When the time comes to step again, you step again. It may be forward, backward, left, or right- the essential thing is that you are ready to let go and accept new things to enter your life. You may see others in front of you but being in front does not necessarily mean you have to be in the front as well. The direction you need to go may be on the east or the west. It may even be possible that where we have to go is back. Life and technology have become complicated because of our twisted perspective on the concept of development and progress! If this is the current understanding of moving forward, then I would rather step backward. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Even in relationships and partnerships, we are either afraid to take a step, or we are in too much of a hurry to take a step that we make mistakes and love turns into hate. Here, I have experiences where a person is too focused on stepping forward that the person loses sight of the people and events currently around. People tend to forget what they have currently and try to move forward trying to seek something in the future when in fact, when they look closely to what they have now, it is just within their reach. I have encountered people here where they wait for a certain opportunity or a status in life before they can experience other aspects of life. This is one of the traps of suffering. Thinking that you currently do not have what you need so you wait for the future to be happy is a perfect source of anxiety and suffering. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So, wherever you are right now in life, you are supposed to be there. When the proper time arrives for you to take a step, take your step confidently. Go ahead and look at other people's direction but know that you have your own direction to go to. They may look far away from where you are going but that does not mean that you are behind. Each one of us takes a detour in life thinking that this is were we should be going when in fact all of us will reach the same direction in the end, so why not enjoy the journey? It's actually more fun to have a longer journey so just enjoy where you are right now. Turn, meander, take a U-turn, step backward, go up and down, go wherever you want! Just make sure that with each step, you are stepping with love and kindness, embracing creations and manifesting peace!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"The person is where he or she should be right now. You are where you should be. It is that simple. Tomorrow, you will be where you should be. So, just do what you have to do now, and think of nothing else"</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(Photo of Mt. Otobe taken from Assabu)</span></div>
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<br />Ekashihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04045285200621688349noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8684976476703404679.post-1490794309979940242016-10-27T09:18:00.003+09:002016-10-27T09:21:37.157+09:00Here comes winter! Winter house preparations and a little DIY renovations<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The days are getting shorter and shorter while the nights drag on longer. Winter is coming, and it's coming in fast! The first snow already fell but melted the next day. The surrounding was white for a moment but as soon as the sun shone, all melted away. This is just the beginning! Nature is just telling us that soon, the snow will pile up so do all the things you have to do before the snow starts piling up!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Within half an hour the weather changed and the surrounding became all white!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The houses built in this area are made similar to the warmer areas of mainland Japan. The main problem is that during summers, the house is hot inside and very cold in winter! There are draughts going inside the house from all around. To lessen the draught problem, people in this area place a temporary wrap on the windows. Most of the draught go through the window so it is essential to cover it properly. Double pane or even triple pane windows are very expensive so most of the houses here simply use a normal window. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Setting a 7mm bubble wrap on one of the rooms</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Covering the other entrance that I never used! I placed wood frames then about ten centimeters of foam insulation. I will place a plywood or a pallet to cover the foam. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">One of the ways to reduce heating cost of the house is to lessen your living space. This means only using the stuff you need, not buying more stuff, and making the room use as efficient as you can. I covered the other room and then sealed with a plastic bubble wrap.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Heating the house is also one of my concern this winter. The way you heat the house will greatly affect the cost of heating the house. Currently, most people use kerosene to heat their houses. It easier and more convenient to buy kerosene and simply turn on the stove and wait until the house gets warm. Convenience comes with a hidden cost. It is really irrational to think that the fuel used to heat the house has to come from another country. To process the fuel, another fuel needs to be used. To transport the fuel, fuel again is needed. Before it reaches your home, it already used a considerable amount of fuel. Comparing it with using firewood readily available in my surrounding, firewood is more efficient energy wise, and environment wise. Fossil fuel is a non-renewable energy source. It took thousands of years to form and it takes only a few centuries to use all of it. As for firewood, you cut the wood, and new tree will grow in 6-10 years. Using local resources to heat the house was the best choice for me so I replaced the kerosene stove in the house with a wood stove. I got a help from my friend in installing this wood stove.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtXW_gt9hfp6VYDVNRhs1Shw6WvM2fW4Z8XGdtoAsp0NWxqRwlcBf8v92pAFXxMUalFrVm24oSGnsNkGGGk-IQLP0hdy3Huk6oVFbDsiTXbi6N6dn-2Z-vha7_X47R931qagtdT5i7ABQ/s1600/IMG_2143.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtXW_gt9hfp6VYDVNRhs1Shw6WvM2fW4Z8XGdtoAsp0NWxqRwlcBf8v92pAFXxMUalFrVm24oSGnsNkGGGk-IQLP0hdy3Huk6oVFbDsiTXbi6N6dn-2Z-vha7_X47R931qagtdT5i7ABQ/s640/IMG_2143.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The chimney is not yet installed but the bricks were placed around. The bricks were not mortared permanently because next year I will be building a house and I am only renting this house.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Before the snow falls, I started gathering firewood from all over the town. Fallen branches, felled trees from the typhoon, demolished houses, and cardboards from neighbours. I was amazed as to how much stuff people don't need that can still be used! They consider these things as trash but once you decided on pursuing a minimalist lifestyle, nothing can be considered as trash!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuPtsb_qNDlfCExZbpPiQlmuaVPVoep4hUMYwQdm-TUcM4x45_7kHgtABP83mhI2UcKZi-kWMtTbfAf1jixXtokh1P2dNqsxpP2lrrVTrpGJ8u7W9yHtPapO3GW4VUV0tIGeM3U2y9Gp0/s1600/IMG_2154.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuPtsb_qNDlfCExZbpPiQlmuaVPVoep4hUMYwQdm-TUcM4x45_7kHgtABP83mhI2UcKZi-kWMtTbfAf1jixXtokh1P2dNqsxpP2lrrVTrpGJ8u7W9yHtPapO3GW4VUV0tIGeM3U2y9Gp0/s640/IMG_2154.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Still not enough firewood for one winter!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">One of the exciting jobs in winter is construction work inside the house! Now, I can start doing some carpentry or masonry work in the house. I wanted to cover the grey-colored cement floor with a more earthy touch of brown or beige color. I mixed some clay with cement and sand and plastered the whole floor of the entrance!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Cement plastered floor. Personally, the grey color gave off a bleak feeling</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Cement, clay, sand mixture.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIbzzsw6pjaYVqYjBvl58-Kw78Q11zK1U8rhRNKfgLRznI3Qe5dqBAYzdWrujimrORc_FIK0G78xjtQsrY8XwpWX0U3lJJLp1fYGinJwboCKQVZHmWvREBxjqIUbtjP6zSHEevIi1JyNk/s1600/IMG_2168.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIbzzsw6pjaYVqYjBvl58-Kw78Q11zK1U8rhRNKfgLRznI3Qe5dqBAYzdWrujimrORc_FIK0G78xjtQsrY8XwpWX0U3lJJLp1fYGinJwboCKQVZHmWvREBxjqIUbtjP6zSHEevIi1JyNk/s640/IMG_2168.JPG" width="640" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">First-timer's plaster job!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This was my first time doing a plaster job. I have no idea how the plaster should feel or how much water should be added. I improvised as I went! It was really fun and it was pretty levelled. This is one aspect of living a DIY (do-it-yourself) lifestyle. Instead of hiring someone to do this for you, you try to do it with your own skills. No matter your skill level, as long as you try doing it yourself, you learn through the process and a feeling of doing it better next time will arise. You slowly learn how to use your own talents to grab hold of your life. Many DIYers miss the point that DIY is not simply carpentry work or doing something fashionable and stylish. DIY means knowing that you are capable of living in its true essence. Besides carpentry and handicrafts, you have to learn how to cook, how to build a house, how to fix the toilet, how to build a bathroom, how to grow your own food and many many more! DIY also entails reusing as much materials as you can. Instead of using new, non-renewable materials, we try to reuse them as much as possible because we are aware of the environmental impact of manufacturing these products. In doing some carpentry work, instead of using imported wood materials, we use local materials. Instead of buying new insulation materials, we try to find alternative, more ecological materials. In the entrance cover that I made, I reused the insulation foam used by the previous farmer and also reused the wooden frames and pallets. There are limitless possibilities! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">As the winter sets in, more thoughts, considerations, and imaginations flow into or spring from my mind! I am thankful for the hot summers and the cool autumn. I am thankful for the busy life of summer. Now, I am thankful for the calming winter. It is time to stop. Start meditating and planning for next year's bounty! Winter is a time for imagining the next spring's co-creation! </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXkS_bqBqg24pDMvtSy31JhKNDWn_WECzAGTyM8EXDwTvrUz_NJdDoLpAJY8olayrFlDsjg5hkfcELnNtW_DwnG3KS9DytytdgTiqMZeBcjTHwGVbtS-kxg8pQq0xbDkzIMs7Kyr-1-nI/s1600/IMG_2207.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXkS_bqBqg24pDMvtSy31JhKNDWn_WECzAGTyM8EXDwTvrUz_NJdDoLpAJY8olayrFlDsjg5hkfcELnNtW_DwnG3KS9DytytdgTiqMZeBcjTHwGVbtS-kxg8pQq0xbDkzIMs7Kyr-1-nI/s640/IMG_2207.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">"Now is the moment you should be in. Be in it. Cherish it. Then happily let it go."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">(Photo taken at Katsurazawa Dam in Mikasa City)</span></div>
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<br />Ekashihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04045285200621688349noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8684976476703404679.post-1734331447423914802016-10-08T15:41:00.001+09:002016-10-08T15:41:56.831+09:00Writing a Love Letter...To Yourself.<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Have you ever written a love letter to someone? Have you ever received a love letter from someone? I have received and written one before and I felt very happy that I can think and write slowly what I really feel. It helped me express my feelings calmly and not get lost in the moment. The thought that the person who wrote the letter for me spent time and effort to express something to me is very heartwarming so I also spend time to properly reply.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Today, because of easy communication through texting and e-mails, writing a letter has been quite rare. We prefer to communicate faster and easier and most often through that convenience, something is lost. The depth of the words, the effort in each letter are lost along the way and even though communicating has become very quick and convenient, we forget to relate wholeheartedly. In the face of convenience, effort is lost, feelings are diluted, meaning is blurred.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Recently, I have almost been lost in the convenience of electronic communication so I stopped for a while to write something...a love letter. This letter is not just for anyone, this letter was for me.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is how it went.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dear Toshi,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I hope this message reaches you in light and loving spirits! Recently you have been very busy with your preparation for winter. You have been focusing outwardly to other people. I see you are disturbed and your heart is wavering. Why are you anxious? Why do you fear?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Please stop for a while and feel that I love you. I love you with all I am. You are loved. It is alright.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Everything that shall come to pass will pass. You are on the right path. Trust the signs and move accordingly. Embrace your fears and anxiety.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Love everyone and everything! Even your fears and mistakes. Love them. Without these, you are not who you are.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">All is well. All is well. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Listen to your heart, tell it that fear is just a feeling out of lack of trust to the path. Trust me, trust your path, trust the signs.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You may sometimes get hurt, tired, stressed, and frustrated to things going that are unplanned, but, trust me, these are planned. Planned by who? By us of course! We have already created images of a bright future and all we are waiting for is for these to physically manifest. Trust these images!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you sometimes feel tired and lost, just stop and breath. Notice that I am here. Know that you are loved and you can love people, plants, animals, and minerals.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">With all the Love in this world,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Toshi</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is how the letter went. As I was writing this letter, I felt very happy and calm. I was filled with love not from anyone else but from within me! This is one way to learn how to love oneself! This helps us realize how much love is already present within us. After writing a love letter to yourself, and after feeling you have lots of love within you, share it to someone else! Write a love letter to your friend, loved ones, or even your enemies! It doesn't need to be a romantic one. It can be a love letter of gratitude, forgiveness, presence, or understanding. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Spend time to write, express, and share your feelings. I know it is easier and faster to send via email or text but writing and giving your full presence as you write will surely make your feelings reach that person. It does not matter whether they reply or not. The important thing is you showed your presence to that person. You made them aware that you are willing to spend time for them. Many people here around me are always busy! I just want to share with them that they can stop for a while, and create time. A time to reevaluate, reconnect, and reform the foundation of self.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Please, I urge you to create time to stop and write yourself a love letter and you will be surprised as to how much love can spring from your own self!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Under and Above the Tree of Life, We are All Connected </span></div>
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<br />Ekashihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04045285200621688349noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8684976476703404679.post-66439635306507952622016-10-01T07:05:00.001+09:002016-12-06T18:25:42.622+09:00Teaching from the Falling Leaf: Letting go of Attachments<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Autumn has arrived here in Hokkaido. Leaves are starting to fall, colors are changing, fruits are being harvested, hay is being made, and the last spurt of insects are seen. The energy of life is enjoyed to its fullest as the winds of north slowly cools everything down to slumber.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">As I was sitting under the shade to have a break from cutting firewood, I focused my attention to a birch tree. During this season, the birch tree is slowly letting go of its leaves to prepare for the long nap during the winter. Sitting there, looking at the falling leaves, I felt an insight on life! Actually, the timing of this insight couldn't have been any better because for the past week, I have been struggling through some turbulences within me- Attachments.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">When we say attachments, there must always be more than one object. The one attaching itself and the one being attached to. In this instance I was the one attaching myself to different people and this caused me to steer away from who I really am. I was continuously forcing changes within my perspective and goals to fit the preferences of other people. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">When one is attaching to something or someone, only the ego is being fed. The ego grows stronger as you allow attachments to take control of your life. Attachments to material is one of the largest feed of the ego. We attach ourselves to the notion that materials will bring completeness to us even if we already have enough of what we need. We attach ourselves to people who we think will make us happy when in fact, happiness is already within us, presently available. We attach ourselves to a certain belief or doctrine and we cause conflicts with people with other beliefs or even with people with the same belief. In worst cases, when attachment to belief or doctrine has become too formidable, people can cause a lot of suffering and pains.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">If attachment causes lots of suffering and pain, then how can we love someone or our partner? Attachment and love are never found together. True love does not seek attachment because it does not seek happiness or completeness from the outside. True love is aware of the connectedness of everything and since all is connected there is no need to be attached to a single object. Though I am aware of this, since I still have an ego, I forget and sometimes catch myself slowly attaching to people and notions. That is why, it is important to learn to stop doing anything when these feelings arise. Stop and sit, drink tea, breathe. Just like a storm, this too shall pass. When a storm or typhoon arrives, we do not go out to the typhoon and shout at it. We do not go in rage against the typhoon. What we can only do is to wait for it to pass and enjoy the clear sky after the typhoon.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Just like the leaf of the birch tree, it is now the time to let go, so it lets go. The birch tree also lets go. Both knows that it is time. This is not separation. Both knows that the leaf will decompose back into the soil and one day be the leaf again. The leaf may even end up as the rain that will moisten the dry soil of the forest. No matter the physical form, the leaf and the birch is connected. This is true love. So when the time arrives, let go. Gracefully let go of attachments. Be happy that you can let go! Only through letting go of leaves can new buds emerge! Be humble and let go of the things you know and admit that you do not know. Only through a blank canvas can a magnificent image be painted.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Truly love people, animals, plants, and minerals for they are us and we are them.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Sleeping Birch Trees in Winter</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span>Ekashihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04045285200621688349noreply@blogger.com