This is one song that always makes me to live life with a vision. One that I will constantly play towards the end of a year. One that will provoke my emotion, sometimes with sadness, to look forward.
Today, as I look back, I am thankful that I am alive. I am thankful that I have been given good health and been keeping safe. I am thankful that I have been visited with love. I am thankful that I have good meals all throughout the year. I am thankful for all the life lessons learned, and shared, amongst families and friends. I am thankful that I have been able to reach out to people, and with lots of prayers, their lives enriched.
Each one of you - yes! there are just too many, has made 2008 a blessed year for me. "Thank You, All!".
And my wishes that all of us shall have a blessed 2009. HAPPY NEW YEAR!! *Hugs*
This year has been a time of developmental phase. An enormous interchange of comforts in [almost] every aspect of our journey - physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. Nature intercepted us unexpectedly. Along with it, and yet again, it brings about the value of change in us. It has been a year of revelation. A year where we, directly and indirectly, engage with the flow of forces.
In metaphysical perspective, 2008 brings us to a reality beyond the world of physical forces and, at the same time, enriching our soul and mind to engage with the mysterious transcendence of thoughts. Our accomplishment, as I read James Allen's "The Life Triumphant: Mastering the heart and mind", speaks volume of where we are today:
"Every being lives in his own mental world. His joys and sorrows are the creations of his own mind, and are dependent upon the mind for their existence. In the midst of the world, darkened with many sins and sorrows, in which the majority live, there abides another world, lighted up with shining virtues and unpolluted joy, in which the perfect ones live. This world can be found and entered, and the way to it is by self-control and moral excellence. It is the world of the perfect life, and it rightly belongs to man, who is not complete until crowned with perfection. The perfect life is not the faraway, impossible thing that men who are in darkness imagine it to be; it is supremely possible, and very near and real. Man remains a craving, weeping, sinning, repenting creature just so long as he wills to do so by clinging to those weak conditions. But when he wills to shake off his dark dreams and to rise, he arises and achieves."
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How I want to interpret these messages:
01. We are the creator of our own live. As long as we want to live life, we need to be the captain of our mind (and heart too).
02. We are living in abundance. It is how we manifest it. How we allowing this phenomenon to be part of our thinking process. How we accept the law of attractions - together with all the coincidences, and to allow the Law of Process to shape the end result.
03. Only when we open our mind, we open the Manifestation Gateway. This will lead us to access the abundance, that is rightly ours. In its subtlety, what we think is what we get. We get love because we want it. We get hurt because we want it.
04. Success awaits all men who strongly desire for it.
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2008 greets us, in her natural life force, with a paradox of choice. It engineers, and probably testing, our mental capacity towards the meaning of 'Being in the flow of life'. It makes us think, and generate our feelings, to create the energy for our future. Perhaps, the Universe is trying to understand the way we want our lives to be, for the next year and years ahead. Perhaps, she is connecting us to a causal principle. Do we want to live life in abundance and allow the rich experiences for a magical existence? Or do we want to reject the opportunity to grow with life force energy and enter into moral decline?
Life is a manifestation of what we think, and feel. In the cohort for better life, in all the positive character and conduct, we make a choice that 2008 would be a transcendental year. We choose to move out of our comfort zone to something bigger. We let go of Hertford for Reiki Sanctuary. We let go of the calm strength of where we used to live, for almost 20 years, to stand face to face with a new ground. We make a mental remark that it is to a higher ground. It is our mental superlative victory.
We are creating a want for a better future. One that holds us, on Mother Earth, to yield for a physical triumphant. It is not about material reward nor a glorious material show-off but for a gratitude of thoughts and feeling good about ourselves and our lives. The Universe has always taught us to be in the flow. To live life in miracles rather than believing in miracles to happen. It is about having an assistant in our physical spirit world to put events (to come) together. It is more about us than the events themselves.
Only when we can take care, and take charge, of our lives that we can start to generate the cycle. In all things well, the magnificent of our physical, mental, emotional and spiritual will bring about meaningful coincidences all around us.
And so the flow has started. It starts with the year 2008. The birth of this blog triggered, in no uncertainty about it, from the seed of joy. The Want for a joyful soul. This blog is about a gratitude for the gift that it has brought upon us. It is about a relationship with our true nature for guidance to our best next step. It bridges all faith, excitement and anticipation and opens our world.
Love has taken a new meaning in 2008 too. When there is conviction for faith and courage, our true nature [Love] is not separate from the Universe that we are all part of. Like attracts like and, in ever a constant battle for choices, we perpetuate the same kind of emotional energy. 2008 generates a lesson where for all the past actions that we cannot change, it is giving us a second chance to change our attitude and get off of our position about it.
2008 greets us with a higher vibrational energy. It constantly fills with a loving act for acceptance. And forgiveness. We are not to remain forever a schoolboy in the Universe but becoming a confident and skilled souls, living in understanding and peace and not in ignorance and misery. We become more open with communication even when there are topics that could come to grief.
We are thankful for all the positive synchronicity that the year 2008 has brought us. The blessings that we will cherish. The love that has been showered. The giving, caring, hoping, expecting, celebrating and being passionate about everything.
Soon, as we greet another new year, we want to look back at 2008 with personal reflection. That, with all the joyous gifts aside, we are still a learning imperfect individuals. We may have hurt some people - our families, our friends and acquaintances - through our actions and/or words intentionally or unintended.
We have always tried to live life in harmony, to bring joy and peace amongst us. To respect. To love. To care. To give. And as always, we have always been thankful for all your presence in our lives.
In our imperfection, we seek for forgiveness.
We have always loved all of you. Maybe, it is just not enough.
and Prayers,
From: Reiki Sanctuary
And, Let's sing together!!
You'd better watch out
You'd better not cry
You'd better keep cash
I'm telling you why
Recession is coming to town
It's hitting you once
It's hitting you twice
It doesn't care if you've been careful and wise
Recession is coming to town
It's worthless if you've got shares
It's worthless if you've got bonds
It's safe when you've got cash in hand
So keep cash for goodness sake
HEY
You'd better watch out
You'd better not cry
You'd better keep cash
I'm telling you why
Recession is coming to town!
Finance products are confusing
Finance products are so vague
The banks make you bear the cost of risk
So keep out for goodness sake
OH
You'd better watch out
You'd better not cry
You'd better keep cash
I'm telling you why
Recession is coming to town.
Happy Holidays to all our readers.
Happy Holidays to all our families.
Happy Holidays to all our friends.
"Thank You" to all my friends, you really make me feel that we are bonded, for calling or sms-ing and asking about Ruby.
Geez, what was I thinking! Guess, I just have to make it sounds right now.
Hehe, my entry, "You're Not Just A Memory" was just a reminiscence of the good old days at Hertford. It was about the weekly walk where we took Ruby out. It had always been a wonderful activity where, together with her, we spent quality time talking about anything and everything. It brought us closer. It gave us the meaning of love. At the same time, it was about acquainted ourselves with the neighbourhood.
Those pictures are Ruby's story. She enjoys her weekly outing. Oh, you may ask 'why only once a week?' Healthy she may look, she has a genetic 'Heart Mitral Valve (MVD)' disease. Basically, it is a terminal illness which afflicts many Cavalier King Charles spaniel where the mitral valve no longer fully closes after each pumping action. It results in her heart murmuring - a louder murmur [scale of 1 - lowest, to 5 - highest] indicates a serious progression of the disease. Ruby has been screened at scale 3.
We are also trying to minimise Hip Dysplasia, an abnormal development of the hip which can produce various degrees of arthritis. Ruby loves to run and it will not do justice if she is not given that opportunity whenever she is outside the house. To lessen our conscience, and as she is growing older, we choose to walk her weekly.
Such diseases can be avoided if only breeders are more responsible. Then again, this is another story. With her rather-not-so-good health, Ruby is on a daily long term medication to treat the murmur. Or, at least to stabilise the murmur. Everyday, she has to be fed with two different MVD medications. Aggravated with MVD, she had a bout of other health problems. Her vet suspected of a failing kidney and, unfortunate to her, she has to be given with another daily long term medication to treat and vitalise the organ.
You're Not Just A Memory is a dedication to Hertford. I just wanted to write it from Ruby's perspective. She was comfortable there. Just as much memories to us, Hertford was the rainbow that brought the connection of our existence. Of life lesson. Of unconditional love. Of acceptance. Of the acts of caring and loving. Of responsibilities.
She is alright, just a little older and not so much active now. Hehe, and still greedy and enjoying her durian everyday. And still wanting to be near human all the time!
This used to be the place I ran to
That no one in the world could dare destroy
...
The best things in life are always free
...
You're not just a memory
Say goodbye to yesterday
Those are words I'll never say
As the days passed, that we are settling comfortably here in Reiki Sanctuary, a new insight has started to become surreal. Perhaps, it is the path of truth. And, I just want to believe it is so. An awakening of mindfulness on the path to immortality. A valuable gift, which was once given, lost. Not that it was robbed away but, a lack of gratitude and mindless oblivious negligence, made it so easy to slip away.
That's the power of gratitude. When, and only when, we internalize the appreciation - big or small, everything will fall into places. More so, when gratitude is about feeling the effect and rejoicing the fulfillment with happiness and delight. That, it stays within us even when life hits us at the lowest pit. In joy, in sadness, in health or even in sickness. Just as an arrowsmith shapes an arrow to perfection, gratitude shapes a well rewarded synchronicity to better things to life. Life becomes the thought energy we seek. What we think is what it becomes. It is confronting, proceeding without attachment, of building a mind as solid as a fortified city.
It is what we focus that attracts the coincidences into reality. A thought is an energy that vibrates and orchestrates an accomplishment. We just need to harness it for our own good. We need to learn to own, and take charge, the thought energy and to (let it) bring us to a journey filled with joy and peace. We should guard what we have already acquired, or conquered, or learned and further create for a more well-being soul.
I become what I think about. The me I see is the me that it shall be. It is, yes!, that simple. Allowing the positive consciousness to guide our mind shall result in all things well. The same goes with all the negative consciousness. That when we rein our mind - which is often unruly, capricious and rushing wherever it pleases, life will bring its rewards. Everyday, we just need to pay a little bit more attention to it. Effortlessly, we just have to keep the best while throwing the rest.
And I just love the saying "Emotional baggage can be heavy, carry only what you need." How true!
Reiki Sanctuary raised our spiritual attunement to a higher level. She presents us with life of heaven and earth coming together. She is the Shambhala of our new frontier. She magnifies our prayer energy and freely attracts a synchronistic process.
We moved into Reiki Sanctuary in a time where the earth grid has changed. In our gratitude, it nurtures our faith and actualizes our mindful awareness. Somehow, we are beginning to observe an extra dimensional of our thought process. It is no longer about watching our thought but living with the energy. About synchronicity, intuition and personal destiny.
What we think comes about. What we say comes about. In the mystic world of Shambhala, guess we are now in touch with the mysteries of great masters. And we can only be thankful that the time has come to us.
"And YES!, we want it!"
A Dedication To All Our House Plants in Reiki Sanctuary
We love having plants in the house. They are just a simple placement art - a life-affirming nature that frees us to enjoy our surroundings and releases inner peace.
Admittedly, we don't have green thumb. All throughout, when we were in Hertford, many plants were brought home and withered (Haha, this would be a better word than to say that they all died in our hands). Still, the love to have them sharing our home constantly keeps us getting new ones every now and then. Here, in Reiki Sanctuary, we keep that love alive. We welcome them. Letting them to purify and bring fresh chi into the environment around us.
Our all-time favourite Iron Plant:
We fell in love with this plant when we were scouting for a tall foliage for the balcony. The formation of the branches is an art and it is, always, so peaceful just looking at the natural beauty.
And our newest 'collection':
We were introduced to this plant by a friend and was told it brings abundance.
"Sunshine" as it brings light and joy in the living room. Having artificial flowers are far better, and advisable, than to have dried ones in the house:
House plants are, based on geomancy, a simple solution for creating comfort and keeping harmony in the house. They are great for clearing blocked and stagnant energies. It is said that caring for house plants does not require a green thumb but love. Ah!! *Blink, blink* - we have a lot of it! Heng!
In geomancy, the purpose of having house plants is to generate good chi. Its rationale is, since plants embody the element of wood, thus they contain the life force. In return, their life force attracts vital energy to energize the room and clear the air, mentally and physically. In that relaxing sense of space, it rejuvenates our emotions and uplifts our spiritual mind.
Observe how a plant can actually revitalise and provide mental relaxation after a long day. Or even after arguments or unsettling events. Their life force simply spreads calmness and peace for the soul. Plants are also believed to lessen the effects of electromagnetic stress emitted from TVs and other electrical equipment. They absorb potentially harmful EMF emissions.
However, What we give is what we get. We would be a fool to expect so much if we are not going to reciprocate. There is always a limit to everything. It's a simple nature versus nurture attitude. When we give love, we get love. When we nurture love, anything is possible.
House plants need to be cared too. The more we give, the more we get. It is important to know that house plants can stagnant the energies in the house and produce negative chi if the they are not cared for adequately.
Some guides to care for house plants to achieve optimum feng shui:
01. Watering Your Plants
Create a water ritual to water them on a regularly basis. As you water your house plants, visualize the plants as strong and healthy and with every drop of water, they become more vibrant.
02. Name Your House Plants
Name each house plant. The more you personalize them, you are more likely to give them more tender loving care.
03. Purpose for Your House Plants
Give a purpose to each house plant. For example, make a plant responsible for bringing wealth and abundance into your house. For many, we have always taken the Money Plant to represent money. As we water it, visualize each leaf as a thousand dollar bill, or whatever the denomination you desire. For the wealth to grow, you must care for it and then let it be to grow into a vibrant and healthy plant.
Reiki Sanctuary welcomes "Ah Huat!" at her door step:
You can have different plants for different purposes:
- Health
- Career
- Self Esteem
- Etc
04. What You Give Is What You Get
It is important to care for the house plants. Place them in a container that is visually aesthetic to you, and your family. Do not place them in an old pot that remind you of a difficult time in your past. Treat them with respect. Dress them with love. Give your faith.
Take care of your plants and they will take care of you!
This is a room where one miscommunication, during the renovation, has turned out to be a blessing. During the initial planning stage, we wanted to have a filing wardrobe above the study table. Basically, it will be a wardrobe for files, books and stationeries. Instead, Chiauw instructed the joiner for a shelf.
Should we have insisted on the filing wardrobe, this whole study room will be cluttered. There will be too much wardrobe all around. We would probably regret it.
Without the filing wardrobe, it makes the study room a little spacious
- The Guest Room
The past few weeks had been a mind blogging and puzzling occurrence. I spent a lot of time trying to troubeshoot my computer problem. The system was still running well. There was no software lag nor were there any signs of serious hardware failure. Haha, ok Choi! Choi! I was able to connect to the internet, sent and received emails and surfed well.
There were no indicative serious malware problems but I had a blog annoyance. My blog played punked on me. It simply didn't allow me to sign-in. Posting or updating, therefore, was impossible.
I switched ISP when we moved into Reiki Sanctuary. It is said that a dedicated ADSL connection, in comparison to cable, fetches a better speed especially when you stay in HDB. Ah, but there's a prize to pay for it.
The Universe, surely, has a way stacking up my thoughts and jesting my inner emotions. Perhaps,she was asking me to make up my mind. To be assertive. To affirm my desire. To know the journey based on the want I choose, and chosen, and pursue it from there. Basically, I believe it is about being clear with my wants. Free from cloudy adversary. Distinctly clear with faith. The road to [any] success lies in our consistency and, consciously, fixed the parameters of our determined purpose towards the fruition of something big. We become what we think about; the rewards are result of vibrational energies put together.
Just before I faced with the computer problem, and when Reiki Sanctuary had almost completed (ok, there is still outstanding work and Chiauw is still not able to finish with the acrylic) with the renovation, I was at a crossroad. The primary purpose of Reiki Sanctuary was about a journey in setting up a new home for me. To journalise my path as I walked through it day to day. To imprint the experiences and, in my own way, express these events openly to the Universe. About the apprehension of everyday anxieties of uprooting to another place. About the emotional expression of the joys and frustrations. It is my believe that a written desire, penned sacredly, is a way to communicate with the Universe. It is a way of reaching out, receiving in. It is the only way the Universe will know how serious we want the things in life.
Slowly, as I was settling comfortably and well, my mind started to ponder. I wondered what else was there to write? It had also come to a point where, upon reflection, the joys and accomplishments in Reiki Sanctuary had become personal. That, it disregarded others' feelings. That, it had become such a show off. That, I was left naked and all about my reflexive form exposed.
I was slapped with an awakening feeling. The question of self pursuit, in all the triumphant aloneness, was battling with the stigma for social cohesiveness. That I should, or should not, be in the critical mass of individuals and forget about who I Am and what I want my life to be. It put me back at a junction searching for another unfolding dynamic energy.
The thought and feeling had become, somewhat, a burden. I needed a way out. I prayed for clarity of mind and for peace within. The Universe, in her usual loving and unconditional love, never failed to deliver. It may not be immediately understood nor would the right of path was at once evident to the mind. The virtue to silent the mind bore the immediate relation.
It is time, as such, that we need to realize we are still [an imperfect] human being. That we are always faced with choices and yet to make one right for ourselves. I contemplated ending my blog. It is said, all good things must come to an end. Must it?? Deniably, everything comes to an end but must, and should, the things we deeply loved be sacrificed? Deep within me, there is great personal joy developing this blog. It had served its other purposes too.
In The New Beginning, first written on 15 March, 2008, I wrote:
"I have always wanted to write a blog. Often, my mind has so much things going on. I always felt it would be good to calm it down by writing the thoughts - to imprint them so that I can reflect the values, mind mapping my path and let it serve as foundation where I should honour and embrace permanently into my life."
The Universe never forgets. For what is verbalised, and imprinted, she makes sure I carry it through. Like a mother, she will only let it go when I want to let it go. She raises us to become what we want to be. To intensify our thought, to learn as we go along, and never to abandon us to suffer. We lose because we allow ourselves to lose. But endurance and consistency are what she applaud.
And so my PC becomes the intermediary. For an unknown reason, I could not access the blog. There was no way I could sign in. No way I could compose. The site looked corrupted:
Days were spent trying to diagnose the problem. At first, I thought I had been attacked with a browser hijack or, worse, a dns hijack. Many anti spywares were run. So were anti virus programs. It had a glimpse of hope just for one day, after troubleshooting it with anti spyware and anti virus, but soon the site became inaccessible again.
Frustration grew.
I had always wanted to reformat the PC before moving into Reiki Sanctuary. It was to give the system a welcome feeling to the new house. More so when I would be changing ISP. Unfortunately, I never got to find the time to honour the thought. "Watch The Thought" it says and, true to its mystical energy, my PC acted.
Perhaps, the Universe wanted me to settle my energy in Reiki Sanctuary and to enjoy the labour of love. I spent too much time arranging, and re-arranged, things in the house. It had become an obsession. It sapped my physical energy. I was on the lookout for defects. I eluded even a simple lighthearted rapport with the people around me. I was, unconsciously, trapped back into a cave.
Days were spent to reformat the PC. It actually eased my anxiety. The computer, at last, got a new life. A new dressing amidst the old hardware. I honoured my thought to reformat it.
However, the problem accessing my blog remained. Worse, I cannot even open hotmail messages. I started to have worries. The problems were much bigger than I thought. Have I violated the Terms? Have Vox banned my account without informing me? Strangely, my Vox account was still accessible from another computer on another IP. Have all my personal internet database hacked?
Guess, when we endeavour to live the life we imagine, success will come unexpectedly. The Universe opened the path and provided me the clarity. All at once, I felt it had nothing to do with my computer but an ISP glitch.
Finally, I am home! I am thankful that I encountered the problem. It gives me new perspective. A new courage. A new computer lesson. A new insight.
This time round, I shall honour what I had intended to do. I should have faith in what I wanted. I am sure it will be taken care off.
I am thankful that I am loved. Thank You!
OK, I am about to pass judgement and a mindless to behold. But, before I let my mind to have its mental diarrhoea, it would be good to reflect on this action. "I know that" are extremely dangerous words and before I lose more opportunities in my life, let these quotes guide me towards forgiveness to make improvements to my happiness and peace of mind.
The act of judgement is an act of pride. It involves looking to our own store of knowledge, putting together a few facts, figures or fancies, and coming up with some sort of answer or solution to a given problem or situation. All too often it is the wrong solution or answer, and because of pride, we refuse to correct course.
Judging others is an act of monumental pride - enormous pride, stupendous pride, galling, astonishing, fantastic pride. This should be understood. When you render judgement on another, you have taken upon yourself an awesome responsibility for making the correct judgement. Because, after all, your judgement is not necessary.
All things, big and small, invite your judgement. The condition of the weather, political matters, the taste of your food, a television program - at every moment of the day, something or other is inviting your judgement of it. And so often, and so willingly, you render it, without being aware of the consequences, without taking care of the responsibilities entailed.
You judge, and then to make matters worse, you believe in your judgement. You've looked at the evidence, you've made a judgement - it must be right! There couldn't possibly be any other conclusion to arrive at but the one your've chosen, could there?
What you don't see, don't understand, is that your judgement leads to suffering - your own suffering. It does not touch the person judged; he or she is free of you and your thoughts and your judgements. You cannot change their behaviour by even a hair's breadth by your judgement.
And I love the words of Cheshire Calhoun:
In social life, there are unending opportunities to find other people boring, disagreeable, repulsive, stupid, sleazy, inept, bigoted, lousy at selecting gifts, bad cooks, infuriatingly slow drivers, disappointing dates, bad philosophers, and so on. The civil person typically conceals these unflattering appraisals, since conveying them may easily suggest that one does not take others' feelings or the fact that they may have different standards to be worth taking into consideration or tolerating.
You see, I am only human and I have splintered mind. Today, as it rains (again), which has been almost every other day since we move in, the impression that I got about staying in Reiki Sanctuary is one of solitude, magnificence and abundance. The exact phrase when I started this blog.
Nonetheless, it can be unfair to evaluate Reiki Sanctuary based on the rain as this natural downfall may not be representative. My master used to tell me, "why shun the rain when it is supposed to be water from heaven?" He walks in the rain and as the water gifts upon his head, he takes in the abundance. In my general tendency, and in my confirmation biasness, the rain can make one sick. It results in my judgement that his action, by contrast, is overlooked. For that matter, his interpretation discounted.
Now, the rain has become a self fulfilling prophecy. Perhaps, I am forming my master's impression - a behavioral confirmation in ways reflective of what I want Reiki Sanctuary to be. Afterall, we cannot deny that water constitutes an intrinsic part of our daily life and we just could not survive without it. Amongst its countless benefits, rainwater can be a detox - instant cleansing and purification, experience.
I love the rain. It is nice to see the falling rain and the breeze as it brings along. Just looking at it is very therapeutic. There's freshness around. Here, in Reiki Sanctuary, I can touch it. I can smell it. We let the windows opened even when it rains hard. Somehow, the rain does not stream into the house. The only window that we need to close is the one at the balcony. When we were in Hertford, the windows must be, or rather it was always, closed and it separated us. We blocked each other.
I don't avoid the rain anymore. Infact, it does not bother me much if it rains cat and dog. The rain is, somehow, something that many of us avoid at times. It ruins hair-dos, wets shoes, makes clothes unwearable, gets us cold. Whatever the reasons we choose to provide, we have tried to stay out of the rain at different times in our lives.
The beauty about Reiki Sanctuary is through the open window. She brings to bear courage. She nurtures an open mind. She invites the Universe to come through, day and night. Hertford, in all her essential being and illuminative ways, was somewhat scarcely reactive. Perhaps, it was a gestational period for the conception of bigger things ahead.
Am I ready for all things new? I wonder. As for now, there are things (of the past) that I still dearly want.
And, it is still raining now ..
