Prettige Kerstdagen!

UP Diliman Campus

University of the Philippines - Diliman

Hundred Islands

Click title for more pictures.

Still Life - Magical Egg

Appels en Aardappels

Yesterday we made Waldorfsalade, prei 'au jus', appelbollen, chocoladetruffels. It was very good but I prefer 'island cooking'.

I had red wine like I did last week; I had attracted a lot of attention because of my dark red colour. They had thought it was from the red-hot chili pepper or sambal -- I must admit it was so hot tears went rolling down my face.

The appelbollen were so hot we had to wait for while before we could eat them.

After dinner we went to watch the young black dancers dance. They had just finished their practice but they decided to dance for us one more time before leaving.

When I woke up this morning I remembered my chocoladetruffels; they're still sitting in the refrigerator at the school canteen.



Dutch Food

The Evil Practices of the Music Industry

Surinaamse Bami

Using spaghetti. Love it!

Choices

We are what we think.
All that we are arises with our thoughts.
With our thoughts we make the world.
Speak or act with an impure mind
And trouble will follow you
As the wheel follows the ox that draws the cart.
We are what we think.
All that we are arises with our thoughts.
With our thoughts we make the world.
Speak or act with a pure mind
And happiness will follow you
As your shadow, unshakable.
"Look how he abused me and hurt me,
How he threw me down and robbed me."
Live with such thoughts and you live in hate.
"Look how he abused me and hurt me,
How he threw me down and robbed me."
Abandon such thoughts, and live in love.
In this world
Hate never yet dispelled hate.
Only love dispels hate.
This is the law,
Ancient and inexhaustible.
You too shall pass away.
Knowing this, how can you quarrel?
How easily the wind overturns a frail tree.
Seek happiness in the senses,
Indulge in food and sleep,
And you too will be uprooted.
The wind cannot overturn a mountain.
Temptation cannot touch the man
Who is awake, strong and humble,
Who masters himself and minds the dharma.
If a man's thoughts are muddy,
If he is reckless and full of deceit,
How can he wear the yellow robe?
Whoever is master of his own nature,
Bright, clear and true,
He may indeed wear the yellow robe.
Mistaking the false for the true,
And the true for the false,
You overlook the heart
And fill yourself with desire.
See the false as false,
The true as true.
Look into your heart.
Follow your nature.
An unreflecting mind is a poor roof.
Passion, like the rain, floods the house.
But if the roof is strong, there is shelter.
Whoever follows impure thoughts
Suffers in this world and the next.
In both worlds he suffers
And how greatly
When he sees the wrong he has done.
But whoever follows the dharma
Is joyful here and joyful there.
In both worlds he rejoices
And how greatly
When he sees the good he has done.
For great is the harvest in this world,
And greater still in the next.
However many holy words you read,
However many you speak,
What good will they do you
If you do not act upon them?
Are you a shepherd
Who counts another man's sheep,
Never sharing the way?
Read as few words as you like,
And speak fewer.
But act upon the dharma.
Give up the old ways -
Passion, enmity, folly.
Know the truth and find peace.
Share the way.

-- The Dhammapada

How to find lost objects

Principle 1: Don’t look for it yet. Wait until you have some idea where to look.
-- Professor Solomon

Roti en Masala Kip (Surinaams)

Bad News!

DELFZIJL - De directie van Aldel in Delfzijl gaat het personeel een loonoffer vragen van 20 tot 25 procent.

Klappen
Aldel heeft flinke klappen opgelopen door de recessie en de hoge energieprijzen. Het bedrijf schroefde daarom eertijds de productie fors terug en vroeg werktijdverkorting aan. Ook kwamen 175 mensen op straat te staan.

Het concern lijkt vooralsnog niet in staat om uit het dal te klimmen en draait nog altijd met verlies. Daarom vraagt Aldel het personeel om loon in te leveren.

Sterfhuisconstructie
De medewerkers van het bedrijf hebben onthutst gereageerd op het nieuws. Dinsdagmiddag zijn de vakbonden ingelicht. En ook die zijn verbaasd én ontstemd. Vakbond FNV Bondgenoten spreekt van een ‘sterfhuisconstructie’. Nu al staat het water veel gezinnen tot de lippen. Als werknemers ook nog loon moeten inleveren, is het hek van de dam.

Het personeel van de andere Nederlandse vestiging in Vlisssingen kreeg maandag de onheilstijding al te horen.

(Well, at least people, who lost their jobs, are getting almost as much as what people, who still have their jobs, will be getting. I'm giving myself atmost 5 years to make it, without a regular job. Just to prove some principles. And to prove some people wrong.

Rowan Atkinson Live

Under Painting

Pastechi and Pancakes (Antillian)

This evening we were all busy making what looked like empanadas to me. And we were filling them with cheese, tuna, or minced meat fried with paprika, raisins, and piccalilly. We were beginning to feel like family, teasing one another and exchanging banters. One of the younger women tried to find out more about me, about my origin, my culture, and asked me what I thought about the Dutch and the local Groningers.

At dinner time we couldn't tell which pastechi is which. They were small ones but very satisfying. They filled us instantly and we washed them down with red wine or fruit juices. The pretty white-haired woman who sat at my right side was complaining that the black women weren't eating with us. Like a little girl she kept repeating: It's not nice! It's not nice! I told her to hush and eat her dinner. She immediately complied.

At around 8 I was feeling tired and quiet already. The other younger women, the prettiest of them all, who always sat opposite me at table must have noticed it and was looking at me with compassionate eyes as if she wanted to ask me why but I ignored her. I kept looking around. The guy who joined us two weeks ago in someone else's place tried to attract my attention smiling at me with friendliness a number of times. When he finally caught my eye he told me to eat more. I politely smiled back at him in acknowledgement. But I couldn't have more, so they told me to take home some of the pasties.

The members of the young all-black dance group finished their dance practice and joined us at table. They too were eating our pancakes made of gourd puree and flour mixed with eggs.

"I want to know if you can live with failure, yours and mine, and still stand at the edge of the lake and shout to the silver of the full moon, 'Yes.'

It doesn't interest me to know where you live or how much money you have. I want to know if you can get up after the night of grief and despair, weary and bruised to the bone and do what needs to be done to feed the children."

-- Oriah

Christianity

Old Story!

Baby

my Baby!

Money

It's everything. If you don't have it.

E-mail

Lost communication. Lost contact. Out there somewhere.

Sinter Klaas

Dutch Spanish Invasion.

Brainwashing

Software versus Hardware. Programming versus hardwiring. Good thing!

Speaking

Too much to be good.

Self-assurance

Faking it and making it.

Dinner

I have an apple of contentment (onion), an apple of discord (Jonah gold), and something that lost its head. Guess what.

Dukha

I's not buddhism. It's dharma and KARMA!

Make it or Fake it

Do as if you already made it.

Painting

No time to paint. It's winter! I'm hibernating.

60 is the new 40

I'm just a kid! Just kidding.

The Girl Next Door

She loves me. She loves me not!

Ego

Don't waste your time on Ego. You are Ego. Go!

Do or Die

Do as if you are about to die.

Strength

Be kind.

Believe It or Not

This year I haven't work for anyone for a single day but I have more money in my bank and saving accounts at this time of the year than at any time in the past. And I have been following a number of courses that I really wanted to do, been listening to several lectures on buddhism, motivation, and other interesting things everyday, been doing what I want to do, spent my annual vacation outside the country, bought myself several things, and made what I wanted to make. Moreover I am giving myself the chance and the time to start a new career in what I really want to do to be happy and to be truly successful.

Unless something else comes up. Like an offer I am not allowed to refuse. ;)

An Attachment

There was a time when I was getting tired of visiting my favorite blogs and keeping my own blog. And several times I really wanted to stop. Once I even changed the names of my blog addresses so I could leave undetected. But for some reasons I just kept on. Moreover at the end of August I started visiting again and making comments everywhere. I am still thinking of stopping but somehow I just keep going.

How to live a simple life

Don't waste your time and money.

Our House

Strawberry Fields Forever

Top 6 Keys to Being a Successful Teacher

1. Sense of Humor

2. A Positive Attitutude

3. High Expectations

4. Consistency

5. Fairness

6. Flexibility

To be really great in little things, to be truly noble and heroic in the insipid details of everyday life, is a virtue so rare as to be worthy of canonization.

-- Harriet Beecher Stowe

A Recording

To download.

There is a vitality, a life-force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action and because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and be lost.

-- Martha Graham

Turkish Cooking

Today we learned how to make mercimek sorbasi (lentil soup), prepare patates salatasi (potato salad), and bake Kunta Kinte (chocolate cake). Last time we had karniyarik (stuffed eggplant), pilav (rice), revani (meal pudding).

Since I was the only man in the group of 14 people, I was given a lot of encouragement by everyone. It felt like I suddenly acquired several mothers or mothers-in-law, except for five, who appeared to be younger than I was. Anyway all of them were slouching most of the time. One white-haired woman accidentally leaned against me and apologized profusely as soon as she realized what she had done. I smiled and assured her she didn't have to worry because I don't usually get excited very easily. The older the crazier, she added quickly and everyone laughed. However, two of the younger and prettier women were making me nervous because of the way they looked and smiled at me. Nevertheless I tried to keep my composure all the time, avoided flirting with anyone of them. Instead I did my best to peel the potatos as quickly as I could.

The food tasted very good. I had two servings of the chocolate cake while some of the women, especially the four black ones, took home slices of the cake.

Midnight Express Movies

Still Life

Anything you do might cause pain and sorrow. Intended or not. If there is no intention to harm there is no need for worry and fear. But be careful anyway.

Paper Engineering

Your Money ... from fear to sufficiency

Happiness is a how, not a what; a talent, not an object.

—Herman Hesse

Tearing down the house

The body the Buddha

The body is the only body you have. You cannot have body transplant. Or mind transplant.

The body has no past. Only scars. The self has pains and suffering. Traumas and dogmas.

To realize that is Nirvana. Buddhahood.

"The purpose of art is to wake up and live from a deep place."

Grateful Dead Live at Copps Coliseum

In streaming audio.

What you believe is what you perceive.

Life itself is traumatic

"There is no such thing as growing up without traumas."

- The teacher, not the pupil.

"The brain is afraid of danger and embarrassment."

-- Animal Planet

Just sit. Don't worry. Breathe in. Breathe out.

Avoid comparing yourself to others. You are not less than anybody. But not better. And not equal. You don't have to be like everybody. And you don't have to be different. You're just different. Someone said "I'm not like other girls; I'm different". I think she's right.

"So this life, bhikkhus, does not have gain, honour, and renown for its benefit, or the attainment of virtue for its benefit, or the attainment of concentration for its benefit, or knowledge and vision for its benefit. But it is this unshakeable deliverance of mind that is the goal of this life, its heartwood, and its end."

-- the Buddha

Papancha

"We build houses of thoughts and we live in them."
-- Book of Lies.

Mundo bailando - Belle Perez

belle perez songs
Free mp3 download | free music download

Suffering

"Being loved by the wrong person is suffering." Or loving the wrong person.

Marching Time (Anne's Song)

A live improvisation on keyboard.

Summer Tour

Paul came back from his three-week tour of Austria, Italy, Hungary, and Slovenia last week. He had his haircut too.

In less than fantastic and glorious way

"An essential component of forgiveness and compassion is realizing that the other person's words and actions are not about you, but about his own internal reality which has intersected with yours."

-- The Dalai Lama

"We are each the star of our own movie. Practice invites us to honor every member of the cast of characters in our life, remembering that they have their own reality. And through it all we can wake up from the dream."

--SRMC

Fogging the mirror

Going for Nirvana. Don't waste time. Time flies.

“I don't see a benefit in accepting every single little morsel of work that comes along because I think in essence what you're doing is you're raping yourself really.”

--Karl Urban

Take care

"If I don't finish my 'meditation' I tend to get a little cranky. Take care now, bye bye then."

Just like heaven!

I'm Not There

Just dust

Don't pay the rent;
sing to the landlord
silhouetted against the sunset
to the rythm of a tango.
Much, much later
chocolate kisses
are supremely unimportant.
We no longer need our names.
Surely now I know
why sleep feels so good.

Just as we are about
to give up everything,
I know there's no such thing
as heaven or hell.
And you start explaining
why you're here.
I once dreamed about
the theory of creationism.
But I admit all you is
just dust in the wind.

Giveaway of the Day - PDF to Word 3.0

Whatever

Those who mind don't matter. Those who matter don't mind.

Cape Fear

"Every man carries a circle of hell around his head, like a halo. Every man, every man has to go through hell to reach his paradise."

We are not rational animals. We are rationalizing animals.

Speak to me

Speak to me
from your hand, I said
and nothing else will matter.
With the lights on
while I look over my shoulder.
The smell of the greasepaint
and the roar of the crowd
remind me of everything
I have lost.
Taste my tears
and live now.
Surely your words
dissappear in the wind.

Cookie

To shoulder courageously the responsibility of one's mistake is character.

Joke of the Day

Five subjects of frequent recollection

Delete Doctor 2.1

Can delete files that are difficult to delete, such as some files left by viruses and trojans, or files with corrupted file names, etc. Delete at your own risk. To download.

Or write a batch file that looks like this:

echo on
del "D:\x\**"
dir "D:\x\**"
pause

where D is the drive name, x is the folder name, and ** means all files.
Use notepad and rename the txt file "temp.bat". Don't forget to execute it to delete all files in the folder.

Tuesday Lobsang Rampa Online

The complete works of T. Lobsang Rampa in pdf format, translated in several languages online, including Dutch, and downloadable. The pdf files can be saved and converted in text format. Try using TTS Reader, using Neospeech voices or AT&T natural voices.

Giveaway of the Day

Quiet Mind

Click title to watch the video at www.boeddhistischeomroep.nl

SurveillanceSaver 2.0

I installed a screensaver that gave me access to live images of over 400 network surveillance cameras worldwide. I saw some places especially in Norway, Germany, and America today. It could be downloaded from CNet. It requires the installation of Ms .Net Framework Version 2.0.

The real alternative

Kindness is the fruit of awareness

The Diary of Anne Frank

There is a lot of suffering

out there in the world.

The 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet

The world outside is not always good and kind

Be secure in the breath.

This is meditation!

Stay in the present

Don't expect anything.

I am a breathaholic

Or rather an aeraholic. Breathing is pleasurable. Watching the breath should be.

They're all just fingers pointing to the moon

We begin and we continue

Relationships are messy.

They are complicated.

WOW

PIERSON: In the meantime, you and I and others like us. . . where are we to live when the Martians own the earth?

-- from the movie script.

Kindness is not about being nice and pleasant.

I am

Breathing. Rising and falling.

Just sit

There's no magic posture.

Just be in the present

What is past is no longer important.

Move forward

Don't look back. And be kind to yourself.

Jules Maigret was born in Delfzijl

Make peace

Be compassionate. Be kind.

Restlessness

"Desire is the memory of pleasure and fear is the memory of pain. Both make the mind restless. Moments of pleasure are merely gaps in the stream of pain. How can the mind be happy?"

-- N. Maharaj

Life is full of attachments

I am trying to simplify life. Or myself.

What we need is to stop defining ourselves

Craving makes poor judgement

The self is seeking security

Meditation is observation

It is understanding the meditator, which is oneself.

Practice

"We know the outer world of sensations and actions, but of our inner world of thoughts and feelings we know very little. The primary purpose of meditation is to become conscious of, and familiar with, our inner life. The ultimate purpose is to reach the source of life and consciousness.

Incidentally practice of meditation affects deeply our character. We are slaves to what we do not know; of what we know we are masters. Whatever vice or weakness in ourselves we discover and understand its causes and its workings, we over­come it by the very knowing; the unconscious dissolves when brought into the conscious. The dissolution of the unconscious releases energy; the mind feels adequate and becomes quiet."

-- N. Maharaj

The idea is not to torment ourselves

Craving can make a person very unpleasant

Not anymore

Kinderbraderie

I went to the kinderbraderie in Delfzijl in the afternoon. It was probably the biggest I've been to.

I didn't buy anything from the children. Instead I bought 10 DVD's at Blokker, including: Ben Hur, West Side Story, The Terminator, Cleopatra, Vanity Fair, Madame Bovary, The Impressionists, Michael Palin's The Full Circle, The Two Towers, and Byron.

I saw the film Cleopatra in the evening and realized something: I am against abortion.

The mind is attached to the self and its self-image

Thru awareness and discovery of the ways or habits of the self comes freedom

With awareness and deep knowledge of self comes love

Observing fear without judgement

without supressing it or escaping from it dissolves fear thru understanding.

Dependence on things, on people, or on ideas produces fear

The more you are aware of your thoughts the less you are attached

Relationship is really a process of isolation

We are related to another only as long as it gratifies us, as long as long as it satisfies us, as long as it helps us.

Energy

I had lots of energy today. It must be the weather.

Love is forgiving

The self is the dividing and isolating factor

Wisdom

The ending of sorrow is the beginning of wisdom.

It feels a lot better. It must be the weather.

Ecstasy

The highest ecstasy is the attention at its fullest.

-- Simone Weil

Discovery

The pursuit of truth and beauty is a sphere of activity in which we are permitted to remain children all our lives.

-- Albert Einstein

Tell me

Tell me what you need and I'll tell you how to get along without it.
-- Anonymous

Right meditation is the ending of sorrow

It is understanding life. Not an escape from life

Meditate without a sense of becoming

Grasping

"Grasping at things can only yield one of two results:
Either the thing you are grasping at disappears, or you yourself disappear.
It is only a matter of which occurs first."

-- Goenke

Next problem

"If you find a good solution and become attached to it, the solution may become your next problem."

-- Robert Anthony

Vanity

Vanity, we can't do a thing about it. That's us. Perhaps we should learn how to fly. And observe ourselves and see what happens.

As long as you are proud and vain you will get hurt

Stop comparing yourself with others.

We live in a very permissive society

and our children suffer.

Love is courage and strength of character

The ending of vanity is the ending of attachment

The ending of attachment is the ending of sorrow.

Love does not adjust to anything

But it is merciful. Kind.

Love is forgiving oneself completely

for ones own pride, vanity, ignorance, faults, and mistakes. For hurting others.

Love does not suffer

Because love is not vain, fearful, envious, jealous, impatient, unkind, resentful, hateful, vindictive, furious, violent, etc.

There is sorrow and freedom

When there is pure perception of sorrow there is freedom from sorrow.

There is fear in attachment

The fear of not getting, of not achieving, of losing, etc.

Let it be

You can't do a thing about sorrow. It just goes away. If you don't do anything about it. Just feel it and be aware.

Thinking often complicate things

Can observing without judgement stop thinking?

Thoughts bind us together

Or separates us. Think carefully. Be aware.

Love is being aware of suffering within and without you

Love is action

Or non-action. Not reaction.

How to think clearly

Don't try to think. Observe. Be aware without judging.

To know sorrow

is to be free from it. You won't understand sorrow if you keep escaping from it. Don't do anything about it. Don't push it away. Just be aware. How does it feel?
Happy are those who grieve for they will love better and live longer.

Love is

A cup of coffie in the morning. And some pressure. Or lots of it.

To teach is to learn

To learn is to be both teacher and student. The teacher and student are one.

Thus spake the crow ...

i'm not a thief!
i don't want to take away your
child
i want to give away to him/her whatever i
have;

i am a teacher!

-- human being

Life is now

Thoughts come and go
and they aren't real.
There's something beyond.
Life is here and now.

The past is sorrow
and the sorrow has passed.
There's freedom today
and there's no tomorrow.

To understand oneself is to understand another

Know yourself. And be kind to yourself. And to others.

Love is compassionate

Compassion is love. Understanding is action.

I think we worry too much about what other people think of us

Is self-centeredness the cause of fear?

Or is fear the cause of pride, vanity, envy, greed, jealousy, anger, violence, etc, etc, etc?

There is fear of being lonely

Of being isolated. Has one ever felt it? One probably never has because one keeps surrounding oneself with people, gods, and idols, and one keeps conforming.

Be aware

There is fear of losing, not getting, not achieving, not becoming, not improving, not arriving, not succeeding, not making it, dying.

Love takes away fear

Perfect love casts out fear.

Love is true and sincere

Love is forgetting wrongs done

Love covers a multitude of sins.

Is flattery love?

Is comparison, judgement, praise, or condemnation love?

Love is action

Or non-action.

Love is long-suffering

Patient. Kind.

Love is giving and forgiving

Can one observe without making a conclusion?

I am that.

Looking at it without comparing, judging, and condemning it. Without trying to change it.

Discovering the new

Why do we keep remembering the past?

What does attachment do in your relationship with another?

Will knowing the truth about attachment set you free?

Love is ...

Is love experience?

You are not

I am.

Looking, looking, looking

I do not know what love is

Is there such a thing called love?

Love at times is mistaken

Could it be? What is love to you?

Is sorrow sorrow?

The Sorrow of escaping from sorrow

Thru beliefs, traditions, activities, ambitions, achievements, relationships, food, drinks, love, sex, drugs, and rock and roll.

The extraordinary thing called sorrow

What is behind sorrow? And beyond it? To run away from sorrow is to live in sorrow. I want to know what sorrow is. I want to know how it feels. To observe it without motive.

Do we hurt those we love most?

Or do we hurt those who love us most?

How to make up for past mistakes

Learn from your mistakes.

The sorrow of losing

So much sorrow, so much self-pity. So many distractions. To live with sorrow without escaping is to be free from it.

Sitting up

Keeping your back straight while sitting is one of the better forms of meditation. Just be aware of your posture from time to time. Throwing your shoulders back a bit more.

Living

To understand sorrow is to be free from it.

What is sorrow?

How does it feel? You cannot understand sorrow if you keep avoiding or escaping from it.

Love inspite of

What is the greatest thing
you can experience?
Nothingness?
Beyond words and thoughts.
Inspite of.
Just be aware.
Nothing else.
We are divided.
That's all we know.

Don't be the Truth

Just be yourself. The son of man is humble.

How to be enlightened

Don't be enlightened!

--Chah, a forest dweller

How to overcome fear

Don't strive. Let it be.

So many fears, so many escapes.

The greatest thing

Faith fights. Hope ignites. Love unites.

Ignorance

"Nietzsche was stupid and abnormal."

-- Leo Tolstoy

Possession

You are possessed by what you possess.

What is the greatest thing you can experience?

Accident

"Close your eyes and pretend it's all a bad dream. That's how I get by."

-- Captain Jack Sparrow

Action speaks louder than words!

Seeking

Why does the mind seek satisfaction?

Contentment

Is there such a thing as permanent satisfaction?

Security

Is there certainty in any relationship?

How to get on in the world

"Suffering may be the appointed means by which the higher nature of man is to be disciplined and developed. Assuming happiness to be the end of being, sorrow may be the indispensable condition through
which it is to be reached."
-- A. R. CALHOUN

Life is learning

Learn from other people's mistake especially your own.
There's no shame in that. And I'm saying that to myself.

Living

Life is like driving in the fast lane. You'll never know what you hit or what hits you. You have to keep your eyes on the road.

Support

"It is not enough to help the feeble up, but to support him after."

-- W. Shakespeare

Karma

"Small Middle East little bit action becomes huge. That is karma, matter fact."
-- Lama Thubten Yeshe

Listening

Aural stimulation is an important aspect of life.

Negation

You cram these words into mine ears against the stomach of my sense.

-- W. Shakespeare

The Truth

No such number. No such zone.
-- Elvis

No such person. No such thing.

Confusion

If you think you are Enlightened you are not. You cannot be Enlightened!

The Power of Now

You cannot possibly walk into the Now because you are already here and now. Whoever you are!
Don't waste your time and money.

Following

You can't possibly talk about enlightenment without contradicting yourself.

Angst

Most people are driven by fear of anxiety.
-- (not copyrighted)

Speakonia

The easy-to-use graphical user interface (GUI) is similar to Notepad. Speakonia reads aloud any given text with just one mouse click!

CFS-Technologies

Simplify

But don't overdo it.

Fear of the Evil Eye

The concept of the "evil eye" has been with us for centuries at least, and probably for as long as homo sapiens has been down from the trees. In its classic form it is a superstition, the belief that a witch or other super-powered malefactor with malevolent intentions can create a lot of mischief by merely looking at an intended victim.
-- Charles E. Henderson, Ph.D.

Confusing the Map for the Territory

Oprah

According to the Bible.

Meditation

Meditation is relaxation. Not mind control.

How to be

Don't be afraid! Don't think about it. And don't take notes.

Time

Arising and passing away. Birth and death.

Raindrops

Don't be enlightened

Be!

Frozen