Where are we?

Ah! I think we're at the eighth scene – sixth planet where the Little Prince dropped by before landing on Earth.

And what did he see there?

Eighth scene: The sixth planet was ten times bigger than the last. And there lived a geographer who holds a big book and claims that what he does is very important to humanity. But alas! He doesn't even know whether a single ocean or mountain exists in his own planet. He says, such is the work of an explorer. When asked if he too has a record of flowers, he retorted there was none because flowers are ephemeral.

Lesson: People sometimes act as this geographer. We claim we know everything. We even try to challenge the one who created us. But in the end, we can't even prove our own existence, not even the substance of our being present.

Ninth scene: At last, the Little Prince has reached Earth. But regrettably, the first creature he met was a snake. (And by God, we all know what snakes represent here on Earth!) And thus went the conversation:

Little Prince: Good evening.

Snake: Good evening.

Little Prince: What planet have I landed on?

Snake: Earth. In Africa.

Little Prince: And are there no people on Earth?

Snake: It's the desert here. There are no people in the desert. Earth is very big.

Little Prince: It's a little lonely in the desert.

Snake: It's also lonely with people.

Little Prince: You're a funny creature, no thicker than a finger.

Snake: But I'm more powerful than a king's finger.

Little Prince: You're not very powerful. You couldn't travel very far.

Snake: I can take you further than a ship. Anyone I touch, I send back to the land from which he came. But you're innocent, and you come from a star… I feel sorry for you, being so weak in this granite Earth, I can help you, someday, if you grow too homesick for your planet. I can –

Little Prince: Oh, I understand just what you mean, but why do you always speak in riddles?

Snake: I solve them all.

Lesson: Snakes are all around the planet Earth. Beware! They may fit in the shoe of wisdom or lure you with their beauty or may even entice you with exquisite colors, but as I have said, snakes will always be snakes. Keep off the bait!

Tenth scene: The Little Prince came across a blossoming rose garden where he realized her rose was not the only rose in the entire universe as what his rose claims she is. And he said to himself, "she would be very annoyed if she saw this… She would cough terribly and pretend to be dying, to avoid being laughed at. And I'd have to pretend to be nursing her; otherwise, she'd really let herself die in order to humiliate me."

Lesson: Don't be arrogant. Don't be conceited. Don't be egotistic. Don't be haughty. In short… be humble! Did I just enumerate synonymous words? Duh!

Eleventh scene: And now here comes the fox from whom the Little Prince learned that One sees clearly with the heart. Anything essential is invisible to the eyes.

Lesson: Argh! Don't be stupid! I know that you know what that means.

Twelfth scene: (I'm excited, we're almost there…) And so the Little Prince met with our author, and again, like the snake, back into the desert. "What happened there?", you may ask in equal anticipation, but let me lay this straight… blah… blah… blah… Ooooppssss! What happened? My words spill no more!

Lesson: Don't rely much on strangers. Get a copy of the book! As for that discussion on life space... well, I kinda like to hear from you before I get the dice rolling.

"One sees clearly only with the heart. Anything essential is invisible to the eyes."

Familiar with the lines?

I'll keep you guessing if you're not. So just read on…

Life space.

I have heard a lot of this term in my four years in Psychology. It didn't stop there. The more I encountered these two meaningful words when I went to graduated college. And more of it, I use in my analyses during my counseling sessions. Though I must say, with all honesty, I'm not an expert in uncovering such. Just a little bit!

But what do these two short words mean?

First, let us define life.

Life means, according to my Microsoft Encarta is existence in the physical world. It also refers to the whole duration of one's being able to breath, take in food, adapt to the environment, grow and reproduce. It may also refer to the period during which something continues to function. And it denotes a way of living characteristic of a particular group or individual.

Secondly, let's take a closer look at the meaning of space.

Space refers to the region that lies beyond the Earth's atmosphere, and all that it contains. Thus, it also implies the region, usually of negligible density, between all celestial bodies in the universe. In addition, it can also mean the unbounded three-dimensional expanse in which all matter exists.

Putting both meaning to a more psychological perspective in defining life space, it is the bounded (Not unbounded, you have to take not of that. Because a person's life is ruled by rights where one's rights end as another's rights begin.) expanse in which a person or an individual functions, such that, all his/her personal experiences (exclusively his/hers) and other unique or distinctive characteristics absolute in him/her with all their dynamic make-up influences, controls, motivates and shapes his/her behavior, activities, thoughts, beliefs, philosophies, points of view, feelings, and all other endowment of being human.

Correct me if I am wrong because the meaning I just shared with you came from my own understanding as I get it and as I use it in my everyday practice. Anyway, this is an interactive blog. You can throw shots at me if you wish to. Just be gentle, all right!? I'm quite sensitive you, know. Argh!

But how is this in any way connected in my book review?

Have you read or heard about The Little Prince by Antoine De Saint-Exupery?

Well, this is all about it. I first saw the book from high school but didn't pay attention to even just skim read it. When I was in college, Vanessa, a close friend, mentioned it to me. Saying it is a wonderful book. She was talking about the stars (Well, I presumed she talks about it because she has a fetish on stars. I didn't know it is in any way linked to her Little Prince.) and give remarks on "what-is-essential-is-invisible-to-the-eye" stuff. "Hell, well!", I said, "Whatever!"

I came across it the next time when I watched with my family a Filipino movie where Angel Locsin received an old book from her secret admirer, that is, Richard Guttierez, entitled The Little Prince. Since then, I told myself, "What in the world is with The Little Prince that sensible people like Vanessa and Richard (the actor in his character, well, I don't know in person…) likes the book? What's in the book?" so I thought, I have to have a copy of the book. So after three years of watching the movie, thirteen years away from college, and seventeen years from high school (don't compute my age)… that soon, (Hehehehe!) that I got the chance to have a copy of the book.

Okay, enough for the recollection… let's get to business.

The Little Prince. Life space. "One sees clearly only with the heart. Anything essential is invisible to the eyes."

First scene: The writer, when he was six, has drawn a boa constrictor which ate a whole elephant. The grown-ups around him laughed at his drawing, saying it wasn't a snake, but a hat. He stopped drawing since then.

Lesson: The simplicity of a child sometimes speaks more of than what adults can. In other words, don't show your drawings to dumb grown-ups!

Second scene: The Little Prince was talking about baobabs, a kind of tree that grows too big for his planet that it can explode his planet into pieces if it is not uprooted upon its recognition that it is a baobab.

Lesson: Any bad habit starts as an exciting little adventure, that when you get to like it, it fits deep into your system like strong roots and it becomes difficult for you to unlearn it. In short, stop experimenting, there is a term called vicarious learning.

Third scene: A little planet occupied by a seemingly monarch who thinks he rules the stars and everything that inhabits his planet, where there is none that he knows of.

Lesson: Grown-ups are sometimes like that, they feel as if they have already mastered everything that they can manipulate everything, including other people. They have forgotten that authority is based first of all upon reason – reason that is morality-based, acceptable in other words, and seeks the good for not just one but for the majority, including both living and non-living things. Just a warning – "These people are dangerous!"

Fourth scene: The Little Prince moved in to the second planet which is inhabited by a very vain man who assumes every other creature is his admirer when the only creature in his planet is himself.

Lesson: Sometimes, I mean, more often that sometimes, man becomes too proud of himself that he forgets the terms "consideration" and "respect". My message, "Get real!"

Fifth scene: The third planet is inhabited by a drunkard who drinks because he feels depressed and ashamed of himself because he drinks too much.

Lesson: Man becomes so filthy. Their smuttiness more often than not is because of their own wrong doing. Simply put it, "Grown-ups are really very, very strange."

Sixth scene: The fourth planet belonged to a businessman who assumes he owns the stars because he thought of owning them first and he can put them in a bank by counting how many stars are there, writing the number in a piece of paper and keeping the paper in his drawer.

Lesson: Argh! A waste of time. Wasted life. Adults usually invest much of their effort doing not so sensible things. And they assume they do it because they are serious people. Oh come on!

Seventh scene: The fifth planet was rather extra small with a lamp and a lamplighter which is too absurd to be there because the sun shines and sets every minute, there is no need for an artificial light.

Lesson: People become so preoccupied with something they don't need. They just wake up one day, there life is almost over, but they haven't done a single act with meaning in their life. In short, "Damn!"

I think, I have to cut it from here. My review is so long, you might get bored. But I promise to continue next week. I'll give you time to digest the lessons you have to learn. For the meantime, well, I mean, I just realized, The Little Prince is very short compared to other books I already read, but the sure thing is, it's very good. Really-really good! I advice you get a copy of your own if you haven't got hold of it yet.

• By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept
• The Alchemist
• Eleven Minutes
• The Zahir
• The Fifth Mountain
• The Pilgrimage
• The Devil and Miss Prym
• Veronika Decides to Die
• The Valkyries
• Warrior of the Light
• Like the Flowing River
• The Witch of Portobello

These are all book titles. Do they sound so familiar? If not, you are not a certified Paulo Coelho fan.

I am.

The first six books are the ones I have already read. And they are in chronological order as I have read them. The last seven among my list are yet to be read. Not because I don't have a copy. As a matter of fact, they are all sealed in plastic and neatly kept in my bookshelf to shun away the dust that might tarnish their white pretty pages. I haven't read them yet because I still don't have the luxury of time to read them.

The copies?

Of course, I didn't buy them all. I don't have that much money to finance my passion, reading that is (and collecting books). Actually, I didn't buy a single copy. They are gifts. In fact, they are mandatory gifts from my brother Yamoj (Thanks Pogi!). I obliged him to buy me a complete set. Sweet, eh!

Besides Coelho, there's also Sidney Sheldon which I started collecting when I was still in college. They are also obligatory gifts from generous friends who gave the books during my Birthday, Christmas, Valentine's Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Bonifacio as well as Rizal Day. The covers of which are really vintage looking, including their yellowish pages. I promise to keep them until… until they can stand by me. Of course, the most recent of his books are again from my dearest brother.

• Tell Me Your Dreams
• Morning, Noon and Night
• Naked Face
• Stars Shine Down
• The  Sands of Time
• Doomsday Conspiracy
• Nothing Lasts Forever
• Memories of Midnight
• The Best Laid Plans
• A Stranger in The Mirror
• Windmills of the Gods
• Master of The Game
• Bloodline
• The Sky is Falling
• The Other Side of Midnight
• Rage of Angels
• If Tomorrow Comes

There's also an almost completed set by David Sedaris' satirical blah-blah. I just adore the guy. He, Jessica Zafra and Bob Ong are my inspiration in starting my Tomb Reader stuff, a recollection of significant events in my life, both painful and not so painful, but were spiced up with some funny bits and bobs to make it sound lighter. A "Just for laugh thing".

• Naked
• Dress Your Family in Curdoroy and Denims
• Children Playing Before a Statue of Hercules

Well, as for Bob Ong (Filipino author), I don't have the last copy of his book yet. Guess I have to buy the copy this time because Yamoj was able to read it already through his friend's copy.

• ABNKKBSNPLAko?!
• Bakit Baliktad Magbasa ng Libro ang mga Pilipino
• Ang Paboritong Libro ni Hudas
• Alamat ng Gubat
• Stainless Longganisa       

Jessica Zafra. She's the "simply put it" writer who says it all. Some of her lines (according to Sedaris is not a mortal crime so it's just okay as long as I don't really own it) I use in my prose. I don't have a single copy of her books, but I was able to read them all (and copied some of her ogrely lines). Courtesy of my school's library.

• Manananggal Terrorizes Manila
• Womenagerie
• Twisted 1-7
• Fruitcake
• Chicken Pox for the Soul
• Twisted Flicks             

J.K Rowling's HP series… I keep them all in my shelf. The last of them, still with Yamoj. He hasn't finished reading it just yet.

Lord of the Rings series… I only have Part I.

As for Dan Brown, I have four of his books. Does he have other books other than what I have? Please let me know.

•  Angels and Demons
•  The Da Vinci Code
•  Digital Fortress
•  Deception Point

Lately, I also discovered Mitch Albom and was able to read the following, all courtesy of my school's library. But when I'll have the money, I want to buy my own copy. Just like Zafra's, too.

•  Tuesdays with Morrie
•  The Five People You Meet in Heaven
•  For One More Day (which I only started reading yesterday)

My brother also started reading Joshua Harris' books. Though the books are with me, I still haven't really had the time to skim read their contents.

• I Kissed Dating Goodbye
• Boy Meets Girl

So I still can't say I adore the guy. But when I'd do have the time, after reading all of Coelho's, may be I can post a comment or two. That's if I will have the time. Does it seem obvious, he's not my priority?

I also have a copy of the listed books below.

• I'm with Stupid by Gene Weingarten and Gina Barreca
• Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
• To Kill a Mocking Bird by Harper Lee
• Love Story by Erich Segal
• The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova
• His 'N Hers by Mike Gayle
• The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery (my all time favorite)
• Flipped by Wendelin Van Draanen

What else? If I forgot something, I'll let you know… if it matters.

My wish list… I mean additional wish list (because I already posted sometime ago) I shall post tomorrow or Friday, depending upon my mood to write an entry. Jah!

My reviews will follow, too… Again, if it matters at all.

I hope they do.

With The Fifth Mountain, Paulo Coelho turns his talent for spiritual fiction to the story of the Biblical prophet Elijah. Like a blossoming flower, Coelho opens up the brief account of Elijah's flight from Gilead and his time in Zarephath. He deepens the prophet's character by revealing the thoughts, doubts, and discoveries that Elijah must have experienced as he struggled to find his course in life amidst the confusion of war and political turmoil. When being a prophet of the God of the Israelites is like a warrant for your death, concerns about your chosen path are sure to arise. Perhaps it is this believability in Coelho's retelling that makes it so evocative, or it may be the bit of Old Testament wisdom he brings to popular literature of the 20th century: "the words of the lord are written in the world around us. Merely be attentive to what happens in your life, and you will discover where."

- A review I carelessly cut and paste from Amazon.com (please pardon me from doing so)

This is one of my favorite novels. Actually, I love all Coelho's books. And I hope, with the four lessons I learned from this novel, you can at least pick out one for you to live by. I wrote these lines from the book itself because I was afraid to re-phrase them for fear of not capturing the dramatic lessons in its full context/essence. I find them very timely with my recent decision-making hubbub. And so, read on...

1.  

They continued on their way. The boy asked why the soldiers were training so much.

"It's not just the soldiers, but your mother too, and I, and those who follow their heart. Everything in life demands training."

"Even being a prophet?"

"Even to understand angels. We so want to talk with them that we don't listen to what they're saying. It's not easy to listen: in our prayers we always try to say where we have erred, and what we should like to happen to us. But the Lord already knows all of this, and sometimes asks us only to hear what the Universe is telling us. And to be patient."

The boy looked at him in surprise. He probably understood nothing, but even so Elijah felt the need to continue the conversation. Perhaps when he came to manhood, one of these words might assist him in a difficult situation.

"All life's battles teach us something, even those we lose. When you grow up, you'll discover that you have defended lies, deceived yourself, or suffered for foolishness. If you're a good warrior, you will not blame yourself for this, but neither will you allow mistakes to repeat themselves." 

2.  

A child can always teach an adult three things: to be happy for no reason, to always be busy with something, and to know how to demand with all his might that which he desires.

3.  

For in the final analysis, He had given His children the greatest of all gifts: the capacity to choose and determine their acts.

4.  

"How can a man cast from his heart the pain of a loss?" asked a woman.

"No. But he can find joy in something won."

Elijah turned, pointed to the top of the Fifth Mountain, forever covered with clouds. The destruction of the walls had made it visible from the middle of the square.

"I believe in One God, though you think that the gods dwell in those clouds on the Fifth Mountain. I don't want to argue whether my God is stronger or more powerful; I would speak not of our differences but of our similarities. Tragedy has united us in a single sentiment: despair. Why has that come to pass? Because we thought that everything was answered and decided in our souls, and we could accept no changes."

"Both you and I belong to trading nations, but we also know how to act as warriors," he continued. "And a warrior is always aware of what is worth fighting for. He does not go into combat over things that do not concern him, and he never wastes his time over provocations."

"A warrior accepts defeat. He does not treat it a s a matter of indifference, nor does he attempt to transform it into a victory. The pain of defeat is bitter to him; he suffers at indifference and becomes desperate with loneliness. After all this has passed, he licks his wounds and begins everything anew. A warrior knows that war is made of many battles; he goes on."

"Tragedies do happen. We can discover the reason, blame others, imagine how different our lives would be had they not occurred. But none of that is important; they did occur, and so be it. From there onward, we must put aside the fear that they awoke in us and begin to rebuild."

I think, the lines spilled them all. I need not say a word...

You see, when my time comes, I want to be as prepared as possible that even the people I would meet in Heaven is already playing in my wild imagination. But actually, death is still something I don't want to entertain because I have two little kids I wish to see grow and accept the world's challenges in my presence. Though creepy, the two books by Albom I just read made me realize that life is better lived if one considers death as something that comes unwarrantably.

Death distinguisheth not the kings from the subject, the wealthy man from the pauper, the old man from the youth, the wise man from the fool. Death maketh equals of all men. The size of the palace, the speed of the chariot, the title of thy breastplate and the gold thy possesseth matter nary a bit. Death surely conquereth thee when thy hour is nigh. It is thy truthfulness to thine conscience and loyalty to thy God that shall save thee from the wrath of eternal fire.

Death is indeed indispensable. It comes like a thief in the night. Or even at daybreak that even the most powerful has no authority to command death to depart from him. And if I shall meet my Creator, these are the people I might meet or say want to meet:

1.            my Father

This time, I won't be afraid to disclose my anger with him. Afterwhich, I would tell him how much I love him and longed for his presence in my growing up years. If given the chance to choose a father, I would still choose him. Why? Because the blood, the genes, every little fiber that traverses into my system that made me ME comes from him. He who has left me wounded but remained the father whom the Father had bestowed to bring me to life. Therefore, we are both blessed to be the father and daughter that God planned us to be. The pain and suffering that he has caused the child in me to grow immaturely and carry the burden as head of the family was destined to be for without these, I won't be as strong as I am now. Decisive. Principled. These are the lessons he has taught me.

2.            my Mother

God made a woman soft as a rose's petals, shed tears to wash away the pain and a tender touch that can encourage even the most coward of all beings. This woman became my mother. She has the gentleness of a shepherdess, the calmness of the breeze but the firmness of an authority to respect. That of which, guided as to grow in full bloom in the absence of a father. The merit of bringing in harmony the hatred that filled our hearts to something of worth is my Mother. And I owe her this life of warmth and compassion behind a facade of firmness.

3.            someone I don't expect to see

Whoever this person is might have been someone who has taught me something. And that something is what I am looking forward to of knowing when that time comes.

4.            Carl Rogers (just a product of my imagination)

This renowned psychologist might tell me that he has taught me how to be more affective in my approach as a Counselor and Educator – to talk more with the heart than by always trying to rationalize things. Mr. Rogers had made me realize that feelings are exclusive to every person. And that, a counselor should see beyond what is visible – from the nature of a client's stare, to his fidgeting fingers, to her breathing, and her feigned smile, to his eye movement, with the droop of her shoulder, or in the animation in his voice and the stature of his or her own very words. Self-actualization. Thanks for the powerful words.

5.            a former reader of this blogsite (just another sinister hallucination… don't feel creepy)

This someone has encouraged me to write even the most stupid of my ideas. I have an average of twelve readers a day eversince I started this site and these patient souls who so everyday make it there habit to read a line or two inspire me to make use of these words called Byblos originally created by the Egyptians that of which the Greeks of long ago has modified adding five more letters (the vowels) to the bunch of letter symbols which they baptized as the alphabet. A name now used to define the new form of writing which I over-use (I hope not abuse and misuse) to elucidate the core of my existence – that of which I am created for. Thanks to you who has taught me the virtue of just being ME.

How about you guys, who do you think will your five people be? Let me know so we can write them in this blank canvass others call BLOG but I name LIFE…

"All endings are also beginnings. We just don't know it at the time…"

From the author of the phenomenal number one bestseller Tuesdays with Morrie, comes this enchanting, beautifully written novel that explores a mystery only heaven can unfold.

Eddie is a grizzled war veteran who feels trapped in the toil of his father before him, fixing rides at the seaside amusement park. As the park has changed over the years – from the Loop-the-Loop to the Pipeline Plunge – so, too, has Eddie changed, from the optimistic youth to the embittered old age. The war left him wounded. His days tumbled into one another, a mix of loneliness, regret and sad dreams of what could have been.

Then, on his eighty-third birthday, Eddie dies in a tragic accident, trying to save a little girl from a falling cart. With his final breath, he feels two small hands in his – and then nothing. He awakens in the afterlife, where he learns that heaven is not a lush Garden of Eden, but a place where your earthly life is explained to you by five people who were in it. These people may have been loved ones or distant strangers. Yet each of them changed their path forever.

As the story builds to its stunning conclusion, Eddie desperately seeks redemption in the still unknown last act of his life: Was it a heroic success or a devastating failure? The answer, which comes from the most unlikely of sources, is as magical and inspirational as a glimpse of heaven itself.

In The Five People You Meet in Heaven, Mitch Albom gives us an astoundingly original story that will change everything we have ever thought of about afterlife – and the meaning of our lives here on earth.

(taken from the book)

Last March, I was looking for an inspirational book where I can lift a passage or two to be my springboard for my pep talk. I ran my fingers through the Mihalic collection in the library and browsed through their pages. I copied a line and related it to my topic which is ending up the school year with a bang! And welcoming the summer with God still the center. Ain't that cool stuff? I really am a product of a Catholic school from pre-elementary to college and now working as a counselor in a school ran by ICM sisters.

In the process though, I opened up my concern to our principal and she so generously handed me a pile of books (as in pile talaga kasi inabot ako ng dalawang araw to just look into the gist of each book). From there, I borrowed Tuesdays with Morrie not for my talk but for the summer (pamatay oras kumbaga) but I only found time reading it just almost a month ago. Falling in love with Mitch, I walked myself to the library and asked if they have other books written by him. And so our librarian handed me The Five People You Meet in Heaven which a read at once though I was still finishing the last two chapters of Morrie.

The book didn't fail me. just a few leaves away from the cover page, I was already crying. And mind you, I was in the bus when my tears kept on welling from my eyes and I told myself, "To hell with the rest of the passengers!", who were unabashedly staring at me like I'm some kind of an alien from an unknown pit of corny lunatics.

And to blow your bubble (of those who haven't read the book yet), here are the five people Eddie met in heaven and the lessons each of them has imparted to Eddie, of course unknowingly to him. Aren't we all like that? We usually lack the wisdom to read between the events happening to us and question why these things happen to us – blaming the Lord and other people for our own kapalpakans. I am guilty I must admit of this mortal felony.

1. The Blue Man who worked with young Eddie's father in the amusement park was his first person. Eddie didn't know him personally, but Eddie caused his death. How? I will leave it to your own reading para may thrill kung balak mo siyang basahin.

Lesson:

That there are no random acts. That we are all connected. That you can no more separate one life from another than you can separate a breeze from the wind.

2. The second person Eddie meets in heaven is the Captain of the troop he belonged to when he was a soldier and fought during the World War II in the Philippines (this is one thing I liked in the book, our country played a very important role in the main character's life – not simply important, but it caused the entire twist in Eddie's life).

Lesson:

Sacrifice is a part of life. It's supposed to be. It's something to aspire to. Little sacrifices. Big sacrifices… Sometimes when you sacrifice something precious, you're not really losing it. You're just passing it on to someone else.

3. Eddie's third person is Ruby whose name is written on the wrecked arc at the entrance of the pier leading to the amusement park where Eddie works. She was the woman of whom the original owner – her husband – offered the park as sign of his undying love. Eddie doesn't know her. His only recollection of her is an old worn-out picture of her stacked with other grease-covered stuff in the pier's store room.

Lesson:

All parents damage their children. It cannot be helped. Youth, like pristine glass, absorbs the prints of its handlers. Some parents smudge, others crack, a few shatter childhoods completely into jagged little pieces beyond repair…

Holding anger is a poison. It eats you from inside. We think that hating is a weapon that attacks the person who harmed us. But hatred is a curved blade. And the harm we do, we do to ourselves. Forgive.

Why did she say this? Ganoon pa rin ang sagot ko, basahin mo 'day/dong ang libro! I tell you, hindi ka magsisisi.

4. Marguerite is Eddie's fourth person – his wife. She died young, forty-seven. She died because of some drunken irresponsible kids. But Eddie thought then that he caused her death. So his life crumbled into a meaningless monochromatic hubbub.

Lesson:

Lost love is still love. It takes a different form, that's all. You can't see their smile or bring them food or tousle their hair or move them around a dance floor. But when those senses weaken, another heightens. Memory. Memory becomes your partner. You nurture it. You hold it. You dance with it.

Life has to end. Love doesn't.

5. And the fifth person Eddie got to meet in heaven is Tala – the small shadow inside the nipa hut Eddie set on fire after he and his comrades escaped from their captors. When he saw her outline beyond the dancing flames, he ran through the fire and wanted to save whoever was there, but the Captain feared for his life, so he stopped him by shooting his leg (o hayan, may pahapyaw na akong naikuwento sa significance ni Captain kay Eddie kaya you have to read on).

Lesson:

Children. You keep them safe. You make good for me.

Is where you're supposed to be.

Intrigued with the last of Eddie's five lessons? Sabi na sa iyo eh, you need to read the book. I bet, you'll have the same realization as Eddie did and I did.

How about you, who do you think would your five people be? And what lessons in life do you think they carry along with them?

Mine… I will have to make another entry. Mahaba na masyado ito. At para may babalikan din kayo. Sa next entry ko na rin ilalagay ang mga comments at reaction ng aking mga katoto sa SLU – friendster groupmates ko.

"Heaven is when you get to make sense of your yesteryears."

In the South American rainforest, there is a tribe called the Desana, who see the world as a fixed quantity of energy that flows between all creatures. Every birth must therefore engender a death, and every death brings forth another birth. This way, the energy of the world remains complete.

When they hunt for food, the Desana know that the animals they kill will leave a hole in the spiritual well. But that hole will be filled, they believe, by the souls of the Desana hunters when they die. Were there no men dying, there would be no birds and fish being born. I like this idea. Morrie likes it, too. The closer he gets to good-bye, the more he seems to feel we are all creatures in the same forest. What we take, we must replenish.

"It's only fair," he says. 

I'm reading two books in a row which I started the other Saturday; both of which is written by Mitch Albom. You guessed it right if you are a fan of this renowned author – Tuesdays with Morrie and The Five People You Meet in Heaven.

It seems I cannot have much time savoring the content of these books. I read one on my way to school and on my way home. Yeah, my usual routine. I read inside the bus. Sorry to Dr. Guani, I never followed her advice. Does that make me a bad patient? Sort of, eh!

But what did I get from reading through Morrie inside a moving vehicle? Headache? Yeah! Headache and nausea. I don't care.

Go back to the above italics, isn't it amazing to know that we are all interconnected? God created you and me and anyone and anything else in this world for a purpose. Not just out of a childish whimsical chuvanes of an ultimate showing off of power. I am here because I was destined to be here. You were born because you were meant to be. A blade of grass grew out of proportion in your neatly manicured lawn because it was preordained by nature to be there. There is meaning in every swaying of the leaves. There is purpose in every drop of dew. There is significance in every lighted fire. There is a consequence for every word spoken no matter how trivial. There is one rhythm the Earth follows. And for a single beat that falters, everything falls out of order.

Death? Life? It is part of the cycle. It is part of the rhythm. It is the beat that all human and animals and plants and even the simplest of all creations – both living and non-living things – everything fills in a destined place, and when it vacates its place, something would fill in the vacated hole.

What the heck is this hole? Simple. It is that key note when left unattended would erode and pull everything else, destroying the beauty and balance of nature. Leaving a vacuum of nothingness.     

"I heard a nice little story the other day," Morrie says. He closes his eyes for a moment and I wait.

"Okay. The story is about a little wave, bobbing along in the ocean, having a grand old time. he's enjoying the wind and the fresh air – until he notices the other waves in front of him, crashing against the shore."

"'My God, this is terrible,' the wave says. 'Look what's going to happen to me!'

"Then along comes another wave. It sees the first wave, looking grim, and it says to him, 'Why do you look so sad?'

"The first wave says, 'You don't understand! We're all going to crash! All of us waves are going to be nothing! Isn't it terrible?'

"The second wave says, 'No, you don't understand. You're not a wave; you're part of the ocean.'"

I smile. Morrie closes his eyes again.

"Part of the ocean," he says, "part of the ocean." I watch him breathe, in and out, in and out.

Indeed, we are all part of a great ocean. A greater plan. That even after death, eternity awaits us. Only the physical of who we are dies. And decays. But the wonder of our creation merges with a far reaching purpose. Whatever that may be… I'll just see you when we get there!

Yeah… when our time comes. When we crash to the shore. When we join all other waves. When we realize we are home in our oceans.

And after closing the last page of Mitch's lessons with Morrie, I break loose the page of the other book so I can have a good taste of its substance – trying to find out how Eddie discovered the meaning of life at Ruby Pier… after his death.

Next issue, I shall post the five lessons Eddie learned about his life when he died. Feeling so spooky? Hope not. Because Morrie said, "It is only when we learn how to die that we learn how to live."

"Why so?" Again he said, "Everyone knows they're going to die, but nobody believes it. If we did, we would do things differently."

"How?"  you may ask. I say, "If you knew that you will have to die at exactly six o'clock this evening, I bet you won't honk and curse the old lady crossing passed your CRV. Instead, you'll move out from the comforts of your car and lead that lady where she is headed to."

Now, that's what's makes death help you to become more human. Adding an extra "e" so you become humane.  

Krishna

“I am the self, seated in the hearts of all beings. I am the beginning, the middle and the end of all beings.”

       Verse – 20
       The Way of Divine Perfection

Nasa Bhagavad Gita pa rin tayo. Hindi ko maaaring gawan ng sariling katumbas ang mga linya sa librong binasa ko kaya kinopya ko na lang at inilagay sa blog. Because I fear that I might not give justice to the beuty, substance and wonder that I have found in each line that I have read.

Kaya paumanhin Ginoong OP Ghai at kinopya ko ang inilathala mo sa iyong libro ayon mismo sa iyong pagkakasulat. Di ko nais na angkinin ang iyong kaisipan at kagandahan ng iyong mga nais iparating. Nawa’y maintindihan mo ako. Nahihirapan kasi akong mag-English. (Wekekekekekekek!!!)

Krishna, the chief one
He is limitless and is the soul of every living being
Beginning, middle and end of all lives
He is the sun with rays of wonderful light
He is the moon and the planets in the sky
He is Indra, the first of the Vedic gods
He is Samaveda, the first among the Vedas
He is the mind among the senses
He is the life force among the living beings
He is Shiva
He is Meru, the highest among the towering mountains
He is the ocean
He is Brighu, the sacred Himalaya
He is Narada,
He is the nectar, the supreme of liquids
He is the king of kings
He is Varuna, water deity
He is Yama and Dharma, who are witnesses to all good and bad actions of living beings and rewards according to their deeds
He is the lion, eagle, wind, Ganga and crocodile
He is Rama, the great warrior
He is gayatri mantra
He is the vowel a and syllable om
He is the seed from which all human beings are born
And that he is the creator of the universe…

What a magic! What an awe! What a wonder! We call HIM different names, but HE is that same force that binds us… that made all things beautiful… good… miraculous… that we are…

HE is THE ONE... our ONE TRUE LOVE!

Gita in Filipino is venom… the venom attached to the Bhagavad Gita is so powerful that after I was bitten by it, I have found no way of flashing it out of my system.

Perhaps, kahit hindi ako Hindu ay pangangatawanan ko ang mga aral na nabasa ko sa Bhagavad Gita.

Let me share to you my favorite verse:

"Sattva attaches to happiness, Rajas to action, while Tamas veils knowledge and binds one to helplessness"            

 Verse -9 (Discriminations of the Gunas)

Pero before anything, ano nga ba ang mga Gunas? Gunas are the qualities, the inherent attributes of matter. And people are the main source of that matter.

And there are three Gunas – natural traits which exist in small or large measure in all human beings -- the Sattva, the Raja and the Tamas.

Sattva is supreme. It is illuminating. It ties the soul in bonds of happiness and wisdom. It gives peace and enlightenment.

Rajas is the middling. It is born of passion and desire. It causes attachment to work and actions and their fruits.

Tamas is the lowest. It is born of ignorance. It confuses the mind, causes blunders and generates sloth and indolence.

In short, Sattva urges one to happiness, Rajas to action, and Tamas to negligence. Each Guna asserts itself by prevailing over the other. Gunas overshadow them. When Sattva is predominant, there is happiness and goodness among the people. When Rajas are ahead, there is attraction to worldly activities and performance of work with selfish motives. Rajas is marked by an intense physical activity. With the growth of Tamas, the mind and senses are clouded with darkness, resulting in carelessness and laziness.

Now, which one predominates in you?

Let me lay in parallel the presence of these three Gunas to Freud's personality structure – the id, ego and superego. (Halata niyo na ba kung gaano ko sinasamba si Sigmund Freud? Read on Rai… ang Freudling!)

The id is directly responsible to bodily needs. The ego however, as the "higher" structure, has the power to prevent immediate gratification. If goal attainment will lead to more pain than pleasure, the ego establishes a "counter-cathexis", a force opposing goal satisfaction which may take the form of psychological defense or defense mechanisms. And the superego (not Super Inggo…) is that force undiscovered that hides itself in the deepest recesses of one's psyche or self. It is that ilalim ng iceberg na ewan kung kusang nagtago o pinuwersang itinago ng katawang-tao at isipang-tao ng isang tao.

Gets?

How to reconcile the two ideas?

Aba, ewan!!!

Bahala na kayong mapag-unite ang mga ideas, principles and theories na nabanggit.

Basta ako, try ko pang iarok… ang alam ko lang… gutom na ako!

I need to eat my lunch na. See you in my next book review!

(This was already posted in my previous blogsite in December but I feel the need to re-post this since I am starting a new ka-chuvanesan – A Bookworm's Review, I better include this. Pamparami ba para I seem to have read a lot na. Argh!) 

Today is Tuesday, December 19, 2006… pangalawang araw na nang wala akong counseling. Di dahil walang bata ang may problema dahil ako ang may problema -- may ubo at sipon ako. Well, alangan namang mag-counseling ako kung panay-panay ang tulo ng uhog sa ilong ko at mamula-mulang parang bilasang tilapia ang aking mga mata?   At dahil di ako makapag-counseling, ginugol ko ang buong araw ko kahapon sa pagbabasa ng libro.

Ang title: Bhagavad Gita na translated by OP Ghai.   It is just a small book na manipis pa sa Filipino pocket books kaya sa isang upuan lang ay natapos ko na siya.  

Ano ba ang Bhagavad Gita? Sound family ba?   Kung di ka absent sa Social Studies mo noong second year high school ka ay maaalala mo ang Bhagavad Gita kasi ito ang pinakamahabang epic ng mga Hindu. At since 2^nd year Social Studies deals with Asia, including their religious contributions, alam mo ang Bhagavad Gita.  

Pero ako, before I read the book, I can honestly say… look at you straight in the eye… na hindi ko maalala ang significance at relevance ng Bhagavad na ito.   So just seat back and relax as I discuss to you what Bhagavad Gita is…  

Bhagavad Gita forms part of the Mahabharata, the greatest epic poem of India which is probably the longest in the world containing well over 100,000 couplets. The Gita was composed in 3102 B.C. which is comprised a dialogue between Krishna, the "Charioteer" and Arjuna, his chela or disciple on the highest spiritual teaching.  

The rest of the Gita's teachings, I shall discuss tomorrow na kasi mag-start na ang Christmas Party namin dito sa school which of course io-open with a Prayer Service… so I better be good… and not be late… wag pasaway!  

Om-Tat-Sat  

**To my Reader: I add this footnote for my correction I copied from http://bhagavad-gita.org and it says:

Lord Krishna spoke the Bhagavad-Gita on the battlefield of Kuruksetra in 3102 B.C.; just prior to the commencement of the Mahabharata war. This date corresponds to 1700 years before Moses, 2500 years before Buddha, 3000 years before Jesus and 3800 years before Mohammed. So first and foremost it should be clearly understood that the eternal knowledge of the Bhagavad-Gita has not been influenced by Buddhism, Christianity, Hebrewism or Islam; for these religions did not exist at that time and were established milleniums later.

That proof of the date 3102 B.C. can be verified by any knowledgeable indologist in India based on the fact that this was the year when the Pandava King Yudhisthira ascended the throne and was coronated as emperor of the Earth. Also according to the Aihole inscription of Pulakesin II, the Battle of Kuruksetra took place in 3102 B.C. with Lord Krishna reciting the Bhagavad-Gita before its commencement. As well precise information of the positions of the constellation at the commencement of the Battle of Kuruksetra have been given in the great historical epic Mahabharata itself, which is based on the 26,920 year astronomical cycle known as the precession of the equinoxes which is the time it takes our solar system to revolve around the central sun.