Feelings and Principles 2

What is knowing something? Is it the same as not knowing something? Maybe not but in the context of knowing itself, does it really matter? Is there certain things we must know in order to survive or are all the popular knowledge just guidelines on fitting into society? As we go upon this line of thinking, we begin to wonder if all this is just unnecessary complications to common sense.

Common sense is always assumed, and is always quite contextual. With hindsight, many can say they did not act in common sense, so it throws the doubt on exactly what common sense is. Is it an arbitrary thing? Does everyone have the same “amount" of common sense? Basically what common sense seems to mean is to make simple decisions based on rational conclusions. So by saying use common sense, it tell us not to make something complicated.

I myself have found that if one uses common sense in its pure form, his chances of winning in any normal situation is close to perfect. But the mind is not so forthcoming. Simple decisions are overshadowed by complex emotions. Fear, hate, love, anger, desire all impact your decisions. Pressure of the moment, fear of failure, what others may think all impinge upon you.So common sense is only available completely is you are able to master all your emotions. This is apparent when one is detached from a situation, like in hindsight.

Can all your emotions be mastered? I dont think so. Then you are constantly in denial of what u feel.This is an important part of some cultures, most notably in the Samurai way and martial arts, can probably be achieved by long years of study. But the normal everyday person? To tackle this problem, this is what I think.

1. Emotions are real.
2. Decisions need to be made.
3. We never know what will happen afterwards.

So, the logical conclusion would be that, if u cant control what happens to you, u have to control how you deal with it. And if emotions cant be tuned off, we must use them in our decision making.

How will u use emotions? By directing them through principles.

A principle is a truth cannot be challenged, and is something, you yourself by your very nature, believe. These are natural. (this can be debated on grounds of evolutionary theory). See Feelings and principles 1[previous post].

Example: honesty. Is that natural? Yes it is because, we have teach ourselves to lie, or make a decision to lie. So honesty is the natural state, or zero value. A natural principle like honesty would not directly conflict with your basic emotions. Would you feel bad because you told the truth? You may but as you read that sentence, don’t you feel that it is true itself.Do you feel a natural conflict? If I had said, would you feel bad that you lied for a good cause, don’t u suddenly have to process it in your brain before you answer? This small hiccup, or millisecond is where u call your brain to answer, and when ever the brain answers, you are not using your basic emotional response.

So lets list down the basic principles:

• Honesty
• Openness
• Sympathy
• Desire

There is no such thing as positive or negative emotions, but what im looking for are basic emotions. And if one were to say that we have to control our desires, that would mean mind over ruling the basic emotions. Lets get controversial then (or try to)

Sex. The moment we say the word it, it brings out certain responses in the brain. For example "taboo", "hush" . Thats cultural conditioning and the mind working. Sexual desire is completely natural. We are expected to curb this desire for unnatural reasons. (this is an academic discussion folk, sit tight until I finish). The desire itself exists to be fulfilled. Now, the evolutionists would say it was developed to ensure continuity of organisms, religious view is a two fold approach that says for reproduction and to test you.

So is sex wrong or right?

Getting too long again, continue in part 3.

Feeliings and Principles 1

As i always say(2 myself), feelings can never be rationalized. What are feelings? Feelings are obviously of a construct that we we ourselves are only subject to. Though we can judge why or how a certain feeling arose or how much of it we experience, can we ever truly determine what exactly we felt. What I am talking about is not the biological stimulus that flows through your nerve path ways causing your brain to release warning indicators such as pain, cold, hunger, etc.Its the kinds that impact upon our judgment and normally known as jealousy, fear, emptiness, pride, etc and the supposed king of all feelings;-love.

Before we dwell on love, i used to think that there were others things, or more correctly; principles that could be above love. Love itself is a feeling when experienced, and a principle when applied. I had a list of these principles stuck to my wall before, and i had memorized it, and love was not in them.

• faith
• honour
• honesty
• resolve
• discipline
• patience

There would be some who would say the best of all this is found in love, but then again we are challenging the paradox, that feelings can never be explained. Why else do you wonder that people say things like:- I love LC very much, i and very fond of my uncle, i like twix ice cream.All that these sentences indicate are that one feels an abundance of a particular emotion towards another person or thing. We cant give a number to it, and we cant say that i wont be eating twix ice cream long after my uncle was proved evil and i had fallen out of love with LC. So a feeling is dynamic,has quantity, has time period, and have influences, has beginnings, has ends. So put that in the context of a human mind and you will see why i conclude feelings cannot be rationalized. Does that slight feelings in anyway? No i doesn't, its only an appreciation of how complex they are. So there is a choice. I remember commenting on a blog the other day that nobody ever read freud to better understand their partners.( Well i did read Freud and i don't recall any of it today (except his father figure neurosis theory)-very academic and boring)

Being centered on principles is the key in life. For those who have really read 7 Habits of Highly Effective people, by Stephen Covey, you may share the same opinion. Even Covey admits that these principles were not of his own construct, they are the collective wisdom of centuries of social knowledge. It had a high impact on me, because things became very clear when I read it.Also, its not a belief system, or an imposing ideology in its basis (its application differs)

The interesting thing here is that principles do not collide with most religious beliefs systems and all natural belief systems. But that is debatable with regard to which belief system in queston as the range does a full gamut form deeply complex to just plain crazy. Natural cultural belief systems like in this country where there used to be a really high trust environment until recent days. For example people rarely steal then, like if you saw a fallen coconut, u can draw a circle around it with your finger and nobody else would touch it. That’s honour and honesty. Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism all promote harmony and value honesty, patience and discipline.

In low trust environments where we live today, it can be seen as hardly practical to have “unnecessary” virtues. Some of you may say, that’s not true, but in reality you find it hard as well, im sure. To make matters even more complicated, most people respect virtues, and use it as a yardstick to differentiate people. So what do people do, when its so hard to be virtuous and so appealing to others at the same time? You fake it.

More on this and Love later.(getting too long)

I do not love you..Pablo Neruda

I do not love you as if you were brine-rose, topaz,
or barbed carnations thrown off by the fire.
I love you as certain hidden things are loved,
secretly, between night and soul.

I love you like the flower-less plant
carrying inside itself the light of those flowers,
and, graced by your love, a fierce perfume
risen from earth, is alive, concealed in my flesh.

I love you without knowing how, whence, when.
I love you truly, without doubts, without pride,
I love you so, and know, no other way to love,

none but this mode of neither You nor I,
so close that your hand over my chest is my hand,
so close they are your eyes I shut when I sleep.


Pablo Neruda.

Note: This is my most favorite poem.

Mission Statement

to Live
with wings of freedom,

unwavering from Heavens Path,
living with passion,
carrying others burdens,
and loving most fiercely.

No 2nd chance

if you knew you will die today;
will you wake up earlier
stretch your legs with more vigour
make your coffee with less sugar
spend an hour singing in your shower
put on the clothes u've been saving for ever
jump out the door with a spring in your step
looking for children and orphans in distress
buy the biggest meanest Cuban cigar
and walk like the coolest NY nigga
pump up your chest and show your power
look through your contacts and past lover (s)
keep the receipt for the extra french fries
so your son can hold it while cries
call your family and say don't worry
be happy and don't be sorry
call up the kid whose father had died
when u cheated and he committed suicide
call up the only woman you've ever loved
and tell her you will be waiting up above
call up your buddies and strictly advise
how not to live their own sorry lives
buy a magazine to hide your tears
Sitting in a park bench covering your ears
hoping an angel would glide from the skies
with a gentle smile and pity in its eyes.

random thoughts incomplete

Clouds floating by
flowers face the sky
to kiss the evening rain

thoughts never spoken
and long long forgotten
the harbor of hidden dreams.

cats eyes at twilight
silence of street light
ripples in the fabric of night

upon a lonely mountain,
if it ever floated away,
wonder where the birds will go home to.

across the seas
the land beyond
the test of ambition.

seconds are counting
days are passing
for all unproven heroes.

Subtle flame

Two traveling oceanic birds on a vast cloud,
Passing by, and holding each other's gaze
for just plain 4 breathless seconds.
Each enjoying a moment of wonder,
a moment independent of any routine
on a severely automatic journey home.
Certainly, a common pretty bird it was,
common as i find beauty is same anywhere
that looked upon me as i looked into her.
I would like to imagine it was meant to happen,
like two distant lighthouses locked thier beams
upon each other across an ocean of chaos.
Far be it from notions of love at first sight,
something deeper and more commonplace,
like satisfying an immediate simple curiosity,
an evaluation of possible improbability,
I have no clue to her thoughts of me
But this particular bird had me frozen in midair,
As it was not streetlight that reflected from her eyes,
Just a subtle flame,burning darkly
from a creature of seeming ivory innocence,
and the hints of an unborn smile,
just as she passed from the corners of sight.
What keeps me wondering days afterward,
is there is so many stories, that I would never know.

Calling all Critics

I notice people who visit unknown or unfamiliar blogs leave two kinds of comments, if they do leave one:
1. Slightly abusive, defamatory or just generally trying to make some kind of point.
2. Very positive, using word like nice, cool etc, basically runs the gamut from juicy to outrageous.

The kind that is lacking,and the kind im hoping for (i am allowed that small luxury), is real criticism. The word real in the last sentence does not mean negative or positive.What I am talking about is criticism that thought out, and not just a point you would raise in a cursory glance.Now you may say, that the kinds listed on top is also criticism, and you would be right as anything goes. There is no right or wrong here, and comments are what keep blogs alive.

I dont think ive got any real criticm in this blog, even though i appreciate all the comments i get. I write poetry, and no one ever asked me, hey mojo, u know what u say in this verse really doesnt make sense, or that the beginning and end dont have the same feel. That kind of comments challenge me to be better, and i would love that.

So my point is, id like to invite everyone who reads my poetry to to really tell me what they think.Four letter words are fine, if they come with a vaild argument. Also I am now forced to the conclusion that all my bad posts are the ones that receive no comments.Im not comment hungry, i just want to be better in everything i do.

Well if u have nothing to say, or if the post just aint interesting enough, then there is none to be said. Thats cool. But if u do want to say something, then really, dont just hand me the candy, make me earn it too. Blogging is an art form, and every art needs critics.

Mother

a human born, a child raised
aimed to become wise and praised
there were no villains, no satans,
Just a mind burdened with its own weight.

But what did i grow into, a wonderful
suicidal introvert , maniac in constant depress
called Man, but truly a child of larger growth,
having long forgotten the combination to his own heart.

Having been carefully and properly mis educated
"oh so creative, intelligent and bright!"
I know enough to know that that means nothing.
they have no idea what they are over rating

I saw a white pigeon today, and i flew with it,
It landed on the road, in front of a car
It barely flinched when the driver panicked
thats exactly how much i feel any day.

don't look at me like that, with eyes shining sparkles,
you don't know what ur loving, cuz he is running
hiding like an embryo in bed sheets
i hold love above breath, i am not worth your love.

Had you not touched me with your pure hands,
and told me that i am worth more than your soul,
had you not taught me never to give up,
I would not know what alive means.

The Moon is Calling

An eye knocked off a winking moon

Venus falling into the silver arc
A starry evening in rainy june
A vision explodes from the spark

You are blind as all eyes are blind
a road is no journey: only minds can see
feel/fall away until you find
one animal truth- the need to be free

with a sip of truth, throwing doubts afar
you have traveled a million miles
your eyes outshine the faint stars
and upon you, the moon will truly smile

The english you thought you knew

English is a funny language. Did you know that the word "nice" originally meant stupid and foolish. What do you think the original meaning of "brave" was? Its "Think again! (ting ting ti ding)" time.

Word	Original Meaning
awful	deserving of awe
brave	cowardice (as in bravado)
counterfeit	legitimate copy
girl	young person of either sex
guess	take aim
knight	boy
luxury	sinful self indulgence
neck	parcel of land (as in neck of the woods)
notorious	famous
nuisance	injury, harm
quick	alive (as in quicksilver)
sophisticated	corrupted
tell	to count (as in bank teller)
truant	beggar

Also, Shakespeare coined 1700 commonly used words including:

• Advertising
• countless
• eyeball
• majestic
• obscene
• Dawn
• Arouse
• Elbow
  

To read a good list of words and some of our most commonly used phrases made by Shakespeare, go to this link Shakespeare' Influence.

Other links:

Shakespeare's influence National Geographic Article

I have always been looking for a word for "people who are predisposed to state the obvious". I have tried to coin some words and this is the best i got:

"obreandup". Its a combination of parrot, obvious, repetitive and duh..

She Walks in Beauty...

One of my most favorite poems, written by Lord Byron George Gordon. His poems show the true spirit of Romanticism,truly a master poet. Just look at the neatness and simplicty of this poem while delivering such breathless eloquence.


She walks in beauty..

She walks in beauty, like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies;
And all that 's best of dark and bright
Meet in her aspect and her eyes:
Thus mellow'd to that tender light
Which heaven to gaudy day denies.

One shade the more, one ray the less,
Had half impair'd the nameless grace
Which waves in every raven tress,
Or softly lightens o'er her face;
Where thoughts serenely sweet express
How pure, how dear their dwelling-place.

And on that cheek, and o'er that brow,
So soft, so calm, yet eloquent,
The smiles that win, the tints that glow,
But tell of days in goodness spent,
A mind at peace with all below,
A heart whose love is innocent!

Lord Byron

NOTE: Guys, try reading this out your girl and see how they react. Dont say its a poem for her as then it would be dismissed as flattery, you will know why when you read the poem. Just say its a poem you want to read to her. Let me know, and thanks for participating in my experiments.

Dizzy World of One Line Wisdom

One morning has too many mourning,
One night has too many fights
One song is just one too long
One dream with just one scream

One glance becomes a fatal trance
One love returns a piercing shove
One fire burns all our desire
One wing cant make it for spring

One word can kill like a sword
One fate never bred the same hate
One hurt keeps us forever alert
One rainy day cant wash all pain away

One star is what guides all afar
One verse lights an entire universe
One thief steals all our belief
One path can lead to a world apart

One rose never lost against all prose
One name can bring all to shame
One piece given is earning free peace
One does aim to gain freedoms domain.

One prayer is the key to the angels lair
One hand is all i need to stand.
One half Hope is a dead mans life rope.
One sting can give birth to your wings

Dream of an Unknown King

Did you ever dream of a raven calling;
from the branches of an Egyptian willow?
If so, the tears that flow from thee eyes
be reasonable and without end.
For in the call of the raven there is exile
and in the Egyptian willow,
the distance that keeps one just out of reach.


from History of the World Conqueror by Ata Malik Juvaini, the historian of Genghis Khan. I read it 7 years ago, but this poem was unforgettable and terrifyingly beautiful.(it may not be exactly as it appears on the book)

Daydreams, on the beach

Your smiles adorn the sea shells on the beach
But who is "you", its a wish that there were a you
The wind whispers an unspoken song, felt
the sea comes forth to lay upon my feet,
crowning my toes with tiny coral hills
shining sand filled oysters listen curiously to my confessions

I begin from a beginning, except there is no end,
Except that the measure of beginning and end is beyond
a shimmering horizon that's fast falling away
as i begin conversing with my inner being
until i become the pearl of my own thoughts
A drop of moisture suspended on a vast ocean
a nova of light in the universe of my consciousness
far from the beach where i was one moment before.

Imagine how graciously the sand accepts a falling footstep,
Or the wind submits to the grace of an egret,
there was no question or contemplation or regret,
just like there is no need to measure the worthiness of my thoughts
when my dreams are folded into the waiting arms of my mind.

3rd cigarette and the taste of restlessness begins,
I long to be everywhere else at once, nowhere in particular
to the far shore, to the light beyond, to the island of reason,
wherever i can end once again a new dream for the day.
fleeting thoughts are what guides me on these journeys,
Until i can dream a dream to end all dreams.

A fiery cloud pierces across the sky, the brow of the eye of the sun
Its perfect and fragile, a spark but also a supernova
A feeling burst forth inside me before i can stop it and kill it,
slipping into my heart before i can shut its doors,
Sadness became darkness, descends on the beautiful sunset

I deny her,but if she did exist,i don't want to tell you
That you are all my heart lets me dream of.
But that's just because...because, because,because
Because only dried starfish anchor my dreams from drifting to the sun.

My own pain

Pain.Pain that knows no bounds
Pain that knows not healing,
There is no expulsion for it,
It must live on,
For pain is what keeps me alive,
We are one,
It breathes life into me,
Makes me remember what I must be,
What i can be,
And always a constant reminder
that my journey is still so long,
And all that i have left behind are pieces of my self,
And none of my suffering
i will always carry my burdens
no matter what it has done to me,
One day i shall be a master,
And i shall see all that i have gained,
For not sharing with anyone,
My own pain.


wrote this many years ago in my teens, cant supress the feeling that i was more connected to my feelings back then.

Some Musing incomplete

with eternity as an endless creation,
what meaning is of a minute or a single hour?

but my heart,filled with twilight
planting dreams as memories ,
these timeless ones, those azure passions.
with roots of tempered emeralds,
petals of floating moon glass
the scent of the thousand orchids,
tearing through the sky suffocating my soul

pry them apart,wish them away
but no one ever won a revolt,,
never against his own heart.

so it begins.

Well, i just couldnt stand it, i had to say something cause i have something to say.

That simply is the why, the how you already know-on blogger and the when is right now and the who is a momentary pigment floating in a hazy imagination struggling to manifest a mote of its unnnecessary abilities.