What cost the lost of one's temper?

One morning, not too early by most standards as it was already nine-thirty, the children at a kindergarten were rudely scolded by a hoarse loud voice from the balcony of a house across the street.

The voice came from a tall man in his pyjamas, his hair unkempt, his face foaming at the mouth, saliva spitting forth as his mouth released its venom with unprintable words at the kindergarten children enjoying themselves in a game, their shrill laughter piercing the bright cool air.

The man at the balcony was obviously angry at being awakened by the children's voices. Yet, it was not too early for children to be at play. His scolding shocked the kindergarten teachers and a few parents who were around in the compound of the house used as the kindergarten.

The children were just as shocked at the tall devilish figure in the balcony. There was instant silence. None of the people present were able to rouse themselves out of the sudden interference into their activities.

And the man appeared to be satisfied to have quelled the cacophony of boisterous children. He turned and slowly retreated into his room. It took some time before the children resumed their play and laughter.

What was in the mind of the adults? They found it ridiculous that a matured man could not have the intelligence to understand that children at play are like that, with their noise accompanying their playful actions. They believed that man was too rude to the innocent children whose only 'wrong' was to be children. Furthermore, it was not as if it was six in the morning when one could expect some people to be still in bed.

Well, the man lost his temper and his good name in just a few minutes. Since then, the people in his neighbourhood do not bother much about him. He was ostracised by everyone who knew what had happened that morning. They avoided him and although he lived in a luxurious house, none treated him with respect. And whenever they meet anyone who knows not what had happened, they would gladly recount how he lost his temper and shouted such such harsh words at the lovely innocent children.

The poor man may not realise what he has lost that morning but it was to last him a lifetime. More than five years later, I happened to be one of their latest friends to whom the above incident was told. So, to be able to control one's temper is important.

What role religion??

Buddhists believe in karma. So, to differentiate between a good Buddhist and one who is not, we look at the person's deeds. But then, maybe the person does not care about what the present future or the next life may bring.

Other religions also have beliefs and teachings for their followers. The teachings, if you should examine them, are definitely the best possible ones by which life on earth can be wonderfully peaceful and happy.

Then, again, it is evidently tough to be good at any religion. People throughout the world belong to either this religion or that religion except for the few rebellious ones like me who believe in God but refuses to join any. Fortunately or unfortunately (my ego at play), God did not create many like me. But then, with so many religious people in the world we would have thought the world a lovely, peaceful place to fulfill whatever earthly mission we come for.

Sad to say, the world today is filled with turmoil. Television bring all the power struggles and hatred among humans to our living-rooms at certain times throughout the day as if to remind us that something has to be done or else, as some have prophesied, the world may come to an end soon. Indeed, it looks like it, for at this rate, if natural disaster do not wipe us out, we ourselves may do the job, what with the numerous atomic weapons so many countries are developing. And playing with this kind of fire, it is just a matter of time before somebody's madness would get us all burnt to cinders.

So, what is the role of religion in our present situation where comparatively few, if any, truly believes in God even though they conveniently belong to one. Apparently, belief in God and religion is being abused by many. Religion has become a social and political tool. Some people belong to a religion so as to be accepted by certain groups of people, to have a place to congregate, a place to show others how devoted they are to a certain God, and so how morally good they must be. Political leaders would appeal to people of the same religion to unite with them so as to fight for the betterment of that particular religion. (As though Almighty God needs help from such mortals!)Thus, the name of God is being abused. Throughout the world, we have labeled nations as Buddhist countries, Christian countries and Muslim countries and in that way create a demand that only that particular religion be given special preference. (Did God ever demand special preference? No, because God is forever Almighty even if there is just one follower. Even if I am God's only believer, He still IS God. He is not more or less God because of His followers' numbers or deeds.)

As humans develop in intelligence, his ego has grown just as much. Some religions have even created new rules and regulations and caused them to be accepted by their followers. Some rules are created to force followers to stick to a particular religion even when the follower has lost faith in it. Actually, Man has the right to believe and choose his own religion. This is important as a person forced to accept a religion may never find belief in it. However, as a member of a society, to make life easier for himself, he may put on the pretense of acceptance. The crux of the matter is, is it from his heart? But then, ego of the authorities concerned are not happy to see others not in the same religion as theirs, feel slighted that their members would leave for another religion and other religions believed inferior to theirs. (Has God ever taught us those things? No, God is beyond and above all those small-minded matters. All these come through the ego of the leaders of religions.)

Today, humans abuse the name of God often in their struggle for power between countries and ethnic groups. And even among themselves, resulting in denominations and their different versions of God's message. The Christians have the Protestants, the Baptists, the Catholics and more while the Muslims have their Sunni, Matahari and others; and when it comes to the Buddhists, there are the many branches of thoughts. (well, I have to leave out others as there would be too many.)

Someone wants to be a leader and to do that even among one religion, there has to be denominations. With more denominations, there can be more leaders. Then, in a country, or among more than one country, there may be more than one religion. To have greater power than other leaders belonging to other religions, conflicts have to caused and fights lead to some kind of submission to the greater religion? and leader. All this leadership and power struggle is happening in the Middle East and many nations.

Perhaps it is time for a new prophet to straighten the minds and cool the ego of humans. To hope for such a solution is easy and according to 'The Secret' fervent hopes do materialise but it needs to be soon as people are beginning to become numbed to even the horrendous happenings brought to us by television.

Disastrously, the role of religion has changed somewhat. There was a time when religious people were respected for their good morals, their sacrifices and services in the name of God and their friendliness to all, regardless of religion with the belief that God created all humans. Today, there is no respect for God's creation even when it is in a similar form.

Immunity against certain sickness can be developed.

When I was young I used to catch cold quite often. However, the neighbours' children do not seem to catch cold just as often. Why? That was my observation and the question on the matter stuck as I certainly would not want to be a sickly person my whole life.

So I watched them. Even at the age of twelve, I have learned that observation reveals lots of truth and gives me greater understanding of things in and around me. Those children who hardly catch cold come from Indian families. I was living in Queen Street, Penang Island, at that time. There were a good number of Indian neighbours although most of the residents were Chinese.

Yes, I watched and from my observation I discovered that Chinese parents quickly covered up their little children with thick warm clothes whenever it rained. In fact the Chinese parents sent their children indoor at the first indication of rain. Not a drop of rain did Chinese children get.

However, that was not the case with Indian children. Even as the rain got heavier, I could still see them running around, sometimes stark naked, in the street getting thoroughly wet with the rain. Their parents did not seem to fear that the rain would chill their bones and lungs, and bring them cold and influenza.

Since that observation I had use every opportunity possible to walk, run and play in the rain. If there was nothing with me which could get spoiled by the rain, such as books and other articles that I could have been carrying, I would walk home in the rain. At such times, rain did not stop me from reaching home on time. And I noticed that i got stronger from the exposure to the rain and wind. (In an earlier post i had told about allowing my children to play in the rain at a very young age; young enough not to be conscious about sliding on the wet cement floor wearing just a pair of shorts in the compound of our house; in order to achieve this type of immunity against cold.)

Even nowadays, if I managed to get out of my house before the arrival of rain, I would be trekking Semarak Hill in the rain without raincoat or umbrella. There was one guy who went up that hill despite the rain and found me there without an umbrella.
"How come you did not bring along your umbrella?" he asked.
"It's alright. I enjoy it," I told him.
He was amused by the fact that a grown man could enjoy the cold wind and the rainwater flowing down the face and body. The next day, when I met him again, he commented,"Sorry, no rain to play with today."
There was one time I told another person, "This is the only place I can let go and enjoy the rain like a child without having people think I am a lunatic."

Well, this walking in the rain is good for my health, giving me an immunity to the cold. It is refreshing and fun, so it is also anti-aging. You feel young again. Yes, it's one of those rare times when you can let the child in you enthusiastically emerge from its social cage. (A few words of warning: For those not yet used to the wet and cold of the rain, do it in short periods first, and gradually, so that your body gets used to the rain.It takes time to develop immunity. There's no magic, I assure you.)I hope to enjoy the rain till the day I have to leave all of you.

Learning and our ego.

At the Semarak Hill this morning, I met this young man who asked me the meaning of the word 'g-o-n-e'. I told him the pronunciation and the meaning. 'Gone' just means no more, no more to be found or seen. Then, he says, "What about 'Let bygone be bygone?"
So, I told him that by adding the 'by' to the 'gone' the meaning has changed; that 'bygone' is what is past and the sentence means 'let the past be past' and therefore 'no need to bring it up again'. With that he nodded and smilingly told me he was trying to learn some English Language. In fact, that was the second time he asked me the meaning for an English word. Of course, it was my pleasure to help him. It is always heartening to see someone wish to improve himself and God must have sent him to give me the opportunity to help.

Do you know how daunting it is for a grown person to learn a new language. It is all the obstacles that our ego put up. There are all kinds of fears and all of them are imaginary. All the obstacles are imaginary. And even if there are some individuals who would dare to laugh at our mistakes, we ought to realise, the courage to learn is greater than the needless and valueless discouragement that are encountered. Furthermore, any mockery can never be an obstacle unless we allow it to become one. For this reason I respect all those who take up the desire to learn a language at that age. There is the indication of greatness in the act.

I know of a young lady, small in built but very energetic, who knew hardly any Mandarin or English after her schooldays. She only studied the Malay language in school. Today, this lady can speak good Mandarin, although there are still mistakes made every now and then which are sometimes corrected by her children. (Her children are studying in schools with Mandarin as the medium of instruction.) From my observation of her, she readily accepts the correction and sometimes even asks for a repetition of the phrase corrected. Her English was not as good although she could speak the language as if it were her mother tongue, rattling away whatever instructions she wishes to convey without much thought to the grammar or the correctness of the sentence. Of course, there were times her language could tickle those within hearing distance as the meaning brings forth all kinds of different unintentional messages. And the beauty of it is that she takes all these in her strides. It does not stop her from learning from her mistakes and practising the language. She improves.

As I see it, she is one lady who would not allow ego to be an obstacle to her advancement. Many less courageous people would have stopped and called it a day but not this pillar of strength. And this, despite her knowing that she does make mistakes. There was once when someone could not understand what she wanted and I was requested to explain to the other person what she wanted. And of course, when it came to formal letters, I have helped to correct her attempts. For me, it has always been a pleasure to be of help to such great people who can overcome their ego to reach their goals in life. Thank god, I was given the opportunity to help.

Actually, our ego can either take us to greater heights or leave us struggling to get up. It was my ego to be better that helped me to overcome my parents' financial position and the weakness of my younger days. Many have not dared to approach others for help partly because of their ego, partly fearing that others would see their weakness. But then, who does not have weakness? All of us do have, more or less. And unless we realise our weakness, how do we ever hope to overcome them and reach for our strengths? In fact I thank God for allowing me to know my weakness so that I could slowly but gradually work on them to emerge stronger in my later years. Today, I can say that I am what I am because of the efforts I put in in overcoming those weaknesses. But then, if I had denied being weak, I would not have strove to be better.

Exemplary Jack Lalane for a long healthy life.

To live a long healthy life, we must all look at exemplary Jack LaLane, who since the age of fifteen did everything that was healthy to perform physical feats few of us can ever dream of doing. Imagine the man swimming long distances in the sea, tied hands and feet, dragging a huge boat at the age of 62!

This is the man who, at the age of 54, beat 21 year-old body-builder,Arnold Schwarzenegger in an informal contest! Well, what can I say but that his feats are incredible. He could outdo any man half his age! Sorry, there's just no way anyone can change that anymore. Although his favourite joke was: "I hate dying; it would ruin my image", he had to go when the good Lord called. Finally, he had to call it a day despite being able to exercise to his very last, having stayed alive healthily for 96 years.

If only he had lived past hundred, it would have been great for that is what I aim to reach. But even if I do, there were many things he did I could never have done. That, I would have to admit. Nevertheless, he is a great one for anyone to look up to.

Oh, yes, there are certain things in his nutrition that are similar to mine. Like him, I consume lots of raw organic vegetables and that is a good thing for everyone. I'll tell about that in another posting. And I love eggs too. However, unlike him, I eat the yolk as well although many people would tell me it contains a lot of cholesterol. For that, I would tell them, our body needs cholesterol and if we exercise enough, the good cholesterol (HDL) will be more than the bad cholesterol (LDL)and that is important. Furthermore, it is the white with the yolk that makes eggs a whole food. And I totally agree with this great fit giant about processed food and junk food.

Well, I would encourage everyone to go into the net and look into his biography and read about the fantastic performances of this great fitness guru. There is already so much written about him that I feel this is sufficient motivation to find out more.

As cost rises, preventing cancer is the best option.

"Cancer Costs Becoming Unsustainable" is what I read on my own blog under the heading 'In the news' provided by the Free Dictionary.

According to the news article, about 12 million people are diagnosed with cancer each year, and the cost of treating cancer is becoming unaffordable. To me. that is good news, although I am no doctor.

Have you noticed that it is when things get rough that we get tougher. The guy who never exercise thinks of starting on it only when he falls sick. Never earlier! It takes sickness to get people to think of their health, to think of exercise. So, if cancer becomes unaffordable to try and cure, people would start paying attention to preventive steps. As for me, exercise is essential to me as I do not wish to live as a sickly man dependent on anyone.

It has been known for a good number of years the possible causes of cancer; one of the most important being our own immune system. And with the internet, knowledge on the type of nutrients and activities essential to a good immune system is available at all times. So, what is there to prevent us from searching for knowledge on nutrients such as vitamin C, E and beta carotene (vitamin A), vitamin B12, chromium, zinc, vitamin D, calcium, potassium, selenium, magnesium, glutathione,coenzyme Q-10 and calciferous vegetables as well as friuts that can help our immune system prevent cancer.

I have also read a book in which an Australian doctor used green papayas and papaya leaves to overcome cancer. I eat at least three raw young papaya leaves each day and I must add that I have not been sick, not even with the cold for a long, long time. I have also read of sprouts giving new life to our cells. And there is this book, 'The One Minute Cure' which uses 'hydrogen peroxide', my present interest, to cure cancer. The knowledge is there in the internet. Of course, we have to be cautious in searching for information on the internet but we can find out from people who have taken it whether what was written can be relied on.

With costs so high and the cure getting unaffordable and so not so easily within reach, people will be more willing to search for knowledge to help themselves. So this high cost may be a blessing in disguise.

Ego sometimes blind us to possiblities.

I received an email in which the following story was written or taken from somewhere. As it is obviously something we should share, I take the opportunity to put it into my blog so that whoever comes in could enjoy and benefit from it as I have.

It is indeed a touching story. True or not, I do not know but let's just learn something from it.

As for the title, perhaps we could have: Never judge a book by its cover.

A lady in a faded grey dress and her husband, dressed in a homespun suit walked in timidly without an appointment into the Harvard University President's outer office. The secretary could tell in a moment that such backwoods, country hicks had no business at Harvard and probably didn't even deserve to be in Harvard.

"We want to see the President "the man said softly.
"He'll be busy all day "the secretary snapped.
"We'll wait" the lady replied.
For hours the secretary ignored them, hoping that the couple would finally become discouraged and go away. They didn't and the secretary grew frustrated and finally decided to disturb the president.
"Maybe if you see them for a few minutes, they'll leave" she said to him.
The President, stern faced and with dignity, strutted toward the couple.
The lady told him "We had a son who attended Harvard for one year. He loved Harvard. He was happy here. But about a year ago, he was accidentally killed. My husband and I would like to erect a memorial to him, somewhere on "campus."
The president wasn't touched....He was shocked. "Madam" he said, gruffly,
“We can't put up a statue for every person who attended Harvard and died.
If we did, this place would look like a cemetery."
"Oh, no" the lady explained quickly "We don't want to erect a statue. We thought we would like to give a building to Harvard."
The president rolled his eyes. He glanced at the gingham dress and homespun suit, and then exclaimed, "A building! Do you have any earthly idea how much a building costs? We have over seven and a half million dollars in the physical buildings here at Harvard."
For a moment the lady was silent. The president was pleased. Maybe he could get rid of them now. The lady turned to her husband and said quietly, "Is that all it costs to start a university? Why don't we just start our own?"
Her husband nodded. The president's face wilted in confusion and bewilderment. Mr. and Mrs. Leland Stanford got up and walked away, traveling to Palo Alto, California where they established the University that bears their name. Stanford University, a memorial to a son that Harvard no longer cared about.

Most of the time we judge people by their outer appearance, which can be misleading. And in this impression, we tend to treat people badly by thinking they can do nothing for us. Thus we tend to lose our potential good friends, employees or customers.
Remember
In our Life, we seldom get people with whom we want to share & grow our thought process. But because of our inner EGO we miss them forever.

It is you who have to decide with whom you are getting associated in day to day life.
a concluding note:

Small Minds talk about People;

Average Minds talk about things,

Fine Minds discuss ideas;

Great Minds Act in Silence!