On the other side of the globe, 16 years old Magnus Carlsen give a kinda shock to the chess world by beating the former World Champion and current no. 1 player Vaselin Topalov on Super-GM Morelia-Linares tournament. After 7 rounds, Carlsen now join-lead the tournament. Interesting to see how he will doing on the other half of the tournament.

(Carlsen in action)

Valentino Rossi starting the new moto-GP season with a bang, or at least so, won the pre-2007 championship race qualification. Doing so in speed by beating the old lap time (set by the bigger engine 990 cc) using a new 800-cc bike. And the prize for this year winner is the new BMW-sport car… kewl..

first race in Qatar (10 of March).. Gentlemen start your engine!!

(Rossi and New-M1 Yamaha 800cc)
 

There have always been schools of transformation operating behind the scenes of conventional life. These schools existed to free human beings from inner slavery and to awaken them to the responsibilities and joys of being fully human. Their teaching was based not on beliefs, but on principles that could be tested in everyday life. These teachings shed light on the unconscious assumptions that motivate most human behavior.

All of the many "I’s", most of the conditioning that makes up personality, much of what we consider our personal identity (personality, as contrasted with our essential self) is serving four ba­sic motivations. Each motivation is determined by the wish to gain or avoid something that is believed to be good or bad, desirable or undesirable. The totality of these motivations, or urges, are called in some literature “the world” (dunya), or “mammon.”

We have the basic idea that the whole purpose of living is to be nondisturbed. The unconscious assumption that it is better to be undisturbed is the foundation of our inner slavery. These four basic motivations are:

1. The urge to gain pleasure and com­fort, to escape all pain,

2. to gain attention, to avoid being ignored or rejected,

3. to gain approval, to es­cape disapproval,

4. to gain a sense of importance, to have control over other people, and to escape the sense of inferiority, or the inability to control others.

We have several strategies that we apply in order to actualize this imaginary “nondisturbed” state.

1. To complain. This hasn’t worked so far.

2. Feeling victimized and demanding our rights. This hasn’t worked so well, either.

3. Trying to please people. It sometimes works, but it creates inner havoc.

4. Trying to believe and do as one is taught by authorities. This opens the door to mass suggestibility.

As a private exercise we might write down our observations regarding:

My ways of complaining.

Ways I feel victimized.

How I try to (manipulatively) please people.

How do I play the game of pleasing authorities (for my own personal security and ends).

These are personal and for our own enlightenment, not with the idea that we are going to change what we observe, but simply at first to gain more objective information about ourselves.

These basic four motivations are further supported by:

GREED: Wanting more, better and different. No matter what one has, after a little while, even though at first delighted, one grows weary of it, and one begins to take it for granted. One begins to accept that one is entitled to it, and wants more, better and different.

VANITY: All the false selves having a false picture of oneself, always being in the right, being a very wonderful person who is mistreated.

PRIDE: Defending that false picture of self. When we have believed something about ourselves to be true that was not true, there is a certain amount of vanity in us, and there is inevitably an effort to defend it. Vanity is having a false picture of oneself.

ENVY: Not just wanting what others may have, but wanting them not to have it.

RESENTMENT: Holding accounts against others, a simmering, almost unconscious anger, that cause us to withhold friendship, support, and love.

If one is governed by the shadow, if one is ruled by what one is not conscious of, then one is the last to know what everyone around us knows about us. One may hide the self (nafs), keep it under cover, and be blind to it, but it still distorts and contaminates our inner life. If one doesn’t know the self, there is no hope of a transformation.

As we begin to observe ourselves we are faced with the pain of seeing how unconscious much of our lives may be. One “I” says, “What is the use, this doesn’t change anything, it is just making it worse.” Or we notice various and sundry thoughts racing through the mind that say things like this, “There isn’t anything worthwhile in this.” “Drop the whole thing.” Some self-improving “I” comes along and says, “You’re really a mess. This is terrible, I don’t want to find out these things about me!” You may think you “should” do a great amount to change yourself and this only adds to your state of inner conflict and internal stress.

Nevertheless simply observing all these “I’s” begins to open the possibility of fundamental change. While it may not be very pleasant at this moment, it definitely has value .

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The Science of Witnessing

Some ideas based on the teachings of Robert Gibson
Edited and reworked by Kabir Helminski 

Banjir Jakarta 2007 in pictures:

gorong2 tempat air mestinya masuk.. malah jadi menyemburkan air. (jalan samping wisma bumiputera)

6 jam kemudian.. air sudah setinggi dada orang dewasa..

.
jalanan depat hotel Regent-Four Season, Kuningan

busway or boatway ?

sungai di samping LandMark.. coklat-meluap.. sepanjang mata memandang..

seorang bapak dan putrinya sibuk mencuci di pinggir kali yg meluber… cuek

danau sunter yg meluap.. mana batas danau.. mana jalan.. udah gak jelas.. untung masih nemu jalan pulang…