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The Explorer's Log (a Tripod Blog) (paul.quek.tripod.com/blog/)
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Thanks!
Wednesday, 16 July 2008
Hell on Earth (no blessings! ZERO POWER!) - due to a Mind that is not Renewed
Mood:
 bright
We all know that those of us who call ourselves 'Christians' are saved and will go to heaven eventually ... that's true as far as our 'faith' is concerned! But for many of these Christians -- while they are still on earth (with a yet-to-be-glorified-by-Jesus body at the time of 'regeneration' that Jesus spoke about, as recorded in Matthew 19:28) -- they are living a 'hell on earth' -- with little 'blessings' (especially, material blessings!) and, worse, with ZERO POWER to fight against the cohorts and minions of that loser known as satan! (I won't dignify that idiot by using an uppercase 's' in his lousy, loser name!) That is, most Christians believe that Jesus Christ is Lord & Savior, that He laid down His life so that His blood washes us so clean of our sins that we are now a blessed House of God where the Holy Spirit of God in-dwells in us, and that this Comforter (aka Counseller; Helper, the 'One') cloths us with His Presence and His Power! But most of us don't seem to have this Power because we don't have the 'Kingdom mindset' that Bill Johnson speaks and writes about. Yes, Christians are 'born again' -- a term that Jesus used when He spoke to Nicodemus, as recorded in John 3:3 -- and this means we have the Person of the Holy Spirit. And, we also can feel the Presence of the Holy Spirit -- especially when we prayed, and when we listen and/or sing songs of praise and worship. But most of us lack the Power of the Holy Spirit -- the third 'P', which comes only if we walk in the Kingdom and have a Kingdom mindset. After all, Jesus said, "Repent, for the Kingdom is at hand." At this point -- the eyes of those powerless (i.e., with ZERO POWER!) and loser-type (i.e., Hell-on-Earth) Christians are glazing over ... and they are showing their disinterest by an exaggerated yawning! How pitiful for these zero-power, zero-blessings, sucker (!), loser- type Christians! If your eyes are not glazed over, and if you are not pretending to yawn -- if you want all that Kingdom Mindset, Kingdom Power, Kingdom Life with Kingdom Blessings ... why! ... Read on, dah! To most Christians, "Repent" apparently brings a crimp to their earthly living or "lifestyle"! They can't do this -- or that! They can't sleep around, aka "screw" around! They can't live it up! They can't drink this or that, smoke this or that, they can't gamble and gamble and gamble -- or try this or that! Can't! Can't! Can't! How boring! -- say these Christians, when they hear the no-no word, "Repent!" Obviously, these Christians don't understand what "repent" means! To Bill Johnson, "repent" means to "change your way of thinking" -- page 156 of his book When Heaven Invades Earth. And in a later book -- The Supernatural Power of the Transformed Mind -- in page 44, Bill Johnson explains what "repent" means: "Re" means to go back. "Pent" is like the penthouse, the top floor of a building. Repent, then, means to go back to God's perspective on reality. And in that perspective there is a renewal, a reformation that affects our intellect, our emotions, and every part of our lives. Without repentance, we remain locked into carnal ways of thinking. When the Bible speaks of carnality, it doesn't necessarily mean obvious, disgusting sin. Most Christians have no appetitie for sin [e.g., they don't go around saying they want to "screw an Ang-moh woman"]; they don't want to get drunk or sleep around, but because they live without the demonstrated power of the gospel, many have lost their sense of purpose and gone back to sin. Having a renewed mind is often not an issue of whether or not someone is going to heaven, but how much of heaven he or she wants in his or her life right now. (emphasis added - Paul Quek) Jesus urged us to do an about-face in our approach to reality because His Kingdom is at hand. He brought His world with Him, and it's within our reach. He wants you to see reality from God's perspective, to learn to live from His world toward the visible world. But if you don't change the way you think ... That is, if you don't want to renew your mind (i.e., if you don't want to change your thinking or attitude, also known as "repent!") -- no Kingdom Power for you! Tough, dah! No -- or little -- blessings while you are on earth! Living on earth -- as if you are in hell! So sorry! And it's not even the devil's fault! God won't give you all that money you want -- otherwise He will end up destroying you! If He gives you all that money you have been asking for, you will start your high living ... Gambling away ... Drinking away ... Smoking away ... Screwing women all over the place [e.g., actually doing what you had been dreaming about, like "screwing Ang-moh women"] ... You know? ... The usual "wine, women and song" story of the carnal world. In fact, the devil -- not God -- is more than willing for you to have all that money you have been praying for ... for the devil knows that ... all that money will destroy you! So, let us be mindful of what the Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 12:2 -- "And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God." Just in case you think all this stuff about the devil is kids' stuff ... only meant for Sunday School ... Well, think again ("be transformed by the renewing of your mind") ... Especially those of you who are now powerless, because you refuse to have a Kingdom mindset and refuse to walk in the Kingdom that is already, as Jesus said, "at hand!" (aka, "here!"). Wow! Why do people choose to be powerless, I often wonder? Bill Johnson says in his When Heaven Invades Earth, "We were born in a war. There are no time outs, no vacations, no leaves of absence. The safest place is in the center of God's will, which is the place of deep intimacy. There He allows only the battles to come our way that we are equipped to win." Earlier, Bill Johnson had declared that "I was not left on planet earth to be in hiding waiting for Jesus' return. I am here as a military representative of heaven. The Church [i.e., all Christians] is on the attack [We are assaulting the "gates of Hades / hell"]. That's why the gates of hell, the place of demonic government and strength, WILL NOT PREVAIL against the Church." Bill Johnson also wrote that "Submission is the key to personal triumph. Our main battle in spiritual warfare is not against the devil. It is against the flesh. Coming into subjection puts the resources of heaven at our disposal for enduring victory -- enforcing what has already been obtained at Calvary." In a later book -- The Supernatural Power of a Transformed Mind -- Bill Johnson wrote, after quoting Matthew 16:18-19 (in which Jesus told His apostles that "I will build My church and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it"): The Church is the gate of heaven (another way of saying the House of God). Now Jesus introduced the idea of the gate of hell. When I was younger, I read this wrong somehow and thought it meant that "the gates of heaven will prevail against the assault of the enemy". That fit my theology better back then. I saw the Church as a group of people locked inside a compound, shoulders against the gate, trying to hold the fort as the devil and his powerful minions beat against it. I saw the Church in a posture of fear and weakness, trying to protect what we had until God hurried up and rescued us from the big, bad devil. But Jesus gave us an opposite picture. He said, "The gates of hell will not prevail." Has it ever occurred to you that we're on offense, not defense? The principalities and powers that set up dominions or "gates" all over the earth will not prevail against us! We are advancing and winning, and Jesus promises that in the end, no gate of hell will stand. Wow! Yeah!
We are attacking the "gates of hell" ... we are the ones assaulting those idiotic gates!
Cheers!
Halleluyah! [Praise "Yah(weh)", God the Father!]
Amen! [So be it!]
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Posted by paul.quek
at 8:03 AM EDT
Updated: Thursday, 17 July 2008 8:20 AM EDT
Saturday, 12 July 2008
1st Milestone (30 Webpages) Achieved in 'Mysteries of the World' Website
Mood:
 caffeinated
Topic: Sense of the Mysterious
Since 28 February 2008, I have been working on my first Business Website, with my own domain name. That is, "Mysteries of the World" website. And I have been constructing this website with the help of the Site Build It! (or SBI!) system -- for 28 February 2008 was the day I "signed up" to use (and paid for) the SBI! system. The site -- "Mysteries of the World" -- is still very much a "work in progress", of course. And it hasn't got to the Monetization Stage yet -- which is "Day 10" in the SBI! 10-day process of constructing-and-launching a small-small business website. I am now in Day 7 going on to Day 8. You will definitely learn PATIENCE with the SBI! way of doing things! Most others who build business websites tend to think of the monetization models first. But with the SBI! system, you think about building CONTENT first, from Day 6 onwards (although, during Day 5, you have already explored, considered, and planned what monetization models to adopt). Days 1-4 involved thinking and planning: you get to consider questions such as "What are your interests and passions?", "What kinds of businesses will excite you?", "What kind of business websites will excite you?", "Who are your competitors (competing websites)?", "What are the likely domain names to consider (given the website theme that interests you)?", and so on. Oh yes, during these 4 days, you also brainstormed and brainstormed, and then brainstormed again and again ... until you've got your "website structure" done up on paper (or in a spreadsheet -- your choice!), with each web page having its own unique "keyword(s)". Then -- and only then -- do you select a suitable and available domain name (which should be obvious by now!), and register for this domain name in Day 5 (after exploring, considering, and planning the monetization models). Yes, siree -- definitely, SBI! is quite different from most other website construction paradigm, philosophy, and process. Moneywise, SBI! had costs US$299 per year (this is my 1st year, of course), including the fee for website hosting ... the cost-price of SBI! includes the entire SBI! "process-plus-tools" system that helps with the website's theme selection, website-structure planning, webpage construction (not just the Look-and-Feel, but also the CONTENT BUILDING; SBI! is not interested in "building a website in 15 minutes" -- what "content" can you come up with, in 15 minutes?), analysis of each web page as it is being built, adding in a blog to the website, etc., etc., etc. ... All with next-to-zero knowledge of HTML and what-not's (so, no geeky knowledge or experience required -- just concentrate on building the CONTENT, what your business website is about). SBI! also has an interesting online forum (mostly SBI!er-driven, but with lots of input and encouragement also from Ken Evoy, the owner-entrepreneur of the SBI! system) -- as well as online support, of course. Anyway, it's only this week in July 2008, that I had reached my first 30 web pages, a sort of milestone (!) -- actual construction of the web pages started on 1 May 2008, so that I had spent 9 weeks or so to do the 30 web pages, averaging 1 web page in about 2-3 days ( note: I had already spent a previous 9 weeks or so, from end-February 2008 to 1 May 2008 -- as already explained, this occurred during Days 1-5 of the SBI! process -- to brainstorm and select the site theme and the necessary keywords to use for the potential 200-300 web pages in this "Mysteries of the World" website, within a flexible "website structure" (homepage as Tier 1 page; "hub" pages as Tier 2 pages; and the bulk of webpages are Tier 3 pages). Next stop: for the next 9-12 weeks, I must work faster and smarter (I've already got "up to speed" on the subject-matter, to some extent) ... and I will add at least another 30-90 webpages, while simultaneously working on attracting at least 15-30 unique visitors per day for the website as a whole!!! Only then, will I add in (implement) the "monetization" constructs or models (in Day 10), which I had already initially considered and planned during Day 5 of the SBI! 10-day process. Anyway, in this (second) week of July 2008, I am taking a break from constructing the webpages for the "Mysteries of the World" website ... but while taking actual breaks, I had also put in a few posts in various of my other -- "hobby-type" (i.e., non-business) -- websites and blogs, including the Yahoo! 360° blog known as "Paul's Blog @ Yahoo! 360°". Of course, after this period of R&R (i.e., "rest and refreshing" as well as "rest and recreation"), I will continue with the CONTENT BUILDING for this SBI! site known as "Mysteries of the World".
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Posted by paul.quek
at 12:09 PM EDT
Friday, 11 July 2008
Blessings or no-blessings -- via the Power of our Tongue
Mood:
 chatty
Topic: Sense of the Mysterious
Just two days ago, several of us were in a neighbouring country with the aim of enjoying a sumptuous and delicious meal, when a brother-in-Christ spoke, without thinking (as is his usual style), of the traffic situation.
When reminded to speak only of what is to be called into being (“… God ... calls those things which do not exist, as though they did” -- Romans 4:17, NKJV), he went into a tirade, harangue and diatribe -- that is, speech characterised by strong feeling and expression, as well as uncontrolled bitterness and abusiveness. If ever there was a display of a lack of manifestation of the Fruit of the Holy Spirit, that was it -- there were clearly zero "love, joy, peace ... patience, kindness, goodness ... faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control" (Galatians 5:22-23). But then this brother-in-Christ has often displayed (through speech -- AND body language, such as facial expression) an utter contempt for anybody who professes in the faith -- despite having declared himself to be a follower of the Way, the Life and the Truth (i.e., Christ). As Jesus Himself once explained, it is not what enters into a person's mouth that condemns ("defiles" - NKJV) him -- it is what comes out of a person's mouth that condemns him! (Matthew 15:11) Hence, the Power of our Tongue! I fear that, like Jude pointed out in Jude 5, NKJV ("... I want to remind you, though you once knew this, that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe"), this brother-in-Christ -- while not quite in the same position as "vessels (or objects) of His wrath, marked (or prepared) for destruction", like the Pharaoh and his soldiers, whom God initially raised to power and greatness, with lots of blessings, but whom God had beforehand marked for subsequent destruction, which the Egyptians subsequently experienced -- may be saved but to be destroyed subsequently, like the Hebrews were subsequently destroyed by wandering, without blessings, "in the wilderness (desert)". That is, the Hebrews were saved from a situation without blessings (slavery, bondage, beatings, persecution, poverty, no wages or gold or silver -- while in Egypt), but because of their subsequent unbelief after having been saved (similar to the contempt that this brother-in-Christ showed, and continues to show, about anyone professing in the faith, despite declaring himself to be a Christian), the Hebrews were condemned to wander in the wilderness (desert -- no blessings!) for 40 years ... until this older generation died off, and a newer generation were raised under the leadership of Joshua and Caleb (the two spies out of ten who believed in God's promise) to take over the Promised Land (i.e., situation of blessings). In the past, we have been on the receiving end of such expressiveness, from this brother-in-Christ ... let us pray that God in His Mercy, would continue to grant His Grace to this brother-in-Christ. In Jesus' mighty name, God, we claim for this brother-in-Christ, your Promise as written by your Apostle Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, that "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus ..." (Romans 8:1, NIV). Before signing off, let us firstly renew our faith by declaring our love for our God, in all 3 Persons of the Godhead. Secondly, let us ask to receive blessings continually from God, by His Grace. Finally, let us recognize that it will be instructive to deepen our understanding of the Power of the Tongue, by reading up on some articles on this topic ... so here are some writings that I have culled from the Internet ... Enjoy! Jenna Robinson, writing as the 'Bible Basics Editor' @ BellaOnline -- her article is entitled "The Power of the Tongue", quoting both the Old Testament and the New Testament -- reminds us that: Proverbs 18:21 says, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue; and they that love it shall eat of the fruit thereof.” As Christians, do we plot the ‘demise’ of our dreams, [our] visions and our blessings with what we allow to come out of our mouth? Are we seriously watching the things that we say, not just about ourselves but also about our circumstances, situations and others? Even more so today ... we [must] closely critique the things that we say before we say them. If it was ever a time to ‘think before you speak’ truly it is now! Many times we are speaking things that have put delays on our prosperity, promotions, blessings and we haven’t even realized it. When we fail to speak ‘continuous strengthened faith’ about what we are waiting on for others or ourselves, we delay their route to the manifestation realm. Often times we are too quick to say the things that come into our mind without evaluating if they are edifying or not. There’s a process to speaking mature strengthened faith on a continuous basis to your situations. First, you must have firm and solid faith; next your attitude must exemplify your non-wavering faith and thirdly, you must stand strong in your conviction to believe beyond all doubt. When all these things are in spiritual sync then your mindset parks in the ‘critique mode’ for the things your mouth tries to utter. You will begin to arrest your thoughts and frisk them thoroughly to see if they are carrying doubt of any kind. II Corinthians 10:5 says, “Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing captive every thought to the obedience of Christ.” If the thought in your mind is not supporting your faith, ‘you don’t speak it!’ What we must continually remind ourselves about faith is that, it's what we do ‘not’ see naturally, so no matter what we see visibly, faith sees the opposite and it is on this sight we process our belief. As we believe what we see through our faith, we speak only those things that promote, support and encourage the forward progress of the blessing of the manifestation to us [and others]. We must talk faith to our circumstances at all times -- just as it says in Romans 4:17, “… Even God, who quickens the dead, calls those things which be not as though they were.” If we wait until we ‘see’ the visible results of what we are asking for, this is not faith! We have to do something with the span of time between when we have it in mind and when it tangibly becomes ours. If we don’t ‘speak’ strengthened faith to ourselves, the thoughts in our mind will keep us on an endless emotional roller coaster .... We must always ‘choose’ to speak life to everything that is of a concern to us [and others] and believe what we say until complete manifestation. (Adapted by Paul Quek, for this Blog ... thanks to Miss Jenna Robinson! May God's Grace be upon her ... and everyone else.) There is an old proverb with a lot of wisdom. It says, "The tongue has the power of life and death, and whoever loves it will eat its fruit." It is so true. What we say has the ability to create situations, emotions, and thoughts in others. A kind word helps people, negative words hurt - sometimes for a very long time. But here I want to talk about this concept in relation to ourselves. How does what we say affect us? Tremendously. There is a simple principle here. Only say things that will create in you positive emotions, thoughts, feelings, and ultimately, actions. Let me give you a good example. We do not allow the words "I can't" in our house. Why? Because we CAN! The very minimum is "I'll try." We ask our kids to say "I'll try." If we allow our kids, or ourselves, to fall into the trap of saying "I can't," guess what? We won't! And that's not good, is it? Do you tell yourself negative thoughts during the day? Most of us can fall into that temptation, can't we? I was working the other day and I was brewing over something bad that had happened and I was just getting bent out of shape. So I stopped, realized I had the power to choose what I was saying to myself and began to think about and tell myself good things. And my day changed for the better. Have you ever been in your backswing on the golf course and said to yourself, "I am going to shank this one." What happens? You shank it. This actually happens to me. So what do I do? I stop my backswing, reset myself, and tell myself I am going to hit it straight down the fairway. What happens? About half the time I hit it straight, the other half, I shank it .... At the very least I increase my chances of performing better. Bad thoughts almost guarantee my failure, while good thoughts increase my chances for success dramatically. A salesman may see someone walk through his door and say to himself, "I'm not going to be able to make this sale." I can't. I won't. Some of us aren't even aware that we talk negatively to ourselves. Take some time today to think about what you say to yourself. Maybe ask a close friend if you have this habit. If you find yourself doing this, it is time to change! Now, don't get me wrong. Self-talk is not a substitute for effort and ability, but it is a strong helping factor. Find some simple phrases that will help you get through the day with more success. Whatever your situation or work is, I am sure there are specific things you can say that will build you up and stick you on the road to success! The words that you use and the conversations you have with yourself create things in you. They can create positive things or negative things. It is our choice. The tongue has the power of life and death. This is why it is so important to be diligent in using the power of the tongue to create a positive force in our lives. Remember, your tongue has power. Use it! (Adapted by Paul Quek, for this Blog ... thanks to Mr. Chris Widener) There are numerous other writings, of course ... MAKING YOUR MOUTH A SHARP SWORD, from "MESSAGES OF WARNING - From The Loving Heart of God", by Rev. Archimandrite Fr. Eusebius A. Stephanou, Th.D., Brotherhood of St. Symeon the New Theologian, Miramar Beach, Florida. You may want to delve into his ARCHIVE to see whether his "pastoral messages" are useful to you -- if nothing else, to receive blessings from the Lord! Amen! (So be it!)
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Posted by paul.quek
at 10:58 PM EDT
Updated: Saturday, 12 July 2008 12:19 PM EDT
Thursday, 10 July 2008
Antics of Politicians - Incoming Emails & My Replies
Mood:
 cool
Topic: Uncategorised-Unimportant
Just in case you've got nothing much to do -- especially on a sleepy Tuesday afternoon! -- you may wish to peruse this short series of emails to me, as well as my replies, that should make it clear that I abhor politics (and politicians -- despite my Charismatic beliefs! Sorry! I ask for your forgiveness, LORD GOD the Father, YAHWEH/YAHVEH, Abba! Father! Daddy GOD -- in Jesus' mighty name! Amen!):
---[ Received Mail Content ]----
Subject : Reform Party Inauguration Dinner
Date : Wed, 9 Jul 2008 21:03:13 -0400
From : ...
To : "Paul"
Dear Paul,
Mr. JBJ will be celebrating the inauguration dinner for the Reform Party at Fortunate Restaurant on Friday, 11 Jul 08. Tickets are charged at $30 per seat. If you are interested to attend this historic event, just give me a call or drop me an email before 12pm 11 Jul 08.
Venue: Fortunate Restaurant
Address: Blk 181 Lorong 4 Toa Payoh #02-602 Singapore 310181
Date: 11 Jul 08
Time: 7pm
Cost: $30
My reply was as follows:
Subject: [RE]Reform Party Inauguration Dinner
Sent Date: 07-09-2008 9:38:00 PM
From: "Paul Quek"
To: ...
Thanks for the invite - but I am apolitical ...
[Still - often -- especially on a sleepy Tuesday afternoon! -- I enjoy laughing at the antics of ALL politicians (as reported in the public information media, such as offline newspapers as well as the Internet's online newspapers, websites and blogs) - but I am, basically, apolitical, so I don't really go out of my way to search out these so-called "news". And attending, or giving my time to, any event connected to ANY politician? Thanks, but no thanks(!) - I have already got too much on my plate, as it is -- e.g., with my websites and blogs! But - thanks again for your invite! Cheers!]
-- paulquek
m: 9783 7277
e: paulquek888@lycos.com
b: http://www.thoughts-and-things.com
w: http://www.mysteries-of-the-world.com
> To: quekpaul@hotmail.com
> Subject: ponder
> Date: Wed, 9 Jul 2008 21:15:25 +0800
> From: ...
>
> This is an e-mail from (Singapore Democratic Party) sent by ... . You may find the following Link interesting: < ... weblink censored ... >.
This was my reply ...
From: Paul Quek (quekpaul@hotmail.com)
Sent: 10 July 2008 10: 30AM
To: ...
Don't waste time on politics and other useless activities - focus instead on building up your net worth -- then QUIT, lah - hehhehheh!
- From your friendly neighborhood apolitical not-abducted-by-aliens Zen Charismatic barbecue-stingray aficionado - dah!
-- paulquek
m: 9783 7277
e: quekpaul@hotmail.com
b: http://www.thoughts-and-things.com
w: http://www.mysteries-of-the-world.com
> To: quekpaul@hotmail.com
> Subject: <name censored> is lying
> Date: Wed, 9 Jul 2008 20:58:15 +0800
> From: ...
>
> This is an e-mail from (Singapore Democratic Party) sent by ... . You may find the following Link interesting: < ... weblink censored ... >. >
Below was my reply ...
From: Paul Quek (quekpaul@hotmail.com)
Sent: 10 July 2008 10: 51AM
To: ...
So what's new, bud? You mean, u believe any crap from any politician!!!???
Wake up, dah! From the Zen paradigm, the antics of politicians are not much different from that of all others, including moi, of course, hehheh!
Lighten up, dah! From the Charismatic viewpoint, we should pray for their eventual seeing-of-the-light. Besides, Romans 13 teaches us to be subject to ALL authorities because ALL authorities are ordained by the Sovereign Will (aka "Will to Decree") of God -- even if, eventually, after having been raised up to authority by God, some of these authorities, being clearly "vessels [or objects] of His wrath marked [or prepared] for [future or eventual] destruction" (per Romans 9:22), will suffer the fate of the Pharoahs and his mighty army, eh? That is, now they have their just rewards (e.g., power, glory, accolades from men, awards, money, etc., etc., etc., ... ) -- but, for some of these authorities, their fate is already sealed and foreordained - you know, the 'smoking section'? Tough (for them), what!!!??? [I promise to be there -- to help 'stoke the fire'!]
Personally, the antics of politicians should be enjoyed as a sideshow in the arena of life -- especially on a sleepy Tuesday afternoon!
Cheers!
-- paulquek
m: 9783 7277
e: quekpaul@hotmail.com
b: http://www.thoughts-and-things.com
w: http://www.mysteries-of-the-world.com
> To: quekpaul@hotmail.com
> Subject: justices
> Date: Tue, 8 Jul 2008 20:08:11 +0800
> From: ...
>
> This is an e-mail from (Singapore Democratic Party) sent by ... . You may find the following Link interesting: < ... weblink censored ... >.
>
Below was my reply ...
From: Paul Quek (quekpaul@hotmail.com)
Sent: 10 July 2008 11: 15AM
To: ...
See my previous replies about the antics of self-important politicians - and how unimportant politicians are to the rest of us! -- Cheers -- thanks -- bye-bye/chiao! -- and may the Person, Presence & Power of GOD be with you always!
-- paulquek
m: 9783 7277
e: quekpaul@hotmail.com
b: http://www.thoughts-and-things.com
w: http://www.mysteries-of-the-world.com
Note: This post is classified under "Uncategorised / Unimportant", as politics and the antics of politicians are of no importance whatsoever to this Blog -- and thus does not merit any other classification or categorization other than "Uncategorised / Unimportant". Still -- enjoy whatever you can -- especially on a sleepy Tuesday afternoon!
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Posted by paul.quek
at 3:28 AM EDT
Updated: Wednesday, 16 July 2008 7:59 AM EDT
Thursday, 14 February 2008
Truth vs Delusion
Mood:
 lyrical
Topic: Zen
Aristotle is possibly Ancient Greece's greatest philosopher, even though he got a lot of his "science" wrong. In China, within the Chinese Ch'an (Japanese: Zen) tradition, the greatest is, of course, Hui-neng (Japanese: Eno) -- the Sixth Patriarch of the Southern School of Chinese Zen (emphasizing "instantaneous enlightenment"), who lived in the seventh and eighth centuries. According to T. P. Kasulis, in his article entitled TRUTH AND ZEN, "... Aristotle and Hui-neng agree on one crucial issue: the major cause of falsehood is our mistaken interpretations of what appears. The world is not fundamentally illusory: it is our own delusions that prevent us from seeing the way things are." The Zen practitioner seeks consciousnessly to disassociate himself (herself) from his (her) delusions -- via unpolluted no-thinking ("wu-nien") -- and thus, removed of these delusions, to "awaken" by seeing into one's own mind -- into one's own primal nature or original nature or "original face" ("pen-hsing"). And the process is, apparently, not a one-time or one-off matter. The Japanese -- in their unique way of re-engineering anything (in the reverse engineering sense, perhaps?) -- came to the conclusion that there can be more than one "awakening" episodes, and that the initial "awakening" episode or episodes (called "kensho"; "kenshos") should not be construed as "final enlightenment". After one or more "kenshos", there can follow eventually (which could mean a long period of time after a kensho episode or a series of kensho episodes) the final "awakening" or "liberation", which the Japanese calls "satori" or "dae-kensho", this being the big "nirvana" or "enlightenment" experience of the historical Buddha, who was the "Shakyamuni" (the "muni", or venerable teacher, of the Shakya clan) Siddhartha Gautama. About 150 years after Hui-neng, the Chinese Zen Master Lin-chi (Japanese: Rinzai) founded a dominant line of transmission named after him, but still of the Southern School persuasion of "instantaneous enlightenment" that Hui-neng/Eno had established. As one of Hui-neng's spiritual descendants, Lin-chi emphasizes the "true person" ("chen-ren") and speaks of "no position" ("wu-wei") rather than Hui-neng's no-thinking ("wu-nien"). Hence, to Lin-chi, the ideal to strive for is the "true person of no position", echoing Chuang-tzu's "There must first be a true person before there can be true knowledge." The "true person" is one of Chuang-tzu's common designations for the sage who acts spontaneously, responsively, and without contrivance. In this respect, we can understand Hui-neng's "no-thinking" ["wu-nine'] as a state of responsive awareness in which one is not self-consciously putting one's experience into static conceptual frameworks. In any case, Lin-chi expressly states that the true person represents the spontaneous functioning at the basis of all human activity ... and the mode in which intention and act are inseparable.
-- T. P. Kasulis, "TRUTH AND ZEN"
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Posted by paul.quek
at 6:18 AM EST
Updated: Thursday, 14 February 2008 9:16 AM EST
"Success not built on honesty, truth - is failure"
Mood:
 d'oh
Topic: Secular Success
This blog is called "The Explorer's Log" because it is a (partial, necessarily!) record of our explorations into the wonders of the Universe (or Creation) ... Of course, as I stated in the parentheses, this Log is only a partial record, since the entirety of knowledge in and about the Universe is just "ginormous" (obviously, a portmanteau of "gigantic" and "enormous"), reflecting directly the glory of our God ... Well, as the Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 1, "From the creation of the world [i.e., Universe], His invisible attributes, that is, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what He has made. As a result, people are without excuse." (Holman Christian Standard Bible) Let's begin our exploration with this topic that appear in today's paper -- The Straits Times (Forum page, page H9), which is our main daily broadsheet on this day (14 February 2008), in the fair-and-sunny-but-humid island-state of Singapore. Naturally, as is my usual practice, when I find something interesting to read, I will Google it on the Internet (or 'Net) ... and then save and read the online/'Net version on my PC. And in the case of paper-based newspapers, I do not handle the physical item for too long, as I go through the whole thing (through all the various sections/parts) in less than 10 minutes ... and also because I prefer to be able to make notes and stylistic changes to the 'Net version already saved on my HDD, it being easier and less measier to do so, and I can quickly seek/search out via Google related texts based on the keywords that are already in the text and/or which come to my mind as I read, notate, etc. The process is highly iterative, of course. Notes made from the main text lead to further Google searches, which lead to further notations, which then leads to further searches, and so on and so forth. Now, about the topic of "success", especially in the secular sense ... this is always interesting to many people, especially my fellow Singaporeans. But today's text has the very interesting blurb "Success not built on honesty, truth - is failure". The article -- or letter to the ST Forum page -- is available online at this 'Net address: http://preview.tinyurl.com/2vnfmu If, for some reason, you can't access it @ that URL, CLICK HERE.
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Posted by paul.quek
at 3:11 AM EST
Updated: Thursday, 14 February 2008 4:55 AM EST
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