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The removal of petroleum subsidy is an unexpected New Year gift from the government; many people will rather prefer the oil refinery work to its full capacity before they stop the fuel subsidy. Unfortunately non of us have the Bouazizi heart, it’s the survival of the fittest those that have the heart of men will scale through this hardship, for the oil marketers and their cohort that have deliver us this expensive new year gift we say bitter thank you, from now on there is nothing to expect but inflation with the increase of premium motor spirit everything will be affected from transport fare to food to health care and other basic amenities. The government must also take some part of the blame, yes they are loosing trillions of naira for subsidising fuel but they know some of this marketers that smuggle the petroleum product to neighbouring countries why not take necessary actions and arrest them, but that is not possible this is Nigeria they know someone that know someone that is powerful that the government that is behind this confusion. While some petroleum station sell their product for 150 naira others sold theirs for 140 naira instead of the official price of 64 to 65 naira, to borrow this words from one of Nigeria Afro beat legend Fela suffering and smiling i.e the people suffer while working and smile at the same time. There is no statement from either party when this fuel hike will stop, but one thing is clear everybody will have to work their butt out to survival.

Don’t Ask Just Continue to Live

The most frequent question asked by my students is about life. They want to know what life is, why life is so mysterious, and why we are unable to understand it.

The art of living does not demand much. Just don’t waste your time and energy on such absurd issues. Just start living moment to moment, flow with the life, drink the life to the lees, be part of it, never think of beginning or end, just dance because you are a blessed one who has got a chance to be involved in this mystery.

Confusion is the Key to Understanding

Some of my students often tell me that I continue to confuse them. Yes, they are right because confusion is my method of saying things. If there is no confusion, there is not solution. Mind needs to be shaken and disturbed to make things clearer. I would not like you to have any roots in the mind in the name of love or in the name of meditation or in the name of God. Your mind is very cunning. It can thrive on anything; on meditation, on love, it can thrive. The moment I see that your mind is thriving on anything, I immediately have to uproot you from it. My whole effort is to create a no-mind state in you. I am not here to convince you about anything. I am not here to give you a dogma, a creed to live by. I am here to take all creeds away from you because only then will life happen to you. I am not giving you anything to live by, I am simply taking all props away from you, all crutches.

I want you to be clear in your mind, pious in your thoughts, away from the old borrowed ideas of life and death. If you really want to be in the stream of joyous life, just plunge in, thinking that it is leading you to nowhere, without any prior thought hindering your progress. Just swim in the stream and enjoy every new second of life.

So many times we think that we know something, when the case is really otherwise. We think that a given fact or idea is true and really seems to be logically sound but it isn’t really, what one might say, a gut level truth for us. Perhaps you grew up hearing a lot about that fundamental truth and it seems to you to be correct….. But is it really so? Have you really understood the meaning behind the words that conveyed you the message…. Has it sunk deep into your way of being or is it just that you have heard it often enough times to think that you believe it to be true when its actually not the case….. Its also very much possible that to the present point of time, you have not even realized that its not really a truth for you, just something that you have grown up listening………..

One of the most fundamental truth that qualifies such a classification is the concept of death….. Every one knows… That a day would come and we will die…. We will have to leave our possessions behind, at least those that are of a physical nature….. When we look around, we notice that people actually die at some point of time in their lives. Whether its due to the old age or due to any other reason, each of those who have died had to face death… So it seems pretty safe to conclude that death is the ultimate destiny that we all share in terms of our physical life experience……

However, the question arises, is it really a TRUTH for you…. Have you really accepted this fact at the roots of your being that you will eventually encounter death at some unknown point of time in life…. Is that belief a part of your being…. Do you REALLY know that you will die one day?

The answer in most cases, when assessed honestly, would be a NO…. Even though the idea of dying is most familiar to almost everyone, it hardly seems to have sunk deep enough into a person’s being…. How is that possible… How do we know that….. Because, most run after things in life which the ‘death’ shall simply wipe out in one blow…. No matter what it is, we want so many things, that we simply wont even bother about, if we really knew we would die one day…. The opposite of the above is also true…. So many things that we would do, knowing that death awaits us at some corner of life road, gets neglected. Most reach the their deathbed with “the music still in them”. You may want to share, to love, to smile, to hug, to live, but you don’t do that… Why? Because you ‘only’ know that you will die…. You have not realized it……

Of course, the above idea of death is not the only concept that fails to grasp foundational ground in one’s character….. The list could be endless…..

So why does it matter to make such an assessment? What is the difference between just knowing something and realizing it as a fundamental truth inside of you…. How would it hurt us to just know something instead of realizing it?

Let me explain with a simple example….

We all know about a “chair”… So what is a chair? In simple words, a chair is simply a furniture to sit upon….. Now whenever I say chair, you may imagine a four legged wooden structure that qualifies your idea of chair….. Now if you notice, what I said was not the real chair….. I pronounced a word ‘chair’ but that word ‘chair’ was not actually a chair….. In other words the word ‘chair’ isn’t really the furniture we are talking about… Its just a word… Moreover, it is very important to realize that that word points to a reality… That reality is the actual chair.. The word is nothing more than a simple permutation of the alphabets…. Its the reality, the meaning behind that word that really matters… The word acts as a pointer towards the reality of a chair…. For someone who knows the word ‘chair’ but has never had the opportunity to sit on a chair (I know this is a highly impossible possibility) the word chair may not convey the true meaning to him… Only after he has been running for a long time and is finally provided with a chair to sit down and rest, may he be able to assess the true importance of the actual chair…..

So as we see, it is the difference between knowing the words and knowing the reality to which the words point….. If we get stuck and obsessed with words, we totally miss out on the reality towards which the words point…. You may know it logically…. But your life wont be in harmony with that fact…. The truth would be something you just know…. Not what you feel…..

Talking of the difference this will make, a nice place to start would be to say that you will feel full of inner conflicts…. You may notice yourself doing or acting opposite to what you thought you would do….. Your thoughts and actions will lack congruency and will tend to cancel each other….. You may think you believe one thing and may be wanting to do the opposite at the same time……. Self doubt and diminishing self trust are common symptoms of such a problem……… Its definitely not pleasant to BE something and KNOW something else……

So how do we sort this out… How do we stop being self sabotaging and come to a place of inner oneness that magnifies our efforts…

The key place to start is to recognize all these truths that are yet to be true for you….

You must begin by finding out all those little unconscious beliefs that define your current identity….. Notice the situations where you know you ought to do things in a certain way but almost certainly fail to do it in that way… Perhaps you believe in non-violence but also find yourself ready to punch your friend for any stupid thing he says…. Every time you bring any such illusions into your full awareness, you wont repeat that mistake again… An inner shift will take place and perhaps it would feel very strange to be in that phase of change but soon you would adjust…. The illusion will most certainly fall away the moment you notice its fake nature…. Any illusion recognized as an illusion dissolves in no time….. So pay attention to your life….. And change for the good……

Generally when dating, if someone is interested in connecting with you they call and make an effort to reach out, correct? I know this usually means a man is supposed to symbolically “chase” a woman, but what is it about the other way around that makes going after a man so taboo?

We all need confirmation. But women are used to the “special treatment” a man gives her when expressing interest OVER other females. I do not know of anyone who is above this. Women love those expected phone calls and the sweet “I miss you” texts. There is proof in validation.

But who are we kidding?

Both sides are on their best behaviors for the first couple of months. Feeding off each others energy and giving more than we planned to. We open our experiences and give a meaning to the past. We attempt to remain casual on the surface when deep down this new person is all we ever think about.

Until they aren’t.

We start to forget the little efforts we made. Women continue to expect preferential treatment. Men continue their regularly programmed schedules. It’s typical, really. As adults we immediately pull back the moment a person comes too close to us. Even when we originally let them in.

Unfortunately, we cannot love in these patterns. The emergency *romance cut off switch* is a temporary fix for the problem of insecurity. We keep telling ourselves we are not worthy of love. And this affirmation inevitably becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

So choose instead to challenge yourself.

Do NOT pine away in vain for a person who shows you through action what they will NOT do. Continue to be honest and open. Love freely because that is the only way to function. Go after who and what you want. And give what you expect to receive.

You should not wait for a person to “make up their mind” about you. Trust your intuition and place faith in the process. Being honest with your intentions will weed out the doubtful.

And make room for great unexpected surprises.

Where are we heading?

Recently we have been bombarded with news related to the downfall of economy and politics, the anger people manifest through riots, looting and arson and everything we hear seems to be alarming.

On one hand, the governments of the world seem to face tougher times than before as people start to believe this is the decline of democracy. All countries are in a debt that never decreases and the governments think that cuts are the solution to saving all the money they need to repay their massive loans.

On the other hand there are the people nobody cares about- the people who elected the government and who are not represented at all. The average minister hasn’t been in touch with the public for a long time (even though they claim they how people live) and it is fair to say that the lack of communication between the people and those elected to represent them creates confusion.

“Confusion” is the best word to describe the current state of the NHS, the educational system, the probation service and so on… Nobody actually knows where things are going wrong, but cutting the funds for everything seems to be the best solution.

I don’t recall hearing any of Europe’s ministers complain about their GP or their children’s teachers. I don’t remember any of them saying how hard it is for them to pay their rent or bills or even find a library. Instead, I remember all the people I heard talking about their doctors being unable to diagnose them and give them an appropriate treatment when they are seriously ill. I remember people talking about the low standards of education that can be found in schools and universities across the world and the hardship of getting a proper education. I remember lots of complaints, but whose fault is it?

In my opinion, the governments are to blame for a lot of things that go wrong in our society. I think increasing tuition fees is going to be a national disaster because in a few years’ time, we’ll realise we no longer have enough experts in any of the areas that are important to us (health, education, environment etc) and the ones we will have will be too expensive to hire. What will their solution be? Bring immigrants to do the jobs we can’t do because we couldn’t afford studying.  Universities have lower educational standards then ever before and nobody seems to care that students pay so much money in return for NOTHING!

I’m not saying managing a country and its economy is easy, but I am saying the way they are trying to do it at the moment is wrong. Their approach towards society is revolved around money and nothing else. People don’t seem to matter any more and that is the biggest mistake because without people, you can never have a functional society.

Another problem is the law. In my opinion, we have so many laws to obey and to protect us, but in reality, they are all part of a utopia that we create in our own minds. All these rules and laws are supposed to offer us a more secure and comfortable life, but in fact, they are just things to get angry about when other people are in breach of yours but if you don’t respect someone’s rights, you are very likely to be indifferent to their feelings. Punishments no longer reflect the society we live in. Most of them are “for fun”. Young people who offend usually get some sort of punishment that changes them into insensitive people who couldn’t care less about what happens next.

Every action of ours shows how we have become extremely individualistic and we no longer care about others. All we ever want is money, properties, cars and so on when all we need is a bit of selflessness. We all need to contribute to our society if we want to have one. We all need to express our opinions but we need to keep them realistic and non-offensive. We need to think where we’re all heading and whether we like it. Personally, I don’t like watching the news anymore and I think we should all try to contribute to changing them. I want to hear that someone helped their neighbor, not murdered them for an iPhone.

It’s about time we became RESPONSIBLE as humans and teach others how to give to society instead of take.

Image by nerovivo via Flickr

In my life and profession I have come to the the stand point of great confusion facing difficult decisions many times.Through them i came to understand one thing.It’s not the outcome but our perspective of the outcome that comes to challenge any decision we made in our life. How we feel of our own decision is the key to face our choices and their outcome in a positive and life changing way.Improving oneself is human nature and how much depends on those decisions.

From my experiences I’m Compiling My own 5 method mantra to reach any decision about anything quickly without letting the confusion to freeze the mind.

Note that the following mantras enables you to face any difficult decisions in the future with great confidence and dexterity.

1.Know the Obvious, Know Yourself  : This is the simplest and most important thing,know yourself. When facing a decisive crisis think about the most essential part “What do you want” from this decision.

2.Stick with your decision : Once you have made a decision.It’s up to you to decide how u feel about your decision and its outcome.No matter what the other choices were, stick with your decision. It’s very important to feel good about your decision and your self at this stage. This process enables you to face any future decisive problems with utmost confidence.

3.Listen to others , more importantly listen to yourself : Deal with the nightmare “I said so”. Your friends,family or colleagues coming to you, stating that if you had just listened  to them,things could have been better.In all probabilities, it could have happened or  not. I deal with it the simple thought “better to make my own mistake and learn from it, rather follow someone’s else and learn nothing”.

4.Be quick,Be prompt,Be ready:  Every decision we make is our own.They define us.So why should we wait for others to make that decision for us.The lesson here is in face of a choice whatever the outcome or the decision, make it quick. It prevents the mind from getting frozen by the choices.Of course don’t be hasty but don’t be lazy either. The end result “A Quickie is the best when You don’t have the leisure”.You can jump to other choices if you have enough time.

5.Analyse : Hardest part but “the least important part for cloggers”.Analyse everything i said and adapt the mantra to yourself .For every decision you must know the situation,the different choices,the different outcomes.If that’s asking a lot, think about the first and foremost mantra “What do you want and how you can get it”

Hope my bits are useful.

WHY ???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

The word for today is WHY ? Why do people feel the need to lie when TRUTH is available . WHY? Why do people decide to STEAL when there are resources in place. WHY ? Why do people commit adultry when they have a loving and caring spouse that love them unconditionally. WHY ? Why do women seek after beauty , when are are made in  God’s marvelous  image. WHY ? Why do hate exist in the world when GOD is love ? WHY ? Why are our hearts so vital to live  but the easiest to be broken emotionally ? WHY?  Why is love so toxic but wars are fought everyday? WHY? Why is birth so celebrated and death is so dreaded? WHY ? Why am I asking Why ? Why do we question God ? Why do the curious things in our minds, plauge us to seek answers. Why ? Just wondering Why . Why am I writing this , Why ? Why do we lust after flesh and material things ? WHY ? Why the good person always suffer while the bad person seems to succeed. WHY ?

Why am I interested in the Why ’s of this world when I am confident in the Who ?  Good question !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!