a record of thoughts

It is undeniable that we live in a material world. Possession fuels mankind. Possession causes reactions within the system. Unconditional relationship is somewhat a form of possession because binding oneself to another is a form of ownership. The most obvious form of possession would be financial — monetary, real assets, etc. It has become a lifetime struggle for a person to possess financial stability which is an impossible feat. It is impossible because just like what Puff Daddy & Ma$e rhymed, “Mo money, mo problem.” Man has no sense of satisfaction.

Possession is the root of all problems. Then man would dream of wealth, now man dreams of a simple life. The latter would be as much of a struggle as the former. It would be most rewarding if one lives a simple life, but that means liberty from society and that is not an easy thing to do. Since man is naturally possessive, stripping himself of all possessions would lead him to succumb to despair.

Freedom from the grasp of the possessive nature of man is the second phase towards detachment. There are two ways to achieve the feat: wealth and surrender. Wealth and self-control would be a great combination into dissing society. The effect would be paradoxical, but effective. It is not an easy task to be wealthy or have self-control. Either one is a task that takes a lifetime to master.

The easiest  way to muster the hurdle of the second phase would be a surrender. That is to surrender oneself from being possessive. That is, furthermore, to totally abstain from possessing. Not even meditation is accepted because it still leaves a fingerprint of possession. Hermitage would be the perfect example. It is not impossible to relocate oneself to an utterly remote location that has fertile land. There the hermit can cultivate, grow and create only the necessities.

Attaining a simple life is hypocrisy because in reality, one can only live a simple life after he accumulates wealth. One may say that their lifestyle is average and thus simple. That is a lie because one works not to maintain, but to gain.

The South Trip (Set 2)

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The South Trip (Set 1)

87 Photos

INTRODUCTION

Before December begins, I should have used all my vacation days from work. It was the last two weeks of November. Usually, I spend my vacation in the overseas, but this year, I opted for a domestic trip with Frances.

I did not plan the trip ahead of time like I usually do things. Planning a trip most of the time does not work for me because things happen in between. I’ve been irking to go south this time, especially to Texas. It has been in the back of my head. Only financial burden and fear was pinning me down. That’s another thing why I don’t plan my trips; I get over the fear. So during the weekend when I picked up Frances from the airport (she came from Las Vegas, but originally from Vancouver, BC) I was thinking about the trip while driving. From there, I decided to do it. Face the music later. (more…)

“We The Living” is about a struggle of three individuals in Soviet Russia. Ayn Rand claims that the heroin inherits all the philosophical ideas from her.

In the beginning of the book, Kira was my model. She did not care about anyone but herself. She walked the path which would make her happy. She denounced society because according to her, oneself always comes first. The highest reverence of man is himself. Selfishness is a virtue.

A few chapters later, I lost interest on Kira. She contradicted herself because she fell in love. Her love affair(s) is unconventional. So what? She attached herself to another and that created a “society”. This is the beginning of her downfall and she never rose back. (more…)

Taken from We The Living, Chapter 9:

“Do you believe in God, Andrei?”

“No.”

“Neither do I. But that’s a favorite question of mine. An upside-down question, you know.” (more…)

While I was watching the opening for Eat Bulaga! today, I was reminded of my high school days back in the Philippines. Back then, we had a subject wherein we did skits every Fridays on a given topic. It’s a civics class, so the topics relate to morals and ethics. But that’s not the point of this entry. (more…)

Eee PC comes with XandrOS distro of Linux, therefore the way I access my network files is different than when I’m using Windows. Fortunately, there is a system called the Network File System (NFS). First generation of WD Netcenter are NFS enabled, but my recent acquisition — the MyBook World Edition — is not NFS enabled. Therefore I have to do the dirty work before I can access my audio/video files from my half-terabyte hard drive. The following are the steps I went through before successfully accomplishing the task:

1. SSH Access in MyBook WE
2. MyBook WE as NFS Server
3. Mount the path:

 mount mybook_ip:/shares/internal /mnt -o rw

That’s all folks!

Someone told me that thinking too much and most especially deep thoughts causes my inability to gain weight. The person didn’t even know that it is my hobby to think deeply about things around us. Now, in an attempt to gain a few pounds and flesh, I’m trying not to think deeply besides from eating proper food regularly and having regular sleeping hours. It may be a yearlong struggle, but I will do my best.

In addition, few changes personally will be undertaken in the upcoming year. Though not strictly, a more discipline me will arise. I’ll try to learn more things and not slack on projects I’m assigning myself. I will try to save for a major project that I’m planning and will also document here once the plan is finalized. More importantly I guess than saving is to fid a way to earn which in itself is a huge udertaking I will have to face. I hope to geet a second paying job even though it’s only part-time.

Could this qualify as a New Year’s Resolution? I tend to not fulfill NYRs, so I’ll admit this isn’t it. This is more of a personal challenge more than anything else. I’ve already fufilled the first step which is to personally detach myself to anyone. By detaching myself, I can have no excuses and be more concentrated on the task at hand.