Om Mani Padme Hum

Om Mani Padme Hum. I love what it means. I have been looking for mantras that I can live by or at least I can utter & try to live by and I came across this tibetan mantra that I really, really can appreciate the meaning. The six syllables are said to be blessed to help people achieve perfection of the following virtues. Although most of us believe that there's no such thing as a perfect person, in Buddhism, it is taught that we all can be buddha and be enlightened, thus this mantra, helps in achieving perfection to these practices. The Dalai Lama condensed the meaning of this mantra into this "Thus the six syllables, Om Mani Padme Hum, mean that in dependence on the practice which is in indivisible union of method and wisdom, you can transform your impure body, speech and mind into the pure body, speech, and mind of a Buddha." I am no expert on this but I just wanna share these very nice practices that even non-buddhists like me can practice in their daily lives.

Om- generosity
Ma- pure ethics
Ni- tolerance & patience
Pad-perseverance
Me - concentration
Hum - Wisdom

Although I am a Catholic, born & raised as one, my family, especially my mom had always been open to other types of religion, we were once part of a born-again christian congregation, and once we did not have any church we belong to. When we were young, we've heard about karma, Buddha, reincarnation, among other things. As a kid, I was already curious about what it means and so I started reading stuff about it, once I can grasp what they mean. It does not hurt as well, that I have an aunt & uncle who practices hinduism, both of them, I dearly love. And eventhough I dont have a crucifix on my room, I have however, a Hindu god, guiding me while Im asleep, given to me by my uncle.

I think what I'm just saying is that, maybe, we should not put God in a box, I think He/She is powerful enough to materialize into different beings to reach out to different cultures in our world. Maybe it's just His way to "fit in" and be "accepted" to billions of people all over. But then again, that is just what I think, you really dont have to agree with me. Hehe =)

So for now, I think I'll be reciting this mantra everytime I can. I may not become a Buddha one day, but I just may become a better person. I think, that's not so bad.

Om Mani Padme Hum

fear no more

Fear starts to set in. Im leaving my job in 30 days without a sure replacement of a new one and Im starting to feel terrified about it. There are so many bills to settle, so many responsibilities that wont stop coming in even if I have stopped working. What fears me most is the thought of (possibly) getting a new job but then in a few months or so, I would resign again. Where's the stability there? Where is the contentment, fufillment from there? Nada. Zilch. Zero. I dont want that to happen again. I need to do something that would make me feel settled & content. I have prayed about this. I'm leaving it up to God. I know He listens and He has plans for everyone of us. Now, thnking about that, I am not that worried anymore, I know Im in good hands. You are, too.

My favorite sunset

Currently, this is my favorite sunset because I dont have to go far to see it. I simply have to head home and I would have a glimpse of this beautiful sunset. Yep, every single day. This just made me realize that I don't have to go to far, distant places to see the beauty that this world has to offer. It is everywhere we go. It is all around us. We just don't know where to look. Or sometimes we just get used to our everyday routine that we don't expect to see something like this, because we expect to see these kind of things when we go out of town, on the beach or somewhere else but not in the convenience of our everyday commute. My friend Khrizzy even asked me if I went out of town, because she thinks I took this picture while I was on vacation. I told her I just stopped my car and took pictures from my phone, and people who were passing by were looking at me like I am some crazy nut taking pictures of something nothing out of the ordinary..hehehe.

Anyway, my point is just that beauty is all around us and maybe sometimes, we should slow down or stop at our tracks so we could learn to appreciate them.

Resignation (Again!)

"It is with deep regret that I tender my formal notice of resignation effective..." I have written this line 3 times in 3 years of my working life. An average of 1 per year. Not bad. Hehe. Yes, once again, I am resigning from my job of 9 months as an IT analyst. This time though, I am resigning without any clear path of what I'm gonna do next. Well, yes more likely I want to get a job soon. But currently, I dont think that I'd be having one soon. This time, however, I need to get a job that is not just a job that pays my expenses monthly, but a job that I would really love & enjoy and would not think of writing another one of those lines above. I am turning 24 this year, I have been working for 3 years and sad to say, I think I am going nowhere. I want to stop myself from becoming a certified whiner. Because really, I know, it wont do me any good. And I dont know to whom should I whine to ( I think I ran out of listening ears..hehe). I think the problem with me is that I do not know what I like to do. I am searching, waiting till lightning strikes me. But alas, it has not come yet. I am tired of waiting.

Waiting is painful; forgetting is painful. But not knowing what to do is the worst kind of suffering.
-Paulo Coehlo, By The River Piedra, I Sat Down and Wept.

Writing this, I want to put the lyrics of one of my favorite songs here( to balance the negativity..hehe). It's beautifully written. It's full of hope and everytime I think that I want this all to be over, I think of the song's lyrics and it makes me want to go on again and wait for that sweet sunshower to come my way...

Sunshower
Chris Cornell (from Great Exepectations OST)

Dark as roses, fine as sand
Feel your healing and your sting again
I hear you laughing and my soul is saved
On forgotten graves you cry

Crawl like ivy up my spine
Through my nerves and into my eyes
Cuts like anguish
Or recollections of better days gone by

But it’s all right
When you’re caught in pain
And you feel the rain come down
It’s all right
When you find your way
Then you see it disappear
It’s all right
Though your garden’s grey
I know all your graces
Someday will flower
In the sweet sunshower

Eyes like oceans so far away
A feather trail to a better way
Worried mornings turn into days
Then into worried nights

But it’s all right
When you’re all in pain
And you feel the rain come down
Oh it’s all right
When you find your way
Then you see it disappear
Oh it’s all right
Though your garden’s grey
I know all your graces
Someday will flower
Oh in the sweet sunshower
Oh in the sweet sunshower
In the sweet sunshower

I know all your graces
Someday will flower
In the sweet sunshower
And it’s all right
All you’ll be you are today
Are today
It’s all right
All you’ll be you are today
Are today.........