Shiva's and Metta's Mother's Sutra

Singapore has gone Halloween crazy. It makes me very amused to see that while we have a full on month long ghost festival of our very own, that the children are dressing up for this one night of Halloween. It was never a thing even 10 years ago. Now it is everywhere. It is, of course, an Irish festival which has gone, via the US to arrive here. The whole thing is the dressing up. People love dressing up. It is the once chance they get to be someone else. In the past people would have also dressed up from time to time, but Halloween is the only time when we do it in the modern era. The talk went alright yesterday. Honestly teachers who teach young adults deserve a medal. Anyway, for the first time in months I don't have a commitment beyond what I am doing.  The Fitness Journey There always comes a point during the fitness journey when you have this breakthrough - like wow, you could do this forever. This week was that for me. It took me much longer the first time round this year - i...

Today a very hyper exciting thought occurred to me... as I drove back from the station after i pumped the petrol. As we say. Ireland has 7 million people. I mean the whole island. AND Singapore has the same number. Ireland has an outsized effect on the world in terms of its culture, language, film, music, etc. Singapore has zero effect on ASEAN, nevermind the world. What the fuck is it? Ireland does have this deep culture which goes back into time and a struggle and they have always stood on the right side of history. Singapore also has a wonderfully deep culture, BUT it has been truncated by colonialism. Ireland has never allowed itself to be defined by the centre - except for the West Brits. Singapore has a slavish hangover to the centre. It has never fully come into its own. A true reckoning has never occurred for Singaporean culture and anyone who is interested in creating something has either been beaten into submission or gone overseas. I mean its sad is what it is. I don't k...

Well, not quite.  Tomorrow is Oíche Shamna - today is the 30 of October.  From here on in the long nights begin in Ireland. The darkness returns and all the festivals of light come on. Beginning with Oíche Shamna and then, St Martins, then Advent and Christmas, New Year. We can also add Deepavali to that. The celebration of the hope that there will one day be spring once more. How many times has the planet been through this cycle. It is humbling.  We are only here for a very short time and in that short time you'd think we would try and live with the humility and gratitude which we should given the gift which is our Earth. I love this place. I love it. I began unplugging yesterday - maybe the day before, but I really had to unplug yesterday. To understand my purpose and to understand that this is alright, and more than alright. Everything is changing rapidly. Very rapidly. But the human spirit, that will always be there. Always. Well, as long as there are humans. So I wan...

Achill Island - oh so long ago... I have lived a life... In Singapore, among my class of people, the important things are ostensibly material. Parents get a kick out of bragging about the schools their children go to, the universities they end up in, the material possessions they have, the holidays they take. Conversely people feel lesser then and embarrassed if they cannot keep up with the Joneses. The busyness epidemic is all consuming. Time spent with family whether it is your own children or parents is just seen as utterly pointless. If you are not making money you are not existing. I really don't know how else to put it. It is relentless. You have to be busy all the time. There is no time to do anything else apart from something really stupid in order to further some pointless planet destroying cause.  It was a wheel I actively stepped off from, so if I'm not part of this madness, I have no one to blame but myself. You are not allowed to think about things which you want t...

Finally the sun came back and the skies were blue. It does make me often wonder about people being 'rewarded' for doing incredibly stupid and destructive things.  Here are some of them These people have profited from the destruction of the rainforest. This year the burning season which pisses people off EVERY YEAR got out of hand and they blamed - El Nino. The palm oil producers complained there wasn't enough water. The Indonesian government said the rains were late or never. The Singaporean government blamed the Indonesia government when a majority of the companies involved were registered in Singapore. Singapore has been complicit with the destruction of rainforests forever. Ironically the man who made biscuits had decided to close his biscuit factory to invest in more palm oil. It is just absolutely vile. I cannot tell you how vile the march of palm oil is and how corrupt everything is as well. You are either a neocolonial oppressor, like Singapore, or you are a victim, ...

Another day passed peacefully. I'd say that is a good result. The friend contacted me yesterday and apologised, explaining why he behaved in this way. Well, I said, let's get together when a mutual friend came to town, then we could reconnect then. I think that's good.  We had a very busy day - Jac took us to Suntec City, then I realised I had not my wallet with me so we went back. Then we went to the market. After that we went to Serangoon Road for the pasar malam which was very disappointing. Then we went to Sushi Tei in Thompson Plaza. It was kinda crazy really. In between I worked on the presentation. I only am doing a small section. Well half. Anyhoo...  I was rereading my short stories and actually the others are ok - the most problematic one is the first one - the wonky pancake. The others are alright. They just need finessing. So there we are. I feel restored knowing this.  ================ Another day has passed. I took Ma to MyVillage and we had ramen there. I c...