Hard to digest that it has been more than eight years since I started accompanying the Rainbow Reading Gardens (Taman Bacaan Pelangi, TBP) in its journey. Each year, I set aside time to visit our* libraries. For me, personally, those visits are crucial. They serve as a reminder of why I am doing all these.
By BEN OKRI
In the future, centres of learning will teach at least one thing we do not teach today: the art of self-discovery. There is nothing more fundamental in education. We turn out students from our universities who know how to give answers, but not how to ask questions.
Our students do not come in contact with the centres of wisdom in our culture. They leave universities with skills for the workplace, but with no knowledge of how to live, or what living is for. They are not taught how to see. They are not taught how to listen. They are not taught the great art of obedience, and how it precedes self-mastery.
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Aku duduk mendengarkanmu
Satu permintaanmu lekat dalam benak
“Bayangkan kau yang ideal. Ceritakan padaku seperti apa itu.”
Seorang perempuan
Bertubuh bugar bergerak gesit
Rambut terikat ke belakang
Muka polos tak bermake up
Berbalut baju berbahan lembut dan berwarna cerah
Ia tengah berdiri sejenak
Menghirup pemandangan alam di hadapan
Hamparan hijau dibumbui aksen warna lain di sana-sini
Tampaknya sebuah desa atau perkebunan
“Seperti apa ia?”
Tanyamu kembali menyentakku dari lamunan Continue reading
Corporates often have their values defined. A couple of weeks ago, I pondered about mine. I posed the question of values and waited for words to jump up for me.
The word was: Clean. Continue reading
Alone time is often revealing. There was one particular time when I spent days being with nothing but myself. Well, with nothing but myself and my memories, that is. Along with all the emotions that latched on to them.
The memories must have been aware that I was listening. For they came barging like flood into my consciousness. Continue reading
Stillness – http://bit.ly/1SdXeTw
2015’s Dec 24 is commemorated as the birth of Muhammad (PBUH), while the next day, Dec 25, is Christmas – originated from the words “Cristes moesse” or ‘the mass or festival of Christ’- a celebration of the birth of Christ.
The birth of two great individuals of all time, commemorated side by side. This sends a strong message to the Universe. And to me, the message is the (re)birth of Peace. Continue reading
Some people probably have noticed I have grown quieter – if it is at all possible. Apparently it is. I have noticed it, too. I have noticed a lot of things in me of late. I noticed I have become more selective in the activities (and people) I prefer to stay engage with.
There are things that do not appeal to me, and things that do. I engage with things that appeal to me, and stay away from those that do not, in a matter-of-fact manner. And they changes over time. Hence not-so-interesting things can sometimes turn to be rather interesting, or the other way around. One is allowed to have a change of heart.
Then I realise, ‘selective’ may not be the appropriate term, for the word implies deliberate act of selection. Mine is not so much a process of selection (through thought-process). Rather, it is a tendency of the heart.
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Spirituality. We can make it as complicated as we can possibly imagine – for it has its intricacies – or we can stay as simple as we wish to be. Even light and playful.
It is about living from the core. It is about being honest in expressing ourselves. It is about becoming who we are in our original potential. It is about being moved by something Greater – I call It God, Allah. You may call It by any other names you wish, or not, or even not at all.
So it is not some lofty ideas outside of life. Continue reading
chipping in 
