February 2012
1 post
Quotes from Ben Okri
To poison a nation, poison its stories. A demoralised nation tells demoralised stories to itself. Beware of the storytellers who are not fully conscious of the importance of their gifts, and who are irresponsible in the application of their art:
Magic becomes art when it has nothing to hide.
“A people are as healthy and confident as the stories they tell themselves. Sick storytellers can make...
January 2012
2 posts
Thoughts about God today..
Have you ever wondered why bad things happen to good people? That must be one of the big questions of all time. Some people will say it’s because He has something better for us after. Others will say it is punishment. I don’t buy either.
The truth is, we will probably never know. We can only speculate. I can’t pretend to be sure of my answer but the only thing I can think of is...
December 2011
3 posts
2012, here I come
My new years resolutions this year: 1) Have one creation a day-an idea, big or small like a song, a photo, a tweet, anything at all. 2) Give more, take less. 3) Produce more, consume less 4) Come from love more 5) Be awake to the present as often as possible 6) Go back to writing books. The 5th one is ready to be written 7) Do more music 8) Have an exhibit 9) Learn a new skill 10) Less...
It doesn’t have to be a bleak Christmas
Posted on December 24, 2011 by jimparedes [e]
HUMMING IN MY UNIVERSE By Jim Paredes (The Philippine Star) Updated December 25, 2011 12:00 AM
I llustration by REY RIVERA
Mass burials, over-stretched funeral parlor services, a dearth of coffins and formalin. There were bodies that were going to be dumped in the landfill in Cagayan de Oro, for lack...
2 for laughs
At the doctor’s office They always ask at the doctor’s office why you are there, and you have to answer in front of others what’s wrong and sometimes it is embarrassing. There’s nothing worse than a Doctor’s Receptionist who insists you tell her what is wrong with you in a room full of other patients. I know most of us have experienced this, and I love the way...
November 2011
5 posts
At admission desk, St Luke's Hospital...
For dengue, typhoid, leptospirosis cases, proceed to WARD.
For operations of kidney, liver, colon, throat cases, proceed to PRIVATE ROOMS
For cancer, bypass and angio cases, go to EMERGENCY ROOM
For plunder, corruption cases, go to Presidential Suites.
The Samsung Galaxy Note: Size does matter
By Jim Paredes (The Philippine Star) Updated November 27, 2011 12:00 AM
MANILA, Philippines - There are smartphones and there are smartphones. Almost every big and medium-sized phone maker comes out with a new model every once in awhile. Even many startups are joining the smartphone bandwagon. If it’s choice you want, there’s something out there within your price range and...
“I THINK YOU ARE THE FATHER OF ONE OF MY KIDS
A guy goes to the supermarket and...”
– A joke I picked up from a classmate
Bohemian GMA Rhapsody
Sung by the people, XPGMA spokesperson Horn, and Gloria herself
PEOPLE SING:
I see a little woman ex President
GMA GMA will she do an eskapo
Cases have been piling, very very frightening NGII!
Mike Arroro, Mike Arroyo, Mike Arroyo wants to go!
Mag-eskapo-o-o-o-
Gloria’s a bad girl nobody loves her
She’s just a big crook from a rich family
Claims to be sick and wants to...
“The ancient masters slept without dreams and woke up without worries. Their food...”
– - Chuang-tzu
October 2011
2 posts
Answers to #ASKaQuestion
Some of the questions you sent I answered through DM. Some I answered again because they were asked more than once. Thanks for sending them.
@Jimparedes if you have a chance to be a superhero, what would be your superhero name and your superpowers?
My name would be Haringliwanag— A wise person who can melt any angry heart to change position and direction. Called to intervene in wars,...
September 2011
4 posts
While sorting out tons of recordings I had done, I...
Guess who's coming to dinner?
Am planning my next dinner with people I have yet to meet. I have done this twice in the past where I announce a dinner and ask people who want to join to send me a letter. My requirements are, they are not stalkers and they want to share conversation. From the respondents for the first dinner, I randomly chose the attendees. For the second dinner, I specified certain types of professionals I was...
“‘As soon as you look at the world through an ideology you are finished. No...”
– -Anthony de Mello, SJ- (The writer that Cardinal Ratzinger once banned.)
““Is there anything I can do to make myself Enlightened?”
“As...”
– —Anthony de Mello-
August 2011
9 posts
3 quotes
Emptiness is in fact form when we forget the self. There’s nothing in the universe other than our self. Nothing to compare, name, or identify. When it’s the only thing there is, how can we talk about it?? - Taizan Maezumi
If you put your conditioned intellect to rest for a long time, suddenly it will be like the bottom falling out of a bucket — then you will naturally be...
“With the compelling convincingness of dreams, which are vague yet exact, the...”
– Heinrich Zimmer
“Never forget, what your looking for is what is looking.”
– Wei Wu Wei
A conversation with a wise man
I cut my spiritual teeth with, among others, Joseph Campbell. He is a great thinker who can cut through the crap that others can’t get through. A long, hard but a worthwhile read.
Excerpts from conversation’s with Michael Toms and Joseph Campbell
From “An Open Life - Joseph Campbell in Conversation With Michael Toms”
TOMS: Human beings throughout history have been...
The Artist's way of being and doing
(This was meant to be a guide to a longer article I am writing. I posted it inadvertently. But since it is getting a lot of reaction, I will keep it here. My article for next Sunday will be this same topic but much more expanded.)
An artist does not need permission nor a license to be one. Not even a qualification. As a New York Times article put it,” ..Their job description, if they...
“While everyone else
Is so busy striving,
The lone traveler
Is at ease by...”
– Wen-siang (1210-1280)
“The wind was flapping a temple flag. Two monks were arguing about it. One said...”
– Zen Koan
“We all have the right to express. But ranting against the art work in CCP is...”
“Artistic growth is, more than… anything else, a refining of the sense of...”
– ~ Willa Cather
July 2011
11 posts
When the student is ready....
The next Glimpse into Zen is scheduled on August 28, 2011. Please invite your loved ones, relatives, friends and colleagues who want to know more about Zen. This will be from 1:30 to 3:30 pm to be held at the Zen Center for Oriental Spirituality, 31 St. Claire corner St. Catherine, Provident Village, Marikina, Metro Manila. For further details, visit our website: www.zencenterphil. org and...
“Artists have the gift to turn pain into beauty. One of the things that...”
– Jim Paredes—
“It was the coldest winter ever. Many animals died because of the cold. The...”
– Thanks to my classmate Oscar Jorge who sent this to me
WatchWhat we are capable of. The Anonymous video
“Meditation sitting in the quiet of a Sydney suburb
The winter cold and damp...”
– Haringliwanag- 2011
The best Android phone is the best smart phone
Screening room: The screen size of the Samsung Galaxy S2 is marvelously wide and spacious, at 4.3 inches and it’s possibly the biggest Super AMOLED screen of any cell phone in the market to date. |
I have always had techno-lust. Ever since I could remember, I’ve always liked gadgets of all sorts. I have an admiration for people, companies that design and make things that are smart,...
“Now tell me: Should I follow some self-appointed people who claim to know and...”
“Handle even a single leaf of green in such a way that it manifests the body of...”
– Dogen Zenji (1200 - 1253)
Surviving tragedy
HUMMING IN MY UNIVERSE By Jim Paredes (The Philippine Star) Updated July 10, 2011
Illustration by REY RIVERA
A woman loses her husband in a tragic accident. A little boy dies leaving his mother totally devastated. A family loses everything when fire hits their household. Something that you’ve wished and worked so hard for unexpectedly ends up in shambles. I am talking about...
CD LARO is out in America and Canada! →
HEY US and Canada: I have an announcement. You can now order my CD LARO from this site easily. It should be mailed to you in just a few days. This outfit is part of Amazon. Click on line above…ENJOY!
June 2011
12 posts
“The peace that comes from
Peaceful surroundings is not true peace:
Only in the...”
– Hung Ying-ming
“A Woman’s Sex
It has the original mouth but remains wordless;
It is...”
– 2 poem by Ikkyu, a Japanese Zen Buddhist priest and poet
“Poetry often enters through the window of irrelevance.”
– M. C. Richards
“What I call perfection of seeing
Is not seeing others
But oneself”
– Chuang-tzu (3rd century BC)
“Till now you seriously considered yourself to be the body and to have a form....”
– Ramana Maharshi (1879-1950)
“The essential point in learning Zen is to make the roots deep and the stem firm....”
– - Yuanwu
May 2011
18 posts
Marriage and love affairs
It’s harder than we think. I remember reading these quotes and it made more sense than any Hallmark anniversary card, or all that sentimental stuff they sell in media about relationships, or any homily I’ve heard..
All these quotes below are from Joseph Campbell.
“Marriage is not a love affair. A love affair is a totally different thing. A marriage is a commitment to that...