One Garden, One Door

You alone may enter the door to your own dreaming.

You must never seek to enter into your dreams by any other door.

You alone may nurture the garden within your own soul.

You must never seek to compare it. Nor must you abandon it for others.

There is only one garden. There is only one door.
---<--@

What now?

Now that the world did not end,
can we take better responsibility of it?

Can we take a planetary view of ourselves
and see our world as part of a grander design?

Can we become better citizens of each our own nations
and rediscover the order and purpose inherent to our world?

Can we brave the promised dawn that lies just ahead
and together prevail through the darkness of the last age
to become brighter advocates of peace and human community?

Can we become more compassionate stewards of our living earth?

Can we love God more as He must be loved in all creation?
---<--@

The darkest time in the night is not in the middle,
it is that part just before the breaking of the dawn.

The Autumn Gate

How do we know where it leads?



I have written enough now
about the December 21 terminus of the age
to deflect much of the fear and paranoia
that precedes these kinds
of greater movements of things...

...things that are beyond our realm of earth,
things beyond the current spread of our world,
but are yet things that are not beyond the realm
of our Mankind which is the universe entire.



It is not a time of great fear,
it is a time of great faith -
of prayer and not of panic;

of the spirit
and not an ignorance of the spirit;

of reason
and not an ignorance of reason;

of our common humanity
and not of common inhumanity;

of peace
and not of war...

For it is a time of light
and nevermore the darkness!

It begins, my darling Starshine,
as all great feats of freedom oft begins,
with a plain and simple choice -

to be one or the other.
---<--@



The unfulfilled dreams of Mankind and the freedom of God -
these are the primary causes for the expansion of space and time.

We are, therefore, we must.

The Brightest of Stars

Do you know the absolute magnitude of Polaris, the (present) north star, is -3.64?

Many a time, the brightest of stars isn't exactly the most useful. 

Starshine, be yourself... that is all.

:::Think and Unlock:::

Walker on the Path

If you think the straight path is straight because of the path, you haven't really looked beyond yourself to see what lies ahead...



Peace be with you!

If you feel that our world -
which needs so much of our love and care -
is presently difficult and confusing,
then let us fall back to our own nation
and work to improve the peace of our Republic
from within our national communities.

If you feel like our nation -
which needs so much of our love and care -
is presently difficult and confusing,
then let us fall back to our own selves
and work to improve the peace of our Republic
from within our own families
and circle of friends.

All of this we can achieve
by continually choosing to being better
than our own worst selves...
and in spite of it.

(Is not the first meditation of our rosary of hope
the strongest foundation of all the other hopes?)

- selah -

We do what we can, the best we can -
the rest we leave to the care of Almighty God
and to other citizens not unlike ourselves.

The straight path is straight not because of the path
but because of the walker on the path.
---<--@

Refer to: Salutation #83 (Straight Path)
              Salutation #150 (Rosary of Hope)

Salutation #5

Freedom is to know freedom.



(Freedom)

PEACE, I salute you.

Even the smallest of lights
shines in the darkness -
so shift your focus, my friend,
if you haven't already done so
for each and every good thing counts
regardless of the darkness.

What is praiseworthy is right action.
It is what makes us distinct from the darkness -
it is ignition -
the actual point of contact
between human will and divine grace.
Right action is, in the painting by Michelangelo
of Adam reaching out to God
with their fingers extending out to each other,
that bright spark at the imagined point of contact
between the freedom of Man and the freedom of God:
Right action always results in good works.

What motivates the will to act
must also be what inspires the heart to love.
Therefore, evil action is always the result
of false inspiration -
the idolatry of sin!
So if we are to do good,
we must first learn to love the good -
and shun all that is evil.

For we profit not from evil,
my dear friend,
but from the good;
our motivation being derived
from purposes that are good,
our hopes being anchored upon things
that are true and therefore, good,
and the wings of our surrender to prayer
being ever vigilant and discerning
- in its ascent -
to the one Giver of all good things.

For evil no longer hold us captive.
We have come to know it
and forever bless the LORD for His Light.
Therefore, we seek now to unknow it
upon paths of repentance
that lead away from darkness
and into peace -
peace in our hearts -
peace with our fellow human beings -
peace with all of heaven -
and peace with our God.
---<--@

(produced 20090629)

2012 is not an end!

When we speak about the end of the world
what is really meant is the end of the world as we know it

And the end of the world as we know it
has nothing to do with the world but with the passage of time.

It is the end of time as we know it.



2012 is not an end!

For there is no end,
only a return to the beginning;
only a transformation -
a necessary transformation,
a saving transformation.

Not a few people
may fear the approach of 2012.

But change is inevitable
so we must change to master change.

We are not powerless
over which life we choose to live,
everyday we enter into it
by the power of our choices.

Just the same -

We are not powerless
over which future we choose to live through,
as individuals - but even more so -
as whole communities of individuals,
we only have to enter into it
by the power of our lives.

So let us not fear 2012 - rather,
let us seek to understand it.

THINK about it.
---<--@

Salutation #141

There were two worlds

presented to me in a vision -

One was ordered, blessed, and free
- shining with a myriad living lights -
and the other was dark, empty, and forgotten;
indistinct from the void of all things that never were.

These worlds are not ruled by two gods
but presented to us by one God alone
as a choice to the human heart
and a path for our nations.

refer to Crystal Blue Sphere 
---<--@


(The Two Clocks)

The will of War
and the will of Peace
can be likened to two clocks.

Either one - and only one -
of these two clocks may exist
at the heart of a nation at any given time -
right at the very head waters.

Each clock dictates
the general inclination of the people
and works to synchronize the vital movements
of each our will of Country.

One clock inescapably leads
to a time of death and desolation
and the other to a time of life and abundance.

We move forward
only by the weight of the burdens
we must bear with each other as a nation
and this burden is the burden of Justice.

It is a burden that grows
- ever the heavier -
under the suffocating crush of War
and ever the lighter under
the sheltering wings of Peace.

When we follow
or are led to follow
the clock of War,
the clock of War moves forward
as the clock of Peace is stopped.

When we follow
or are led to follow
the clock of Peace,
the clock of Peace moves forward
as the clock of War is stopped.

When we allow
the will of War to steal away
the lives and the promise
of each our fellow Filipino compatriots,
the clock of War is hastened.

When we allow
the will of Peace to work to fulfill
the lives and the promise
of each our fellow Filipino compatriots,
the clock of Peace is hastened.

Either clock leads - all the way -
to the higher purposes of God for all creation
unto the LORD's ultimate will of completion
for all things, seen and unseen.

But the choice is always ours
which one to follow.

For we can only follow one.

- selah -

One may only imagine what clock
our world has been taking its time* from
by the name we have learned to call it by -

"The Doomsday Clock"

(*time here determines direction in the national will -

in essence it is what rules over the heart of the people
being either an inclination or disinclination to the truth

and determines the disposition of the spirit of any nation)

---<--@

(original produced 20110517)

Salutation #140

Equality is an environment

where individuals who are not alike (in our distinct persons)
become equally empowered (under God) to find their own happiness
as well as enabled to freely support (through Country) others in that same pursuit.
---<--@

(Define Equality)

Equality is a quality of Justice;

the fullness of every life's goodness
made present in all - for all.

Equality is the perfection of Law;
the completion of the labor of nations
made manifest in all - for all.

It is not a form of slavery
to a blind and mindless conformity;
the ancient curse of modernity!

Nor a vainglorious submission
to the fickle fashions of the times
that soon wash away with the darkness
ever as fleeting as the world!

Equality is
the boon of peace!

And therefore,
a social virtue born of good will -
the undoing of all false impressions,
mischievous hatreds, and maliciousness.

It is the medium of every human respect
and the foundation of our every labor
of awakening the timeless dream
that slumbers from within
every Man - for every Man
born of freedom and love of the same
not make every person a copy of the other
but to allow us all in our common communities
to be uniquely and supremely happy

   (across our kindred nations,
   across our common generations)
in the realization in the self that indeed -
freedom is not happiness,
happiness is freedom.

This is a Just Equality.
---<--@

Old Defiant says -

If
Luzon + Visayas + Mindanao = one Republic

Then,
Luzon = Visayas = Mindanao = one Nation

For
Star + Star + Star = Sun (synergy)

And
Star = Star = Star = Sun (luminosity)
---<--@


No Unity without Diversity

Salutation #138

No peace without adversity!
No peace is obtained through weakness.
Durable peace only comes through strength.



For as gold is purified in the fire of the Refiner,
a peace that is precious is a peace that is tried;
a peace tempered by its own will of truth,
a peace that is meaningful to all -
this is a durable peace.

It is always a gift -
a thing we must receive.
---<--@



(No Peace without Adversity)

No peace without adversity -
in human terms, no virtue without vice -
in spiritual terms, no repentance without sin -
no contrasting light without the darkness;
no serenity without suffering.

No peace without adversity,
in terms of the nations (of the children) of Mankind -

A peace established from within
where cooperation and consensus take root
upon the very soul of every Country
drawing its power from the essential spirit of the nation,
expansive in its liberty, exhaustive in its understanding of all things,
evolving into works that eliminate undue fear, inordinate want,
and the slavery of all these diverse forms of oppression
growing stronger in good will and human community
one with the other, as trees in the orchard of the LORD,
as stars ordered according to each their times,
arrayed according to their constellations,
rising in their great galactic gatherings,
bursting forth against War, darkness and division
bearing edible, sweet, timeless fruit
shedding their everlasting light -
for the glory of the God
of all Mankind.

It is not the peace built from fear and force
which is that "peace" established from without
'tis like a prison - deceptive and constricting -
enslaving the spirits of nations entire
and corrupting each their own soul of Country -
adulterous, inhuman, and distrustful -
a peace built from sheer limits;
one which can never last.

   One may only imagine
   from a perspective of two thousand years
   where a false peace may lead us.

Therefore,
no peace without adversity!

- selah -



My brothers and sisters of the Promise,

great may these present divisions be
but greater still is our desire and our recourse
to an understanding of God and ourselves,

we must continue on our course -

unto the stars, unto destiny.
---<--@

Of Virtue and Vice

Salutation #132

(Starlight in thy Sight)

Let us not believe 

so easily in the darkness

when it is yet so dark

and so easy to believe

in people saying,

"it is dark!"

There are heroes

among us everywhere, my people.

From all states of life, 

diverse vocations, 

and areas of Republic service,

private as well as public, 

high as well as low,

they walk namelessly with us.

We only have to trust

that we walk among them

- while it is dark -

that we may believe

at approach of morning

that we were right to believe.

Do you understand this?

Evil will try to inspire us

to do good for the sake of its name

and cause us to believe

with the conviction of faith 

that its causes are right and just.

Darkness will by its own power

attempt to inebriate us

even unto our every soul

and in the confusion,

cause us to believe

with the affirmation of hope

that Night is Day.

Let us not believe

so easily in the darkness.

For

darkness that is deep

is madness!

Let us be (the opposite) 

being a people, faithful and fair -

one in heart, at-one in mind;

a Nation, true and true -

spirit-minded, rightly-guided,

vision-inspired, human and just!

---<--@

You may,
as a way of further understanding this Salutation,
also recall into thy mind the One Ring:



The reliquary of the spirit of Sauron,
the power of which is a hidden deception
masked by the golden shine of its grand allure;
an evil inspiration that led to the madness of Saruman,
the betrayal of Orthanc, and ultimately,
the ruin of Isengard.



The power of a myth lies in the reflection of its truth.

Gaga Over Gaga

To ban or not to ban -

Freedom is all about
strengthening the right choices.

- selah -

An irresponsible kind of freedom
is an anathema to itself.

Indeed,
a person or a nation
who does not know freedom
shall certainly lose it.

Truly,
that constant striving 
for an authentic form of human freedom
is a common human need.

For the rough material
of our common freedoms
is like iron ore - that -
we must first allow into the fire
that we may as one nation
forge it into the steel of our liberty.

This is why
I've always been supportive about
a robust form of free expression
- for our nation -
because it exposes our freedom
to the task at hand.

It is not Lady Gaga's responsibility
to strengthen, temper and refine
free, open and honest thought
here in our own nation,
it is ours.

No matter
how vulgar or offensive
her own lyric and art may be,
(short of openly sowing evil
and willful divisions in our midst)
if we do not stand and face it
and learn to deal with it
as a free and human society
at any one time - under heaven,
freedom loses out.

This is why I am not for the ban.

- selah -

BUT if our prevailing freedom
- realistically and understandably -
is not yet ready for something
as radical as this one event,
then I am for the ban.

But only with the understanding
that in this age, we shall - as one nation -
be faced with other
serious challenges to our liberty
that may be even greater than this concert.

- selah -

All forms of truly human expression
has a rightful place and time in our Republic.

Therefore,
it is our responsibility
as a nation - together this time -
to make sure that both the right as well as the duty
to maintain and protect the existence of free expression
ever prevail within the climate of our democracy.

And thank you, Lady Gaga,
for giving us this teaching moment.
---<--@


Common Human Needs

Salutation #117

A citizen is not a citizen 

- if it were not for other citizens -

not unlike him or herself.

---<--@

(Focus)

NO MATTER HOW DIFFICULT 

the evils of the present time 

may be allowed by the LORD, our King, to become,

my brothers and sisters of the Promise, 

as one Filipino nation, as one Republic undertaking,

there are only two ways we can go - 

two summits we can set our hearts upon -

two lineages we can willingly follow -

two visions we can from heaven obtain -

two freedoms we can humanly share -

two clocks we can live to abide by -

two destinies we can fight and die for.

And of the two -

only one is superior to the other,

only one is faithful to our keeping,

only one is real.

Focus determines the outcome.

People are poor 

- who have accepted -

the reality of being poor.

A nation is defeated 

- who have come to accept -

its own defeat.

Truly, truly, 

no nation can so thoroughly deplete the spirit 

and exhaust the will of another nation 

as completely as it can 

its own self!

Therefore, 

abide in thy fellowship 

as human beings and citizens to each other -

a keeper and friend:

Do not be too quick to judge,

do not expect rights you are not willing to give others,

do not rail against the humanity of others

while feigning ignorance of your own,

harbor neither hatred nor division in thy one heart of hearts,

and never ally thy own soul to the adulterous will of War

and assume evil against the nations of the children of Mankind

(for all nations, as they are purposed and made by God,
exists singularly for the LORD's own human causes
for reasons other than the triumph of evil).

Come into today!

We can not live on the past,

the past can not feed and shelter our people.

Neither can we live on our problems,

our troubles by themselves do not make us complete.

There is only the present...

And so -

IF we are complete in our remembrances

- the good in our every moment shall be complete -

and today shall be sufficient
for all our tomorrows.

Alleluia!
---<--@

Soul of Country

Salutation #90

A Filipino is a kind of love and this love binds us together as one nation.

(Citizenship with Fidelity)

I believe in our people

- We, the Philippines -

every ethnic tribe

- that make us -

into one common community;

one lineage of hope,

7,107 islands strong!

And I recognize in myself

and in each of my compatriots,

the strength and the spirit

that bind us together

as one Filipino nation.
---<--@

I shall be obedient

- to my parents -

and faithful

- to my God -

that I may learn to love virtue

and the good of others.

For I shall strive

to be useful to my nation

and shall work hard

to bring honor and joy

to my family,

to my school,

to my teachers

and to my community.
---<--@

I shall always remember

the experiences of our history

that forged for our people,

one common destiny.

And I shall walk - forever -

in this remembrance,

deriving from

the sacred memory

of our heroes,

one common identity.
---<--@

I shall keep true

to my common identity -

it is the reality

upon which

is established

the sacred trust

that binds the lives,

the labors

and the fortunes

of all Filipinos

- together -

into one lineage of hope;

one common citizenry.

And I will honor this

- sacred trust -

and work to fulfill this hope

in myself as a citizen

of our Republic endeavor,

drawing from the same

unyielding strength

that have empowered

the labors

of every Filipino

of every generation.
---<--@

I will cherish and understand

our Republic endeavor -

it is the foundation

of our democratic processes

in the political,

social

and juridical institutions

and representative traditions

that maintain the good order

of our public peace

that shelter

and preserve

the life of our civil society.

And I shall maintain

a constant vigilance

over our democracy,

participating in the labors

that enrich and advance

the peace of our Republic,

seeking every means available,

to pursue the the common good

of our people

and realize

the eternal vision

of our nation

established in our Constitution.

---<--@

I shall be brave

in the defense

of our Republic peace

and preserve

with my honor

and my life,

the truth of our Constitution

and the life of our generations.

And so

I shall embrace - forever -

all of these duties that I owe

to that undying dream

of freedom for myself

and for all Filipinos

being willing to freely

and humanly carry them out,

with much faith in God

and steadfast trust

in our Country,

kindled forever

like a flame in my heart

and in the hearts

of all my Filipino compatriots -
from always to always.
---<--@

Salutation #86

Of the Responsible State,

it must be said - there is no state more superior,

regardless of it's present governing framework,

than one that brings peace to the people.

A state must be judged by the people and the people by their peace.

A peaceful nation is a happy people ruled by a just state.

This state (the civilian leadership and its necessary administration),

regardless of its governing framework philosophy (in its present evolution),

is a just state - it is a Responsible State!

As all that is truth

cleave unto each other in the ascent,

so does freedom become ennobled

by the ennobling presence of freedom.

(Crossroads)

Peace, I salute you.

What's really on trial next week?

I want you see behind the externals

and look above the personalities involved,

and to perceive this impeachment in terms national

which extends across the life of our generations -

What's on trial next week

is an old and oppressive system

of selfish elitism and mindless factionalism -

a system which is disloyal to the life of our Republic;

a system we, the people, have allowed to endure

and have now the rare opportunity

to directly check and peaceably correct.

You feel the subtle effects of this system

('tis a rule of War, a mindless paradigm of division)

for it is like a tyranny without a tyrant

and its unfamiliar spirit is here in our midst

because we have allowed it to creep deep into our culture -

right into the very nook and cranny of every Filipino home

the sacredness of which our Constitution

- explicitly protects as inviolate -

because it is from each of our homes

where both our fortunes as well as our futures

as one Republic whole are broken or made.

(And War would have us all undone, my nation -

from weak to strong, and from lie to lie.)

Each home in our Republic is a bastion of Country,

for no matter how it is built - how magnificent or how humble -

each of our homes is dignified and defended by the laws

that we owe to each other equally - to recognize and uphold -

laws kept so that kings and presidents may not enter

any one of our homes - from least to great -

(but especially the least from among all)

without each our express permission -

let alone the spirit of War!

- selah -

My beloved people,

in exactly one week from now,

we shall arrive at a crossroads...

(only one of the many along our straight path)

where we shall each perceive

two paths leading out into the distance.

We shall each invest in a choice - as a nation -

a choice we must make more through our faith

- in the workings of God and of Country -

than through individual knowledge of any kind.

So that if we are still not established upon the truth

of who we are as a people and why we are as a nation,

when the time comes and everything speeds up once again

and the currents become for us turbulent -

we might get swept away - again -

into a place in time

we don't ever want to be.

We have no other home away from Home

- here upon this world of earth and fire -

than our one Republic of the Philippines;

we are but one vessel, one boat, one ship.

My brothers and sisters of the Promise,

we can no longer afford to be complacent.

There is no pulling ourselves back up river

for once it runs down water,

it must eventually reach the sea.

---<--@

Think about it -

Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light (spirit).

And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness (judgment).

God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day (authority).

- Genesis 1: 3-5

Power is what calms the sea, it is what divides the waters, it is what distinguishes the light from the darkness.

Among the nations, power is the presence of authority.

Likewise, lack of authority is the absence of power.

(Please also see - One Song Meow: Power.)

The Paradox of Power

Sheltering Wings

The Ascent

In those great sweeps of ambiguity,

the framers of our present Constitution defined for this nation,

by the ideals they have established for our Republic,

that great and abiding paradigm

of liberty for our people.

For these ideals guide,

as a unifying sense of vision and direction,

and give us counsel

according to (1) how we interpret our freedom,

(2) how we live it, and (3) how we learn it,

ever ascending with but one ascent to the truth.

---<--@

Where is the Darkness?

My fellow Filipinos,

brothers and sisters of the Promise,

do you know why this is the Land of the Morning?

Because when the morning comes, my beloved people,

our generations will ask - where is the darkness?

---<--@

Hindi po nabubuhay ang bansa natin dahil madilim ang gabi.

Towards the Morn

The journey of a thousand years

begins with just one day - and that day is today.

Towards the morn, O ye nations,

towards that awakening dawn!

Towards the peace, O ye peoples,

towards the twilight of the new!

Towards the LORD, O ye numberless stars,

towards that promise made of old!

Towards the Light, all ye living lights

away from the darkness,

where all our roads,

lead back to you, Jerusalem.

---<--@

Salutation #75

A Nation at peace with its own truth is a Country at one with its own heart.

(The Pursuit of Happiness)

Happiness is not a freedom to do anything.

Happiness is the ability

to consistently do the right thing

in spite of everything.

Therefore,

a happy person is a person

in possession of his or her own freedom.

One who obtains happiness

by striving to live a life

that is truly free.

- selah (pause for thought) -

Now,

a lot of people look for peace

for all peoples have an idea of what happiness is

but only a few know where to begin.

No one can tell you what the truth for you is like

but you can listen to others

to find out where to begin looking

for thy own truth.

For your peace is your own.

But your peace is never meant

to only be yours.

For you are like a star - that -

once aflame must reach out to shine

for other stars across time and distance

- against the Night.

Truly,

the individual is important.

But this importance must exist

within a community that values it.

This is our liberty.

- selah -

Once you are in possession

of the truth in your own heart

- O Beloved of the LORD -

it may only be taken away

by your lack of vigilance.

For no one can dictate to you

what you must will to cherish forever

- in the city within thy own heart -

within those worlds within thyself.

Heaven and earth may only give thee

good counsel and due caution.

So be careful of the false images

that are specifically intended

for the ruin of your dreams

and the overthrow of thy own peace.

For once you are in possession

of thy peace in thy own heart,

it may only be uprooted

(and may God forbid it)

by your freely giving it away.

---<--@

Salutation #74

The one music in you is the one music in me.

(The Filipino Dream)

Know the (Filipino) Dream, see the (Republic) Vision.

- selah -

There is a dream in myself which is for myself.

There is a dream in yourself which is for yourself.

But the dream in all ourselves

- must exist -

within a greater dreaming.

This is our national dreaming,

which from the time our nation was conceived

- in the Mind of God -

till the moment our nation is once again received

- into the Heart of God -

constitutes one whole dream.

This dream is the Filipino Dream.

And everyday we wake up

with the love of our nation in our heart

is everyday we add to the splendor

of its eventual awakening.

For every day we improve our lives

and the lives of our Countrymen and women

is every day we realize its Promise

in each ourselves - for all of us -

together this time.

Because the Dream which is ours

is one continuous dreaming

and each of us contribute

toward its completion

in each ourselves.

It may only reach its fulfillment

when the national destiny is reached

by the last of our generations.

When our Country is perfected

by the God of all Countries.

No one can truly define

- the Filipino Dream -

but the Filipino.

And each of us contribute

toward its completion in ourselves.

Now,

our national dreaming,

my brothers and sisters of the Promise,

is NOT a material dream.

And of this truth

we should be especially vigilant:

For the happiness we desire

- as individuals and as a nation -

is not a thing of the earth

but a happiness in the spirit.

---<--@

Also, please refer to Salutation #20 (Freedom and the Filipino Dream)