Einstein's Telescope | Out There | The New York Times

What happens when two beams coming from opposing directions hit?

Do stars absorb and reflect lights from other stars the way earth, moon and other objects do?

Sometimes we can see sunset twice. Aurora is beautiful. Do stars have auroras too?

What happens to the light that passing by a star - it's not heading toward a star but only passing by. Is this light pulled toward the star and thus its direction changed? Then light from the same star passing by another star can change many different directions and loses some of its contents?

Does gravity act light water that makes a stick put into it appears bend. Does gravity bend light as Einstein said?

Let’s Meet At Alice Springs

The future reality is quite predictable and inevitable. Only countries with realistic preparations will be able to keep their desired destinations. The economy and modern lifestyles that are heavily relying on energy efficiency and affordability will demand more energy for sustainable productivity. Design, technology and good planning will help the leaders with clear vision of the future reality to be able to use their full capabilities. Population planning and infrastructure planning will make everything different. Australia can be different because of its great potentials. They are unique to Australia as opportunities. Domestic structures and domestic production and consumption might become more important during the low time of international economy.  

Sustainable population growth is a solution for economy. Should Australia invite more immigrants who want to stay as Australian citizens or foreign citizens or just visiting and doing business from here? Australia could provide residential and business venues that are not any lesser quality than anywhere in China and the Middle East.

Empty buildings in modern ghost towns aside, success stories should be looked into. Australia can take similar achievements. That depends on how fast Australian businesses can change from producing the products for export to producing the products needed domestically in a short period whenever international economy is down. But that’s not possible unless there are a huge number of visitors coming in for all reasons, especially for shopping for the products they can’t online and elsewhere. Although that’s the solution, how can Australia do to bring them in?

The vast land mass of Australia is both for now and future because of its desirable characters:

Yes, Australia can. It has a good selling point – transparent politics. A recent good economic management must be an example for foreigners not to overlook Australia in the future whence this is one of Australia’s strengths.

Yes, the stability of the natural environment, social environment and political environment are quite above average for desirability for settlement, for visiting, for educating the young and for doing business. The point is Australian population will (and must) grow gradually. It has to cope with such growth and dealing with aging population. Australia needs population growth that is not for environmental disaster.

Yes, Australia can say this is a safe haven for good people.

 The value of Australian currency is also not too high at the moment – it should be. Once Australia stops exporting the natural resources, other than coal, that are now on demand, Australian economy will become only to base on the smart brains. Exports of Australian products to the world will be based on arts, engineering and designs that come from human resources. The current high value in currency is good for now although being “over-valued” is not. The economic nature is – it needs stability in everything – including currency. When Australia has to focus more on visitors, it must have its currency value that is welcoming the visitors.

But that cannot happen without the right planning: in building future towns and in the kind and quality of architecture. They are also vital to make Australia a secure place, both in economic sustainability and in environmental sustainability, in the future.

Future security of energy can come from Australian solar sector. The right planning must include energy security and affordability. Renewable energy can also be very affordable if the costs in infrastructure are low. Energy exists where sunlight exists, and wind too, in the Australian desert. It’s the place geographically and geologically stable, and inviting from the future.

The true challenge for developing into the desert is salinity – not the heat. But the dryness of the desert can be a favour to such developments.

Affordability will come from living inside energy field – i.e. the desert. Australia is a dry place but it can afford to have sufficient water. Although draught is a challenge for Australia, it’s not as bad as floods that usually cause most expensive destructions in Australia. If Australia can harvest all flood water it gets annually without depriving its natural environment, its need for water is not a problem anymore. That will need lots of dams and underground dams. But dams too must not become environmental disaster. As there might be no underground rivers in the desert, these underground dams are for storing the excesses of flood water. Long reservoirs that are built under the roads, just to reduce the costs from building infrastructures separately, will have good capacity for water supply. Australia could even afford to have farmlands that don’t irrigate the river water (too much).

When developing into the desert, underground reservoirs will be where to store these excessive amounts of water. Roads, railways, powerlines, water pipelines, telecommunication lines, and other services can incorporate together in one single structure. That means it’s the best to build them in straight line. They are to come from all major cities and they can meet somewhere in the middle of the desert. High rise and low buildings can be built along them with the right pace and space with greenhouse parks and other civilian infrastructures.

Wherever a traveller wants to go, just go and will be there without any mistake – only to need to make sure this way or that way. As all in straight line, construction and maintenance costs will be cheap – that means running cost will be cheap and affordable. Everything can become high speed.  To keep these advantages, there should be no branching roads etc. but only a single line from everyone major city.

Australia wants to see environmentally friendly electric cars, right? And also they must become driverless, right? As long as the computer in the car can cope, the passengers will always be safe, right? Also they must have the right speed and roads should have no traffic jam, right? The future should also be free of noisy jets, flying over our heads day and night – although we will need them for overseas, right? These are the reasons why straight line must be applied in everything. Just as much as we need straight people, we should have straight cities too.

Let the forest lands for the trees. We need them as much as we need the wildlife for national dignity, food security, water and energy. And free from major flood too. In the desert, Australia, rich with natural resources, can have solar harvesters and cities under their shades, with a-kilometre-wide roads and world’s fastest electric trains that attract the tourists who would like to have fun rides.  Those who want to live in the bush may live. Those who will need to live in modern buildings will move to these new areas whilst the population will be gradually growing. Also solar technology will become its best quality. Existing cities will dwindle in population but wealthy people may still enjoy the deep forest areas even as their private lands.

Is rebuilding Australia possible? If not, why not? If it doesn’t happen in a hundred year, it could happen in three hundred years. Australia started without a city.

As everything in straight line, everything will be seen. This is where Australian architects and designers have to put their best practices. It must be for Australians only environment because it’s for the making of Australia to have a new look. To be preserving Australianness with its roots and backgrounds, Australia must come up with a solution to achieve another unique ability for making Australian culture that includes all types of Australians and half Australians. Repeating a basic design, growing up upon it, and branching out from it, will bring up Australianness in culture. A group of leading designers and architect might come up with an agreeable foundation in Australian design to start as a seed of future Australianness in culture.

My dream is about high-rise buildings and residential buildings put together along the single line highways. Future constructions are my hope. I would like to see lots of construction. The high-rise buildings can be closer to the roads for the workers to work there and they should be kilometres apart where residential buildings locate between two skyscrapers. Those skyscrapers will have education sector, health sector, business sector, etc. The residential buildings will be placed at a distance from the main roads for good comfort.

Here energy is abundance and pollution free. Wherever geologically stable, geothermal sector can thrive too. And there will be more benefits. I just can’t think of any failure except if there was WWIII but it would be better than having major cities in blocks as we live now. Here, all city areas will be clean and free from vandalism as will be always seen. But white collar crimes would be the only things for Australia to have to fear. 

Australia will also have (enough) robots in the workforce. But all humans should be workers too that they can support reasonable lifestyles – sharing is everything, both for peace and dignity. Robots can work in the heat of the sun where it’s too much for humans. Where humans can work, robots must not become ideal tools. And that restriction is for cool Australia with its dignified population. Australia could become an important country globally. Many migrants from hi-tech countries would be attracted into Australia to call it their (second) home as affordability will be what Australia could constantly offer. Australia can be for both Australians and foreigners.

Here the quality of the right educations will become more important than ever. I hope Australian governments will invest more in the right educations and support and equip its future workforce with ever besting effort. I believe Australia will be ready for the future if not yet.

Herein, I think the business sector has been supporting the educational sector in two ways already: selecting and supporting the right students and supporting institutions for particular courses and teachers teaching these courses. In Australia, collectively or privately, I think, the way supporting and investing for the desired education is important. Investing in the future productivity guarantees stability growth. Investing morally will guarantee a good future. The brightest students from all levels of education should be able to achieve as much as they are capable of. It must not be the lack of money and the lack of facility that prevent them from achieving. Nurturing the students, who have the potentials which are definitely what the business sectors want, can ascertain to get the needed number of skilled workers. The institutions that are responsible for such skilled workers should definitely get support too so that they won’t have any shortages. The teachers who are responsible for nurturing future workforces should also get what they need and deserve. Focusing on all three – students, institutions and teachers, is necessary. I believe that investing in those who have potentials, not waiting until they show up with their achievements, is what business sector should do. This should become a normal cultural activity so these students should achieve what they have aimed to do in their lives. The participation of the parents and relatives, the government, the institutions and business should be the form of supporting the students. Investing in own children is of course natural, cultural and necessary. However, that only guarantees who will become rich later but not how the national economy should take shape to compare with the economies and skilled labours of other countries. This direct involvement is, I think, better than blindly relying on annual results of students. Instead on working on unrewarding jobs and wasting time, all students who are capable of achieving should be focusing on achieving.

AH! I forgot to consider the protesters (like myself sometimes). A single road means traffic disaster if the protesters go on the highway as it seems that’s the only place to do the blockades. I don’t know I have any solution for that at all. But it might be 300 years away from now.

The need of a cool leadership isn’t dubious. A good planning is a must. It must be to wrap the right ideas, technologies and designs together. The future is tomorrow and it’s not far away. Facing the reality needs courageous decision makers with clear visions – not the risk-takers. Australia must produce a mass of visionaries through its high standard education systems. It’s all for the better future for the human environment and natural environment Australia can’t risk losing.

Disclaimer:

With a sincere belief, I am dreaming and will keep doing so. Now all I see is the bright side of such an idea that has been developing. I write as much as I know. Although my writing seems crossing the academic highway, I don’t intend to make it get the other side that I don’t know anything about. Instead of in-depth discussion, I only intend to express my view and how I see. 

Imaginary Creatures of Mankind

Some pictures of redesigned Chinook Helicopter - aimed for flying faster and further for sea rescue mission so is to be smaller and lighter. 

All I have is shape and  exterior design only out of a few week drawing - but a few year of thinking :((. 

Wings are deliberately enlarged for fine weather flight. In stormy conditions, they wouldn't work. So wings must be detachable when required. 

Propellers are to pull the craft upward and forward - like V22. 

:D 

Unlike V22, this design is to have a better balance - hopefully. 

Hum In My Ears

Hum Experience

The sound is like nonstop bell ringing. The sound is not of metal but glass, very sharp and its tones are so close. At night, it is stronger because of silence. So whenever it is quiet, it rings louder. If concentrate on it, it gets louder. Sometimes tones change and become a different frequency. This change is very clear. Sometimes the ears are blocked by the tones sometimes the ear is open and frequency change. That’s what I remember for now.

The Start

It started when I was still very young, about 15 in Burma. I read a meditation article and it said the ringing can appear when the concentration becomes stronger. And soon I noticed it happened to me. It never left me ever since.

Emotion

First I didn’t feel bad about it. However, sometimes later it became something serious and made me stressed. I felt like being imprisoned. It was still bearable. It lasted until I accepted it and not resisting anymore. I became to accept it because I had no choice but to calm my mind and control it not to feel too bad. Now understand the two conditions of mind and I try not to let go of my mind to the wrong side.  

Physical Symptom

I always feel my ears are blocked. I have to pick the ear web very often. When I was young, my ears were not oily. I saw my friend ear oily and I thought it might be good and it became to happen to me. I was told to pick the ear web when I was young. I did it often and even hurt my ears. Water got into the ears often. It seems the shape of the ears is not water proof. Actually I wash my head everyday and this could be the case causing water to get in. I think my hair and ears are naturally oily.

Its Effect in My Life

Often I lose concentration when I am listening to something because I am hearing the hum and what I’m listening to appear unclear. People sometimes asked me to learn to listen because I appeared not listening. Yes, I was not listening properly because I couldn’t hear properly. It’s more disturbing when answering the phone. But I can still hear though as the hum is only distracting. As I don’t listen much, I became to speak more and think more. And now I usually write my ideas down.

As Meditation Object

I sometimes listen to the hum. The more attention I pay to it, the louder it becomes. And it is also enjoyable. I think it’s good to listen to it and use it for a good reason. 

As I can't stop hearing it, now I'm hearing it in my left ear. When the environment is quiet, I can hear hum in both ears. Expensive experience.  

DEFENCE

Australia is a small country with limited numbers of defence personals. However, it needs all levels of soldiers: those with small arms as special units or ordinary units, those handle sophisticated arms and those handle the systems. Australia cannot effort its number but ideas and wealth. As the main concern is defence, Australia must make best effort in it.

Even with sophisticated arms, such as fighter jets, submarines, tanks and ships, Australia can only afford small numbers. Obviously that is not enough to defend itself. Hence it must afford for strategy and ideology.

The advantage is Australia is an island continent. In any scenario, the aggressors must cross the oceans to reach Australia by air or by sea. So Australia can foresee the advancing enemies in any form. Australia can afford long-range defence strategies such as long range missiles, short range missiles, fighter jets and reliable radar system. However, the weakness is they can fight against slow and visible targets such as ships and bombers.

If the enemies afford pre-strikes before invasion, it can be hard for Australia. Pre-strike can come in the forms of rockets, fighter jets and satellite. Or such attacks can come via invasion of nearest countries such as Papua.

So there are three main points I found:

1.      Limited defence personals who must cover all oceans surrounding Australia

2.      Strategy and ideological based defence system

3.      And regional cooperation for defence.

Australia cannot afford losing its good soldiers. Australia must do everything to recover its skilled and experience elite defence personals. Australia must have most reliable defence technology suitable for its own ideology. Australia must support neighbouring countries for political stability and economic development so that they will be able to defend themselves.

Australia must make sure it doesn’t make a mistake by strengthening its potential enemies. All Australian neighbours are small countries except Indonesia who doesn’t seem to have an interest in becoming a potential aggressor – at least not in coming decades. The reason is it is democratised recently and is mainly concerned about economy.

As defence personals are limited, Australia must produce highly skilled units armed with most reliable technology. There will be limitedly skilled personals too and they should play a role in defending from home.

My particular vision is the naval with submarines.

I don’t see battle ships have a good role to play in defence except for transporting cargos.  They are so visible and need a huge number of skilled personals. It’s risky to send these skilled people into the battle field directly. By keeping them available for defence as long as possible, Australia will have an advantage. They will hold the technological based positions.

I know there is long range missile base (or bases) located in mainland Australia. They are best for deterring invading ships and heavy bombers and also good for attacking on targets far away. However, for pre-strike stages, during the attacks of the enemy are aimed on individual targets in Australia, such as city or town or ships or certain infrastructure, it can be hard to defend with missiles alone. For that reason, Australia needs mobile weaponry system – just like mobile missiles.

Australia has to defend itself at ocean. As ships are expensive and demanding, small submarines are ideals. They should be handled by a small team of crews who are not isolated from the base. The base itself should be mobile too acting as a mother ship. This will give opportunity for hiding the operations and stay illusive. Building up huge submarines as mother ships can be extremely expensive. Yet Australia can certainly afford a few. Mother ship, as deep diving submarines, will independently supply a fleet of small submarines, maybe no more than 30, with ammunitions and fuel and small repair works. There will be cargo ships but must be invisible too; perhaps they’re shallow diving submarines. Hence all naval activities will be done underwater.  Mother ships will never engage with the enemy’s warships. Their roles are supply and repair only.

The smaller submarines will have no more than six crews for 3 shifts. Each will have SAM system and anti-sub systems. They will not be responsible for attacking warships but reporting about them only. However, they should have flexible capability to face warships. To stay a nose ahead of latest systems, they should be able to dive deeper on demands and should have anti-sonar (radar?) shape/system especially on the back if possible. There must be an escape system for the crews sacrificing the rest of submarines (weapons & fuel tanks) other than the engine and crews chamber where they operate all systems – hence lighter, faster submarine. Weaponry systems should be installed outside the submarines just like the systems of fighter jets so that resupply can be done by a mother ship with fast speed. All external weaponry systems should be swift small torpedoes which do not destroy the whole ships and submarines but only to stop them from advancing. The reason is to make the subs lighter and able to carry enough hard points.*

The subs must be able to operate their systems whilst staying illusive especially when it operates SAM.  Both mother ships and attack subs must be supported by the crews from main bases and many of their systems should be handled remotely – with secret communication system. This will reduce overcrowding and the need to carry the supplies for crews. s

They must be able to operate in the water of friendly countries too.

Certainly the entire system is made of systems as a single network of defence system. Mainland missiles systems, air force systems and navel systems must work together as defence. What I’ve written so far is only for defence strategy. With enough numbers of submarines, mainland radar system, mainland missile systems and air force systems will do well although will be extremely costly. Australia will be able to have technology but it will need its allies for material supports.

Fighter jets do not need to go to the sea but to defend towns and cities only. In this case, defending the military bases are the tasks of air force so only light aircrafts that do not need large airfields are needed. Hence, visible airfields are not required. If underground airbases are possible, they should be desirable from which the fighters can hover for entry and exit. There can be many deep holes both real and unreal located away from major landmarks which are the natural targets during war time.

Whilst Australia places its defence network mainly in the northern areas, enemy’s submarines can penetrate it through by going around the continent or launch attacks from its allied region – either from Africa or South America even if such thing is not real now, it could be real in the future so it’s not a waste to consider such scenario.

I don’t know about anti-missile systems and how effective they can be. The best defence strategy is the world should be free from dangerous weapons.

For the Australia’s allies, they may have independent systems for their own requirements. I think Australia can afford that unless it’s a political issue. As seeing/spotting the enemy before first is important, it’s the main defence advantage for Australia. Having appropriate laws for defence is important. Also having agreements with allied countries for what Australia will do in certain events is also important for cohesive strategy. Australia may hold some secrets of its own though but rather in technological issues and the movements/activity of its military. As long as Australia can keep its illusive secrets, it will do well – that is its economy, diplomacy, skill and technology.

The main reason for defence is to keep peaceful prosperous conditions in Australia, in Asia Pacific Region and the world. It’s not just the interest of Australia but for wider human society. For the best defence, relatively peaceful world is desirable. As that’s the required condition, Australia should actively engage in internal and regional peace efforts as its foreign policy. Regionally it’s more important to have peaceful prosperous conditions. As conditioned by that, Australia must choose to play a negotiator role in any war scenario between its two neighbouring countries whether they are insignificant militarily. Australia must work with all concerned countries in the region to solve every crisis (mainly between two countries) Australia must have a tradition of negotiation and diplomacy especially regionally – as a non-permanent member of the UN’s Security Council. Yet Australia is responsible its own security and should be actively working for it. Relatively democratic political system has been so far the best system in the security of humanity – Germany and Japan are great evidences who are now as global leaders in economy and technology rather than war. Promotion of democracy around the world will make a better defence.

Obviously the main concern is which country spends what kind of money for its military for what type of efforts and strategy at all. If military is just for solving social problem and employment, certain military activities must not have been at stages of materializing. No doubt the way a country spends its money on military is the indication of its intention. By no means, Australia should be one of the countries that directly or indirectly support a bad military intention of a country. 

*[Winning the war is the whole point. Making sad memory is another. There is no point to kill so many lives if possible to avoid. Once the enemy is stopped somehow, the job is done. By stopping the advancing enemies, it’s possible to get more war prisoners who are as important as public attention/support and making a decision on war effort.]

Strange Dream

You may have faith but don’t let faith have you! If a faith devours its followers, isn’t it the same to a lion devours its preys?
That thought came to me yesterday as reading how HIV patients died in believing and did what they were told “believe in God and stop taking the medication”. I did think about how faith and cults can be as dangerous as the demons that eat people.

I was about to ask that question on Yahoo Answer but I gave the idea up.

But there have been demon worshipers who clearly know how the demons eat people. They’d feed their demons anyway?!

I didn’t go to bed with that thought though. But I dreamed about three people me, someone who wore like Jesus Christ and a third person I didn’t notice properly. There was a person who had a lion, rather an invisible lion that appeared, commanded his lion to chase the one who looked like Jesus Christ and there we three had to run from the lion chasing us.

I didn’t know how we three could climb a hill quite high but not tiring and it was rocky. There I (alone) met a few people sitting on a bench waiting for bus to come – that was a bus stop looked very much modern and the design was quite unique and high class. I told those people about the lion coming and they laughed and I could clearly see they later saw the lion themselves and they might get panicky – not sure if it was my wishing thought happened in that dream. I didn’t know where or which direction the other two went but they disappeared from the dream completely. I didn’t see they got trouble or out of trouble.

The bus stop was on my left-hand side. There was a low wall behind the bus stop which I climbed over and continued running down that hill. There I saw some buildings at the other side of the hill and a stairs to climb down the hill. I ran down that stairs where I saw a broken landing (the only one) made of jade. I safely landed on the edge of that landing and kept running. I noticed the lion was not after me. I didn’t know the fates of the other two and those waiting for a bus at the bus stop.

And the dream ended there as I woke up. It was about 4:46AM.

A fact is I do believe Jesus existed as a revolutionist opposing the Romans’ occupation of his land. But I believe him not as a god or son of god. I also believe he (his image) has been used by some people in the past for their own purpose. Maybe my dream has something to do with my views.

When I woke up from the dream, I immediately thought that the stairs and landing might be Buddhism which can be a little broken but safe enough for me. As I’m writing about the hill, I recall I also read an article about a hill and stones. I don’t know if anything to do with it.

20 October 2011
Min Khin Kyaw

512

512

The Torch of Wisdom

Wisdom is something you have to make time to time.

Fire is always everywhere but to get the flames of your own, you have to make it where you need it with some firewood, sticks and a match.

Wisdom is just like the fire and constantly present as the law of nature. To have a flame of wisdom, you have to make it where you need it. With knowledge, experience and skills that make a man wise, that wise man can make a flame of wisdom when he needs.

A wise man collects knowledge as ingredients for conscience. By knowledge, he strengthens his common sense. With his common sense, he leads a life within ‘the law of the natural morals’ that applies to all mankind and living things. With moral practices, he gains self-control. With self-controls, he develops confidence in his views and concepts as he gradually straightens and tunes up his ideas to align with ‘the laws of nature’. Confidence is energy that can be changed into will power or determination. A weak determination can grow into a stronger determination with more knowledge, more skill, more awareness and more understanding. Once his views are tuned in to the nature or the way of the Existence, he can see the right things amongst the wrong ones.

That is the first stage of the law of wisdom.

As he gradually understands, the law of nature, he can make the flame of wisdom when he needs.

The second stage of wisdom is the harder one. Not all wise men were able to reach this. That is the state of one is being the way one knows.

To have wisdom is quite easy. Tuning up one’s views and concepts with the laws of nature is a lot easier. It can be done as a hobby; and with a habit, one can gain some skill for judgement as making the flame of wisdom. This first stage indeed needs lots of learning and practices.

The second stage - to make oneself into a flame of wisdom is hard. To conquer own ‘natural resistance of fixed egoism lost in complications of misperception’ against the law of nature is hard. An actual wise man tries to achieve just that – to be the way of the law of nature – to overcome the obstacles of unskilled condition. With gradual practice, one may become the skill itself.

The skill is the state in which one doesn’t need judgement anymore; but just like reciting a book, one can know exactly what is right and wrong. That is how one may be the flame of wisdom or the torch of wisdom.

In this state, the flame of wisdom doesn’t make a wrong statement ever again.





Notes:
1. The law of natural morals is part of the law of nature based on the concept that
a. The nature is mixed with sets and singles. A set is made of two opposing conditions and two neutral conditions to be known as both and either. For examples, ‘right, wrong and neither’, ‘good, bad and neither’, ‘pain, pleasure and neither’, ‘punishment, reward and neither’, etc.; the singles are things (e.g. man, head, finger, toe, tree, fruit, flower), names, etc.
b. The nature is the same to every living being that it is fair and just.
c. The nature is a set of laws that composed the Existence; they determine what are wrong and what are right for the living beings.
d. Moral is the right things in the law of nature. As the nature is just and fair, morals are the same and unchanging.
e. There is a set of morals that is clear and obvious. They are applied to all living beings that belong to the Existence.
f. Most importantly, the law of moral is not the views or concepts. Moral must lead to happiness that doesn’t need to hurt anything that has its own ego.
2. Ego is self identification made of a set of the fixed mental faculties exist on the physical body; however, ego is the body and the mind felt as oneness. An individual being has ego as it cannot distinguish the body and the mind completely. Superficially, an intelligent being can understand the mind and the body and can describe which is which. But as the body and the mind are combined as one, in certain deep levels, an ordinary intelligent being cannot reach to realize the way they are (science is improving to understand this).
3. Misperception: if the eye is not right, one may not see right. Ideological misperception is caused by the same knowledge we may have and the different views of different people which one uses as one’s own eyes in thoughts. Misperception is the cause of Misunderstanding. Mistakes are made very often and that provides a concept how we have misperception. I think misperception is a significant thing in the development of wisdom; by trying to correct the mistakes, we can have the right understandings that become the right knowledge as the ingredients or fuel to make a flame of wisdom.
4. Natural resistance of fixed egoism lost in complications of misperception: natural resistance is caused by pride, unbendable pride, bias, misperception and ignorance which can be understood as ego.

Reference:
Encyclopaedia Britannica CD ROM, 2005


Acknowledgement:
Above essay is mainly based on Buddhist concept of wisdom. Other different terms are from different sources of philosophy. The essay was written just as I see. I think I’m somewhere at the first stage. And I expect the readers to accept my thoughts cautiously.

Wish:
May I be able to achieve such state with the merit from writing this essay!

A Cultured King Cultured In His Own

His entire body was another masterpiece of his inspiration, his objective – ‘black and white’ or ‘we’re the world’. Black was his bones and white became his skin; although genetically uncertain, he consumed the same food produced by the American farmers.

To break the walls of critics, even the artist himself unable to find a good explosive as every art-movement was up to these walls, if they allow ladders to let artists to go over them. So the artist needed the explosive sometimes to bring down bad advertisements
although critics were those who gave him ladders to climb up and up, over and over – and unfortunately down and down.

To maintain the artwork, he had to take lots of painkillers – what a tragedy nobody saw this work although they had been looking at him as close as their payslip! And yet he kept developing his work to be whiter than ever – although some people might see him a gay or something that was how he developed the way to move his middle part. As both physically and psychologically an artist, as he knew nothing but to create within, maintain within and grow up within his ABC style, or modern Pop, as a king of culture, he might lack some mental strength of a warrior and a CEO style management but clearly he was absolute in his creations – all the time.

Every time he changed his skin, I guess he wanted to show something he thought necessary – black in white or skin-deep reality or racial discrimination, or white is no way better than their counterparts once they enslaved. Certainly it might look ugly in publicity to avoid bad bugs although he had been surrounded by them, as the nature goes, for along, long time, that he had to cover his face time to time and even had to live in the quarantine zone within his home – why didn’t his fans see these as his other artworks in making? Who were responsible for bad publicity to blindfold everyone? They should admit they made many big mistakes against him. They should correct these now and end the great tragedy, as somewhat they are responsible in the causing, with his final living day.

Sure his art will go on as long as his fans remember him – like the Christ is remembered by the Christians – he is sort of messiah of culture that his influences, as he was a great cultured artist, clearly far more cultured than many other big names of these days and of the past, are still showing the light – this is good art and that is bad art (ass). None of his creation was mixed in sex-symbols.

Actually, I never believed he was a child molester although he wasn’t as pure as the great Gandhi who lived with a girl for awhile naked to show his emotional stability and the strength of his moral practice – no doubt different people viewed that differently. Naturally we all suffer from mistakes and misunderstanding and the effect of the misleading of the influential. We all suffer from psychological illnesses such as depression and frustration. But he lived on defending his innocence. His big mistake was he didn’t count on others perceptions that art is up to the critics first and beholders later. His great tragedy was the great side effect of fame and lack of sincere love from many of his lovers who could not give him what he really needed – protection and shelter. Or maybe he could not understand the importance of such things and didn’t try to seek out to reach them.

As an artist he kept living with his ABC in style and grew up with that style but ABC never grew up. It seems his art also predicted that he would be surrounded by zombies and perhaps he accidentally cursed himself toward fame with them. That might be true that only zombies could have done such tragedy shadowing over him the rest of his (living) life.

That’s true his arts will be remembered.

Theological Conflict

I don’t believe another messiah would come sooner into the existing influence and teaching of the previous messiah which are still effectively educating his followers and believers. If the new messiah is supposed to teach the same things, what for he should appear soon?

The reason is there will be fighting between the followers of existing messiah and the followers of the new. Human history is full of religious wars of a single religion within itself. An ideological conflict tends to occur among 1) the careless people, 2) the doubtful people, 3) the discontent and 4) the suppressed.

1. Careless people are forgetful, negligent and tend to make something to happen unintentionally or unnecessarily.
2. The doubtful people are usually thoughtful, (brainy and witty). They might be rather too careful that they might reach somewhere extreme beyond their capability. Their conclusion can become between right and wrong or neither. They’re the one who mishit the target with a great desire to hit it. They are the ones in the society who cannot accept the existing reality of traditional establishments, whether they know the true reality, whether they can give a better thing to humanity, but they like to find their own.
3. The discontent ones want more. They tent to be needy that the existing amounts are not necessarily enough for them. They tent to be neglecting the existing valuable as they long for what do not exist or cannot exist. They’re the ones who are on a big ship and do not know how to sail it that they are waiting for another ship to come.
4. The condition of the suppressed is the clearest. They don’t have a chance to maintain their culture. If that condition is severely extreme, they could even lose themselves all together and extinct. Or if the suppressing are the ones they respected, they’d find a new way to follow; every religion had at least a revolution of its own but the same were the pains of the people embedded in the causes of these revolutions.
Among each of these four different kinds, of course, smaller similarities can be categorised. Leave the details.

So I don’t believe that the arrival of the next messiah is impending.

If I have to analyse why the people are wishing the coming of a messiah, how should I think?
1. Isn’t the existing messages and teaching of the previous messiah enough?
2. Didn’t he teach to everyone and leave his teaching to every new generation?

Certainly, no messiah can rescue all beings but a few. Obviously, a messiah is not God. Wrongly, people might assume somebody was great and mistook him as messiah even if he was against existing faiths of his time.

Religions preach for peace; however, by contrary, the world is at war. In this situation, another messiah can only make the situation worse by dividing a people into two – one group is supposed to become atheists by disbelief to him.

1. There are some people who do not want to comply with the good teachings but the bad.
2. There are some who do not want to work but want liberation if others will ever get it – if that is kind of fulfilling the lusts that always occupy their minds. But they don’t want to hear if the liberation is about restriction of the freedom of wildness.
3. And there are people who know religions very well and become to disrespect them. Among them, two different groups emerge. One is the knowledgeable and wise people who rather respect ethics, morality and humanity and the other is the ones using a religion for their gains as preying on the ignorant – financially, sexually, etc.

I’m lucky, particularly in religious study, that I became to realise to learn from at least their foundations but not sufficiently lucky. I have the chance to compare them with no bias and that’s what I want to do. However, I’d only like to talk about the significances in the religions as sharing the universal tolerance.

The following is about the

Mythology of Sin
(Please write about sin whatever you know, or write your comment, to me.)

Buddhism: once the ancestors of mankind were godlike creatures that they had rays shining their environs without day or night where they travelled by flight like the clouds can float in the air. Their food was joy that when they needed, they just had to concentrate on joy. That was before they started eating the soil which existed underneath them. It was started by somebody who couldn’t control his desire that emerged from seeing the milky soil so long and wanted to test its taste. By eating so, their bodies become with holes and tunnels that what went in had to come out from the other end and the appearances of male and female became obvious. The then the soil was like milk cream that they didn’t need plants to absorb the nutrients and make edible fruits, grains, etc but the soil itself was edible. By seeing each others as male and female, there happened pleasure in it and lust as the consequence. And somebody started to touch somebody different thus understood the pleasure of touching and sensuality started to influence them…

In the Bible, Adam and Eve ate the sin fruit that was prohibited by God.

Time (click here to visit Journey to Nibbanna)

Time is just duration. A condition produced by an activity. It’s an idea rather than a fruit substance.

Everything has a start and an end and the duration is known as lifespan. This duration is felt to be an existence of something known as time (is it?). It doesn’t need to be reality.

Whether an activity produces time or not, once it starts, it has to end. If it doesn’t start, it doesn’t exist so it doesn’t end. The condition of start causes the condition of the end. Here it’s to do with decaying – the condition of matters. (Artificially things can last longer but not forever.)

Time can be argued for or against. Clearly, it doesn’t have to exist anyway.

Prof. Steven Hawking wrote the History of Time. The title itself confesses that time is an effect or produced by the start of an activity known as the Big Bang. As if time didn’t exist before the Big Bang. Yes, as long as Time is applied, physics will never be able to prove the start of the universe.

However, the start of the universe is also controversial.

What made the seed of the Big Bang? Without anything, how did the seed exist? The idea of the seed itself is indicating something existed before the seed itself. If the seed is claimed to be the start of everything and the only start that started everything, this is not science but another creationism.

Every event has duration. But no event needs duration. Duration is not precondition that determines the event to start, to last and to end. Duration is, however, conditioned by the event – what this event is all about. The event conditions the duration once it (the event) starts and the duration ends once it (the event) ends.

Hence, duration (time) is just illusion occurs in human feeling.

To establish the strength of my argument, I have to say that my understanding of time is how I understand the idea of time taught by the Buddha 2500 years ago.

Hopefully, I’ve made the statement clear to all readers.


From Journey to Nibbanna Yahoo Group Dhamma Discussion

…The Buddha still had to recall or process to reach the data. A clear example is - He said, 'I cannot see the start and the end of the samsara' when He was asked.

It's true the information (is) in the universe but the Buddha still had to take time to access the right information; however, as a Buddha, (He) didn't take much time - almost constantly, He could get the right answer.

The Buddha had, on the other hand, to plan - such as visiting, traveling, looking for the ones He should see and teach, etc.

So the standpoints of the Buddha were certainly free of perception but were still standpoints - the position from which one views. We cannot view from his position - this is certainly the truth. His position was unique. The way He saw the beings was full of metta, Garuna, etc. This is why I wrote - free from kilesas.

Questions (asked by Tep):

1. Does the universe have no end and no beginning? Why or why not?
2. Why does the samsara have no end and no beginning?

Answers:

The Buddha took Venerable Mogglana and let him hold the alms-bowl filled with very tiny seeds (of a plant I don't know in English). They visited Meyu after Meyu and every Meyu they arrived, Van Moggalana had to drop a seed. Even after the alms-bowl became empty, they had yet to go further. (Meyu is the mountain that is in the middle of a universe. According to the Buddha, every universe has its own meyu. Not all meyus or universe contain beings.) (Note: the Buddha and Van Mogglana could travel with the speed of mind – this is a teaching of the Buddha.)

1. I don't think there is any answer for this question if you mean the start of namma (mental matters) and rupa (matters). However, there are countless universes and they were born to die. A universe has a beginning process and ending process.

2. The Buddha didn't answer there wasn't the end or beginning -He only answered He couldn't see because it has been such a long, long time to see. I think you can feel what such a long, long time means here.
…

… Actually, I didn't mention the idea 'beginning-less time' is wrong but 'sort of not quite right'. The reason is time is only relation between two events - it's not actual reality to be a thing. Time is not a thing - it's not illusion either. It doesn't even exist.

It's true no motion (lacks) duration but no motion needs duration. Motion is energy-driven condition. Something burns and you know after the fuel is gone, there will be no fire. Please consider this example and answer 'What is time for? And where is the place of time?'

I don't mean motion is independent or free. Yet, it doesn't need time. We don't need time (nothing needs time to exist because time is non-essential thing for existence). Therefore, the universe doesn't need time. Why? Because time is not actual reality. So there is not interdependence between existence and time.

But people believe in time. Ancient people believed in time.

And also the people who lived within the Buddha's time believed in time. Thus, the Buddha was asked questions related to time (by some of them). Unfortunately, because of these people's deep belief or strong perception (and their intention was to fight for a win), the Buddha didn't explain to them. But He did explain about time.
…
Endless time or start-less time might be right; however, might not be right enough or maybe even just a witty answer that might miss the point. Well, this is rather a standpoint I guess. You see the Buddha didn't rule completely out the start of the beginning of the time.

Now you let me remember that 'time is just the relationship with human feeling of the length of many moments'. This always makes people to wonder through mis-perception about time.

The Buddha did say the length of the lifespan of rupa datu and the length of the lifespan of namma datu. (I guess I can put the two words together rupa + datu and namma + datu.) Yet He refused to say the length of the entire length between the start and the end of the existence (the existence of layman perception). All He mentioned was the five Khandhas. Apart from that, other perception could be loosed views - I mean they might be also right 'but sort of not quite right'.

I guess you can feel what I'm feeling about the idea of time.

Times are, in general: past, present and future. Apart from that no other time exists. It's clear that it's all about relationship with now. Yes, the past existed so the present moment is existing and the future exists for the beings who have not finished their samsaras. The futures of the Arahants do not exist.

Still it might be confusing.

I don't want to answer my own perception so I want you to read a good book about time answered by the Buddha Himself and other arahants.

Patriotic Wisdom

Peace starts at home. This is the seed of patriotism. Love and protection have to go together. Love is to be gentle and sacrificial. Also sacrificial is protection which is to do with aggression of no anger. Smart love and smart protection are not always violent but always caring and understanding.

Protecting or loving each others need both kindness and a limit of interference. This is to do with healthy relationship and harmony.

Smashing, arguing and shouting at a kid is usually not good because this can deprive the kid. After a kid is told with reasons, the kid should be left alone if he/she doesn't stop nagging; yet reminding the kid about the reasons should be available time to time to make the kid to be able to think and behave.

Smashing a bug for one's baby doesn't mean love or protection either but unwise violent action to do with bad teaching and bad understanding - this might need to be banned for kids under 10. Up to the baby's mentality, this might also make the baby to fear (the smasher) but not always. Learning violence is not always from home but learning peace and having confidence. Saying so because peace making is peace doing for wider society that starts from home. Humanity grows from loving thought and careful action.

Kids who know they are good have confidence. Knowing the bad things as good thing is being misled for failures in the future which are harmful to the society.

Without understanding how to be considerate always leads to misunderstanding and quick temper. Quick temper usually leads to quick conclusion and half-finished thought and consequently making uncertain decision.

Many failures included broken family, cracked friendship, outcasted life are always to do with unwise decisions.

Wise decision comes from complete thoughts but how can such thinking ever exist? Since complete thoughts or wise conclusion made of complete research cannot be achieve easily, simply people need certain shields to protect from guilt.

What are these shields? We all know them actually so you won't be surprised. Well, love and protection need unselfish sacrifices.

Thus, children should be taught how to be able to tolerate desire and endure pains. How hard it is, parenting is the teaching of how to be wise, how to live a life that has limits, how to lead toward goals, how to deal with progress and regress, to see paths that lead to peace and the paths that lead to sufferings, etc.

As parenting is teaching, the parents teach a kid how to eat, how to walk, how to talk, how to see, how to think, how to understand and how to behave. These teachings have to go on until the kid reaches the time to be independent. Therefore, the kid also needs to be taught how to be independent also.

A kid should learn how to live in silence, serenity and how to deal with being alone. Self entertaining is a special skill every kid needs. There are lessons in social activities and there are lessons in personal activities.

Usually, social animals can suffer from separation, isolation and loneliness. As human can have solutions when association is not an option, this skill should be an option. People need to be alone sometimes especially to dream, to think, to learn and to rest. The ones, especially young kids or teenagers who cannot deal with or who cannot tolerate to be alone for necessary moments, might not learn much despite they are smart enough to know what they don't know.
Counseling a kid is also needed as good parenting.

Without sufficient readiness to be independent, nobody is really ready for real life; thus, cannot deal with the problems of love and protection in the society. And the society doesn't have peace.

The people who do not love each others cannot protect themselves from harms. Love and protection always go together. Without the right sacrifices for love and protection, a nation cannot be strong. Without patriotic wisdom, a country cannot survive.

How NCGUB or Exile Government Needs Reformed 5

How NCGUB or Exile Government Needs Reformed 4

The Second Draft Form of Constitution

The Framework

In order to establish a peaceful society in which all people indiscriminately to be able to live together, it’s time to consider a major reform in political thinking. This is my contribution for a new reform.
By this, I hope, all the differences can be united.

As this is a draft, there are rooms to be filled. There is a phrase – must be identified. It’s at the places where this draft has not yet described the detail of the concerned issues – such as the definition of the nation must be identified: what is the title of this nation?, what is its system – federal or united, etc?, what is Burma (if the federation is kept with the name Burma)?, what is the citizen of Burma?, etc.

In section 3 (h) how the candidates have to campaign for the elections is mentioned. There will be no real campaign based on the influence of wealth. The federation must bear all publicizing of candidates so everyone who has intellectual competency can enroll for elections.

The Constitution of (The United Peoples of Burman, Chin, Kachin, Karin, Karinni, Mon, Rakhine, Shan and All Others)

The Peoples and their territories

1. The people are identified.
The peoples are the peoples of Burman, Chin, Kachin, Karin, Karinni, Mon, Rakhine, Shan and All Others living in the same lands.

2. The lands of these peoples are identified.
The lands of these peoples must be named as The United Lands of Burman, Chin, Kachin, Karin, Karinni, Mon, Rakhine, Shan and All Others; in short, The United Lands.

3. The locations of these lands are identified.
3a) The land of the Burman is …
3b) The land of the Chins is …
3c) The land of the Kachin is …
(The location of every land must be written down. All islands in the seas are also identified. The seas or oceanic territory of the United Lands is also identified.)

The lands are also described as States (or whatever people want to).

4. The location of the United Lands is identified.
The United Lands are located at the west of Southeast Asia, neighboured by Bangladesh, China, India, Laos and Thailand.


Section 1

a) Lefts or rights, conservatives or progressives, fundamentalists or reformists, the involvement of party politics must be marginalized. No party will directly involve in the national politics. It must be individual practice.

b) Factional design in practice is the device that let all the differences to meet at conflicts.

c) Factional designs, including party democracy, must be fixed or reformed time to time to make less confrontation among the public.

d) Thus, the integrity, character, ability and experience of individuals must come before politics. There will be no factional grouping to involve directly in the national politics. Individually, everyone’s belief is acceptable and must be protected.

e) It’s acceptable that the parties in struggle or strangling each others in the intellectual battlefield but public must not be divided.

f) To make this, public must not involve directly in the party manner. And no party will directly involve in national politics.

g) Thus, this system will not make the cabinet of ruling party and shadow government of opposition party. (The past has proved how the federation was fragile to be divided by factions. The region is also coping with factional politics.)

(to read the rest parts, visit the page through the link on the right side)

Buddhist Evolutionary Theory (Part one)

Buddhism and evolutionary theory have one agreement. That is changing and evolving. Buddha discussed about the evolution of creatures, environment, social events, political ideology and religious belief. Evolutionary theory deals with, as I understand, the start of life, how it evolves into different branches and how one branch became human.

As evolutionary theory is well-known, this essay focuses mainly on the less known Buddhist view.

Despite having a common ground – changing, the rest falls into disagreements. Buddhism says the start of life cannot be seen or explained; creatures do not evolve without desires of their own. And the start of humankind on this earth was simply as humans but they had divine powers because they came from higher worlds or Bhumi of the brahmas.

First humans were, thus, the brahma-like beings who had lights produced by their own physical body – unlike the deep sea creatures, their light shone far distance. They didn’t have to eat to satisfy their hunger. They only traveled by air with the divine power but not flying. And therefore, the start of life on this earth was the start of humankind.

During the first mankind started wandering the earth, there were no sun and moon, not even the stars, all dark – this should be noticed. Hence, the earth seemed to be the first object to appear in the solar system but I don’t believe the Buddha mentioned it this way; rather the sun and the moon didn’t shine yet. If this solar system started from the cloud of dusts, as a theory suggests, then there could be other objects too yet to become mature. If the stars were out there shining, it could be the clouds of dusts that blocked the starlight.

In agreement with cloud condensation theory, Buddhism suggests there was a big rain and it made the earth. So the clouds weren’t just dusts but all kinds of elements solid, liquid and gas. So the first form of earth was not rough and indigestible soils and rocks but nutritious creams which can be eaten directly.

Discontentment is the property of ordinary beings. And by seeing these nutritious creams so long, these brahma-like humans couldn’t control their desires and tasted the creams. Because of that they soon changed into a form with holes allover their bodies, as we have now, to form digestive system to handle food and wastes. And from that, as holes were formed, the distinction between male and female became clear that some were deserved to become males and some females.

Nobody Really Knows?

Is there any technique or device to measure the changing temperature of the earth which comes from inside the earth itself; and also the temperature of the sun? Is there evidence to suggest these temperatures are changing? If not, I have to agree with the scientists suggesting CO2 to be the cause of global warming!

I think the temperature within the earth or underneath the crust of the earth must change time to time but rather very slightly. And so must the heat from the sun alter. I can’t imagine how constant the temperatures could be. However, the heat from inside earth must not penetrate the crust. Yet how the inner heat of the earth effects the atmosphere needs investigation. I rather favor that it should only affect general tectonic activity and the earth magnetic fields.

The clear evidence is Co2 is being dumped into the atmosphere. We know the air has weight. The denser it becomes, the heavier it must become. Then, is the air around the earth getting denser and heavier? I guess so! As CO2 has nowhere to go it must squeezes into any available gaps in the atmosphere. Certainly we have been shouldering heavier load for a few decades.

When the denser air moves, the frictions must be stronger and this must produce more heat. When the denser winds blow, they must make ice to melt faster and the sea to evaporate quicker – at least in theory. Because of being denser, the thunderbolts must become different as well – my two cents!!!

Apart from CO2 capturing the heat from the sun, atmosphere is like water on the stove that all sorts of things that produce heat could be considered as the stove for atmosphere. As the water gradually getting hotter, the atmosphere also gradually getting hotter as well due to nonstop burning of fossil fuels and other things. Should this cause be underestimated? If this cause is to be true, I wonder if the world stop the burning for a few days or three days a week, the atmosphere could become normal again.

Another theory that has suggested about the global dimming argues that the global dimming could make the atmosphere colder by blocking the sunlight reaching the earth or reflecting it back to the space. If the global dimming doesn’t cool the atmosphere down, some alternative thinking or consideration on other possible causes must come forward.

I heard a news from UK that a Chimp performed better than human students in a test. The test was to press the buttons. I wonder if the chimps could ever succeed typing and perform better than me - I only type less than 30 words per minute for your inconvenience :)
I always believe human is always better in long term and this is why we had grammar and sophisticated sentences that will certainly drive these chimps to madhouse!!! Consider Sanskrit the so-known complete language - the scientists didn't consider how Pali worked by the way.

I'm not a scientist but only a yet to be successful artist... so my thought might not be logic. Thanks for your time here.