We are all alone and yet we are not alone.  We look out on the world and feel the presence of the other.  We feel it in nature, in each other, in pain for another.  Empathy keeps us from feeling lonely.  Our feelings keep us in touch with this universe.  No knowledge is retained unless one feels what one has learned.  Indifference to feeling is indifference to life.  Intense feelings are felt as pain but the pain is not the feeling.  Pain is a feeling that has been denied and not allowed to assert itself.  Asserting one’s feelings is not the same as asserting one’s ego.  Honesty about feelings is an empowering skill.  Our negative emotions are the dragons of mythology that we all must slay.  True love conquers all.

Recognizing comparisons and contrasts in the scriptures can be especially interesting and informative. There are many examples of these elements in the scriptures.

One example – is Nephi and Laman (and Lemuel). A quick refresher: Lehi is the father of Laman, Lemuel, Sam and Nephi. They have left Jerusalem, headed for a promised land. One morning, Lehi tells his family of a dream he had – the vision of the Tree of Life. This dream is totally symbolic. Upon hearing the dream, Nephi’s reaction is as follows:

And it came to pass after I, Nephi, having heard all the words of my father, concerning the things which he saw in a vision, … I, Nephi, was desirous also that I might see, and hear, and know of these things, by the power of the Holy Ghost, …” – 1 Nephi 10:17.

Now let’s see the reaction of Nephi’s brothers, Laman and Lemuel:

And it came to pass that I beheld my brethren, and they were disputing one with another concerning the things which my father had spoken unto them.

For he truly spake many great things unto them, which were hard to be understood, save a man should inquire of the Lord; and they being hard in their hearts, therefore they did not look unto the Lord as they ought.” – 1 Nephi 15:2-3.

By comparing Laman and Lemuel with Nephi, we learn a great deal about obtaining revelation. If we want to understand the mysteries, of God, then we need to display faith and humility by going to the Lord in prayer. Otherwise, we will be like Laman and Lemuel – angry and confused by the saving principles of the gospel.

There are sooooo many other great examples of comparison and contrast in the scriptures. Personally, I find them really interesting. They are also useful in helping us apply the scriptures to our lives.

Unfortunately, I don’t have any practical way of marking comparison/contrast in my scriptures. Usually, I just write a quick note in the margin of my scriptures. If you have any advice, please feel free to comment.

Also – do you have any cool comparisons/contrasts that you have found in the scriptures? How have they helped you? Please feel free to share!

I admit that I often fall victim to holiday routines.  Thanksgiving Day so often turns into highlighting the turkey, the football, the parade, and the relaxation.  But not this year.  Thanks to our friends, the Torp-Pedersons, who sent us a book, Thanksgiving: A Time to Remember by Barbara Rainey, our family reviewed the events of 1620.  That was the year when a boatload of people from England landed at Plymouth after 97 days at sea.  Sadly, their timing was poor.

Bad news . . . They arrived in November, in the dead of winter.

Good news . . . The Patuxet Indians who used to inhabit that area and who had murdered every white man who had ever landed in their territory had all died from a mysterious plague four years earlier!  But one of them, Squanto, was in England at the time, having been captured and taken as a slave.  He had returned to his land only six months prior to find himself a man without a tribe.  It was he who helped the new arrivals adjust and survive.  Interesting to me how God turns tragic situations into blessings.

Bad news . . . That first winter was so severe that half of the new arrivals died of influenza and other sicknesses. They had to ration the little food that they had.  Sometimes counting out kernels of corn.

Good news . . . An Indian named Samoset had learned English through contacts with English fishermen and was able to help the Pilgrims get settled and taught them how to plant corn with fish as fertilizer.  Another Indian named Massasoit helped prevent annihilation by seven neighboring tribes who were plotting to kill all the English.

Bad news . . . After making it through the first summer and celebrating a bountiful harvest and thinking they had enough food for the next winter, another ship, the Fortune, arrived bringing 35 new arrivals.  They nearly doubled the population of the new settlement but arrived with no food, clothing or other provisions.  Back to half rations!

Good news . . . When the planting season of 1623 came upon them, they learned a basic principle of motivation: Ownership increases productivity.  “Each family was given a parcel of land to plant for its own use.”  They produced enough corn to sustain them as well as all the people from the next ship, Anne.

Best news . . . They never lost sight of their God as their refuge and their provider.    They could have used many of their circumstances to justify their murmuring and complaining (like the Hebrews in the wilderness after the Exodus).  But they established a model for us to follow.  Recognize God as the source of all our blessings; thank God for the loving deeds He does on our behalf (even when we don’t understand all His ways); surrender our lives to His care.

I’m thankful that they chose to step out sacrificially to create a new civil government, originating with the Mayflower Compact.  I’m thankful that their lives demonstrate God’s providential care.  I’m thankful that God took the trouble to show himself to us in human form in Jesus Christ who through His death and resurrection provides the way for me to have a personal relationship with Him.

And sleeping on a hard bed, in a very bare room, surrounded by all kinds of strange people with shaven heads. You could be in an alien landscape.

So anyway, Buddhism was a very important influence in my life and for a long time I did consider myself as such.

But over the years, my larger mindset of not accepting things just because my mother handed them to me took over. And I began a philosophical quest that continues to this day.

It began consciously after graduation with Krishnamurti’s talks. I call him the greatest “deconditioner”. Nobody is better when it comes to forcing you to clear the cobwebs of our minds and question many assumptions we have made, believing what others say, or taking accepted wisdom for granted. He really started my journey of true spiritual introspection.

Eventually I moved beyond Krishnamurti because I felt he is a great mental purgative, he clears our minds of a lot of rubbish. But he won’t give us the answers and we have to find them ourselves.

I was fascinating by what Osho was saying. He was absolutely brilliant. I never went to see him because I could not accept his imposed dress code. But he was stunning — starting as a professor of philosophy, he understood the context of belief systems to which he added his own brilliance, contradictions and insights. It was very stimulating. He did a lot of the thinking for us by cross-relating so many strands of thought.

Then, when I went to California, I got exposed to many new age teachers like Ramtha, to Native American sweat lodges, Zen teachers, Tibetan Buddhist influences.

I integrated things from each of them. It’s been a continuous quest. And I have reached my own provisional answers, my state of beliefs valid for the present moment.

I realize the world is an extraordinary mysterious place and I don’t understand half its dimensions. 

Yet, do I believe in a personal God who would take care of me were I to pray Him? I don’t. Do I believe in God as a cosmic intelligence that underlies creation? Yes. Do I think people are wrong to pray to their particular gods for salvation? I don’t, if it helps their spiritual journey. If it takes them closer to happiness, then it’s all good. It just doesn’t resonate with me.

Se você já acessou meu novo site www.eduardoleopold.com.br, deve ter percebido que ele tem uma abordagem diferente.  Como mencionado em post anterior, meu interesse não é apenas divulgar o e-learning, mas apoiar empresas em seus próximos projetos, como consultor e fornecedor de e-learning sob medida.

Três motivos me levaram a esta conclusão:

Primeiro: já chegou a hora para que o fornecimento de e-learning seja tão rápido e eficiente quanto o ritmo dos negócios, a ponto de levar dias para ser entregue, e não meses.

Segundo: também acredito que chegou a hora das pequenas e médias empresas incorporarem e-learning de qualidade a um custo acessível. A maior parte do mercado de e-learning atende as Top 200. Eu, assim como tantos empreendedores no Brasil acredito no poder das pequenas e médias.

Terceiro: por fim, estou convencido de que eficiência e qualidade não apenas reduz despesas, mas aumenta o alcance do e-learning para atender necessidades cada vez mais específicas.

Estes argumentos estão por trás dos artigos publicados aqui no Fazendo e-Learning. Assim, continuarei atualizando este blog, fornecendo dicas e sugestões para melhorar o aprendizado online. Se você, assim como eu, está interessado nestes temas, volte sempre ou assine o RSS!

Pengen rasanya menulis tulisan-tulisan seperti yang ada pada situs betterexplained. Pemilik situsnya sepertinya seumuran dengan saya tuh. Banyak isi tulisannya bertema matematika dan komputer. Tetapi yang terpenting, topik yang diangkat merupakan hasil re-learning materi-materi yang dulu diajarkan di kuliah. Nah, ini sama juga dengan yang saya lakukan setelah lulus sampai saat ini.

Sepertinya si Kazad ini, penulisnya, ingin membagi pengetahuan yang dulu dia tidak memahami sepenuhnya. Ada sesuatu yang terlewatkan waktu dia belajar dulu. Sesuatu yang dia harap ada seseorang yang memberitahukannya (I wish someone told me …). Karena itu, dia menuliskan hal-hal yang terlewatkan itu sehingga bisa dibaca oleh orang lain. Hal ini sangat berguna bagi orang yang mengalami masalah yang sama. Termasuk saya ini .

Saya telah membaca beberapa tulisannya. Tulisan tentang Limit banyak membantu pemahaman saya terhadap kalkulus. Kalkulus tidak lagi menjadi nightmare. Ternyata, kalkulus indah juga ya. Bersyukur juga sempat mengenyam bangku kuliah sehingga bisa tahu kalkulus (Tahu dulu, paham atau tidaknya soal lain ). Bila di SD, belajar aritmatika atau hitung-hitungan. Di SMP dan SMA berlanjut belajar aljabar. Baru di perguruan tinggi, berkesempatan mempelajari kalkulus.

Pemahaman saya dulu tentang kalkulus kacau balau. Saya tidak tahu saya ini sedang belajar matematika macam apa. Ada notasi Lim segala. Ya karena ingin lulus kalkulus, saya ikuti aja aturan-aturannya. Tapi tetap, saya tidak tahu esensi kalkulus ini.

Pemahaman saya yang kacau ini mungkin karena dulu langsung melompat ke definisi Limit. Sayangnya, masalah awal kenapa sih konsep Limit dimunculkan oleh Newton Cs malah tidak disentuh. Padahal konsep Limit inilah yang mendasari perhitungan dari kecepatan tertinggi (top speed) Valentino Rossi di sirkuit Brno.

Jadi, saya pengen nulis yang begini-beginian. Tapi setidaknya ada 3 masalah. Pertama, waktu. Butuh waktu yang tidak sebentar pastinya. Kedua, skill menulis. Bila saya mencoba menulis di text editor ini, kok agak macet ya ide-idenya. Baru penulis pemula nih. Menulis dan berbicara lisan ternyata memiliki tingkat kesulitan yang berbeda. Yang terakhir, soal keakuratan. Tapi ini saya kira nggak terlalu jadi masalah. Kesalahan itu hal biasa dalam belajar. Saya pun juga masih belajar. Penulis dan pembaca bisa mengoreksi satu sama lain. Yang penting, share your insights …

1. If you read the book “The Heart of Darkness” by Joseph Conrad or had watched the movie “Apocalypse Now” which was entirely filmed in the Philippines, you know the significance or relation of what I’ve written as my title post as to what had happened last November 23 in Maguindanao.

2. Looking at the place where the November 23 Massacre had happened as I saw in the daily newspapers and TV News, I realized that this was the very same place where I was assigned as a new graduate from the Philippine Military Academy. This is where I got my “baptism” of fire from the enemy—a combat encounter with the MNLF and later an ambush from them along the highway a few days before Christmas.

3. In the 70s, the “warlords” in Mindanao were the Military Commanders! A simple order from them could obliterate a barangay from the map! Now, things had changed, the “warlords” are the politicians who adhere to the saying, that power comes from the barrel of a gun. A simple order from them results to a massacre. As a result, the military/police commanders are relieved from their posts because of these incidents. This trend started after the Marcos Administration.

4. My deepest sympathy and condolences to the family & friends of those 52 victims of the Nov 23 Massacre, 13 of them are journalists. The worst incident in the history of journalism, in a day.

5. Why am I writing about this incident in a running blog? Because I want justice to the victims, most especially to the journalists! Bloggers are considered as the most privileged “journalists” because they could write and publish anything under the sun ( in real-time) without the supervision and guidance of an Editor and the screening powers of a Publisher. In my own way, I consider myself as a “journalist”. Thanks to the Internet!

6. Have you observed that most of the “presidentiables”  have started to publish their own blogsite in the Internet? I don’t believe that they are the ones personally administering and posting their blogs. In one of the blogsites, I posted this comment, “Why just now”?  I did not mind visiting their blogs again. “Presidentiables” on Facebook & Twitter? I don’t think so…they could not even give you a reply! 

6. I am writing this post in the middle of the Sierra Madre Mountains while making a “surprise” visit to my “boys”. It’s cold and raining here but “the boys” are on the road and trails doing their daily running workout. I just saw what is written in their bulletin board—”Long Run–42K & Up”. 

7. The mountains are vast and very enticing. If you are a military commander, you look at the mountains in terms of “axis of attack”; “defensible position”; “cover & concealment”; “strong points”; “strategic point”, etc. If you are a golfer, you look at a mountain in terms whether it can accommodate a 9-hole; 18-hole or a 36-hole golf course with the Clubhouse, the lakes and sand traps. If you are a “hardcore” runner, you look at a mountain if it can offer a 50K; 100K; or a 50/100-Mile Trail Run course!

8. My appreciation and thanks to those who wished me for my early recovery and to those who suggested “medications” and “cross-training”. Yes, I am getting more “crazy” after weeks of not running.

9. By the way, right now, I am wearing my running shorts & shirt in BLACK. See you this Sunday’s NB Run in “black” running attire!

O morcego

Meia noite. Ao meu quarto me recolho.
Meu Deus! E este morcego! E, agora, vêde:
Na bruta ardência orgânica da sede,
Morde-me a goela ígneo e escaldante molho.

“Vou mandar levantar outra parede…”
— Digo. Ergo-me a tremer. Fecho o ferrolho
E olho o tecto. E vejo-o ainda, igual a um olho,
Circularmente sobre a minha rede!

Pego de um pau. Esforços faço. Chego
A tocá-lo. Minh’alma se concentra.
Que ventre produziu tão feio parto?!

A Consciência Humana é este morcego!
Por mais que a gente faça, à noite, ele entra
Imperceptivelmente em nosso quarto!

(Augusto dos Anjos)

No momento, estou passando por um processo de completa apatia. Não tenho nada para escrever aqui, ou, se tenho, não cabe na moldura das palavras. Tenho a cabeça vazia, mas a alma cheia de nostalgia do futuro. Sim, isso mesmo. O fim do ano se aproxima e as borboletas já bailam dentro da minha barriga. Uma sensação de nervosismo, como se fosse uma saudade do que não vivi e medo de perder a oportunidade de viver, caso ela bata de novo em minha porta. Costumo dizer que não me arrependo do que fiz e é a mais pura verdade. O que não fiz, o que não disse (às vezes o que disse de mau jeito também me inferniza…) é que são fantasmas que devoram as minhas noites de sono, é o morcego do poema dentro de meu quarto e da minha cabeça. São tantas ideias, tantos projetos… tudo em vão, pois são atropelados, incompletos, perdidos na poeira da completa desorientação em que me encontro, num labirinto de falsas possibilidades, ou de possibilidades que não tenho forças para desenvolver. Uma imaginação de asas feridas. Apesar de tudo, não sou e nem estou infeliz, somente preocupada. Com a idade, as cartas do nosso baralho vão se perdendo pelo caminho da vida e as que sobram têm de ser suficientes para dar um bleffe vencedor. Tenho uma carta na manga que se pode revelar por estes dias, não sei qual será o seu valor, mas certamente dará um novo rumo à minha vida.

Você acha que a vida está passando rápido demais? Não tem tido tempo para aproveitar as coisas que você gosta? Faz tempo que você não tira um tempo para você? E aquele livro que você queria ler, ficou para depois? Não fique preocupado se você disse sim a pelo menos uma das perguntas acima, você não é o único.

Essa sensação de que a vida está passando e você não está aproveitando está se tornando cada vez mais comum. Isso reflete a falta que faz, atividades importantes no seu tempo.

Importante é algo que irá trazer um benefício real para você a curto , médio ou longo prazo. Pode ser uma atividade de lazer, intelectual, emocional, social, espiritual, familiar, profissional, etc. O que pode ser importante para você, pode não ser para mim. Não importa o que é que você irá fazer, importa o efeito que isso vai causar para você.

Quer ouvir uma música? Ver um filme? Dar um grito? Dar um abraço? Dizer que ama alguém? Ler uma piada? Fazer uma massagem? Tomar um drink? Ler aquele artigo interessante?

O que você pode fazer de importante por você agora? Que tal parar por 3 minutos e fazer algo simples, mas importante para você?

Sabe o que é pior disso tudo? É que viver o importante é tão óbvio, tão simples e prazeroso de fazer, mas sempre é negligenciado, adiado em função da última urgência ou da nova circunstância.

Você não precisa administrar seu tempo! Você precisa administrar a importância na sua vida! Você já está cheio de urgências e circunstâncias, mas faltam momentos importantes para curtir.

É comum ouvir as pessoas falarem que depois dos 20 anos o tempo voa! Eu não me conformo com essa frase. Em outras palavras esse chavão quer dizer: “ Quando eu era jovem curtia a vida e agora sou um escravo das urgências.”

É fácil lembrar da juventude, afinal foram tantos momentos importantes. A vontade de descobrir o mundo, a impulsividade, a paixão, as baladas com os amigos, os livros, as músicas. Resumindo: você estava feliz, alegre e vivo!

O que mudou? Você deixou a rigidez da responsabilidade envelhecer a sua juventude? Os problemas controlarem sua alegria? A gordura estragar sua saúde? A urgência sobrepujar a importância?

Eu não vou deixar o jovem que habita em meu ser envelhecer! Simplesmente eu não aceito essa condição. Quando eu for idoso de idade (e isso chegará para todos, graças a Deus!), nunca direi que sou “velho”. Falei para todos que sou um jovem reciclado! Eu vou manter a importância da chama da juventude acesa para todo o sempre.

Olhe para a sua agenda da próxima semana. Tem algum dia livre? Que tal agendar um compromisso inédito e especial: Reunião com Meu Jovem! — 1 hora deve ser suficiente para começar. Durante essa hora, fuja do escritório, da rotina, da urgência e faça algo importante para você. Curta sua juventude (com responsabilidade é claro – afinal você amadureceu!).

Pablo Picasso dizia que se demora muito tempo para se ficar jovem. Se isso for verdade, então você está na infância e começando a entrar na juventude. Mas permita-se crescer na escola da importância para viver a velhice do resultado.

Faltam poucas semanas para 2010, o que você vai fazer de importante por você esse ano? Ainda dá tempo! Você tem muitos horários para a reunião com o jovem dentro de você!

Cresça Forte e Saudável!

Via www.maistempo.com.br

All through our lives we encounter people who want to influence our decisions one way or another. It is our job to determine if their influence is for our benefit or for theirs. I remember a time about ten years ago when I thought that my parent’s only agenda was to ruin my life, and my friends wanted what was best for me. I think that we have all been there before. It was not until just a few years ago that I discovered that I had things backwards. It was my friends who had the negative agenda. My parents just wanted to make sure that I was making decisions that would give me the best opportunity for success.

While I did not understand this very well in my teenage youth, I do have a fair comprehension of this principle as a young adult. I have friends, mentors and coaches now, who truly do have my best interest in mind (in most cases we BOTH benefit from the relationship), and I ignore the people who attempt to use me to accomplish their own personal agenda. The question is how do we determine who has our best interest, and who does not? Which people want to build us up for our own benefit and not tear us down for theirs? In high school it is easy to see what the teenage boy with raging hormones wants with a young girl, or what the kids who smoke are going to ask you to do if you hang out with them. It is not however, always as blatantly obvious with adults. People are more subtle with their intentions. So ask yourself these questions:

-Is this a person of integrity, honesty, punctuality, etc? This might be a difficult thing to determine in an initial encounter, but professionalism speaks volumes for people that I want to associate with.

-Does this person exude success? There are some people who radiate success in their personal lives and in their business lives. You know who they are; it seems like “everything they touch turns to gold”. These people generally have a good knowledge of how to accomplish goals.

-Is this a glass half empty or glass half full type of a person? I don’t like being around pessimists all of the time. I know that there can be strength in seeing the other side of things, but you will not get anywhere if all of your associates are negative about your goals.

-What is this person like in their personal life? Do they have a good family? What do they do in their free time? Generally if a person is not very reputable in there personal life, they will not be a good influence in their professional life.

-Does this person have experience in the field that I am interested in? This is the primary question that I ask myself when taking business advice from anyone. It may seem a little arrogant, but if you don’t have experience in the field I’m interested in, I’m probably not going to take your advice.

These are four questions that I ask when I meet a person, and I always assume that they will ask these questions of me. Most of these questions I use in a business context, but they will work well in a personal context as well. The most important thing to understand of a person is their general outlook on life. I have said it before in my other posts, the type of people that you surround yourself with in the present are those who you become in the future.

-Scott

… vous avez peut-être entendu parler de ce projet de remplacer le clavier QWERTY (le cousin américain de notre AZERTY) par le SWYPE.

A l’origine, QWERTY a été pensé pour ralentir au maximum la saisie d’informations sur un clavier (suivant le modèle des machines à écrire mécanique) :

Les touches correspondant aux paires de lettres les plus usitées dans la langue anglaise sont réparties de manière à éloigner le plus possible les marteaux qui lui correspondent, ce qui limite les risques de blocage des tiges. Wikipédia

Aujourd’hui, SWYPE a été pensé pour répondre au besoin d’écrire des SMS d’une seule main…

Une innovation qui pourrait être un vrai avantage concurrentiel sur le marché ô combien monotone des smartphones. Ce serait énorme qu’un simple protocole de saisie devienne une raison d’achat d’un téléphone…

Desuet et brillant à la fois.

Cette petite vidéo résume le concept :

Source : Techcrunch

As Jenny points out, in a round about way in my last post I said that I do not exist. But I do exist. I’m here, and I persist, despite all the parts of me that may seem at odds with themselves.

Especially when it comes to dating, and trying to justify in my head why an amazing woman would want to hang out with me, I’ve always thought, “They don’t make guys like me.” They really don’t. Guys who don’t have substance abuse problems, guys who are responsible, guys who are gainfully employed. Apparently just those seemingly bare bones qualifiers limits the datable population quite a lot.

I realize this post is reading as rather self-indulgent. You’re reading my blog, about me. Deal.

Then you add on the “normal” good stuff. For instance, I’m pretty funny. I also look pretty hansom, not gorgeous, but hansom enough. I can carry on a conversation and I listen to what people say instead of drifting off in my own thoughts. I’m the kind of guy your mom would like for you to date, and that your dad wouldn’t need to brandish a gun at to get his daughter home on time. They don’t make guys like that anymore.

Then there’s the quirky parts; most of which stem from my lack of social inhibitions or lack of shame.The only way you can get me to turn red is to call me up in front of a group and tell me I’m doing a good job. But I can’t be cut down by jokes about the things I like, or the people I hang out with. I’m bullet proof in this way. I even mis-match my shoes so that you know how much your cuts don’t hurt me. Peer pressure was a non-issue growing up; I’ve always been my own person.

I have only one big fear – of dying and having people say that my life was cut short before I could really enjoy it, or take advantage of it, or be happy. So I constantly battle that fear by saying “yes” when an opportunity presents itself, by spending time with friends, by riding the cable car instead of the bus to work. I love my life.

The thing I want most in life, is to have someone to protect. Someone to love fully, without the boundaries. Someone who will protect me and love me without limits. But people freak out when you tell them things like that. They don’t make guys like me.

“Count your blessings. Once you realize how valuable you are and how much you have going for you, the smiles will return, the sun will break out, the music will play, and you will finally be able to move forward with the life that God intended for you.”

-Og Mandino

Spiritual Rebirth is the beginning of a process of personal transformation leading to Enlightenment. Spiritual Rebirth can be achieved by following a preparatory procedure such as the “Circulation of The Light” procedure of the Chinese Alchemical text “The Secret of the Golden Flower”. It must be understood that preparation is necessary, but ultimately, the rebirth experience itself is a Gift of God. Without rebirth, one will not enter into Enlightenment. At rebirth, the Spirit implants the Spiritual Embryo into the body, and as time passes the Embryo grows into the Light Body. The Embryo is united with the Holy Spirit and communicates Spiritual Knowledge. The communication of Spiritual Knowledge is instructive and leads the mind toward the Holy Spirit bringing the mind and heart into harmony with its purposes. This may take some years but they but they will be years filled with building a relationship with the Holy Spirit. You will be taught by the Holy Spirit directly. The secret is simply this, the appearance of the Spiritual Embryo comes with Spiritual Gifts. It is not known what Spiritual Gifts will be given. It depends on the will of God and His purposes. You learn to work with the Gifts as given.