John Kevin's Journal: Dear Diary... I'M HAVING A HELL OF A WEEKEND!!!

Saturday, August 13, 2011

Dear Diary... I'M HAVING A HELL OF A WEEKEND!!!

Yeah, that's right. I'm having one of the best weekends ever. And it started last Thursday night...

My thursday morning kinda sucked, though. I lost a pedal on my bike and I had to take it to the shop to get it and a couple of other parts of it fixed, the bank system was down so I couldn't check on my money a very important thing, especially if you're unemployed... but I decided to go to downtown L.A. anyway and try to forget my troubles at the ArtWalk. I saw some pretty great art over there, and I also saw some not so good art, saw some good street musicians, and I saw this great traditional mexican music and dance performance. But, I just couldn't get over this crappy feeling I had. But then, just when I was about to go home, I ran into this woman:

Her name is Danni El, and her street performance is the reason I go to the ArtWalk every month. Although she wasn't performing there that night... more on that later. One smile and hug from her, and my crappy feeling was gone, and replaced with a feeling that I can only describe as... pure happiness. We greeted, and I walked with her up the street with her friend (I didn't catch her name) we danced with some Krishna worshippers until a bike cop made us move on, and we followed them until we got to 5th and spring. But I had to go, so I bid farewell to her and told her I would go to see her at her job the next day, and she gave me another one of those beautiful, love-filled hugs, and left to follow the krishna worshippers and give free hugs.And although I hung out with her for only a magickal few minutes, I felt that feeling for the rest of the night. I felt the love when I saw some asshole peeing on a tree in public, and when a fight almost broke out when I was passing by (and I mean ALMOST. When they saw me pass by, the fighting and arguing stopped. I think they felt the LOVE.) I felt the love when I got to the Blue Line Station and gave some homeless woman a dollar and bought her a train ticket, and I felt the love all the way on my 12 mile trip back home.

And, in case you don't know, This is what Danni El does:

O.K., SO WHAT HAPPENED ON FRIDAY?

My Friday was great! In the morning, I went and got some fresh fruit at the Farmer's Market in Downtown Long Beach, and then a beautiful woman took me out to lunch. And in the evening, I saw Danni El again at the VARDO CAFE in Venice Beach, where she works. We talked for the better part of an hour about a lot of different subjects, the details of which I'm not going into here. She has another performance August 28, and I'm looking forward to it. Hopefully, I'll make it this time. Hanging out with Danni was a perfect ending to a day that was perfect on many levels. The only downer was when I saw my friend Janet, and I found out she was robbed on the way to work. Thank god she wasn't hurt.

NOW FOR SATURDAY...

My Saturday's going damn good! I bought my friend Janet lunch, I got my bike out of the shop, and, drumroll please...

I FOUND OUT MY NEICE HAD A BABY BOY!!!!

Oh yeah. My weekend's turning out to be fucking sweet... I wonder what tomorrow will bring?

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What is a Warrior?

I see through different eyes.

I see a bigger picture when others see only grey skies.

Though many can’t conceive it,

I stand... facing the wind.

My bravery not from fighting,

but from my strength within,

I am a Warrior.

I will walk the extra mile,

Not because I have to,

Because it’s worth my while.

I know that I am different,

When I’m standing on a crowded street.

I know the fullness of winning;

I’ve tasted the cup of defeat.

I am a Warrior.

They say I walk with ease.

Though trained for bodily harm,

My intentions are for peace.

The world may come and go,

But a different path I’ll choose.

A path I will not stray from,

No matter... Win or Lose.

If you've been in the Martial Arts for a while, you'll find many people who would like to believe in the idea that just because they practice the Martial Arts, they are some kind of Warriors.(I like to call them Wannabee Warriors).

But what exactly is a Warrior? I mean, throughout history, there have been many different types of warriors, all having different Codes of Honor that they live by (And in case you're wondering, yes, there is a Warrior Creed that I follow and try to live up to also...) . But if you really try to define what a warrior is, there seems to be no one answer to that question. In fact, there seems to be many answers, almost as many answers as people you ask.

So, what I did was provide some links to some different websites about different warriors and types of warriors throughout history. Hell, I even posted links to web sites about Dan Millman and Carlos Castaneda for you "Spiritually Aware" types. Perhaps if you look through them, you'll find a good definition of a warrior for yourself...

And for you Wannabee Warriors out there... Some of the links I put up are to Law Enforcement & Military websites. If you really want to be warriors, Check out those links and become a police officer, or go join the armed forces. They need you!!!

FROM WIKIPEDIA, THE FREE ENCYCLOPEDIA: Silat is a collective word for indigenous martial arts of the Malay Archipelago and Malay Peninsula of Southeast Asia. Originally developed in what are now Indonesia, peninsular Malaysia, southern Thailand and Singapore, it was also traditionally practiced in Brunei, the Philippines, Cambodia, Myanmar, and Vietnam. As a result, it is closely related to other Southeast Asian martial arts including krabi krabong and eskrima. Practitioners are called pesilat. The Chinese fusion of silat is known as kuntao.

There are hundreds of different styles but they tend to focus either on strikes, joint manipulation, bladed weapons, throws, animal-based techniques, or some combination thereof. Silat is one of the sports included in the Southeast Asian Games and other region-wide competitions. Training halls are overseen by separate national organizations in each of the main countries the art is practiced. These are Ikatan Pesilat Indonesia (IPSI) from Indonesia, Persekutuan Silat Kebangsaan Malaysia (PESAKA) from Malaysia, Persekutuan Silat Brunei Darussalam (PERSIB) from Brunei and Persekutuan Silat Singapura (PERSISI) from Singapore.

Below, I added some links to various websites and video clips so you can get a better understanding of what Silat is about.

One of the gravest disservices we have done to the people of our world is to have provided them with a poor education. We do not teach students to think.

If you do not learn to effectively process information (and it is a learned skill) then you will always be at the mercy of people promoting their favorite dogmas.

The problem is, that all kinds of people would like you to uncritically believe what they are telling you about the way the world is. Many of them pretend that such uncritical belief is "faith", which it is not.

If you do not have the tools to discover what a given person or group is really trying to sell you, then you are libel to be making some really wacky presuppositions about the world, which will in turn become the heuristics by which you operate.

About half of what we perceive as "intelligence" is the ability to process information effectively, so if you want to be "smarter" then all you have to do is improve in that area.

While this is pretty simple, it is not necessarily easy. In my experience, most people are conditioned to a way of thinking already comfortable to the individual. When a person tries to change the way they process information they run a good chance of evoking a "threat response" from within themselves.

The wonderful thing about the internet is that you have access to so much useful information. If you're reading this, then you are able to self-educate on any number of subjects to a remarkable degree, and do it almost for free.

And that's what this section is about. I added some links here so anybody with a brain can study and learn to use it.

Remember 2 things people:

"I NOT ONLY HAVE THE RIGHT TO THINK AT ALL TIMES, BUT THE RESPONSIBILITY TO DO SO."

"IF I DON'T THINK FOR MYSELF, THEN SOMEBODY ELSE WILL DO IT FOR ME".

There are over 10,000 different religions in the world, 150 of which have at least 1 millions followers. Which one is the truth? "Christianity!" someone says, but even Christianity alone has over 38,000 different denominations. So which interpretation is the TRUE one?

Religion is not the anchor-point of truth. The truth always existed. Religion is man-made, meaning that the truth existed prior to both man and religion. Religion may be an effective catalyst for some individuals who desire to invest their minds into ideological association for whatever reason, but it is not a necessary nor a sufficient condition for a relationship with God, and understanding of the Creator, or the inner workings of the self.

Spirituality is not a belief. It is a state of consciousness, a mental framework with which you approach the world. Spirituality is in fact what birthed religion through the attempted organization of experience and wisdom, which ended up being the hierarchical stratification of various belief systems that we call religion.

Don't let the commitments you have to a religious belief system in your mind take you away from your natural state of Being with all things. You were a human before you learned religion. God's light existed in you before you learned this through some spiritual guru. Does this mean don't read or believe what Jesus of Buddha had to say? Of course not. Just make sure you take the time and effort to experience the rose instead of just believing in the accounts of others. This is not an attack on any religion by any means, and religion has brought many people happiness and the experience of being close to one's creator, but don't let it cause segregation away from our inherent unity.

As for my religious beliefs, well...

I'm a CHRISTIAN, in the sense that I believe that personal redemption is feasible for everyone and that universal love makes that salvation possible.

I'm a MUSLIM, in the sense that I believe that there's only 1 GOD, ans that all are equal under this one GOD. And, althought I'm not jewish, I do have a respect for JUDAISM.

I'm a BUDDHIST, in the sense that the seeds of enlightenment are within all of us as an integral part of our DNA, and that we are capable of reaching the Absolute through our own efforts.

I'm a HINDU, in the sense that I believe that GOD takes many shapes and forms to reach out to mankind.

I'm a TAOIST, in the sense that I have a total belief in the reality of Yin & Yang Energies.

And I also have a total belief in the world of spirits, and what we can learn from them, so I guess that makes me an ANIMIST.

I never want to tell someone what to think, for ones spirituality is a private matter between that person and their creator.

My goal here is only to show all of you the history and traditions of the many, many ways the people of the world have reached out to god.

Saturday, August 13, 2011

Dear Diary... I'M HAVING A HELL OF A WEEKEND!!!

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