John Kevin's Journal: MERRY CHRISTMAS, 2015!!!

Friday, December 25, 2015

MERRY CHRISTMAS, 2015!!!

GOOD MORNING EVERYONE!!!

CHRISTMAS IS FINALLY HERE!!! But what is Christmas? What are it's traditions? Well, I posted this documentary below which gives a pretty good answer to this question.

However, if you're a bookworm like me, you might want to click HERE.

At Christmas play and make good cheer, For Christmas comes but once a year - Thomas Tusser

For me, christmas is one of the few times of the year when My whole family gets together to eat, exchange presents, and tell christmas stories. And that is what I'm gonna do today at my sister's house.

HOLIDAY SONG

This year Hanukkah, Christmas and the Mawlid all occur around the same time so I wrote this song in commemoration of these happy occasions. Given some of the tension and tragic events around the world this past year, I felt perhaps the meeting of all these wonderful occasions was The Divine's way of reminding us all that the fathers of our faiths loved one another. And beyond that we are united by the most lofty primordial connection...the sublime soul. Those who hate and harm others, do so in the name of their own corrupted hearts and those who love...their love will live on. The approximate meaning of the Arabic section is, "Oh Most Merciful One, send prayers, peace and blessing on traveling light in the cosmos". Although I don't know the exact origin of the litany, it is often repeated by North and West Africans. I often recite it when I am confronted with some struggle in my own life.

Christmas is not a time nor a season, but a state of mind.
To cherish peace and goodwill, to be plenteous in mercy,
is to have the real spirit of Christmas.
- Calvin Coolidge

May you have the gladness of Christmas which is hope;
The spirit of Christmas which is peace;
The heart of Christmas which is love.
- Ada V. Hendricks

Have a very merry Christmas!

Posted by John K. Ashton at 8:31 AM
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2 comments:

UnknownDecember 26, 2015 at 2:27 AM
Merry Christmas John. Thank you for your lovely blog. Namaste
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UnknownDecember 26, 2015 at 2:39 AM
Thank you for your beautiful blog John. Merry Christmas.
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WELCOME TO MY BLOG!!!

This Blog is MY PERSONAL SPACE ON THE WORLD WIDE WEB.

That means, what I post here is about things that I LIKE, and things that affect me and MY LIFE. I welcome you to my journal, and if you like my blog and what I post on it, cool. If you don't, well... There's a lot of interesting things on the internet that you can check out. I suggest you go there.

There's no law that says you have to read this blog.

Now having said that, I listed all my interests below.

Feedjit

My Interests:

My Main Interest is Living my life. I love life. I love trying new things and breaking down borders and boundaries to experience all that I can in this life. I try to live by the rule, "if the oppurtunity is available and your heart inclines towards something then don't be afraid to give it a try."

You can find my other Interests listed below.

THE AFRICAN WORLD

Let's face it - think of Africa, and the first images that come to mind are of war, poverty, famine and of course, Tarzan. How many of us really know anything at all about the truly great ancient African civilizations, which in their day, and even to this day, were just as splendid and glorious as any other great civilazation on the face of the earth?

I've added numerous links to different websites to show everybody some of the Real History of Africans and thier descendants, as opposed to How we are usually stereotyped, even by some Black people. It is these stereotypes I believe (among others), that lead to discrimination, racism, and ultimately, a weaker society.

So I put those links there, not to say that we are somehow better or superior to other nations, or to try to put down any of the other great civilizations of this planet, but to show that we africans worldwide have our own cultures, civilizations, and ways of life that are just as complex, advanced, and worthy of study as any of the other great nations and peoples of the world, if not more so.

A GREAT AND MIGHTY WALK

THE AFRICAN DIASPORA

Native American Cultures

The indigenous peoples of the americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, thier descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples.

I have always had a fascination with Native Americans, and their many cultures, and I have always felt that there were many things to be learned from them.

Native American Defense

Self Improvement

Martial Arts and Survival

"It is in my nature to be kind, gentle, and loving...
BUT KNOW THIS: When it comes to matters of protecting my friends, my family and my heart... Do not fuck with me. For I'm also the most powerful, relentless, and ruthless MONSTER you will ever know... BELIEVE THAT."

I love the Martial arts, but I don't consider myself a "Martial Artist". I consider myself what I call a SELF PRESERVATIONIST. What I mean by that is, my interest in Martial Arts and Survival is for one main purpose. That purpose is to SURVIVE, and to PRESERVE LIFE in general, and in particular, MY LIFE, and the lives of MY LOVED ONES.

You see, I don't stick fight, I don't knife fight, I don't sword fight, I don't gun fight, or whatever.

I SURVIVE, the aforementioned methods are merely the tools I use to accomplish my goal. If you come at me looking for a "fight", you've come to the wrong place, because I'm not gonna "fight" with you.

I'm going to do EVERYTHING in my power to make sure I SURVIVE.

I don't like to be called a Martial Artist because like I just said, I'm not really a martial artist. I just use the martial arts to help achieve my goals in survival, and health (and when I say health, I mean physical, mental, and spiritual).

And honestly, there are certain "ISSUES" in the Martial Arts Universe that keep me from wanting to wear the label of, "Martial Artist".

Besides, In my opinion, a lot of martial artists, especially here in the U.S., tend to be a very STRANGE group of people(Myself included).

But I DO love to read about the arts, watch martial art movies, and learning more about the Martial Arts.

Below, I posted links to various martial art websites and media. I hope you like them.

"THE CULT OF THE WARRIOR"

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!!!

SELF DEFENSE LINKS

Weapons

Ever since I was a kid, I've always had a fascination for Weapons, especially edged weapons, which is a big reason why I love Pencak Silat, a martial art based on the use of edged weapons.

Anyway, below I put a few links to some web sites of weapons from all over the world.

Martial Art Schools That I Like

I AM NOT AFFILIATED WITH ANY OF THESE SCHOOLS, but I do like them, and I think there's a lot of useful information about the martial arts here.

The Martial Arts Of Africa, and the African Diaspora

As a person with a love of Martial Arts, and as a man of African descent, I have a fascination of the Martial Arts and Sciences produced by the various peoples of Africa and the African Diaspora.

Below, I posted some links to web sites of many schools of Martial Arts from Africa, and the African Diaspora. I'm not affiliated with any of these schools, but I put them here to show people some information about the African Martial Arts, from those who actually practice them.

AFRICAN MARTIAL ART LINKS

Piper Knife System

Zulu Stck Fighting (Intonga)

THIS IS THE MARTIAL ART THAT I'M CURRENTLY LEARNING...

NOW THIS IS THE FIRST MARTIAL ART I STARTED LEARNING...

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.

Senjata: The Weapons of the Malay World

My Tribute To The Keris (Click on the photo)

My Tribute To The Karambit (Click on the photo)

My Tribute To The Kujang (Click on the photo)

The Mystical Side of Silat and the Malay Culture

The Queen of the South Seas

SO, HERE'S THE SILAT STYLES THAT I STUDY. THIS ONE...

AND THIS ONE TOO...

AND I'M GONNA START THIS ONE...

Various Cultures of the Malay Archipelago

Survival and Self Sustainability

Have you ever given thought to what you would do should you find yourself in the great outdoors off the beaten path while hiking, camping, hunting, or just in the wilderness, then you are unexpectedly thrown into a natural emergency, man made emergency survival situation or just separated from your guide and/or group? Now you are face with your own self reliance, how will you handle it?

Well, I posted a few links to different websites to help you prepare for such a situation.

Health and Fitness

Food and Cooking

Anybody who knows me knows that one of my most favorite things to do is to cook. Bake, Roast, Fry, Barbecue... whatever.

Healing for Body, Mind, and Spirit

MY FAVORITE SONGS...

THINK FOR YOURSELF, OR OTHERS WILL DO IT FOR YOU!!!

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".

OUR WORLD... OUR GEOGRAPHY, OUR HISTORY, AND OUR PEOPLE

Read history incessantly until you master it. This means your own national history, the history of the world---social history, industrial history, and the history of the different sciences; but primarily the history of man. If you do not know what went on before you came here and what is happening at the time you live, but away from you, you will not know the world and will be ignorant of the world and mankind.

-The Hon Marcus Garvey

Everything in this world is Connected... There is no separation between Humans and Nature

IT'S GOING TO BE A BRAVE NEW WORLD

Mankind's Many Paths To God

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.

And for all my ATHEIST Brothers and Sisters out there...

You have every right to not believe in god if you want to, but I believe there is a god, divine source, or whatever you want to call it, running this universe.

However, since I am open to the concept of there being no gods, and because WE ARE ALL IN THIS WORLD TOGETHER and I need to show y'all some love too, I posted some links to my favorite atheist(and agnostic) web sites.

The Science Of Spirituality

Movies and Television

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"To relax the eyes is to see with the spirit, and all that comes to do no harm will be embraced, and all which desires to harm is destroyed in order to preserve!"

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