time person of the year 2012

“You recognize you’re not going to arrive with — you’ll never arrive at that promised land, and whatever seeds you plant now may bear fruit many years later,” Obama says. Only time will tell just how he fulfills that vision.
We are in the midst of historic cultural and demographic changes, and Obama is both the symbol and in some ways the architect of this new America. “The truth is,” the President said in the Oval Office, “that we have steadily become a more diverse and tolerant country that embraces people’s differences and respects people who are not like us. That’s a profoundly good thing. That’s one of the strengths of America.”
At the end of Invisible Man, Ralph Ellison’s great 1952 novel about racial injustice, the central character says, “America is woven of many strands; I would recognize them and let it so remain … Our fate is to become one, and yet many — This is not prophecy, but description.” Just 12 years ago, Obama was so invisible that he attended the 2000 Democratic National Convention in L.A. and watched it on the Jumbotron in the Staples Center parking lot. Today he is universally visible — and known. But he would agree with Ellison’s observation that this change is indeed description and not prophecy. The new America is not so much the old e pluribus unum — out of many, one — but, as Ellison says, one and yet many. That is Obama’s America. For finding and forging a new majority, for turning weakness into opportunity and for seeking, amid great adversity, to create a more perfect union, Barack Obama is TIME’s 2012 Person of the Year.

Read more: http://poy.time.com/2012/12/19/the-choice/#ixzz2GXxWYTda

the better way to live alone

"do not pursue the past.
do not lose yourself in the future.
[do not be swept away by the present].
the past no longer is.
the future has not come.
looking deeply at life as it is
in the very here and now,
the practitioner dwells
in stability and freedom.
We must be diligent today.
to wait till tomorrow is too late.
death comes unexpectedly
how can we bargain with it?
the sage calls a person who
dwells in mindfulness
night and day
'the one who knows
the better way to live alone'" - Buddha

"to live alone means to live in mindfulness.

if we practice "the better way to live alone", our presence will make a real contribution to the community, and vice versa.

when we are lost in thoughts about the past, we lose the present.
life exists only in the present moment.
to lose the present is to lose life.

the present contains the past" - Thich Nhat Hanh


anushaya - latent tendency


"when we hear that the forests of our planet are diseased and dying so rapidly, we may feel anxious. we are concerned for the future, because we are aware of what is happening in the present moment. Our awareness can motivate us to do something to halt the destruction of our environment. Obviously, our concern for the future is different from worry and anxiety which only drain us. we have to know how to enjoy the presence of beautiful, healthy trees in order to be able to do something to protect and preserve them".

4 Life Actions - Lessons I've learnt.

EFFORT 4 NEED, 

GIVE 4 CAPITAL, 

ACT 4 CHANGE, 

RELEASE 4 PEACE.

4 Life Actions - Lessons I've learnt.

E4N

It means always putting effort to a meaningful role in society and to provide for basic needs of self, loved ones and all others. It also means effort to be ever mindful of the difference between needs and wants, to tame the wild elephant. Being driven by needs-based demand tames unneccesary supply, and frees up resources, time and space to be always there for what's important, and to act on what's important when compelled.

G4C

The best form of capital is social capital. The best investment is giving. To accumulate social capital, giving has to be unconditional and based solely out of compassion. To insure and harness the biggest and most timely of returns, giving must be to person and time of greatest need, simply because you can and conditions are present. It can be to persons you know, or to strangers you get to know, resulting in a new relationship flourishing with inspiration and learning both ways. Happiness from engaged giving is not fleeting - it grows organically in others and sustainably surprises. 

A4C

Institutionalized norms that are obsolete, unfair, neglecting and selfish, are everywhere and calls for active citizenry, for the sake of the person feeling subject to it, and persons like him/her. Acting to bring about new norms requires moral courage, which inspires others to form collective strength to shift the tide. Acts of moral courage never fails to reward and always makes life more meaningful. To witness, become aware and not act is to deny yourself of finding more true friends, for the sake of others. To act for change is to fall awake.

R4P
With wisdom, reflection and failures, we have the opportunity to stare at our impermanent lives and unlearn the follies and habits of our youth, to better agree with ourselves and find peace of mind. So do communities, countries, and global bodies. To do so, we need to release, not abandon, ourselves once in a while from our existing constructs. Releasing keeps doors open, allows space for new questions to old answers, and timeliness in the present for empathy and new understanding, both within self and with others. It enables validation of shared values, of interdependence and the dismantling of indefensible sweeping assumptions, while reinforcing universal truths. It enables reality. Releasing is a habit that allows the continued creation and innovation, rather than mere passing on, of history, one that is responsible and responsive for next generations, whose questions we cannot, and will not live to, answer. Releasing drops baggage we do not know why we are carrying. We can travel light and peaceful, and have the capacity to carry others, to carry with others, when we are called upon.