Hate Can Kill

Hate is a normal human emotion. But when a person harbors it for so long, it causes so much pain and agony and it can kill him.

Hate that spawns greed and jealousy is a virus that the person can spread to others and the problem--disunity, wars, and other conflicts-- is multiplied in the world.

Love can defeat hate and this was the message of the Teacher of Galilee whose enemies killed him on the cross. A hating person has a closed mind and love has a hard time penetrating or entering this closed door that consumes him or her.

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"This is the true joy of life: the being used up for a purpose regarded by yourself as a mighty one; being a force of nature instead of a feverish, selfish little of ailments and grievances, complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy."--George Bernard Shaw 

What "Nakem" Means

"Nakem," an Ilokano word, has multiple meanings that include intelligence, intellect, consciousness, awareness. It has a moral sense, as in "naimbag a nakem," (roughly translated as goodwill) which reflects a positive Christian value as lived by the Ilokanos, an ethnolinguistic group in the so-called Amianan in Northern Luzon, Philippines and the Ilokano Diaspora in Mindanao, Hawaii and the US Mainland including Alaska.

The 12 Nakem Conference was held at the University of Hawaii at Manoa on November 16-18, 2017.

The Wisdom of Not Judging a Situation

Just let go. Roll with the punches.
This is easier said than done, especially those who are physically abused. The emotional scar takes a long time to go away. But the healing could take place early.

J. Krishnamurti, the Indian guru, said, "What happens does not affect me," or something similar. He lived a long life and his wisdom is known far and wide.
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A Zen master, reacting to a report, said, "Is that so?" Another said, "Maybe."

Nothing is permanent; all is temporary, in transit like the high wind that will not stay and destroy.
Sic transit gloria mundi.  St. Paul spoke of transitory glory.

This, too, will pass. A wise man said this to a king. And he, the ruler, lived in peace and quiet.

You may have all the wealth and the honor in the world, but you, when the time comes, will leave them behind.

Prayer For Cancer-stricken Friends

Our Heavenly Father, you created Mariel and Feliciana for your own purpose and enjoyment and you smiled at their birth. They, too, worked among your creations, according to your will. But they are only humans and they also suffer as they go on with their separate lives. They have been afflicted with a disease for many years but it is hard for them to defeat this illness. Have mercy. Free them from pain and agony.


1. Mariel R., formerly of San Fernando City, La Union, now a long time resident of West Covina in California. She lives with her two children--a boy and a girl, now grown-up, all born in the Philippines. Mariel was married to a certain Tony, also from San Fernando, who left her when she was still working at the regional office of the Philippine Information Agency.

2. Feliciana J. A., a Bannawag magazine writer, before she immigrated to Darwin, Australia. She has been married for many years to a Lithuanian, who traces his roots to a European royalty (Lithuania). Fele has been with an Ilokano writers' organization for the past years. The husband, in his Twitter account, is soliciting $100,000 donation for her wife, now 77 years old. She originally came from Villasis, Pangasinan.

"There is a time for everything; and a season for every activity under heaven."--Ecclesiastes 3;1

"Writing is spooky. There is no routine of an office to keep you going, only the blank page each morning, and you never know where your words are coming from, those divine words."--Norman Mailer,  an American author, in his book,"The Spooky Art, Some Thoughts on Writing"

Writing and Rhetoric

The art of discovering the title of a poem
as applied to the high priest's theological confusion

All rights reserved


Is the image in the mirror
A reflection of the woman?

Or is the woman  a mirror
Of the image?

Or must she, regaining composure, say,
She is the other woman?

Is the water in the tub
A mirror of God?

Is God in the water
That flows in the river?

Is God in the rains
That fall mainly in the mountains?

Or is God the rains
That flood the plains?

Is God or a woman an image?
A reflection?

A mirror?
A loving invisible invincible?

"Reading a poem is an experience analogous to that of encountering a person. Just as one can think and speak separately of a person's physical appearance, his mind, and his character, so one can consider the formal aspects of a poem, its contents, and its spirit while knowing that in the latter case no less than in the former these different aspects are not really separate but an indissoluble trinity-in-unity."--Wystan Hugh Auden, English-American poet. "Stop all the Clocks" is one of his poems. 

A Mirror of Concerns

We could not discount the possibility that instead of discussing the Ilokano language on a common level, the young writer and her supporters were engaging in scatology that, in a way, mirrors intellectual and moral concerns.

This may be a judgment but nothing is permanent in the world, unlike probably the literature that is supposed to last forever.Like Charles Darwin's "On the Origin of the Species by Means of Natural Selection"; Hamlet; and the Greek tragedies.

 And loving-kindness as taught by the teacher from Galilee, the carpenter's son whom Pontius Pilate chose to be executed on the cross of hate and rage.

...

An attempt at humor by touching the behind of a young  woman? And the "joker" is an old man on a wheel chair.

***

The country has abolished capital punishment but it appears this is not so when you see Philippine police kill their victims, drug pushers and drug addicts as if this is the natural thing to do irrespective of the law.

No Llores, Sofia

Estelita on a Singapore street 

 High-rise Singapore buildings

Gilbert bridge across the River Padsan in Laoag

NO LLORES, SOFIA

An unremembered remembering:
The spasm of an imagined
Laughter after love and a bird-call
On a stormy Padsan night
The scimitar moon was emerging
Dripping with yellow liquid fire.

Sorrow lies in a limbo rock.
The door was wide open and the voice
Made no promise to return.


I had wanted to confront
The enigma in your dark eyes
Looking down that road
To the massive church in the east
Where faith ends in cacophony
 At the marketplace.

The space between us now
Is as wide as Death Valley in the desert
As endless as the ocean of peace
As long and eerie as the sun's rays
Sinking in Gabu by the lonely sea
Near the sand mountain.


***

We have to go beyond the mind-thought, away from its noise and clutter and liberate ourselves from hate, anger, greed, the tendency to dominate others, jealousy--this may have been the way the Teacher from Galilee expounded his theory of the eternal message.

STATE OF HEALTH OF SOME OLD ILOKANO WRITERS

     "He is in bad shape," said Dr. Aurelio Solver Agcaoili of the University of Hawaii and Manoa.

     Dr. Agca, as he is known by friends and acquaintances, was referring to Terry Gabriel Tugade who has been living in San Francisco, CA for the past 30 years or more.

    In his blog, Dr. Agca made mention of Terry's open heart surgery last year  I talked to Terry (via messenger) and he was telling me of her eyes failing him--what he usually saw, he said, was all white. He did not sound distressed;  he was saying it matter-of-factly.

     I tried unsuccessfully to contact Terry via the FB account of his daughter Ruby.

     On August 28, at 11 in the morning, Terry died in San Francisco, according to Dr. Agca who had been in contact with Ruby, one of two daughters of Terry. Terry left behind his wife Teresita, from Laoag City; twin daughters Ruby and Michelle, sons Edward and Gerald. He will be buried on September 5, at the Holy Cross Cemetery, 1500 Mission Road, Colma, CA.

The following month, sometime in September, Manuel Saguiped Diaz, died in his village in Nagsaag, San Manuel, Pangasinan. This was relayed to us by another writer Prescy Bermudez. Manny was a tri-lingual writer.

Lovi Poe, Philippine Actress

There is more than the acting skill of Lovi Poe--her haunting loveliness. May the scriptwriter of Mulawin Vs. Ravena give her more speaking parts.

Writing Drought

Trying to end the writing drought by composing a poem inspired by Adrienne Rich, one of America's top poets. But no poem came out of a sky of utmost blue. The brain has lost its luster in the world of dreams.

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How well did I practice my art today? Was it worth it? At this age, does it matter if I did it well or good? The question is I did not write anything. Just let the time goes by.

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Kenny Rogers was wearing a blue shirt with long sleeves. He has grown old--now 82 years- and he told his audience, he would be sitting while he belts his country music in the 60s. And the audience at the 1200 seat theater of the Pechanga Casino resort in Temecula joined in the singing. It was almost a full house. It was 7 PM when the concert began.


Memory

Remembering the snows we tread at the Medi-Park near a lake in Amarillo and the rare rains falling at the rooftop of the building-apartment of the Philipine nurses. We stayed in the Texas town for several months.

The "Confession" of Fidel Valdez Ramos and the Martial Law of Ferdinand Marcos.

"My atonement was leading the military and the police during the EDSA People Power Revolution. From the 22nd to 25th of February 1986 and I stand by that record. It's there in history books."--Fidel Valdez Ramos, former Philippine president, in response to Ilocos Norte Gov. Imee Marcos's comment on the role of FVR as one of the enforcers of martial law during the reign of Ferdinand Marcos.

Christian atonement is reconciliation with God as a result of the death of Christ. In Judaism, it is reconciliation with God by means of repentance and confession of one's transgressions. It boils down to the meaning "amends or reparation for an injury or wrong."

An individual gives an apology for a wrong or injury inflicted on another person or society.

Fidel Valdez Ramos, at the mercy of Convalescence and the Almighty God, was head of the Philippine Constabulary, fore-runner of the Philippine National Police, that executed by Martial Law during the reign of Ferdinand Marcos. It was FVR who gave the arrest orders against the perceived enemies of the state at that time.

FVR has never apologized in public for whatever excesses the apparatus of Martial Law allegedly made to save the state from falling into the hands of the communists and allies in the Christian churches including politicians like Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino, Jr.

Historical antecedents show that the victors take the spoils of war and rewrite history for their own glory and edification. That's precisely what happened when the new centurions took over the power to run the country.

And so we have the new oligarchs that replaced those that FM wanted to disappear from Philippine society.

 

No July 4th Celebration

It's Wednesday, July 4th, but no celebration that I know here in Menifee. A hot windless day, the burns the struggling leaves of at least two potted avocado plants.
 The evening rests in the mountains and may wait in pain for the messengers of memories.

On Poetry and Writing

Feel it.
If you hear a crack in the skull, describe it as best you can.
Don't tell all. Hide what you want to say. Let the reader find out what you want to say.
A poem is a different genre. It is not a  news article or essay or other journalistic writings.
The reader of a poem experiences a feeling beyond words. Needless to say, the reader is not experiencing what the poet experienced; it may be the result of what he reads in the poem.

"If you cannot write clearly, that's because either your head is muddled or you are too afraid to reveal your true feelings and thoughts. To me, clarity is a great virtue of the intellect."--a character in "A Map of Betrayal," a first-person novel by Ha Jin

***
"If tomatoes wanted to be melons,
they would look completely ridiculous.
I am always amazed
that so many people are concerned
with wanting to be what they are not;
what's the point of making yourself ridiculous?"--Mitsuo Aida, Japanese poet, and calligrapher

A writer or journalist has to tell the truth

For him or her to be credible as a journalist, he or she must tell the truth. And the truth is a simple compendium of facts obtained by using the tools of the trade. The tools are the 5 Ws--what, who, why, when, where; and H, how. And we also speak here of accurate information, like the correct name of a person, even the spelling of the name. The responsible journalist checks and rechecks his facts or data.

Facts on the ground show that the country's major media outlets, the Philippine Daily Inquirer and ABS-CBN TV Network, have not been telling the whole truth with respect to the acts and projects of Mr. Rodrigo Roa Duterte. He has started exposing their dirt in public; of course, his own version of truth.

***

We are still a God-forsaken wilderness of hate, anger, recriminations--a fractured culture where criminals, womanizers, robber barons and other shady characters reign supreme like Roman centurions.

The Nonverbal Communication

The Science of Kinesics or Wordless Communication

If I talk to you in person and you listen, you may know me as a person, not the one you imagined who I am or imagined me to be. And vice-versa. I will hear your message-- in your voice, in your tone, in your face, in your whole body--and, most probably from inside of you, your heart and your soul.
And if you read this post as written, will you have an idea of my person or part of my person?

The Tobacco Monopoly Monument and the Roman Catholic Sinking Tower
in Laoag City, Ilocos Norte, Philippines

Selfie As Art/2 In, Imitation, of, Jose, Garcia, Villa, Comma, Poem

                                                           Karayan, Padsan, Water, Lily

                                                    She, too, was, a, river, maiden,
                                                 Unreachable, mysterious, secretive,
                                                 The, unbearable, shyness, of, youth,
                                                   A, deep, deep, road, to, nowhere,
                                                     Too, late, the, speaking, voice,
                                                     Too, late, the shattering, rain,
                                                The, disaster, we, did, not, comprehend,
                                                The, pact, with, our, bodies, went, astray,
                                                We, could, have, lived, in, peace, and, quiet,
                                                  In, the, morning, side, of, the, mountain,
                                                              Together, forever.  

The "Heroes" Had Feet of Clay

Nothing has changed since the fall of Ferdinand Marcos in 1986.
The Edsa heroes had feet of clay.
The oligarchs reign supreme.
Political dynasties rape the land.

The Wandering Mind and the Power of Meditation

The "stream of consciousness in fiction" is a reflection of the mind, the wandering kind that is difficult to calm or control as it drifts from thought to thought. This is the egoic mind that harbors anger, hate, jealousy and other emotional poisons and thoughts, Covered with layers of illusion, if not delusion, it can only be liberated by a thorough cleansing with the power of meditation and concentration.

The blogger as a young actor in a play staged at the plaza in Laoag City, Philippines

Ilokano sugar cane workers in Hawaii. They were called pucan cane then, A surviving cane cutter and his wife in one of upscale subdivision in in the so-called Aloha State. Are they still alive? (Photo by blogger)

     Of course,  meditation is another process that is difficult to do.

WE CREATE OUR SUFFERING, OUR OWN HELL, OUR OWN SAMSARA

"Iti ruar ken ikub daytoy mangliwengliweng nga awang, addatayo latta a sipaparnged kadagiti berde a batbato ti lglagip iti daan a pagilian.Ket agtunglabtayo iti iliw iti bukod a kalsada, iti atiddog a a puraw a kadaratan ti baybay, iti asul a kabambantayan.Kankanayon a mariingak tunggal sumungadak iti daan nga ili ket addaak manen nga agpampanunot iti sipnget iti parbangon."

***
Sinuktandan ti nagan daydi kalsadami a Jose Palma a nangputar iti Philippine National Anthem. V. Ligot ti nagan daytoy a pagpagnaak idi agiskuelaaak iti haiskul. (Victorino Ligot, maysa a padi a nayanak iti Laoag ken nagbalin nga obispo ti San Fernando, La Union.) Agtung-ed daytoy a dalan iti asideg idi ti garahe ti Philippine Rabbit Bus Lines ket agpalaudak a kumamang iti laud a kalsada, tarengtengek agingga a madanonko ti Ilocos Norte Trade School. Agawidak iti pangngaldaw ket agsubliakto manen a mapan agbasa.. Kasta a kasta ti inar-aramidko iti uppat a tawen. Adda idin sumagmamano a dyip, malaksid iti kalesa,  ngem diak malagip no nagluganak kadagitoy a napan iti eskuelaan.

***

It was Bishop Mario Baltazar of Batanes who gave me the imprimatur to become a member of an ecumenical group that translated the whole Bible into Ilokano from the so-called original languages of Greek and Hebrew.

The Ilokano Bible Project, under the aegis of the Philippine Bible Society, was composed of Rev. Anacleto Guerrero, Rev. Juan Marigza, Rev. Gervacio Tovera, Rev. Fr. Godofredo Albano, Mrs. Patrocinia Tayaban, a deaconnes and the layman and Ilokano writer Peter La. Julian, with Rosalinda Camat and Rev. Noel Osborn as coordinator. It started in in November 1969 in Baguio City and was finished several years later. I did the apochrypha, the books between the Old and New Testaments, at the Bishop's Palace. Bishop Antonio Salgado was then the bishop of Baguio.

We don't know what happened to Rev. Osborn who was sent by the US-based United Bible Societies for the project. Is he still alive in Ohio, at least, that's what I know he came from?His family was with him then--his wife Emma, and their children Cindy and Philip. They lived near the Translation Center at Bokawkan Road.

Mrs. Camat lives in Baguio; Mrs. Tayaban in Tuding, Benguet; while Bishop Marigza resides in Agoo, La Union' and PLJ is an immigrant in US. The rest of the translators have died. I was supposed to be the youngest member of the Ilokano group then.

***

     We create our own suffering, our own hell, our own samsara as the Buddhists call it.

     My readings of Oriental texts and ancient gurus and teachers like Jesus of Nazareth, tell me we can only escape this bane of existence by liberating ourselves from the passions of anger, jealousy, hatred, selfishness and other harmful emotions and thoughts.

    Since time immemorial, this ruinous human nature has caused so much pain, conflicts and wars, killing millions and destroying cities and nations.

The blogger with then the Philippines' foremost essayist Kerima Polotan- Tuvera
during a literary awarding ceremony at thee Port Area in Manila.

Native bonsai infront of the Ilocos Norte Provincial Capitol in Laoag City

Opening Windows for Rebirth

Let go the person you used to be, says writer Lama Surya Das. In fact, "Letting Go The Person You Used To Be" is the title of his book, which advises that if we want to change and move on, we have to do away with attachments that impede our way out of the miserable life we have been living. These attachments include beliefs, people, places, possessions like books, even the house we have been living in for a number of years. It is these attachments that cause our pain and sorrows, he says.