Life of Pi – The Spiritual Adventure

When I finished watching Ang Lee’s film Life of Pi, I immediately jumped on the book like the hungry Richard Parker and Pi after being stranded in the sea for 227 days. I wanted more than what I had just gotten from the movie.

I could not agree more that the cinematography was stunning beyond any description. I said this, not only because I could save the effort of raking my dictionary to search for some divine words to describe it, but even that would not do enough justice. I also loved the soul searching and faith testing plot punctured with some humour. When the curtain went down, I was too stunned until I was literally transfixed in my chair, wondering what the hell was going on the screen for the past 2 hours. Maybe my brain was too slow for the 120 frames-per-second technology?

Thus, my journey on the award-winning and best-selling book began.


As with my previous experience, I had mostly enjoyed the books better than the movie adaptations. I believe the movie version of “Eat, Pray, Love” and “Memoir of Geisha” did not do the book justice. Elizabeth Gilbert and Arthur Golden are both astounding and amazing in their storytelling. But “Twilight Saga” movies are better because of Robert Pattinson. But despite Stephanie Meyer’s creativity, I still prefer Elizabeth Gilbert’s witty and bewitching style. Even as a Twilight fan, I bemoaned the fact it dragged quite a bit in the movie as much as in the book.

But Yann Martel is a marvel and a true master. He is superb and spectacular in his story telling and twisting.His words are never dull even when he was describing the slowest animal on the planet. He made the zoo came alive and all the animals jumped up and down for me. Yann Martel has a gift to make the mundane memorable, routine enjoyable, eccentric comprehensible, and the norms questionable.

I especially like the idea of the general perception that animals should be roaming free and wild in the jungle instead of being caged and restricted in the zoo. If that is the case, do we humans want to be chased out of our houses and roam freely in the jungle, expected to be eaten at any seconds? His metaphor is right on and it begs to challenge all our conventional thinking. And what about the uniqueness and differences between all the 3 religions that Pi embraced? Pi quoted Mahatma Gandhi  on All religions are true and asked a question comparing nation and passport respectively to God and religion –  If there is only one nation, won’t all passports will be valid?

And of course, one will never contemplate in a million lives to be stranded on a boat with a Bengal tiger. But instead of being a foe, the tiger became a saviour in the sea of emptiness. It is another metaphor for us to embrace our darkness because it can be our saviour and teacher when accepted as part of us. (By the time, I completed this post, I just finished reading “The Shadow Effect – Illuminating the Hidden Power of Your True Self” and I realized this statement is very true)

And with most fictional books and movies, the ending gave us a twist and dwell on the uncertainties that are open to our interpretation based on our individual belief. I feel Life of Pi delivered this feat in a unique and truly successful way. Just a tiny speck of uncertainties, the ending was fulfilling and also left a question to ponder on.

Life of Pi, as I conclude, is a quest for freedom, told in a refreshing and emboldening way.

Since reading “Alchemist” by Paulo Coelho, I felt I probably won’t find another great storyteller who seems to be able to weave the depth of spirituality into a story of an adventure in life.

Life of Pi changed my thought.

This is also posted to http://f5bulous.com/2013/01/14/life-of-pi-the-spiritual-adventure/

[Dear Dr. Sus] The Best Relationship Advice Ever!

Dear Dr. Sus,

I am in deep shit and I need your advice.

My girlfriend gave me an ultimatum and said she would leave me. She claimed I always do not make an effort to connect and care for her, thus I do not really love her. I do not know what she means. I called her, texted her and went out with her. I bought her dinners and gifts, brought her to watch movies, went shopping and to any place she wanted me to go.

She insisted despite I had done all these things for her, I did not do them CONSISTENTLY EVERY DAY!!! How can I have all the times to do that every day while I need to work, socialize, eat, play, pee, shit, masturbate and watch football and all other sports? I really think my girlfriend is making an unreasonable demand.

I attempted to call her every day. But whenever I called her, she talked and talked for hours, in what seemed like an interminable conversation. When I excused myself to go to watch a football game, she said I always love football more than her. Why do women always like to put always in their statement? I really don’t understand. When I said I need to go out for an appointment, she asked who I was meeting. I usually say Alex, George or Christian but they were actually Alexandra, Georgeann and Kristen.


There was one time, I slipped and told her I was meeting Kristen. I then have to tell her Kristen is my 50-years old aunty who just got back from Canada. Of course, I did not tell her Kristen is actually a hot 36-24-34 chick whom I often socialize in the pub.  I don’t know why she has to make me create all these stories and names. Do you know how stressful is it for me to keep track of everything and try not to give her too much information for fear I will say something that does not correlate with all the stories I created. Why do men always have to do all the works and answer all questions to please their girlfriends?

I also have tried to text her every day. I often asked her how she was. She replied in very long paragraphs starting with “Dear Diary”. I do not know why she had to tell me things in such details. I don’t really care whether her friend, Bobo got dumped by his boyfriend, unless Bobo has unusually large breasts. If Bobo has that (large breasts), she did not tell me. Then she asked how my day was. I told her in less than 3 words  - Fine, Great, Not So Bad, etc. and she started to ask more and expected me to reply to her. And this became an endless ping pong. Sometimes, I purposely let the ball go off  – STOP ANY REPLY. After all, what am I supposed to respond when she told me her cat was constipated. But she said I always ignored her and did not care for her and her cat (always again!!!). My female friend advised me, in regards to the constipated cat, I should have said –  Yes, I understand how it feels. My dog was just neutered yesterday. But I don’t have a dog!

How am I supposed to know what to say even when I want to say nothing? Can’t women understand that men need space and peace? Why can’t she allow me to have my space and peace?

Should I dump her and get a new girlfriend?

Yours truly,
Man-In-Trouble.

Dear Man-In-Trouble,

Yes, you should absolutely dump her and get a new girlfriend. I strongly recommend you to get a cat as your girlfriend this time. A constipated cat may be even better since you do not need to clean up her shit so often.

The benefits are endless. You don’t need to call or text your cat. Ever. You can speak of Georgeann, Alexandra and Kristen in front of her and she will not pull a whisker. I bet you can train her to do all the things that your girlfriend has been doing for you. Beware though, cat like to bite on things. So, don’t put anything in her mouth that you don’t want her to chew on. If she steps into your space when you do not want her, like when you are watching a football game, you can always lock her up in the cage and let her meows all she wants while you turn up the TV volume to the maximum.

I am sure, by this way, you will be able to get more space and peace in your life.

Yours sincerely,
Dr. Sus

About Dr. Sus:

Dr. Sus is a relationship coach who helps you solve your relationship problems with unproven, untested and outlandish but very sound advice. Her Dr. title was not due to a doctorate degree, but she used to Play Doctor while in a psychiatric hospital where she was admitted as a patient for 5 years after killing her neighbour’s cat. In 2013, she was discharged from the hospital and started the “Dear Dr. Sus” column where readers with unsound minds continue to seek advice from her.

Blog posted at http://f5bulous.com/2013/01/07/dear-dr-sus-man-who-wants-space-and-peace/

Color of My Voice

On an average day, we have about 70,000 thoughts. A staggering 4,000 books are published daily. The World Wide Web is growing a billion pages per day. There are over one billion Facebook posts and 2.7 billion likes/comments per day. 294 billion emails are sent, 864,000 hours of videos is uploaded to YouTube and 2 million blog posts are written daily.

And today, I contribute one blog post to the world. One in the 2 million posts. I wonder what kind of value I add to the world. How insignificant it might be. I wonder why F5bulous sisters even bother to start this blog site. Why are we even adding our voices in a world where everybody can’t stop talking?

My voice is not sharp, nor blur. 

I am not even a proficient and efficient writer to begin with. I write like I am swimming laps in an Olympic-size pool. I never learn properly how to swim, my strokes are clumsy, and I have to stop to take my breath every three metres. It takes me hours to reach the other side with tremendous effort, and then realizing I have to swim back in the opposite direction. And most of the time, I end up where I start.

 Despite this, what I worry greatly is what I want to write about. What if I cannot find my voice? What if I cannot find something I can stand for? I do not want to be a copy of others. No matter how much I like Anthony Robbins, Paulo Coelho and Abraham Hicks, I do not want to be them. I want to be ME. And I want to be more than just the look; although I am thankful to be bestowed with some physical appeals but I am certainly not a bimbo. (FlamboyantG used to overstate that I am a danger to both men and women. I wish!)

So, I often stare at a blank page in my computer. Do I want to write about the male species, the fire and spice in my life? Do I want to write about spirituality, femininity or just my mortal experience? Do I want to write about my corporate life, my love life or the fact that I don’t seem to have a life? Do I want to expose my multi-faceted, multi-layered, eccentric personality without sounding insane?

My voice is not black or white, nor truth or lie.

I have been through a lot in life (up, down, broken, fallen, inane). Sure, I can offer some advices, maybe write some posts like the 10 ways not to get dumped, 20 not to get cheated, 50 ways to heal your heart, and 9 ways to get promotion in your jobs. After all, I have been dumped, got cheated, healed my heart, and got promoted many times. However, I am not inclined towards giving advice or tips. Not because I am stingy and reticent. I just feel I am in no place to offer any advices. Things that I have done, they have either worked for me or NOT. They may work for me, but not for you. They may work at certain times and circumstances, but not all the times and scenarios. Even a broken clock is right twice a day, as the saying goes. My own personal belief is this – No one really knows how it works in life at all times. Some just pretend to know better. Listen to gather perspectives but do not believe blindly. 

So, don’t believe what I am telling you here. I am not lying, and I swear I will try to be 100% open and honest except if that really hurts someone. But what I am saying is what I am telling you are through my lenses of how I view the world. It is going to be filtered and distorted. So, if I say a guy is very cruel, the next thing you’ll see is he is guiding a blind old lady across the street. Beware though he might be kicking her off when no one is watching. When I extol someone, she might just be average on your scale.

And the more I learn, the more I find I know nothing, as Socrates put it.

My voice is not bending, nor straight. 

I do not want to be led by the nose. I do not want to be coerced, controlled and cajoled. I am the oak that want to challenge the wind. I am the rebel who wants to challenge the conventions. I want to have lots of love, fun and hot sex. I want to be who I want to be, even at times when I do not know who I want to be. But I’ll try.

I hope you would like to know me better. If there is nothing else I can offer, I offer you my stories, sincerity and passion.

If while you are reading my post and there is one thought, just one thought that you are receiving from me and it makes you a little more enlightened, enlivened, empowered or just entertained or aroused, then I am successful among the 2 million posts.

I think that’s what I want to achieve for F5bulous.

 ** Please note the statistic is not from the latest source. 
Image Credit: Infinity by Max von Wening


Notes: I am also blogging at http://www.f5bulous.com or http://f5bulous.wordpress.com
This is also posted under http://f5bulous.wordpress.com/2012/12/31/the-colour-of-my-voice/ 

Heartbreak – Then and Now

Heartbreak sucks.

When my mum threw away my beloved Little Pillow which was with me for 17 years, I was insanely heartbroken.

Little Pillow to me was like an iPad to kids nowadays. Even the size was so alike. But Little Pillow was lighter, fluffier and wouldn’t break down when I threw him around. Little Pillow was cuddly and balmy and as the cliché goes, I slept with it, play with it, eat with it, pee with it, shit with it. I was obsessed with its smell so much that I insolently forbid my mum to wash it except the several times when I wetted my bed. By the time I was 17, my mum have gotten very worried. Though I was not carrying Little Pillow around then, but I swore we would be together till death did us apart. I was even planning to bring Little Pillow to my marriage bed. My mum said that would be shameful and tried to persuade me to dump Little Pillow. I retorted that my future husband wouldn’t mind – probably the start of my distressing and disastrous journey with men, my poor evaluation of which got me into trouble, REALLY BIG trouble.  My smarter mum eventually threw Little Pillow when I was out in the college.

When I realized that, I was devastated. In a million years, I wouldn’t have expected him to disappear without saying goodbye. Still, the feeling of the unwilling separation aka being dumped was salt to my broken heart.

I certainly had an experience of being dumped. It sucked the energy out of me and I got drained and thrown down to a dark deep dirty well and left alone, afraid and clueless how to get out. But it was also at these times, I learnt to live with the darkness, see clearer despite the darkness and find ways to reach the light beyond the darkness. It was a mind-boggling, spiritual and soul-searching experience that made me grow into a better person.

It was easy to launch angry birds at the other parties, reveling on their falls and explosions into the thin air. But my most recent heartbreak taught me more about acceptance, forgiveness and self-worth. And because I gain all my self-worth and forego my pride, I was able to see my own mistakes I made in the relationship that were causing the problem (I’ll share more on this in later posts). Of course, if he was a relationship guru like Anthony Robbins or Dr John Gray, we probably would be able to swerve the winding paths without overturning the car. But he was just a man who was trying to take baby steps in a relationship and was not prepared to handle the emotional flood. I was foolish. He was obtuse. We would have made a wonderful albeit odd couple.

Like the Little Pillow episode, I have gotten over it and moved on with my life. One thing for sure about heartbreak is time always heals. But another more important thing, as Gary Zukav said, eventually you will come to understand that love heals everything, and love is all there is.

I love falling in love,
Susan

Stay tuned for more on heartbreak and how to heal. And love.

Notes:I am also blogging at http://www.f5bulous.com or http://f5bulous.wordpress.com
This is also posted under http://f5bulous.wordpress.com/2012/12/24/heartbreak/

To Forgive, Divine

A little soul approached God and said “I know who I am.”

God said “That’s wonderful? Who are you?”

And the Little Soul shouted, "I'm the Light!"

God smiled a big smile. "That's right. Very good! You are indeed the Light”.

Little Soul pondered for a while and then said “I know I am the Light. But I really want to experience who I am, God”

God remarked “But you are you. There is nothing to experience.”

Little Soul said “But I really want to experience myself. To know myself.”

“What do you want to know yourself as?” God asked.

Little Soul was quiet for a moment, and then exclaimed “I really want to know myself as Forgiveness. Hey yeah! That is what I want to know myself as. Forgiveness is special. I really want to be forgiving.”

“But there is no one to forgive.”, God pointed out. “Everything is so perfect here.”

Little Soul is sad. But just then a Friendly Soul approaches the Little Soul. “Hey, I’ll help you”

Little Soul said “You will? How?”

Friendly Soul said “Let’s go down to the earth. We’ll be born. And I would do something so horrible to you, so awful and you will forgive me. And then you can know yourself as Forgiveness.”

“That’s wonderful. It’s incredible. You do that for me? Wait a second. You are a being of such utter perfection! You, who vibrate with such a speed that it creates a Light so bright that I can hardly gaze upon you! You are so light that you dance upon the stars and move through the Kingdom with the speed of your thought. What could cause you to want to slow down your vibration to a level where you can come out and do these horrible and terrible things?”

"I would do it because I love you." said the Friendly Soul. “The only thing is you need to promise me one thing.”

Little Soul said “Anything you want”.

"In the moment that I strike and smite you, in the moment that I do the worst to you that you could possibly imagine ~ in that very moment, just remember Who I Really Am."

"Oh, I will!" cried the Little Soul, "I promise! I will always remember you as I see you right here, right now!"

"Good," said the Friendly Soul, "because, you see, I will have been pretending so hard, I will have forgotten myself. And if you do not remember me as I really am, I may not be able to remember for a very long time. And if I forget Who I Am, you may even forget Who You Are, and we will both be lost. Then we will need another soul to come along and remind us both of Who We Are. And we will be doomed to repeat it, over and over again, until we get the lesson."

This is such an amazing and awesome story which touches on the possibilities at some level we may have chosen even the worst circumstances in life for a grander purpose.

And I honestly and heartily thank all the Friendly Soul out there! I know who you are inside. I know your origin and intention. Thank you for lowering your vibration and stooping yourself so low so that you can give me this opportunity and experience to forgive divinely.

Food for thought:
1. Do you believe the possibilities at some level we may have chosen even the worst circumstances in life for a grander purpose?
2. Have you embrace the belief of "You are the cause for all the effects in your life"?
3. Have you have known happiness if you never been sad, to find you are in the light without ever being lost in darkness, to forgive if there is no one who hurt you and also if you have never receive forgiveness from someone you have hurt before ?
4. Is there anyone in your life that you find it hard to forgive? Maybe more than one? Do you believe they might be the Friendly Soul who had sacrificed themselves to try to help you experience who you want to be?

The story is adapted from The Little Soul and the Sun, by Neale Donald Walsch
 http://www.sapphyr.net/largegems/littlesoul-thesun.htm

The Most Amazing Human Being is Me (and You too!)

I am super ecstatic and enthusiastic today. Why?

I just completed my 3-days fruit diet for my detox program. Yes, I survived only on fruits and fruit juices for the past 3 days. No coffee also, just green tea. The only thing that slipped was 4 meagre pieces of biscuits which I took on first and second days. That’s all. I am so proud . I am strutting with joy.

And today, I am free. I dived into my breakfast and lunch with strong waves of appreciation and gratitude.

I feel like an ingenious Goddess, fearless Warrior and vibrant Vixen. And I feel the strong urge to tell the world about this.

Seriously?

Yes.
Who need to be self-effacing, when my power, charm, capabilities and abilities are so divine and sublime?

Okay, now I went overboard with my self-praise. ** LOL **

Food (Yummy!) for thought:

1. Have you given yourself enough credit that you deserve?
2. Do you know how awesome and fabulous you are?
3. Need a reminder every day?
   Subscribe to this http://www.tut.com/ and you will start receiving encouraging message from the Universe every day.
   Believe me, I look forward to the email every single day. They are the elixir for my soul!

This is my first powerful message from The Universe which prompt me to subscribe to the mailing list. A blessed and blissful serendipity, indeed!

For all things and non-things that you may ever want, Susan, understand that sometimes the fastest way to get them is to forget them, and to focus instead on just being the most amazing human being you can be. At which point all of your heart’s desires, spoken or unspoken, will be drawn to you more powerfully than a magnet is drawn to steel.

Who would you be without your story?

“I am confused and saddened by my family because they judge me.”

“So, parents should not judge their children. Is that true?” Katie, a 60-plus-years-old soft-and sweet spoken woman, asked Justin who had started “The Work”.

“Oh, Gosh.” Justin murmured as he realized he could not answer yes, despite the strong urge to prove himself right.

“Can you absolutely know that’s true?” Katie asked the second question.

Justin paused in incoherence and finally admitted in a low voice “No”.

“And the job of a parent, the job of everyone in this world is to judge. That’s our job. Everything is a judgement. Give me a thought that is not a judgement. It is a sky. That is a judgement. It is what we do. Parents should not judge their children. What is the reality? Do they?”

 “Yes.”

“That’s their job. How do you react when you think that thought? My parent is not supposed to judge me.” Katie continued her third question.

“It weakens me. I felt terrified.”

“How do you treat your parent when you think that thought? I want you to stop judging me and they do it.” Katie probed further on her third question when Justin was at loss of words.
“I rebel and become distance.”

“Honey, this is insanity. People should stop judging people. What planet do you think you are on?!” Katie dramatized on purpose. The audience laughed. “You come to planet earth, you judge. That’s it!”

“Who would you be without this thought - I want my parents to stop judging me?” The fourth and final question from Katie.

“I will have inner peace.”

“So, honey, turn it around.” The final step in "The Work".

“I am confused and saddened because I judge me.” 

“There is another one.” Katie urged Justin.

“I am confused and saddened by me because I judge my family.”

A final revelation and Justin confessed softly but firmly “Yes”.

Katie continued with her explanation “I strike a deal with you. When you stop judging them, then go talk to them about judgement.”

"That’s true."

“When you stop doing what you want them to stop doing, let’s talk. Maybe a while. I stop judging that my parents should stop judging. Now, read the other one.” Katie instructed. 

Justin started on the second item in his list he had written down “I want my family to be who they are and not limit their love and attention….”

“They are who they are,” Katie interjected, “They limit their love and attention and they judge.”. Everyone in the audience seemed to be laughing by then. Justin laughed and affirmed “Okay.” He knew he was "defeated" in his judgement and his needs to be right, but he felt relieved and lighthearted. He began to grasp “The Work”.

Byron Katie is not a therapist, counselor or religious leader. Through her work, which she simply called “The Work” teach people to end emotional suffering. She instructs people to write down their troublesome thoughts and then start the 4 questions and turnaround process, like what she did with Justin.

And then you will gain the insight from Katie:

Reality is not going to wait for your permission. No, you lose.
Arguing with “what is” is like teaching a cat to bark. Hopeless.

I discovered that when I believed my thoughts, I suffered, but that when I didn't believe them, I didn't suffer, and that this is true for every human being. Freedom is as simple as that. I found that suffering is optional. I found a joy within me that has never disappeared, not for a single moment. That joy is in everyone, always” 

And these are from her website:

Who would you be without your story?

The Work of Byron Katie is a way of identifying and questioning the thoughts that cause all the anger, fear, depression, addiction, and violence in the world. Experience the happiness of undoing those thoughts through The Work, and allow your mind to return to its true, awakened, peaceful, creative nature.

I am intrigued by Katie’s work after listening to her audio program. It is very therapeutic and enlightening. She also claimed “The Work” can help us to forgive 100%. 100% is a big achievement and a huge breakaway. So, I tried that. I am still not sure if it works that well. I probably need to do more work.

But I do find the turnaround powerful. For those who are angry with others  “I am angry because she is so selfish” turnaround into “I am angry because I am so selfish”. Aren't we all selfish? We are, in varying degrees. For those who experience unrequited love - “He/She should love me” become “I should love me”.  Welcome to the world! Nobody owes you anything, so nobody should do anything for you unless they really want it. It’s not your job to like me – it’s mine, as Katie put it.

And for answering the powerful question such as “Who would I be without my stories?” I need to define that as those limiting beliefs, those things about other people that I cannot change, and those critical and belittling voices.

My answer: I will be more carefree, confident, passionate, peaceful, positive, loving and enlightened.

Sounds good to me to discard my stories. Start with a clean state. Forgive 100%. Move forward, lighter and merrier.

So, who would you be without your story?

Image credited to http://www.everypathis.org/