Of Light and Light Saber Duels

The newest Star Wars Episode III has again captured the collective fantasies of moviegoers by elevating the ferocious light saber duels to new incandescence – more and better. Trivia buffs are in a tizzy, reveling on the only duel where the light sabers are of the same color – the duel between the soon-to-be Darth and Obi Wan.

It is no wonder that any discussion of light can easily catch the interest of and inspire the beholder.. Discussing light scientifically is likened to discussing religion/spirituality without even meaning to, since that is how entwined the two disciplines are.

Listen to Genesis..... “out of the void (blackness), there came out light....”

Now, listen to science. It declares that photons are the basic quantum units of light/heat. It could be wave or particle, it has no mass, no charge, travels at 186,000mi./sec, it has no time, and is neither matter nor anti-matter.

But the miracle is if photons collide, they “create” protons, electrons, positrons and anti-positrons, which are the basic elements of matter and anti-matter. And since, we, mankind, are made up of matter, they are our origins, too. “And on the fifth day, God made man.”

Science further declares with certainty (since these are replicated and backed with scientific data) that a photon exhibits a sense of purpose and design because it always follows the shortest distance to its destination, although nobody really knows where it is headed. In a real sense, it has no beginning to speak of and no end to head to. An Uncaused Cause that is eternal.

It was also Einstein who declared that if there was no God, man would invent one. But it seems like he did not invent one, he “discovered” one.

Just some thoughts on wonderful and Godly light.

To Be Or Not To Be: Filipino or American?

One wonders what drove you to commit to verse the characteristic qualities the two countries (the USA and the Philippines) exhibit that make them in one vein, similar and in another vein, poles apart.

For those of us who have adopted the US as our home, we constantly grapple with similar issues as we try to assimilate in our new environs. For those of us who came here as adults, laden with all the home-grown baggage of preconceived notions and ideas, the process of assimilation has been quite a formidable undertaking.

We are confused and caught in the horns of an unavoidable dilemma. To assimilate or not to assimilate. To assimilate but maybe not completely, all the while maintaining umbilical ties with the old country. Or to proceed being the way we were, unmindful of the crying needs of the present situation. Never mind if the people around us find us quite straying from expected norms of conduct.

Which shall it be? What should we become, being residents and citizens of this new place? Does not being a citizen require a modicum of behavior aligned with the rest of the citizenry? Or do we still maintain our old identities, again unmindful of the rest of the population?

And personally, if there is any singular and sterling quality that separates this new home of ours from the rest of the world, it is the convergence of all the races/ethnicity one can possibly find in this pale blue dot we call, Earth, in one glorious place - coexisting harmoniously under one law and government. No other country duplicates this remarkable phenomenon.

Internet Psychology: Blogs Under the Microscope

The study of Psychology has claimed yet another field of study in its already diverse collection. Jumping off from its studies within the “real” world, it has for a while been busy minutely analyzing human behavior in the newest media, within the “virtual” world, the Internet as represented by its many facets such as the worldwide web, emails, chat rooms, and of course, the current rage, the blogs.

From its initial strides in the 70s to the present, it has already accumulated an impressive storehouse of data on human behavior within these media. In my personal judgment, one of its more significant findings has been that unlike the previous media studied such as radio and TV where the participants’ interaction have been essentially one of passivity and lack of control, these new media accord the participants the abilities to develop and control the form and substance of human behavior.

We ought to take the helms then, and assist in laying the groundwork where the full potentials of good human behavior can blossom.

In starting toward this end, let me borrow some words from a 15th century mystic, Thomas a Kempis, to throw in as cautionary advice. This is from his work, My Imitation of Christ (translated), Chapter 10, and under the heading, Avoiding Superfluity of Words, and I quote:

If it be lawful and expedient to speak,
speak those things which may edify.

A bad custom, and the neglect of our spiritual
advancement, are a great cause of our keeping
so little guard upon our mouth.

Initial recommendation for a good read would be the book, Psychology of the Internet, by Patricia Wallace.

Intelligence vs Awareness vs Physical Growth

I believe, for example, that my father was brighter and more intelligent than I am, but I am more aware and/or conscious of more "things", enough for me to be more worldy-wise, more spiritual, more informed, more potentially wise; in general, better able to interact with my "total" environment. Intelligence and awareness.

Two distinct qualities that will have to be nurtured individually and separately?

In the case of physical growth, very minimal conscious effort is required from us. We will grow and age regardless of the amount of effort expended.

But awareness is something one has to continually feed and nurture if we ever hope to attain maturity. It does not develop automatically.

Thus, we sometimes judge that certain people while looking like adults, act and think like children.

Some Thoughts On Spirituality, And Then Some

For a good part of my life I have simply been trying to sift through and digest the many profound thoughts regarding spirituality. First off, I have to admire, maybe even bordering on envy, the clarity and steadfastness of the articulations of beliefs and passions on the issue as propounded by my many acquaintances. It clearly shows the prodigious amount of time and effort they must have spent trying to arrive at them. 

 Unfortunately for me though, my personal searches on the subject have come up with more questions than answers, though I definitely have strayed far from what we were taught in both Catechism and Theology. I, of course, have postulated and cemented certain standards of conduct on certain things I consider crucial in my daily living of life. But I notice that they are getting to be more non-religious (based on our traditional understanding of religion), more secular, and more grounded in modern science which has now become more tolerant and observant of its joined-at-the-hip alliance with spirituality. 

 For one thing, I state that I do not believe in a personal God, i.e., a God who is a person fleshed out with feelings, emotions and qualities; though I understand that being human ourselves, we have to think in terms of what is known and familiar to us. To me, at this time and space, He is just everything I can see and perceive. For me, investing God with a "person" is synonymous to God saying, "I am God and you are not me". 

 A mystic seeks direct experience with the universe, not any particular entity or person. Having said that I still find myself talking to Him like a person in times of solitude and need. Childhood/adolescent experiences linger on. Regarding evil, I have always subscribed to a quite simplistic attitude toward it by saying that it is nothing more than the misuse of free will; and since man is the only being I know that has free will, it must be man-made. I cannot say that it comes from God because I do not believe in a God that dispenses things apart of Him. 

But this understanding is a little bit like putting the cart before the horse. Since before we choose anything, that choice must first be available. It must pre-exist before we can choose it. We have been taught dualism - good and bad, yang and yin, form and matter, etc. For me, realities and perceptions of realities all exist in the physical universe. Being part of that, they are all subject, with exceptions that I still cannot fully comprehend, to very strict and almost immutable laws. We are familiar with some of them and science continues to unravel them for our consumption. If we defy them, then reaction/retribution will be instantaneous. 

 This applies to that football player who met an accident because he attempted to defy the laws of Physics. Our emotions which are bound to our physical beings in the state we are in, react similarly. The emotion of love which is good makes us grow and ecstatic, but hate which is bad is consumptive and gnaws at our beings, making us interiorly diseased. We even differentiate between healthy and unhealthy fears. But based on our limited understanding, we know that certain events defy these laws.

 Lastly, consciousness or level of awareness (or call it by any name, as intelligence, mind, spirit, etc.) as a non-physical component of man I find not only very slippery to grasp but also quite intriguing. It is a quality we know each man has, quite easy to discern its different levels as manifested in different persons; yet so much unknown. Which is it? Immortal? Or eternal? Can it exist independently being an integral part of what a man is? While all these sound ethereal, they do impact on how we as individuals handle our daily lives and our interaction with our environment, a great part of which is interacting with other people. 

 Therefore answers to these questions will define how we handle our fears, prejudices, moral values, ambitions, even our attitudes toward money and crime.