Majnun's Manifest

Tsunami in Japan

2011-03-24T10:32:00.004-06:00

A letter from Sendai

ANNE THOMAS 3/14/2011

published online @ Ode magazine

Things here in Sendai have been rather surreal. But I am very blessed to have wonderful friends who are helping me a lot. Since my shack is even more worthy of that name, I am now staying at a friend's home. We share supplies like water, food and a kerosene heater. We sleep lined up in one room, eat by candlelight, share stories. It is warm, friendly, and beautiful.

During the day we help each other clean up the mess in our homes. People sit in their cars, looking at news on their navigation screens, or line up to get drinking water when a source is open. If someone has water running in their home, they put out a sign so people can come to fill up their jugs and buckets.

It's utterly amazingly that where I am there has been no looting, no pushing in lines. People leave their front door open, as it is safer when an earthquake strikes. People keep saying, "Oh, this is how it used to be in the old days when everyone helped one another."

Quakes keep coming. Last night they struck about every 15 minutes. Sirens are constant and helicopters pass overhead often.

We got water for a few hours in our homes last night, and now it is for half a day. Electricity came on this afternoon. Gas has not yet come on. But all of this is by area. Some people have these things, others do not. No one has washed for several days. We feel grubby, but there are so much more important concerns than that for us now. I love this peeling away of non-essentials. Living fully on the level of instinct, of intuition, of caring, of what is needed for survival, not just of me, but of the entire group.

There are strange parallel universes happening. Houses a mess in some places, yet then a house with futons or laundry out drying in the sun. People lining up for water and food, and yet a few people out walking their dogs. All happening at the same time.

Other unexpected touches of beauty are first, the silence at night. No cars. No one out on the streets. And the heavens at night are scattered with stars. I usually can see about two, but now the whole sky is filled. The mountains in Sendai are solid and with the crisp air, we can see them silhouetted against the sky magnificently.

And the Japanese themselves are so wonderful. I come back to my shack to check on it each day, now to send this e-mail since the electricity is on, and I find food and water left in my entranceway. I have no idea from whom, but it is there. Old men in green hats go from door to door checking to see if everyone is OK. People talk to complete strangers asking if they need help. I see no signs of fear. Resignation, yes, but fear or panic, no.

They tell us we can expect aftershocks, and even other major quakes, for another month or more. And we are getting constant tremors, rolls, shaking, rumbling. I am blessed in that I live in a part of Sendai that is a bit elevated, a bit more solid than other parts. So, so far this area is better off than others. Last night my friend's husband came in from the country, bringing food and water. Blessed again.

Somehow at this time I realize from direct experience that there is indeed an enormous Cosmic evolutionary step that is occurring all over the world right at this moment. And somehow as I experience the events happening now in Japan, I can feel my heart opening very wide. My brother asked me if I felt so small because of all that is happening. I don't. Rather, I feel as part of something happening that much larger than myself. This wave of birthing (worldwide) is hard, and yet magnificent.

Thank you again for your care and Love of me,

With Love in return, to you all,
Anne

I am because of you

2010-11-01T06:11:00.008-06:00

Dear Dad,

It’s been 12 years since you started traveling the worlds beyond,

What have you seen? Where have you gone?

9/14/82 “This my first entry to record a father’s impression of his adored son. You have filled (really!!) my life with moments of unequalled pleasure and wonderment. Imagine! A little soul developing before my eyes. A miracle, truly.”

I'm still a little soul developing before your eyes,

Only now with a slight change in size

11/4/82 “…you cry most mournfully when not properly attended to before sleep time. It will not be the last time within your childhood that you will become the treasured instrument for the subtle education of your parents in the ever needful field of patience.”

What a beautiful way of sharing your life,

a praise within advice, and recognizing the growth in strife

8/2/83 “But one thing that moves me more than anything else is the love you show to mother and me. A smile, a hug, kisses and kisses, a soft brown-eyed look to melt the heart. This is my treasure. This makes me rich beyond compare.”

Although years have past since our last meeting,

Your words feel like a recent greeting,

A reminder that our time together is anything but fleeting

And this shell to the material world is thin

And when it cracks I will walk in

To see your face wearing my favorite dad grin…

Much love,

Your son

Soul Mates

2010-11-01T05:56:00.005-06:00

I listened to a conversation the other day about marriage. A few youth were discussing the fact that they were looking forward to it but were not quite ready. Some had a specific date or year in mind when the marriage day would occur. I remember having the exact same thoughts…

…which sparked the following series of thoughts now…

What is a healthy marriage? Society would define marriage as the outcome of two people falling in love and the necessary step to be taken in order to legalize that love. Some would say that marriage is for people that want to have children. What does it mean to raise a child? Again, the definition perhaps would be that children are the result of sexual intimacy and we raise them so they will understand the difference between right and wrong. These two questions, for me, are the keys to opening the door to marriage.

Now one could be satisfied with these semi-general definitions that are heard in our society… or one could be absolutely terrified. I feel like the majority of us fall into this second category. Fear of commitment, fear of failure, fear of the unknown. And with the above definition, marriage kind of looks like a seemingly innocent accident, which at the end of the day forces you to take a terrifying, leap of faith. But I don’t agree with the above definition.

First off, I refuse to believe something so incredible as the union of two souls; the everlasting bond sealed by the acknowledgment of a divine institution could be viewed as an accident. We are all guided and can constantly ask for guidance along the way. I’ve heard many examples of couples getting married and later realizing how they were so lovingly directed towards each other. One couple told me that they were in a bookstore, looking around, and then “accidentally” a book fell off the shelf. When they picked it up, they noticed it was about marriage. Some take years before they decide to get married, and some take days. Some have dreams, some don’t. There really is no pattern, no formula, no guarantee, and perhaps this is the scariest part for many people because they see marriage as mentioned before, a terrifying leap of faith. But what if it’s not. The answer, on the surface level, seemingly simple, is probably one of the most beautiful and necessary endeavors humans will ever undertake.

Getting to know one another.

Lately, I’ve been serving in a small community, and this question has been running through my mind. How do we get to know one another? Since service is the most complete form of adoration to God, our most meaningful interactions occur when we serve together, when we make efforts for the betterment of the world rather than when we’re focused on making ourselves happy. This statement goes right to the heart of the question and presents a solution that dissolves the earlier mentioned “fear of the unknown.” Through service we get to know each other’s characters, and more importantly we understand what it is to sacrifice our own needs for a greater purpose, we learn how to support each other’s efforts, we grow closer by forgetting ourselves because love can only grow by giving, and service to others is the true expression of love and sacrifice. This is the purest form of getting to know one another.

When we see the other person for the qualities that they have developed because of their love for God we can overcome any challenge that the marriage might go through. Once this kind of love is born you cannot get angry or upset with them because being near them is like being near God, the source of love. Abdu’l-Baha, a great spiritual teacher writes about this vision,

“Each sees in the other the Beauty of God reflected in the soul, and finding this point of similarity, they are attracted to one another in love... This love will bring the realization of true accord, the foundation of real unity.”

This subject deserves much more thought and assumes the great responsibility of getting to know oneself has already been explored.

The last question is much more difficult to comment on because I lack the experience of raising or having a child. Baha’u’llah, a Divine Educator, states,

“Marry, O people, that from you may appear he who will remember Me amongst My servants; this is one of My commandments unto you; obey it as an assistance to yourselves.”

I just cannot fathom the bounty that God has given us here. “…from you may appear he who will remember Me…” If we believe that everyone has a soul then we can define parenthood as the art of guiding the infinite. A newly born soul is clean of the dross we accumulate from this world such as vain-imaginations, ego, materialism, racism and prejudice, etc. A parent’s job is to accompany this soul, help them navigate through the world so when they are faced with a challenge they will look towards their inherent nobility for the answers and find their heart overflowing with love for others. This most essential role of the parent is being tested all the time. Everyday, through our interactions with family, friends, neighbors, strangers, we are developing our ability to comprehend, listen, give advice, help out, accompany, etc. We could see the early stages of our life as the training ground for the purpose of marriage; guiding souls to recognize their Creator.

GYE to JFK

2010-08-26T21:36:00.004-06:00

Thoughts while traveling to NY...

$1.45 for a banana!!

Wireless Internet everywhere, even while sitting 20,000 feet above the earth.

Immense manmade structures, the works of a few genius architects.

Sun piercing through a multilayered cloud formation a few hours before it setting.

Waiting for luggage in a room full a different cultures and races all anticipating the warm welcome from friends and family just outside the door.

Friendly chatter with two traveling Ukrainians about exploration, food, and a small media project in Ecuador!

Listening to the train grind on cold steel tracks mixed with random and sometimes intimate conversations from it's passengers.

Getting picked up by a best friend, and by picked up, I mean hugged :)

One Great Spiritual Law of Life

2010-05-10T22:21:00.004-06:00

One great spiritual law of life

A lot of us are looking for balance or something to fulfill our lives, to complete our days, to rest and wake up feeling whole. Whole. I think that’s how we all want to feel, whole. The dictionary defines coherence as united as or forming a whole. Coherency oscillates between the spiritual and material and could be the key to balance.

My friend sent me a quote by Shoghi Effendi, the Guardian of the Bahá’í Faith, where he says,

“The more we search for ourselves, the less likely we are to find ourselves; and the more we search for God, and to serve our fellow-men, the more profoundly will we become acquainted with ourselves, and the more inwardly assured. This is one of the great spiritual laws of life.”

Stop searching for self-fulfillment. Search for God. Serve others.

Studying God’s word, brought to us through His prophets, helps us know Him. Serving humanity is also a requirement in order to become closer to Him, and as we get closer we begin to have a better understanding of whom we are and what our position is on this earth. Those efforts in worshiping and knowing God will attract balance to us. We don’t find balance, balance finds us.

It has become easier and easier to separate our lives from God and so it’s only natural that we look at our beliefs as a side dish to our work, to our family, to our recreational activities, instead of looking at them all as one. Until we infuse justice and nobility in all aspects of our life we will continue to feel unsure about our actions. The common belief in society is that when we feel unsure we distract ourselves with activities that direct our energies towards self-gratification. Referring to the quote above, this is exactly the formula for encouraging uncertainty.

These are concepts in society that we have to deconstruct if we want to build up a new standard. A standard which will guide us towards to our true potential, where we communicate with God through prayer and meditation, read His Writings, develop our spiritual qualities and capacities to serve others, and work together without being exclusive. Coherence, balance, harmony. Is it possible to bring about change without this spiritual law?

Media Project Pride!!

2010-04-24T21:53:00.007-06:00

Estoy muy orgulloso del Proyecto de Medios!!

Siguimos aprendiendo!!

Compartimos un articulo que salió en uno de los periódicos más concocido en todo ECUADOR!

The Magic of Avatar

2010-02-21T12:59:00.006-06:00

#1 Avatar - $1,844 million (since January 25, 2010)

Why?

The fastest grossing film to $1 billion clearly means that Avatar has grabbed the attention of the vast majority of film goers around the world... but why? I've been trying to figure that out now since I saw it a month ago, and then recently once more. On the surface it's a historical recreation of the devastation that was carried out against the Native Americans by the Europeans later known as Americans. Same characters, different planet. Same arrows and bows against the same superior weaponry, same quest for wealth leading to the same destruction of life. Same cliches, natives representing reverance and oneness with nature, native princess marrying the brain and personality of a white soldier, and an ending that any audience could have guess after viewing the first 20 minutes of the film.

However, Pandora is breathtaking, from it's beauties to it's dangers, the unique plant life, creatures, race of Navi, floating mountains, etc. The 3D effect was also a nice support in bringing this world to life. In addition, there were some very interesting concepts laid throughout the film. Like the network of connections within the roots of the trees which acted like a human brain, or how by using fiber optic tentacles each creature had the possibility of tapping into that network and bonding with one another. I felt this part of the film could have been developed a bit more by showing the transformation in the emotional side of Soldier Sulley rather than focusing so much time in the physical training of his Navi body. The spiritual side of his character was lost by spending so much time in the physical tests of the Navi and in the battle scene at the end. It only re-enforced the idea that the only way to peace is through war and with mother nature as the oldest warrior in this on-going cycle of death, you are sure to win. One scene in particular which grated against the films goal of glorifying spirituality in the warrior was when Jake Sulley, in his Navi body, had to pass the last test of manhood. A hard scene to analyze since I am a lover of dragons but there is no denying that his fight with the dragon which aimed at representing the ultimate oneness between man and beast, only re-enforced his military friends idea of domination. Especially when after connecting with his dragon Jake Sulley says, "Now you're mine."

The Message

My opinion of why audience members loved this film has to do with two things; the Message and the Structure in which it was delivered. Because even after saying all that above, I liked Jake Sulley, I was hoping throughout the film that he would pass all the tests, that he would save the Navi, and that he would find a way to be with the princess. The cliches did bother me but the overall message hit home and hit harder than the annoyance of the typical stereotypes. We are all connected to mother nature, even without having fiber optics inputs, and we are killing her. Beauty, science, culture, intelligence, discovery, life, all of it has taken a backseat to profit and the only check to our moral behavior is the bottom line. This is a message extremely relevant to what is happening in our society now, it's a worldwide issue, it affects everyone, and we all know that unlike in Avatar, mother nature is not going to sort out our problems. Avatar presents us with the first step, consciousness, awareness, realization, respect, love, and the will to sacrifice everything for the improvement of the world and all its citizens. The next step is action and I feel we are all at this next step, ready to move, ready to replace our destructive habits with harmonious ones that will bring back the balance between people and nature.

The Structure

In order for action to occur we need to be brave, courageous, daring, innovative, radiant, and confident in our destiny. James Cameron used these spiritual qualities to illumine the monotonous life that Jake Sulley had before discovering the Navi. He is what we call an unlikely hero, arriving in the film as much handicapped physically as emotionally whose only goal was based in the material, a new pair of legs. He ended the film with noble goals and a whole new lifestyle. This is an element that many of us feel daily, that we were created for more than just this life, that we were created to do great things, and have exciting adventures. If we look at the way Jake Sulley changed we might be able to find a formula that will help us find our own personal adventure. He was offered an opportunity to serve. Although his motives were misguided they eventually found the right path. His beliefs and ideals were challenged. What once held the most importance in his life now seemed insignificant, and what once was non- existent in his life now became the center and foundation for all his thoughts and actions.

The Magic of Avatar

Movies allow us to escape reality, to take a breathe and forget what is outside of the theater, and this is one of the reasons why we see them. But Avatar, while at the same time being entertaining, suspenseful, and action-packed, paralleled the issues and problems faced on Pandora with our own world and in effect kept us as much in the present as in our imaginations. I feel we love Avatar, not because we escaped, but rather we imagined confronting our problems with courage, with determination, and with confidence in our own nobility. If we continue down this path I think we will all find each other moving in the same direction, working together for the betterment of family life, friends, strangers, and the world.

Easy Recipes - Ecuadorian Sazon

2009-12-20T22:13:00.005-06:00

Since I moved into my new home, many experiments have taken place in the kitchen, especially with 3 hungry youth that live close by. I'm really thankful to have these youth around, for their humor, their service orientated attitudes, and, of course, their presence which has subsequently challenged me to cook something good for everyone. This is probably the last thing I thought I'd be writing in a blog but here are some recipes in case you're interested =)

1. Chunky, Creamy, Veggie mmm Soup

8 potatoes - peeled and cut into medium sized squares
4 carrots - same as above
3 pieces of corn -cut into thirds
2 spoonfuls of garlic - cut into very fine pieces
2 limes
2 spoonfuls of oregano
1 spoonful of salt
1 spoonful of pepper

Boil some water and place the Potatoes, Carrots, Corn, and a little oil and salt in the pot for 15 - 20 minutes. Take the corn out a little earlier and place in a bowl for later use.

Drain hot water into a separate pot, and put carrots and potatoes in a bowl. With a thick wooden spoon, mash the potatoes and carrots to your liking. I like to have chuncky carrots in my soup so I mask the potatoes a bit more than the carrots.

Place this mesh of potatoes and carrots back into the pot and fill with water until consistency is to your liking. Remember a bit of this water will be boiled off in the next step.

Boil soup for the next 20 minutes on low heat. Please immediately in the pot Corn, Oregano, Salt, Pepper, and squeezed Limes.

Get a large bowl and spoon. Enjoy!

2. Scarlet Strawberry Jam

2lbs of Strawberries
4 spoonfuls of brown sugar
2 limes

It's so easy! Clean the strawberries, cut off the green leaves, and place into boiling water for 3 minutes. Drain the water. Blend the strawberries with Sugar and squeezed Lime juice.

Place mix into a pot with 1/8 cup.

Boil for the next 15 - 20 minutes or until consistency is reached. This is the crucial part since you have to constantly have to stir the jam so as not to burn the jam.

That makes a small jar of dark red strawberry jam, double, triple, quadruple recipe to make more.

3. Muddy Mangoes

6 Mangoes
1/4 cup of Peanut Butter
1/4 cup Honey

This is salad dressing. Peel the mangoes, blend them up. Put the Mangoes, Peanut Butter and Honey in a jar and mix them together. That is some good dressing.

4. Ognam ecuas

10 Mangoes
1/2 cup of chopped white onions
1/4 cup of Soy Sauce
1/4 stick of Butter

A simple sauce to soak anything in. Peel, cut, and mash mangoes in a large tuberware container. Pour in soy sauce and onions. Mix together and place food article in the middle of all that. Make it is covered and place top on tuberware. Let soak for a few hours and cook all together.

Serve over rice.

5. The Classic Green Breakfast

5 Plantains
2 eggs
1/2 lb of cheese

Cut the plantains into 1/4 inch pieces. Heat up oil. Place plantains into the pan stir, stir, and stir. Plantains will cook quickly, 5 minutes or so. Take out plantains and place in bowl. Cover top of plantains with grated cheese. Fry eggs in leftover oil. Whatever style you like but runny eggs is the best because the hot yoke pours over the cheese and plantains which gives the dish an excellent flavor.

Serves two.

Let me know if anyone tries these and forgive me if I haven't been clear enough. If that's the case though just comment and I'll fill in the blanks!

Provecho!

Thoughts on Pioneering

2009-10-26T19:04:00.006-06:00

Pioneering

When people come by my house and see a white guy living on a dirt road in a small rural area they usually give me a strange look like… is he lost? One day a couple of ladies stopped in front and starting yelling, “Buenas! Buenas!” which basically means, “Hello! Anybody home?” When I came to the door I saw the surprise on her face and she sort of paused…

Is the owner home?
Yea.
Could you get them?
You’re talking to him.

It turned out her friend was pregnant and they wanted some star fruit that grows on the trees in my yard. So when they came in they obviously were curious, what’s going on, why are you living here? I tried to explain that I was a pioneer but the only way they understood was if I used the word “missionary”. After they left I felt a bit unsatisfied with my explanation so this is my own personal clarification of why I came to Ecuador, please feel free to comment.

Shoghi Effendi, the Guardian of the Bahá’í Faith (1921 – 1957) chose his words with great care. For the word pioneer, he used surcadores. Forgive the Spanish but I’m living in Ecuador and sometimes I just can’t think of the English word. Surcar means to plough, so surcadores would mean something like ploughers. I think this word unlocks a new meaning for the many souls who have left their homes in order to bring a new message or new piece of knowledge to the world. A farmer plows in order to prepare the soil for the crops he hopes to harvest for the next season. There is a period of hard work because the quality of your fruits and vegetables depend on this beginning stage. Patience and care is needed as the crops begin to grow. Then you enjoy the success of your harvest but that’s not the last stage. The last stage is when the fruits and vegetable give back to the land in order to produce the next harvest. This is a great analogy for why I am pioneering here in Chongon, Ecuador.

Briefly, the project I’m working on falls under the description of social action projects. As of now we are calling it the Media Project whose aim is no less than to influence the majority of Chongon (where I live) with positive messages that will reconnect people with their nobility and raise the consciousness of what it means to be advancing together towards a more united, a more peaceful existence. We spent months discussing and deepening on how to make positive media. Just the past week we produced our first fruit, in the form of an 11-minute video. We hope this fruit and many others will awaken or encourage the spiritual consciousness of the people here; who will then start producing their own fruits.

Progression

“Upon our efforts depends in very large measure the fate of humanity.”
–The Universal House of Justice, Wellspring of Guidance, p.120

One of the worst things that is happening in the world today is this prevailing feeling of powerlessness. People believe that the world is falling apart from something they cannot fix on their own. In part, it’s true that people with more resources and more material power have more responsibility to the environment, economy, education, etc, but it is our efforts combined together that decide the future. Everyone in the world comes from families. Individuals create families, families make up a community, communities make up a city, cities make up a state, states make up a nation, nations make up a country, and countries make up the world. By reconnecting the individual with their nobility, the world will change.

One of the responsibilities of being a pioneer is carrying a job to its end. I am here, mostly learn with the community, and help with the empowerment of the individual so that we may realize our potential as noble human beings. This may take a long time, perhaps years, decades, or centuries. I’ve committed only two years to the project for a number of personal reasons. Everyday I’m reminded of the importance of working here and those reasons are slowly diminishing. For as Shoghi Effendi so adeptly states,

"Neither the threatening world situation, nor any consideration of lack of material resources, of mental equipment, of knowledge, or of experience-desirable as they are-should deter any prospective pioneer teacher from arising…”

In that brief statement he touches on all of my reasons. I pray I have the strength, determination, and courage to see the project to its end.

A World Community

This entry is a bit long, but there is still so much more to talk about. Outside of my responsibilities to the Media Project, I have my relationship with the community of Chongon. This is the other part of being a pioneer, which resonates more with the position of a Missionary. As stated in the dictionary, a Christian Missionary promotes the word of Jesus Christ, well a Bahá’í pioneer promotes the word of Baha’u’llah, however the manner in which Bahá’í’s teach their beliefs greatly differ from that of other religions. Bahá’í’s believe it is everyone’s choice to investigate what uplifts his or her soul and therefore it is not permissible to sermonize, moralize, criticize, or proselytize the Faith. Another teaching that Baha’u’llah has given us is that the Bahá’í Faith is not for us Bahá’í’s. He states,

“The fundamental purpose animating the Faith of God and His Religion is to safeguard the interests and promote the unity of the human race, and to foster the spirit of love and fellowship amongst men. Suffer it not to become a source of dissension and discord, of hate and enmity.”

The idea that religion should not be the cause of disunity seems obvious and yet it creates the strongest divisions in the world. I understand when people say “I’ve lost faith” or they don’t believe in “organized religion” because of what’s going on in the world. However, the Bahá’í Faith takes the individual’s relationship to religion beyond this barrier and says that’s fine be wary of those things that cause dissension and discord, but let’s work together, as one, towards the advancement of the spiritual and material progression of humanity.

To try to wrap this up, because I feel there are a lot of deep themes here which would take a whole lot more time and discussion to fully reveal their significance, I’ll end with another quote from Shoghi Effendi about the environment in which we live. I used this quote in my Master’s project and it’s a good reminder of my hopes for the Media project and how I view my relationship to the community in Chongon.

“We cannot segregate the human heart from the environment outside us and say that once one of these is reformed everything will be improved. Man is organic with the world. His inner life moulds the environment and is itself also deeply affected by it. The one acts upon the other and every abiding change in the life of man is the result of these mutual reactions.”
-Shoghi Effendi

Beginning life in Ecuador

2009-09-10T10:44:00.009-06:00

Beginning life in Ecuador

During one of my lower moments I lost patience and asked the official serving us, "Why does this process have to be so complicated and so disorganized?" He confidently replied, "Because that confusion gives us officials time to deal with all of the paperwork." That outrageous reply, in retrospect, seems sort of perfect to me. It brings up a few ethical questions. How does the country's citizens feel about being purposefully misguided in order for the government to organize itself? Blatant misdirection leads to disrespect and more lack of trust. Are the patient and enduring people of Guayaquil being taken advantage of here? I sort of wish the answer was more like "I'm sorry, we know it is confusing but we're trying to improve the system."

I decided to post some simple steps for those future guests that would like to avoid the confusion. Every American is allowed a tourist Visa which grants three months stay. These steps are for those that have already acquired a long term Visa and need to register it in Guayaquil, Ecuador.

Step 1
Go to a building called "Dirreccion General de Extranjería" in downtown Guayaquil
-Ask for "la Autorización de Pago" (you will need this later)

Step 2
Leave the building and got to a Paper and Copy store
-Copy Passport pages (Information, Arrival Stamp, Temporary Visa)
-Copy Visa Certification sheet

Step 3
Get a friend to write a letter of recommendation with passport number, class, and type of visa included.

Step 4
Go to Banco Internacional
-Pay "la Autorización de Pago" ($10)
-Make sure you get the receipt

Step 5
Bring all paperwork back to the "Dirreccion General de Extranjería"
-Pick up passport the next day

After all this, you will then need to register for a Census, which to my understanding is a temporary ID which you can carry around instead of your passport. This process is a lot less painful.

Step 1
Copy Passport pages (Information, Arrival Stamp, Temporary Visa)
Copy an electric bill of where you are staying

Step 2
Go to a building called "Inmigración'
-Hand in paperwork

Naming a Blog

2009-09-06T09:52:00.011-06:00

Naming a Blog

An hour or two spent researching which blog fits my preference between Wordpress and Blogger. A few hours more trying to figure out the navigation, templates, and configuration options. A few hours trying to make a picture for the title bar with the correct dimensions. I do feel like Majnun, searching through handfuls of sand with the panorama of the whole desert in front of me.

Briefly, the title "Majnun's Manifest" comes from an ancient Persian and Arabic lore about "true human love bordering on the divine". There are many versions of this tale. One of these is recounted in a book called The Seven Valleys where it explains "Majnun" was the title given to a man who fell in love with an Arabian princess called "Laylí" but then was denied the right to marry her. This drives him somewhat insane and he runs off into the desert. During his time in the desert a few travelers come across him sifting through the dust and an intriguing and mystical conversation takes place:

Travelers- "What doest thou?"
Majnun- "I seek for Laylí."
Travelers- "Alas for thee! Laylí is of pure spirit, and thou seekest her in the dust!"
Majnun- "I seek her everywhere; haply somewhere I shall find her."

Although Majnun is probably hallucinating from sun poisoning and dehydration what he says is very profound and enlightening. Without the act of searching it is impossible to find anything. What seems crazy to these travelers is really a noble cause. The author of The Seven Valleys, Baha'u'llah, after re-telling this story states, "The true seeker hunteth naught but the object of his quest, and the lover hath no desire save union with his beloved." Not until we give up everything, tear down those things which veil our sight, can a true search begin.

The fact that Majnun means "insane" is another interesting aspect to this story. Why is he labeled as insane? The travelers mock his attempts at finding Laylí. Yet Majnun's confidence seems to spawn from the act of searching and not so much from the goal. This is quite a revolutionary thought even for this age where we are judged by what we have and don't have. If the act is more important than the goal, how would our lives be different?

Finally, Majnun and Laylí could be interpreted as many things. A romance story. An insane man's illusion. A search for meaning in life. For me, this story speaks about Truth and the sometimes difficult road one must undertake to find it. Truth is all around us but without patience and the act of searching, it will never be found. This is why I choose Majnun to be the gate keeper of my Blog; a perfect symbol for our quest to Truth.