Muhammad

The passing of Muhammad Ali … was a tragic loss … felt by all. He was the greatest … an appellation that brings special meaning … for the nuance it implies … about showcasing boxing … or the art of fighting … as a sport. And what a sporting fighter he was … handsome … unscarred … caring … and a delightful sense of humor … that was like a left hook … to supporters and detractors alike. Coming from a background … that is usually viewed as … of the bush … and underdeveloped … he engaged his fist … to get the attention … he was denied.

It reminded me of a friend of mine … who made the acquaintance of a Filipino maiden … some years ago. Over beers … he poured forth more cheerfully than the beer … about her. When I finally managed to get him to be coherent … all he could say was … ' she wants to give! His little speech implied that her eyes follows you everywhere … and are your eyes … she knew what a man wanted … she swayed … flowed … and moved her body … the way you would have moved her yourself. It was in his mind … the dreams of the South Pacific. And what was the object of it all? She had brought to showcase … in her Asian background … the power of sex appeal … as if her life depended on it.

A most strange occupation surely! On average … a man in society … brings his focus to his job … and putting the bread on the table for the family. Its a focus … that combines the qualities of hardwork … our attention … and love … that we reserve especially for the purpose. We say … that's the purpose of life … learn a job skill … socialization … and engage the humanity of life. Imagine someone … who may do all these … but bring the package to boxing … or to the sexual act! It certainly is the hallmark … of our pre-occupations … which preserves … our self esteem in the one act … that represents the fountain of our motivation.

Now check this out … for the hallmark of self esteem. The island of Bali … in Indonesia … is a lovely place with beautiful beaches … and landscape. But it would appear that the people … never found an outlet for their self expression of worth … while in life. Hence in death … they stage a grand ceremony over several days … that involves food and festivities … in the name of the dead … that's like the opus of the life lived. Certainly death as the great achievement of living … would be new to many people.

But Bali may not be alone in that preoccupation. A visit to the cemetery … produces some surprises … that boggles the mind. There are angels of course … and then there's the mausoleums … that resemble country villas … palaces … and the kingdoms of the life. So I did my usual … ' what are you telling me spirit?' … and received the reply. ' Its the hallmark of esteem for our one impulse … that never got to express itself in life … our immortality!' And in what form do we experience this impulse … and how may we know of it?

A man's self confidence … rests on many things … but none that is more poignant … than the notion … that … in time … and in the course of creation … we will come to experience … all that life has to offer in creation. And a man can do all these things … but not in simply one lifetime. There's obviously not enough time for it. And does that also … speak of our need … to showcase the hallmark of esteem of each act … or life? We obviously need to learn of the time … place … and opportunity to do so … and to direct our ambitions accordingly.

I remember waiting to cross the road one time … amidst heavy traffic … when a voice in me innocently asked … ' why are we waiting?' It occurred to me then … that man is the store of all manner of administration of the self … handed down over the ages … that had assumed the forms of wave particles … the spirit … ghosts … Gods and luminous beings … anima … and perhaps the sky and stars. But do we today … experience these … in a manner that is coherent … preserves life … and contributes to the organization of human society? Quite often we encounter … the offerings of sections of the world's community … that introduces something new … simply with the hook … ' hey … did you know?'

Our social wisdom … at this time … appears organized for family … children … and society. It offers the information superhighway … for us to learn of these many things … about man. In doing so … it defines the norm in our practices … and persuades each of us … to take to our tasks … with the promise of value … in what we do. In time … it says … it is possible … to be all that we could possibly be. And in such a devoted practice … do we find our hopes … and the carrot that feeds our impulse of the immortal. Where else are we digging for our treasure?

In encountering the many suggestions of our being … we are often put to the challenge of contesting other notions … that are often misplaced. And that is when … we come to be inspired by a Muhammad Ali … who fights the battle of discernment … on what is right and wrong … for the times obviously! Our inspiration takes many forms … and in Malaysia … we sometimes find … immigrant workers from the neighboring countries … sitting about at street junctions … watching the cars … waiting at the traffic lights. Its a worthy experience of the norm … compared to the miasma of suggestions … sometimes revealed in their backgrounds.

The Egyptian Ankh … a symbol of immortality … lives in us today … hard as nails … in the promises of the passions. To him … our ladies in society … bring their flowers of affection … to hold him … until the day the kingdom of immortality comes. He inspires the men … and exhorts them to understand his nature … in the knowledge of the self … so that man is not driven into false hopes of achievement. He is after all the primal and first teacher … Chiron. He is the pillar … we tie our disappointments to … now brought into the light of knowledge.