A Letter to NoahWritten by Arthur Zulu
January 1, 2005 Dear Noah, I am writing to know about your life and times, and to tell you about startling things that are happening in this world today. But I know that I have already jolted you by date on this letter. You might be wondering what it means. You see, many things have changed since your birth in 2970 B.C.E.—almost 5,000 years ago. While you counted 30 days for a month, our one month today is 28 days. Now, we count up but in your time, you counted down. Because ours is Common Era while your time was Before Our Common Era. This is one of new things you do not know. So since it is strange to you, do not bother to date your letter when you write back. I have read about you –how you built that gigantic ark and condemned world by your faith. I thought that it would be nice for you to tell your story. I think that your father, Lamech, must have told you much about Adam since their lives overlapped. More so, he was with you 5 years before flood, so he must have used most of 777 years of his life to tell you ancient stories. Did he say that Adam and Eve were actually deceived by a snake to eat forbidden fruit in Garden of Eden? Because some say that they were guilty of sexual sin. They say that tree of knowledge of good and bad in middle of garden was a figurative language. Was that really so? Is Hebrew, language of God, full of double entendre? Some even say that Adam was a fictional character because name Adam means man. Did Lamech, your old man, tell you so? I am sure you must know facts about these things. I also know that you knew your grandfather Methuselah so well since he died in year of flood in 2370 B.C.E. I know that he did not perish in deluge, that he died his own death. But how come he lived that long—969 years! In fact, he would be in a better position to tell you what really happened in Eden and about Enoch, that other righteous man like you, who lived for just 365 years. I say ‘just’ because you people in those days lived long, like you who lived for 864 years. Some say, however, that you people did not really live that long; that years were actually months. Is that true? Did you live for only 864 months or 72 years? Today fortunate ones among us live 70 or 80 years—as brief as life of small sparrow. That may also surprise you. But why did God take Enoch so that his corpse was not seen? He also did that to dead body of Moses. Sorry, you do not know this man who made a copper serpent that was later worshipped. But he was best known as meekest man that ever lived on earth, who died for playing God and was buried in a concealed grave. Now wait a moment: Did God fear that wicked people would dig up bones of these godly men and do things to them, or was it a mark of honor in days of yore to bury righteous servants of God in unmarked graves?
| | The Korwa ClockWritten by Janet Ilacqua
Positive and Negative Intentions: The Korwa Clock The Korwa Clock is an important tool for understanding effects of good and bad intentions, as well as a powerful tool for attacking bad intentions. Korwa is a Tibetan word meaning “cycle.” An intention goes through a four-phase cycle represented by numbers on clock. At 3:00 (Motivation Stage), intentions are formulated; at 6:00 (Action Stage), action is taken on intentions; at 9:00, consequences of action taken on one’s intentions start to develop and unfold (Maturation Stage); and at 12:00(Results Stage), one’s intentions are fully realized. Of course, results of one’s intention may be very different from what one expected. At 9:00 and 12:00, results of one’s actions are inevitable. Another metaphor used for four-phase cycle is planting cycle. At 6:00, seeds are planted; at 9:00, seeds sprout, mature, and are nourished. At 12:00, plant is in full bloom and bears fruit. It may be better to plant new positive seeds than to try to pull out mature plants that have sprouted from bad seeds. It is better to try to weed out bad seeds at Motivation stage by periodic reflection every day on how one is living out Eightfold Path. For example, to counteract anger one must plant seeds of compassion. Think of your life like a garden. What types of plants are coming up: flower or weeds. Are you spending a lot of time pulling up mature weeds, ones that should have been pulled up when you first saw them? Are you watering seeds of success or are you letting them languish?
|
