Rabindranath Tagore

I HAVE always been fascinated with the wisdom of India and there's no better person to reflect this than the late poet/philosopher Rabindranath Tagore.

I don't know what drew me to Tagore. I guess it must have been during my teenage years. I happened to come across a picture of this man with a long white beard. His appearance is one of a man who has seen and experienced much.

In his eyes, I saw the wisdom of the ages. In later years, I discovered the wonder and mysteries of his Nobel Prize winning poem, Gitanjali. Upon reading the poem of epic proportions, I discovered to my delight that it lived up to expectations after hearing and reading about the lavish praise heaped on it by Tagore's contemporaries.

Personally, I feel Gitanjali would be better appreciated in its native language, Bengali. If the reader or fan of Tagore is familiar with Bengali. Very often, excellent works are seen digested in its original medium. For example, War and Peace (Russian) by Tolstoy.

There's an excellent book on Tagore entitled Tagore - The Myriad Minded Man. It is one of the better books available on Tagore's life.

Tagore has also written a series of books on love. The depth of his understanding on this much loved universal subject must be read to be appreciated in full.

Rabindranath Tagore is a rare gem on India's crown. Such a person comes every hundred years or so. India is privileged to have Tagore as one of its illustrious sons. His name and fame live on decades after his demise.

Fortunately for all of us who admire his works, his legacy remains intact in the form of books and other writings.

Surfing Eternity

All great yoga and zen masters know what it is like to enter a zone without boundaries. It is a realm where the only passport in is Being.

It is a world that defies description, a place where enlightened souls dwell. It is a state of grace where judgement is absent and love is the foundation and also its atmosphere. You can say it is a place where time forgot, because it genuinely cannot exist.

You don't have to journey out of your earthly abode to find this place. It is in your mind and yet not part of it. It is a state of nothingness and awareness and yet no laws on earth or in heaven govern it.

The point where you are to where it is cannot be measured. It is a journey without a distance.
Its echoes sometimes touches your heart, awakens your soul and emits a signal of love that reverbrates across eternities.

Those who have surfed this state of being have caught glimpses of divinity. They have chosen to remain on earth to guide the others and teach others to be teachers so that more will follow a path that lights the way for countless others.

Every child knows what it is like to catch its ray. But by the time, they grow up, the door closes on them unless their mission on earth has been predestined.

It is a window to God's world. It shines for all eternity where words cannot exist. Once you have entered this world, there's no going back. Your life is forever changed. Your perspective has been altered forever. For it is deemed, you are one of the chosen ones.

Happiness Is Your Right

A LONG time ago it was my iron-clad opinion that happiness was something that you must earn. Now the decades have passed, loved ones have passed away, friends have stayed or wandered off, I know a little bit more.

Happiness is everyone's birthright. Nobody is born to be sad even though the doctors and neurotic individuals try their utmost to convince you so.

Life, it is said, is unfair. Not true. Life is actually quite fair. It depends on your perception and attitude. All it takes for a person to be happy is to say: "I going to be happy, regardless, today and everyday."

No one can be sad unless he allows himself to be. It is that simple. You can top the menu at a cannibals' reunion dinner, and yet you can still be happy.

Don't for even a minute believe me. Try it yourself. Happiness is REALLY inherent in all homo sapiens. Everything boils down to choice.

Tell yourself: I AM HAPPY AND THERE'S NOTHING ANYBODY CAN DO ABOUT THAT!"
Therefore, be happy. Life is short and that is not a cliche. It is true. There is no such thing as time but that, as they say, is another story.

Don't ever allow anyone or anything to make you blue. Some unhappy people will probably comment that you are slightly off in the head. That kind of remark should not be dignified by a response from you.

Sad people, mad people, miserable people will always try and drag other people down to their unhappy level. Avoid them. Decide to be happy, not just today but everyday.

It is just a matter of choice. Every religion says it so. There's no need to learn anything. There are no special courses to take to be happy.

Happiness is in you and is you.
Remember that. Never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never give in to sadness.

Buying knives on the Internet

EVEN though buying knives on the Internet is fast becoming an In-Thing, there are still the little hitches that crop up now and then.
So I figure perhaps now is a good time as any to talk about the pros and cons of buying knives over the Internet.

THE PROS

1. Almost endless number of choices with regard to the different types of knives available
2. Easy payment schemes abound but it varies from maker to maker and from knife company to knife company
3. Looking for bargains can be quite fun and easy
4. A good way to make friends, especially the friendly knifemakers from all over the world
5. Buying also leads to learning
6. Learning more about knives makes for a more valuable collection of sharpened objects
7. Knife collectors are considered topics of discussions even among relatives and office colleagues
8. Internet purchases can be so easy and sometimes even painless
9. Internet offers visual images of the types of knives you want, so you know what you are getting
10. Waiting for the postal van or courier service vehicles is a much heralded activity among knife collectors

THE CONS
1. There's a five per cent chance your knife can go astray
2. And also your postal order or banker's cheque will go to the wrong recipient
3. The knife you ordered turned out to be less than expected
4. The postal charges are daunting
5. The exchange rate is a killer - you are the loser
6. A knife with a flaw will suffer from warranty woes because of distance between buyer and seller
7. The waiting period is not to your liking especially after you have paid in full
8. The seller whether outlet or person shortchanges you in several aspects
9. You are disillusioned by the quality of the product now that you have it in your hands
10. Sometimes you can't tell forsure whether you are closing a "real deal".

The way to do business on the Internet with regard to knives or any objects of your desire is to scout for the most honest dealer who has most of the stuff you want and then stick to that person or firm. That way, you know for sure you get 100 per cent out of every transaction.

Books that changed my life

There were times in my life when I accidentally came across books, read them with great gusto and inadvertently, they changed my life.

One of these books was The Importance of Living by Prof Lin Yutang. Initially, I thought the title seemed to agreed with my frame of mind at that moment. Back then, I was in my teens. Lin Yutang is a very simple man who has some extraordinary ideas of what a simple life is all about.

I was quickly astounded by the profundity of his thoughts. Amazing, I mentally exclaimed as I raced through the chapters, more excited as I went along. The gems of thoughts that abound between the covers were marvellous.

Lin Yutang opened vistas in my mind that had long laid dormant until then. I saw the light that shone and still shines through the simple act of living. I began to see beauty in the whispering of the wind, the silence of the woods and the beauty of the old and wizened ones.

In short, I had begun to shed the "skin" of my once selfish persona. The importance of living as I had found out was not in trying to be great or to act "big" in the eyes of others but to enjoy every minute that comes from the simplest acts of life.

The Chinese professor who was a product of both East and West led me through a field of dreams that has eluded many before me. I counted my blessings and thanked the Almighty for the day I found his thoughts in written form.

The other book or books which altered my life for the better was the Conversations with God series by Neale Donald Walsch. Volume one was so amazing, I had goose pimples as I read the chapters.

It was as if my life was meant to reach another milestone and it had. Those words inspired by an entity beyond this world cleared up a lifetime of cobwebs and questions. Suddenly, it was as if the sunlight had parted the curtains of my clouded mind and shine forevermore into my heart and soul.
Oh, what a wonderful moment it was then. There were times while I was reading the books, through volumes one to three, when tears of joy came to my eyes. I felt as if the burden of an earthly existence has vanished.

Now, I look at friends and all the others as ONE with me. I sense the love that permeates since time began. I finally realise that Love is the masterkey that opens all the rooms in God's mansion.

What's so special about a custom knife?

I GUESS it is the desire of every knife collector to own at least a few (like about 20 initially) custom knives in his lifetime. When you are one of the millions around the world who are utterly fascinated with sharpened objects, you tend to see beauty in the most crudely made knives.

But once the dust has settled, you realise that the hobby of collecting knives can be moved up a few notches. That is, if you have the money to start a little collection of knives that suit your taste and objectives.

There is no perfect knife - only the ones you think that best reflect your situation and need at a particular given moment. So one day, you wake up and decide you want a 11 inch bowie (blade only) with red linen micarta handles. The steel material should at least be S90V or the new steel discovery called ZDP-189.

You want the blade hollow-ground and it must be drop-point. It must pass all the Master Bladesmith tests. The sheath must be in two versions - leather and kydex with tec-lock in multi-positions.

You, like me, would probably also want one in damascus steel as well. When you have decided all that, you will immediately think of getting two more variations like one with a 5in blade and another with a 3inch blade.

The thickness should preferably be quarter inch. Now, you are ready to go.

Knife collecting is a darn hobby. It can make you struggle with your budget planning but you sure will have a lot of fun. Good luck.