Zentraveler on the Third Eye!

Third Eye Dimensions

What is the third eye? The Third Eye is a natural part of every person, but it’s a “meta” organ. In other words: it consists of all the senses and mind working together as a larger more powerful sensory organ. The Third Eye is a very clever bit of natural evolution: a meta organ designed to sense, connect to patterns and then relay that data back in overlays of information on top of your other senses.

In layman’s terms the third eye is located in the center of the forehead and is often used by mystics and energy healers, who can see the paranormal including: Buddhas, gods, animals, ghosts, demons, and is similar to dream like states, where there is no limits to imagination and entering other dimensions with higher vibrations.

Anyone interested in learning more about opening your third eye could find a master teacher or learn on their own from the internet. Caution when the third eye is opened it can have consequences that you are not used too and can be a bit intimidating while seeing and learning about other dimensions.That is the reason it is recommended to work with a professional master on the opening of the third eye.

When we begin third eye meditation we will begin to see glimpses of various colors rotating around us, crystal clear visions of many things, including: unanswered questions, unusual sounds, and actually see our masters in their original forms. With full concentration of the senses… everything turns into a bright light which can lead toward Enlightenment.

The third eye (also known as the inner eye) is a mystical and esoteric concept referring to a speculative invisible eye which provides perception beyond ordinary sight. In certain dharmic spiritual traditions such as Hinduism, the third eye refers to the ajna, or brow, chakra. The third eye is referred to the gate that leads within to inner realms and spaces of higher consciousness. In New Age spirituality, the third eye often symbolizes a state of enlightenment or the evocation of mental images having deeply personal spiritual or psychological significance. The third eye is often associated with religious visions, clairvoyance, the ability to observe chakras and auras, precognition, and out-of-body experiences. People who are claimed to have the capacity to utilize their third eyes are sometimes known as seers.

The area between the eyebrows, the sixth chakra known as the ‘agna’ meaning ‘command’, is the seat of concealed wisdom. It is the centre point wherein all experience is gathered in total concentration. According to the tantric cult, when during meditation the latent energy (‘kundalini’) rises from the base of the spine towards the head, this ‘agna’ is the probable outlet for this potent energy. The red ‘kumkum’ between the eyebrows is said to retain energy in the human body and control the various levels of concentration. It is also the central point of the base of the creation itself — symbolizing auspiciousness and good fortune.

The Red Dot known as the bindi is arguably the most visually fascinating of all forms of body decoration.Women of India display this mark or their marriage status. Hindus attach great importance to this ornamental mark on the forehead between the two eyebrows — a spot considered a major nerve point in human body since ancient times. Also loosely known as ‘tika’, ‘pottu’, ‘sindoor’, ’tilak’, ’tilakam’, and ‘kumkum’, a bindi is usually a small or a big eye-catching round mark made on the forehead as adornment.

QUOTE:”ALWAYS DREAM,EVEN WHEN AWAKE.” PERSONAL TAO

THINGS YOU MAY NOT KNOW: Some researchers of ancient civilizations and traditional cultures believe that the third eye is a legacy of extraterrestrial ancestors of humans. According to legends, it granted to them remarkable abilities – hypnosis and clairvoyance, telepathy and telekinesis, the ability to get knowledge directly from the cosmic mind, to know the past and future, and even to overcome the force of gravity.

THINGS YOU MAY WANT TO SAVE:Your first eye, your second eye, and your third eye….from the song “I can see clearly.”

ZENTRAVELER SAYS:Walk on the wild side. Why not enter another dimension by opening your third eye…who knows maybe some have the fourth, fifth eye, and so on. I’ve got my eye on you grasshopper …so lets become our parents worst nightmare…thoughtless. Not as easy as it sounds…. I challenge you not to have any thoughts…because the mind likes to play tricks and keeps them coming and coming.

From here to Infinity is a relatively short ride! The next leg takes eons and eons as you fly through the Barycentric Dynamical Time Zone! …and on and on and on.

Follow the Zentraveler Blog often for Travel, Health and Zen-like stories and such. Where else can you get a three in one blog for the price of free?

Zentraveler explores Tagbilaran City, Bohol, Philippines.

Tagbilaran City Port

Approaching Bohol Island from the water your eyes take in the seascape with Tagbilaran City situated along the waterfront in the distant. You can use the city as a jumping off point while visiting the island of Bohol or exit point for your return trip. Depending on your schedule… often times it is good to check into your hotel, get oriented, do some last-minute shopping, and seek out some of the city sites.

Newport Oak Pension Inn

We found a brand new pension house named Newport Oak Pension Inn centrally located with privacy gate and located next to a large public swimming pool. The staff was friendly, rooms priced in the 1000 pesos range, were clean and we would definitely recommend The Newport Oak Pension Inn for your accommodations while staying in Tagbilaran City.

We headed out to a local shopping center, where we had dinner at the Bohol Bee Farm Restaurant, purchased some herbal teas to bring home, and just hung out people watching… which is not yet an Olympic Sport, but it should be. People of all sizes and descriptions were cruising along the mall as if they were on a mission. Later on I learned many of them were on a mission… after we tasted their homemade ice-cream I was definitely on a mission. I devoured a double-decker homemade cone of banana, mango ice-cream. Yum Yum!

Oasis Resort

The following day our hotel manager flagged down a motorized tricycle and we negotiated a trip to tour Panglao Island. We ate lunch at the Oasis Resort centrally located close to Alona Beach, photographed a vintage church named San Augustin, and took a stroll on the beachfront where we witnessed many dive shops, restaurants and businesses… many owned by foreigners. Alona Beach is very picturesque with white sand beaches as long as the eye can see with palm trees swaying in the breeze and local fishing boats anchored just off shore.

San Augustin Vintage Church

We returned the scenic route back to our hotel, freshened up and headed to the towns capital park surrounded by churches, historic city buildings, and many colorful tropical plants within the park.You can purchase tropical plants from local vendor stalls located at both ends of the park. The park is an excellent place to hangout and has many benches for sitting. While observing the different Filipino families and tourists moving around and about you could witness the small children running and screaming… trying to catch one of the many pigeons wandering around seeking your attention and looking for a handout.

Garden Cafe Restaurant

Just beyond the church we discovered a vintage western motif restaurant named Garden Cafe… complete with authentic western saddles, photos and relics of yesteryear. We sat in our booth and noticed a phone with a small sign: the waiters and waitresses are deaf, so after they bring you your menus simply pick up the phone call in your order and it will be delivered to your table asap. What a great asset to be able to help these special people to be gainfully employed in a high-end restaurant. Kudos to the owners and management…we need to see more examples of this in our travels.

The upstairs houses the restaurant /museum portion. Not only does it have a true Old West atmosphere but it even has mounted horse saddles that customers can climb on and take a ride. Country music fills the air and a customer truly feels like they are a part of the wild, wild west.

The food at the Garden Cafe is wonderful with the most extensive menu in the province. European, American, Chinese, and Filipino dishes blend together to meet the likes of all customers. A great dining experience highly recommended and should be on your to do list while visiting Tagbilaran City.

Alona Beach

So there you have it! Tagbilaran City has its own modern port and airport many points of interest, good restaurants close proximity to Panglao Island and Alona Beach and makes a great jumping off point for touring the rest of Bohol Island. What are you waiting for grasshopper book your Bohol Island trip today.

Alona Beach Restaurant Scene

QUOTE:”Camp out among the grass and gentians of glacier meadows, in craggy garden nooks full of Nature’s darlings. Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature’s peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves.” — John Muir, Yosemite Valley, 1898

THINGS YOU MAY NOT KNOW: “What is adventure? If a lone wolf lifts his plaintive call into the moonlight near your campsite, you might call that adventure. While you’re sweating like a horse on a climb over a 12,000 foot pass, that could be adventure. When howling head winds press your lips against your teeth, you face a mighty struggle. When your pack grows heavy on your shoulders as your climb a 14,000 foot peak, you feel the adventure. When you suffer freezing temperatures and 20 inches of fresh powder on a hut to hut trip in the Rockies, that could be called adventure. But that’s not what makes an adventure. It’s your willingness to conquer it, and to present yourself at the doorstep of nature. That creates the experience. No more greater joy can come from life than to live inside a moment of adventure. It is the uncommon wilderness experience that gives your life expectation.”
– Frosty Wooldridge, Golden, Colorado

THINGS YOU MAY WANT TO SAVE:Purchase an external drive and copy all of your photo images onto external drive so you have a backup system…your computer could crash and lose all of your photo images. Ugh!

ZENTRAVELER SAYS:It’s all in Zee travel, travel via the internet, travel with your imagination and like the Nike ad says: “JUST DO IT”. Get off the couch grasshopper and travel. It’s later than you think…. or is it?

From here to Infinity is a relatively short ride! The next leg takes eons and eons as you fly through the Barycentric Dynamical Time Zone! …and on and on and on.

Follow the Zentraveler Blog often for Travel, Health and Zen-like stories and such. Where else can you get a three in one blog for the price of free?

Zentraveler asks the question what is time?

Zen Cat Universal Time

Is Time how we keep score or is it something more illusive?

Augustine once asked, “What is time? If no one asks me I know; but if any person should require me to tell him, I cannot.” Augustine was highlighting the fact that time is very difficult for us to contemplate. When we do try to think about it we are overwhelmed by a sense of the weakness of human intelligence; we cannot put this reality into words. Furthermore, we can’t sum it up with an equation. Einstein’s theory of relativity has not brought the expected breakthrough; we are still waiting to understand the real nature of time!

Look briefly at your wrist watch if you are wearing one. Your watch is a measure of moments, the succession of events. Already the point at which you began to read this article is history. Or, consider the quantity we call a “second.” On average, worldwide the following happens in a second: 4.5 cars are manufactured; 2,000 square meters of forest is wiped out; 3 people are born; 1.5 people die; 12.6 million cubic meters of water falls as precipitation (3.2 million of that falls on dry land). In a single second, 2.4 million red blood cells are produced in our bone marrow, and 4 billion impulses are exchanged between the cortical hemispheres in our brain. A lot happens in a second!

This succession of events we call “time.” And we have learned to measure time from small quantities—fractions of a second—to large quantities such as centuries and millennia. Yet the existential reality of time is troubling. Time seems to pursue us and hunt us down. We feel stalked by the passing years. Time, it seems to us, is running out, or rather, we are gradually passing out of the world of time. Although this reality hits home more as we grow older, reflection on it brings the same feeling whether we are teenagers or pensioners.

The movie Star Trek Generations examines one of the great themes of human existence: time and its origin, meaning, purpose, and end. A fascinating story unfolds around this mystery of time and the human desire to defeat it. The film focuses on a fictional anomaly in space called the “nexus”—a temporal ribbon phenomenon that pulls you into a reality where time is meaningless. This phenomenon can read your thoughts, so in this nexus you are placed into your ideal world to live out your dreams endlessly—an interesting heaven concept. In one portion of dialogue the captain Picard is talking with the villain Soren, who is going to destroy many lives by exploding a star, just to get back into the nexus. Soren describes time as a predator that is stalking you, closing in to make the kill, but in the nexus he says, “Time has no meaning there; the predator has no teeth.”

What then is time? The English Chambers Dictionary defines time as “the continuous passing and succession of minutes, days, and years.” Yet this doesn’t really tell us what time is at all; it just tells us how we have measured time. That is, what are minutes, days, and years?

Time appears like a riddle to us, an inscrutable mystery. It leaves us with puzzles and paradoxes. Thus we ask, From whence did time originate? The big bang hypothesis, which, though popular, is fraught with mathematical problems solved by invoking hypothetical entities, has no explanatory power to tell us how the space-time continuum could come into existence from nothing, by blind random processes. All the laws of our physics are said to break down at the “quantum singularity.”

Yet, the origin of time is deeply significant to us all because only as we come to understand its origin can we contemplate the meaning and purpose of time and how we should use it. If all is random, irrational, and finally meaningless as some suppose, then we may just kill and waste time, for this is what time is doing to us. Research credits: The origin and meaning of time—RZIM

So there you have it! Anyone who actually understands time and this blog clearly has too much time on their hands and should consider tagging wild animals, saving the rain-forest, re-inventing the world or there is always the couch potato way…. where you can watch tv re-runs until the cows come home. Tick Tock…the clock is ticking or is it!

QUOTE: John Titor, the well-known “time traveller” mentioned that 2012 is the year time travel was invented. Could that be possibly what the Mayans referred to? At the end of our era, time is no longer relevant as it changes from an unchangable concept to merely another direction in which one can go.

THINGS YOU MAY NOT KNOW: Take the time to meditate on the one who had created time for everything both gross or subtle like time came from someone or something, but not nothing. Nothing and everything can be represented by time because it is so mysterious. Sounds like a false syllogism to me! Earth time can be partially justified outer-space time is a different matter. Arguelles reminds us that we are the only species that is living and operating by a man-made sense of time that has actually placed us apart from and out of phase the rest of the Biosphere. Dr. Arguelles’ findings demonstrate that the mentality engendered by artificial time is summarized by the motto “Time is Money,” keeping us locked into a destructive, materialistic paradigm, to the detriment of the rest of the natural world.

THINGS YOU MAY WANT TO SAVE: Time!

ZENTRAVELER SAYS:Time out! It’s all about the journey!

From here to Infinity is a relatively short ride! The next leg takes eons and eons as you fly through the Barycentric Dynamical Time Zone! …and on and on and on.

Follow the Zentraveler Blog often for Travel, Health and Zen-like stories and such. Where else can you get a three in one blog for the price of free?

Zentraveler discovers orchid farm, waterfalls, and white beach near Moalboal!

Moalboal Orchid Farm

When we take a trip in the Philippines we always try to see the local spots of interest and normally hire a local motorized tricycle driver for the day. That way we have our transportation taken care of and are assured they will take us to the destinations of interest. We also give the driver some money so he can have a local lunch and hang-out until we finish photo sessions or whatever.

Tropical Bird

After some intense negotiations we finally agree on a daily price and off we go to the local orchid farm, which is first on our list. Because of the time of the year and lack of rain the orchids were not in full bloom, however the rest of the orchid farm provides some good photo ops including: rare tropical plants, caged tropical birds, an attractive swimming pool set in an outdoor natural setting… plus nature paths with another discovery around every bend. Of special interest is the friendly staff who will be glad to answer any of your questions about tropical plants.

Tropical Plant

Traveling about 30 minutes going through some curvy hilly roads… we arrived at the base of the local falls. There we paid a small fee to park the tricycle and were offered a walking guide service which we took… since we thought this is the best way to get the local scoop… plus you are helping the guide service industry.

Nature Stream

Walking up a gentle slope we had a chance to take some excellent photographs and learn a bit of the culture and local history. After a few kilometers of incredible mountain stream scenery we crossed a natural stream on a foot bridge and soon arrived at the base falls, which is fully equipped to handle tourists including: overnight lodging, restaurant service, tables in front of the waterfall, which you are required to rent if you want to have a drink or lunch. They also have bamboo rafts available if you want to get closer to the falls and capture that winning photograph.

Facilities Base Waterfalls

The name of the waterfalls is called Kawasan Falls, which has three levels and offers swimming and mountain trekking. The falls are quite beautiful with blue water and wild natural vegetation. They are a bit touristy especially on the first level, but certainly worth the hike and the exercise you get… plus breathing high quality fresh air.

Kawasan Falls

Another 45 minutes or so we headed to White Beach, which is currently being developed to create another tourist destination, in close proximity to the Moalboal area. Arriving early afternoon we found a restaurant directly on the beach, where we ordered the fresh catch of the day which was excellent. Asking what kind of fish, we were told:” a pan-fried, lightly breaded red snapper… cooked in lemongrass.” Wow wow eee!

White Beach

We then walked the sandy beach where we took photos of the local boats and native crafts for sale in outdoor vendor stalls. From the outdoor restaurant setting you could see the divers island in the distant. Upon leaving white beach we took dirt roads through some rolling farm land taking in the the red sunset and pretty scenery. We arrived back in our hotel at dusk just in time to toast the days adventures.

Local Beach Vendors

So there you have it! When you arrive at your next travel destination… why not include some side trips and see what the adventure brings you.

Zentravelers Photo Model

QUOTE: “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover” – Mark Twain

Wave Skimming White Beach

THINGS YOU MAY NOT KNOW: The beluga whales are also known as “sea canaries,” belugas are one of the most vocal of all whales. Beluga whales’ dives may last up to 25 minutes and can reach depths of 800 meters. The beluga is able to swim backwards. The word beluga comes from the Russian word “bielo” meaning white. However, these white whales are born dark gray. It can take up to eight years before they turn completely white.

THINGS YOU MAY WANT TO SAVE: Beluga Whales! They are majestic sea creatures and worth the effort

ZENTRAVELER SAYS: With modern-day airplanes the saying: “travel is half the fun of getting there” is obsolete.

From here to Infinity is a relatively short ride! The next leg takes eons and eons as you fly through the Barycentric Dynamical Time Zone! …and on and on and on.

Follow the Zentraveler Blog often for Travel, Health and Zen-like stories and such. Where else can you get a three in one blog for the price of free?

Zentraveler is evolution for real or the greatest hoax of all times?

Man or Monkey

Evolution is a complex and politically charged subject which lends itself for much food for thought and discussion, whether or not you accept the theory of evolution. There is much scientific content of the defense and explication of Darwin’s theory of how evolution works and on the other side there is everything from the big bang theory to creation in several days.

The Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection is a scientific theory and, as with all scientific theories it is incapable of being proved. Scientific theories must be falsifiable; that is, one must be able to propose a rational method whereby the theories can be disproved. Intelligent design, whether by a supernatural being or alien beings cannot be disproved.

The history of science may just show that a large number of great discoveries were done by adhering to the assumption that a rational and orderly Creator did exist. There are plenty of examples where good science was done as a result of assuming theological principles.

Ratzsch articulated a principle that science is not really after Truth. It’s just a game. Part of the game is to see how far you can go in explaining something without saying “God did it” because once you do, the game ends. No one can trump the God-card once played and you just are not a gentleman or lady if you stop the card game of science from going on indefinitely.

When I was in high school I just got a short flat top haircut and Mr. Adams our biology teacher had me come up in front of the class and instructed me to turn around slowly and said: “If anyone here doesn’t believe in evolution… just look at Van!”

When we were in school we were taught that our nearest relatives on the evolution chain were apes with picture descriptions in our text books showing the evolution process. Since then we have learned we have evolved from dinosaur like birds and they are our closest relatives.

Trying to use logic we resemble apes and have taught them to ride motorcycles, act in movies, use computers, wait on tables, in a famous Japanese restaurant— assist with the elderly, use tools, and raised them as our own experimental children. Aside from not having opposing thumbs and walking funny we have many similarities… including a huge brain that can develop learning skills faster than a 5-year-old child.

My first premise is: “I do not have a beak and never had one… therefore I am not a bird or closely related to one” On the birds side they can lay eggs, run fast, fly (humans can’t except with help) and make excellent pets and greeters at fancy restaurants, zoos, and Jimmy Buffett parties. In our local saloon, where I grew up, they taught a large parrot to yell out: “why don’t you buy a drink you cheap son-of a bitch.” One drunken customer killed the parrot by throwing a whiskey bottle and proclaimed a free drink for everyone.

The greatest known salesman in the world is often times referred to as P.T. Barnum circus hustler who claimed they could sell ice to Eskimos and was credited in a newspaper as saying: “there is a sucker born every minute.” Which he claimed he didn’t say, but thanked them for the free advertising. If any one knows about the writing business and getting manuscripts to actually pay for your scientific works… they either live in a dream world or are extremely lucky. My premise goes out on a limb and states writers will try anything imaginable to get published.

Let’s assume for the moment that you are Charles Darwin cruising around the world in your research boat named the “Beagle” and you land on an island totally inhabited by strange-looking animals. Is this when you determined the duck-billed platypus is actually one of us and you decide to sell such an outlandish story to the scientific community…. plus get royalty rights to all of your existing and future writings?

Why did it take Darwin over 20 years before he presented his manuscript and only then when a competitor had the same concept did he present it to the scientific community… who said: “nothing of significance was presented this year.” It’s basically because Darwin thought the scientific community would make him the laughing-stock of modern history and reject the evolution theory in its totality. He possibly didn’t believe in the theory of evolution himself.

So there you have it! Is it possible to start with an amoeba and evolve that into a human with all of our modern technology or is it still a question of how we actually arrived on this earth along with all of the plants and animals. I personally believe they had a “Universal Design Team” that gave us the zebra, the tiger, the lion, the giraffe, the mosquito, the praying mantis, all the fishes in the sea, all of the ants and birds and bees.

Then the creator would say: “we need more stripes, we need to make the kangaroo hop, we need flying fish, beautiful colored birds, how about some walruses, hippos, red striped monkies, back to the drawing board for final approval and like magic… life was created . I can hear the creator saying: “listen up we need to design the fastest running animal in the world… class dismissed. I expect everyone will work very hard and turn in their animal designs for final review.”

Cosmic seconds later a nerdy looking design engineer raises his hand and says: “how about the cheetah he has great legs, endurance, quick speed out of the blocks, and leaps in bounds and meters. The creator passes this design concept around for final drawings and changes and gives it a stamped approval. Next assignment: “I would like to see a slow animal that can hang upside down for hours upon hours.” Someone suggested the sloth which is still in committee for final approval. “Pierre could you meet me after class that animal you call the “Elephante” appears too big to co-mingle on earth and those heavy front tooths will only get in the way in the jungle.”

I only wish I could get on the The Universal Design Team so I could eliminate all harmful bacteria and disease and we continue our lifespan for ever and ever. Oh well! Maybe the creator has other plans for us humanoids.

Humanoids Evolution

QUOTE: “It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change.” — Charles Darwin

THINGS YOU MAY NOT KNOW:While he was at Cambridge University, Darwin joined the “Gourmet Club,” which met once a week to eat animals not often found in menus, like hawk and bittern (a type of wading bird in the heron family). His zeal for weird food, however, broke down when he tried an old brown owl, which he found “indescribable.”

But that one episode didn’t end Darwin’s weird gastronomic proclivities. During the voyage of the Beagle, he ate armadillos and agoutis (the rodents were “best meat I ever tasted,” he said).

In Patagonia, South America, Darwin ate a puma (it tasted like veal) and an ostrich-like bird called a Rhea. Actually, Darwin had been looking for this particular species of Rhea, only to find that he had been eating one all along. He sent back the uneaten parts to the Zoological Society in London, which named the bird Rhea darwinii after him!

In the Galapagos, Darwin ate iguanas and giant tortoises. He liked it so much he loaded up 48 of them aboard the Beagle, to be eaten on the journey back!

THINGS YOU MAY WANT TO SAVE: Weird animals… they are kinda of neat to have around.

ZENTRAVELER SAYS:Evolve or die Grasshopper… I know you shed your skin like a snake. What’s next?

From here to Infinity is a relatively short ride! The next leg takes eons and eons as you fly through the Barycentric Dynamical Time Zone! …and on and on and on.

Follow the Zentraveler Blog often for Travel, Health and Zen-like stories and such. Where else can you get a three in one blog for the price of free?

Zentraveler travels to Moaboal scuba diving center!

Moalboal Scuba Diving

Always looking for a new travel destination… a fellow traveler at Bo’s Coffee shop in Cebu mentioned Moalboal is an excellent travel destination… just two and one half hours from Cebu by bus or make arrangements for a taxi or private van from Mactan airport. To get there is very easy. We took a taxi from our hotel in Cebu to the South Bus Terminal, purchased our tickets, and learned from the ticket agent a bus leaves for Moalboal every thirty minutes.

“On the road again” was singing in my brain as we headed out in a new aircon bus with the window shades closed and a good soundtrack of relaxing music on the overhead speakers. “Sit back Jack leave the driving to us Gus” was spinning though my head as we headed out for another adventure. After a few hours of cruising through the countryside our bus came to a slow stop… arriving at the bus stop on the main road next to the local market.

Motorized Tricycle

From the bus stop we hired a motorized tricycle, distance approximately 3km, and proceeded to Marcosas Cottages Resort … located near Panagsama beach. We made an advanced reservation via the internet and was pleasantly surprised when we checked into the resort. If you could find the perfect resort with everything…. including quiet, plus close to good restaurants and diveshops, we found it.

Marcosas Cottage

To start out the staff was very friendly and showed us to our private cottage along a well landscaped path with beautiful flowers, tropical gardens, and shrubs hidden in the woods. Everything was spotless clean with no chemical smells. The cottage was cozy with plenty of room indoors and a small porch to take coffee or just hang out. Unpacking in micro seconds, we changed into our bathing suits and headed to their outdoor swimming pool… situated among the grasses and flowers. The resort offers professional massages and has a fully equipped restaurant and bar, and can arrange scuba diving and special tourist destination trips.

Marcosas Swimming Pool

After a long swim, we relaxed on chase lounges taking in the sunset with a special fruit drink cocktail. We went back to our cottage, showered and then took dinner at their restaurant. We ordered the local fish, which was excellent and ended the meal with an ice-cream halo halo and soon drifted off for a good nights sleep.

Halo Halo Dessert

The following day we headed along the coast with its flowery fragrance and walked past many scuba dive shops, restaurants, and bars… along what the locals call: “restaurant row.” Our digital cameras were clicking through the seascapes and scenes.

Local Eatery and Bar

Taking a breather from our photo ops, with our cameras, now an extended appendage to our bodies… we wondered what we did before the digital age. We ended up having a great lunch at an Italian restaurant named: “Marina Cusiana Italiana” …located on the corner facing the sea at the end of the first strip of restaurants.

Italian Salad

Sitting on the outdoor deck like movie stars, waiting for our Italian salads, I mentioned to Perla this scene with the island in the distant and small colorful native fishing boats, working their way toward shore, would be a great movie set. Perla said: “Don’t muck it up with a James Bond exploding boat episode. This is nature as it is meant to be.”

Moalboal Seascape

So there you have it! If you want a relaxing vacation, would like to go to an island and scuba dive, or just hangout taking in the scenery and having great meal after great meal… then why not book a vacation to Moalboal and see for yourself what everyone is talking about.

Moalboal Dive Shop

QUOTE:“We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. There is no end to the adventures we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open.” – Jawaharial Nehru

THINGS YOU MAY NOT KNOW:Ice swimming is thought to be excellent for the health: it improves circulation, can help ease symptoms of arthritis, and leave you feeling happy and content. But in Finland, the thrill of the competition is just as important as the related health benefits. Throughout the year, in different parts of the country, men and women between the ages of 20 and 60 years old swim a freezing 25 meter track (complete with spectators, journalists, and umpires), all for the glory of having dipped into the icy depths of the sea and surviving to tell the story.

THINGS YOU MAY WANT TO SAVE: Icebergs….they don’t do well in global warming!

ZENTRAVELER SAYS:It’s all in Zee travel grasshopper…now get jumping, jiving, and moving to avert old age!

From here to Infinity is a relatively short ride! The next leg takes eons and eons as you fly through the Barycentric Dynamical Time Zone! …and on and on and on.

Follow the Zentraveler Blog often for Travel, Health and Zen-like stories and such. Where else can you get a three in one blog for the price of free?

Zentraveler stays at backpackers hostel The InnCrowd in Singapore.

The Art of Travel

Fellow travelers from the Philippines pre-warned us that Singapore was a bit pricey and be especially careful about hotels! After researching the Internet and reading the reviews we decided to book three of our six night stay at the InnCrowd. I did this over the internet with a credit card and also paid to be picked up at the airport and delivered right to the backpackers hostel.

Inn Crowd Annex

When we arrived their main hostel was booked full and just around the corner at the InnCrowd annex we had our own private room with a tv to view dvd’s from their library with remote control aircon. The bed was a bit funky but the room was clean and we were headquartered right next to Little India and a short walk to the MRT subway system… which could deliver you in high-speed throughout the city.

MRT

The main InnCrowd had unlimited coffee and tea and each morning you could have toast with marmalade and butter and hard-boiled eggs which was included in the price. They also had a large media screen for viewing movies and a very helpful staff to assist you on your travels throughout the city. One of the main reasons to stay in a backpackers hostel is because of the interesting people you meet… some who have nearly traveled the globe and other first timers from their respective countries.

You could overhear at breakfast some were on the Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore route and others were explaining how to go to the night zoo or just hanging out in large air-conditioned malls.

Colorful Little India

Being right next to Little India opened up a bonanza of great restaurants of every description and price range. On the recommendation from a fiend we chose to eat at the Banana Leaf restaurant where we were served a 7 coarse meal for about $20.00 including tax and tips. We planned this bit of a splurge and it was definitely worth it with some of the best food I have ever tasted… complete with professional waiters who were easy to talk to and get their special recommendations.

Gold Jewelry Little India

Going to the malls was a different experience all together… most of the customers had bags and boxes full of the latest electronics including: laptop computers and brand name cameras. The customers were a mix of people originally from India and native Singaporeans all well dressed and money seemed no object.
Talk about a booming economy… Singapore is exploding with wealth and growth.

Magical Little India

So there you have it if you want to mingle with the backpacker set no matter what your age the next time you travel why not book into one of many backpackers hostels and see for yourself the range of electricity being generated from a group of explorers on the move….The Backpackers!

QUOTE:People travel to faraway places to watch, in fascination, the kind of people they ignore at home.

THINGS YOU MAY NOT KNOW:You probably use the internet every day and can’t imagine your life without it, but do you know how much time you spend surfing the NET? It’s estimated that each month YOU normally visit 58 domains, viewing over 1050 web pages while allocating 45 seconds for each page. Each surfing session lasts approximately 51 min. Generally YOU spend about 25 hours every month on your internet activity! Surprised?

THINGS YOU MAY WANT TO SAVE:Your travel notes… how else can you remember all that stuff?

ZENTRAVELER SAYS: It in zee travel! You can travel for real or you can become a virtual traveler… simply by following your favorite travel blogs.

From here to Infinity is a relatively short ride! The next leg takes eons and eons as you fly through the Barycentric Dynamical Time Zone! …and on and on and on.

Follow the Zentraveler Blog often for Travel, Health and Zen-like stories and such. Where else can you get a three in one blog for the price of free?

Zentraveler on writing your first book or novel!

So you want to be a writer and write your first novel. I have a question do you really want to be a writer or is this just good coffee-house gossip. If you really want to write a book you can start right now and have it finished in no-time. The only thing that is holding you back is you… not your teachers, not your friends, not your relatives. It’s as easy as planting corn. Sure every crop doesn’t turn out perfect, but if you really want to write a book, the only thing you need to do is to decide on the subject matter and begin writing.

Hemingway a master in literature had the ability to write clear, concise, descriptive, sentences. He would start out with a skeleton outline, work out a plot line and develop his characters as he wrote. All successful writers rely on what they know. Where did you grow up? I bet there are plenty of good characters spread throughout your home town. When James Mitchner wrote the novel “Hawaii” he moved there and researched every square inch of the islands. He interviewed local people, went to the local libraries, ask folks about their history and their experiences, and tapped into their storytelling practices. When he finished the manuscript and had it published it was evident that the book he lived and breathed went on to be a best seller and it is still highly regarded as one of the best reads in the world.

Hemingway knew everything there was to know about bull-fighting. He traveled with bullfighters, drank with them and studied their craft. So it was no big surprise that when he wrote the novel “The Sun also Rises” it was a literary masterpiece. Don’t let all of this literature talk stop you from writing your first book. If you truly have a desire to write about your dog, how to raise goldfish, how to write a blog … there’s nothing stopping you but yourself.

Creativity is rarely taught yet we all have it. Just walk through a child’s playground some day and you will see plenty of it. Adults are the ones who stymie your creativity. They also have to keep us in line in a well organized society. Throughout history it has always been the artists, the writers, and the thinkers who were killed because they were such a threat to the status quo. By the time we reach adulthood we give up nearly 80 percent of our creativity. The good news is you can re-awaken your creativity simply by being inquisitive and doing a lot of reading— which stimulates ideas and pictures in your mind.

You can be one with the creator. Trust me on this one. He will even write your novel for you and doesn’t even require credit. It would be nice to at least give the creator a footnote, but he won’t help you much with grammar and punctuation. You can probably hire a robot for these chores in today’s electronic world…or better yet let your editor do it! Ha Ha!!!

Everyone has a great novel or good book title inside them somewhere. Why not get started today and write that novel. Who knows you could be the next Harry Potter sensation or Hemingway and at least you can go thorough life with one more milestone. The joke on the street is you can’t buy groceries if you live in New York and haven’t written at least one book or novel.

You can write fiction and use your crazy old aunt as a great character, the one legged fellow down the street who you were positive was the murder….but could never prove it.

Einstein was the one responsible for saying creativity is where it is at –forget all of the formulas do something creative. You can write a good blog, you can play an instrument, you can become a painter, you can create anything you want and can find support when you surround yourself with other creative types. You can find these folks by joining clubs, taking writing classes, asking questions and deciding this is what I want. Einstein would picture it and then do it—-creativity is that simple.

Don’t worry about the words they will just pop in your head, don’t worry about spelling and grammar just let it flow and decide to write about 300 words per day. Hemingway would write a few hours early in the morning and would return late afternoon where he would fine tune and edit what he wrote earlier in the day. So in reality writing a book is all about mathematics. Three hundred words per day turns into 1500 words per week, which is 6000 words per month and soon you have a completed manuscript. I f you can write one word, you can write a book.

The secret is to set up a discipline of say writing two hours each morning and then do a rewrite on the same material for about an hour that same day. So there you have it If you have that burning desire to write a book— get started today and by the time I finish writing the Zentraveler Blog you will have it published and be sitting on the beach sipping mint juleps with your laptop computer watching the world go by.

Oh I forgot one thing! You may need to do a book tour and of course there’s another novel floating around inside your head which just has to be typed and so on and so on. Mitchner said: “once you become a writer you can’t stop the creative process even if you wanted too! ”

Instant recap to write a book or novel:
1. chose a title
2. use an outline
3. create table of contents to illustrate names and numbers of each chapter
4. develop plot or storyline by research or create
5. set aside a time-frame —example four months
6. write 300 words per day and then edit
7……done good job

QUOTE: “Imagination is more important than knowledge.” —–Albert Einstein

THINGS YOU MAY NOT KNOW: Google says The Library of Congress has 18 million books on file.

THINGS YOU MAY WANT TO SAVE: Your notes and research. Editors like this sort of thing for verification

ZENTRAVELER SAYS: Write that book, write that novel, but whatever you do keep writing!!!

From here to Infinity is a relatively short ride! The next leg takes eons and eons as you fly through the Barycentric Dynamical Time Zone! and on and on and on.

Follow the Zentraveler Blog often for Travel, Health and Zen-like stories and such. Where else can you get a three in one blog for the price of free?

Zentraveler experiences bloggers electronic procrastination!

There I was all packed and heading for South America for the travel experience of a lifetime. I have my new digital camera with extra memory cards, one extra lithium battery, plus my electric charger— and my one travel bag carefully packed. My intention was certainly not to carry a laptop around, adding extra weight and the burden of finding wifi hookups or have it stolen outright. No, I will simply stop in at Internet cafes— write my blog, incorporate my photos, and move on. Now that’s a plan!

I know what you are thinking— lots of people have done that no problema. The problema I was constantly having was getting a computer that would actually load up on the Internet and dealing with the screaming kids playing video games and bumping into me when you were trying to write something— and just then there would be a electronic blackout and you were screwed for the time being. “No electric senor come back later.”

I had one Internet owner who could speak a few words of English burn a CD copy of my first series of photos directly from my camera. I then logged into my FLICKR account, plugged in my camera to the computer and after one and one half hours I had uploaded four photos. I told the Internet Cafe owner that I needed to walk around the block, get a cup of coffee and I would be back. After sitting down another one half hour without any photos being up loaded I basically gave up. If the CD survived the trip I have at least a backup CD and my original memory cards. Things could be a hell of lot worse! I could have just kept procrastinating and maybe took that job in Africa tagging white Rhinos. But here I am back on the blogsphere and jumping at the bit to see what kind of words come out.

Trying to get my Gmail was another challenge. Of course everything was in Spanish, but I didn’t and still don’t know all of the variables you need to get the dam @ symbol. Sometimes you simply hit ctrl in the right hand near the spacing bar and simultaneously hit the asterisk and maybe you get it and maybe not. Other times you must hit ctrl on the left side plus keyboard numbers 6 and 4 on the right of your computer simultaneously while hitting the @ and then maybe you have properly entered your email address so you can get your email.

Often times I would be on a waiting list while the kids played Grand Theft Auto games and jeered and cheered as they raced between computers –making more noise than the old Pennsylvania Train Station and then a computer would open up and I would sit down— only to be told: ” not enough electric for the internet.” And I would say: “every other computer is working.” “Oh yea Senor there is enough electric for games.”

So after trying to write my travel blog while traveling, I finally gave up and resorted to the hand written notebook, where I tried to record things of interest and will now begin to assemble some current blogs on my two month trip to Venezuela. I also took quite a lot of pictures and I hope at least some of them will be of interest.

Until about my 56 day I watched less than 50 seconds of television and did not have the burden or the luxury of our recently invented extension you might call— the cell phone. I just paid the boat Captain 25 Bolivars which is about $12.50 us money for a boat trip to one of the islands in the Mochima National park when three travelers from Spain piped up and said: “they just gave the American diplomat 72 hours to exit the country.” My stomach got a sick feeling and I inquired: “what about the American tourists?” The Spanish travelers muttered with a slight grin: “there aren’t any.”  That’s when I immediately became known as Vancouver Van.  I told anyone who asked I was getting disenchanted with the states so I moved to Vancouver, Canada.  You could call it writer’s embellishment I never liked the sound of little white lie.

So as I begin to piece the trip in blog form I can basically have the view that this blogger may have been one of last Americans to write about travel in Venezuela— especially if George Bush and Chavez go head to head with a nice nuclear or missile battle to settle their differences. I know it’s true! Bush is chomping at the bit to take on Russia, North Korea, Iran, and maybe throw in Venezuela and Cuba and a few he hasn’t decided on yet.

It is quite a joy to sit down at my imac computer and listen to the classic jazz station as I pluck away on my new self inflicted blogging assignment. It’s seems all I needed was a fast connection, no screaming kids playing outrageous video games, and enough elbow room to type. I might even add a touch of brandy to my coffee this morning and really kick the electronic procrastination button for good.

So there you have it! If you ever have these types of experiences— maybe the best thing to do is to do nothing. Think what your parents and grandparents lived through— everything from deep depressions to soup kitchen lines, and people everywhere out of work. We haven ‘t even scratched the surface on the latest Wall Street scandal and by the time this all unwinds— we will be fortunate to have food on the table. We were once foragers and we may well be foragers in the future.

QUOTE: “I go from exasperation to a state of collapse, then I recover and go from procrastination to fury, so that my average state is one of being annoyed.” —Gustave Flaubert

THINGS YOU MAY NOT KNOW: The poison-arrow frog contains enough poison to kill 2,200 people! —–associatedcontent.com

THINGS YOU MAY WANT TO SAVE: The Poison-Arrow Frog! Because they is way cool and could come in handy someday! Poison arrow frogs are in the class of amphibians. This frog can be found in the rain forests, but only in Central and South America. They are extremely small. Most are 1/2 inch in length. They also have brilliant and various colors. For example, they can be green or blue with black patches. They also have flash colors, which are exposed when the animal jumps. These colors warn other animals that the frog is not fit to eat. These animals also have a nail like plate on each toe. The poison arrow frog does not migrate or hibernate.

The frog probably has one of the most unique mating styles. Before the two frogs mate they jump around on each other and play. Another unique thing about their mating style is that after the eggs are hatched, the father takes care of the babies until the babies are old enough to be independent.The poison arrow frog has special skin, it secrets poisons which can kill humans and other animals. ——cyberzoo/poison arrow frog

ZENTRAVELER SAYS: Be careful who you play leap frog with— especially in the Frog world.

From here to Infinity is a relatively short ride! The next leg takes eons and eons as you fly through the Barycentric Dynamical Time Zone! and on and on and on.

Follow the Zentraveler Blog often for Travel, Health and Zen-like stories and such. Where else can you get a three in one blog for the price of free?

Zentraveler explores anger!

What is anger and how to conquer it?

All anger has its origin in desires that have not been fulfilled, and desires that we tried to fulfill but were unable too. Also other people’s behavior intentionally or unintentionally keeps us from reaching and fulfilling our desire to accomplish something positive or negative. Sometimes natural disasters like floods, tornados, hurricanes, volcanic eruptions, and rain keep us from fulfilling a desire.

We become angry when people start mistreating us or when people are ignoring us. Also there’re many other behavioral patterns that people display that causes us to become angry. Because we desire people to treat us the way we wish to be treated. So now we know the origins of anger. We should try our best to lessen anger as much as possible inside ourselves. How by practicing meditation, prayer, taking a walk, or just letting a certain matter go sometimes or listening to classical music. Also taking deep breathes, forgiveness and many other things we can do to calm our-selves down when angry.

So yes, anger comes from a frustrated desire. Anger also brings with it resentment and resentment creates hatred and hatred creates potential violence. So we must be aware of the effects and origins of anger in our lives.

By Chance adapted from ——chancellorfiles.com

The Anger-eating Demon
Retold from an ancient Buddhist Story

by Nyanaponika Thera

“Once there lived a demon who had a peculiar diet: he fed on the anger of others. And as his feeding ground was the human world, there was no lack of food for him. He found it quite easy to provoke a family quarrel, or national and racial hatred. Even to stir up a war was not very difficult for him. And whenever he succeeded in causing a war, he could properly gorge himself without much further effort; because once a war starts, hate multiplies by its own momentum and affects even normally friendly people. So the demon’s food supply became so rich that he sometimes had to restrain himself from over-eating, being content with nibbling just a small piece of resentment found close-by.

But as it often happens with successful people, he became rather overbearing and one day when feeling bored he thought: “Shouldn’t I try it with the gods?” On reflection he chose the Heaven of the Thirty-three Deities, ruled by Sakka, Lord of Gods. He knew that only a few of these gods had entirely eliminated the fetters of ill-will and aversion, though they were far above petty and selfish quarrels. So by magic power he transferred himself to that heavenly realm and was lucky enough to come at a time when Sakka the Divine King was absent. There was none in the large audience hall and without much ado the demon seated himself on Sakka’s empty throne, waiting quietly for things to happen, which he hoped would bring him a good feed. Soon some of the gods came to the hall and first they could hardly believe their own divine eyes when they saw that ugly demon sitting on the throne, squat and grinning. Having recovered from their shock, they started to shout and lament: “Oh you ugly demon, how can you dare to sit on the throne of our Lord? What utter cheekiness! What a crime! you should be thrown headlong into the hell and straight into a boiling cauldron! You should be quartered alive! Begone! Begone!”

But while the gods were growing more and more angry, the demon was quite pleased because from moment to moment he grew in size, in strength and in power. The anger he absorbed into his system started to ooze from his body as a smoky red-glowing mist. This evil aura kept the gods at a distance and their radiance was dimmed.

Suddenly a bright glow appeared at the other end of the hall and it grew into a dazzling light from which Sakka emerged, the King of Gods. He who had firmly entered the undeflectible Stream that leads Nibbana-wards, was unshaken by what he saw. The smoke-screen created by the gods’ anger parted when he slowly and politely approached the usurper of his throne. “Welcome, friend! Please remain seated. I can take another chair. May I offer you the drink of hospitality? Our Amrita is not bad this year. Or do you prefer a stronger brew, the vedic Soma?”

While Sakka spoke these friendly words, the demon rapidly shrank to a diminutive size and finally disappeared, trailing behind a whiff of malodorous smoke which likewise soon dissolved.

— Based on Samyutta Nikaya, Sakka Samyutta, No. 22

The gist of this story dates back to the discourses of the Buddha. But even now, over 2500 years later, our world looks as if large hordes of Anger-eating Demons were haunting it and were kept well nourished by millions slaving for them all over the earth. Fires of hate and wide-traveling waves of violence threaten to engulf mankind. Also the grass roots of society are poisoned by conflict and discord, manifesting in angry thoughts and words and in violent deeds. Is it not time to end this self-destructive slavery of man to his impulses of hate and aggression which only serve the demoniac forces? Our story tells how these demons of hate can be exorcised by the power of gentleness and love. If this power of love can be tested and proven, at grass-root level, in the widely spread net of personal relationships, society at large, the world at large, will not remain unaffected by it.” ——acesstoinsight.org

Note

1. The “Norm” or law (dhamma), here referred to, may be expressed in the words of the Dhammapada (v. 5):

“Not by hating hatred ceases In this world of tooth and claw;
Love alone from hate releases — This is the Eternal Law.”

[Translated by Francis Story]

Overcoming Anger

“A Zen student said to his teacher, “ Master, I have an ungovernable temper. Help me get rid of it.” “ You have something very strange,” said the teacher. “Show it to me.”
“ Right now I cannot show it to you.” “Why not?” “ It arises suddenly.” “ Then it cannot be your own true nature,” said the teacher, “if it were, you would be able to show it to me at any time. Why are you allowing something that is not yours to trouble your life?”
Thereafter whenever the student felt his temper rising he remembered his teacher’s words and checked his anger. In time, he developed a calm and placid temperament.”

——–Dimdima.com

QUOTE:

If you want to be free, Get to know your real self. It has no form, no appearance,
No root, no basis, no abode, But is lively and buoyant. It responds with versatile facility,
But its function cannot be located. Therefore when you look for it, You become further from it; When you seek it,You turn away from it all the more.

– Rinzai (d.867) dailyzen.com

THINGS YOU MAY NOT KNOW: The longest recorded flight of a chicken is 13 seconds!
—–strangefacts.com

THINGS YOU MAY WANT TO SAVE: Your temper! Studies show that by just counting to 10 will give the average person enough time to change your mind to one of reason and peace rather than fighting and war.

ZENTRAVELER SAYS: Give anger the boot and replace with benefical thoughts which could help mankind. The bible was right when it said: Turn the other cheek! Use the popeye mantra after you are insulted, mistreated, violated or harmed. “I loves you olive oil!”
is the only antidote you need to combat poison.