The Path to Pulau Buah ~ In Memory of Bidar Chik, Batin of Pertak (repost)

Batin Bidar Chik discussing the impending Selangor Dam project in his Kg Pertak residence (1999)

Bidar Chik, Batin (headman) of Pertak, breathed his last on 6 June 2014 around 10:30 a.m. I dedicate this chapter from TANAH TUJUH ~ Close Encounters with the Temuan Mythos to his fond memory.

Bidar Chik was appointed Batin of Kampung Pertak in 1994, the year I took up residence
in the High Hut. Initially we had our differences - when he allowed loggers into the area -
but we became close allies during the campaign against the Selangor Dam a few years later. My parting gift to him was this garland.

PULAU BUAH, the Isle of Fruits, is the Temuan paradise, the Garden of Eden we knew as Home before the... what? The Fall? The Great Flood? Even Seri Pagi wasn't too sure what terrible crime we had committed as a species to have warranted banishment from Pulau Buah. Surely the gods would not introduce sexual reproduction to the human race only to punish us for it? (No one seemed to have given this any thought. Indah merely told me the tale she probably heard when her first period arrived: the one about Tuhan finding menstrual stains on the Stairway to Heaven and deciding to seal it forever to humanity.)

    

“Sometimes we can still visit Pulau Buah,” Seri Pagi said, “but only in dreams, or if we're very ill and in a sort of coma. In the old days, we had dukun (shamans) who were powerful enough, and pure enough, to travel there without losing their physical connection to the Earth. Nowadays, we only tell stories about Pulau Buah.”

   

Mak Minah said her great-grandmother used to travel to Pulau Buah in her dreams. “She told us there was a great tree in a beautiful clearing by a crystalline stream. The tree was laden with ripe rambutans (a hairy-skinned, succulent, juicy fruit) - only these were no ordinary rambutans, they were enormous! And best of all, she could reach up and pluck a fruit from the lowest branch without any effort. The spirit of the tree told her not to throw away the peel after she had eaten the fruit. Instead, she had to carefully place the peel on the ground below the branch where the fruit had been growing. One fruit was enough to satisfy her, it was so large and so delicious. The next time she returned to the spot, the same fruit was back on the branch, ready to be plucked and eaten!”

    

Nadi Empok & his wife Lumoh in 1994

Penengah admitted that he had tried to visit Pulau Buah in his youth, and failed. “Before you can proceed, you must go to the foot of Gunung Raja and wait for an invitation. If the guardian favors you, you will somehow find yourself going up the mountain. I've heard the old folks telling of signs and special spirit guides that can show you the path to Pulau Buah, which is not in this world. I didn't even get beyond the foot of Gunung Raja. If the guardian doesn't want you to enter the sacred realm, the mountain itself will move away, so that you find yourself somewhere else. 

Well, that's what happened. I was there with a few friends. We were certain it was Gunung Raja. Then there was heavy rain and strong winds and strange sounds that really frightened us. Of course, it could have been a tiger or leopard, but even if it was, you can bet it was no ordinary tiger or leopard. When the weather cleared, we realized we were nowhere near Gunung Raja. We turned around and somehow found our way back to the village. We were glad to be alive.”

    

Nadi Pak Empok may have been on that expedition. Or he may have made a separate attempt to scale Gunung Raja. He spoke reverently about the very special atmosphere that pervades the Royal Mountain, even around its base. The beautiful birds and plants he saw along the way, the mysterious cries of unknown creatures. “We heard the musical voices of maidens calling to us. It was hard not to obey their call, it was so seductive. But one of the group suddenly told us to flee for our lives, and we did. I don't know what would have become of us if we had tried to find the source of those haunting cries.”

    

Utat Merkol a year before he left for
Pulau Buah in 2007

Soon after the Selangor Dam project was announced, I found Utat lying feverish on a mat in Indah’s house. “I dreamt about Pulau Buah,” he whispered. “I was there, at the peak of Gunung Rajah, and I saw Mamak and Inak Bongsu.” I was all ears. Anoora’s uncle Utat rarely discussed his dreams, being an exceptionally private and shy man, but he revealed that he had twice been summoned to the Sacred Mountain by the Temuan’s tutelary gods - a signal honor for any Temuan.

    

“How did they appear to you, what did they look like?” I prompted Utat.

    

“They were absolutely splendid, more beautiful and much, much grander than kings and queens. They looked human, but in a more luminous, far nobler form.” (Lothlorien and the High Elves immediately came to my mind.)

    

“What did Mamak and Inak Bongsu have to say to you?”

    

Utat was silent for a moment. “They said they were very concerned about the destruction that is about to take place. The dam. It makes them angry and they want me to warn people that this desecration is loathsome to them. They have the capacity to destroy the dam, but they do not wish to harm anybody.”

    

“Well, are you going to tell the rest of the tribe?”

    

Utat shrugged and was silent. “People won’t believe me,” he finally said.

  

“WHEN SOMEONE DIES,” Penengah said, “their soul wanders around familiar places for a while before a longing to go home takes them towards Gunung Raja. After a while, they will find themselves at a fork in the trail. One path leads to Pulau Buah; the other... well, the other leads nowhere.”

    

How does one identify the correct path?

    

Penengah seemed reluctant to reveal the signs that would indicate the correct path. Then a gleam appeared in his eye and he whispered: “We don't usually talk about this, but I think you will understand why. For years people have tried to sway us from our beliefs. They wanted us to convert to Islam or Christianity or whatever. But our ancestors warned us about this. They told us there is a black dog guarding the path to Pulau Buah. If the soul is destined for Pulau Buah, the dog wags its tail and shows the way. But if the dog growls, it means the soul has accumulated too much sin (dosa).    

    

What happens if someone takes the wrong path?  

    

“They find the path easy going at first, very well maintained and attractive to behold. But at the end of the trail, they find themselves on an illusory bridge that goes nowhere.”

    

Can you describe what happens to someone who tries to cross the bridge?

   

“Well, they drop into a pit when the bridge collapses. A pit full of rats and cockroaches, creatures of the dark that devour anything that falls in.”

    

Sounds like hell to me. Is this the influence of Muslim and Christian eschatology on the Temuan belief system? Or is the Heaven-Earth-Hell configuration a common denominator of all human cosmogony?

Bidar (left) officiating at the engagement ceremony of Anoora's pretty niece Halus in 2010

ENGLISH TRANSLATION OF A LETTER FROM BIDAR CHIK (BATIN OF PERTAK) TO ABDULLAH AHMAD BADAWI (5TH PRIME MINISTER OF MALAYSIA)

Batin Bidar Chik

No. 1 Kg Pertak

Batu 8, Jalan Gap

44000 Kuala Kubu Baru

Ulu Selangor

13 April 2004

Y.A.B. Perdana Menteri Malaysia

Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi

Pusat Pentadbiran Kerajaan Malaysia

Putrajaya 62502

Sir:

Why do so many Orang Asli lack motivation?  Because we feel homeless in our own homeland.

1. We congratulate and welcome you as our new prime minister.  It is our hope that with a fresh beginning, a new era of justice and wise governance will dawn.  I am only the humble headman of a small village of Orang Asli from the Temuan tribe in Ulu Selangor, voicing my thoughts and feelings.  But I have faith that my voice will be heard by the Honourable Prime Minister.

2. The beauty of the Pertak Forest Reserve where our small village of 43 houses is located has attracted many visitors from far and near.  Now that the Selangor Dam is complete, even more people are coming here to fish from the artificial lake.  We are glad that people appreciate the beauty of our ancestral homeground, birthplace of the Temuan tribe, indeed, our “pusat negri.”

The High Hut at Lata Puntung where I lived from April 1994 till October 1999

3. When we were resettled by the dam project, the Jabatan Hal Ehwal Orang Asli (JHEOA) assured us that each family would be issued an individual grant for our new houses, along with some dusun land.  However, nothing was said about the 400 acres approved for gazetting in 1965 as Orang Asli Reserve Land.  After 39 years, the status of this land remains uncertain.  We would like this matter clarified in writing.

4. In February 2004, we were informed that our new houses stand on State land for which we have been granted a 99-year lease.  We received a letter from the Land Office asking us to pay an assessment of RM540 by 11 May, 2004, or our land and houses will be forfeit.

5. There are few families in Kg Pertak that can afford to pay this amount in three months, or even six.  I cannot imagine what will happen to my sister-in-law, a widow who receives a monthly cash subsidy of RM70 from the Welfare Department.  How will she pay the assessment? 

6. The JHEOA told us not to worry about it.  They said Splash Sdn Bhd, the dam operator, has offered to pay on our behalf.  As nothing is in writing we have only their verbal promise.  Nearly a year ago the JHEOA organised a 3-day workshop on Fraser’s Hill for a group of villagers.  Each participant will receive RM50, they said.  Those who went are still waiting to be paid.

Bidar Chik came into his own as tribal chief 
during the 1999 campaign against the Selangor Dam 

7. Our ancestors have dwelt here from the dawn of time.  Nobody knows how long the Temuan have been here, but it is safe to say we have been here for a thousand generations.  Now we are told the land is on a 99-year lease, and we must pay an annual rent to live here.  When my great-granddaughter’s children reach a ripe old age, the lease will expire, and the tribe’s future will be decided by the Land Office.  If they choose not to extend the lease, our community will die out, for the life and identity of the Orang Asli are tied to our ancestral lands.

8. The Jabatan Hal Ehwal Orang Asli has existed for 50 years since the Emergency.  Their duty is to look after Orang Asli interests, not to belittle us.  To be honest, we Orang Asli do not have much trust in the JHEOA.  They seem set on destroying our way of life and our beliefs.  In the past they have joined forces with loggers to exploit our forests and pollute our streams.  Now they have turned us into rent-paying tenants on land we have inhabited for thousands of years.  We are not happy about this.  The JHEOA have had 50 years in which to rob us of our dignity, pride, confidence, and self-reliance - not to mention the ground beneath our feet.  For Orang Asli, the Emergency is not over yet.

9. Honourable Prime Minister, we humbly request that you intervene to save us from the JHEOA, which treats Orang Asli like unwanted stepchildren.  They never listen to us and they do not understand or respect us.  They tell us to let loggers clear our beautiful jungle so we can cultivate cash crops.  In the 1960s we were told to plant rubber trees but when they matured there was no demand for latex.  Now they talk about oil palm, but we do not understand the business, and do not wish to be at the mercy of middlemen and unstable market prices.  Most importantly, the forest must be preserved, not only for Orang Asli, but for all who value God’s creation.

10. We would rather be given the Reserve Land promised us 39 years ago so we can hunt and harvest fruit as we have always done.  We can also start small-scale ecotourism-related projects that will preserve the forest, and that will give us a chance to be our own bosses.  Younger Orang Asli who wish to seek their fortune elsewhere are encouraged to do so.  But as long as we have our ancestral lands, they at least have something to return to.

11. We urge that you investigate the unresolved issue of the 400 acres approved for gazetting in 1965 as Orang Asli Reserve Land, and instruct the Land Office to issue a communal title deed.  This is surely not too much to ask, as our ancestors originally roamed the whole of Pahang, Selangor, and Negri Sembilan.  But without the sense of permanency granted by official recognition of our customary lands, our people will be in despair and lack direction.  Grant us the land our ancestors left us as their legacy, and free us from the heavy-handed control of the JHEOA.  This is how we can regain our self-esteem, our spirit of independence, and our ability to prosper from the fruits of our own initiative.

12. The rest of the nation won its independence from colonial rule 47 years ago.  We feel it is time we Orang Asli, too, are allowed to taste the dignity and joy of freedom. 

13. A copy of this letter will be handed to Persatuan Orang Asli Semenanjung Malaysia (POASM) to be shared with my fellow Batins.

Yours faithfully,

Bidar Chik

Batin Kg Pertak

Ulu Selangor

[First posted 6 June 2014, reposted 6 June 2019 & 9 June 2023]

Archontically Induced Erotophobia, Mass Deception & Behavior Modification

The species of Fuckery we're dealing with has got nothing to do with sex (you might incorrectly assume) - it's about mass deception and behavior modification on an unprecedented scale. 

Don't forget this: the reason Wilhelm Reich was hounded out of every nation for his heterodoxy (and believed to have been murdered while in custody by the FBI) was simply because he had put his finger on the root cause of our susceptibility to being programmed via religious, academic and journalistic indoctrination. 

In his seminal book, The Function of the Orgasm (in which he postulated that once we are free of sexual fear, guilt and shame, we will never accept or tolerate institutional tyranny), Reich describes the intimate nexus between neurosis, psychosis and erotophobia (association of sensual pleasure with sin causing us to equate pain with virtue). 

The notion of penance, punishment, self-inflicted torture as somehow purifying ultimately spawns a collective BDSM culture (just look at the symbol the Reptilian Church picked for its glorification of human suffering)!

5 June 2021

Original Sin & The Messianic Myth Revisited

The orthodox Catholic concept of "original sin" was inserted into the official dogma about 300 years after the advent of Yeshua (Jesus the Christ) at the Council of Nicaea. Those who disagreed were either excommunicated (if they were lucky)... or imprisoned or poisoned (or both). 

Christian dogma postulates disobedience as the Original Sin - an euphemistic allusion to Eve's succumbing to temptation and tasting of the Forbidden Fruit. My general worldview may, here and there, correspond with what you might term "Christian" - but there the comparison must stop. 

I have always been inspired and influenced by the archetypal figure of Yeshua and do not shy away from referring occasionally to a state of being some call Christ consciousness. However, I feel that those who consider themselves Christians are greatly mistaken, for their theology issues for the most part from the rantings of a neurotic - nay, psychotic - named Saul of Tarsus (who subsequently became canonized as St. Paul). In that respect they are better off calling themselves Paulinians. 

Anyone who has experienced to any degree what Christ consciousness means becomes a Christed soul - not merely a "Christian." In effect, the Christ refers to a STATE OF BEING, like "the King" or "the President" or "the Chairman" - that's right, it's actually an office to which anyone may - indeed must - aspire, even if some prefer to use a different terminology, e.g., "Bodhisattva" instead of "Christ."

You could say that Christ consciousness is just a religious-flavored way of describing an exalted state of conscious compassion wherein one's heart chakra becomes activated and one experiences a spontaneous expansion of pure, transpersonal love for all of Life. I must add: so-called Christians pass the buck of redemption and salvation to an external authority they name "Lord Jesus Christ" - they are taught that they will be saved and granted Eternal Life just by accepting Jesus as Savior and by believing Jesus to be the only (immaculately conceived) Son of God. 

I say: only YOU can "redeem and save" yourself, by consciously choosing truth over falsehood, honesty and honor over deceit and cowardice. In other words, by reclaiming your integrity and sovereignty as lord or lady of your own domain - your physical form. And, furthermore, if you wish to believe in God... then all living beings are manifestations of the Divine, whether or not they realize it. 

Monotheism kills! 

Antares Maitreya 

[7 November 2011 - first posted 3 June 2021

GUARDIANS OF THE FOREST (documentary on the Temuan released in 2000)

Published on 14 Mar 2014

This film documents the plight of Malaysia's indigenous people, the Orang Asli, in their losing struggle to retain their traditional way of life in a rapidly developing nation. Pressures to renounce their beliefs, assimilate with Malay culture and make way for the modern world, are shredding the very fabric of Orang Asli life and culture.

We learn about the heartbreaking choices that a small community of Temuan Orang Asli face as they are about to be displaced by a giant dam project. The film also unveils chilling truths that speak to the decline of indigenous peoples all over the world.

Filmed in the lush Malaysian rainforest in the year 2000, this documentary provides a rare insight into a little-known community and introduces us to their haunting stories and songs.

Produced by Mary Maguire
Directed by Alan D'Cruz
Script by Antares & Rehman Rashid
Music by Akar Umbi
Narrated by Rehman Rashid
Featuring the voices of Huzir Sulaiman, Sandra Sodhy, Rafique Rashid & Jane D'Cruz
with a cameo appearance by Sherry Siebel

Executive Producer: Andrew Bird
Released & distributed by Verado Films, UK


[First posted 6 June 2014]

Why the Deliberate Trashing of Planet Earth? ~ by Zen Gardner (repost)

"Entropy" by Alexiuss

Ultimately those who awaken invariably come up against the big question: why would the so-called “elite” self-appointed rulers of this planet bring the house down around their own ears?

Don’t they get irradiated, chemtrailed and ultimately modified like the rest of us? Aren’t their children in peril just like ours?

Underground bunkers or not, the rapid deterioration of our environment is leading toward a dead planet if their machinations aren’t halted some time very soon.

What these manipulators are up to is not life giving, it is death dealing. For humanity and all of nature. Why would anyone/anything do such a thing? To answer that, people first need to realise that that’s what they’re doing. Deliberately trashing our planet.

Utter Insanity

It’s beyond our comprehension how these entities think and operate because of the difference in vibrational understanding.

To us, they’re insane; to them, we’re dumb sheep. Someone said the reptilians told them to trash the environment but don’t worry, their greys will restore everything. Neat little package, but it always makes me wonder since they’re doing exactly that, trashing the place.

"Good versus Evil" by Saibel

The oceans are being deliberately killed off. The Macondo oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico never ended. It’s still gushing oil and other toxic elements which work their way around the gulf and then take the Atlantic current up the US coast and over to Europe, screwing that whole system up. What did they expect would happen when you drill miles down into a known volcanic undersea region? And oil leaks and spills continue worldwide with hardly a mention any more. To then spray the banned dispersant Corexit over the area so it wouldn’t look so bad, further killing off sea life and dangerously toxifying the entire region is even further insanity.

Sewage and waste, much of which won’t decompose for centuries, is flooded into the seas and tributaries in gargantuan amounts. On top of that the US Navy is “experimenting” with huge algae blooms that starve sea life of oxygen and disturb the natural life-cycles of the sea, while they’re also playing with sonic warfare equipment that also results in mass fish and other sea life die-offs.

Add chemtrails to the mix now, and weather manipulation and earthquake induction. How about genetic modification of just about anything that’s alive. To top it off, the irradiation of our planet - from hundreds of atom bomb tests, reactor meltdowns and even medical and so-called security usage. Remember, Fukushima, like the Macondo well, is still spewing, and our atmosphere and oceans are getting massive amounts of radiation. With hundreds of reactors reaching deterioration point and a mad world on the verge of a nuclear holocaust, the outlook is, what you might say, a little tenuous.

That’s the state of our home. The planet on which we live.

Feeding Off Accelerated Entropy

 At the very least, these manipulative forces imposing their schemes upon the Earth and her inhabitants are an utterly anti-creative force, a form of relative darkness that feeds off of the entropic breakdown they engineer and exacerbate. Instead of the magnificent creative growing complex force of life, entropy is the breakdown of organized structures into lower, simpler forms which in turn releases energy.

In Nature this happens as living forms decay, giving off heat and water vapor and replenishing the soil with nutrients for the next cycle of growth of living, wonderfully complex organisms. All natural.

Engineering entropy is another thing. While harnessing a river’s energy via electric generators may seem innocent enough, the by-product of man’s actions are cumulative. Damming up the world’s rivers has changed the natural flow and distribution of water. Drilling for oil to burn and mining massive amounts of other natural resources is changing the make up of the Earth’s interior and the balance of nature as well. Asphalting and paving the surface of the Earth is literally turning the world inside out. That cannot bode well.

This entropic reduction for power can be dramatically seen in an atomic explosion, which only results in death, destruction and the lingering of deadly radiation for many hundreds of years. Other forms of massive energy releases such as other weapons of war are using entropy for power and control. Fluoridating our water, chemtrailing our skies and altering our food are other forms of this.

Besides organic and even inorganic structures breaking down unnaturally, these and other toxins and drugs are making humanity stupid and dazed - chemically lobotomized and unable to function properly.

In addition, our geo-engineered skies are also precipitating increased methane releases, more entropic breakdowns, that seriously threaten our planet’s very existence. EMFs from cell masts, GWEN towers and massive antenna arrays such as HAARP further break down the natural magnetic resonance of the planet, ourselves and everything on it.

The entire biodiversity of the planet is shrinking drastically as plant and animal species are disappearing at an exponential rate. All a designed breakdown to harvest energy and bring the planet to a lower vibrational state.

Who is behind all this?

New World Order

This is where it becomes apparent who is engineering all of this. We’re dealing with a force not natural to our environment, something we often call other worldly that exists in another dimension and seeks to transform and take over the world we inhabit. It is not only from another plane of existence, it is parasitic in nature and seeks the complete subjugation of our planet and our species.

Ultimately It’s psycho-spiritual Vampirism. Similar to the chemical and biological programs, breaking down the human spirit for psychic energy harvesting is another exercise in entropy. This is the big one, their drug of choice. We know that the entities that guide and motivate the dark rulers of this world feed off of fear, violence, pain, suffering and even death. For them the more heightened the intensity, the better, which is why drugs, perverted sex, human sacrifice and energy-sucking satanic rituals are so madly pursued by these dark energy vampires.

During recent years, the saturation of the film and television industries, literature, the press, comic books and the Internet by vampires and zombies and ‘the living dead’ has their signature all over it.

The breakdown in society’s complexity and the cultural variety of the planet has always been important to them. Our natural tendency as conscious beings is to love and care for each other, unite in cause and purpose for the betterment of all. This creative force generates spiritual awareness and empowerment and re-creation, like crystals spontaneously growing beautiful fractal structures as consciousness taps into infinite potential.

That sinister forces and entities have always fought against this for the empowerment of unseen energy/control freaks has been our planet’s plight for hundreds of thousands of years.

Our connection to infinite, conscious creative awareness is diametrically opposed to the world they come from. While we revel in empathy, compassion and love they have no such affinity. It is not just foreign to them, but anathema.

Their cold, calculated realm runs purely on self gratification, which extends from sexual lust to the perverted ecstasy of having control over the lives of others. It is two-dimensional. They wish they had what we have, but wouldn’t know what to do with it anyway. That is why they fear and hate us. They know the only control they can have over a superior consciousness is fear, which shuts off our connection to Source.

Where the Hell are we?

Is this planet a playing field, designed to see who wakes up and who doesn’t? Are the unawakened destined to constantly recycle into this strange arena called Earth until they get the point, wake up and make an effort to help get this planet on its true track of conscious awareness and a society based on love and co-operation?

You can see why the custodial religions have a field day with this. People want to know, they want these question answered. Even if it’s only a belief, they want to lay it to rest. Unfortunately they play right into the controllers’ hands when they do so.

“Back to sleep now. Don’t want you to ask too many questions.”

Even the dualism we see being played out is part of the game. While there is a struggle between what we call light and dark forces, these dualities we see being played out at different levels are illusions, distractions from the core principle of life - conscious awareness.

Conclusion?

There are a lot of very interesting theories as to what’s really going on here. Knowing there are infinite parallel worlds at play makes it all the more absorbing. Our particular 3-D theater is quite macabre at the moment and about to get a lot worse if and when these entities unleash the big stuff. That there’s an ongoing ascension of the awakened could be true at some level, but last I checked I’m still here.

However, things are shifting vibrationally and continue to shift, so it should be exciting wherever we’re headed. If there is a cavalry to be sent in, it sure should have happened a LONG time ago. Don’t hold your breath - this is up to us. That’s how they got away with it, by continually berating and intimidating humanity via lies and deception. The enforcement trip is mainly a ruse, as there’s no way they could stop all of humanity if we all rose up to throw them out. The problem is centuries of dumbing down, physical weakening and spirit breaking.

That we’re being terraformed for habitation by an alien life form isn’t that far-fetched to me. Those who’ve yielded to and carried out the programs of these parasitic entities are clearly no longer human by the natural, spiritual definition, so they are carving out their own hell to say the least, no matter the expense to the races that populate the planet.

One thing for sure: knowing the realities outlined above will help us find an answer to our current predicament. But much more profound than that, discovering and awakening to the infinite true nature of who we really are is the ongoing solution to it all. From there everything makes sense. We may not have every answer to every individual question, but we know what’s important. And that’s important:

Stay awake and aware, conscious and acting accordingly. We do our part first and foremost; Universe will lead us one step at a time.

Enjoy the ride!

Love,
Zen Gardner
April 30, 2013

[Brought to my attention by Michael Dean. First posted 11 June 2013, reposted 7 June 2019. When I clicked on Zen Gardner's website to check if the link was still good, I was saddened to learn that he was the target of a ferocious shill media attack a few years ago which forced him to drop abruptly from public view. This is typically how the hyenas who label themselves "newshounds" deal with anyone shedding light in extremely dark places.]

Money A Symbolic, Mutually Shared Illusion (repost)

U.S. Economy Grinds To Halt As Nation Realizes Money Just A Symbolic, Mutually Shared Illusion
We are indebted to The Onion  for this up-to-the-minute report:

WASHINGTON - The U.S. economy ceased to function this week after unexpected existential remarks by Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke shocked Americans into realizing that money is, in fact, just a meaningless and intangible social construct.

What began as a routine report before the Senate Finance Committee Tuesday ended with Bernanke passionately disavowing the entire concept of currency, and negating in an instant the very foundation of the world's largest economy. "Though raising interest rates is unlikely at the moment, the Fed will of course act appropriately if we.... if we " said Bernanke, who then paused for a moment, looked down at his prepared statement, and shook his head in utter disbelief. "You know what? It doesn't matter. None of this so-called 'money' really matters at all."

"It's just an illusion," a wide-eyed Bernanke added as he removed bills from his wallet and slowly spread them out before him. "Just look at it: Meaningless pieces of paper with numbers printed on them. Worthless." According to witnesses, Finance Committee members sat in thunderstruck silence for several moments until Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) finally shouted out, "Oh my God, he's right. It's all a mirage. All of it - the money, our whole economy - it's all a lie!" Screams then filled the Senate Chamber as lawmakers and members of the press ran for the exits, leaving in their wake aisles littered with the remains of torn currency.

As news of the nation's collectively held delusion spread, the economy ground to a halt, with dumbfounded citizens everywhere walking out on their jobs as they contemplated the little green drawings of buildings and dead white men they once used to measure their adequacy and importance as human beings.

At the New York Stock Exchange, Wednesday morning's opening bell echoed across a silent floor as the few traders who arrived for work out of habit looked up blankly at the meaningless scrolling numbers on the flashing screens above.

"I've spent 25 years in this room yelling 'Buy, buy! Sell, sell!' and for what?" longtime trader Michael Palermo said. "All I've done is move arbitrary designations of wealth from one column to another, wasting my life chasing this unattainable hallucination of wealth." "What a cruel cosmic joke," he added. "I'm going home to hug my daughter."

Sources at the White House said President Obama was "still trying to get his head around all this" and was in seclusion with his coin collection, muttering "it's just metal, it's just metal" over and over again. "The president will be making a statement very soon," press secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters. "At the moment, though, his mind is just too blown to comment."

A few U.S. banks have remained open, though most teller windows are unmanned due to a lack of interest in transactions involving mere scraps of paper or, worse, decimal points and computer data signifying mere scraps of paper. At a Bank of America branch in Spokane, WA, curious former customers wandered aimlessly through a large empty vault, while several would-be robbers of a Chase bank in Columbus, OH reportedly put their guns down and exited the building hand in hand with security guards, laughing over the inherent absurdity of the idea of $100 bills.

Likewise, the real estate industry has all but vanished, with mortgage lenders seeing no reason to stop people from reclaiming their foreclosed-upon homes. "I don't even know what we were thinking in the first place," said former banker Nathan Collins of Brandon, MS, as he jimmyed open a door to allow a single mother and her five children to move back into their house. "A bunch of people sign a bunch of papers, and now this family has no place to live? That's just plain ludicrous."

The realization that money is nothing more than an elaborate head game seems to have penetrated the entire country: In Wilmington, DE, for instance, a collection agent reportedly broke down in joyful sobs when he informed a woman on the other end of the phone that he had absolutely no reason to harass her anymore, as her Discover Card debt was no longer comprehensible.

For some Americans, the fog of disbelief surrounding the nation's epiphany has begun to lift, with many building new lives free from the illusion of money.

"It's back to basics for me," Bernard Polk of Waverly, OH said. "I'm going to till the soil for my own sustenance and get anything else I need by bartering. If I want milk, I'll pay for it in tomatoes. If need a new hoe, I'll pay for it in lettuce."

When asked, hypothetically, how he would pay for complicated life-saving surgery for a loved one, Polk seemed uncertain. "That's a lot of vegetables, isn't it?" he said.

The Onion © 2010

[Brought to my greatly amused attention by Olivia de Haulleville. First posted 16 March 2010, reposted 25 February 2015 & 24 May 2019]

APOCALYPSE OR EPIPHANY? (Updated & Reposted)

Something from the personal archive, written in January 2003 and published on this blog 2 December 2006; dusting it off now that 23 years have elapsed...

Richard Dawkins, author of The God Delusion

Musings at the edge of eternity

The World of Appearances moves visibly towards a series of possible Apocalypses. Now as never before, I am doing all I can to maintain a clear focus on my innervision of heaven on earth – which does NOT include the triumph of Big Brotherism in some dystopic New World Order Fourth Reich!

Fourteen years after Galactic Alignment (read John Major Jenkins’s 'Maya Cosmogenesis 2012' for the mind-boggling details), massive shifts in consciousness and spiritual maturity have brought about a rapid meltdown of dysfunctional institutions and societies.

All that was mechanical and regimented has abruptly run out of political charge. However, the “princes and principalities” won’t surrender without a desperate fight, in the vain hope that they can drag everyone else down with them by creating Hell on Earth.

However, Mother Earth herself will no longer support their piratic (and parasitic) adventures as she attains to full awakening. Those governed by fear and greed and trapped in egocentric skepticism will be subject to their own Twilight-of-the-Gods (Ragnarok) scenario – despite all efforts to help them experience a paradigm shift. The rest of us will bear witness as self-governing sovereign entities to the birth of a New Octave of Consciousness wherein beauty and truth will replace money and military might as focal points of endeavor.

(All this won’t happen in any specific year, but this is a pivotal era in which each incarnate soul will consciously cross a threshold, towards true individual freedom or deeper enslavement in the Matrix.)

What happens to all the encrusted egos hellbent on keeping the Duality Scam going? The Fearmongers, Gain-of-Function Virus Patent Holders, Control Freaks and Vaccine Pushers - trading in terror and scarcity conditioning, clinging tenaciously to ancestral privilege or ruthless ambition - are they a nightmarish mass delusion that’s absolutely no concern of mine?

I can see bits of myself embedded in these primitive programs going by descriptions like Neo-Darwinism. Survival of the Fittest, indeed. How is “fit” defined? The ones gifted at making money, or the ones with universal empathy? Is it possible to accumulate wealth as measured by consensus – and still feel a tender compassion for all life?

The way I see it: since I already feel oceanic ripples of deep affection for All That Is, I need only gain access to unlimited wealth to be in a position to answer that question truthfully. 

It’s easy to dismiss money as a spurious concoction of the banking fraternity, but so long as it’s in use, I’d love to have a huge pile fall in my lap. I could play patron of the arts, sponsoring the juicy dreams of a few visionary playwrights and filmmakers... remix some sonic dreamscapes I recorded some thirty years ago... set up a string of self-sufficient Earthship communities... visit old friends in Europe... lounge around on an idyllic island for weeks... or just continue to do what I've been doing since I quit my last full-time job in 1977, that is, exactly what I damn well please, but on a vastly more comfortable scale.

How about The Vision? Well, it’s all part of it. My definition of Heaven: infinite possibilities (where merely knowing that every desire can be fulfilled is enough). Hell, of course, is utter impossibility (where the woman who excites me most begrudges even a smile).


Do I envisage a Vegetarian Future?

It’s not what we do, it’s how we do it that changes the essential equations. Having lived amongst hunter-gatherers who generally prefer to get their protein by fishing and snaring wild game, and who are content to subsist on tapioca leaves and dried anchovies the rest of the time, I’d be glad to see an end to commercial exploitation of the animal and vegetable kingdoms. It’s not meat-eating, per se, that constitutes a problem – it’s industrial farming methods that treat other lifeforms as mere commodities to be processed and sold which greatly saddens my soul.

Times when my atoms were oscillating at close to light speed, I have been able to sustain myself for days on prana and photons – which is why I’m sympathetic to breatharians, though I lack the ascetic impulse to wilfully embark on such a course. I eat to live as a matter of habit, and I bless and enjoy whatever’s on my plate. Food is NOT the issue. Famine is invariably the unhappy result of ecocidal human activities driven by scarcity conditioning. The fact that “developed” countries have problems with anorexia AND obesity reflects a deep spiritual imbalance.

Speaking of food, I received an internet joke some years ago with a timely teaching. It’s called “God’s Test”:

God put the angels and the devils to a test. He set up a huge banquet hall with a wonderful feast. First He invited the devils to the feast. They were delighted until they found out that they couldn't bend their arms at the elbows! How were they to eat all the delicious food when their hands wouldn't go to their mouths? They tried eating off the plate, which was messy and undignified. They tried throwing the food in the air and catching it in their mouths. Nothing worked very well. After 15 minutes of this mayhem, God told them that time was up. They trooped out cursing Him.

Next, He invited the angels into the hall. A fresh feast was laid out, and the same thing happened - they couldn't bend their arms at the elbows. The angels all looked at each other and burst out laughing. "What a great game!" they said as they fed each other.

If you happen to be an atheist - don’t worry, so is God. In 2026 I’ve decided to revert to my original name. From now on, don’t call me Antares – “All That Is” will do.

Just kidding, folks. I have enough problems trying to cash cheques as “Antares” (not that I anticipate receiving any, now that 99.9% of financial transactions are done digitally).

© Antares, January 2003 (updated October 2005, February 2010, August 2013 & 24 May 2020)

Alan Watts & Terence McKenna on our need for a Sense of Unity (reprise)

Published on 3 March 2013

Alan Watts and Terence McKenna talk about our need for a sense of unity as our global problems are getting worse and we have become enemies of our planet and each other.

Music: Carbon Based Lifeforms - Comsat (Hydroponic Garden - 2003 [Ultimae Records])

First speech: Alan Watts - The Nature Of Consciousness
Second speech: Terence McKenna - MAPS conference - 1990
Third speech: Terence McKenna - Eros And Eschaton - 1994

Footage:
Some Strange Things Are Happening To Astronauts Returning To Earth (Vimeo video)
BBC - Secret Life Of Chaos (Documentary)
Tree Of Life (Movie)
An artwork by Cameron Gray (~ 1:41)
Baraka (Documentary)
Home (Documentary)
History Of Human Thinking (YouTube video)
The Fountain (Movie)

All of the above are very much recommended to all of you who enjoyed the video.

[First posted 1 August 2019. reposted 24 May 2020]

Possibly the best cartoon of the decade...

I personally would suggest government. 

They never go to jail.

[forwarded by Vijayadas Menon]

Rosmah Mansor, Uncrowned Queen of 'Putrakaya'

I don’t recall when I first heard the name Rosmah Mansor, but I clearly remember that whatever was said about her wasn’t exactly flattering.

Indeed, I can’t think of any Malaysian public figure around whom swirls so many ugly rumors and who is more feared and loathed.

What is it about Rosmah Mansor that makes her such a controversial figure? Is it just her big hair and penchant for Birkin bags and multimillion ringgit bling-bling? Well, that doesn’t help her public image, that’s for sure – especially at a time when most Malaysians find themselves seriously burdened by the ridiculous cost of cars, houses, education; while prices keep going up as the ringgit shrinks in value with no corresponding rise in household incomes.

Born 10 December 1951 in Kuala Pilah, Negri Sembilan, to schoolteacher parents, Rosmah holds a Bachelor’s degree in sociology and anthropology from Universiti Malaya, as well as a Master’s in sociology and agriculture from Louisiana State University, from which she graduated in 1978. She then joined Bank Pertanian as an executive and, in 1983, switched to property development with Island & Peninsular. Those were boom years in the local economy and Rosmah did extremely well selling expensive properties to nouveau-riche Umnoputras, especially political bigwigs.

There was talk that she was eyeing Rahim Thamby Chik, then Chief Minister of Melaka. However, her foxy instincts served her well and she redirected her feminine charms at another rising star in Umno, Najib Razak, then Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports. In 1987, Najib divorced Tengku Puteri Zainah Tengku Eskandar, his first wife, and married Rosmah Mansor.

A Nasty Reputation

By 1991 Najib Razak had been appointed defence minister, which presented him with great opportunities to strengthen his political (and financial) position – while Rahim Thamby Chik was forced to step down as Chief Minister in 1994 after he was charged with statutory rape. The case was thrown out and Rahim Thamby Chik was quietly made chairman of Risda, a post he still holds, despite being recently found guilty of screening pornography at Carcosa Seri Negara.

Even as Najib Razak craftily navigated his way through the Byzantine intrigues of Umno politics, Rosmah Mansor was acquiring a nasty reputation in her own inimitable style. Stories began to circulate about her penchant for expensive trinkets and how she would unashamedly throw her weight around, intimidating owners of jewelry stores for outrageous discounts. One apocryphal tale relates how she even threatened to shut down the business if they didn’t accede to her demands – and having been appeased with the offer of a free gift worth tens of thousands, she simply took the gift and walked out without buying the item she had originally haggled over.

When news broke just before Bersih 2.0 that Rosmah Mansor had imported a $24 million diamond ring from a famous New York jeweler, most Malaysians were aghast at the cost - but found it easy to believe that she was perfectly capable of such unimaginable extravagance, considering her collection of Birkin bags worth approximately $150,000 each.

Soul Mortgaged

How does one explain such an unsavory personality trait? It has to be examined in the context of provincial Malay culture, which is still largely feudalistic at its core. Social status is extremely important to the rural psyche and any ambitious ego would certainly strive to amass sufficient material wealth and political influence to qualify for entry into the rarefied realms of the traditional aristocracy.

Some say Rosmah Mansor is Malaysia’s version of Dr Faustus, a respected scholar who, in his overweening ambition to unravel the secrets of the universe through the practice of dark sorcery, mortgages his soul to the Devil. In Rosmah’s case it isn’t knowledge that she craves, but queenly power. We are hardly surprised, then, that she would dub herself “First Lady of Malaysia” shortly after her husband’s anointment as sixth prime minister (or crime minister, as some prefer to call him) – a title reserved for the wives of presidents or, in the case of Malaysia, the Raja Permaisuri Agong.

Her desperate hunger for self-glorification knows no bounds. This is, in fact, her greatest weakness, and it has been exploited by her business proxies who conspire to gratify her enormous ego with “sponsored” accolades like the dubious “International Peace and Harmony Award” conferred on her on 16 April 2010 by the Business Council for International Understanding in New York. This was commemorated with a double-page full-color ad in the New York Times which was signed off: “Best wishes from family and friends in USA and Malaysia.” A full-page black-and-white ad in the prestigious New York Times can cost up to $230,000 (RM736,000). It has been estimated that a double-page full-color center-spread would cost at least twice that amount.

On 11 February 2012 Curtin University, which enjoys close ties with the Malaysian education ministry, conferred an honorary doctorate on Rosmah Mansor. This news triggered a wave of ridicule and outrage, particularly among former Curtin graduates who protested that the university had debased and degraded itself by pandering to the whims of the widely-loathed FLOM (acronym for First Lady of Malaysia which those with barbed tongues often read as Fat Lady of Malaysia).

To be fair, we must concede that Rosmah certainly possesses enough smarts to have earned that doctorate, since she obtained her Master’s degree from Louisiana State University long before she achieved notoriety as Najib Razak’s spouse.

Indeed, on 7 May 2012, Rosmah acquired another honorary doctorate, this time from the Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris in Tanjong Malim – and on 20 June 2013 she was conferred yet another honorary doctorate and even made an honorary professor – but this time the news created hardly a ripple, since it was from  Kazakhstan University (and everybody knows Rosmah’s daughter, Nooryana Najwa, is married to Daniyar Nazarbayev, step-nephew of the President of Kazakhstan).

FLOM Fiasco

Ironically, the more vainglorious one’s ego, the less admirable one appears in other’s eyes. Surrounding herself with sycophantic courtiers and obsequious bottom feeders, Rosmah has turned into a walking caricature of evil personified, reminding us of Walt Disney’s tyrannical witch queen Maleficent in Sleeping Beauty (who commands a palace guard of mindless minions ever ready to defend her public image against all detractors). 

Indeed, such is her clout around the palace in 'Putrakaya' (where those who have gained instant wealth by manipulating an “affirmative” economic policy based on spurious notions of racial supremacy have entrenched themselves) she has been granted hundreds of millions for her assorted pet projects – none of which is subject to public scrutiny or financial accountability – and even her own quasi-governmental department with a salaried staff. When the FLOM website was launched, the public outcry was so loud it was quickly shut down within days.

Although Rosmah’s distinctive hairdo (which resembles a pharaonic headpiece) has been the brunt of political cartoonists (notably Zunar) she has nonetheless been taken seriously enough by world leaders like Lee Kuan Yew, who insisted on paying her a personal visit during his official Malaysian tour in June 2009. Speculation was rife about what might have been discussed. Political pundits pointed to Lee’s paying Rosmah homage as a clear sign that she was indeed the real power behind her pink-lipped husband’s throne.

When Rosmah flew to the 4th Qatar International Businesswoman’s Forum on a government-funded executive jet – and then stopped over in Dubai to do some shopping and hobnob with Princess Haya, wife of the ruler of Dubai – another hue and cry was raised in parliament by the opposition. Under questioning it was revealed that the average “official” flight costs nearly RM500,000. Less than a week earlier, the nation had been shocked to learn that Rosmah and Najib’s annual electricity bill amounted to RM2.2 million.

Red Queen and Knaves

Clearly, the problem with Rosmah Mansor is that she revels in the imaginary splendor of living the luxurious lifestyle of ancient queens in an age when such excesses only invite disgust and odium. Nevertheless, to the BN ministers beholden to her husband, Rosmah can do no wrong and they have stuck their necks out in her defence.

Deepak Jaikishan

Rosmah Mansor was at one time close to carpet seller Deepak Jaikishan who scurried around doing her every bidding and lavishing on her gifts of expensive jewelry in exchange for business favors. 

Then something soured the relationship and Deepak began to hold media conferences denouncing the FLOM and even released online a poorly written book (The Black Rose) detailing her reliance on talismans and magical spells. Not too many eyebrows were raised, however, as Malaysians had long known about Rosmah’s superstitious dependence on dark sorcery, even dubbing her “Perempuan Puaka” (meaning witchy woman).

In the digital age, not many take seriously the idea of black magic or voodoo – and perhaps that is why they can unwittingly succumb to it. How so? The secret history of political power on this earth has from time immemorial been associated with occult forces. In The Origins of Man and Universe: The Myth that Came to Life the mystic philosopher Barry Long hypothesized that the first tribal chiefs were shamans whose advanced psychic powers awed and intimidated others into following their vision of reality. Despite all the trappings of modernity a vast majority of people still cling to a superstitious belief in sorcery – and it is this barely concealed fear of the unknown that makes them susceptible to being hypnotized and subtly possessed by strongly focused wills.

When Najib Razak was nominated Umno president by 191 allegedly bought-off party division chiefs and installed as prime minister on 3 April 2009, video footage revealed a beaming Rosmah Mansor luxuriating in her moment of victory. Very quickly a strange pall of petty bickering descended upon the opposition parties, resulting in a slew of defections, which had a depressing effect on an electorate yearning for radical change.

Call it what you will – dark sorcery or voodoo – the effects aren’t always spectacular or even visible to the unobservant eye. More often the spell cast upon an unsuspecting populace merely enfeebles their resolve, dilutes their aspirations, and brings out the worst in their own psyches. 

The sense of larger community is replaced by aggressive surges of communal self-interest; individual egos become more isolated in their sense of separateness from others – and therefore more prone to acts of violence against others when threatened by acute financial despair.

Tim Burton released his version of the classic Alice in Wonderland in 2010 which carried a strong undercurrent of social and political commentary. In Burton’s film, decay and entropy lay waste to a once beautiful world, and the inhabitants are subdued and oppressed by fascist control mechanisms. Under the Red Queen's demented and tyrannical rule, Wonderland becomes Underland - a subterranean dream/nightmare with surreal overtones, where the Jubjub Bird and the Frumious Bandersnatch and the Burbling Jabberwock serve as the Red Queen's law enforcement agencies. A riot squad of playing cards stands ready to quell rebellion with the Underlandish equivalent of tear gas and water cannons - and bloodhounds are blackmailed into the Knave of Hearts's secret service.

Alice slays the Jabberwock

But all ends well when the innocent and pure-hearted Alice arrives in Underland, summoned by the White Rabbit (who symbolizes a civil service loyal to the land and not a specific political faction), wields the Vorpal Sword (of enhanced intelligence) and lops off the head of the Jabberwock (the Specter of May 13 and divide-and-rule politics). The White Queen reclaims her throne, life springs anew, and joy returns to Bolehland, oops, I mean, Wonderland.  

[From Malaysia Chronicle, 21 November 2013. First posted 14 January 2014, reposted 27 February 2015 & 13 May 2018]