What's up Cha,
I know you're a serious Tribe Called Quest fan and this makes me very happy. I've raised you listening to good east coast hip hop since you were a baby, driving around in the mountains of northern Thailand.
It's time that I explained a few things to you. Tribe Called Quest is part of a collaborative called The Native Tongue family; consisting of De La Soul, Black Sheep, Leaders of the New School and the Jungle Brothers.
By now you will know who De La Soul is because I've been playing their new album 'and the Anonymous Nobody' in the car for the past couple of weeks. I hope you grow to love and appreciate their lyrical genius as much as A Tribe Called Quest. I've always thought of De La as prophets of truth, exhibiting wisdom and intellect, promoting peace through their deep rhymes and soulful beats.
Check out 'Nosed Up' it's currently one of my favourite tracks on the album!
Love,
Poppa
Sunday, September 4, 2016
Wednesday, August 24, 2016
We Are All Vibration
Dear Cha,
It's hard for me to think about and recall your grandpa Alan (my father) all the time. It sounds a bit sad, I know.
But after someone dies and time moves on, their memory becomes more and more faint. There are however helpful techniques we can apply to help remember our loved ones and keep honouring their memory, which keeps them close to our heart.
I want to tell you a little story; your grandpa's favourite genre of music was jazz, especially Brazillian jazz. Grandpa Alan's favourite artist was Djavan, he loved Djavan's music, it was almost a religious experience for him. Music was grandpa Alan's religion.
Each year grandpa Alan travelled to St. Barths with Aza (your grandma) and friends, and a second time per year with me and Auntie Ali (my sister). This was the routine each year for many years, it was a large part of my childhood and I remember it well.
Djavan's music always blessed us well, it was the theme music of our vacations, grandpa Alan kept it on heavy rotation constantly.
Music is vibration, we are vibration, there is no separation from us and what we listen do. Music gets into our pores and our soul and it almost defines who we are. We resonate with different forms of music just like we resonate with different people.
A few years ago in Pai I felt inspired to download the entire discography of Djavan, which as it turns out is quite large! The man has a tremendous amount of albums to his name. Where did this urge come from? I have no idea, nor do I claim to understand how these things work. Was it a message from grandpa Alan in the spirit world? Are you grandpa Alan reincarnated? We are all interconnected, but just how remains a mystery, it's part of life.
I was working my way through the albums, and I decided that I was enjoying Djavan's live concert album most. So there I was driving along, unassumingly, heading towards home on the hot spring road (I recall this memory crystal clear). Then all of a sudden Djavan's song 'Se' came on and all the hair on my arms stood up! It was like grandpa Alan was right there in the car with me, inside the car and inside my heart, the experience brought me to tears. It was one of the most genuine, heart-felt experiences I've had since my father has passed away.
The lesson I learned from it all, which was completely intuitive, is that we are all vibration. When we die, even if we reincarnate, the essence of our last life still lingers, sort of in an 'all time is happening at once' sort of way. Our essence never dies, there is no death.
We can always honour, respect and recall the love we have for our loved ones, one such way to do this is through music. So always pay attention to what the people you care about are listening to, and pay special attention to what you yourself listen to, because vibrations influence all that we do.
Big love lil man, now I leave you with the Djavan song 'Se' that touched me so deeply that day, as well as 'Oceano' which is just as amazing and ethereal.
Love runs the Universe, love is the Universe. From love we are born, to love we return. See only love.
It's hard for me to think about and recall your grandpa Alan (my father) all the time. It sounds a bit sad, I know.
But after someone dies and time moves on, their memory becomes more and more faint. There are however helpful techniques we can apply to help remember our loved ones and keep honouring their memory, which keeps them close to our heart.
I want to tell you a little story; your grandpa's favourite genre of music was jazz, especially Brazillian jazz. Grandpa Alan's favourite artist was Djavan, he loved Djavan's music, it was almost a religious experience for him. Music was grandpa Alan's religion.
Each year grandpa Alan travelled to St. Barths with Aza (your grandma) and friends, and a second time per year with me and Auntie Ali (my sister). This was the routine each year for many years, it was a large part of my childhood and I remember it well.
Djavan's music always blessed us well, it was the theme music of our vacations, grandpa Alan kept it on heavy rotation constantly.
Music is vibration, we are vibration, there is no separation from us and what we listen do. Music gets into our pores and our soul and it almost defines who we are. We resonate with different forms of music just like we resonate with different people.
A few years ago in Pai I felt inspired to download the entire discography of Djavan, which as it turns out is quite large! The man has a tremendous amount of albums to his name. Where did this urge come from? I have no idea, nor do I claim to understand how these things work. Was it a message from grandpa Alan in the spirit world? Are you grandpa Alan reincarnated? We are all interconnected, but just how remains a mystery, it's part of life.
I was working my way through the albums, and I decided that I was enjoying Djavan's live concert album most. So there I was driving along, unassumingly, heading towards home on the hot spring road (I recall this memory crystal clear). Then all of a sudden Djavan's song 'Se' came on and all the hair on my arms stood up! It was like grandpa Alan was right there in the car with me, inside the car and inside my heart, the experience brought me to tears. It was one of the most genuine, heart-felt experiences I've had since my father has passed away.
The lesson I learned from it all, which was completely intuitive, is that we are all vibration. When we die, even if we reincarnate, the essence of our last life still lingers, sort of in an 'all time is happening at once' sort of way. Our essence never dies, there is no death.
We can always honour, respect and recall the love we have for our loved ones, one such way to do this is through music. So always pay attention to what the people you care about are listening to, and pay special attention to what you yourself listen to, because vibrations influence all that we do.
Big love lil man, now I leave you with the Djavan song 'Se' that touched me so deeply that day, as well as 'Oceano' which is just as amazing and ethereal.
Love runs the Universe, love is the Universe. From love we are born, to love we return. See only love.
Friday, August 19, 2016
Guru Rinpoche is Coming!
Good afternoon my son,
By now you will have been settling nicely into our two bedroom apartment at PREM School, enjoying being in grade 3 and the freedom that having many of your friends around affords you, as always you are the my number one joy.
Recently we set up a new teak wood alter (Buddha shrine) in our home. This will be our third shrine as we already have two in the Pai homes. The unique thing about this shrine is the protective deities chosen: Guru Padmasambhava (the top seat is reserved for HH), Terton Pema Lingpa, Guatama the Buddha (a must), and Kuan Yin, the Goddess of Mercy.
A Dharma friend of mine is kind enough to be carrying the statue of Guru Rinpoche over in September, recently she took the statue to Bumthang and had it blessed by Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche, for which I am extremely grateful for. Here is the latest picture of the statue in Bhutan:
I know you will be very happy one day to take care of these deities and alters as they will someday all be yours!
By now you will have been settling nicely into our two bedroom apartment at PREM School, enjoying being in grade 3 and the freedom that having many of your friends around affords you, as always you are the my number one joy.
Recently we set up a new teak wood alter (Buddha shrine) in our home. This will be our third shrine as we already have two in the Pai homes. The unique thing about this shrine is the protective deities chosen: Guru Padmasambhava (the top seat is reserved for HH), Terton Pema Lingpa, Guatama the Buddha (a must), and Kuan Yin, the Goddess of Mercy.
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| The beginning phases, the shrine has already been raised and the seven water offering bowls in place, just waiting for the main Guru Rinpoche deity. |
A Dharma friend of mine is kind enough to be carrying the statue of Guru Rinpoche over in September, recently she took the statue to Bumthang and had it blessed by Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche, for which I am extremely grateful for. Here is the latest picture of the statue in Bhutan:
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| Statue of Guru Rinpoche before being blessed. |
Tuesday, August 16, 2016
Dedicated to Cha
I started this blog for one very simple reason; I was looking for a way to archive content in a narrative dialogue for my son for after I'm gone, and let's face it there's no better way to immortalize oneself than on the Internet.
My son, Cha (which means 'tea' in a handful of different languages) is eight years old, he's been with me since he's two and a half, I am a single parent. Yoga, meditation and the wisdoms of the east have been passions of mine for quite sometime now, I often feel compelled to share knowledge in these ancient wisdom traditions. Expressing some of these complicated principles can often be difficult, to non-practitioners, and especially to eight year old boys who are only fascinated with football! (AKA soccer, for my American compatriots.)
The reason I felt like a blog would be the best way to communicate the many tenets of Dharma to my son was because as he grows up to be a young man, being as technologically adept as he is, he'll always be able to tap into this knowledge, and my thoughts and lessons will always be here online for him to read and savour long after my physical body is gone.
It is my deepest hopes that all shall benefit from these musings!
My son, Cha (which means 'tea' in a handful of different languages) is eight years old, he's been with me since he's two and a half, I am a single parent. Yoga, meditation and the wisdoms of the east have been passions of mine for quite sometime now, I often feel compelled to share knowledge in these ancient wisdom traditions. Expressing some of these complicated principles can often be difficult, to non-practitioners, and especially to eight year old boys who are only fascinated with football! (AKA soccer, for my American compatriots.)
The reason I felt like a blog would be the best way to communicate the many tenets of Dharma to my son was because as he grows up to be a young man, being as technologically adept as he is, he'll always be able to tap into this knowledge, and my thoughts and lessons will always be here online for him to read and savour long after my physical body is gone.
It is my deepest hopes that all shall benefit from these musings!
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| My beautiful boy Cha; half Thai/Lisu, half American. July, 2016 (8 yrs old) |
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