I used to always think about how tragic it was that my generation never really had some revolutionary superstar martial artist that was featured on primetime television doing an interview on the philosophical aspects to martial arts.  Moreover, I would like to see something like that done on the topic of peace, tranquility, and Enlightenment as well.  I guess that’s why we document stuff and put it out on the web.  So people never really forget it.  Hell, to be perfectly honest I sometimes get jealous that we (the generation X’ers) didn’t get the opportunity to know what it felt like to even watch CBS news in entirely black and white.  Anyways, moving on.

I wrote a paper one time on an aspect or type of philosophy titled, “Existentialism”.  In it I tried to describe how an individual can overcome adversity simply by using the power of one’s mind.  The idea was simple, “to exist, persevere, and to never stop questioning.”  I feel like I’m supposed to cite that sentence to the left but I’m too lazy today.  Unfortunately, I feel like the father of existentialism Soren Kierkegaard never really answered the real questions of why obstacles are put in front of us.  He merely described them.  Martial arts on the other hand I feel answers those questions.  It does however not by training you how to fight, but rather training you how NOT to fight.  There is a mental application to the arts that I feel never really gets any credit.   What does this mean?!  Here is an example.  You’ll need a pen and pad for this experiment.

With your pen in your hand and your pad in front of you, take a long hard look at your surroundings.  Try and become the room around you.  Every infinitesimal grain of sand or dust, every bookshelf, the tree in the corner, try and memorize it all.  Now slowly close your eyes.  Breathe.  In….out….in…and out.  Try and ingrain into your mind all of the things you had seen.  Now with your pen and pad handy and your eyes still closed write a list of the things you had seen.  Write it all down.  Do this for about one solid minute because anything longer would be strange.

Now open your eyes.  Take a look at your settings.  Your list I’m sure is more comprehensive than mine but why are we not fascinated that despite its length, it’s just…not…enough.  What did you miss?  A whole lot I’m sure.  I know, you’re wondering Virtuoso, where are you going with this?  What does this have to do with martial arts?

The notepad and pen experiment shows us our fragility.  Putting it another way, our inability to fathom control.  You see the fact of the matter is no matter how hard we train or practice at something we never really get it right. That is of course until the very end, when we understand the value of nothingness vis a vie, death. That is the beauty behind living, there never really is a shortage of things to do but at times it can get extremely overbearing.  Your mind shows you that in any fight, the outcome will be how you think it should be.  This is important.

I mean….isn’t it amazing that we have options and potentials that are all around us.  In an ENDLESS sea of potentials we are truly and honestly limitless in our abilities.

I have to quote someone here to make my point.

“The brain processes 400 billion bits of information a second, but we’re only aware of 2000 of those.”  -Dr. Joseph Dispenza

I took that quote from two wonderful movies titled, What the Bleep Do We Know and Down the Rabbit Hole.  Both movies deal with the wonders of quantum mechanics.  Now imagine that, 400 billion bits.  400 billion pieces of information!  All that information floating around you, everyday, consistently without you even realizing it.   400 BILLION pieces of information.  The sheer fact that we are able to process 2000 isn’t just radical, it shows us that we border upon the abilities of gods.  With practice of course.  You see, like  a good intense workout the human destroys his or her’s muscle tissue in order to build larger and more powerful tissue.  The brain works the same way.

Everytime you close your eyes, everytime you need to get in your car and just drive to think, or not think, you are going through one of the most beneficial workouts of your entire life.  I believe the martial arts version of this comes in the form of meditation.  People tend to be really skeptical when you tell them stuff like this but after the world’s most intelligent human being Stephen Hawking alerted ABC News that he believed in aliens, I don’t think these ideas are too far-fetched.

What does the understanding of our limitations have to do with anything?  Besides the fact that it levels the playing field for us as a race it teaches us of our LIMITLESS potential.  The fact that we know means we can practice and get close to perfection.  It all comes down to choice.  It is important that I mention that the purpose to this article is not to have everyone jump out of their chairs and slap people around just because they KNOW they can or FEEL they can.  No, on the contrary the KNOWING should actually give you more of a reason not to.

What it SHOULD do however is make you feel more inclined to practice and work on not just your physical attributes and abilities but also your MENTAL ones as well.  Because one day you WILL want to close your eyes for a solid minute, open them and actually be able to write every single thing around you…in perfection.  Why?  Because it is only then when you have tasted sheer bliss.  It is only then when you can master control.  The Dalai Lama in his book Illuminating The Path To Englightenment illustrates on how exactly to do this.  Currently, I’m still trying to finish the book (100 pages in) but I should mention that it is an amazing read.  As a writer he touched on some fascinating research, particularly with regards to words.  Apparently, there was research done that said that those individuals who were prone to use the word “I” in any form of it had a greater risk of dying from heart disease.  It was as if only words of possession were our lifeline as Hominids on this planet.  Truly fascinating stuff.

Anyways, that’s all for now.

Japanese Painter Observing His Work

I have found it extremely difficult to write as of late. I find myself writing a whole paragraph of words and then re-reading it, only to hit the backspace button and be left with nothing. It’s been going on like this for weeks. I’m not really sure why this is. Today, I wish to write about my obsession with art. Some people say they are obsessed but don’t really mean it in my opinion. Some even confess to understanding art, when in actuality they don’t. I call these people technologists.

The reason why I do this is because they find art in technology as opposed to simplicity. I want to point out here that you all are not artists. You are technologists. Artists die emblazoned with passion, and a strong understanding of the human mind, body, and soul. Artists are caught in between the past and the present. Technologists are obsessed with the future and nine times out of ten, happen to be extremely paranoid.

What makes technologists interesting is that, they are obsessed with artists. And artists, well, they happen to be obsessed with technologists. Moreover, at times, an individual can be both, and not realize it. I want the reader to keep in mind that I am using the term artist in the classical sense, i.e. a painter, sculptor, actor, dancer, etc. Wikipedia states that there have often been discussions on the differences between artists and technicians so I guess this is just one more example.

You see, art to me, is that which our elders and forefathers taught us it should be. I’m talking about the carved and colorful figures the Neanderthals left us in their caves. I’m talking about Renee Magritte’s painting of The Son of Man or Michaelangelo’s The Libyan Sybil. Diego Rivera’s murals is another prime example. The love poems of Pablo Neruda is another. The many paintings by Ethiopian artist, Afewerk Tekle, now that’s an artist!

Hokusai’s Great Wave of Kanagawa is another perfect example. Hell, the musical genius Kitaro’s ‘Wind and Water’ masterpiece is artistic in every way imaginable! As is Miles Davis’s ‘Recollections’ track. But why do we shun these gifts? Why do we forget the lessons artists teach us? Moreover, why have we humans as a race, given up on some of the basic life lessons that Art has given us. Alas, when you abandon Art, you are abandoning Life.

Moving along, a physician is an artist in my book. They are the preservers of life and they are moral. The deepest core of an artist always reveals that he or she is noble and truthful. And so, doctors are artists. Judges, politicians, soldiers, and executioners on the other hand are not artists. They seek to destroy that which is sacred; that being of course, the human understanding of life. Adolf Hitler wasn’t an artist, Ghandi on the other hand was. Catch my drift?

You see, art is the individual’s avenue to self-fulfillment. And self-fulfillment is life. What turns you on is what defines you, so the individual must be weary of what he or she chooses. I found art initially in writing. I mean words are nothing more then symbols at the end of the day and the words you are reading now are nothing more then ancient symbols passed down from the West Germanic family of languages. But you have to ask yourself, what is the West Germanic language and/or Modern English popular or known for today? Well, modern English is said to be the dominant international language behind, communications, science, business, aviation, entertainment, radio, and diplomacy.

No wonder I don’t write anymore.

Well it so happens I am growing weary of the English language. I speak three languages fluently, but the English language I always had disdain for. I think I realize now why. I cannot find Art in it anymore. And so, I started sketching. Why draw words when you can draw anatomy? It is so much more fun and challenging! The technique of recreating images that are alive is both eye-opening and challenging and it fills my heart with a sense of relief. I would urge every man and woman to buy a drawing pad and drawing pencils and give it a shot. You might strike upon something you never knew existed.

I don’t quite know if I answered why I’m obsessed with art. But consider this my, Preamble.

]]> http://www.afrothought.com/culture-society/where-my-obession-with-art-comes-from/feed/ 1 http://www.afrothought.com/culture-society/education-and-advancement/its-still-not-enough/ http://www.afrothought.com/culture-society/education-and-advancement/its-still-not-enough/#comments Thu, 04 Sep 2008 02:41:26 +0000 The Virtuoso http://www.afrothought.com/?p=325

Today I wanted to take the opportunity to write about an observation that I’ve made throughout the past three weeks. A very close friend of mine of Jamaican decent had stopped by my parent’s house one lovely weekend. My father happened to be in town so we sat down and engaged in an intellectual conversation of Black America as we saw it presently.

My father, who had been through a lot in his time and seen much more than me and my friend started off by stipulating that the country wasn’t the same as it had been years ago.

“If you don’t think this is the year of the Black Man, you’re a bloody fool. It’s our time now! Think about what’s going on; Obama possibly winning the election. This is a huge deal! Back when I was coming into this country, this is way before you were born son, I had to fill out some paperwork and they specifically asked me how to identify myself. They gave me the following options: White/Caucasian, Asian, Hispanic, Negro, and finally “Other”. That was it!”

It was at this moment that my friend and I reeled over laughing and yelling the words ‘oh hell no…‘ My friend who shook his head in amusement asked, ‘what did you fill out?’

My dad looked at us both and winked, ‘I selected, other.’ We both nodded. We understood exactly what he was saying. There is without a shred of a doubt that the comeback of the century is being made with regards to positive Afro-centric movement in the United States. We couldn’t have possibly imagined what it was like growing up in the era of our parents or our grandparents. And because of this, we needed to be grateful.

I remember celebrating Christmas at my grandmother’s house and an old Humphrey Bogart flick (Sabrina) came on and all of the youngsters including myself crowded around the tube. Now I don’t know if it was because it was Christmas and there was nothing to do at the house or just the sight of watching a black and white flick, but almost every black child there was fascinated by the dress code and the decency that revolved around the movie. One cousin of mine actually yelled that he wished he could have lived back then. Shortly after I said the same thing.

You know how sometimes you have those moments where you say something…and then you realize how incredibly stupid it sounds afterwards? Like you take a hard look at the facts and realize, ‘wait’, what the hell am I talking about?!

Yeah well that’s what happened. An elder in our family who had been observing all of us from a distance then replied calmly and slowly,

‘Correction…no you wouldn’t. In fact, you should be grateful that you don’t live in this times. We all should.’

He was right. From a strictly historical standpoint growing up in those times was extremely difficult. The knowledge of history it seemed, my very minor in college, had eluded me. Maybe it was the acting which had a very cheery undertone to it that did it. Or perhaps the fact that it was a black and white flick. Who knows? Either way the elder who commented was completely right. And that’s all I wanted to write about.

Either way, the emergence of Obama as our possible president is great. But it’s not enough. Not nearly my friends. But it is a step in the right direction.

In a time where villains just aren’t respected anymore, something last week arose from the dust. Something incredibly sinister, something so vile, that you just had to respect it. There will never be another Jack Napier (if that’s even his name) projected on your screen again? Why? Because Heath Ledger nailed the role…on his first try. I mean it takes alot to outwit Jack Nicholson. And let’s give credit where credit is due. Nicholson nailed the Joker role in the first batman movie, but Ledger, pretty much took the gold in The Dark Knight. Don’t expect any future movies featuring the Joker because after you watch Heath’s stellar performance, you’ll never wanna see the intelligent D.C. comic book jester ever again.

What makes Ledger’s performance so great is his uncanny ability to portray to us a person who is truly and in every way, insane. No one was pardoned from the Joker’s wrath. And when I mean no one…I mean, no one. And for good reason. You see the Joker that Ledger showed us is the type of person that we all aspire to be. He was unmerciful, a prankster, and above all things, remarkably intelligent despite the scars on his face and the rundown purple suit. His undying passion, like all great revolutionaries, was to stimulate anarchy. *Warning: SPOILER ALERT!* Observe the following passage he recited to Harvey Dent after blowing up his soon to be wife and leaving Dent with half a mangled face.

“Do I really look like a man with a plan, Harvey? I don’t have a plan. The mob has plans, the cops have plans. You know what I am, Harvey? I’m a dog chasing cars. I wouldn’t know what to do if I caught one. I just *do* things. I’m a wrench in the gears. I *hate* plans. Yours, theirs, everyone’s. Maroni has plans. Gordon has plans. Schemers trying to control their worlds. I am not a schemer. I show schemers how pathetic their attempts to control things really are. So when I say that what happened to you and your girlfriend wasn’t personal, you know I’M telling the truth.
[hands Dent a gun]

It’s a schemer who put you where you are. You were a schemer. You had plans. Look where it got you. I just did what I do best-I took your plan and turned it on itself. Look what I have done to this city with a few drums of gas and a couple bullets. Nobody panics when the expected people get killed. Nobody panics when things go according to plan, even if the plans are horrifying. If I tell the press that tomorrow a gangbanger will get shot, or a truckload of soldiers will get blown up, nobody panics. But when I say one little old mayor will die, everyone loses their minds! Introduce a little anarchy, you upset the established order, and everything becomes chaos. I am an agent of chaos. And you know the thing about chaos, Harvey? It’s fear.”

So umm, this is what I mean by intelligent. There is truly nothing more terrifying in the world than a wise prankster. Think about it. Ledger’s Joker broke down his madness throughout the entire movie. Nicholson’s never even gave us a chance. By the end of The Dark Knight, all you really wanted to do was admit yourself into mental facility or hang around psychologically warped individuals just to be cool. Because, and to quote him again:

“What does not kill you, makes you…stranger.”

I’m hooked. I wanna be strange. Rest in peace Heath Ledger.

If you happened to catch the front page of the Cable News Network’s website you may have happened to notice that for the first time since 2002-2003 the American public and reporters all around the world were allowed to see the faces of the Al Qaeda operatives behind the September 11th attacks on the World Trade Centers. The article definitely made it seem as if there was an air of intrigue behind these folks. Upon entering the court room, cameramen struggled to get good shots in while the operatives smiled and chuckled. It was almost as if they were saying….

‘Go ahead, get your pics in, you have no idea what you’re in for.’

The head mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed refused his right to an attorney as he did not believe in U.S. law and only followed the laws of his fathers, that being, Islamic Sharia law. The article quoted him as saying, ‘I wish to be martyred.’

As much as the article interested me, I couldn’t help but wonder the timing behind the court dates. The defendants had been imprisoned for five years and it’s only now that they are being sent to court!? Moreover, there is suspicion that future trials may not even happen for another couple of months!? All this in lieu with a huge presidential race coming up where the democratic candidates name is Barack Hussein Obama Jr. I know what you’re asking yourself. What’s your point?

My point is that has the United States really come full circle? I worry about this nation sometimes because this is truly a country that is founded on ideas. I work on a block where if you go down the entire street you will catch a religious institution devoted to practically every type of sect you could possibly imagine. But have the universalists finally given up on us? I spent weeks fighting in the freezing cold to get Barack Obama the votes he needed in my district to win Virginia, but is my opinion that of the majority?

Is America truly ready for black president and more importantly where in the world are we going. We…roller coasters of universal acceptance entities who call ourselves Americans. I don’t know…I just don’t know. After all…what does it really mean to be an American? What does it mean to be anything? Sometimes the only thing that makes sense is music and the only thing playing on my cd player is ole Marvin’s ‘What’s Goin On.’ And I got it on repeat. I got this unnerving, overwhelming desire for universal knowledge, I wanna know….I wanna know

SOMEBODY TELL ME WHAT’S GOIN ON!

Real real real soon. You know where you heard it first!

I was going to wait to write again but can’t. So, on to politics. Lately, I’ve seen several people advocating the need for Barack Obama as president. I just can’t help but wonder if they really mean it. It’s one thing to stand by an ideal, it’s a completely different thing to fight for it. What’s the phrase? Actions are louder then words. I mean you can have your opinions…actually hang on, no you cant! Particularly if you’re not going to do anything about it. I mean honestly folks, what’s the point?

That ‘s like…telling the chairman of the NRA that you hate guns, but spend two-thirds of your day profiting from war as an underground arms dealer.

It’s like telling a captain in the United States Army that you appreciate what the soldiers are doing overseas but work for a law-firm that makes its millions of dollars ripping pension plans away from veterans.

It’s like stating yes…but living no. You feel me? Anyways, I don’t want to rant about it, I mean god knows I do the same thing. We all do…it’s why we’re human I guess. Meanwhile…GO OBAMA! I’ll holler when you’re in the White House homie.

-Virtuoso

First off, when or if you’re going to open a retirement account, go with the Roth IRA. It has many benefits which I’ll explain later. This should be the FIRST thing you do. Don’t wait for your crappy job to have you wait a year to determine whether you qualify for a 401k. I mean its really stupid that they do that to begin with but I don’t wanna get into it. Go to your bank and just request an IRA. It’s pretty much the same thing.

So…why is the Roth IRA better then a normal IRA?

A $4000 contribution to a Roth-IRA growing at a constant (and riskless) rate of 10% will, in 25 years, grow to 4000 * 1.1²⁵ = $43,338.82. Because this $4000 contribution is not tax-deductible, the contribution plus the tax will cost 4000 / (1-.25) = $5333.33 in the year of contribution (i.e. the taxes on $5333.33 earned will be $1333.33, leaving $4000 to invest).

If $5333.33 is put into a conventional IRA, $4000 of this contribution will grow tax-deferred. This will grow to $43,338.82 in 25 years using the same assumptions and calculations above. The tax on this amount will be 25% * 43,338.82 = $10,834.71, leaving 43,338.82 – 10,834.71 = $32,504.12 from the IRA account. However, the investor will have 5333.33 – 4000 = $1333.33 left to invest in a “naked” (i.e. taxable) account. Taxed every year, this amount will grow to 1333.33 * (1 + .1 * [1-.25])²⁵ = $8131.12. This implies a total, after-tax amount of 32,504.12 + 8131.12 = $40,635.24.

Explanation. The Roth IRA is better because withdrawals of earnings are tax-free. (After 25 years earnings are $43.338.82. However taxes are paid only on $5333.33)

Another reason is that the $1333.33 tax savings in the year of the contribution cannot grow in a tax-deferred account. If this amount were able to grow in a tax-deferred account, then the $1333.33 would grow to 1333.33 * 1.1²⁵ = $14,446.27, and if taxed at 25% upon withdrawal would imply 14,446.27 * .25 = $3611.57 in taxes, leaving 14,446.27 – 3611.57 = $10,834.71. Adding this to the $32,504.12 amount from the Traditional IRA savings equals 32,504.12 + 10,834.71 = $43,338.82, just like in the Roth IRA. Since the maximum IRA contribution is imposed after taxes are paid for Roth-IRA contributions, there is effectively a tax-deferral advantage for Roth contributions when, and only when, an individual is making the maximum contribution allowed.

Now, just think if you combine that with your 401k plan. I mean chances are you’re going to be getting raises at your job and considering the fact that your plans tend to rollover so it doesn’t really matter where you work…Roth IRA is the way to go.

It’s been raining alot lately where I live. I kind of like the rain but I like it even more when my windshield wipers in my car work. Anyways, I was gonna write a little spiel on my experience with doing grass roots campaign work for the Obama campaign a few months back, but I don’t want to beat a dead horse. I’ll talk about that on Wednesday. And yes, I will be addressing many of you fake folks out there who love Obama but do absolutely nothing to help out on his campaign. (Don’t worry not talkin about you Rev…just citing some recent friends I’ve encountered/met from around the way.) I’ll talk about that on Wednesday.

Later fiends!

I’m sorry but is this not the smoothest dude ever? No seriously, I’ve been fascinated by most of his music and this Tokyo, Paris video is pretty damn good. It’s actually kind of a breathe of fresh air to see the other side of him. He’s kind of shedding away the militant side to him and letting loose. It’s only a matter of time before he starts coming out with some lovey dovey stuff. I like Lupe. He’s growing at his own pace and allowing the world to check it out. FNF UP! hahahaha….

Peace HOMOSAPIENS!

Sorry I got some Tribe Called Quest on heavy rotation
So today, I want to write about my recent observations on religion. I’ve been trying to correlate the differences between Christianity and Islam. I’ve had the opportunity lately to hang out with some very interesting people who are extremely spiritual and I guess what I’ve noticed is what I wish to explicate. I think it’s important to note where it all started. I’m going to do something that I promised my colleague on this blog that I wouldn’t do. But I can’t tell the story without doing it. I’m going to quote a part from a television episode from a show that I’m sure alot of people know about.

Student: How did it all start?
First Lady: How did what all start?

Student: Well…this?!

First Lady: Sarah…God said to Abraham. ‘Look toward the heaven and number the stars and so shall your descendants be!’ But Abraham’s wife, Sarah, wasn’t getting any younger. And God wasn’t coming thru on his promise. I was very young when I had my kids. I was very, very, very, very young. I was barely even born yet when I had my oldest daughter Elizabeth. Anyway, Sarah was getting older and she was getting nervous because she didn’t have any children. So she sent Abraham to the bed of her maid, Hagar, and Abraham and Hagar had Ishmael. And not long after they did God kept his promise to Sarah, as he always intended to. And Abraham and Sarah, had Isaac. And Sarah said to Abraham ‘cast out this slave woman with her son for the son of a slave woman will not be heir with my son Isaac.’

And so it began…the Jews the sons of Isaac. The Arabs, the sons of Ishmael.

But what most people find important to remember is that in the end…

the two sons came together, to bury their father…

The clip is from West Wing. Can be found here: http://youtube.com/watch?v=MSMdBKB-i3U

I’m not really sure how true those events are as I’m not a historian not to mention the severe ramifications of stipulating such a thing as that. However, when I wikipediaed Ishmael I found the following: “Both Jewish and Islamic traditions consider Ishmael as the ancestor of Arab people. ^[1]“

Discuss!!!!!!!!!!!

Ehh…just found that interesting. If you’re a peacemonger like me, you’ll like the following picture!

Roar!!!! Later Earthlings…