My farewell to Xanga

Grief

I suppose this is the end of my “Life time membership” once Xanga move on …if it is possible. From my side I would like to thank the Xanga Team for almost seven years of blogging experience. I experimented with many sites and Xanga remained my first choice. I always loved the ease with which Xanga worked and I blogged my most treasured thoughts, moments and experiences onto Xanga. With all the other bloggers I experience a sense of grief. Much time was invested into writing on Xanga. I made good friends who walked parts of my life journey with me. I appreciated every comment ever made.

However life is cyclical. Nothing happens without purpose and when doors close new one opens. I hope that Xanga will continue and the I can be part of that process. Moving from Xanga means looking for new ways to communicate, new communities to interact with. Where the path will lead in unclear but the end is always the beginning of a new adventure.

I salute Xanga for the experience
I salute my subscribers for subscribing
I salute those who took the time to actually read and comment on my writing.

The journey here is drawing to a close.
May you all find new ways forward.
For us true Xangans, we will always remain Xangan even if Xanga is no longer.

Chakra Insights

Yoga

I am subscribed to esoteric online which is an alternative blogging community focused on spirituality. I found two pieces today on the chakra’s that was complementary and wanted to put them together for my own insight. I copied large chunks of the original documents and changed a few things to reflect a closer viewpoint aligned with my own. Unfortunately no attribute is given to any authors so I can not give the original authors any credit. But here is inspiration starting from the root chakra and working upward towards the crown chakra. The second line is from a piece that is entitled: “The seven spiritual laws of yoga.”

Survival is limited by fear
My life is in harmony with cosmic law

Pleasure is limited by guilt
My actions are free from attachment to outcome

Willpower is limited by shame
My intentions are supported by the universe

Love is limited by grief
My actions achieve maximum benefit with minimal effort

Truth is limited by ignorance
My action is aligned with universal love.

Insight is limited by illusion.
I am a nourishes of the universe and the universe nourishes me

Mystical upliftment is limited by earthly attachment
I am temporal in existence but absolute in essence

The rendering of service

Mystical philosophy

When one does a job well or performs an act of kindness then a service is rendered. True service demands no compensation other than the satisfaction of knowing we labored in the vineyard of love. Every day we should create opportunities to be of service. Service is to create an environment that is cheerful, attractive and harmonious.  Service is an act of cooperation where we share a problem and responsibility with another. When we offer a service to others we must be capable to render that service with efficiency. You have no right to offer something you cannot adequately provide. Insist to serve only where your efforts are appreciated.  Don’t deprive another from their development and growth through overzealous service. There are different avenues of service and the service we render will ultimately become our true mission in life. Service is to dismiss fear or superstition and to illuminate the path of mysticism for others. Everyone has the means for rendering service.  We must ensure that we are well prepared and ready for service. In rendering service, we are helping others, and in helping others we are helping ourselves.

A smile and an encouraging word is a service you can render every day. When you feel the urge to do a kindness or correct an error then it is your obligation to yield to the impulse and do what your inner self, urge you to do. Through service you will attain opportunities leading to the satisfaction of realization of  new-found knowledge.  Make sure that you co-operate with both natural and spiritual laws. Reliance on this knowledge does not supplant your efforts but supplement them.  Realize your potential in terms of your fitness or importance in the great scheme of life and your ability to serve a greater purpose. Remember that the greater development is within you and may not be revealed outwardly until you have found the service through which to express yourself. This obligation to serve, voluntarily affirmed in all sincerity, makes it imperative to study, practice, test and try the natural and spiritual laws that governs our existence. Through service we learn how to apply these laws towards a meaningful and purposeful end that will become the focus point of our own inner growth.  

In rendering service we help others to have a realization of the abundance of life and the blessings of the cosmic.

(These are notes based and/or inspired by the original discourse written by by R.R. Clayton, 1960)

16 Qualities to strive towards

Wisdom

On the path of inner unfoldment there are sixteen qualities/virtues to acquire:

1. Patience – A victory is the conquest of one self through patience.
2. Kindness – Treat everyone kindly and courteously and always be ready to help.
3. Generosity – Spend your benevolence and good will with impartiality.
4. Humility – Give credit to others and everything will be accomplish in due time.
5. Industriousness – Do what is needed but let modesty be in proportion to your gifts and talents.
6. Temperance – Act in harmony with cosmic law.
7. Balance – Seeks the delicate balance between your own needs and the needs of others.
8. Calmness – Don’t let disturbances disturb your mind.
9. Discernment – Until your judgement is cut off, remain inclined towards a favorable opinion.
10. Righteousness – Let nobility of character lifts you high above absurdities.
11. Honesty – Never seek any other source of light except the light of truth.
12. Silent – Keep your wisdom locked in your heart for in Silence lies true power.
13. Knowledgeable – Maintain an unshakeable confidence in the Divine principle of truth.
14. Conviction – In everything, no matter of what evil appearance, there is within a good seed that can overcome evil.
15. Consistency – Hold fast to your spiritual possessions.
16. Loyalty – Truth remains unaltered so remain loyal to truth.

Parliament’s ICT striving towards excellence.

Work

In May 2013, Parliament of South Africa passed Round 1 of the iCMG Enterprise Architecture Excellence Awards in three categories. 

Parliament of South Africa used an enterprise architecture approach in developing its 2009-2014 ICT strategy. Enterprise architecture is the means through which an enterprise plans and implements its Information and Communication Technology strategy by ensuring that business needs are addressed. Parliament use enterprise architecture to focus on improving the effectiveness and efficiency of the institution. The enterprise architecture approach followed was entered into the international competition, which draws submissions from organisations across the world.

The entry of Parliament was submitted in three categories:

• Transformation and planning
• Best Enterprise & IT architecture in Govt / Defence /Public Sector
• Enterprise architecture

The winners are selected through a three round process. In the first round the submission is reviewed by a core committee of independent experts that evaluated the quality of the submissions and adherence to quality criteria. In the second round the submissions will be reviewed independently by jury members. Their scores will determine the finalists in each category. The final round of judging will be done by all the jury members, collectively. Their combined scores will determine the Winners in Each category.  Through each round of competition, the judges are assigned to assess submissions in the area of their individual interest and expertise so that it is evaluated by people that understand the type of architecture work and its context.

The results of second round will be made available on 17 May 2013, the finalist on 3 June 2013 and the winners will be announced on 25 July 2013.

In terms of the categories Parliament entered the following are the number of entries that passed the first round:

• Transformation and planning – 16 entries
• Best Enterprise & IT architecture in Govt / Defense /Public Sector -15 entries
• Enterprise architecture  – 23 entries

Having passed through the 1^st round is testimony of the quality of work done at Parliament. Passing the first round can be equated to an athlete being chosen to represent its country at the Olympic Games.  The election into the 2^nd round of evaluation shows that the Parliament of South Africa’s implementation of Enterprise architecture principles is comparable with the best deployments of Enterprise architecture in the world.

Irrespective of whether Parliament of South Africa moves through to the list of finalist or ultimately the winners, having passed through first round is a huge achievement.   

For more information see: http://www.icmgworld.com/corp/ArchitectureAwards/2013/architecture_nominations.asp

The Nordic goddess Skadi

Mythology

Mighty giantess and fearless warrior
Death of the father woke your slumber
Revenge called your name, hear gods tremble
when you stood before them assembled
desperate to make peace rather than war.

But Odin’s cunning spun illusion
Marriage promised but not without trick
Which god has the most beautiful feet?
That question led to your defeat.
The sea god so different took you to bed.

The wedlock was doomed from the start
the deal struck did not work on either side
but you never fell in despair
With firmness independence raised
You greeted as winter set your way.

There finally you wed the winter god
behind the archer’s bow, the hunt did flow
Once again the wild untamed nature freed
walked across the snowy mountains high.
Justice you demand with fearless resound.

The trickster claimed you as his own
with confidence and boasting appeal
but was met with venomous blessing
dripping from your hand upon his head.
Defiant you still stand on your own.

The Egyptian goddess Isis

Mythology

Isis spreads her wings of protection
seeker of the affirmative, scattered
lament the loss, release the grief
a new God for the underworld born

Nurture the war child as eagle
chaos must reside, to mothers hand
pierced by an all seeing eye, order retained
sparked by a vision that sees beyond

With cunning you sought the name
a snake you add to your game
a king almighty beg with fear
poison extract the name unknown

Cycles of life in ebb and flow
from limbless death life is born
to bring healing in desert land
called by ten thousand names

Your memory persist for long
your name whispered in Philae’s temple
burn frankincense fills the air
in your hand dangles the ankh of life

Poetry

A poem

A flashlight to lit up the dark
not words like a dog’s bark
but an answer to heart’s search
beyond consciousness its reach
bringing images unforgettable

The structure of rhyme and rhythm
to spin a spider’s web to span the schism
describing beauty to man’s soul
confronting man’s consciousness as a whole
a reflecting mirror of fate and destiny

Rule and reason defeats the mission
emotion and memory circle in confusion
meaning sparks beneath the surface
Writer”s battle not to be superfluous
Reader’s flame of wonder and action

Undefinable search for expression
reaching out to eager ear of perception
the right word slots in the key hole
unlocks deeper meaning for the soul
a moment within which time is standing still