My Favourite Life Philosophy?

 

The other day I received an e-mail from Professor Rebus. Who? What? Who is Professor Rebus I hear you ask? Well, he's not a 'professor'. No, he is the creator of the Pitcherwits puzzle, a mixture of formal cryptic crossword puzzle clues and image clues. In his e-mail he asks for those subscribers to write, in this case, an article about 'your life' philosophy. Here is what I wrote.

Well, mine is based on three key teachings of that man who lived about 2,500 years ago in Northern India: the Buddha. In his Three Marks of Existence teaching, he stated that our everyday lives are conditioned by impermanence (Pali: annica), suffering (Pali; dukkha) and non-self (Pali: annata). What does this actually mean in my life? If I separate myself from the actual teachings I begin to acknowledge a wider picture of me and everything around me. For instance, I decide to drive to my nearest supermarket for some groceries. I'm about halfway there and my car breaks down. I get out of the car, lift up the hood, and I find the engine's run out of oil. Damn! The effect on my emotions turn from frustration to anger. Why, oh why, oh why? Had I checked the oil level on that day, or the day before, or the previous week, then this wouldn't have happened. The car engine, like everything else in life, is subject to change.

This example of impermanence transforms into anguish, torment, in other words, suffering. It's the whole pain of something happening right out of the blue; the car breaking down, the mental trauma, in that moment when life is going along just well, driving my beautiful silver Chrysler 300 to the supermarket, listening to the sweet soul sounds on the radio - and then boom! If the Buddha had been walking past my car that day he might have stopped, looked at the car engine, and then me. I would have said, "Why, Buddha, why did this have to happen? I'm frustrated!" To which the enlightened being would have replied, "If you didn't own the car, you wouldn't have broken down in the first place - simple!" In other words our very belongings, our ownership of stuff, possessions, from the Chrysler to my Samsung mobile, from my Hugo Boss three-piece suit to my Rolex Submariner watch, they are all potential examples of change and suffering.

But, and lastly, what about the person who experiences all this pain: according to Gautama, the non-self (annata)? Over the years I have dug deep into the aspects of dukkha and annica and have a full understanding about the interaction of the two. Where there is change, there is suffering and vice-versa. But non-self? The Buddha basically stated, and based on a lifetime of meditation and teaching, the so-called self doesn’t exist. Yes, it’s a difficult one to get one’s head around. But I have to say that I eventually began to get it. If there is no ‘me’ then where will dukkha and annica attach to? Absolutely! Forget this thing we call ‘me’ and ‘I’ and life begins to get a bit easier, manageable, and uncomplicated. Because all of life’s suffering originates in you, whoever you think you are.

I rest my case . . .  

Just Where is Peng Shuai?

 

Just in case you've been living on another planet during the last 48 hours, you would have seen the news that is spreading all around the world, which is the disappearance of the Chinese tennis player, Peng Shuai. The thirty-five-year-old tennis player from Hunan Province is a Wimbledon and Tour Championships doubles champion who claimed that a Chinese former vice-premier, Zhang Gaoli, now 75, sexually assaulted her over a period of at least 10 years. She had written an e-mail about this on the 2nd November. The post with screenshots of the accusations was deleted from Weibo, China's Twitter-like social media platform, within 30 minutes of publication. Censors deleted any mention of her accusation online and her account was blocked from searchers. The post went viral nonetheless, and censors blocked keywords like ‘tennis’ and removed numerous references to Peng from China's internet.

So here we have yet another instance of the diabolical misbehaviour of the Chinese authorities. You don't need to be a Philadelphia lawyer to know that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is overseeing this whole sorry affair. I ask them here - where is Miss Peng Shuai? You must know because you control the everyday lifestyles of every single living Chinese man and woman in your country. But I'll tell you what, this isn't going to go away any time soon. I can mention the likes of Andy Murray, Naomi Osaka, Serena Williams, Billie Jean King, and Novak Djokovic who have voiced their concerns; and to this we can add requests from the Word Tennis Association (WTA), the Professional Tennis Players Association (PTPA) and right up to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for evidence that the girl is still alive. Just hours ago the question of Miss Shuai's disappearance was raised in the United Nations. And lastly, the White House Press secretary, Jen Psaki said, "We are deeply concerned by reports that Peng Shuai appears to be missing after accusing a former PRC (Peoples Republic of China) senior official of sexual assaults. We join in the calls for PRC authorities to provide independent and verifiable proof of her whereabouts and that she is safe."

Of course, various Chinese mouthpieces have declared that this is some fantasy and that the girl is safe and secure in the country. Okay, Chinkies, if that is the case, tell us where she is? Provide proof. Because as I have stated earlier, this story is not going to go away and I do believe something quite devastating is going to rear its ugly head . . . is this wonderful tennis player still alive? Has she been bumped off? Is it game, set and match for one Peng Shuai?

Only time will tell my friends. I shall follow up with another related post soon.

Qatar, the World Cup and Alcohol

Next year, in 2022, when it comes to football, history will be made. Why? Because the Middle East country, Qatar, will become the first Arab nation to hold the 92-year-old event. This selection happened in 2010 when the FIFA Executive Committee awarded the tournament to Qatar. Shortly after, the German newspaper, Bild, reported that there had been corrupt goings-on within FIFA and the rulers of Qatar. However, that is history. The fact is, Qatar will host the tournament next year.

Qatar, as you no doubt know, is an Islamic country and Sharia Law is the main source of legislation as per the constitution of the country. In other words, Islam more or less dominates all aspects of life. There are many things that are allowed in other parts of the world but are forbidden in Qatar; drinking alcohol is one of them - or is it? And I do have experience of this country, having worked there during 2007 - 2008.

According to Sharia Law alcohol is prohibited to be consumed while living in Qatar. It is considered a crime but I can tell you otherwise. Now if you are an Arab and caught drinking alcohol you would be arrested and, after having been found guilty in court, you'd be flogged and jailed. If you are an expat working in Qatar well it's different.

Qatar has, over the past twenty years or so, given some relaxation to foreigners allowing them to drink alcohol in Qatar. If you are an expat and a resident of the country you can buy alcohol from the Qatar Distribution Company. The Qatar Distribution Company has very strict conditions to be followed while selling alcohol in the country. Generally, they sell to only those who have the permit of residence. This means that one has to have a work contract in Qatar to buy alcohol.

But what about hotels? Well, I lived in the capital, Doha, and would get a chartered bus to my work place, the Ras Lafan ‘Industrial City’, a sprawling mass of gas plants and storage facilities about 20 miles north of Doha. Anyway, some of us expats would go out on a Saturday night for a drink. Our ‘local’ was the Sheraton Hotel. Note that there are no pubs in Qatar, only a handful of five-star hotels that are allowed to sell alcohol; only FIVE STAR!

Corruption does exist in Qatar and by corruption, I’ll say only this. Every Saturday night in Doha when we went for a drink in the Sheraton, at exactly nine o’clock, the bar upstairs where we enjoyed a pint, allowed a bunch of Filipino ‘ladies of the night’! Yes, prostitution did exist. They would come up to you if you were at the bar or to your table and basically would chat you up. No bullshit folks. In fact, we all learned that this was a controlled situation by the local police and government authorities.

As for the World Cup, well, I just don’t know how the authorities are going to cope. Yes, you can visit the five-star hotel bars and have a drink. But be warned that if, after you’ve had a heavy drink and walk to your apartment half-pissed and the cops see you, you’ll be arrested. So beware! And with maybe 100,000 football fans descending on the city next year, well, I can only see chaos. We’ll see!

Lukashenko, Poland and Beyond

 

I think we have all been a bit concerned about the growing chaos that is currently taking place on the Belarus and Poland borders. Here we have, according to some reports, more than 1,000 migrants who are now trying to cut down the barbed wire fences and, to be honest, don't look like migrants - no, more like terrorists! And the other report from the Polish Government was that there are between 3,000 - 4,000 migrants settled in an improvised camp on the border just across from its village of Kuźnica. And sat in the background possibly slurping on a large vodka is the Belarusian dictator, Alexander Lukashenko, egging them on, supporting their cause, hoping to create yet more migrant chaos not only in Poland but in Europe and beyond? Of course, he is.

Here is a dictator, not that different from the once most evil tyrant on the planet, Joseph Stalin. Lukashenko, back in May this year, had his air force intercept a flight from Greece to ‘capture’ Raman Protasevich, a Belarusian dissident living in exile in Lithuania.

As I understand, Mr Protasevich, is still under house arrest and no trial has yet has taken place. One can only wonder about the potential torture this man has undergone!! In fact, maybe the one-time blogger is dead. We might never find out.

But getting back to the Polish border. A spokesman for the European Commission stated yesterday, “This is part of the inhuman and really gangster-style approach of the Lukashenko regime that he is lying to people, he is misusing people, misleading them, and bringing them to Belarus under the false promise of having easy entry into the EU.” Lukashenko is using these so-called migrants as pawns against EU and American sanctions. It’s no secret amongst nearly all Western countries that this heinous mongrel poses a massive threat to the West. But it’s not so much as a leader but more that he has the full backing of Putin’s Russia. It was only five days ago when Putin made this statement: “We will together resist any attempts to interfere in the internal affairs of our sovereign states and Russia will, of course, continue to provide assistance to the brotherly Belarusian people – there is no doubt about that.” So there you have it, straight from the little horse’s mouth.

And to finish this blog, just this morning, Lithuania declared a state of emergency in its border regions in reaction to events on the Polish-Belarusian border where big groups of migrants have amassed. But Lithuania has already built a wall along the Belarusian border to prevent migrants from entering the country. Well done, Lithuania. But my last concern is this. Just how many more thousands of migrants are on their way? One doesn’t have to be a Philadelphia lawyer to assume that there are probably thousands. But don’t you worry immigrants from wherever you come from, Mr Lukashenko will welcome you with open arms!