Prana with Open Arms

Saturday Evening Posts

December 27 to January 2 Edition

Prana with Open Arms

September 7, 2014

Sunday

It's only a quarter past eight in the morning as I write this but I've already made my day very productive.

I woke up at dawn and ran around the jogging lane at the back of Cebu's business district, just a block away from Gorordo Avenue near I'm presently staying.

I did deep breathing exercises and some yoga stretches in the open air. It inspires me to further minimize smoking and to bring more focus on perfecting my current physical body.

All around me were large fields of bermuda lawn and robust trees like in an Ivy League campus. A lot of my fellow joggers are foreigners and rich folks with their own cars.

I took in great gulps of fresh air, constantly on the move away from the areas with the pungent smell of dog droppings and the locals who spit everywhere, bizarrely oblivious to how disgusting they are even for someone who tries not to judge.

I sat down on a tree stump in the sea of grass, absorbing the prana from the air and drawing energy from the earth. I visualized a white healing light filling and purifying my entire being as I inhaled deeply, and I visualized all the stress and negative thoughts as dark smoke being expelled and instantly disintegrating as I breathed out.

I feel an overwhelming calm because of the paradoxically exhilarating sense of physical and spiritual well-being. The white light is God and fills up my senses.

When the sun turned hot and before going to the gym, I walked to the public market in Cabantan about fifteen minutes away to buy fruits and vegetables. Apples are out of season, I was told by a vendor. I bought some bananas.

My typical breakfast for the past weeks is chopsuey and canton noodles with chopped vegetables. I find it very Chinese (I sometimes buy take-out so I can eat them at home using chopsticks) although I have certain aspects that makes me more like Japanese in character.

I'm renting a room in a small house which I share with the landlord, set apart in a quiet family compound. This is in an old wide avenue that gradually became a commercial area, unlike most other places where residential areas with narrow streets deteriorated into urban squalor.

Last night past midnight, I stayed alone in the dark garden, drawing strength from the silence and the solitude. The moon was pale and ghostly. The only light came from my room through the window. I wasn't thinking of anything in particular, just letting my mind breathe, like opening all the doors of your car just to let the air circulate.

But I remember feeling a tinge of melancholy one afternoon a few days ago as I looked out the window at the rain. It fell so hard it felt like a typhoon, and the garden had become a lake. There is something in me that's evoked by the rain, something elemental that responds to one of the wondrous secrets of nature.

That's one of the many joyful mysteries in my life.

Jonathan Aquino's Journals

August 18, 2014

Monday

Dahil sa mga pinagdaanan ko sa pakikisalimuha sa iba't ibang uri ng tao sa dami ng mga napuntahan ko ay lalong naging matalas ang pagkilatis ko sa tao.

Napansin ko na karamihan ay hindi nila pinapakita ang tunay ng saloobin nila sa madla. May mga tao na mahilig sa mga party at inuman, at kung titingnan mo ay parang walang problema sa mundo.

Pero ang iba ang may mga pinagdadaanan sa buhay, yung iba naman ay malungkot ang kanilang personal na buhay. Likas siguro yan, na karamihan sa mga taong nasasalubong mo sa daan ay maraming bagay ang nais nilang baguhin sa buhay nila.

Ako man ay ganun din ngunit may malaki at napakahalagang pagkakaiba. Malungkot ako ngayon dahil malayo ako sa pinakamamahal ko. Tila ba ako dagat na malakas ang alon ngunit sa ilalim ay tahimik. Mayroon kapayapaan sa puso ko na kung saan ay pinaghuhugutan ko ng lakas.

Mas maaliwalas ang pananaw ko lalo ngayon na alam ko na ang mga bagay ng gusto ko at alam kong dapat gawin sa buhay ko. Higit sa lahat, natagpuan ko na ang taong nais kong makasama habambuhay. Walang mga salita na maaaring ilarawan ang aking kasiyahan at pagpapasalamat dahil nasa akin na ang bagay na hinahanap ng lahat ng tao ngunit di nila natagpuan.

Inaaliw ko ang sarili ko sa panonood ng cable sa office pantry bago at pagkatapos ng trabaho. Nakakatutulong din sa akin ito dahil hindi ako nale-late at hindi ako stress na kasabay ang mga crowd sa elevator. Noong nakaraang Huwebes, palabas ang The Patriot habang kumakain ako ng hapunan.

Ito ay kwento ng isang ama, balo, at mag isa niyang pinapalaki ang kanyang pitong anak.

Yung ang panahon ng himagsikan sa Amerika na kasalukuyang sakop ng Inglatera. 

Di siya pumayag na sumali sa gera dahil daw sa mga anak niya. Wala na nga silang ina, at mawawalan pa ng ama.

Ngunit, tanong sa kanya, paano naman ang prinsipyo niya?

Ang hirap ng ganun sitwasyon, kung saan naglalaban ang konsyensya dahil kailangan mamimil. Ang panganay niya ang sumali sa gera kahit labag sa kanya. Ang tanging nais niya ang ay mabuhay nang tahimik kasama ang pamilya. Ngunit iyon ay panahon ng gera. 

The Patriot

Hanggang sa isang araw, dumating na ang mga kaaway. Halos mabaliw siya nang harapin niya mismo ay binaril ang isa niyang anak. Wala nang mas masakit at mapait na kapalaran kaysa dun. Dun nagbago ang lahat, at ang nakalipas ay kailanman di na magbabalik.