Throughout history, man has attempted to chart his own destiny with a compass, sometimes believing that by going around in a circle, he will get somewhere. But as stubbornly insane as man is, he finally succumbed to the Tao—the god of Gravity, Space and Time. He finally realized that the cycles are supreme, and he laid it down in books, such as the Tao Te Ching and the I-Ching, or the Way of the Virtuous Force and the Cycles. For he noticed that as the moon circled the earth, as the earth spins around its axis, producing the cycle of day and night, and as the earth revolves around the sun, cycling through the four seasons, the tides also turned from a manic high to a depressing low.

And although he noticed that the Virtuous Force produced a legion of personalities as it circled the globe, he simplified this rainbow-like spectrum into five elements—wood, water, earth, fire and metal—the characteristics of the Scholar, Shaman, Business Class, Militants and Working Class. He also realized that the Force pronounced five basic needs within these personalities, namely; self-actualization needs, superego needs, social or belongingness needs, security needs and physiological needs, respectively, as restated by Abraham Maslow in his Hierarchy of Needs.

In the end, man produced an ancient algorithm that could approximate a person’s predisposed needs at birth, after the Force molds the fetus like clay in a Potter’s Wheel. For a while, this secret code allowed an ancient elite group to balance their brain chemistry by knowing the levels of their five elements, to produce happiness and peace. Later, the secret was revealed, but some people thought that this was all hearsay.

However, in 1915, the schizophrenic scientist, Albert Einstein, introduced his Nobel-prize-winning thesis, called Gravitational Theory or better known as the General Theory of Relativity. And all of a sudden, the Way of the Force was confirmed.

Today, the Force continues to shape political, spiritual, economic, security and social policy, around the globe. Some are now seeing the light and have succumbed to the Virtuous Force. How about you? Is the Force with you?

"The Voice of the People is the Voice of God." ("Ang boses ng TAO ay ang boses ng Diyos.")

This is what Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo said, just like other politicians, after she was re-elected in spite of a relatively small margin of victory over opposing voices from other sectors.

Indeed, as Taoists indirectly imply, the Tao and the Virtuous Force behind it is God.

Maybe Mary Magdalene was right when she believed that the schizophrenic teacher IOSOUS (Jesus) said that one who sees the "vision" is one who "does not see through the soul nor through the spirit, but the mind which (is) between the two..." (Gospel of Mary, c.1st-3rd Century C.E.) She said it so concisely. It was only in her extremely short Gospel that everything about the New Testament was summarized into the guidelines of the Middle Way, and to the philosophy of "not giv(ing) a law like the lawgiver lest you be constrained by it."

Surely that is why the male disciples of IOUSUS said, "Say what you (wish to) say about what she has said. I at least do not believe that the Savior said this. For certainly these teachings are strange ideas."

Even Peter said, "Did He really speak with a woman without our knowledge (and ) not openly? are we to turn about and all listen to her? Did He prefer her to us?" But Levi rebutted, "Surely the Savior knows her very well. That is why He loved her more than us. Rather let us be ashamed and put on the perfect man and acquire him for ourselves as He commanded us, and preach the gospel, not laying down any other rule or other law beyond what the Savior said."

Of course, most of the men didn't like having just one "law," the Middle Way, which is not even a law, but a guideline that is too simple, freeing you from suffering. They believed that they wouldn't be taken seriously, so the Gospel of Mary was banned, burned and lost, only to be rediscovered in 1896 as part of the Coptic Berlin Codex 8502 , unearthed in Akhmim, Egypt.

Even today, children are rediscovering the ancient teachings of Buddhism, Taoism and the original Gospel that IOSOUS preached, through modern day super-heroes such as Spider-man. I watched the PG-13 sequel recently, and I have to commend Sony's Columbia Tri-Star for producing such an awesome movie! It's like IOSOUS as Spider-Man and Mary Jane as Mary Magdalene! They did a wonderful job with Doc Ock too! They portrayed him like Ashura in my third book. Certainly the Gospel According to Sony and Stan Lee deserves a round of applause and a standing ovation! Cheers!:D

P.S. On a more serious note, it is interesting to know that the ancient Roman (and Asian) practice of common-law marriage is still legal today in many areas around the world , including the District of Columbia (See Johnson v. Young, 372 A.2d 992, 994--D.C. App. 1977), where lawmakers preside over the United States , and Scotland in the United Kindom, where "marriage by habit and repute" only requires a minimum of 21 days of cohabitation in order for it to be valid with no documents or ceremony.

Actually, most marriages in Europe where common-law relationships until the Council of Trent convened in 1545–1563; thereafter, only a Roman Catholic priest could legally bind a couple in Catholic countries.

However, in the non-canonized Gospel of Philip (c.1st-4th Century CE), the mystery of marriage is discussed in length, including the relationship of Iosous to his biological mother, biological sister and his "companion" (girlfriend or common-law wife,) all three named Mary.

In the end, it will not be surprising for a schizophrenic guru like Iosous to be in love:

"And the companion of the (xxx) Mary Magdalene. (xxx) more than (xxx) the disciples, (xxx) kiss her (xxx) on her (Rated-R). The rest of the disciples (xxx). They said to him "Why do you love her more than all of us?" The Savior answered and said to them, "Why do I not love you like her?"

It finally happened, as expected. It was on December 25, 2004, when Americans celebrated Christmas day, that a 9.0 earthquake shook the other side of the world, in the ASEAN region along the Indian-Burma plate, unleashing a tsunami that would cause one of the worst disasters in modern history. The ocean waves sunk parts of Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and India. At least 155,000 people died because of the powerful waves.

But in spite of this tragedy, the world community's differences started to dissolve for a moment. All of a sudden, dozens of countries and citizens, enemies and friends alike, wanted to help each other. They pledged aid amounting to at least 3 billion dollars, and they offered other types of tangible assistance.

Of course, we know that all these nations and people have political and vested interests, but at least for a moment, tensions were eased. We also know that pledges usually end up as empty promises, but even if the needy gets only a quarter of what was pledged, that would still be helpful. And of course, we know that the event gives terrorists ideas of planting nuclear bombs along fault lines like in Christopher Reeve's Superman movie to evade security forces. But we know that disasters and death are sure to come anyway just as we are certain that day will turn to night.

But probably what is most important is that this event reminds us to enjoy the present, not being too concerned about the past or the future. The present in the middle is what really counts, for the past is gone and in the future, we can instantly be gone.

So be in control by living in the moment, and go with the flow by enjoying what you have right now!


"No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true. Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary."

(Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computer and of Pixar Animation Studios, sharing his Buddhist faith in a commencement address to Stanford University graduates on June 12, 2005)

A few days ago, on November 27, 2004, I was in the Suria KLCC, the mall in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, below the skybridge of the Petronas Twin Towers, currently the second and third tallest buildings in the world, shadowing the Tapei 101 in Taiwan, where the giant among all mega-structures reside. And to my surprise, Oliver Stone's new movie, Alexander, was showing already in the KLCC movie area, ahead of its premiere in other countries. So I went ahead and watched it, expecting it to be the usual type of Hollywood entertainment, where true stories are converted to fantasy to appeal to the needs of an audience that is hungry for iditistic and super egotistic satisfaction, specially for a western audience that needs to be deluded more than anyone else.

And while I sat in the theatre and noticed the zillions of tourists from all over the world surrounding me, with Europeans, Asians and Africans, I started to notice as the movie progressed that the audience well-represented the movie's cast, and the movie felt more and more realistic as it moved forward. Then a European man, who was giving his macho comments about the movie to his Asian girlfriend just before it started, eventually walked out in the middle of the film. The film was more realistic than I thought, which is a no-no in a profit-oriented business. And at the end of Alexander the Gay's movie, Britons walking out to the exit would say, "I never expected the movie to be like this."

Neither did I. But the venue seemed to be so fitting--Malaysia being the melting-pot of so many different races, cultures, religions, philosophies and orientations. And while it seems ironical that it was highlighted below the Twin Towers, it actually is appropriate, being the grand engineering project of so many nationalities--from a Malay vision, to an American architectural mission, and a Korean and Japanese schizophrenic obligation to build the left and right towers seperately, linked together by the harmonious skybridge that joins the two towers, with 88 storeys each.

Now that I'm back in Singapore, I can't help but think about what Senior Minister Lee Kwan Yew did to settle the ethnic dispute about who has ancestral rights over the city-state. Whenever I walk along North Boat Quay, along the Singapore River, I see the grand statue of Stamford Raffles, the "founder" of Singapore. And although it seems ridiculous because common sense tells you it isn't true, Raffles was declared to be the founder of Singapura to tame the Chinese-Malay dispute about who was there first and to appease Alexander-like entities from destroying it again.

Although silly as it seems, it is indeed a sound solution for inter-racial and inter-cultural peace and tranquility. And if it also seems crazy, that a mad man, or rather, a mad gay like Alexander brought international harmony through war and violence, well, if it eventually tames people's delusions and brings universal harmony, then I guess, why not?

It is indeed remarkable to see how the theory presented in this book is shaping out to be more accurate than I thought. Although I think of this book as a hobbyist's ammusement piece, it turns out to be more reliable than I expected.

The partial unofficial results in the Philippine elections clearly shows that what happens in the micro level of every individual also happens in the macro level of each country and in the world. Arroyo (voice of the business class) harnessed approximately 39% of the votes. Poe (voice of the working class) grabbed about 37%. Lacson (voice of the militants) garnered only 10.8%. Roco (voice of the scholars) crawled at 7%. And Brother Eddie (voice of the shamans) humiliated himself with 6.2% of the votes:

37.0% Working Class
10.8% Militants
39.0% Business Class
06.2% Shaman
07.0% Scholar

It presents itself in the more natural feminine hourglass shape, which is roughly the intersection of two societal pyramids, as presented in my first book, Little Voices. And looking at the mind of the Philippines, which looks like a mouse on the world map, you can infer that it has way too much religion and is sick of it. It recognizes that using politically-correct education and white-washed books produces incompetent people who are ineffective in the real world. It longs to satisfy its social and belongingness needs, and it is eager to fill its great desire for more drive. It wants to minimize its laziness and get down and dirty in work. It also recognizes its need for security, but to a lesser degree.

It is indeed interesting that the Philippines was voted this month, for the first time, to be the President of the United Nations Security Council. And what is even more interesting is to see POE, on the left, yielding to Arroyo's system on the right, and attempting to control his sector from a schizophrenic uprising against the voice of the social-belongingness class. Slowly, but surely, the losing voices seem to be yielding, and maybe the country will move toward the direction of speaking with one voice.

Perhaps, F. Scott Fitzgerald is right when he says, "the test of a first class mind is the ability to hold two opposing views...at the same time and still retain the ability to function."

(Fitzgerald is recognized as one of American's great writers and is the author of the Great Gatsby, a book that symbolizes the schizophrenic and bipolar nature of a Great America during the Roaring 1920s and the Great Depression of the 1930s. And yes, apparently Princeton produces a lot of crazies :D )

The Philippine presidential elections has just concluded, and it amuses me to see how the candidates are organized this year. For some strange reason, there are five aspirants, representing the five faces of society--Fernando POE Jr. (shamanistic working class), Lacson (militants), Arroyo (business class), Roco (scholars) and "Brother Eddie" (shaman class). How funny! It has never been this way. Nobody has even read my book and it happened automatically, certainly confirming the automatic nature of the Supreme Tao. It moves by itself; not really needing any help from me. Perhaps, Edgar Allen POE is really right...

"I have no faith in human perfectability. I think that human exertion will have no appreciable effect upon humanity. Man is now only more active--not more happy--nor more wise, than he was 6000 years ago." (Edgard Allen POE, called by George Bernard Shaw as "the greatest journalistic critic of his time.")

And could Edgar Allen POE be referring to Fernando POE, when he said, "I have great faith in fools; self-confidence, my friends call it"? Fernando, after all, is the ridiculed actor, believed to be incapable by "intellectuals."

But then again, can Edgar be trusted, since after all, he said, "I became insane with moments of horrible sanity."

I suppose only Time will truly tell, if it is really true, as he says, that "Men of genius are far more abundant than is supposed. In fact, to appreciate thoroughly the work of what we call genius, is to possess all the genius by which the work was produced."

During a business trip to Northern California last month, I reflected on the 10th anniversary of my confinement in Pasadena. I finally returned back to the country where I was locked up, and just by chance, my American colleagues invited me to visit Alcatraz Island, off Fisherman's Wharf, in San Francisco, California. The "Rock" of America--a former Spanish Celtic fortress and correctional facility--was truly a memorable site for me, and I'll be relating my experience in the future Chapter 4 of this dynamic book series, in the making.

A few days ago, during Easter Sunday, I also visited Corregidor Island in the Philippines. This "Rock" of Asia was also a former Spanish Celtic fortress and an important American base during World War II. I'll also include this experience in the 4th installment...

Whether you call him the Holly King, Herne, Father Ice, Grandfather Frost, Thor, Frey, Tomte, St.Nick, Santa Claus, or Odin, who rides the sky with an eight-legged horse, this book is for all of you Scandinavians and Scandinavian/Celtic Americans! You guys have helped me the most! And I want you to know that I appreciate it!