Eight Truths I Keep Close To My Heart

1. Only I know what's right or wrong with me.
2. I am on my own path in life.
3. I always am ready to succeed. Success is determined by my happiness, not how rich I am.
4. I'm useful.
5. Love is based on truth. Indeed, its fruit is happiness.
6. Happiness comes from within. It's all about love.
7. Be true to yourself.
8. I'm intelligent enough to manage my life.

Mean Well (satire)

Whenever I feel that the advice and support of a well meaning friend is too much, I stop and ask myself the following questions...

What if it turned out I were getting the best advice by people who actually care about me? Could I forgive them for sometimes sounding me when they are only preparing me for real life?

If we walked around with our butts hurt over the rudeness of others, then this would be a miserable existence.

Well meaning people are only trying to cut through the passiveness that a person demonstrates in order please parents and teachers.

That kind of stuff will not get you hired to work. Even when you get a job, you shall have to persevere to keep it.

In the real world, work consists of a lot of drudgery and little accolades. Nobody cares about you until they actually need you for a brief moment.

So I am quiet about accomplishments like being about to enjoy the bitter cold because I am not standing around thinking it's cold.

Instead I am walking around to keep warm, putting up with rich people. By trying to do my job, rather than be a people person with a crowd that is moderately dysfunctional, I am thankful to know that Western society values individualism yet provides rules to make society function, often at odds with each citizen's right to be free.

However, you might get lucky and get a cushy job that pays well -- but requires less time on the computer and surfing the Internet.

Your priorities shall change. Adult life is fun only if you desire to fit in. That means you have to be a team player, and not be a mere observer of life. For you too can live the well lived life.

I mean well by writing this unasked advice. Yet life is not supposed to be easy.

So deal with it.

Meditation of a Buddhist Mormon (satire)

This morning I thought about anjin and shinjin, two terms from Jodo Shinshu Buddhism.

Anjin is a Japanese Buddhist term that means peace of mind due to shinjin, a mind truly assured of rebirth in the Pure Land of Bliss.

This is not unlike the peace of mind of a righteous person who truly believes that he will go to a greater glory in the afterlife.

For Amida promised rebirth to those whose peace of mind (anjin) is due to shinjin, the true mind arising from trusting in his promise of rebirth in his Pure Land.

Even though Buddhism and Christianity have sometimes opposing views on life, I truly believe that faith in the Christ is similar yet different from faith in the promise of Amida Buddha. It certainly helps to suspend disbelief when reconciling Buddhism and Christianity in my mind.

Rather than solely relying on his own power, a Buddhist puts his faith in the Buddha, the Christian puts his faith in God.

Additionally, Jesus promised eternal life in the New Heaven and Earth after a Millennium spend under His reign. For the peace of mind gained from belief that the promise of eternal life is true arises from being truly assured of rebirth in the Kingdom of God.

Even though our present life is limited in length, the Christian promise of eternal life appears at odds with the Buddhist concept of no-self, which claims life is impermanent (limited). This is because Buddhism accepts the truth that life is full of suffering, short as it is.

Indeed, Buddhism accepts life has it is.

In contrast, Christianity has the Christ promise eternal life for us in the afterlife. While Buddhism helps me to accept life as it is, I have also allowed for the Christian concept of the afterlife.

From my point of view, there is no conflict between the Buddhist concept of no-self (life is impermanent) and the Christ's promise of eternal life in Afterlife. For this present existence is impermanent, yet the Afterlife is no less impermanent.

Even so, the Buddhist concept of the consciousness stream allows for impermanence to be transcended.

Thus that which eternal in the Afterlife is viewed as existing for an exceedingly long time, and that which is impermanent in this life is viewed as existing for a limited time.

Therefore both Buddhism and Christianity are in some ways compatible because they meet my spiritual needs in this life and they also help settle my mind about the Afterlife. This helps to redefine my concept of eternity and immortality to reconcile the transient nature of life with the apparent permanence of the Afterlife.

Yet life is a place where anything can happen.

Though this life is truly precious, I have faith that the Afterlife will be glorious. Indeed, I treasure my life because of its limitations. When it ends one day, the Afterlife awaits.

For my mind is at peace, and I am truly willing to live each day to the fullest.

---

Reference:

Anjin and shinjin: http://www.trueshinbuddhism.com/content/view/36/61/
Anjin: http://diamondlikeshinjin.blogspot.ca/2010/10/anjin.html
Impermanence: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impermanence
Afterlife: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afterlife

posted from Bloggeroid

Forgiveness the Economy of the Heart

Forgiveness is the economy of the heart... Forgiveness saves the expense of anger, the cost of hatred, the waste of spirits. — Hannah More

Moderation is encouraged by forgiveness. When for anger is spent, hatred is cast away, and the spirit is redeemed.

Just as gold is refined by fire, so too do we pass through the hells of life to transcend and encounter briefly the momentary joy due to the power of love, namely loving-kindness which is the wellspring of human compassion.

Due to the working of the Primal Vow, which is enabled through the power of love, it is said in Pure Land Buddhism that the Buddhist is truly assured of rebirth in the Pure Land of Bliss.

With this mantra am I reborn there: Namu Amida Butsu.

---

Original posted: January 7, 2006 8:56 PM

Reference:

Primal Vow: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primal_Vow‎

Everything is beautiful (satire)

No, that's not a statement a manic makes. For everything is beautiful in life unless we suck the life out of it.

Most likely, there shall be complaints galore about the ugliness in life, and the punchline may be dropped. "I have a secret plan to make my life beautiful!"

Yet there will not be any coherent elucidation of that plan.

Why not? Because it's "a secret."

A person who is more holistically connected with the world would admit that he does not know why everything is beautiful.

A manic would question beauty because of the secret hatred that he possesses like a piece of rock crystal.

All around him, the world is sparkly like a diamond, yet out of reach.

Almost everyone else is enjoying the view, and finding gems of wisdom in the silver lining of Heaven itself.

Only the pessimist would call Heaven "the clouds above."

Even so, it is true that everything is beautiful in its own way.

---

Originally posted: September 10, 2011 12:29 PM PDT

I Look (poem)

I look outside and see the sun
shine on the workers on the street
i look around the living room
and see the works of art
the roommate makes
as she works out "issues".
i look into my aching heart
as i sit here quietly waiting
until the sunset glows brilliant
orange across the horizon
and the stars come out and
the moon shines over everything.
I look up at the night
sky filled with stardust
and think, "it's all a miracle,
my life, your life, our life!"
I look in the mirror as
I dance, feeling wonderful...

An Open Letter to CSIS

Dear CSIS

Since you are monitoring my smartphone and my computer via metadata and email as part of a Canadian security act, it's your obligation to keep me safe from harm.

I know you know where I live. The purpose of Big Brother is not just to spy on me to protect national security; it's also to protect each citizen who submits to such scrutiny from harm.

This is what Section 7 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms legally obligates the Government of Canada to do: the right to life, liberty, and security of the person. As part of the Canadian government, that too is part of your mandate.

That's what we pay our taxes for.

Birth and Death and the Middle Way

Life is the companion of death,
death is the beginning of life.
Who understands their workings?
Man's life is a coming together of breath.
If it comes together, there is life;
if it scatters, there is death.
And if life and death are companions to each other,
then what is there for us to be anxious about?
— Chuang Tzu

A society that fears death such that almost everyone refuses to discuss death "out of respect for the dead" has thus paid false respect for their dead.

If such a society has no coming-of-age ritual to inculcate fearlessness in the face of death, then making death taboo is a cowardly act.

By fearing death, a person is but a coward when society treasures life so much that mass media glorifies youth to the point where the elderly are mocked by placing them in old age homes to die.

Western society thus is rendered sick in the sense that we associate death with sadness and despair to the point where the dead's living relatives are called "survivors".

In Taoism, Chuang Tzu wrote the truth about how death should be treated, as a companion of life.

Furthermore, viewing death as the beginning of life makes more sense than seeing it as the end of life.

Death is only the end of life when we ignore the afterlife.

Because society sees any depiction of the afterlife as fiction, it makes sense that death is taboo.

Such a society would rather let mass media manufacture a violent parody of life than make a film about the afterlife according to Buddhism.

Indeed, there has never been a movie about the Tibetan Buddhist afterlife, despite a book being written about Tibetans who have returned from the dead to tell about it.

Is it because the Dalai Lama forbids it? Or is it out of false piety and respect for the Tibetans that Hollywood has yet to finance such a venture?

Personally I find the Buddhist afterlife to be a place where anything can happen. I could be reborn in the hells and suffer according to the evil karma I have accumulated in this life. Eons later, I may spend time in the hungry ghost realm not taking any pleasure from eating.

Later on, I may be reborn as a worm in the animal realm, only to be eaten by a bird. Then I might be reborn as a girl in the human realm. Many eons later, I could end up in the demon realm and fight with other demons.

Much later, I may be reborn in the realm of gods and live a long life only to be reborn in one of the Buddhist heavens.

However, each rebirth still requires hearing the Dharma and turning away from evil. In this case, karmic evil would occur when I act according to the realm in which I am reborn.

In the human realm, to act like other humans requires committing evil karma. All the things humanity does to glorify humankind cannot help but create seeds of evil karma which only leads to rebirth in samsara, the realms of desire — the hells, hungry ghost, animal, human, demons and gods.

What kind of existence is this? Is it worth being reborn endlessly due to evil karma?

I do not believe so. For samsara is not humanity's destiny if we choose to live according to the Buddhadharma.

Contrary to what the brahmins of Santanadharma preach, rebirth in samsara is not a person's destiny when she chooses to become a Buddha.

In choosing to become a Buddha, even one sentient being abandons ignorance for the greater good of all sentient beings. This happened to Gotama over 2500 years ago. He became Sakyamuni Buddha in one lifetime, and discovered that he too spent previous lifetimes as a Bodhisattva, preparing for Nirvana.

Even after his mahaparinirvana, which appears to us as an earthly death, the Buddha was liberated to be whatever it is causes each Buddhist to abandon human existence in samsara to become like him.

He could be your Buddhist teacher, a guru, or even someone you hate. He might appear as your mother, your father, your brother, your sister, your family, or even that bully who beat you up in Grade Two.

Whenever whatever another person does to us, good or bad, if we are inspired to learn from it and become better than we were before, then that is due to the Buddhadharma.

For it is the Buddha's aim to liberate all sentient beings from human existence and not be reborn in Samsara.

Each liberated sentient being is destined to become a Buddha when she has heard the Buddhadharma — the Four Noble Truths, dependent arising — and, repenting her former life, jumps over to the Middle Way.

Truthful Speaking: Circles, Illumination and Transparent Life

In the John Crowley novel, "Engine Summer", something deep and enlightening is explained regarding the circumstances of life. Painted Red, a gossip, is explaining to the protagonist, Rush that Speaks, about his destiny to become a saint.

"A life is circumstances. Circumstances are encircling, they're circles. The circle of a saint's life , all its circumstances, is contained in the story of his life as he tells it; and the story of his life is contained in our memory of it. The story of his life is a circumstance in ours. So the circle of his life is contained in the circle of our lives, like circles of ripples rising in water. — John Crowley, in Engine Summer; page 412, Otherwise

Life refers to "the state of being which begins with generation, birth, or germination, and ends with death; also, the time during which this state continues."

Circumstances refers to your overall circumstances or condition in life (including everything that happens to you)."

In the etymology of "circumstance", it is defined as "conditions surrounding and accompanying an event," from Old French circonstance "circumstance, situation," also literally, "outskirts" (13c., Modern French circonstance), from Latin circumstantia "surrounding condition," neuter plural of circumstans (genitive circumstantis), prp. of circumstare "stand around, surround, encompass, occupy, take possession of" from circum "around" (see circum-) + stare "to stand" from PIE root *sta- "to stand" (see stet). The Latin word is a loan-translation of Greek peristasis.

Circumstances also refers to possibilities.

Circumstances thus refers to events in a person's life which is told "in the story of his life as he tells it."

Using the Filing System and its slides as a simile, Painted Red helps Rush to explain his understanding of the stories of the saints within context of the person listening to it.

"...They (the saints) made their lives transparent ... and their lives can be placed before our own, in our remembering their stories, and reveal things to us about ourselves...

They're saints, not because of what they did, especially, but because in the telling of it, what they did became transparent, and your own life could be seen, through it, illuminated." — ibid.

Through the stories of saints, a person is able to see clearly the circumstances of her own life. By telling the story of a saint, he could see his own life clearly. In this way is his life illuminated.

Painted Red then explain thats truthful speaking is the foundation of a transparent life that frees a person from death to live a life transparent in their circumstances.

"Without truthful speaking, there could be no transparent life. And in transparent life, the saints hoped that one day we might be free from death; not immortal, as the angel tried to become, but free from death, our lives transparent even as we live them: not through a means, you see, like the Filing System or even truthful speaking, but transparent in their circumstances: so that instead of telling a story that makes life transparent, we will ourselves be transparent, and not hear or remember a saint's life, but live it: live many lives in the moment between birth and dying." — ibid.

Truthful speaking helps the speaker to see life clearly. In this way, she is free from death, not in the sense of seeking immortality like angels. but by truthful speaking. For it makes for a life that is "transparent in their circumstances."

In this way, by being seen clearly as she is, not merely hearing a story of a saint's life, she is actually living "many lives (of the saints) in the moment between birth and dying."

Rethinking my life

September 8, 2004: I know when it becomes dysfunctional: when I'm in the hospital, recovering from a concussion. In walks my mother and sister with her two nieces.

After telling them what happened to me, my mother proceeds to claim that karma is the reason I'm in the hospital i.e. my attitude prior to getting assaulted at a job site. Not one word about the fact that i survived it and am still alive. How cold!

Meanwhile my sister's unwarranted fear gets a hold of her, and she starts blathering about getting a gun to deal with future assault.

My response to that comment was to state that such violence is inappropriate.

When I had some time alone to think about it, i made my employer my next of kind contact, because my ex-girlfriend would be inappropriate since she has a new boyfriend. As well, I requested that if my mother called, that she not know when i get out of the hospital.

Two weeks later, my mother calls and doesn't mention her inappropriate remarks. The next time she calls, I don't call back. The reason why I don't wish to forgive her is because I am tired of the dysfunctional behavior.

Since my mother can't change, I'll have to change my own behavior, even when it means being cut off from dysfunctional mother love.

Update March 12, 2013

Today, I have stopped overreacting to my mother when she uses shaming to control me. Instead, I let her words into one ear and out the other ear, like mental floss. >:)

It is becoming so easy to ignore her, but to still thank her for preparing a wonderful dinner afterwards.

All it takes is a lot of patience and love to bear the brunt of her aggression with aplomb. All I have to do to prevent forgetting boundaries, is to practice patience and love as a son.

Though, when she becomes relentless in the insults œmdash; yesterday it was the "you have a horrible body odour" broken record, which is actually a hallucination on her part because she'd never be able to smell my body odour.

Just before she started talking like this, she told me that I messed up the couch I sat on and "stinked it up" despite the fact that I had showered before I came.

According to her, since I am not capable of keeping myself clean according to her arbitrarily high standards, it follows that I need to wash good.

Before I left, she offered me another bar of soap. Gee, it looks like I was actually getting brainwashed regarding "perfect hygiene and cleanliness!"

So I declined the offer of soap, since I have yet to use the one she gave me two weeks ago.

---

Original post: September 8, 2004 2028H
Update posted: March 12, 2013 0651H

The "Right" Decision

I decided in Grade 12 I'd never get married.

34 years later, with most of my classmates either single, married or divorced, IMHO that decision gets validated with the latest news headlines about youth crime and "swarmings", thanks to the State monitoring of child abuse in the family (a last resort of discipline) and the resulting "spare the rod, spoil the child" method of child rearing now being enforced.

Yet I sometimes get told that I've never truly lived a full life because I've never raised a family.

In retort I say "The Dalai Lama never raised a family, but he has saved his Tibetan culture, which in essence is his whole 'family'."

Thus, in choosing not to raise a family of my own, I chose to help and be of service to others. Indeed, in my eyes, the whole world is my "family".

Like the Essence of Dharma (poem)

Hard it is to be born poor,
even harder to accept is
becoming poor when once rich.
Free are creatures small
that fly about or crawl,
but freer still is Man.

Liberation is a process binding
all sentient beings to samsara,
yet freeing the one thing
sentient being have: consciousness.
For it is the consciousness
that Nirvana frees, not the soul.
For consciousness is non-self,
and on contemplating
the whole universe,
is contained within the heart-mind.

When such joy is found,
easy is the peace of mind
regardless of want.
Craving thus ended is gone,
replaced by calm abiding.
Easier is acceptance
of one's lot in life,
to not strive needlessly, lest
the joy of being
is traded in for gold.

For the joy of being is
more precious than gold itself.
It is more precious
than the sweet life.
Those who have never tasted
the sweetness of life
are free of mental caries
which lead to sadness —
they know the Void is all things.

For the Void is the Buddha womb
which gives birth to peace,
within your heart-mind, but calls
out to you calmly,
that peace called Buddha Nature.
All "I", "me", or "mine"
are but conceptions, not things
which last forever &mdash
If "I" truly existed,
it would always weep
for lack of profit, but then
the selfless know well
the folly of such delusions.
If "me" existed,what would be
the point of "you" except
to make the world less lonely?
If "mine" existed, would that
allow "yours" to share?
Thinking these conceptions things,
each of us is free to choose
the delusions or let go
of it, to uncover peace of mind.

With peace comes the calm mind,
achieved through careful contemplation
whilst letting go of conceptions,
and holding onto nothingness,
the seed of well being,
freed in spite of strife,
close to the struggle called life,
yet closer still in the midst of
physical poverty to the endless process
called by many names: freedom,
joy of being, letting go, liberation...
Ignore the distraction of egoistic Love,
lest it be the death of Nirvana.

Holding tightly, the ignorant fear such freedom —
death overtakes everyone.
And yet, the Buddha
Shows a shining example.
Letting go, the seeker is free
to explore nothingness,
which is filled with potential
far greater than death:
the pure joy of peace of mind!

Where once these words first brought fear,
they shall bring joy on the retelling.
Contained within what was written is like
the essence of the Dharma,
but feel free to doubt this.
To anyone who fails to research anything
written here, and, in fleeing, hides
behind disbelief: walk on with lack of faith
but respect the Buddha as the mother of boundless joy.

Thank you Anonymous

One day I looked at my statistics and came upon lgsec Anonymous.

Dear Anonymous, thank you again for posting my page on water.

It (water) is the lifeblood of humanity. Words related to water is in Buddhist theology. The ocean is used as the euphemism for life, and specifically people.

In Zen, rain is a metaphor for tears and related tragedy. Poetically speaking, water appears in symbolic forms such a raindrops for tear drops, thus signifying sadness and tragedy.

As well, the same reference to life and people is used by employing the word "ocean". It is also possible to refer to the "river of life" to symobolize society's rush to the future.

So again I thank lgnsec Anonymous for hosting my words.

Know Thyself (poem)

Forever be the mystic lover of life,
Yet expose that mysticism to scrutiny daily
Lest occultism lead to tragedy and death.
Only the mysticism of the Unknown
Is open to scrutiny, revealing the Knowable.
It begins when the mystic lover applies
The ancient Delphic oracle's advice to "Know thyself."

---

This poem is a commentary on Matthew Fox's 95 Theses.

See also my commentary on the 95 Theses and my GooglePlus recommendation. — shk

All of Life Hacks, From Algae to Humans

NSA and CSIS are hackers, even the sexists who harrass women, for subliminal seduction too is hacking.

Even you all are hackers but don't even know it. I a hacker, u a hacker We a hacker too! Nobody should be excluded.

Anyone who denies being a #hacker even Obama may be a LIAR.

#LIAR == Love, Intelligence, Active, Romantic

Oxford Dictionary has it wrong, because that's the colonial definition.

I'm a #LIAR and proud of it because hacking is good & not #hacking leads to death. Even little babies hack, too. They after all #hack life.

However, judge not others for they will judge you in return three times harshly.

Whenever someone calls a #cracker who "hacked" someone else's personal info, he hacked NOTHING — he just put on a black hat.

Therefore, all a #criminal "hacker" is a #crackerjack #blackhat #hacker. He'll spin the truth to make it seem like #whitehat hackers suck.

Remember though: even babies hack, so hacking is not just about computers, for the best hack mankind did was to invent language.

If we had to rely on what non-humanoid beings have for millions of years to communicate, then we'd have no need for computers.

Just as there are computer hackers, there are also hacks who spin a story from a few facts sprinkled between hyperbole.

Do not forget that people do not actually lie; they merely keep their peace.

Nothing in this article is a lie or the truth; that's ephemeral.

What's important is, quite possibly even non-humanoid life hacks too. For example, crows making tools is a hack.

Thus all life hacks, from algae to human beings. This is what the Buddha means by "the suffering of sentient beings leads to enlightenment" which means "all life hacks, to survive lest we all suffer."

Therefore, hacking seeks life to make things beautiful as it was in the beginning.

The Spark Divine (poem)

Though we doubt existence
of God, no one knows how
birds know when to sing.
When a poor fool attributes
all of this to some divine spark,
he's derided for his simple answer
by others still in the dark.

While we know exactly
when the sun may set,
few of us can explain why
some sunsets are rosy
while others are drab and gray.

A generation may pass
before a wisened scientist
steps up to hypothesize that
in all life, there is a spark divine.
In response to his hypothesis,
the whole world might jeer:
"We knew that all along!"

The Irony of Loving-Kindness

A month ago, I talked with my best friend.

That day, out of impulse, I needed to explain myself to her.

Anyway, we arranged to meet at the church where I graduated from a Christian 12 Step program called Freedom Session that she facilitates.

While I waited there, I greeted a few people I know, including the program's coordinator. As well, I donated spared change from my pocket to the church.

When my best friend arrived, we chatted for a little while.

In addition, I mentioned that I came to the program as a Buddhist curious about Christianity.

She replied that she has her mind set on a man who is a firmly rooted in Christianity.

She also advised me to tell my facilitator, who I'll call Harry, about my reasons for my curiosity in Christianity.

Before heading off to her volunteer work, she offered me a ride to the closest rapid transit station.

On the way there I wanted to say to her, "I was taught to fear God out of respect for Him, which results in a Christian becoming fearless."

However it came out garbled, sounding more like "In facing fear, a person becomes fearless."

The next day I said to my facilitator that I came to the program as a Buddhist curious about Christianity, and he asked me how he could be of help.

I replied that we should talk more about Christianity, mentioning that in Buddhism, we are supposed to take the best of what is offered in other spiritual traditions and leave the rest unblemished.

What this means is, as a Buddhist, I will not put down other spiritual paths.

Any jokes I have made in the past about Christianity reflects more of my own shortcomings than that of Christianity.

As a result of our chat three weeks ago, we've been discussing Christianity, both in general and specifically about the Bible.

The irony is that my Buddhist upbringing provides me with the tool of meditation to constructively make use of Christianity to enable loving-kindness — a concept common to both faiths — to overcome my personal issues.

Meditation helps me achieve the clear mind to clearly see my way through almost any situation I encounter and develop the insight to help over my issues.

My curiosity about other spiritual paths reflects humanity's curiosity about discovering one's purpose in life.

I believe that my spiritual faith helps me to let go of the trivial details about life.

In letting go of such details, the complications behind my personal issues may still remain.

Yet I am able to more effectively deal with each of them.

Facing fear: That Which is Indestructible

"Only to the extent that we expose ourselves over and over to annihilation can that which is indestructible in us be found." Pema Chodron

For the average person, fear of annihilation may lead to anxiety about death.

Facing that fear is the way out of such anxiety.

"That which is indestructible in us" refers to courage and the ability to overcome fear in the face of annihilation.

This Body Be Weak Though This Heart Be Willing

I am, yet am limited
By this old body;
yet this mind is all I know —
Ah, but still I reach
for the stars with mortal arms!

Dragons and Serpents: Water as The Mythopoëtic Symbol for Life

Serpents and dragons get short shrift in Western culture. In actual fact, they symbolize the life-giving properties of water, fertility and immortality.

In certain aspects of world culture, serpents represent immortality as seen by the water cycle of where evaporation of water from bodies of water such as rivers, lakes, streams, and the sea causes clouds to form and then rain to fall, only for the raindrops to mingle into many streams which flow into many rivers into the sea.

In Chinese mythology, Nüwa is said to have created humankind. She is also a repairer of the four pillars that are said to hold up the heavens (the sky); a wife or sister, and usually depicted ass what the Indians call a naga, a half-human, half-snake demigod; and a goddess of the Miao people.

In Chinese symbology, the serpent and especially the dragon represent water, especially clouds, rain and rivers. Its association with fertility has to do with the life-giving properties of water, without which all life on Earth would perish.

With Nüwa being half serpent and half human, this represents fertility and reproduction. As well, Nüwa may also be viewed as a dragon. Yet this is mythopoëtic language, which includes also the snake's association with the Tree of Life from Greek and earlier Babylonian mythology and the Tree of Knowledge and Immortality in Judeo-Christian symbology.

In ancient Egyptian symbology, a serpent represents the land and its fertility as governed by the waters of the Nile. The common theme of Renenutet and Wadj have is the serpent as a symbol. The most ancient of Egyptian goddesses is Wadjet (or Wadj), the Green One of Lower Egypt, yet even more ancient is Renenutet, the Snake Goddess who represents birth and child-rearing, as well as the true name of the soul (Ren).

Renenutet is seen as a symbol of fertility, harvests, and thus of good fortune and riches, while Wadj is associated with Bast, the fierce warrior goddess, usually depicted with a cat's head in ancient Egyptian art.

What Nüwa and the Egyptian goddesses Renenutet and Wadj share in common is the serpent i.e. Nüwa and her brother are half-human and half-serpent, while both Egyptian goddesses' symbol is the cobra.

Regarding Nüwa and association with the naga, the Nagas as a race supposedly worshipped the Indian cobra, which has a weak association with Wadj. In ancient times, an ancient king of Egypt had laid siege to the ancient Indus Valley city-state of Mohenjo-Daro in the Late Harappan period circa 1900 BCE. This civilization might be a collaborative effort between Babylonian, Mediterranean and Dravidian people.

This is more indicative of a serpent totem than a race of half-serpent, half-human peoples. Naga represents freedom, because a snake cannot be tamed.

In Indochina mythology (Cambodia, Laos and Thailand), the Rocket Festival in mid-May is a reminder of the Sky God to honor his peace treaty with the bodhisattva known as the Toad King. In this myth of the Toad King, the Toad King angered the Sky King with his popular sermons, thus causing the people to neglect their worship of the sky. In response, the Sky King withheld the rain, instructing the Rain Princess to stop letting water fall on the land. Acting without authority and support of the Toad King, the Naga King Mekong declared war on the Sky King, only to lose. Once persuaded to act by Mekong, the Toad King got termites to build mounds to the heavens so that centipedes and scorpions could pester the Sky King and bring him and the sky down to earth. Once on the earth, the Sky King sued for peace. In celebration, rockets were fired. Now every year throughout Southeast Asia the Rocket Festival is performed to remind the Sky King to honor his promise of rain. Indeed, the Rocket Festival happens during the first rains of mid-May.

---

Reference:

• Ancient Egyptian Mythology:
  • Nüwa: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nüwa
    
  • Wadjet: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wadjet
    
  • Renenutet: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renenutet
    
  • Bast: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bast
    
• Indus Valley Civilization: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indus_Valley_Civilisation
  Nagas and their relation to Babylonian and Mediterranean people:
  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N%C4%81ga
    
  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serpent_%28symbolism%29#Nagas
• Serpent totem: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nagavanshi#Serpent_Totem_and_Naga_race
  Myth of the Toad King: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocket_Festival#The_Myth_of_the_Toad_King