A Journey of a Thousand Miles Begins With a Single Step - #Beleive

Photo by Matt Duncan on Unsplash   Highway 212, Lithonia, United States

The quotation is from Tao Te Ching (Chapter 64) which is attributed to Lao Tzu - 千里之行，始於足下 - Qiānlǐ zhī xíng, shǐyú zú xià literally it is A journey of a thousand li starts beneath one's feet. A beautiful statement with optimism and hope. Irrespective of our position, status - social, financial, relationship or anything else, it is looking about where we are, right here , right now, accept it, no looking behind, leaving the past where it belongs. Be in the present, observe it, take a decision and take it forward which begins with a single step.

The statement itself offers wide range of outlook in variety of situations we face day-to-day. Certainly it is not meant for traveling but emphasizing the 'first-step' as the one that counts. In the statement we have a counterpoint between 'thousand miles' and 'single-step'.
BBC's  Learning English - Moving Words clarifies :

The rhythmical parallelism is reinforced by the contrast in vowel length and consonant sonority: note especially the long vowels and liquid consonants in 'miles', and the short vowels and plosive consonants in 'step'. The force of this quotation lies in its final word. 

    

It offers hope, guidance, encouragement to anyone who is in a difficult path, specially in a temptation of giving up or in hesitation to start something. Being aware of what is beneath  our feet and what's at the destination point, which may be literally thousands miles away, will help us to guide where to place our foot with that 'first-step' and all the others that follow.

Photo by erik cid on Unsplash

The Step before the First-Step

When Philosophy meets Psychology that 'first-step' begins with believing .Are we really believe that when we take a single step we come closer to our destination? Are we comfortable to take it forward with a single step? Certainly these philosophical statements give desired outcome when act from our core psychological stand point- which is called belief. And it varies obviously person to person.

What do we mean by Belief ?

If we go by dictionaries, we get some definitions of belief. let us see what it is

Cambridge Dictionary :  the feeling of being certain that something exists or is true

Collins Dictionary : Belief is a feeling of certainty that something exists, is true, or is good.  

Oxford Dictionary :  An acceptance that something exists or is true, especially one without proof.

            Something one accepts as true or real; a firmly held opinion.
            A religious conviction 

If we observe closely with the definitions and the explanations, we find some interesting words in order to understand how belief works. 

• Opinion

• Truth

• Confidence

Confidence in the truth of existence of something not susceptible to rigorous proof  - basically takes us closer to assumption.  Basically we assume that something is true before we have proof.

When do we consider something as True ?

A very simple question if we ask ourselves when we watch news in the TV. Do we believe it?  A series of typical observation will derive when we search for the answer.  Each of us believes it differently - some believe in full , some believe partially or some believe it only when it come from the mouth of a trustworthy person. And interestingly trustworthiness of a person also varies widely among the  followers . If I consider her / him trustworthy, it does not mean that my friend agrees to consider her/him trustworthy.

What is the Proof of a Truth

Is it possible for me to prove that it is 10 o' clock by just seeing my watch. If I doubt it I may check with the computer or mobile phone. If I doubt even that I may call a friend to get the time correct.  Now the question is, is this exercise prove me the time is true? No, because I am still believing it.

It is our beliefs - they become self-fulfilling prophecies. Beliefs are sometimes divided into core-beliefs ( that are actively thought about) and dis-positional beliefs  (that may ascribed to someone who has not thought about the issue).       
Take this even further , what happens to our brain when we make up a belief - simply we assume it true without having the proof.

The moment we generate a belief, our consciousness creates  new probabilities in our life. New probabilities lead to new realities. Even if we are not aware of this, we have opened a new avenue into a reality that contains the probabilities of manifesting exactly what we believe. 

It is something like Radio frequency, to catch it we have to wait until it finds its resonator.  The moment the resonator is found it will transform from a possibility into reality, which means our belief just manifested.

How Quantum Physics explains Consciousness

The illusion of matter becomes more obvious and the realization that nothing is independent from each other and more conclusive. Dualism is  the concept , Quantum Physics can lead us to new paradigm in consciousness.

Dualism

Our consciousness is programmed with basic concept of dualism. Either it is this way, or it is the other way. Ether it is good or it bad, true or false, hot or cold etc etc. Everything in the nature have its complementary opposite in the very nature. So when we look closely, we will find the concept of duality.   
Dualism and matter, both concepts are sometimes most of us fail to understand that these are the concepts , because of their vastness.

With no further detailing we can easily say Dualism takes the important role to decide whether an event is true or false. Then what we say about truth. When every concept leads to an experience and by experiencing it we can fulfill its purpose.

I am here linking a real-time report with a video inserted into it 

Watch: Policemen surround dying man at anti-Sterlite protest, tell him to ‘stop acting’

which critically explain how dualism plays a very crucial role to understand an event as true or false.

An experiment by tossing a coin we can observe quantum experience- How ?
Let me toss a coin with a condition to decide whether I go to meet someone or not. By taking the coin in my hand I already know there are two possible outcomes. Either it will end up with head or with tale.

Based on the result outcome, I have to choose meeting the person or not meeting the person. If I have to choose not to meet the person. But the other time line still exists in the parallel universe that is I am meeting the person. I just focused my attention on one of the universe by taking a decision.

Time

Let us consider if we do not take a decision. It is a very difficult task for our mind and it requires some training, but we are capable enough not to take a decision.  We are able to have our attention in a consciousness superposition, where both worlds are present at the same time. It means at the same-time I am meeting the person and not meeting the person. It is very clear that our mind is not trained to grasp the idea.

Quantum Superposition

Time does not exist in quantum superposition. In this case a light can be on or off at the same-time, because both are real in two different world of consciousness. If we look into a moving object and experience it seemed to freeze. Think of a second tale of a watch, when we observe the second tale is not moving suddenly we understand it is actually moving.  But when we observe the tale is not moving, the state is called quantum superposition. By practicing, the state can be expanded and we can experience superposition.

It is the first step of believing with creative consciousness. It is like a completely new topic which never came to us before.

A creative response to live is faster than any decision we can make up. We decide based on past experiences.

A result based on computer analysis is on the data we feed into it. It comes up with the past data which were available to the computer to analyze. It does not consider the present moment. Therefore it is always limited.

It is obviously a superposition, when we are able to allow our consciousness to take a decision on the very moment but not considering on the past data.

This is what we call believing, Thus believing is the first step of thousand miles paradigm.

Can a simple belief create a reality in our life ?

  
It is actually possible to do that - by controlling the quality of our thought. Our thought is a form of vibration, rather a combination vibrations of different frequency. Here we can conceptualize pure thought over contaminated with different thoughts comes to our mind at a given time.
Lets go back in 1937,  when Napoleon Hill originally published his book Think and Grow Rich, everybody wanted to know how manifestation changes thought to reality. In other words, everyone wanted to know the formula of Law of Attraction . It is actually

Desire + Belief + Expectancy + Action = Manifestation.
   
Napoleon Hill explained :

When faith [by which he meant belief] is blended with the vibration of thought, the subconscious mind instantly picks up the vibration, translates it into its spiritual equivalent, and transmits it to the Infinite Intelligence, as in the case of prayer.

Let us consider an analogy of a swimming pool where a man is standing at waist water level at  one side of the pool. There is nobody in the pool. The water is absolutely still. He makes a wave in the water by one of his hand. He observes the wave goes gently towards the sides and ends there and little form of return wave is formed. Then few more people jumped into the pool and started swimming. Then imagine what will happen if he tries to make another wave.

Ripples of Influence By User:Lbeaumont based on image by Mila / Brocken Inaglory - This file has been extracted from another file: Multy droplets impact.JPG, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=29111316

The second condition is the real analogy to explain our thoughts at any given point of time. Which is called ripples of influence in our mind. That mind is responsible for our entire thought process. It is quite clear that if we take a single step, we practically need to clear our pool of thoughts and proceed for A Journey of a Thousand Miles Begins With a Single Step.

Any thought arises in our brain is simply an energetic process and the energy can be converted into physical reality by consciously monitoring through our belief.

When we decide to believe , reality takes its form instantly.     

                  



   
      

What The Term 'Oprahfication' Means to Us

By changing the alphabet of her original name Orpah to Oprah, she becomes in real term a mix of Ruth and Orpah -
- in photo Oprah Winfrey

The term 'Oprahfication' was first coined by The Wall Street Journal and it is widely used to mean public confession as a form of therapy. Oprah Winfrey was born on January 29, 1954 in rural Mississippi to a teenage single mother Vernita Lee, a working housemaid. Vernita named her daughter 'Orpah' after a character in the Biblical Book of Ruth. However most people mispronounced Orpah as Oprah and eventually which was how mother and child came to pronounce it as well And she became Oprah. 

Naomi, Ruth and Orpah

 
The Book of Ruth begins with a tale of famine in the Holy Land. Elimelech of Bethlehem leaves the country for Moab with his wife Naomi and two sons. He dies in Moab. Naomi and her sons stay on and the sons marry non-Jewish women - Moabite princesses Ruth and Orpah. The sons too perish and at last Naomi decides and resolves to return to Israel. widowed, childless and impoverished.

Ruth and Orpah accompany Naomi her along the road. Over their years of marriage, both Ruth and Orpah had become attached and attracted to Judaism and they too wanted to reside Israel, the Holy Land. Naomi attempts to dissuade them three times. On the third attempt Orpah weakens and returns but Ruth is unconvinced and stays with Naomi.

Tale of Orpah

Orpah, by contrast disappears from the story of Book of Ruth and is forgotten.
But Orpah has fascinating post script story for the Jewish History on the other side of the fence.

As soon as Orpah parted company with Naomi and Ruth, she went to the absolute opposite extreme. Upon leaving Naomi, Orpah ran into a battalion of 100 soldiers. She willingly submitted herself to them all. From lot of them she became pregnant and bore the giant Goliath, whom the young David would later meet in battle.

It is a very big question that how did a woman with such potential greatness go to such wild extremes?

 

The Contrast

Instead of becoming a spiritual giant, she became a mother of physical giants.
Orpah’s arch nemesis was Ruth – the one who did hold on, and who turned her commitment to achieve into a lifetime of greatness. Ruth became a mother in Israel, great-grandmother to the spiritual giant David. Goliath fell to David in battle- in what was in essence a battle between two worldviews - physical versus spiritual.

The Moral of the Story

The story of Ruth and Orpah is thus a tale of mankind's enormous potential for accomplishment- and incredibly high stakes involved how she/he uses that potential.
With lofty goals in mind set before us, the stakes of life become very high, but God gives us sense to direct our energies towards goodness and meaningful achievement. We are to take our energies. strongest feelings and emotions and direct them towards God. If we would properly do so, there would be no limit to what we could achieve. and to how meaningful our relationship with God would become. Having seen God in our inspiration, we become alive, possessed - driven to make a difference. And the story of Ruth and Orpah taught us just how to channel that drive.

Oprah Winfrey - The Extraordinary 

By changing the alphabet of her original name Orpah to Oprah, she becomes in real term a mix of Ruth and Orpah - the wisdom minus negativity, which eventually puts her on top of the hill where God resides. 

Her father and stepmother provided her good support. When she was 17, Oprah won a beauty pageant sponsored by a local radio station.  - in photo Oprah

She was only four and a half years old, or may may be little more, when she decided, she was not going to have the life expected of her. She was raised in a small Mississippi farm by her grandmother, whose highest hope for her granddaughter was that when she became someone's domestic help, she would be treated kindly by her employers. Winfrey told in one of her interviews :

I just hope you get some good white folks when you grow up, treat you right, treat you nice.

In the years 2016 and 2017 there had been fevered speculation that Winfrey might run for president of the US and a poll find that she might win with, a data showed 48% voters choosed to vote Oprah over 39% of Trump.   

This is what aspire in the name of her.

Oprah Winfrey can achieve anything she wants to achieve.

says her friend Richard Sher, the man she shared a sofa with on her first talk show in 1976.  

At six she was sent to live with her mother who worked long hours as a cleaner.  When she was nine she was sexually abused and raped by her cousin and over the years she was abused by other men also. She went to live with her father in Nashville, at the age of 14, hiding the fact that she was pregnant and gave a premature birth of a son. The baby died soon afterwards.     

Her father and stepmother provided her good support. When she was 17, Oprah won a beauty pageant sponsored by a local radio station. Noticing her presence of mind and performance they offered her a part-time job at the radio station.

With some ups and downs she was recruited to join Richard Sher as co-host of Baltimore WJZ-TV's talk show People Are Talking which premiered on 14th August, 1976. She also hosted the local version of Dialing for Dollars.

In his account Kher recalls :

It became a sensation,. Winfrey was  'terrific'. The word I would use to describe her is: compassionate. One of the reasons she gave up news and went into talk was whenever she did a story of children killed in a fire, or children murdered and abused, she would cry and cry. She would try to remain objective but she wore her heart on her sleeve, and people really loved that about her. She could relate, and still does, to the person who doesn’t have a penny to their name and a person who has billions.

Her talk-show pioneered the public therapeutic confessional - guests and their empathetic host talked about everything from divorce to body image to childhood abuse to addiction and later morphed into a vehicle for self-development and triumph over adversity.

The movie critique Roger Ebert persuaded her to sign a syndication deal with King World. His prediction was that she would generate 40% more revenue of his television show 'At The Movies'. It was renamed The Oprah Winfrey Show, expanded to a full hour and broadcast nationally beginning September 8, 1986. And it became history. Time magazine wrote :

Few people would have bet on Oprah Winfrey's swift rise to host of the most popular talk show on TV. In a field dominated by white males, she is a black female of ample bulk. As interviewers go, she is no match for, say, Phil Donahue ... What she lacks in journalistic toughness, she makes up for in plainspoken curiosity, robust humor and, above all empathy. Guests with sad stories to tell are apt to rouse a tear in Oprah's eye ... They, in turn, often find themselves revealing things they would not imagine telling anyone, much less a national TV audience. It is the talk show as a group therapy session

It was as a very young child in Mississippi that she began her lifelong interest in reading, which shaped her worldview and also set her apart. She'd later say :

Books were my pass to personal freedom. I learned to read at age three, and soon discovered there was a whole world to conquer that went beyond our farm in Mississippi.

In addition to her talk-shows, she produced and co-starred drama, short-films and starred number of films which were released worldwide.

In her Golden Globe Speech, Oprah talked about abuse suffered by generations of women and touched on what kept them down, particularly poor women and women of colour. Wright Rigueur says

What was big about that moment was she said this is about structure, I think Oprah does understand the idea of inequalities that are built into the system. You can see that, she says, through her work in providing girls with access to education in South Africa, and through her sponsorship, particularly women of colour – her mentorship of [Selma director] Ava DuVernay comes to mind.

The Law of Attraction

Winfrey's message has always been that positive and hard work. Her endorsement to Law of Attraction however is critically acclaimed by Wright Rigueur : 

will get you rewards and if you don’t get those rewards, it’s because you haven’t worked hard enough or you weren’t deserving. Look at Oprah’s endorsement of The Secret [the pseudo-science “law of attraction” book] – if you believe it, it will come true. It doesn’t work for a poor working-class mom from Appalachia or the Bronx, they can wish all they want but if the systems around them don’t allow for mobility or opportunity or access, they’re not going to do anything.

Oprah advocates her 10 Rules titled You Become What You #Believe. Believing is the matter of fact that brings idea close to object of manifestation.

Oprahfication

Well after tuning in to her talk-show for decades, she talked her way out of kindergarten. Two days in she wrote a letter to her teacher

I don't think, I belong here .cause I know a lot of big words. 

And she skipped to the first grade. The story is fitting, given Winfrey's no-holds-barred hosting style. By confessing intimate details of her life  and tearing up alongside her guests Winfrey is credited

This is what Oprah does in her shows, helping her guests to unlid the vapor from the subconscious container. The viewers also make themselves acquainted with the guests as if they are also releasing their pain mentally may be to the Universe.  - in photo Oprah

with popularizing the form of communication known as rapport talk and what The Wall Street Journal called "Orphafication" meaning

public confession as a form of therapy.

In the spirit of full disclosure of report talk of  Phil Donahue

Winfrey saw television's power to blend public and private; while it links strangers and conveys information over public airwaves, TV is most often viewed in the privacy of our homes. Like a family member, it sits down to meals with us and talks to us in the lonely afternoons. Grasping this paradox, ... She makes people care because she cares. That is Winfrey's genius, and will be her legacy, as the changes she has wrought in the talk show continue to permeate our culture and shape our live     

Orphafication is also been discussed as Oprah-Style-Debates in politics . For instance Bill Clinton was described as

the man who brought Oprah-style psychobabble and misty confessions to politics

Newsweek also stated

Every time a politician lets his lip quiver or a cable anchor 'emotes on TV, they nod to the cult of confession that Oprah helped create.  

Oprah's opinions and endorsement plays significant role in consumers segment for their purchasing choices which also dubbed by media as "The Oprah Effect". This effect has been felt in book sales, beef market to election voting. Kathleen Rooney rightly described Oprah as

a serious American intellectual who pioneered the use of electronic media, specifically television and the Internet, to take reading – a decidedly non-technological and highly individual act – and highlight its social elements and uses in such a way to motivate millions of erstwhile non-readers to pick up books.     

When we do something wrong or something wrong had happened to us, make a significant impact in our subconscious space. In these types of situation there are two typical reactions that pull in opposite directions.

On the one hand, we might want to hide what we have done or done on us  If nobody finds out, then it may feel like we didn’t do it at all or not happened to us at all - which in turn we burden our subconscious mind .

On the other hand, we might just want to confess what we have done wrong or done by others on us. That gets the problem out into the open and helps people to move forward - which does the opposite of the above, means we are able to unload our subconscious burden and feel free.

This is what Oprah does in her shows, helping her guests to unlid the vapor from the subconscious container. The viewers also make themselves acquainted with the guests as if they are also releasing their pain mentally may be to the Universe.

        

92 Years Old Dr Mahathir Mohamad Makes Sworn in as World's Oldest Leader

Dr Mahathir bin Mohamad محضير بن محمد

Born in 10th July 1925 (20th December 1925 ?), Mahathir Mohamad was sworn in on 10th May 2018 as the world's oldest elected leader after a stunning win that swept Malaysia's establishment from power after more than six decades.
The swearing-in ceremony took place at the royal palace in Kuala Lumpur on the same night and he became the country's seventh prime minister.

Events, Facts and and Timeline of Mahathir Mohamad

• Born in the year 1925 in Alor Setar, the capital of the state of Kedah, British Malay.
• Father : Mohamad bin Iskandar, an Indian Muslim and a teacher by profession.
• Mother : Wan Tempawan Wan Hanapi
• Married with Siti Hasmah Ali (1956) , a fellow medical student
• Children : Maizura Mahathir, Marina Mahathir, Mazhar Mahathir, Melinda Mahathir, Mirzan Mahathir, Mokhzani Mahathir, Mukhriz Mahathir
• Education : graduated from secondary school by completing Senior Cambridge exams in December 1946 and entered the King Edward VII College of Medicine in Singapore in 1947

Some other facts 

He became the oldest world leader when he was sworn into office as Prime minister of Malaysia on May 10, 2018, 15-years after retirement. He was previously also the Prime Minister of Malaysia during a period from July 1981 to October 2003.
A Physician by profession he is also known by his nickname  Dr M.
He wrote a book named The Malay Dilemma which was published in 1970, after loosing election. In his book he advocated Malay Right.
In his era Malaysia has become a major trading and economic force in the region.

Timeline

• 1946 - joined the United Malays National Organization (UMNO)
• 1964 - elected to Parliament for the first time
• 1969 - lost in election and suspended from the UMNO
• 1972 - returned back to UMNO
• 1973 - appointed as a Senator in the Parliament
• 1974 - elected as Education Minister
• 1976 - became the Deputy Prime Minister
• 1981 - in July elected as the fourth Prime Minister of Malaysia and kept additional charges to Home Ministry and Law & Justice
• 1989 - in January had heart bypass surgery
• 1998 - had dismissed his deputy Anwar Ibrahim accused him of sodomy and corruption
• 2002 - announced his retirement plan
• 2003 - on the day October 16 he claimed that Jews rule the world by proxy in a 57-nation Islamic Summit which was organized in Malaysia, which was largely condemned and criticized worldwide . On 31st October he retired and elevated his deputy Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.
• 2007 - in September he had another heart bypass surgery following two consecutive heart attack in 10 months
• 2008 - in the Month of May Malaysian Government had initiated an investigation into corruption by Mahathir administration in 1980s and in 1990s. He resigned from the UMNO on May 19
• 2013 - on December 1 he had stepped down as an adviser from Petronas due to ill health
• 2016 - on March 30 resigned as Chairman of the Board from Proton Holdings, the leading Car Manufacturer of the country, which was founded by Magathir in 1983 as the sole National auto company.
• 2018 - Mahathir was chosen as prime ministerial candidate of the united oppositions . When he told that the country's interest was being suffered under the leadership of the Prime Minister Najib Razak. 
• May 9, 2018 - Coalition of opposition parties under the leadership of Mahathir won 121 seats in the Parliament which was the comfortable majority to form the Government.
• May 10, 2018 - Mahathir was sworn into office as Prime Minister by the Kimg Muhammad V.  the constitutional Head of Malaysia.

Mahathir after winning election

                           

 Historic Verdict

Most of the people who follow International Politics along with people of Malaysia are quite surprised on the news that the Pakatan Harapan (Alliance of Hope) coalition of four parties has won a simple majority. It is a earth-shattering news that the Barisan Nasional (National Front) Government that had ruled Malaysia for 61 years is now in opposition.
In addition to the rejection of the past government on issues that include the IMDB scandal, three key trends can be discerned from this elections, which was orderly and surprisingly quite on the polling day. The Malaysian electorate has become much more mature, learning to be cautious and yet hold in voting for change.

First Trend : 

UNMO has traditionally depended upon the rural vote for its support and its other partners MCA (Malaysia Chinese Association), MIC (Malaysia Indian Congress) and Gerakan (People's Movement Party) are mainly to bolster the urban vote.
This time Gerakan loses all seats and the other two MCA and MIC have also wiped out with no major wins.

Second Trend :

PAS, the Islamic party that focuses largely on religion, dropped three Parliamentary, but interestingly took back the East Coast State of Trengganu, so that it once again controls two states Kelatan and Trengganu. The PAS support amounted to 2.01 million or 16,88 per cent of total votes cast, an increase compared with 1.63 million votes or 14.78 per cent in 2013.
What the rise of Pakatan means is that urban Malay voters had voted for change of government and improvement in economic livelihood rather than voting along religious affiliations. Non-Malay voters, on the other hand, were put off by PAS's push for hudud laws and were uncomfortable with UNMO's flirting with PAS on areas touching on religion.

Third Trend :

The new government has the opportunity to engage in generational renewal by bringing in younger leaders from more diverse backgrounds into positions of authority. Time is of the essence, as Dr Mahathir has promised to stay on as Prime Minister for two years, before passing the baton to Anwar Ibrahim (71 ). Nothing would signal more the restoration of the rule of law than the immediate release of Ibrahim from jail.  

Mahathir's supporters in cheering mood

Alliance of Hope

Strange things are happening in Malaysia ; strange things sometimes do. At the ripe of age of 92, the very election of Dr. Mahathir Mohammad  as the world's oldest Prime Minister signifies what in judicial terminology is the rarest of the rare , in the political narrative. That development was reinforced on Friday (11th May, 2018) with yet another spin on the country's election drama when he announced plans for a royal pardon for Anwar Ibrahim - the former ally who was sacked and jailed when Mahathir was previously in power and who could now become his successor.

Jailed Anwar Ibrahim is set to release

There is no doubt that royalty has readily concurred with his plan of action, one that reaffirms the truism that there are no permanent enemies in politics. Mahathir said

The king has indicated he is willing to pardon Anwar immdiately. We will begin the proper process of obtaining a pardon.

This means a full pardon. He should be released immediately when he is pardoned.

Malaysia today bears witness to a quirk of history, if ever there was one. Indeed , the unlikely alliance of Mahathir and Anwar has been one of the many odd aspects of the election  
           

Final Thought

Theoretically, Mahathir's election had posited him to effect what in political science is called the

second act in politics

If indeed Anwar Ibrahim helms the government in due course of time, Mahathir will sacrifice the chance to right the wrongs that he was responsible for.
The alliance, that Dr. Mahathir now leads, was originally formed to oppose his own autocratic rule. He has let it be known that he will assume power, - only to hand it over to a 'former apprentice' who was jailed after the two fell out and still remains behind bars.
It is difficult to fathom the intricacies of the twists and turns of Malaysia's politics. Suffice to register that the country is on the turn.