Philocracy

I am not familiar with American literary theorist Mikhail Epstein, whose works focus on philosophy and postmodernism. I haven't read any of his books. But perhaps even we are thousands of miles away from each other, still unfamiliar of one's existence, we seem to meet on this field of divine intelligence through a very simple word that came out from one of my word intuitions. The word is Philocracy.

Epstein combines Greek words philo which means "loving" and kratos, which means "rule". According to him, Philocracy is the rule of Love, where Love becomes a governing principle in social and community life. I was mulling over the word as an intuitive insight that there is a possibility that one day this world, sans the laws of all nations, will only be ruled by Love. I am yet to learn the reason behind Epstein's intentions of coining this word, which somehow appears to be logically and philosophically vague for most of us who learns it for the first time. In the meantime, listening to my heart's definition the day when this word popped in my mind like a mushroom would assure me of certain power of this neologism. In a world that dreams a utopia one day, Philocracy is the only system of government that can rule. It appears to be a notch higher than democracy, and there is only one law that rules, the law of all laws: the law of Love.

Recalling Philocracy as my word insight, I just thought that what if we begin to rule the whole world and humanity by breaking the rules of separation, and start to follow Love as the basis of our ethical, moral, and democratic responsibilities? What if Love becomes the center of our political and economic reformations, that it radically shatters and restructures the society that has built reality to let greed flourish? What if our rulers would not be rulers anymore, since we begin to realize that we cannot rule anybody else except ourselves, and the only way to rule ourselves is to Love ourselves and others?

By the virtue of Love, everybody of us will participate to propel the critical mass so we can reach the tipping point where each human being participates to a government of Oneness. This is an elusive probability for some hopefuls, and a pipe dream for many skeptics. It's impossible, skeptics will say, because evil is so palpable in our society; we have to wait for the day when God casts out the sinners and renews the world into a utopian paradise. Or they will change the world through social activism or military coercion. Those who are still in the seat of power sees political overhauling, changing from one government to another, as an effective way to progress. For an ordinary folk, a new leader can change everything. The world is in need of a superhero who will save the day, they say, and these "heroes" begin to show themselves months before the election. In these dire times when people have longed to believe that any solution can be found among the things they use to see, Love doesn't have any space, and will never have any space in any politics and governance.

Nonetheless, the world's problem is not political, nor economic, nor any other compartmentalized system of discipline and knowledge. The problem is that this world is continued to be fertilized by fear that makes a fertile ground to cultivate bloodshed and all sorts of violence, and until each of us opens our eyes to the the truth, this cycle will viciously go round and round without any end until we destroy ourselves. Albert Einstein said that we must rise above the level of thinking that has created the problem. By doing this, we can clear up the illusions that blur our understanding of the real source of problem. Erich Fromm and Neale Donald Walsch both agree on the true problem of the world: it is a spiritual problem; it is a problem of Love.

How does the concept of Philocracy come in? Ironically, the more we consider it as a concept, lesser it can help. Because this concept can only last as long as a book holds the ink through which the concept is explained. Only when this concept pulsates in every vein of human awareness, thus the concept can revitalize the possibilities of creating infinite solutions for humanity's big problems. The rule of Love is the only rule that cannot be broken. Many can write about it, implement it as a doctrine of sorts, or speak about it with intense passion, yet if it remains dulled by the intellect, it won't do any good.

The rule of Love must be implemented, not by force but by inner knowing, by trusting each and every citizen of the world that Love rules in each and everyone, and serves as a beacon of light to the dark shadows of the world. It is a rule that does not need any judge, for the judge becomes the observer of truth as they are. It does not need a political leader, for the leader within oneself is emerging, with swift decisive precision that cuts through all confusion between right and wrong, that allows oneself to see only Love as the law that enforces itself so well. It does not need military command, for Love does not need any defense; it only sees every human life precious and capable of only Love and growth; any weaponry of wars will be of no use.

The rule of Love does not need lawmakers, for it is the law unto itself, and unfolds with irrefutable accuracy, and aboveboard impartiality. The rule of Love only needs an expanded consciousness of each citizen, not just of one country, but of the whole world. An individual realization of Love automatically leads to a collective, Philocratic regime, based on the virtues that lives out Oneness, which is transcendent of democratic equality; it also promotes inner peace that transcends peace and order; and it seeks to reunite not just through diplomatic means, but through deep human nature of Loving another and in return, being loved.

Those dark years of recent Philippine political history are the lenses by which most Filipinos sees the political and economic scenario of the country. And most people only consider "people power' as the only alternative. Thus, democratic principles are understood and experienced by defining it as a collective undertaking of restless citizens who actively participate in such oppositional movements against the policies of the current regime. People must act together in order to preserve - or better yet, to revive - the foundations of democracy. Though, it has been years since this way of expressing the vox populi, still the same dreary reality in government remains unchanged. It is now time to transcend. People power must be redefined. In the light of Philocracy, people power becomes a collective powerful intention, designed by each individual's Loving consciousness, where greed, anger and illusion no longer disempower anyone. The rule of Love that starts from one's heart is beginning to spread out, where each Loving thought becomes an answered prayer wishing a great change in any existent government.

It must be no accident when my Korean friend once told me 2 Korean words that have amazed me since: saram means "people"; when the last letter m is changed to -ng, it becomes sarang, which means Love. Two different words, rhymes with each other, both linguistically and symbolically connected. People power is not anymore harnessed by coercion and hypes. Rather, it is Love power that not just preserves Philocratic principles of Oneness and Peace, but enlivens living principles themselves in every citizen's soul.

Philocracy is not a fantasy from a distant future. From the fragments of our collective frustrations and aspirations, we are rebuilding our society not through external forces of political machinery, but through the organic unfolding of our growing consciousness. We are no more to rule each other like playing Gods of our own egos. We are no more to fiercely carry out, abuse and struggle for impermanent powers of domination and savagery. We are no more to neglect the need of our fellow citizens, who suffer and die through a plethora of destitution and cruelty. We become aware of the power of Love within, from which all change begins. We commit ourselves to become the incarnation of God through compassion and generosity. We rule not the nations, but the entire domain of our inner kingdom, the kingdom of God which is always at hand. We become the force of salvation for the lives of the many, as we serve humanity in bringing them out from the brink of hellish death. There is no institution that can implement Philocracy except within ourselves. And when we begin, indeed, Love will rule the world.

Small Things

Every Christmas, excitement is always in the air. The lights make many December nights colorful. Music chimes with magical Christmas carols. Stores mushroom all over the country, while people crowd for shopping before Christmas rush. Decorations of different colors, shapes and sizes embellish almost all homes. Cool breeze chill those days and nights of anticipation. Families long to gather, lovers long to romance, friends long to reunite. Gifts and foods will flood again. And the heart of many are rekindled to the experience of authentic joy and peace. They all prove what most people always say that Christmas is a season of Love. As far as the sights and sounds are concerned, yes, it is true. Christmas is a big day to celebrate for big things with big Love. Yet, there is something missing. If Christmas is the only season of Love, how about the rest of the year? It is a question both easy and difficult to answer, especially if it calls our heart to provide one.

My spiritual friend and mentor once asked me how I feel about the coming of Christmas. I answered the question nonchalantly: I don't really feel excited at all. For some, this statement might be misunderstood. While the whole country is thrilled to count the remaining days to celebrate the most wonderful time every year, someone like me seems to be swimming against the tide. My friend understands this intuitive realization, because she also feels the same way. Most of us have seen Christmas day as a special day to look forward to, a time where we can feel happy and loved. It must be the only time where we can appreciate each other, or celebrate the essence of being alive. This is the season where we can open our hearts, become generous even just once a year. We have this renewed sense of soulfulness, wherein we can feel the value of everything that we are living for. This is why excitement is a palpable energy that waves all throughout, and vibrates with our hearts. There is nothing wrong to be excited. There is just more to see and understand.

My friend and I are not excited anymore, but we are neither depressed nor feel meaningless at all. It is just that no matter how significant Christmas is, it is never happier nor grander than any days of the year. This whole 2009 we have both experience profound changes and transformations that have made us spiritually grow. She finds her days where she can feel love in many little ways, like giving food to the beggars, walking along the bay every sunrise and sunset, or greeting her customers in her wonderful eating place in Manila. Each day it brings her so much opportunity to be generous and alive. While half a hundred miles away from her, I am here in the comforts of green paradise here in Laguna, where I savor the fragrant freshness of the trees, flowers and grasses. My days during this year are filled with inner adventures, where I get in touch with my soul more often. Almost all the words of Love that you are reading, have read, or will read in this blog have flown like a fountain of words coming from the Love that continues to unfold in my being. Some days were spent to inspire and be inspired, whenever Communes are taking place. There were also days when I met amazing people from all walks of life, searching and learning like me, yearning for the wisdom we both long to understand. It's not just a great chance to meet them, but making and keeping them as friends are both tremendous gifts to my soul. And another thing that has excited me is my growing collection of books, all about exploring the essence of God and Love. I owe a great deal of gratitude to the authors and teachers who painstakingly yet happily finished their books, from where I find valuable wisdom that resonates with my own.

All of them, among all other great blessings, are small things we have each day of our lives. They arrive each they, in small quantities but great value, things where we can channel more Love in our lives and into the lives of others around us. A genuine smile, a gentle act, a kind response, a fine gift, a lovely presence, an amazing encounter, a newfound friend, a warm hug, a sweet kiss, a bright hope - they can be just small things. Mother Teresa was certain of this: only small things we can do - and we can do it with great Love. I wonder how she did resonate with the Chinese sage Lao Tzu. Twenty-five hundred years ago, Lao Tzu said great things begin as small things. A cell, an embryo, and a seed are common in one way: they are all small, where something great can rise and grow. To underestimate the small is to disregard how powerful it can become. This is true for the once denigrated concept, Love is now acknowledge as the greatest of the great. Every small Loving effort reverberates across the universe. Every small things that we choose to happen to our lives bring profound impact on how we can change others and our souls. Once we desire to change, we cannot just wait it to happen. Small actions contribute to the change. Like a rice grain, which barely touches the dial of a weighing scale, is another way of describing the small. In time that each small grain is dropped one by one and mounts up, the scale measures a considerable weight. And it might seem to find that change do not ever take place, yet as time passes by, the accumulation of many smalls grains weigh more. This is how in simple terms Love teaches us. It looks like that nothing is ever happening but our faith fills that waiting, and once it arrives, we are blessed to enlighten our souls. It takes only one heart to begin to revolutionize how we see and change the world.

This Christmas, gifts, songs, lights, foods and reunions are all part of our growing search for these meanings. All we have to do is to start fulfilling our purpose not just through these symbols, but the true essence Christ's birth has realized. Being born as a baby (which is being small), in a manger (which is small place), Christ shows the humility and smallness as a virtue by which he has become a symbol of great Love. We do not only stop on the reality of external celebration, but to affirm the significance of this small, inner voice that booms with the sound of Love. We can tell ourselves silently that in whatever small ways we can do, our Christmas and the rest of the year will only be filled with one small thing that brings great miracle: Love.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all!

The Enemy of the Soul

Growing up on many animated and live-action films, I was part of a great tribal mind that there is always a battle waged between good and evil. There is always a hero on one side, and a villain on the other. The hero must kill the villain, lest the enemy wreaks more havoc. Evil must be fought by all means, by hook or by crook. This Armageddon has been a common pattern virtually on all fantasy and science fiction stories, an essential theme that makes any story interesting since conflict is the main ingredient that propels action, and the hero's triumph over the villain is the most anticipated victory. Until two years ago, while I dreamed of writing my own epic, I have become aware that this theme is no more than a prosaic fictional depiction of what is truly happening in the world that we still keep hidden and, worst, unnoticed. We have always separated ourselves from others. In a moment of conflict, we always see ourselves, our families, or our friends as the righteous ones. We have failed to see through the perspective of our enemies, since we squarely box them in as evil. Thus, the battle begins. We instigate these attacks that produce endless avenging. We perpetrate the concept of enemy in star-studded soap operas and expensively budgeted films with cutting-edge special effects. We enjoy the sight of actors and actresses arguing, shouting, cursing, hitting, punching, kicking, shooting, mutilating, killing each other. And we emulate this - unfortunately, subconsciously - as a normal, easiest way to deal with our enemies. And our world becomes the witness, where millions are being killed just because they are heretics or black sheep, heathens or unbelievers. We have drafted laws that severely punish the criminals, and condemn the terrorists. With this kind of mentality, we have let fear to control our lives. We have learned to defend ourselves, believing that anytime we will be attacked. We fight over the pettiest of things and the worst global issues. After all, we have thought that crushing our enemies is the only better way to gain justice than making them as friends.

Our enemies are a colorful band of hated people: in-laws, spouses, partners, kids, siblings, relatives, former friends, colleagues and co-workers, old flames and schoolmates, neighbors next door, politicians of another party, strangers on the bus, restaurant crews or government officials. We only see them as people who give us the bad day. We believe that our enemies are people who do not understand things with common sense, who deserve to be condemned and hated. We breed ill-will towards them in an increasing scale: from irritation, annoyance and anger, to rage, hatred and wrath. These emotions are like small sparks that have ignited into damaging wildfire, flaring up our hearts to just make one move that will end our enemies into ashes. And even if we win, the empty core of ourselves is still wondering for that fulfillment. We have never been empty before. We are burned in the same hell where we cast our enemies off.

But why is it that the more we win battles against enemies, there is still more unrest outside as much as inside? Is there any way to end this viciousness, to stop acting like wild reptiles, and to become human beings again? The answer: yes, there is. It is about time to make a conscious shift of how we understand the word enemy.


We can begin asking ourselves this question: who is our enemy? If you still have a particular person in mind, who pushes your buttons, gets on your nerves from time to time, and blame him or her for your unhappiness, then you have to start deeper self-examination. The enemy of the soul is not someone who disagrees with you, even those who are different from the way you become and do things. The enemy of the soul is not the one who wins or loses the battle. The enemy of the soul is not the one who is an evil villain. The enemy is a concept of how you see your self. The words "enemy" and "soul" and the thousand of meanings and experiences behind them cannot co-exist, simply because the former is non-existent; only the latter is true. You don't have an enemy. The enemy you only see is yourself. However you see others an enemy, that is how you precisely see yourself. When you find your enemy horrible, that is how you mirror yourself with him or her. When you inflict injury on your enemy, it is the injury that you inflict on yourself. Whenever you wound any enemy, you cannot avoid but wound yourself. As we realize the truth of our interconnectedness, we will see our enemies in a different way. This is beautifully written in a poem by Hafiz, a 14th century Sufi poet (translated by Daniel Ladinsky):

I have come to the world to see this:
the sword drop from men's hands
even at the height of
the arc of their rage

because we have finally realized
that there is just one flesh
we can wound.

This poem brings us to a fresh perspective: there is no enemy. Christ taught us to Love our enemies not because there are enemies to Love but because we have believed that we have an enemy, an enemy that resides in our consciousness, and we must begin to reconcile with it. Christ addressed us this teaching in simplest terms that we all can understand. When we begin to forgive, we continue to empower ourselves with Loving energies. We begin to bring the energy of Love back to our awareness. We begin to acknowledge the illusion that eats the very core of our existence: as you face your mirror, the face that appears is the face of a nonexistent enemy. That face is your tangible soul, the being of Love from which God has manifest. Once we see ourselves as we are, we allow more energy to forgive, accept, understand, acknowledge our souls. This process leads us to the Suchness of our humanity and divinity, of recognizing our innate worth. We deliberately stop our struggling effort to commit violence towards ourselves and others. In his book, Healing the Heart of Conflict, Marc Gopin quotes a very succinct rabbinic adage: "Who is a true hero? He who can make an enemy into a friend." It condones the act of surrendering not as weakness, but a recognition that giving up the fight with an enemy is to allow inner and outer peace to flourish. Such a wisdom is worth equal to a thousand different teachings.

While facing our enemies, both ourselves and others, we are now reminded not to judge, vilify, condemn, because our lack of knowledge about the other disarms us of possible attack, and calls for more understanding. As we begin to understand, we enrich the possibility of friendship instead of enmity, and make the best of our intrinsic symbiotic connection with our fellow human beings, ending the savage impact of our the predatory and parasitic minds.

As you read this, crimes, wars and killings are still ongoing in different parts of the world. The enemy of the soul is still strong in the minds of the many, and is out of our control. But we can do something. We have to begin within ourselves, befriending the enemy within. The real freedom is not to expunge what we hate on ourselves, but to embrace the wholeness of our being. For our enemies, as we conveniently call them, remind us the great wisdom that what we hate in them is what we hate on ourselves. And hatred, echoing what the Buddha said, "...never ceases through hatred in this world. Through Love alone they cease. This is the eternal Law." Loving ourselves is the best way to deal with our enemies. We can now Love our enemies with the same intensity of how we Love ourselves. We can finally reconcile that as we have awakened with Love, the word enemy will never be the same again.

Wordless Koan

One thing in my wish list is to experience zazen or sitting meditation in the Zen tradition. Although I have my share of meditation experience using other techniques, I am still wondering how a zazen takes place, especially if a koan would exhaust my mind. But even if I really do not meditate the way koan meditators do, my questions on why the world today exists are already koans that wrestle me, and make me exasperated of finding answers. Perhaps the most confounding koan I asked was the absence of God, whom all believed to be an all-powerful being yet remained cold towards the suffering of the world. Those were the old days when I had bouts of maddening angst and outburst of frustrations towards the grueling questions that almost ruined my sanity.

Koans are riddles used by Zen monks to meditate upon so they can arrive on a certain insight. These riddles break their ingrained logical assumptions by putting them in a mode of paradoxical thinking, where every reasoning seems to be absurd. Some of the famous koans are: "What is the sound of one hand clapping?" and "If you see the Buddha on the road, kill him!" Other koans are told as anecdotes, and these are interesting stories with lessons implied, even if they appear puzzling at the end. Like the famous two monks who one day helped a young woman cross a muddy river. Or the story of a goose that grew in a bottle and eventually escaped without breaking the bottle or being harmed. At first, these koans might be unanswerable, since they do not fit any sensible and realistic experience. To answer them seems nerve-racking for an ordinary person, but they can be answered through meditation. There's only a thing that leads to clarity: never take koans literally. Something is being said beyond the words and narratives. Like a nice-sounding familiar idiom, koans jump-start a one's mind to gain a perspective of what is literally seen towards what must be really seen.

Legend has it that when the Buddha delivered his Flower Sermon, he only showed a golden lotus flower to his disciples. Without any word, he remained composed and quiet, with the flower in his hands. His disciples were bewildered of what the Buddha did, except Mahakasyapa, who smiled quietly and got the Buddha's message. Both the lotus and the smile, without a single word, appears to be the first koan, a legendary puzzle that leads to enlightenment. Wordless, yet profound in meaning, like a face that launched a thousand ships, or a picture that paints a thousand words.

I barely have my own zazen experience, yet the truth of koan unfolds in me like a golden lotus. As I explore the world of symbols, I have intuited more through what Caroline Myss, author of the Anatomy of the Spirit, is referring to as the "symbolic sight". Through this gift of symbolic sight, I am able to see the meaning of symbols through every day life, seeing the archetypes that underlie and operate as a reality beyond the limitation of our physical senses. I was able to connect the dots, from what the ancient sages taught, to those that are practically learned wisdom, or those phenomena being discovered by modern science. The experience is like traveling through different dimensions of understanding that cannot be hampered by any single dogma that claims to monopolize the truth. And at the end of this roller coaster adventure is the beginning of an enigmatic silence, which can only grasp the symbolic message what words cannot.

Whenever I am caught flat-footed by a question "How do I Love?", silence appears not just an only option left, but a response that is most appropriate. The question is in itself a profound koan. How I live my life and reveal my inner presence remain both the only indefinable answers that are wrapped perfectly as wordless koans. Among overwhelming questions that are infinitely generated by this curious and baffled society, all the more we are called to answer them not through explanations, but through silence. When Christ told us to lock ourselves inside our rooms to pray - a teaching that is another koan - he asks us to pray inside our hearts. Just as what the Sufis told us that we can only find God when we go into the deepest chambers of our hearts. I have deeply learned that silence is the voice of God that speaks to us. The only job we need to do is to listen.

Yes, in this very time, we all need silence. After many worst events that made noise in our world, being silent does not mean being indifferent, coward or aloof. This is not a silence like just being quiet and never speak. The soul needs silence in order to listen to its own whisper. The great wordless koan calls for our attention, and it can only be read or heard the moment we stop seeking answers outside. This koan, the wordless koan of Love, will remain paradoxical until the time we allow ourselves to understand it. Love, that which cannot be defined by any word, is enough to transform the puzzles of our minds into clarity of our hearts.

The First Year

Before November 15, 2008, a series of experiences had taken place for me to come to my senses that there is a moving force behind my growing personal understanding of Love. I had seen events wherein intentions of Loving-kindness transformed people's lives, as simple as sending blessings to their enemies and getting answers to their prayers. I had talked to people, and seen them how they have renewed their sense of being since then. Love and Loving-kindness (or in Pali, we say metta) have become our buzzwords. These words have been charged with the energy of Loving consciousness, a set of mantras that define our lives. Those events have led me in deciding to bring and send the message of Love. It was my greatest decision that has brought me utmost joys. November 15th marked the remarkable beginning of sharing and expanding the consciousness of Love.

Last Sunday, a year has passed. I am very happy to see how changes have moved many of my friends and acquaintances through this endeavor that has brought us to insights and inner transformations. Looking back parallels to looking forward. Seeing the nostalgia of the past year, I am now envisioning promising years ahead. There is now a momentum, a force that moves this consciousness to spread into the social mainstream. It's about time to bring change, to share the wisdom of Love. I am more compelled this time with words from A Course in Miracles: "Teach only Love, for that is what you are."

It's about time to teach Love.

As a human being, I am still wrecked with fears. I remember those two weeks before I started the Communes. I questioned myself: "Am I capable of teaching Love?" I felt down, learning that becoming real and genuine teacher means I need more time to earn my worth through worldly credentials. Perhaps to deserve something as precious as teaching Love requires purity of being, which I thought I won't be able to have. But, contemplating on self-defeating thoughts brought me clarity: judging myself is not Loving myself. This insight showed me that my human frailties, my remorseful past, my seeming weakness are all but licenses for me to share Love. I have seen myself as an epitome of suffering, and like Christ, I am always capable of resurrecting to a new life. My outer weaknesses have become reminders of my inner strengths. Seeing myself in a different light led me to see the purity of Love within me. Through this, just a shift of thought from judging to nonjudging, I am capable of creating enough energy of Love that has the magnitude to move the world.

As I always share the wisdom of Love, I have acknowledged that it is the same as living Love out. Likewise, when I live and share Love, I am all the more teaching it. There is no need for any proof. I have been living my life filled with gratitude, joy and peace. I am rich of the unseen and seen treasures that overwhelm my heart. I am a soul expanding in many direction and embraces all people in this infinite breadth of Love. This tremendous Love that fulfills me is always enough. And I am thankful that the Communes are small vessels I use from where the Love I share overflows.

Living a Loving example does not take grand actions and vast possessions. Communes' first year has been a witness through small acts of kindness and simple intentions of blessings that bloom into wonderful and awesome experiences. Many people, who became friends, have spoken about the Communes. They have learned a great deal of wisdom, which I am equally learning. Through Communes, we are all setting our hearts to the treasures of heaven, a word that can be simply called Love.

There are more exciting years to come. I have met with two of my Commune friends, to whom I have shared this vision. I am yet to meet the rest, and begin the mission of spreading the message of Love. This first year is not just a celebration, but a beginning of a new path for the journey of many pathfinders. This is a journey of bringing the light of Love to humanity and to the world.

Let's continue to Commune.