image from www.tvscoop.tv/MartinLutherKingHaveaDream.jpg
What’s a dream ?
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A dream is not a dream when we are still in the middle of it, for we have no way of telling it is in fact, a dream.
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A dream is a dream only when we wake up from the dream (and can still recall it).
The isn’t much headline news to cheer about since 2008, especially with more doomsday forecasts by celebrity-status experts the likes of Roubini, Jim Rogers etc. Does the world need more ?
It is a crisis of confidence, and the news are thrashing the little confidence that’s left.
There are some bright spots. Check out the two stories below. I have great respect for them.
1. Michael Gill :
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“… He went to an Ivy League college, was a top executive at a world renowned ad agency, and had a six-figure salary. But now at age 67, he’s trudging through the dark just before 5 o’clock in the morning, to make the early shift for his new job. He’s a barista at Starbucks.
“This was not on my goal list when I went to Yale.” ….. “ -
You can read more of his life in his book ” How Starbucks Saved My Life”.
2. Ken Karpmans :
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” … The UCLA MBA graduate is a former hedge fund CEO earning $750,000 a year. During his glory days, he traveled the world, purchased a huge house, and spent up big. One small problem though: he forgot to save for a rainy day. In 2005, wanting even more money, he tried to set up his own hedge fund using equity in his house, and then lost it all as the market crashed.
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Ken Karpmans new job: pizza driver at $7.29/ hour plus tips … “
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When it comes to putting food on the table for the family, no one is too good for anything.
From the perspective of the victims of Sichuan Earthquake or the Myammar storm last year, above two gentlemen are considered very fortunate.
Even more fortunate is their ability to look at things from a new perspective, as a result of the dramatic change in their lives.
Diamond Sutra has this for us to contemplate in the last chapter (ch. 32) :
- ” 一切有為法，如夢幻泡影，如露亦如電，應作如是觀。”
- * Note 1 : I can’t translate above into English, kindly please google to find good translation.
- * Note 2 : Have you ever dreamed that you are dreaming in a dream ? Apparently it is very rare when you get older. So ask your kids.
- * Note 3 : “是邪非邪”, read in Cantonese “si ya fei ya”. This is old Southern expression, cannot be read as “shi xie fei xie”, which would mean competely different thing.
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Yes….changes is something that we must not be too proud to accept. Must be humble to do any job! In times like this, we can’t pick & choose much.
Every morning, before I transformed into my executive clothes, I dashed out of my house with the broom stick in hand & push out any water lingering in my backyard drain. Don’t want to be summoned a 4th time for mosquito breeding. Every other weekend, I spent hours around my garden, climbing up to the roof gutters & clear all the leaves clogged up there. Off course, the easiest way out is to chop the trees down but I need them for shade!
Though I can cook quite well, I usually dished out either a pot of porridge or soup for dinner during the weekends. No more energy to cook elaborately, after all the housework. Well, off course I can get a part time cleaner but I choose not to because I finally feel I’m in control over my own house. Having just gotten this job from my maid, I’m not too willing to give up the satisfaction of being in control of every hidden things in my house. Even digged out a missing expensive vase bought & flown from overseas, broken & hidden away in a corner. Have been missing it for a while but just didn’t know where to look for it, while my maid feign, forgetfullness.
CH, I got an applicant for my Snr Engineering Manager post who will be paying for his airfare from Japan to come for interview. He graduated from Univ of Tsukuba & worked in Mitsubishi Electric, Nidek & finally Miyachi Japan. His job also involves R&D of medical lasers, which interest us. This is the 3rd senior posts that we might be hiring after the 2 Snr Marketing Mgrs recently hired.
Jan to Mar 09, orders have been trickling in but we are more optimistic for 2nd qtr as a few quite good orders are in the pipeline.
Am also busy with applying grants from govt. Sgp govt has put aside alot of money to help local SMEs but they must show that they are helping themselve first. So, we are doing that- helping ourselves during this downturn, as you know Sgp & Twn are the 2 worst hit countries.
Cheers for a better tomorrow!
Urrrghhh…..! That awful looking crab-like alien avater emerged right after I clicked, ’submit’!!! Maybe this is better than the static square box avater, we had for a long time previously!
I’m fine with this…maybe after awhile… Now, I just feel it creeping on me, whenever I clicked ’submit’. 
Hi folks, just got back from an island trip in Terengganu. Not quite the right season yet for the 1st day was raining and with 10ft sea waves hovering, we were all as pale as ghosts after a 45min boat ride to reach the island, but thank goodness clear skies and calm waters and finding nemo ( clown fish ) while snorkeling made the trip worthwhile.
Gotta post something to see what my avatar looks like !
I dream ( the type in the sleep ) a lot, feels like watching movies while sleeping yet knowing it is just a dream and sometimes can even direct it ! Any idea how to have dreamless sleep ?
We’ve got lots of focus in the papers lately on how people are making the most when they are retrenched. And how some rediscover themselves by embarking on new path. Pride/ego/self-esteem/self-worth all takes a battering. It is about overcoming this more than anything else. So, I salute these guys who can swallow their pride and go on making a decent living.
Investment papers use terms like “correction” for whatever it may mean about the economic situations which I don’t understand anyway – I think the humanity face is also undergoing a “correction” thanks to this.
so, my avatar looks like a blue tomato with curly hair.
yl, your avatar looks kind of aggressive ! It is pointing upwards though .. so up up with your biz and stocks.
I read that news were pretty gloomy in Sgp where some new “hires” got fired before even starting their first day. And quite a few shocking “sudden deaths” of highly intellectual young scholars within a week And with LKY quoting a bleak outlook for at least 6 yrs with a fast shrinking population, outflux of foreigners so the remaining folks could well be the Last of the Mohicans.
YL, your news are about the only bright cheer we read ! Keep it up.
hi all,
if you want to get different avatar, just send your next comment with a different email address, you will probably be assigned a new avatar.
mf :
that’s great, you are in control even in the dreams !
That begs the question whether the dream is real and you are now dreaming. Which strictly speaking, we can’t really tell exactly.
Take a look at your tongue, especially the tip, if it is quite reddish, then it means you have internal heat, which can be caused by a few factors. Heat disturbs the heart, which disturbs the sleep and hence dream.
Or if the tongue is instead pale, then it is insufficient blood (different from Western medicine’s anaemia).
And if you feel dizzy when getting up from bending down, this may be a further confirmation.
If this is the case, then try below :
1. one free range chicken egg (as it is with shell, wash clean),
2. 15g of Head Dang-gui (当归头),
Put above in a porcelain steamer “cup” with water. Steam （炖, “dun”) the whole thing for 1 hour.
Drink both the soup and eat the egg. 3 times a week for one month. Stop if you experience headache after taking the herbal tea.
MF, I gues you went to Pulau Perhentian! I went there few yrs ago & it’s still the best snorkeling island in M’sia.
Xiaoyao2, for your info, I only have 1 email address. Can I fake one? Maybe I try now.
Hehehehe……it works!!!! That was a fake email address! I don’t have that email address & it still works- gave me a new avatar!
Urrrgh…this new avatar looks more like a down & trodden peanut with just a few strands of hair! Yucks! I think I take back my red claws!
We only know how good the first one is, after having a 2nd one! That’s life! Just be satisfied with what we have….even if no more words to speak…..
Eh? What happened to my peanut avatar? After I submitted this latest one, my peaut one dissappeared! Xiaoyao2, can get it back for me? It’s good to compare for a good laugh!
xy2, didn’t know that TCM has remedy to get rid of dreams !
I think I am inclined to be lack of blood. 3 times a week for 1 month eating this herbal egg+soup will increase my blood ? Then with increased blood, dreams will vanish ? Will try, for the blood sake.
yl, I went to Lang Tengah island. Will try the Perhentian next time – was the hotel you stayed good ?
mf,
dream is just another symptom, though there are many causes, sometimes merely psychological, i suspect in your case is due to 血虚 (blood weakness).
try it, it is quite harmless, other than you think egg yolk may increase your cholesterol level. it will not do much harm just for a month. Note the method of preparation (炖, not direct boil).
that said, isn’t it good to have some dreams from time to time ?
MF,
Perhentian is quite backward, so the hotel is like small huts. Not like Redang which is nearby, which has Berjaya Resort Hotel. I heard that Lang Tengah is nice but never get to go. Went to Redang instead.
For Perhentian, the memories of corals & fishes were good, but cringe on the memory of the rooms. I remembered, I was rather uptight about the sand everywhere, even on the beds!!! Feel like everywhere dirty, just glad to get out of the rooms & into the waters.
Coming to the dreams….hmmm….seems like I long time, no dreams liao! Too much blood???
mf :
supplemental acupressure for your dream situation :
1. 三阴交 (san yin jiao) : 4 fingers width from peak of ankle joint, behind the inner side of tibia bone. Pressure with thumb or rounded stick. 30~50X
2. 太溪 (tai xi) : mid point between the peak of the ankle joint and edge of the tendon (on the inside). 30~50X
3. 足三里 (zu san li) : 4 fingers width from the lower edge of knee cap, one finger width from top edge of tibia, on the outside. 30~50X.
4. fold fingers of your right hand, “scratch” using the second joint of the fingers (especially 2nd, 3rd and 4th), from wrist-line to the elbow. (on the inside). You will notice reddish patches formed, that’s okay. Do this on left hand only. 30~50X
5. Use your right palm, lightly rub your tummy around navel, moving from upward on the left, to the middle around lower chest, then circle down on the right side, down to the abdomen and repeat the circular motion. Do this while lying down just before sleeping, until you feel rather nice and wanting to sleep.
If you find this too much, do (1), (2) and (4). plus (5) if you want to try out.
mf : this is specific for your case and may not apply to others, unless the underlying factors are the same.
(for exact acupoint, pls google).
tx, xy2.
That’s a plentiful ! Do these acupressure increase blood too ? Looks like No.5 is the easiest to try.
I had a good laugh reading all about “dreams”.
If you red all the comments form the first one down, you will realize that first xy2 is busy prescribing a remedy or two for mf’s problem of too many dreams (I think you got heatiness and low blood pressure, my dear!) and then mf and YL busy comparing notes on their trips to Trengganu (“dreams”?).
Good to dream sometimes. I sometimes get this “day dream” where I see into the future sort of. Sometimes it is very real, and I see my life right through the tunnel into a future time of say 5-10 years or even further. The surroundings and related events are real and connect, not way out, so it does feel real. I take such “dreams” as a way to see myself into the future. Any explanations anyone?
mf,
do (1), (3) and (4). (sorry for typo earlier).
you can finish doing them in 5 minutes, say 2 hours after dinner.
it is not all abt blood, don’t think in terms of blood as per Western Medicine.
BTW, I read about Michael Gill.
Yes, never know what can happen in life, always save for a rainy day (the ant and grasshopper story) and remember there is no job too humble for you (me).
I once read that Prince Charles made a royal visit to a shelter for the homeless in England and met a former school mate from Eton there. We know the kids who get to go to Eton, not the son of your average citizen. Seems like you have to put your child’s name on the wait list the day he is born if you ever want to get him in, unless of course, you are blue blooded.
ch,
past, now and future are all connected continuously in a web.
probably you are very well “in touch with now” that you see the “future”. They are probably more of our wish-list/subconsciousness than what they will be.
either way, stay close to and feel “now” (though by definition “now” is also past events the moment we feel it).
or it could be your Yang Qi is weak, resulting in your “consciousness” wondering off. Check your neck, it might simply be cervical spondylosis.
I’m lost amongst your aliens! I see MF & XY2 really having fun transforming themselves, while CH is contented with that awful, fat abdomen creature!
Talking about conscious dreams, I’m expert in that. I call it; building castles in the air. As far back, as I could remember, in Primary school, I already started this day dreaming exercise. It helps me transport myself from my miserable, humble upbringing, to as high as my mind can imagine.
Ok, got to go home now! Bye for now, all aliens!
Talking about dreams we meant normally, Chinese Medicine has a very detailed interpretation from health perspective, depending on the type of dreams and when they happen.
If the dream happens around 1am~3am, it is mostly emotionally based, whereas 3am ~5am it is mostly physiologically induced.
Further, dreams can be classified into :
1. scary,
2. cheerful,
3. crying sad,
4. missing somebody or something,
5. angry,
6. deep in thinking, can’t get of the entangled thought,
7. worrying
8. hot,
9.. cold,
10. flying,
11. falling (like from a cliff)
12. etc
So the timing and nature of the dream gives a hint of different type of possible system weaknesses or over-activeness.
Separately, there is an age old Chinese story called “黄梁一梦” (“huang liang yi meng”).
It tells of a poor scholar preparing for national exam (to be selected as government officials) going to buy a bowl of congee after a long hour study session.
The shop keeper asked him to take a quick nap in the shop as it takes some 30 minutes to prepare the congee.
The scholar first dreamed about marrying a wealthy and beautiful girl, then he passes his national exam with flying colors, he got a nice government job, his beautiful wife bears him many children, he build a luxury mansion, and later he got more grand-children whom he enjoy very much their company in his old age….”
Then he woke up, the congee was still not ready.
“黄梁一梦”, real or in dream, does it matter ?
* Note : 黄梁 is a type of coarse grain. “黄梁一梦” translate into “a sweet dream while waiting for a bowl of huang-liang congee”. Note in olden days only poor people eat “huang liang” congee.
xy2,
I sometimes have “dreams” of falling off a cliff and I wake up with a start (of course) but this usually happens as I am just about dozing off and getting into the deep sleep realm. Any interpretations there??
ch, I get this too – the free fall effect but somehow my consciousness kicks in and tells me, there’s a safety net down there so no need to be alarmed ! Continue with blissful sleep.
This is what I meant I could direct it !
xy2, I tried the scratching remedy. Yes, red patches. What do I look for to see that it is working ?
ch,
falling off the cliff !
If you can enginner a gliding upward motion that will be a nice and fantastic feeling, like flying in the sky.
Anyway, it signifies that your Middle Qi is somewhat weak, resulting in a weaker Yang Qi in the upper body. So you will have a tendency to dooze off while sitting on the sofa, you are also likely to experience prolapse (fall down) of uterus, stomach or rectum due to weak Middle Qi. (could be due to insufficient care during the first couple of months postpartum.
For whatever it is worth, your guess is as good as mine.
xy2,
Yuks, the things you mentioned. But you may be right about weak middle qi. Have a tendency to get mild diarrhea with anything that does not agree with the tummy!
Next time I fall off a cliff, will spread a safety net below like what mf does!!
ch,
yeah, other symptoms of weak Middle Qi are :
lack of appetite,
fatigue,
tired limbs,
diarrhea (loose stool)
etc
CH & MF,
I also get same kind of dreams- fall off cliff & able to tell myself- won’t hit anything one, bec it’s just a dream. Also had cases of extreme blackness pressing down on the face until feel like black out.
All these were in the past. Even though, back then, I was already a Christian, I still experience this. Then I learnt about exercising my spiritual authority & commanding the oppressive spirit to flee in Jesus name. Did that a few times & it worked- immediately, that dark force released it’s pressure & also I no longer fall off the cliff. When the force was pressing in on me, I could hardly breathe, what more say any words but my mind forced my mouth to shout- ‘ In the name of Jesus, get out!’ ! Or ‘ I rebuke you in the name of Jesus’ Or just shouted the word ‘Jesus’ with as great force as possible. The darkness flee!
Now, for past 20 yrs, no such experience anymore. Thank God!
YL,
what you described as something pressing on you down, can’t breath, can’t move, shout but nothing come out etc is an experience most people have, especially before 20 years old.
There are many causes, primarily due to exhaustion (like after a long day of hard exercise or work), anemia, low blood pressure, or emotional factors (depression, anger etc).
Also quite often in kids, especially those who have emotional issues such as anxiety or other disturbance, or after watching late night scary movies.
If this type of dreams persist, it is likely due to strong emotional issues and should be approached accordingly for complete recovery.
More modern physiology shows that motor nerves are more easily suppressed than the central nerves system. When a person wake up on extreme dream, the motor nerves are slower to “wake up” while the brain (central nerves) is already very clear, thus causing the frustrating and scary feeling of not able to move or to shout.
Whichever, the key is to get over the FEAR factor, as this will make it worse.
This phenomenon is completely normal though it is a consequence of unbalance body Qi. There are some handy ways to address it.
There is a lot more on why we dream, I think i will stop here. For 孔子 (Kong-zi) said: ” 知之為知之，不知為不知，是知也”.
mf,
i believe your dream occurrence will fade with the herbal tea (add 6g of 黄芪 “huang qi” for variance if you like) and the acupressure exercise.
hv fun enjoying fewer dreams.
Thanks Xiaoyao2 for throwing light to our dreams. Glad that I have gotten rid of them. Never happened again.
Phew! I just offload my F&N shares & even managed to reap about 3% profit! Just last week, it was still a gone case one, thought about cutting my loss. Now it’s just barely over 1 mth since I bought this shares & I managed to offload with a profit.
Now….I have left 1 last stock to offload- UOB. It’s uprising looks promising…
xy2, thanks for the other symptoms of weak middle qi. so far none of the others. Always a good appetitte, perhaps too good, therefore can’t lose weight!
No fatigue, not that I know of. So far still got energy…..
But then when age catches up, I might find them all (?)
YL, you may be missing the biggest bull market in history if you sell now (xy2, please look the other way, OK, don’t scold us for talking about the stock market, it is a little good news we have had for a long time)!
why do you think Tim Geithner threw out such a sweet deal to private partners on his latest public-private fund to buy toxic assets from US banks ?
there can be only one answer – the real situation with most US banks is a lot uglier than the mkt thinks (with prob the exception of GS, JPM, MS). So Citi is gone, BoA is probably gone too etc. GM definitely gone.
Geithner is using private partner to do the “stress-testing” for him in practice.
what Obama/Geithner is essentially trying to do is to get out of the debt problem via inflation and depreciation of USD, which will happen, maybe not today, but it will.
Haven’t we heard the “warning shot” from Wen Jiabou the other day ? (asking US govrnment to g’tee the safety of Chinese investment in US which is mainly US treasuries and agency bonds). Of course US will take care of itself, not China.
Aiyoh….CH….I dare not hope for a bull run. My gut feel is similar to what Xiaoyao2 feels. I think something is awefully wrong, can’t be everything, just ok like this, in such short notice.
Once I get the price I want for UOB, I’m going to exit immediately. Not going to wait & see….let the others do it, I’m gonna run!
ch,
in Chinese Medicine, there is a diagnostic rule called “有之求之, 无之求之”, meaning ” if there are corresponding symptoms then that confirm it, if there isn’t corresponding symptom then find out why ….”
using the relationship amongst the 5 organ systems, it would point to your Liver system, potential weakness. As we discussed in past postings, Liver Qi (Sprig Qi) likes to go up, like to express itself. So its weakness will cause it to stay in the lower half of the body, likely results in occasional discomfort in the lower abdomen. This is more likely to happen in Spring.
That said, can’t really say much without more info. So unless the falling of the cliff dream is frequent occurrence, otherwise there’s nothing much to worry about.
xy2, thanks for your concern.
No, the “falling off the cliff” dream happens once in a while, leaves me with a bit of a bizarre feeling, but I doze off immediately and it really has not done any harm to me emotionally, so I am not particularly worried. Just pointed it out because you mentioned that was one of those things we dream about……
But good to take note that I might have a weaker middle qi and so must take precautions.
I know, I read Wen JB’s comments, and also read that China is moving towards reducing buying more US treasuries, and perhaps diverting some of their funds to developing countries like Africa (I think the latter is a good move). Not much more potential in the US, more potential in Africa (and the risk may be less in the latter after all!)
So YL may be right, make hay while it still shines!! (Sell while there is still a profit?)
dream – used to be one of my most interested topic. But ever since I read up and studied the physical/science explaination of it at high school, I kinda care less about what I dream any more. REM, brain recovering its anxiety, and even explanation of the part of brain that regain conscious earlier and temporary lose control of muscles resulting the feeling of pressed and can’t scream etc. Those are really interesting to read. Nonetheless, I tend to believe the type of dreams reflect certain health symptoms, except that since dream is natural, needed and good (unconscious dreams) for brain, so just let it be.
One thing though, I am still thinking that dream world is sort of a new dimension e.g. 4D that human still does not understood. Just consider how much and how long you can dream about even with a very short sleep. It seems we have something travel faster than light in a dream and you can actually accomplish a lot in a physically short time-space.
Have you dreamt about you seeing yourself doibg something else in a dream as if you are not part of you?
And, yes. I have slept with a technical problem, dreamt through the analysis and woke up with a solution. The analysis was pretty comprehensive that I don’t think I can finish within the same time if I was conscious.
Brain/this creation is actually very powerful while our conscious mind is only a very small reflection of it’s capacity…
There is another theory about the brain, that it stores generations of DNAs passed down from our ancestrial line. Hence, sometimes, these stored & suppressed data, manifest itself through dreams.
Maybe, those whose ancestors went through wars, will dream of falling off cliff, being chased & hunted. These are the memories stored in the DNAs of our ancestors & now in us.
What do you all think?
inflation and depreciation – how to take advantage of this? Perhaps take more loan and spend on something that price will inflate?
YL, coming from an IT/engineer, those were interesting comments about dreams. Stored memories, sort of. Interesting, hmmm
pls revisit the posting
“2 Universal Books (天书) – 6,500 years apart”.
In the Universe scientists know, only 4% is made of ordinary matter (like Hydrogen, helium etc). The remainder 96% is made of dark Energy, Dark Matter, things that scientists cannot understand or equipments cannot detect.
If you think yourself as part of this larger Universe (not me vs the Universe) and possess all the common building blocks of the Universe, you may just perhaps “feel” the whole Universe, without the hindrance of time and space.
As discussed earlier, space and time are concepts that were derived from our 6 senses. The “real” world need not be that way. (a better measure is possibly space-time matrix).
Scientists have equipments to help them detect things we cannot see with our naked 6 senses. But these instruments are only as good as we human created them. There are many things these instrument cannot detect and they exist. Or what’s the point of detecting a “porcelain bowl”, when in essence it is made of clay, which is really silicon, oxygen etc.
Or look at Hydrogen and Oxygen, they are both highly combustible when put together, becoming water as a result. This water, which is H2O, can then be used to put out fire ! So you see, the connectivity between water and fire is alot closer than we think. They are not strictly opposite, only opposite under a particular set of conditions.
All these things have been discussed in Chinese classical texts in Confucianism, Daoism and Buddhism.
Sadly, for a lot of things scientists don’t understand, they simply call them superstition. Scientists forget they themselves are a form of belief system. Modern scientists are like the 7 blindmen touching a small part of the elephant.
Therefore Confucius emphasized “知之為知之，不知為不知，是知也”