Peace at any price?

Tenderhearted people will go to unbelievable lengths to avoid any kind of turmoil in a relationship. If there’s a little tension in the marriage and one partner asks the other, “What’s wrong?” the tender one will answer, “Nothing.” What he or she really saying is this: “Something’s wrong, but I don’t want to make a scene.” In choosing peacekeeping over truth telling, these people think they are being noble, but in reality they are making a bad choice. Whatever caused the tension will come back. The peace will get harder and harder to keep. A spirit of disappointment will start to flow the peacekeeper’s veins, leading first to anger, then to bitterness and finally to hatred. Relationships can die while everything looks peaceful on the surface!

Peace at any price is a form of deception. When you know you need to tell the truth, the evil one whispers in your ear, “Don’t do it. He won’t listen. She won’t take it. It will only make things worse.” If you believe those lies, you will probably kill your relationship sooner or later. Tell the truth!

doin errands, facing the pain, struggling with one's regimen

today, i will be doing a lot for my personal thing....

after doing lots of errands yesterday in Espanola and sta fe, i felt that my energy has kinda worn out..and so i just need a lot more of relaxation and self-help for my personal things to do for my health now.

i recall how my energy has worn out easily from the heat of summer, and from being exposed to sun and all that outside for several hours going to and fro for bank and shoppin errands.


and i still feel a bit of the dizzines from my getting so terribly nauseated from the whole day's long trips to and fro the city yesterday....

so, to give myself a respite from the uncomfortable unusual experience i got yesterday from the bank......( i actually made bulks of cash and check deposits in our acct from Valley National Bank in Espanola City then encashed checks for petty cash vouchers and bought postal money orders for immigration fees of monks who have applied for immigration status adjustments), from the streets( goin and out the streets for shopping of different items that can be found from different malls and stores in scattered locations), from the crowd( people doin shopping and enjoying the heat of the sun , remember that americans love to go under the heat of the sun to tan their white skin?), and from the excruciating scorching heat of the sun( i hate the sun! i just can't take it penetrating my bonemarrows),...... my Prior gave me permission to just take time for myself today and not engage in my work in the kitchen...

so, by and by, i am gonna do continue my swiss balling...my skipping rope thing....my dumbells game and then plenty of rest afterwards...what a way to spend my free day huh!....as the saying goes...no pains no gains...so join me in my struggle from my weight liftings and ball swissings...

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monastic sports

Monks get physical during their spare time...

Don't get me wrong. when i said, 'Monks get physical'- it's nothing but it meant: monks do engage in physical sports from time to time and when there's plenty of spare time to spend it.

yesterday, two monks, a ('bumbay') hindu and a ('mehikano') mexican did their much awaited badminton match at the grounds near the monastery's water gallery station...way way back at the monastery property and three miles away from the monastery cloister and edifice.

let's take a closer look at them as they struggled their way to win the match..

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Last night, i played with my ball, Today i greet you a happy 'Phils. Independence day'...

yesterday was the second time i came to my chiropractor for treatment of my condition.
one of the tasks that my chiropractor gave me aside from the natural medicines that he gave me for the inflammations of my tendons and muscles, was a Physioball or stabilization ball. He also gave me a book of exercises that i need to follow for my abs, inner thighs, legs, lower back and butt.

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so, last night, without much thought, i started with the warm -up exercises: body bending... head..neck...waist...legs

and followed by these exercises that i needed to execute for the whole of thirty minutes to forty five last night.





Happy Independence day to all of you my (Kababayans) comrades and my countrymen!!!!

going to Town for medical appointments and for Jane, our Benefactor

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This is me and dom patricio waiting at the clinic's lobby of Dr. Salim, the chiropractor, whom the monks here have been seeing for a number of years already. it seems the monks in my community have common ailments: tendonitis... muscle pains...viral infections from sages and pinion leaves...rheumatism...and high altitude problems...allergies...well, it's not really surprising because we live in an elevation of 6,500 feet valley of chama canyons left and right surrounded with wild trees and animals...Patricio who's only 23 years old and who came from a land at sea level like me suffers the same pains as what i am suffering now. (left-click the image on the right to enlarge)......


This is Jane , our ever faithful and ever supportive benefactor of the monastery. She has been helping the community for years even before i came over in year 2002.
We dropped-by in coming back to the monastery as per her request to pick up tons of heavy stuffs like sacks of rice, potatoes, pinto beans, packs of canned goods like kernel corn, orange juice, apple juice, and the like.....- hhhmmm, no wonder i am getting tendonitis LOL. (left-click the image on the right to enlarge)......

Jane is 78 years old now, but she still doesn't look like one. i have heard so much about her and the good deeds she had been doing for the community just to make both ends meet so to speak. She was instrumental to the highly successful fund raising activities for the community's well being in the 90's.(left-click the image on the right to enlarge)......

gettin' sick and staying in my cell....is an art too!

since when getting sick is an art?..since i become a monk here at the secluded and isolated monastery of contemplative monks!...

yeah, kahit may sakit ang isang monghe- at nakabartolina lamang ito sa kanyang simple ngunit masalimuot na selda, ay kinakailangan maging makabuluhan pa rin naman ang buhay nya at pilitin itong maisama sa pag inog ng mundong ginagalawan nya sa araw ng pagkakasakit nya-

kaya kahit may dinaramdam ako ngayong araw - i have been complaining to myself and to other monks especially to Andre, my former Juniormaster of terrible pain at the back of my neck and at the left side of my head near my left ear-( na nagsimula kahapon before Compline kaya kinailangan kong mag hingi ng excuse not to attend Compline anymore to Prior Christian,) -ay kinakailangan ko pa ring makagalaw at makagawa ng kahit anong bagay sa loob ng aking selda para maging useful kahit paano ang araw ko- i was thankful to the vietnamese old monk bro Mayeul who gave me his white Tiger balm for my ailing head. if this symptom persists, i will be forced to go out and visit our community physician Dr Murray Ryan for check-up the next day.

kaya ang buong araw ko ngayon ay ginugol ko sa

...pag log- in sa Pay Pal website to validate credit cards slips from our giftshop customers

...read some passages in the Bible while at rest

...and

... just spend the day in bed or in front of my laptop for email and blog updates.

clean shaven monk-

am i getting fat???

shocked ako sa mga kuhang ito kanina lang...i never thought. feeling ko ay domoble ang taba ko sa mukah ko...- in just a matter of two weeks na walang tigil at kontrol sa pagkain ay ito na ang resulta ng sarili ko; will you judge for me if really i am?

with a new brother from vietnam, paul thien.
kailangan ko na bang magbawas ng timbang? or magbawas ng pagkain? or resume with my workout regimen?...

yan si digoy talaga dati ng malaki mukah pero ako ay nakapagtataka .. at nagka double chin pa, ngiiiihhhhh...
or madaya lang ang digicam ko? hindi kaya?
henry, judge me. janet, evaluate me. may, don't be like me.