backyard treasure trove

was digging through my old stuff, and uncovered this gem that laid hidden in the recesses of my drawer all this while. when i was 18 years old, my climbing coach went off to india for 6 months to practice yoga in the high mountains. also, my climbing teacher-in-charge flew off to new zealand to pursue a masters in marine biology. they wrote farewell notes to us, of which the juniors placed inside a cd as memorabilia.

too coincidental to be true?
i'm quite sure both my mentors did it separately without discussing their contents first. yet, both touched on the same topic - religion (my teacher in greater detail), underscoring the all-encompassing role religion plays in people's lives.

the octopus
as a child, the tentacles of religion never snagged me. sure i went to temples, but i didnt believe in the myriad of gods singaporean chinese (taoist/buddhist) generally believed in. i didnt go because i believe that sticking joss sticks into urns would bestow me with whatever i prayed for, but because if i refused, my parents would get really upset. in 10 year-old lingo, that means no toys, sweets, computer games, comics, etc. after doing the sums in my little kiddish brain, it became clear that tolerating an hour of a smoky, hot incense-permeated environment is more bearable than a lifetime of disincentives.

everything i did was uncoloured by religion. i knew about various religions due to the occasional need to fill in some survey forms (of which i put buddhist at the behest of my parents), but these religions didnt affect me in the least bit. when reading the news, i glossed over the parts with religious innuendos. nowadays, i see them screaming out at me. when i made friends, i didnt know, or more accurately, didnt bother what their religions were. i embraced them wholeheartedly as individuals, as opposed to being influenced to erect invisible barriers, as children of any faith are prone to. nowadays, as a result of certain encounters, i am tainted by a rather unhealthy curiosity to know what faiths people align themselves to. am quite disillusioned at the disparity between myself in my youth, when i was innocent and happy, and myself now, as a reserved and skeptical young adult.

namaste!
in coach's note to us, he touched on spirituality. he mentions how yoga is actually not a religion but a way of life. in it he shares with us yogi philosophy, like not gorging yourself (greed is bad) and mediation (reflecting is good). after which he signed off with namaste. i didnt know namaste had such a deep/spiritual meaning behind it. i thought it only meant hello.

the butterfly effect
in teacher's note to us, he shared with us the importance of seizing opportunities, and the consequences of being lazy. i loved his book analogy, about how a certain chapter in your life has great bearing on subsequent ones. i imagine myself perched on the crossroads of life, my soul yanked skywards until a bird's eye view over the various pathways that i might have/should have walked is presented. the paths i shouldnt walk are marked with barbs. the paths i should walk are paved with roses. yeah right.. if only everything is so clear cut. life wouldnt be an adventure then, would it?

the octopus again?!
teacher then launched into an explanation of the theory of irreducible complexity (put forth by micheal behe), arguing how darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection is flawed, misusing an over-simplistic analogy on how a child imagines a bicycle evolving into a car to debunk Darwin's theory. in short, he says we need a watchmaker. however, if that watchmaker exists, then he must be blind. if humans were indeed divinely created and given dominion over all manner of fowl and beast and creature, then why did the octopus or great horned owl get wayyyyy superior eyes? why are humans afflicted with a blind spot to his side (making him vulnerable to predation from beast from that angle), whereas the spider is granted with near 360-degree vision?

why is childbirth such a trying reproductive process, of which many women brethren, because of hemorrhage, die? the placement of blood vessels within the muscular wall of the uterus is very peculiar. they pass through the muscles themselves and depend totally on muscle contraction to staunch the bleeding that normally occurs after a birth. when the uterine muscle fibers do not contract, most often for unknown reasons, the area where the placenta had attached itself to the uterine wall represents a 20 centimeter diameter (about 8 inches) wound that continues to bleed.

why is it that as men get older, their prostate keeps growing? as it grows, it squeezes the urethra. since urine travels from the bladder through the urethra, the pressure from the enlarged prostate affects bladder control. guys, we cant piss properly because of this! is it some joke that you got the short end of your stick? opps.. i meant *the stick. =p. these are obvious design flaws. i'm sure an omnipotent dude would have known better. i digress..

harry potter?
the point of this post is to share with my readers how religion had already lurked unsuspecting in my teens, yet had no real impact then. it is only until recently that i've been drawn to examine it in greater detail. sometimes, i wish i have a time turner like Hermionie in Harry Potter. then, i can brashly tromp through paths without fear of regret, instead of cautiously treading my toes in still water first.

certain friends wouldnt understand of course. they havent read Harry Potter because their church explicitly disallows it. but i digress again..