World stewardess Crews: Words

Showing posts with label Words. Show all posts

the journey:

the journey:

from being a victim of one's situation to becoming the master of one's life is like finding & perfecting the diamond within

1:34 AM

GET OPEN :: it all starts to make sense....

<div style="text-align: center;">I've been often asked how does my art connect now to what I was up back in my teens. For a long time, I wasn't really ready to show my past life as a young artist going through some dark places while seeking the light. The art that I did when I was 15, I'm definitely not ready to share yet, but I'm fine with sharing the part of the journey that was in the light. I made these sketches and painting below during my high school years when I was spending all my time with doing art and exploring the life of painters, ancient alchemist, kabbalists and seekers. This one below was the first of its kind, a meditational sygil i made for myself, based on alchemical illustrations I was studying carefully back then. I must say that having artist friends who are also seekers give me a lot of inspiration to keep on expressing the quest. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q202/licsi777/Lichiban-ALCHEMYnotebook7.jpg" /></div><div style="text-align: center;">This is my note/sketch book back when I was 16. This was way before the birth of Lichiban, the little symbol on the bottom right corner of the book was my logo I designed for myself using my three initials A T SZ of my actual name. It connected the symbol of fire and air, the Eye, and the knot of life that had special significance for me back then. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q202/licsi777/Lichiban-ALCHEMYnotebook6.jpg" /></div><div style="text-align: center;">The Tree of Sephiroth (most of the notes there in Hungarian, sorry). Sephiroths are the 10 attributes/emanations in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kabbalah" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(6, 69, 173); background-image: none;" title="Kabbalah">Kabbalah</a>, through which <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Names_of_God_in_Judaism" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(6, 69, 173); background-image: none;" title="Names of God in Judaism">God</a> (who is referred to as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ein_Sof" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(6, 69, 173); background-image: none;" title="Ein Sof">Ein Sof</a> - The Infinite) reveals him/herself and continuously creates both the physical realm and the chain of higher <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metaphysics" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(6, 69, 173); background-image: none;" title="Metaphysics">metaphysical</a> realms. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q202/licsi777/Lichiban-ALCHEMYnotebook4.jpg" /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Cosmic diagrams are a way of mapping the connection between the microcosmos, the human body, and the macrocosmos, our galaxy. When we unlock the maps of galaxies beyond ours, simultaneously we unlock the doors to the hyperdimensions within ourselves and vice versa. "As above, so below" as Thoth through the words of Hermes Trismegistos would say. That is what I believe is the shift that is being heralded with the whole consciousness shift people are talking about these days. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q202/licsi777/Lichiban-ALCHEMYnotebook5.jpg" /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q202/licsi777/Lichiban-ALCHEMYnotebook8.jpg" /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q202/licsi777/Lichiban-ALCHEMYnotebook2.jpg" /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q202/licsi777/Lichiban-ALCHEMYnotebook3.jpg" /></div><div style="text-align: center;">This is the LOVE ∆eon as I've try to translate the experience/vision of it once back then. It reemerged again as <a href="http://lichiban.net/portfolios/11901-feline-fantasy#num=3721531&id=11901">LOTUSHEART </a>two years ago. I created it as a collaboration with fellow artist comrade and seeker, Quan Luv, who introduced Lotusheart to Harakiti, his cosmic lover ninja.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q202/licsi777/Lichiban-ALCHEMYnotebook9.jpg" /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: center;">While I was going through some self-healing and soul searching, I discovered all these mystical traditions that to my understanding were talking about the same ultimate realization that at the core of our being we are divinity. That divinity is an awareness, or a special kind of vibration that our consciousness harmonizes with, or attunes to. It is the oneness-awareness, a state of non-duality. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q202/licsi777/Lichiban-SUFIMysticalBuddhist1.jpg" /></div><div style="text-align: center;">You can call it a changing of frequency, as we are made of various combinations of vibration types that corresponds to the degree of our being connected to matter. It is not something humans that are bound to the four elements, i.e. matter, can realize completely, but we can achieve experiences of the state of absolute freedom from limitations, a state of buddhahood or heaven, if we embrace the vibration of that way of awareness, which is a mental state, or form of awareness on a particular frequency. Most traditions say that it is never fully achieved as a permanent state while our lifeseed is in the body. It is a shift that happens to our consciousness, a state of bliss, and it takes a life of spiritual practice to achieve it, if only for periods of time. It takes letting go of notions of the past, memories of pain, and then the ultimate letting go of the idea of the self, the thing that calls itself 'I'. It's the state that many mystical traditions describe as being one with God, or uniting with God, realizing the inner divinity. Sufis, the practitioners of Islamic mysticism describe it through the metaphor of the heart as a mirror, which has to be polished through spiritual practice of cleansing of the self from false notions of identifications with negative energies and orientations (such as greed, hunger for power, envy, hate, etc) in order to reflect the Beloved, God, fully.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q202/licsi777/Lichiban-SUFIMysticalBuddhist3.jpg" /></div><div style="text-align: center;">The first person who I experienced as someone who you might call an 'enlightened human' was this old Sufi healer in Srinagar, Kashmir. He would sit there for 12 hrs a day and people would come to him for his healing energy all day. Something about him & his presence was different from any other spiritual guides and healers I've encountered before. He is one of those <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meetings_with_Remarkable_Men">Remarkable Men</a>, Gurdjieff inspired me back then to seek. He changed my life in some unspoken way with very few words. If he were a Buddhist, he would be called a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodhisattva">b</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodhisattva">oddhisattva</a>.</div><div style="text-align: center;"> </div><div style="text-align: center;">I don't have time to introduce these books, but I took a few snapshots of my library of books on spirituality, most of which are books on, or about Sufis, alchemy & magic (though I've been also sharing some of my Tibetan Buddhist references) that I'd recommend to anyone who would want to explore or continue to explore the forgotten part of our makeup. One of most accessible and yet one of the most powerful entry I had to these was Kahlil Gibran's THE PROPHET. I read it when I was 14 and it was the most important inspiration and light bearer I had encountered until then, which changed my life and the way I was seeing the world then in some deep way. In a way, it was through his work that I was first exposed to Sufi teachings, which was a major source of inspiration for Gibran.</div><div style="text-align: center;"> </div><div style="text-align: center;">"But let there be spaces in your togetherness and let the winds of the heavens dance between you. Love one another but make not a bond of love: let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls."</div><div style="text-align: center;">"I prefer to be a dreamer among the humblest, with visions to be realized, than lord among those without dreams and desires." Kahlil Gibran</div><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q202/licsi777/Lichiban-SUFIMysticalBuddhist2.jpg" /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: center;">Yes, I am a book junky, and the cosmos made sure that I got the right openings to support it. I used to spend all my money on books, though I stopped buying new ones a few years ago (art costs a LOT of $$) and rather slowly reopening the ones I have (but they still keep coming through, like last time on the ones I found on the street or from friends). Ultimately all books are just there to lend a language to something we have to seek to realize as an experience ourselves, at which point they become disposable. Beyond them a whole infinite ocean, as one of my favorites, Jalaladdin Mevlana Rumi would say. Rumi is a portal of love energy. </div><div style="text-align: center;">"Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it." — <a class="authorNameRegular" href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/875661.Mawlana_Jalal_al_Din_Rumi" style="color: rgb(102, 51, 0); text-decoration: none;">Mawlana Jalal-al-Din Rumi</a></div><div style="text-align: center;">(here are <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/875661.Mawlana_Jalal_al_Din_Rumi">some quotes</a> for inspiration)</div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q202/licsi777/Lichiban-SUFIMysticalBuddhist4.jpg" /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Some of these might be too technical to be the first read, but we are always attracted to the things that are ready for at all time, so it's all good. Let me know if you have any recommendations.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q202/licsi777/Lichiban-SUFIMysticalBuddhist6.jpg" /></div><div style="text-align: center;">thank you for reading. please share.</div></div>

GET OPEN :: it all starts to make sense....

I've been often asked how does my art connect now to what I was up back in my teens. For a long time, I wasn't really ready to show ...

12:18 PM

THE REVOLUTION NEEDS AN EVOLUTION:: MICHAEL CORDERO

<div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;">Just saw this inspiring video from Brooklyn fam, <a href="http://www.myspace.com/soulhustler" onclick="'ft(">Michael Cordero. </a>Michael has been keeping true to the spirit of the artist-activist model, -a type that you've seen in the '50s and '60s more than these days-, making his art a catalyst for change and evolution... something I definitely relate to. </div> </div><object height="326" width="580"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><param name="movie" value="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=8427780&server=vimeo.com&show_title=0&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=fce114&fullscreen=1"><embed src="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=8427780&server=vimeo.com&show_title=0&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=fce114&fullscreen=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" height="326" width="580"></embed></object><a href="http://vimeo.com/8427780">Mikey 1Soul on Guide To Liberation</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/mvmt">MVMT</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.About Michael Cordero: a member of the Brooklyn-based artist collective, <a href="http://trustyourhustle.blogspot.com/">TRUST YOUR STRUGGLE</a>, brand Architect of 1 Soul Designs & Co-Owner of Fresthetic, Michael has launched several successful arts and community based businesses and has dedicated his life t0 promoting social, political and cultural awareness in order to provoke change. His work has impacted communities in NYC, San Francisco, Cuba, Vieques, Mexico and Guatemala. To find out more, check out his site at <a href="http://conscioushustler.mvmt.com/">conscioushustler.mvmt.com</a>

THE REVOLUTION NEEDS AN EVOLUTION:: MICHAEL CORDERO

Just saw this inspiring video from Brooklyn fam, Michael Cordero. Michael has been keeping true to the spirit of the artist-activist model, ...

3:20 PM

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to embrace healing is acknowledging the strength of your own vulnerability

3:23 PM

TRUE SEXY is....:: part 1 :: ladies' edition

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpLUP4WVWpdNekv0j_8qkEjRVXHiOznE1ei56gpaCHVO_NXeDCAWVWnRhkeJjOpuMnyJq5zdR-kB3ehz4PFsbZ4vx8iq2NlBQ_MjkooYlFu9iGWNj2rAZRXOq2g8D3hEFlp7A62SDd7Hw/s1600-h/lichibanTRUESEXY+copy.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5344789857653176306" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpLUP4WVWpdNekv0j_8qkEjRVXHiOznE1ei56gpaCHVO_NXeDCAWVWnRhkeJjOpuMnyJq5zdR-kB3ehz4PFsbZ4vx8iq2NlBQ_MjkooYlFu9iGWNj2rAZRXOq2g8D3hEFlp7A62SDd7Hw/s400/lichibanTRUESEXY+copy.jpg" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 154px;" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXZw0-GGD_xC-GPAagHgiTfRgFiXjnpl1FpPpfibv6EvaBhfFjJK4edbvR2MlPIFdKcO78WL3GhMS9wHGYpCY5xFhTebVbB9ZT2egHdoUVYtFFdTwoXEJnhi55VlIGgCPbcmxEQNfmS68/s1600-h/Tyukiminagano_lichiban.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5337350163666025970" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXZw0-GGD_xC-GPAagHgiTfRgFiXjnpl1FpPpfibv6EvaBhfFjJK4edbvR2MlPIFdKcO78WL3GhMS9wHGYpCY5xFhTebVbB9ZT2egHdoUVYtFFdTwoXEJnhi55VlIGgCPbcmxEQNfmS68/s400/Tyukiminagano_lichiban.jpg" style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 120px; height: 120px;" /></a><a href="http://electricforest-yukimi.blogspot.com/" style="font-weight: bold;">YUKIMI NAGANO</a> of <a href="http://www.myspace.com/yourlittledragon">Little Dragon </a>singer Gothenburg, Sweden TRUE SEXY IS… our boy and girlfriends <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifRGLbsgspWeUiSAHpJwFjJfQYsmZgbnrE9jygpecDZAU_FLQWI6sSJjYuwCDx7WixjIdTEcE1zj7hwlniLK_aZlCFD8OlRX0A9akROdWCnE6BjkOF-EwCKjnQAia4KC7hnf5sHZ_Ut20/s1600-h/Tjdavey_lichiban.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5337346697683115410" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifRGLbsgspWeUiSAHpJwFjJfQYsmZgbnrE9jygpecDZAU_FLQWI6sSJjYuwCDx7WixjIdTEcE1zj7hwlniLK_aZlCFD8OlRX0A9akROdWCnE6BjkOF-EwCKjnQAia4KC7hnf5sHZ_Ut20/s400/Tjdavey_lichiban.jpg" style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 120px; height: 120px;" /></a>Miss <a href="http://missjackdavey.blogspot.com/" style="font-weight: bold;">JACK DAVEY</a> of <a href="http://www.myspace.com/jdavey" style="font-weight: bold;">J'DAVEY</a> singer New York, NY TRUE SEXY IS… confidence & 5 inch heels <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTdcUya0DD5Olvg986YOkBbhep4fSysrPRjOCHMz1yOjN4ttQpsp3SMFDxeZZG-TeH2Czhl0_k5mCc6pES-_nCVHKc4kAbtc0LNaqkmgV62E2xi_UMhauI0E7csx2R04MATr0rn9c_ZoE/s1600-h/Tkisseyasplund-lichiban.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5337347981620338754" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTdcUya0DD5Olvg986YOkBbhep4fSysrPRjOCHMz1yOjN4ttQpsp3SMFDxeZZG-TeH2Czhl0_k5mCc6pES-_nCVHKc4kAbtc0LNaqkmgV62E2xi_UMhauI0E7csx2R04MATr0rn9c_ZoE/s400/Tkisseyasplund-lichiban.jpg" style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 120px; height: 120px;" /></a><a href="http://www.myspace.com/kisseyasplund">KISSEY ASPLUND</a> singer Malmoe / Stockholm/ New York / Sweden - USA TRUE SEXY IS…calmness <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjgtvFHttT87jGvshamVgbfYdmpOPL-LRI6CYZFxUSOQ0Cfy2tMqjXYxsH-cjc75kbwogCnJK0_yI0lIlC-SZ13eSQMXheDztRgMBTa-0TFrmkjQJQGcY1pTAqf5JVf4U8eQ9SpeDTe3k/s1600-h/Trucylmills_lichiban.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5337350163799569458" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjgtvFHttT87jGvshamVgbfYdmpOPL-LRI6CYZFxUSOQ0Cfy2tMqjXYxsH-cjc75kbwogCnJK0_yI0lIlC-SZ13eSQMXheDztRgMBTa-0TFrmkjQJQGcY1pTAqf5JVf4U8eQ9SpeDTe3k/s400/Trucylmills_lichiban.jpg" style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 120px; height: 120px;" /></a><a href="http://www.rucylmills.com/" style="font-weight: bold;">RUCYL MILLS</a> singer/producer/tech geek TRUE SEXY IS… handlin bizness <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMvbYPMbWvazbHSTD6C4dsP0TyK05U2Gcr6a_ix_pIgdNLxyV-sJW8QsXV10jfnturv8eVYq5eqyYeXwmloT8P5jFU_RmFegkZ5vPcn4EMCEhpVbj1U-fBEe9s2_6Dux1H4iv-9phhMk0/s1600-h/Traye6_lichiban.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5337345601855214098" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMvbYPMbWvazbHSTD6C4dsP0TyK05U2Gcr6a_ix_pIgdNLxyV-sJW8QsXV10jfnturv8eVYq5eqyYeXwmloT8P5jFU_RmFegkZ5vPcn4EMCEhpVbj1U-fBEe9s2_6Dux1H4iv-9phhMk0/s400/Traye6_lichiban.jpg" style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 120px; height: 120px;" /></a><a href="http://www.myspace.com/rayesheen">RAYE 6 </a> singer, producer Brooklyn, New York, NY TRUE SEXY IS…in the eyes of everyone that loves you <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNoNqmpMNJHWWp3w35dYiqP8V4lm1PCts4cM176W7QyrqF16qxL4Xl9cTI0qiQliQkFkynSM3yHpc41l1C3-VK9JvKhyphenhyphenEwe1pxntWB4zVFK6-eFAMVMk3ejehRE9flaQoxU24HeV1-viQ/s1600-h/lucylove_lichiban.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5337344404875897234" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNoNqmpMNJHWWp3w35dYiqP8V4lm1PCts4cM176W7QyrqF16qxL4Xl9cTI0qiQliQkFkynSM3yHpc41l1C3-VK9JvKhyphenhyphenEwe1pxntWB4zVFK6-eFAMVMk3ejehRE9flaQoxU24HeV1-viQ/s400/lucylove_lichiban.jpg" style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 120px; height: 120px;" /></a><a href="http://www.myspace.com/lucylovemc">LUCY LOVE </a> MC Copenhagen, Denmark TRUE SEXY IS...not to be found on MTV. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSNMf1zswADOsIDeicNAZNHWycLMnki_IwsMqOPgREmlRRuN_GLu1Ff44OifWyG8Vr2jEwYizppcxXou8x7-CexKHU8cEtsqbBPf_i3wvnOpLOUmQYSDuWFk_XZ6ghMEbFn8YgcfKjrlk/s1600-h/Tsarahwhite_lichiban.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5337353659102010962" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSNMf1zswADOsIDeicNAZNHWycLMnki_IwsMqOPgREmlRRuN_GLu1Ff44OifWyG8Vr2jEwYizppcxXou8x7-CexKHU8cEtsqbBPf_i3wvnOpLOUmQYSDuWFk_XZ6ghMEbFn8YgcfKjrlk/s400/Tsarahwhite_lichiban.jpg" style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 120px; height: 120px;" /></a><a href="http://www.myspace.com/sarahwhitesol">SARAH WHITE</a> singer, MC, photographer, blogstress Brooklyn, NY TRUE SEXY IS… making sure all of your needs are met by any means necessary <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBGk3SWCnHGU_VcbuJaj-cdH4cWq0J9wOwN4tcFFOcy5aFHzXUoZ7aDqVLhucdx-55AzIrz12NCWfuPS_ZpZaJ4OCpDfLpFtjFBslHUXtt6KQcp-3pm46nxvPTZ0Al02K2Z41EUXCVxrU/s1600-h/T_lichiban.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5337353656698857858" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBGk3SWCnHGU_VcbuJaj-cdH4cWq0J9wOwN4tcFFOcy5aFHzXUoZ7aDqVLhucdx-55AzIrz12NCWfuPS_ZpZaJ4OCpDfLpFtjFBslHUXtt6KQcp-3pm46nxvPTZ0Al02K2Z41EUXCVxrU/s400/T_lichiban.jpg" style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 120px; height: 120px;" /></a><a href="http://www.myspace.com/lichiban">LICHIBAN</a> visual artist, illustrator, art director, blogstress Brooklyn, NY - Budapest, Hungary TRUE SEXY IS… the effortless mastery of the art of seduction. <div style="text-align: center;">the guys' answers are coming soon.... </div> [answers were part of previous features on WRONGLIPS (my blog with singer, Sarah White) under <a href="tp://wronglips.blogspot.com/search/label/Hey%20Ladies">Hey Ladies</a>!!]

TRUE SEXY is....:: part 1 :: ladies' edition

YUKIMI NAGANO of Little Dragon singer Gothenburg, Sweden TRUE SEXY IS… our boy and girlfriends Miss JACK DAVEY of J'DAVEY singer New ...

1:18 AM

Imagine.....

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguS14eKPIfkAV1UAIDayJZHye4pMYWRZKp7aUYeU9u24umCFF0mUlppNlRCacSOPnwVQ79nBBfAzSw_LtJLOi0so13Za9yB7P5XzSwpx3JBwRPEuf-WYbh9PPzL-CRYJC7RicfDHR9mHM/s1600-h/lichibanIMAGINEkat.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5324837732525787970" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguS14eKPIfkAV1UAIDayJZHye4pMYWRZKp7aUYeU9u24umCFF0mUlppNlRCacSOPnwVQ79nBBfAzSw_LtJLOi0so13Za9yB7P5XzSwpx3JBwRPEuf-WYbh9PPzL-CRYJC7RicfDHR9mHM/s400/lichibanIMAGINEkat.jpg" style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" /></a>Imagine a you that you always wanted to be. a you that you were or perhaps still are afraid to become. a you that is in touch with your TRUTH that is always, at every moment connected to the source of truth. a you that embodies the light and is like the sun becomes the source of it (we are all light beings and we become that to the degree to which we recognize and embrace it). a you that is not afraid, not self-judging. a you who lives in the state of abundance where all your needs met. a you that is powerful and yet stays humble because you realize that the only true power comes from a higher source and you are just a vessel for it (all other power is illusonary--it quickly reveals itself in power games and it comes from hidden insecurities due to lack of self-love). the moment you truly learn to love yourself, you can liberate yourself and can become capable of giving and receiving true love...and you will allow others around you to do the same (envy and the hater mentality comes from self-doubt and from our own fear of success). a you whose power is generosity. a you who is the best possible manifestation of you in this life. a you that is the TRUE DIAMOND. that is what your life is for. to believe and manifest the best YOU. the secret is that if you can imagine it and believe in it, you can become it. imagine a you that is a winner of your life story instead of a victim. as long as you see yourself as a victim you will keep on hurting others because you feel justified (hence the never ending cycle of human violence and heartbreak). if you populate your mental body with negative self-images, you become those images and will attract scenarios, people and energies that will reinforce them. so imagine YOU. i painted this face with the mental beamer because i was looking for ways to remind myself of these thoughts that i have gathered through the years of self-searching and yet haven't been able to hold onto them enough to keep me on the bright side these last few months. it is part of a series i call spirit-transformers. i wrote them down to help myself reconnect with these ideas and to share my journey to self-discovery...i guess art (i mean all arts, music, writing etc..) is a form of self-discovery, and when you allow yourself to share your self, including the highs and the lows, you give a gift to the world. this is the hardest thought to embrace as an artist, because you might ask yourself, "who cares what i'm going through" (here is where the self-doubt comes from and why many artists are thought to be narcissistic or actually why they might become narcissitic when they overcompensate for the self-doubt)...but then when i think of how much listening to songs like my friend <a href="http://www.myspace.com/sarahwhitesol">Sarah White</a>'s C-Train makes me feel better as I am riding the damn thing every day, i have to remind myself of how much healing, relief and fun music brings to me every day and i have to realize that it is partially the reason why we have to share our art. when i connect to another person's creation, i allow that piece to be my self-expression as well and let that song, poem, film or painting to help me to relive that experience, let out agression and built-up frustration, heal through it or make me feel sexy or divine. they remind me that i am not alone...that we are not alone..that we are all connected through our life-experiences. life gets rough sometimes and we get lost in the labyrinth within, but we always have the power of choice to change our mental state and use our imagination to visualize our true self which is the key to become it. so i made this image and wrote these thoughts down to help me imagine me so i can become my truth. a way to go and a lot to work on but i am moving ahead and that makes me feel good. sometimes the best things are born out of the most desperate moments when you finally realize that certain trials are there to make you stronger and to reconnect you to whom you truly are...many of us feel the pressure, the hardship, the fear of the unknown as the economy is getting tougher, and it can manifest itself as self-doubt. i feel this is the time to awaken our inner lion..i think that the cosmic spiritual transformation that is taking place is really about this process of finding the divinity within. i hold this face in my imagination every day and turn on the mental beamer and tell myself these lines to imagine a better me. <div style="text-align: center;"><div style="font-size: 11px;"><object height="81" width="100%"> <param name="movie" value="http://player.soundcloud.com/player.swf?track=c-train&show_comments=true&auto_play=false&color=00f8ff"> <param name="wmode" value="transparent"> <param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"> <embed allowscriptaccess="always" src="http://player.soundcloud.com/player.swf?track=c-train&show_comments=true&auto_play=false&color=00f8ff" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" height="81" width="100%"></embed> </object> <div style="padding-top: 5px;"><a href="http://soundcloud.com/sarah-white/c-train"> C train</a> by <a href="http://soundcloud.com/sarah-white">Sarah White</a></div></div> </div>

Imagine.....

Imagine a you that you always wanted to be. a you that you were or perhaps still are afraid to become. a you that is in touch with your TR...

1:37 AM

i'm feeling... I MET THE WALRUS

<div style="text-align: center;">food for thought... <object height="295" width="480"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/jmR0V6s3NKk&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/jmR0V6s3NKk&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="295" width="480"></embed></object> In 1969, a 14-year-old Beatle fanatic named Jerry Levitan, armed with a reel-to-reel tape deck, snuck into John Lennon's hotel room in Toronto and convinced John to do an interview about peace. 38 years later, Jerry has produced a film about it. Using the original interview recording as the soundtrack, director Josh Raskin marries the terrifyingly genius pen work of James Braithwaite with masterful digital illustration by Alex Kurina, resulting in a spell-binding vessel for Lennon's boundless wit, and timeless message. </div>

i'm feeling... I MET THE WALRUS

food for thought... In 1969, a 14-year-old Beatle fanatic named Jerry Levitan, armed with a reel-to-reel tape deck, snuck into John Lennon...

1:19 AM

while preparing for my new show THE HERMETIC TEST: The Secret Lives of Felines :: April

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibDguCOZctNBWj8GZa59Rdu-RgoER5hTvahftuV7BQCdA-lR1AkZHeNtfRBfmnwi-fmJj_FQbXiCQFhAyb3glJ4sQQU_nJ1os39vD9Cojq8KGd5S6rtdydbKhu5cW4BR_6C16CfEjlO7U/s1600-h/lichibangoldheartlogoart2.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5313621881962508850" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibDguCOZctNBWj8GZa59Rdu-RgoER5hTvahftuV7BQCdA-lR1AkZHeNtfRBfmnwi-fmJj_FQbXiCQFhAyb3glJ4sQQU_nJ1os39vD9Cojq8KGd5S6rtdydbKhu5cW4BR_6C16CfEjlO7U/s400/lichibangoldheartlogoart2.jpg" style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 175px; height: 176px;" /></a>pondering about the larger significance of why things happen to us (that is how you ask the question when you feel like the victim) and why have we brought those things upon ourselves (when you admit your active role in the ways things turned out). what connects us to who we truly are and the people we are connected with. life is the alchemical process. an opportunity to learn to discern the fake from the true on the way toward finding TRUE GOLD within... our true self purified in the laboratory of life...and the tests could be painful at times. what i learned yet again is that we create our reality by putting out certain vibrations...good energy attracts good energy. my new show is going to be a visualization of my way trying to work through some things that have affected me these past three months. it is about remembering the true meaning of gold and abundance. crown your heart.

while preparing for my new show THE HERMETIC TEST: The Secret Lives of Felines :: April

pondering about the larger significance of why things happen to us (that is how you ask the question when you feel like the victim) and why ...

7:53 PM

KASHMIR: my spiritual homeland

<div style="text-align: center;">In the summer of 2006, I spent a month in Srinagar, Kashmir, the part of Kashmir that is now part of India. The Himalayas have been calling me since I was a child...I used to dream that I was a young boy living in a small tribe up in the mountains, which I later identified with images of Tibet. Kashmir's capital Srinagar, which lays in a valley at the foot of the Himalayas used to be the most precious pearl of the Mughal Empire, during which time they named it "Paradise on Earth" because of its breath-taking beauty and lovely climate. It took me two years to revisit my journey there. Kashmir changed my life in ways I could only understand later...the experiences I had there are still hard to verbalize but I am ready to share some of the glimpses of this magical land and the beauty of its people. <img src="http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q202/licsi777/K3landscape.jpg" /> <img src="http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q202/licsi777/K4lichibankashmir.jpg" /> <img src="http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q202/licsi777/K5plane.jpg" /> my favorite, the AMBASSADOR, now used as cabs and governmental vehicles that provide a royal bulletproof ride around the city ::: the auto-riksha...one of the most hazardous vehicles ever to hit the roads of a metropolis (Delhi, India). My arrival midnight at the Delhi airport was one of the biggest tests of my courage as a lone traveler. My first sight as my cab pulled out of the airport was an accident involving a motorbike rider on an unlit two-lane road...no one was stopping for the man whose severed leg was lying 5 feet away from him...that sight haunted me for weeks. :::wheels::: <img src="http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q202/licsi777/K1cars.jpg" /> In the late 90s and then in 2002, there were serious threats of nuclear warfare between India and Pakistan over the territory of Kashmir. As a result, "peace" has been tenuous and is heavily guarded by the military (to learn more, read an interview with Chomsky <a href="http://www.fpif.org/fpiftxt/4249">here</a>). I was in Delhi ready to get on the plane to Kashmir when my local Kashmiri host called me to say that I shouldn't get on the plane, since the violence has escalated and there are regular grenade-attacks targeting the military but taking mostly civilian victims. I had my ticket and I wasn't about to turn around after having traveled more than 18 hrs to get there..."Well, I guess we'll just have to protect you a little more carefully." said my host family, to whom I owe so much for their hospitality. ::guns:: <img src="http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q202/licsi777/K19soldiers.jpg" /> "Paradise on Earth" is now Paradise Lost. The military presence in the city is overwhelming..imagine spotting from the corners of your eyes at least two AK47 per block sticking out from unexpected places. Most of the violence that summer was targeting soldiers who were ordered by the government to protect the peace in the region. Since the military was everywhere, it meant that the threat of being blown away by a random grenade that someone has thrown at them was very high. During the month I was there, there were several deadly incidents that sadly affected women and children passing by, including at the house of the Sufi healer I planned to visit that week. <img src="http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q202/licsi777/K13guns.jpg" /> ::: the sanctuary::: My journey that eventually brought me to Kashmir began several years ago with a book called The Man of Light by Henry Corbin who introduced me to Najm al-din Kubra. Kubra was a sage from Khwarazm (now in Uzbekistan) who developed a spiritual practice based on a color theory of light that seemed to have integrated Sufi tradition with tantric Buddhist meditation techniques and other Central Asian spiritual teachings. the shrine of Shah Hamadan, the 14th century Sufi traveler, who brought the teachings of Kubra to the Kashmiri valley. <img src="http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q202/licsi777/K6shrinesufikashmir.jpg" /> <img src="http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q202/licsi777/K8sanctuarykashmir.jpg" /> <img src="http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q202/licsi777/K16devotion.jpg" /> The local architecture reflects Kashmir's position as a meeting point of cultures: many of the mosques had features similar to those of Buddhist stupas you found in neighboring Ladakh and Tibet. <img src="http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q202/licsi777/K7houses.jpg" /> On the night of my arrival, I had a chance to meet the father of Kashmir's world-renowned contemporary poet <a href="http://www.nortonpoets.com/alia.htm">Agha Shahid Ali</a> (who used to live in the US and passed away in 2001), whose book, "Country Without A Post-office" earned him the title "the ambassador of Kashmir's pain." One of the most wonderful people I've encountered on my travels, he treated me and my hosts with the most incredible 10 course dinner sampling dishes from Kashmiri Hindu and Muslim culinary traditions. I copied this into my journal from his son, Shahid Ali's book of poetry that he showed me... "Srinagar haunches like a wild cat: lonely sentries, wretched in bunkers at the city's bridges, far from their homes in the plains, licensed to kill...while the Jhelum flows under them, sometimes with a dismembered body. On Zero Bridge the jeeps rush by. The candles go out as travelers unable to light up the velvet Void." <img src="http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q202/licsi777/K10oldruins.jpg" /> ::: street life ::: <img src="http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q202/licsi777/K14street.jpg" /> ::: the people ::: generations of mothers :::: the beautiful women I met in Delhi at the Nizamuddin Chishti shrine. the lady on the right reminded me of my grandmother. <img src="http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q202/licsi777/K2MOTHERCHILDelders.jpg" /> <img src="http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q202/licsi777/K9kiddos.jpg" /> <img src="http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q202/licsi777/K11gyspies.jpg" /> the Gujar "gypsies", a nomadic tribe that set up their tents behind the house I was staying at. I would come regularly and try to make a connection with them. Part of me that is still connected with my nomadic heritage was really drawn to these folks. <img src="http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q202/licsi777/K12gujars.jpg" /> <img src="http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q202/licsi777/K12kashmirikidos.jpg" /> <img src="http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q202/licsi777/K12kashmirgypsies.jpg" /> The people of Kashmir have faced decades of civil war, intense economic hardships, and the daily threats of violence remain to this day. The sustained presence of fear has left unimaginable scars 0n people's soul. Their beauty and resilience amidst the harshest living conditions remain my continued source of inspiration and serve as a reminder of the fragility of human life and that we as people are one at the core. <img src="http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q202/licsi777/K15people.jpg" /> Lake Dal of Srinagar with its famed boat-houses, surrounded by the Himalayas. The only place where I felt the presence of peace. I took these shots from my boat as I was taken to the place where lotuses bloom. <img src="http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q202/licsi777/K17boatlotus.jpg" /> <img src="http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q202/licsi777/K18kashmirlake.jpg" /> :::windows::: <img src="http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q202/licsi777/K19yeeswindows.jpg" /> Most importantly, I give thanks to the man who has served the peoples of Kashmir with his healing power for several decades. He opened his doors to me and treated me like a granddaughter. Meeting him has changed my life at the core. I pray that he is safe and is in good health and that he can continue to mediate love from the purest source. In'shallah I'll make it back there in this life time. </div>

KASHMIR: my spiritual homeland

In the summer of 2006, I spent a month in Srinagar, Kashmir, the part of Kashmir that is now part of India. The Himalayas have been calling ...

5:40 PM

a message to Joshua

a message to Joshua

this is a reminder to my young friend, Joshua I met a few months ago in Fort Greene to get in touch with me. i haven't forgotten about y...

9:13 AM

WORSHIP THE SUN: all is quiet on the solar front

<div style="text-align: center;">our sun is at its solar minimum, in the quietest phase of its 11-year activity cycle. the solar wind also has also dropped to its lowest levels in 50 years. unusually calm, apparently. </div><div style="text-align: center;">moon transiting across the face of the sun on february 25, 2007<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDh5o0YiUpMlnxex-kcHaohqk285A0j0c9aFjPeSOZfecDIlfATPP_MYc9HbJ_x0MQkUTLVgYilYsCVQYs66m4tzqNQvXQjuyTx4koQQ9GYrJ5Nfr4JMgtrnowpuhl3QHacY6GwsTx0dQ/s1600-h/sol20.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5256773860235585106" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDh5o0YiUpMlnxex-kcHaohqk285A0j0c9aFjPeSOZfecDIlfATPP_MYc9HbJ_x0MQkUTLVgYilYsCVQYs66m4tzqNQvXQjuyTx4koQQ9GYrJ5Nfr4JMgtrnowpuhl3QHacY6GwsTx0dQ/s400/sol20.jpg" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" /></a> coronal mass ejection blasting more than a billion tons of matter into space :: january 8, 2002</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiU8AEqMrrBkvKiNyREDC_UI07kSNO04XlzsbFbzlT8nLUE5tgV1h4einbEU75oC0uhyTtODr2fHd3TfGYkQZyxYmfupUUMfo_8NbKc-OAFhEAcit4EHvOghJngmChM7I3GmhfgBFH0hY/s1600-h/sol17.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5256773183926801794" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiU8AEqMrrBkvKiNyREDC_UI07kSNO04XlzsbFbzlT8nLUE5tgV1h4einbEU75oC0uhyTtODr2fHd3TfGYkQZyxYmfupUUMfo_8NbKc-OAFhEAcit4EHvOghJngmChM7I3GmhfgBFH0hY/s400/sol17.jpg" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" /></a>magnetic structures on the solar surface :: august 22, 2003<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_V73tk_VlQHbySq7DKteb5yIqdgsDhkiShiT0uU0WGjw0pCThbfjtfIevZpaJXF-Mt5BP_32kZijuCQ_2Ts19tw4sGJ8ptRPHvAKWI7__SuUu17uzjFKlD4r4zftHkIe9JtUJBydAJu8/s1600-h/sol02.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5256773169066400962" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_V73tk_VlQHbySq7DKteb5yIqdgsDhkiShiT0uU0WGjw0pCThbfjtfIevZpaJXF-Mt5BP_32kZijuCQ_2Ts19tw4sGJ8ptRPHvAKWI7__SuUu17uzjFKlD4r4zftHkIe9JtUJBydAJu8/s400/sol02.jpg" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" /></a>total solar eclipse :: february 16, 1980</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt7bxPsu3c6zdTfaSIlFVhnWKJiYBH-ThtDLBWwmkIK7AieaVdX64w9WtvTdr3n_gLH7D3_OwWlGHmrILpqqGQxoh7Vp1b1zIeiUh5XLOkeJMuouWqtChyphenhyphenFJoqdUQl56Y2n6x9K8YNaxk/s1600-h/sol05.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5256773173789586546" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt7bxPsu3c6zdTfaSIlFVhnWKJiYBH-ThtDLBWwmkIK7AieaVdX64w9WtvTdr3n_gLH7D3_OwWlGHmrILpqqGQxoh7Vp1b1zIeiUh5XLOkeJMuouWqtChyphenhyphenFJoqdUQl56Y2n6x9K8YNaxk/s400/sol05.jpg" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" /></a>venus transiting the sun :: on june 8, 2004 </div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLp2IKZWmzhtihnfDOvTwbdbEaRv7c_8IMv3I-Yvqp7VTfcY7JAH4JVq0NL_K8M47QE76FA-DxaXl9SuHwMxI2psHYOL4oU_hlWLqoLiGnK89cjJG8X9RLfHTIOsMPauoOUDFT6uNUG7U/s1600-h/sol06.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5256773172907807250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLp2IKZWmzhtihnfDOvTwbdbEaRv7c_8IMv3I-Yvqp7VTfcY7JAH4JVq0NL_K8M47QE76FA-DxaXl9SuHwMxI2psHYOL4oU_hlWLqoLiGnK89cjJG8X9RLfHTIOsMPauoOUDFT6uNUG7U/s400/sol06.jpg" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" /></a> [source: <a href="http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2008/10/the_sun.html">boston globe</a>]

WORSHIP THE SUN: all is quiet on the solar front

our sun is at its solar minimum, in the quietest phase of its 11-year activity cycle. the solar wind also has also dropped to its lowest lev...

9:50 PM