Slice of life today. \u00c2\u00a0Even though I’ve dated this toward the end of the 20th, I could not possibly have updated it then, because this night I had unplugged my computer and modem earlier in the night. \u00c2\u00a0There was a crazy thunderstorm or two.<\/p>\n
I am not sure exactly whether this was the same thunder I walked through in the city after work, but if so, it had moved pretty slowly from there to here, and picked up a lot more electricity. \u00c2\u00a0It was bad enough in the city actually. \u00c2\u00a0I honestly hesitated to go out in the rapid succession of lightning, but I had already had a longer day than usual at work.<\/p>\n
I had to go to work earlier than I usually do, because this was the day when we would get instructed in the new phone queue system, with practical exercise. \u00c2\u00a0I learn fairly easily, but in things like this, nothing can replace on-site, hands-on training. \u00c2\u00a0So I got up earlier than usual, had less time for myself before haring off to work, and was there longer. \u00c2\u00a0It was already late afternoon; if I were to wait an hour just because I was afraid to be struck by lightning, it would be evening. \u00c2\u00a0So I walked through a mostly deserted city while the rain was pouring cats and dogs and the lightnings flew back and forth above me like heavenly electrical badminton.<\/p>\n
This was just a warm-up for the night’s light show, it turned out. \u00c2\u00a0I was peacefully using my computer when it started after dark. \u00c2\u00a0I thought I heard something, so I went to the front door to check. \u00c2\u00a0I did not open that door. \u00c2\u00a0It has a translucent part, nothing you can see any shapes through, little more than whether it is night or day outside. \u00c2\u00a0At this point, it should have been night. It was not. \u00c2\u00a0It was a flickering, pulsating daylight. \u00c2\u00a0And the sound of water coming down with an intensity I doubt I get in my shower.<\/p>\n
Needless to say, I soon shut down and unplugged the home office and took out the phone contact. \u00c2\u00a0Then I went to the living room, stood in the middle of the dark room and watched. \u00c2\u00a0The lightning bolts followed each other so closely there was no time for darkness to return between them. \u00c2\u00a0The sky was an electric pulsating white that seemed to come from all directions. \u00c2\u00a0I can only think of one time before I have seen the like, and then only possibly. \u00c2\u00a0It was during an exam in high school. \u00c2\u00a0But this was in the night, and therefore even more impressive.<\/p>\n
Luckily the mobile phone \/ handheld computer worked just fine, at least for data traffic. \u00c2\u00a0I am not sure it would be wise to talk in it. \u00c2\u00a0Or at least not listen.<\/p>\n
The thunderstorm had passed when I went to bed, but the power tripped off once after that, and I was not sure whether there would be more of them. \u00c2\u00a0So I went to bed early, still with my computers and network unplugged.<\/p>\n
Before this had happened, however, I had downloaded two e-books. This was around the peak of my Okawa mania (I’d already ordered several of his books from Amazon, more about them later if I live and learn) \u00c2\u00a0but then I found that two of them were available as e-books for a very comfortable price from ebookmall.com. So I bought and downloaded them, and put them on my iPaq. These were The Laws of the Sun<\/em> and\u00c2\u00a0The Laws of Eternity<\/em>, two of this three most famous books. \u00c2\u00a0For some reason the middle book of the trilogy was not there,\u00c2\u00a0The Golden Laws<\/em>. I’ve ordered it in print from Amazon though, but e-books are more practical. \u00c2\u00a0They take up no space, the reader is small and unobtrusive, they are searchable, and I can jump straight to highlights if I reread them. \u00c2\u00a0I usually don’t reread anything, but then again I don’t usually re-watch movies and I saw\u00c2\u00a0The Laws of Eternity<\/em> at least three times.<\/p>\n The Laws of the Sun<\/em> is a pretty weird book. \u00c2\u00a0Parts of it reads like the setting for a sci-fi role playing game, with detailed information about a number of continents that supposedly rose from the ocean and fell back over the last million years, and their civilizations. Not to mention the various levels of Heaven and the souls who live there, and how this relates to life on Earth. \u00c2\u00a0But at least Heaven is not scientifically disproved. \u00c2\u00a0Actually, the celestial part largely agrees with my own intuition, which was why he caught my interest in the first place.<\/p>\n Also, there is the small thing about the author being the Buddha reborn (which, I am pretty sure, is blasphemy to Buddhists, since Nirvana is supposed to be the final dissolution, the end of the circle of rebirth. \u00c2\u00a0For some reason Buddhists are fed up with being reincarnated and want OUT of it. At least Theravada Buddhists.\u00c2\u00a0 I am not sure why they think it is a bad thing, honestly. \u00c2\u00a0It is like eternal life except you don’t remember it. \u00c2\u00a0And let’s face it, if you lived for a billion years, how much would you remember even if you did not die?)<\/p>\n But in between the sci-fi part and the seeming blasphemy, there is a lot of profound spiritual stuff that fits right in with what I have accumulated through life on that front. It is really confusing in a way. \u00c2\u00a0If he’s just some crazy guy or Japan’s answer to Scientology, where does he have the good stuff from?<\/p>\n But if I ever find that out, it will probably not be in a slice of life entry. \u00c2\u00a0Probably. With my life, even slices can be pretty weird.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Slice of life today. \u00c2\u00a0Even though I’ve dated this toward the end of the 20th, I could not possibly have updated it then, because this night I had unplugged my computer and modem earlier in the night. \u00c2\u00a0There was a … Continue reading